Really ? I never bother n will always update to new versions once available
I had same practice too on all my other Androids too
What is there to worry so much about???

Even for custom rom similar practice. Why waste time asking what is good or bad. Update yourself to discover it is better

This post has been edited by benny888: Sep 13 2014, 11:37 AM

Very true but yet we still see many guys condemning it as it is Samsung
My youngest son n daughter-in-law has been using this model past 2 years. They are basic users n just using it without any root or tweaks added
Both of them zero interest in such stuffs
Most used app by them are browser, facebook, tweeter, whatsapp. My daughter-in-law prefer it over her previous iPhone . They had no plans to change it until it breaks down.

Is definitely OEM just by looking at the price!!

What do you mean sarcastic?? Of course is definitely not original unless is a used set. The asking price is half that of original retail. Plenty of such OEM ( looks like original ) in market these days

Try Mugen n I don't know whether is available for this phone. It could even be more expensive than Samsung original
My advise if you wish to use OEM or imitation is better to use external charger to charge it. As you are not sure how good or reliable is their built in charge circuitry.

So far most of if not all the Samsung phones I had used can install CWM recovery WITHOUT root by simply flashing the CWM tar file through Odin

This post has been edited by benny888: Apr 22 2015, 09:37 AM

I already clearly said just flash the Cwm tar file will do
Root is optional
Either way your warranty is void
Might as well root phone to have more flexibility

I always root after flashing CWM. Just use CWM to flash the super zip file. Had been doing it past 8 years on all Samsung phones. Again I would say it is not necessary to root to flash CWM

I wish to repeat it is not necessary to root first to have CWM installed. Seriously I had no idea what happened to guyfriendx phone??

Why need to factory reset ?? Nor necessary unless you had issues. Downgrading back from lollipop to kitkat you would need reset if phone goes into bootloop. Select reset from phone recovery mode to do that - everything including all your added files will be wipe clean

My experience using so many Samsung models I never see the need to factory reset after upgrading firmware with Odin. Anyway is one choice if one chose to do it.
Downgrading to different OS version - is better to reset.

Positive YES to all your questions

My son is still using his S3 n already 3 years with it
He is very happy with it
He is a non techie n doesn't even bother to update the firmware
Besides call, SMS he uses it for whatsapp, some Facebook, browsing n YouTube - very simple casual user. He will only change the phone when it breaks down!!

When using odin in PC make sure :
All anti virus are disabled
Kies is not active
You can use ANY generic Samsung usb phone drivers ( just google for it)
I always prefer to use lower end version as often faced problems writing onto phone on ver3 n above. I usually use v1.87 n my notebook is on Win8.1

You can try v1.87. It always work for me even on higher end S6e n Note5
Any generic usb cable is fine

Win10 has probable incompatible issues with Odin
I couldn't run odin ( all versions) successfully trying to flash custom kernel on Note5
I downgraded back to 8.1 n immediately got it done successfully
I was using a Sony Vaio notebook

If this happen often try first to change the simcard?
If still persists than you need to claim warranty to have sim module replace

LG G4 is a very good alternative