I bought my Galaxy S II at the weekend from my local Carphone Warehouse (£495.00 sim-free over the counter). It's my first Android phone coming from Symbian although I've had the Galaxy Tab since Christmas.

My first impression of the hardware was very negative when I tried to take the battery cover off. One broken finger nail later the battery was in and charging. The instructions actually warn about this. Wouldn't they have been better off spending a little more time on the design, say using a metal back cover? This also killed one of my plans for swapping this with other phones as I normally do. Once open the SIM card is easy to get at but the flimsy cover did not look too strong and I wouldn't want to kep removing it - not to mention from the damage to my finger nails :) Apart from that it looks great although I've decided to get a Zenus cover to protect it.

Once it was switched on, my initial reaction was how on earth do they sell so many Android phones. Compared to Symbian where so many things just worked (although not at the iPhone level) Android is a real learning curve. Definitely a phone for geeks (I'm one so that makes me happy!). An example would be syncing with Outlook. Yes, Google do have a way of doing this, as an extra, for $50/yr subscription!! After an hour or so on the net I settled on gSyncit from Fieldston Software for $20. So far it has worked fine and I would recommend it. But should I really have to do all that?

But as I said, I'm a mobile phone geek and I'm loving playing with the phone and would certainly recommend it. I was just expecting more after all the Android hype of the last year or so. I'll keep the Symbian phone for Ovi Maps, especially Surfer Dude's voice directions, but hopefully the Galaxy will become my main mobile.

Now a couple of pleas for help. I currently use Spb Wallet for my password protection but they don't make a version for Android. Can anyone suggest an alternative, preferably with the ability to import as I have several hundred items in the wallet. My other main requirement is a decent Calendar app. I've set up to sync through Google but don't like the built-in calendar. Any suggestions anybody please?

Can you not sync outlook using Kies? Alternatively, could you not sync it to your google account or something? If it's just calendar/contact sync you want, I'm sure theres a PC application to sync it to google calendar/contacts.

The back cover is thin and lightweight, yes, but it's designed that way to keep the phone incredibly light. Sure, when you pull it off, it feels flimsy but once it's on the phone as a whole feels reassuringly sturdy - I'm glad they went for this over a metal design as the light feel of the phone is one of my favorite things about it.

I used to have Ovi maps on my N97 (which I quickly sold to get an N900, which didn't have voice navigation until the community hacked it in) and didn't get on particularly well with it - what's wrong with google maps? It does turn by turn voice navigation too, and I generally find the google maps experience much better to Ovi maps.

Hi Blackened, thanks for the reply.


Can you not sync outlook using Kies? Alternatively, could you not sync it to your google account or something? If it's just calendar/contact sync you want, I'm sure theres a PC application to sync it to google calendar/contacts.

Perhaps I didn't use Kies properly. I'll give it another go. Having said that Sygic seems to work pretty well syncing three ways between my work Outlook, Google home Outlook and
mobile.


The back cover is thin and lightweight, yes, but it's designed that way to keep the phone incredibly light. Sure, when you pull it off, it feels flimsy but once it's on the phone as a whole feels reassuringly sturdy - I'm glad they went for this over a metal design as the light feel of the phone is one of my favorite things about it.

Personal preference - I just would not feel happy removing and replacing it once a week or so.


I used to have Ovi maps on my N97 (which I quickly sold to get an N900, which didn't have voice navigation until the community hacked it in) and didn't get on particularly well with it - what's wrong with google maps? It does turn by turn voice navigation too, and I generally find the google maps experience much better to Ovi maps.

I want a program with the map data already on the phone. I travel a lot in Europe and don't want the data costs. Plus internet access is not always available when in the wilds! I see Briggs has recommended Aura from Sygic. I'll have to give that a go.

I have been using the free version of Gemini Calendar and find it to be excellent. It has a lot more options for regularity of appointments than the stock application. Only thing that has stopped me buying it so far is that the paid for version is unavailable through Android market, you have to use paypal. I will certainly buy it when it becomes available that way, however the free version is excellent. Try it i am sure you will be impressed.

I to came from Sybian and an N97 to this phone and Android, been living with it for two weeks now and love it.

Much prefer Android over Symbian, plus Nokia now own Symbian platform don't they?

I'm leaving the Iphone comment alone.

Much prefer Android over Symbian, plus Nokia now own Symbian platform don't they?

I'm leaving the Iphone comment alone.

I thought they owned it years ago,but only recently my it open source.

I have been using the free version of Gemini Calendar and find it to be excellent. It has a lot more options for regularity of appointments than the stock application. Only thing that has stopped me buying it so far is that the paid for version is unavailable through Android market, you have to use paypal. I will certainly buy it when it becomes available that way, however the free version is excellent. Try it i am sure you will be impressed.
I'll give it a go, thanks.

I thought they owned it years ago,but only recently my it open source.

Yeah I believe they've owned it for ages. They're moving to Windows Phone 7 in the coming years now anyway. Wasn't a massive fan of Symbian, hence why I sold my N97 so quickly and got an N900, which I still absolutely love, you can do anything with Maemo.

I thought they owned it years ago,but only recently my it open source.

I heard about this when I had the oHD and remember thinking well Symbian is going to be gone for a while.

am I the only person who has noted that Symbian is software and Sybian is a sex toy? Well, I say toy.. I mean machine really... google it.. WHAT??

I'll give it a go, thanks.

Yeah that's what I said.... OH! You mean Symbian...!

I have a theory that the similarity in names is the main reason Symbian never broke in to the USA. One typing error and you've got a lot of explaining to do ;)

am I the only person who has noted that Symbian is software and Sybian is a sex toy? Well, I say toy.. I mean machine really... google it.. WHAT??

hahahahaha come to think of it yeah, i think I've erm....seen it before -----

hahahahaha come to think of it yeah, i think I've erm....seen it before -----you must have been looking at the same instructional videos as me ;) ....I really must stop drink-posting!

I have a theory that the similarity in names is the main reason Symbian never broke in to the USA. One typing error and you've got a lot of explaining to do ;)It's possible, but if I thought a phone could do that, I'd be devoted to Symbian ;) Just imagine the vibrate options!