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I had a iphone 3GS and sent it back so I could get the Hero.
I'm not sure now if it was the best trade off? The Apps are much more polished as is the whole iphone OS. Now the 3GS can be jailbroken and unlocked it can be used on any network which is good because O2's 3G coverage is not good.
So... are you regretting the switch? would you go back to iphone?
I had the original iPhone and the 3G for ~6 months months, but haven't used either in more than a year. Since the iPhone, I've used a Blackberry Bold, e71, Xperia X1, and Touch Diamond 2.
The Hero has been the closest to an iPhone experience compared to any of those phones. No, it's not quite as polished, and nowhere near as fast as the 3GS (based on my brief experince with it), but its design, flexibility, and Sense UI makes up for it.
I've had iPhone users comment on the design of the Hero, as well as the Sense UI. It is the general consensus amung people that have played with my phone that the UI is far nicer designed than the iPhone design.
I couldn't stand the iPhone because it would always lock up when I tried to answer a call, which proved to be extremely frustrating. I don't get that with the Hero...in fact, it's the best PHONE I've had, with the exception of the Bold.
All in all, yes, the lag is annoying, and there are definitely a few things I would change, but for the most part, the Hero is the most enjoyable phone I've ever had, and don't regret switching from the iPhone (or any other phone) to it. Plus, the exclusivity of not having a phone that 10+ million other people have is always nice .
i keep wanting to sell my hero and go back to iphone, i hand the original 3g and now think the 3gs would have been a better purchase.
The only thing I really miss about the iPhone are some of the games. Games are a weak point for Android at the moment though this will eventually change as more and more handsets keep coming out and developers will be unable to ignore it. Come to think of it, that's about the only thing about the iPhone I actually liked lol.
I am missing my iphone a bit now that i'm using the hero. I think the iphone had one of the most fluid interfaces of any phone i've ever used. I miss the screen automatically turning on and off during a call when it is close to your face. I always try to turn off the screen during a call out of habbit on the hero and end up disconnecting the call. I also liked the hardware silence toggel on the iphone for quick ringer switching. The keyboard on the iphone was also a little bit more responsive and got more of my keystrokes correct. The main reason why I got the hero was for the widget and facebook integration. I got sort of board with the limits on the iphone os, and always having to open individual programs everytime I wanted to do anything. If the iphone started to offer home screen widgets i'd probably switch back in a heartbeat. I think the sense ui is cool, but until they make it less buggy, its just hard for me to fully enjoy it. I'm also getting mad at the fact that my facebook links in my contacts keep getting erased for no good reason, if anyone has an idea to why this happens and how to prevent it please share. Also i've noticed the signal and call quality are lower on the Hero than the iphone and my other HTC devices, I can hear a hiss in the background of all my calls, and tend to drop calls in places my iphone never did. Hopefully this can be fixed with a new radio version. I would like to keep my hero because I think it has so much potential, I just hope HTC releases some new firmware soon.
Well, though question...
I´ve had the iPhone 3G for more than a year now but bought the Hero after having drained the iPhone in a heavy rainfall. I also (don´t ask me why..) ordered the new 3Gs simultaniously and I´m still waiting for it...
I loved the iPhone, and still do, but the Hero is more "interesting" and more flexible when it comes to customization.
The iPhone is more "snappier" and more polished but the Hero is something fresh and interesting. Keep in mind that Android is still in it´s first year on the market which I find VERY impressing.
Will I keep the Hero, the iPhone or both? I seriously don´t know...
If both phones have had been new to me I would have bought the iPhone because of its (imo) still superior ease of use and "snappines".
Hero on the other hand is the only phone that I´ve met that can compete with iPhone on the ´overall experience´, the both ´simply works´ (...just that iPhone works a little bit better. Question is, will it last?).
I only know one thing for sure. It will take Microsoft more than ´some´effort to make me go back...
Video playback on iphone is unrivaled, The camcorder with editing is better than expected. Battery life is also better.
I waited ages for the Hero and really want to like it. But as with the facebook issues and the camera/video quality isn't great either? Video playback on the Hero is not great with the stuttering.
Seems the only thing going for the Hero is the widgets?
mwatson said:
Video playback on iphone is unrivaled, The camcorder with editing is better than expected. Battery life is also better.
I waited ages for the Hero and really want to like it. But as with the facebook issues and the camera/video quality isn't great either? Video playback on the Hero is not great with the stuttering.
Seems the only thing going for the Hero is the widgets?
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I actually totally agree with you. I tried to play an mp4 just now and get stuttering every 4-5 secs. The music app can't compete with the iphone either, I love the widgets and the customization on the hero, but as of right now that’s about it. I have another week to return it but I want to give HTC the benefit of the doubt that they will be upgrading software quickly. Man I don't know what to do.
dondula said:
I actually totally agree with you. I tried to play an mp4 just now and get stuttering every 4-5 secs. The music app can't compete with the iphone either, I love the widgets and the customization on the hero, but as of right now that’s about it. I have another week to return it but I want to give HTC the benefit of the doubt that they will be upgrading software quickly. Man I don't know what to do.
