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General discussion

Have you ever jailbroken or rooted your portable device?

Jan 13, 2012 7:40AM PST
Have you ever jailbroken or rooted your portable device?

-- Yes. (What device and how's it working out?)

-- No. (Why not?)

-- I'm thinking about it. (What's holding you back?)

-- What in the world are you talking about? (Click on the following links and read up: rooting and jailbreaking)

Discussion is locked

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Jailbreaking device
Jan 13, 2012 9:59AM PST

I jailbroke my Apple 3G phone and never once had a problem. At the time, AT&T had a limitation on downloading files that were too large via Wi-Fi only. Jailbreaking the phone allowed me to bypass that hurdle and download on 3G network. It also allowed me to play Pandora through my car radio. All in all, a very positive and rewarding experience.

Today, I own a 4G but as yet, have not rooted the phone. Plan to do so soon.

EC

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Jailbroken HP Mini Netbook
Jan 13, 2012 10:03AM PST

My HP Mini 5102 came with Windows Vista, and was almost unusable. It felt well made, but was so s-l-o-o-w!

<div>I installed Ubuntu (11.04 then, now 11.10) from a USB stick after making sure the Mini BIOS was set to boot from USB first.

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Oh my where do I begin?
Jan 13, 2012 6:43PM PST

I guess it started in 2005 when I bought a launch PSP. Hacked that, installed custom firmware. Then for several years dropped out of the gaming and electronics scene. In the last few years, back in and in for good. Ive rooted/ hacked several devices, but right now I have a rooted HTC EVO 3D, and rooted HTC EVO View both running the same custom ROM. The only thing Ive had that I havent tried to root or jailbreak are my consoles. Id hate to mess with my PS3, or 360 and end up getting blacklisted. Plus theres just something I love about opening a brand new game.

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Have you ever jailbroken or rooted your portable device?
Jan 13, 2012 6:46PM PST

I haven't had the need to, so far. I have dual boot systems on my 3 x Desktops and 2 x Laptops. I have an Android Tablet (that has access to the net via my wireless modem) with which I can download e-books. I have a (dedicated) Hanvon E-Book Reader which I load e-books onto via my Laptop or desktop. I do not access the internet from either of the two mobiles in the house. I have a wall-phone that is adequate for how we use it. I have a Nintendo Wii that goes on the net and can download directly to it if required. I have back-up portable drives on which I have games or other apps that I might need. I have a 2TB back-up drive that is in a safe location. I have expanded the memory of the portable devices that I have. At this point in time I have not found a need to jailbreak or root any of my portable devices. I can also live boot many of my devices and do so often with various flavours of Linux. Anything that is too tricky for Windows is always do-able with Linux. I would say to anyone who is thinking of Jailbreaking or rooting any portable device: Do you have a back-up plan in case you muff it? Do you really need to do it? Are you prepared for the grief you might get yourself into if you do not fully understand or know how the process works? Will it save you time and/or money to do it? If you really need to do it then go ahead I have no problem with you doing what you want to with any devices that you own. Your device, your choice. BUT do check your contract with your phone or internet carrier - it is better not to break the law and leave yourself open to prosecution. Grin Suizi.

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I agree
Jan 14, 2012 11:41AM PST

Suizi55 is right on top of this issue! Great Advice! I couldn't have said it any better

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Rooted and not looking back
Jan 14, 2012 2:17AM PST

Learned how to root on my Viewsonic G Tablet. Made an incredible tool out of it, running CyanogenMod. So well, in fact, I have never gotten around to trying other ROMs.
Rooted my Motorola Droid X, so I could make a full backup of phone using Titanium Backup.
M

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Learned something today
Jan 14, 2012 3:57AM PST

Jailbreaking I have heard of, but not rooting. Now I know. I don't plan to try it.

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Rooting a Optimus V Virgin Mobile?
Jan 14, 2012 5:15AM PST

I keep running out of phone space. So rooting might solve the
problem by allowing moving apps to the SD card.
Inertia, wondering about the possible "jail-breaking" implications,
and an incomplete understanding of "rooting/jailbreakiong ",
have slowed my attempt at rooting.
I thank all for their comments regarding rooting.