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Thats where i am with it. Dunno what to do and time is ticking before we get locked into contracts.
Maybe iphone is the way to go for now. Not to dismiss Android and HTC, maybe during next year's contract renewa'/upgrades HTC and Android maybe have caught up. But for now, the damm iphone just can't be beat on every count. Sure the widgets are great, but in 3-6 months (or less!) will the novelty wear off and we're left with a duff battery, dodgy signal reception, a less than impressive camera, don't even go there with video recording.
Tell ya what though.... being a geek is tough! and expensive!
I'm sticking with the Hero personally. I hate Apples ridiculous policies and I hate having to close out apps in order to use something else..it's so annoying. Android is getting there and Donut is coming soon which I hear is using 2.6.29 kernel which brings a nice little speed increase. I know more apps and games are on the way, especially since a couple major US carriers will be getting Android devices in the next couple months. Hero is coming here as is something from Motorola from what I hear. BTW, I think iPhone is so smooth because it only really runs one thing at a time while Hero for instance runs a lot widgets, sense ui, etc. I mean iPhone 3G has what a 434mhz processor? That's not much at all.
plbe said:
...I mean iPhone 3G has what a 434mhz processor? That's not much at all.
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Agree on that but mhz isn´t everything. Hero is running a Qualcomm processor and iPhone 3G a higher quality (some say...) ARM processor.
plbe said:
I'm sticking with the Hero personally. I hate Apples ridiculous policies and I hate having to close out apps in order to use something else..it's so annoying. Android is getting there and Donut is coming soon which I hear is using 2.6.29 kernel which brings a nice little speed increase. I know more apps and games are on the way, especially since a couple major US carriers will be getting Android devices in the next couple months. Hero is coming here as is something from Motorola from what I hear. BTW, I think iPhone is so smooth because it only really runs one thing at a time while Hero for instance runs a lot widgets, sense ui, etc. I mean iPhone 3G has what a 434mhz processor? That's not much at all.
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Some good points there. I'm not sure the Hero will be able to upgrade to Donut. I understand its out the loop. I might be wrong though.
The thing is, its not just speed, actually i'm not bothered about that. I had a touch diamond before so the Hero flies in comparrison. Its the low quality camera/camcorder/battery life/video playback and signal quality that let it down.
superswede said:
Agree on that but mhz isn´t everything. Hero is running a Qualcomm processor and iPhone 3G a higher quality (some say...) ARM processor.
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It should be said that both the Qualcomm processor *IS* an ARM processor.
The IPhone 3G uses a Samsung designed processor based on the ARM11 core,
and the Hero a Qualcomm processor, again based on an ARM11 core.
The IPhone 3GS uses a Samsung processor again, but this is based on the superior ARM Cortex-A8 core.
Essentially ARM licenses processor cores to semiconductor manufacturers who then build their own SOCs (System on a Chip) by integrating a range of other components onto the same die.
I remember ARM when it stood for Acorn Risc Machines (not Advanced Risc Machines or just ARM as it does today!) and powered the Acorn Archimedes.
Regards,
Dave
My Experience - iPhone / WinMo / Blackberry / Android
Hi,
I brought the original iPhone when it launched in the UK with no apps etc. Since then I have jumped about to Windows Mobile (Touch Diamond + Xperia X1) and also Blackberry (Storm - Curve 8900 - Bold).
Throwing myself back at Apple I got the 3GS when it launched, very nice phone and very fast.
My issues with Apple are the stupid controls they have around the app store and the refusal of background apps. (I totally understand the end user experience can be quantified with no running apps and for the less techy masses this is a good business move).
I however feel grown up enough to be able to manage my own running processes and know that if I run too many it will slow down.
I still do love my iphone and all the apps/games available but all through my iphone life I get drawn back to Windows Mobile as I can do so much on it.
Now I have been waiting for a unlocked Android phone to come along and jumped at the Hero as I have a company SIM card and no personal contract.
I am loving my Hero so far (been just over a week), its not perfect and does hang up sometimes, but at least it comes back quickly and I have not had to reset it etc. I am sure future builds will improve these things, I remember iphone 2.0 release!
Just so nice to be able to run FuriousStream and then actually continue to use my phone for checking mail/twitter/web etc. On my iphone it drove me nuts I had to close the streaming app!
Video recording is SO much better on the 3GS but in fairness for me is a very small part of what I use a phone for so not end of the world.
Sense UI is very nice, I like being able to customise the experience.
I get bored quickly and it saves me getting fed up with the same old.
Will I never go back to the iPhone??? Maybe/Maybe not. Too early to tell, but for me Android is like Windows Mobile as it should have been with background apps plus a good UI with a good marketplace but the option of just installing what you like with no one dictating to you straight from a developers webiste it you want.
Russ
I'm coming from this issue at a different angle. I had (still have) the Xperia X1 and although on the face of it it should do everything you want it is unresponsive at times even with the cooked ROMs that the geniuses here manage to cook (Thanks to them I didn't send the phone back!).
That being said I wasn't too enamoured with WinMo even in its 6.5 guise. Then there is the HTC issue with video which it should do well but never does. So my other contract was up and being an advocate of Linux and Open Source etc. I wanted an Android phone and was gonna go for the HTC Magic - I had a play around with it and even in its infancy Android just blows WinMo away. However the Magic is a touch underpowered and I was hearing not so pleasant things about Video.
Cue the Hero and I was about to jump onto it until... I read about the lag. I couldn't believe it - I didn't want another device that I had to fiddle with so much just to get it running smoothly. I then checked the HTC specs and it is the same that they use in all their phones - and given the video issues that cause problems for Coreplayer etc. I decided I wasn't gonna tie in to another contract on a phone which really should be good but with too many niggles to leave you disappointed.
I then went into the Apple Store to try out the new 3GS and was blown away by the speed, the apps, the seemless integration of everything and realised that it had finally come of age and it would be next device (which it is). It is the closest thing to an all in one device - nothing else comes close. Android will eventually - in fact I would argue in 18 months time it will have surpassed the iPhone and Apples policy of drip feeding features which should be standard. However HTC really needs to change the internals and start upgrading their processors etc. They have designed the most beautiful interface with Sense UI but their hardware just fails to match....
I say this as somebody who really did NOT want to get an Iphone but realised that the competition is still a bit behind and to be fair it is a fantastic device (of course not without its flaws but these are ones that I can live with). I hope my next device will be Android - I suspect though it won't be a HTC device....
fuzzmo said:
However HTC really needs to change the internals and start upgrading their processors etc. They have designed the most beautiful interface with Sense UI but their hardware just fails to match....
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To be honest, I'm not sure I agree with this. The hardware is perfectly capable - you just need to realize that if you have a lot running, it will slow the phone down. Thus far though, from my perspective at least, lag has not been a particular issue - yes, it is there, but it is not ever present (at least for me) and even when it does occur is really is only a minor hiccup. I can happily run MyTracks when walking and surf the web at the same time, and then take a phone call, or do any number of other things, but I appreciate that if I want to do them all at one it is going to be slower.
The iPhone will rarely suffer this kind of issue all the while that Apple mandate that 3rd party applications can't multi-task. I understand their point regarding the user experience, but surely they could allow a user to override this via a system setting.
I get the Apple experience - I really do! I have an iMac and a MacBook, but I really don't like the restrictions they're placing on the iPhone and the App Store, plus I should be able to decide what applications I install on my device.
The problem with the iPhone IMHO, is not the hardware or the software, but the fact that Apple seem to be of the opinion that you don't own your phone, you've just leased it from them!
Regards,
Dave
I used a iPhone as (and various other LG / Samsung dumb phones) my primary phone before I got my HTC Hero. I've been on the borderline weather to sell my HTC hero or not, I've decided not to for now... but it depends on what comes of any updates (if any).
At the end of the day - in my opinion - Android is as good as the iPhone software but only that 'as good' it does nothing better (and that's not saying much!) and I can see why some people comming from an iPhone might be disappointed... very disappointed.
foxmeister said:
The problem with the iPhone IMHO, is not the hardware or the software, but the fact that Apple seem to be of the opinion that you don't own your phone, you've just leased it from them!
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Yep... nothing quite like an arse in a black turtle neck jumper telling you what you can and can't do with a device that will cost you a grand in total is there
mwatson said:
Some good points there. I'm not sure the Hero will be able to upgrade to Donut. I understand its out the loop. I might be wrong though.
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Why would hero not get donut? Even if not officially released by HTC which would be odd, a 3rd party ROM will be released just like G1, Magic
Man this phone is just dropping the ball for me, I used it as an mp3 player tonight while I was at the gym and audio quality through the supplied headphones was not very good. There is no bass at all in the music and no option to adjust an equalizer, after a while the high treble and no bass started to give me a headache. Well I think this just pushed me to my answer, Hero is a sweet phone with incredible possibilities but I literally have a problem with 90% of the functions being inferior to iphone (other than phone freedom and customizations). It makes me sad because I was so excited for this phone and so bored with my iphone, but I just have to stick with what works the best. Hopefully these issues can get polished up real quick.
Less than 3 months ago I had an iPhone 3g, than a HD2, now because of ALL the considerable, never ending problems with my HD2, I had to switch to the touch slide.
So the real question is, is this phone really "mid range"? I like to think not, because I haven't received it yet, but there are allot of mixed reviews on the internet. At this point I am wiling to sacrifice some screen real estate for overall performance. The qwerty keyboard REALLY excites me since the on screen keyboards are never wide enough for even my little fingers, swype is nice since it was the only option I had with the HD2 but to send an email fast it was not ideal.
How does this phone really compare to the EVO, DROID X, and the never ending android phones already here or coming....
The reason the phone is considered mid-ranged is it doesn't have a 1ghz processor like some of the other higher end phones. This phone is very snappy despite the slower processor and as soon as a new kernel is released we should be able to overclock the processor to get closer and closer to the 1ghz mark.
I received an EVO at Google IO, so I used it for about a month. Yes, the EVO is a little snappier, but in reality, it depends on how you plan on using the phone. I use connectbot daily on mine to ssh into servers, and a physical keyboard is a lifesaver. I also found the EVO almost too big and felt likely to slip out of my hand than the Slide. I'll also mention that I get 6-8 hours more out of the battery on the Slide. 4G on the EVO was nice, but it was really annoying when you had it on listening to Pandora in the car, or were in a iffy 4G area - you would loose your connection for about a minute when switching between 4G and 3G. (Maybe one of the recent updates has fixed that, I don't know.) I'm looking forward to getting the T-Mobile HSPA that will make the 3G connection faster and I actually think that the Slide has the advantage when you are in a HSPA covered area since you'll get up to 7 mb/s on 3G. Yes, the EVO is a faster and flashier device, but I find the slide to be a more useful overall device for me and (other than having the large beautiful screen on the EVO) I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything by having the Slide vs. the EVO.
After having it and using it full time for about a month I don't really consider it a mid-range device. However, I'm not one of the users that delves into every nook and cranny of the phone to pull out every ounce of usability.
I use it for work mainly and use Remote Desktop Client from Xtralogic to access work PCs and servers. It absolutely flies and the keyboard is a must have when doing that.
I upgraded from a G1 and the difference in speed even when the memory gets to the low end due to me not restarting it in a week it is still twice as fast as my old phone.
I came from using an iPhone 3G that I loved but really got tired of only having EDGE so I got the HTC HD and after a week of using it I hated it. So now I have this slide and I think its a great device. It runs smooth, looks good, and I put it up there with the iphone I had.
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide
i dont think its a mid range phone, this is my phone list in the past six months: Moto Cliq, Iphone3gs, HD2, BB Bold 9700, not Slide. My girl loves her CLIQ cuz she a social flower, me i can care less, definitely a mid range phone. I moved to the Iphone but hated ATT service and spotty 3g. HD2 was a high end phone (b.c of the processor but thats all) Windows really choked the phone. BB was cool but i hated the internet. The slide marries all these devices together for me. I have the social part for the most part, its nice and clean and sexy like the Iphone, screen is the close to the HD2. Fully and spacious keyboard, and Android 2.1. The phone has all the same features and the high-end droid phones. Just without the (over-hyped) 1gz processor and the front facing cam. The phone is snappy and handles the os and tons of app without hesitation.
dayoungmogul23 said:
i dont think its a mid range phone, this is my phone list in the past six months: Moto Cliq, Iphone3gs, HD2, BB Bold 9700, not Slide. My girl loves her CLIQ cuz she a social flower, me i can care less, definitely a mid range phone. I moved to the Iphone but hated ATT service and spotty 3g. HD2 was a high end phone (b.c of the processor but thats all) Windows really choked the phone. BB was cool but i hated the internet. The slide marries all these devices together for me. I have the social part for the most part, its nice and clean and sexy like the Iphone, screen is the close to the HD2. Fully and spacious keyboard, and Android 2.1. The phone has all the same features and the high-end droid phones. Just without the (over-hyped) 1gz processor and the front facing cam. The phone is snappy and handles the os and tons of app without hesitation.
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Agree 100%...
Get my Mytouch 3g tomorrow in the mail! I went from HD2 to this Im really excited. It seems like an awesome phone from what I have been reading,I cant wait.
It is enjoy
I've had mine for a couple weeks and it still flies haven't even rooted yet just waiting for a froyo rom. I mean I have all 7 screens full and still don't get lag so it doesn't seem mid range to me.
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App
I agree with everything dayoungmogul23 posted. I think (and of course this my guess/opinion) that what's REALLY helping this from being bogged down is the 512 Ram and the N1 GPU. Takes a bit of pressure off the Arm 11. I really can't wait to see what FroYo is going to do to this thing.
Of Topic: On a Side note I just felt sick to my Stomach when Jobs announced the Front facing Camera like it was a New Idea he came up with. Really? Hmm this Video Calling feature on my circa 2004 Phone is fake? Coulda fooled me. This was a feature on Dumbphones in other Countries for about 10 YEARS!
Hey,
I'm on T-Mobile right now and I have the n900. I'm thinking of moving to Sprint and getting the EVO this friday.
I've been lurking for a couple of weeks and I haven't really found a post with rational complaints about the phone. So I figured I'd ask EVO owners what the main issues are with the phone.
Battery life for instance, the n900 has pretty awful battery life but I've been able to make it work. I can get it through a 9-3/4 shift with 3G always connected. How does the EVO compare? I heard the Droid X might be even better but that's a no go for me.
I want to use the EVO as a primary phone and I'll do my mobile browsing and all that facebook/twitter stuff on it. I compared the n900 browser and the Android browser at the sprint store and I was damn impressed. It was a lot faster and it wasn't even on 4G.
Sorry for the long post. Bear with me, I'm a tad excited.
I love the EVO, its probably one of the best phones i ever owned. The battery is a bit of a problem, but then again your running a powerful phone. I would recommend that you root the phone and add a rom, preferably Damage Control, the battery runs amazing with the rom. Also, you can fix the 30 fps problem it has with a simple signed file.
Other than that the phone is amazing, it actually runs really fast on 3g, i havent tried 4g yet but 3g on this phone runs faster than other phones. The camera is just truly amazing on it, 8 megapixels and great video, 720p. I would recommend this phone.
Another option is to wait a little and try out the new phone by samsung, i cant remember the name at the moment, but that is another great phone coming to sprint.
I really don't like the look of the Epic 4G. Sprint has that 30 day return thing, right?
What is the 30 fps thing?
Also, I have been wondering if I should root it or not. I really don't like playing around with my primary phone, I haven't even overclocked my n900 yet. Is rooting something the average user would do?
nosa101 said:
I really don't like the look of the Epic 4G. Sprint has that 30 day return thing, right?
What is the 30 fps thing?
Also, I have been wondering if I should root it or not. I really don't like playing around with my primary phone, I haven't even overclocked my n900 yet. Is rooting something the average user would do?
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there is a known issue of stock evos being maxed out at 30 frames per second. the devs here have been working hard to remove that cap and have progressed in that quest very well just make sure when u get ur phone u check the hardware and panel to know what kernel to flash to get better fps (only way i know of the checking the panel is by rooting. not sure if u can do it without). awesome thing about android is that its completely customizable. as said by ruben8448, u can add a custom rom to spice up ur UI and also some come with kernels to help out with battery drain. they've released the source for the evo so there is gonna be alot of good things coming in regards to custom roms. u think the evo/android os is fast? wait for froyo. its a complete overhaul of the OS and speeds will increase 3-5 times faster. once u go android, u really wont wanna swap to anything else the options are just too endless
Is the headphone jack like the iPhone/iPod one?
I couldn't use my ipod earphones with my n900. The mic doesn't work too well with nokias
I figured I'd chime in here,I've had my Evo since the Friday after launch and love it.Battery drain was a bit of an issue before the updated radios came out but I was able to pick up 2 spares and a charger on Ebay for around 10 bucks.Since they updated the readios I'm generally getting thru my 10 hr day with about 50% battery remaining with what I would consider moderate use(total of an hour or so of web browsing,checking and replying to emails several times a day and a hand ful of voicecalls).I have rooted and its really been made quite easy to do now.I'm in total agreement with thgoob,once you've had an android you'll never go back
Another thing, the 30 fps issue affects only game graphics for the most part, right?
I agree with you on the 3G speed, while waiting for food last night, I loaded up a couple websites and was astonished at how fast they would load. Just purchased my EVO on monday, switched from a 3g iPhone, So far So good.
I'm not a gamer, and 30 fps is a non-issue - I really don't get all the whining on this issue. Coming from WinMo, cutting & pasting with Android is a pain. I don't see a good solution yet for editing spreadsheets. Can't use Skype with Android. Battery life is OK - you can get through the day with moderate use without changing the stock software. Screen looks great, fun to use.
i've not noticed any issues with the 30fps cap. perhaps i will noticed a difference if CM6 incorporates a change. but for me, its a non-issue.
i'm more looking forward to see if they can activate the FM Transceiver.
battery life requires that you compromise with your phone. some ROMs are better at battery life than others. I personally prefer the FRESH ROMs. stable and solid. the 4G is turned off most of the time because i live right along the edge of the coverage lines...so i chew through the battery in an attempt to stay connected as i commute and go up the elevator. when i need it, i turn it on (thank you QuickDesk) and away i go. but to be honest, the 3g is fast enough for most of what i do. the one big advantage of having 4g on is that my meebo does not disconnect if i take a phone call. if i'm 4g is off, a phone call will disconnect meebo. again not a 'OMG issue', but i do look forward to stronger 4g coverage.
however, with cyanogen about to release CM6 for the EVO, i will be jumping over play with that. keep in mind that CM6 is Android 2.2 Froyo (not the current EVO OS of Android 2.1).
oh...here is a good battery related thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=712990
Battery life will always be an issue especially with a phone as powerful as the EVO and a screen this big. However, like posted earlier, rooting opens up big improvements for battery life and performance. Android is not a great OS for productivity. That's what Blackberrys and WM are for. The fps fix does improve scrolling and video recording in my opinion. Also, I recently switched from T Mobile after 9 years of service and Sprint's data coverage and speed are WAY better. If you like a physical keyboard get a moment or wait for the epic. Otherwise, go with the EVO.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
DrawnToScale said:
I'm not a gamer, and 30 fps is a non-issue - I really don't get all the whining on this issue. Coming from WinMo, cutting & pasting with Android is a pain. I don't see a good solution yet for editing spreadsheets. Can't use Skype with Android.
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How does the cutting and pasting work? I didn't think about trying that at the store
There is no android skype client?
How do close apps on the EVO? How do you switch between active apps?
Hi.
I have my hd2 for about 3 months now and i really like it, but this morning on my way to work my phone died. Screen went black while i was browsing the net. I restarted it but phone is stuck on tmobile stick together splash screen. I was still rocking original tmous rom, so I called customer service and they told me that they will ship me a new one and also that i will have another 14 day trial period with it. So basically i can return this phone and pick another one. one of my friends got vibrant yesterday and i spent some time playing with it and phone seems to be pretty nice as well plus it runs android and since my last phone was g1 i am kinda used to it. Thing is i dont really like samsung phones as i had some bad experience with them in the past, so my question is, would You change your hd2 for vibrant if you had the opportunity? if yes please explain why.
I just saw it at the store about 30 minutes ago. I will say this, while being a nice phone, the avatar demo movie playing on it was chopping up and glitching a bunch. Not sure if thats the phone, or the player but video on the HD2 played way smoother and cleaner. Other then that I couldn't tell you anything. And your answer from me would be, HELL NO!! The HD2 just has too much going for it compared to everyother phone. Look at the rate of progress they are deving android for it! Near the speed of light. I could see droid being your stable OS on the HD2 in under 1 month.
The vibrant is a great phone, but not perfect either. I think in this case once again the choice just comes down to whether you get along better with Android or WM.
But, keep in mind that you'll likely never find a WM version ported to the Vibrant, where as the HD2 has several Android builds that are mostly working on it right now, and a fully-functional version should happen before very long.
i use both phones. the hd2, primarily for work and the vibrant as my "daily driver". both phones have some setbacks. with the hd2, my biggest complaint, on the latest stock rom, has been lagging and freezing during and after sending sms and mms. i usually have to soft reset my phone during these cases.
however, i am sure flashing of some custom roms should solve this issue but i have not had the time to do so. overall, i love the build quality of the hd2 and its gorgeous 4.3" display. i'm also running a dual boot of the latest android froyo port on it and it almost runs as smooth as the android os on my vibrant.
my biggest gripes about the vibrant is its overall build quality. it's pretty much plastic all over and very lightweight. there are some creaks during vibration.
while this might be a setback it's also one of the phone's strengths. some times i forget that it's in my pocket. it's very portable/pocketable and slim. bear in mind, it's screen is 4", not that much smaller than the hd2's. also its weight literally feels like a feather vs. the weight of the hd2.
my other complaint about the vibrant is the TouchWiz skinned interface. it looks a lot like the iphone. heck, the overall look of the phone looks like the iphone 3gs. however, i soon got over that that by installing some home theme replacement apps/ui such as Launcher Pro and ADW launder free from the android market. these themed UI apps look just like vanilla froyo roms and actually run smoother then the touchwiz theme.
Overall, the vibrant is seems to run a lot smoother, quicker v. the hd2 in terms of app launching and scrolling, screen transitioning, and gaming. furthermore, texting is great. no lags nor freezes and the included swype keyboard trumps the one provided by the hd2. no lags, delays, etc whatsoever. however, there are some lags and glitches here and there when running a number of apps or when using the android market. just like the hd2 and the winmo OS, there are task killers that you can download from the android market place. and let's not forget the beautiful and vibrant (yes, tmobile got it right with this nickname) the screen is. i literally have the brightness set at 0 and it's still stands out a bit vs. my hd2 set at about 20 pct to save battery. honestly, i've never seen a smartphone reproduce such colors in terms of watching movies like avatar so vividly. i'd say it's almost on par with the beautiful display of the iphone 4.
if you decide to purchase the vibrant, make use of the 14 day return period. make use of the android market and look in to this website, xda and see what the vibrant is capable of. rooting is SUPER easy on this phone and a froyo build should be coming out soon from team cyanogen (i.e. wes garner). The official OTA on android 2.2 will likely be out by the end of September for this phone as well.
I had an Android phone for about 18 months, and I've had my HD2 for about 4...
I love the HD2. Best phone I've ever had. The G1 was cool when it came out, and I was impressed initally, but it only took a week or so before it started to get "buggy". Once I rooted it, nothing imporved and I was constantly out of touch for hours at a time due to booting, wiping, flashing, etc...
HD2 totally different story. Say what you will about Windows Mobile 6.5, but it is very customizable and powerful, capable of many great feats. Not nearly as proprietary as iPhone or the upcoming WP7. And as of now as far as I know Microsoft is on record as stating they will be supporting and upgrading 6.5 for the next two years at least even though WP7 will be out.
The HD2 is very quick. The stock Opera browser, while not having native flash is very quick to load full media-rich pages. Having Office 2010 preloaded is a big plus for me, also.
I play the Ferrari GT Evolution game all the time, and since I got a class 6 SD Card, there is very little lag or stutter at all, graphics are very imressive. I know the Vibrant has a better screen but I think the HD2's is good enough to where this would not be considered a "deal breaker" (like not having a freakin' flash on your top model phone, I mean, come on, Samsung, is everyone there shooting meth?).
I have not had any problems with MMS, Text, or Facebook or Twitter on my HD2. All run very smoothly. I have 5 email accounts up and synching nicely.
As far as watching movies, if you have to run them side by side to tell the difference, again, I file it in the "not a dealbreaker" category. All I know is I can watch True Blood in H264 just fine on my HD2 and not even use 35% of the battery.
Battery life on the HD2 for me seems to be about a full day, plus a half if not having wifi on all the time.
People complain about the size but I love it. I like having a big, solidly-built smartphone that I know is sitting in my pocket and not going anywhere.
Anyway, I haven't played with the Vibrant yet so I can't do a comparison, but the flash for me is a big one, because I use the camera on my HD2 constantly. But my advice would be not to write off the HD2 just because of everything you hear about it. Give it a shot. It's a great phone.
Hope that helps.
to be fair, the op was asking about the vibrant. i also have a rooted g1 and i'd have to say the vibrant murders the g1 in every aspect. i have not rooted the vibrant out of the box because of how much internal memory it has (16 gb) and its blazing speed.
mfrey0118 said:
I had an Android phone for about 18 months, and I've had my HD2 for about 4...
I love the HD2. Best phone I've ever had. The G1 was cool when it came out, and I was impressed initally, but it only took a week or so before it started to get "buggy". Once I rooted it, nothing imporved and I was constantly out of touch for hours at a time due to booting, wiping, flashing, etc...
HD2 totally different story. Say what you will about Windows Mobile 6.5, but it is very customizable and powerful, capable of many great feats. Not nearly as proprietary as iPhone or the upcoming WP7. And as of now as far as I know Microsoft is on record as stating they will be supporting and upgrading 6.5 for the next two years at least even though WP7 will be out.
The HD2 is very quick. The stock Opera browser, while not having native flash is very quick to load full media-rich pages. Having Office 2010 preloaded is a big plus for me, also.
I play the Ferrari GT Evolution game all the time, and since I got a class 6 SD Card, there is very little lag or stutter at all, graphics are very imressive. I know the Vibrant has a better screen but I think the HD2's is good enough to where this would not be considered a "deal breaker" (like not having a freakin' flash on your top model phone, I mean, come on, Samsung, is everyone there shooting meth?).
I have not had any problems with MMS, Text, or Facebook or Twitter on my HD2. All run very smoothly. I have 5 email accounts up and synching nicely.
As far as watching movies, if you have to run them side by side to tell the difference, again, I file it in the "not a dealbreaker" category. All I know is I can watch True Blood in H264 just fine on my HD2 and not even use 35% of the battery.
Battery life on the HD2 for me seems to be about a full day, plus a half if not having wifi on all the time.
People complain about the size but I love it. I like having a big, solidly-built smartphone that I know is sitting in my pocket and not going anywhere.
Anyway, I haven't played with the Vibrant yet so I can't do a comparison, but the flash for me is a big one, because I use the camera on my HD2 constantly. But my advice would be not to write off the HD2 just because of everything you hear about it. Give it a shot. It's a great phone.
Hope that helps.
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ryan562 said:
to be fair, the op was asking about the vibrant. i also have a rooted g1 and i'd have to say the vibrant murders the g1 in every aspect. i have not rooted the vibrant out of the box because of how much internal memory it has (16 gb) and its blazing speed.
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To be accurate, they were asking if anyone would trade their HD2 for the Vibrant. I simply wanted to have an opportunity to let the OP know that his HD2 experience may be the exception rather than the norm, and to familiarize himself with how to use the device instead of simply giving up on it.
Thx for the replys.
I decided to stick with hd2. I flashed a custom rom same day i got my replacement and it really improved speed of the phone and everything work as smooth as i expected. On top of that im runing darkstone's froyo now and im loving it.
nomadwgk said:
Hi.
I have my hd2 for about 3 months now and i really like it, but this morning on my way to work my phone died. Screen went black while i was browsing the net. I restarted it but phone is stuck on tmobile stick together splash screen. I was still rocking original tmous rom, so I called customer service and they told me that they will ship me a new one and also that i will have another 14 day trial period with it. So basically i can return this phone and pick another one. one of my friends got vibrant yesterday and i spent some time playing with it and phone seems to be pretty nice as well plus it runs android and since my last phone was g1 i am kinda used to it. Thing is i dont really like samsung phones as i had some bad experience with them in the past, so my question is, would You change your hd2 for vibrant if you had the opportunity? if yes please explain why.
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No i wouod keep the hd2 but thats just me...but i agree with you on the samsung topic they really arent the greatest...
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
I came from the samsung captivate with high hopes and well I have noticed a few things the i would rather have over the atrix
one would be the screen, items like the opening screen to the xda app comes out pixaled
the overal make of the phone is I would say is cheap compared to the captivate. It feels as it would break on the first drop not to mention the plastic back cover feel as if it would break after a few openings. Overall I am content with it but not as happy as expected
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Agree here. Regret to have my inspire sold.
I'm pretty happy with it, coming from an iPhone 4 (and an Evo.)
Pros:
- Screen looks great, pretty close to my i4. Yeah, if I touch my nose to the glass, I can see pixels. I'm also fine with the screen not being AMOLED over-saturated. My regular laptop isn't, my PC isn't, my Atrix lapdock isn't, my i4 isn't, my Evo isn't, my HDTV's aren't, so it doesn't really bother me that the phone looks exactly the same as everything else I own.
- It is quite fast. As an example, I tend to install or update multiple apps at once, and on my Evo (which was overclocked), it would drag the phone to being nearly unresponsive having more than 1 thing going at once.
- I'm digging the accessories so far. The DLNA feature has been great for grabbing stuff from my media server and displaying it in 720p on my TV. It's not 1080 yet, but it still looks quite good. The browser works well on the TV as well. The lapdock has been quite nifty so far as well. Barring Windows games, I've had no problem doing everything else I use my standalone laptop for.
- Battery has been amazing, compared to either my Evo or i4.
- Fingerprint scanner works extremely well, I was surprised by this, pleasantly.
- The on-screen keyboard is fantastic, right up there with the i4. Far better than any other Android I've owned to date (which is quite a few.)
Cons:
- When flipping through the screens on the phone, it hasn't been all that smooth, even after a fresh boot. It's not bad, but its like my Evo, circa launch day, prior to mods to improve its responsiveness. Might be Motoblur related?
- Data uplink is killing my latency, which if it isn't something that is fixed relatively soon, could actually be a deal breaker for me, since I do like to tether to play stuff like Bad Company 2 while at work... 130ms latency on my Evo is okay, 400 on the Atrix... isn't.
- This might sound odd, but it's so smooth that it is slippery as hell. I've had a few miraculous catches following the phone just sliding right out of my hand.
- When grabbing media for my server, I have to copy it via DLNA to the device first, THEN play it, when using the Webtop OS in either the entertainment or lapdocks. I have a feeling this will come down to someone making a crafty software fix, but who knows.
- The lapdock needs a way to hide the icon bar at the bottom to expand the browser window. If you try a Facebook game, you can't quite fit the whole game window into view, and there are other things that have a similar issue.
Overall I'm pretty happy with it, and it seems like most of the issues I have can be solved in software, one way or another.
No stock UI works that well other than Sense. I suggest getting ADW launcher and theme it like your stock UI. Its very smooth side to side etc.
One thing I noticed - this phone is flat out HORRIBLE with UI animations such as the gingerbread launcher. My captivates UI speed blows this out of the water.
They need to fix that asap.
Pretty happy so far.
Im pretty happy with it so far. I came from the LG Expo which was a WM 6.5 device. This is my first Android phone, so it was a pretty big upgrade.
If there is one thing I am slightly disappointed in is the phone's ram. The "1gb" of ram appears to be split in half between the phone and the web top environment, so either one can only access 512mb at any one time. I'm only slightly disappointed because I expected it. It's another case of misleading, but not totally false advertising...now, about my missing "G" in network speed....
Also from iPhone 4. Still haven't decided if I am going to keep it yet, overall the phone is really nice, but it still just doesn't feel as smooth/fluid/solid as the iPhone. I was really hoping a nice Tegra 2 chip would make things smooth on Android but alas I was still disappointed. The phone is fast don't get me wrong, but the UI still has plenty of places that are just ... chunky. Overall build quality of the phone is also nice, but it still doesn't feel nearly as solid in my hand as the iPhone does.
I like the phone just not sure I like it tons better than my captivate. I think a lot of people that downplay samoled screens have never owned one. Its very tough going back. Overall my phone flys using launcher pro plus with 3d animations. No slow Downs or chunkiness whatsoever.
I'm definitely happy. I @so came from the Captivate and there isn't anything I would change.
I LOVE the fact that the pixel Dr/ity is larger, therefore making everything smaller. today is going to be the first day I see how it performs out in the realworld so I hope that goes well
I'm thinking about picking up the laptock dock since you can tether for free as well... might wait a while though since I don't need it now.
Rooted/ROM Captivate
Rooted Atrix
I'm unimpressed. Of course it's fast but not noticeably faster than the inspire. I really want to keep this phone and use it as my main device but it's not looking good right now. The touch screen isn't as responsive as the captivate or the inspire. When I try to fly through things, I find the phone missing registered touches. At first, I just thought I need to get used to this device but I could do this on the inspire and captivate with no problem at all. I'm going to give this more time so we'll see how it goes. Another thing I noticed, Motorola has a load of crap that runs on the device that I'll never use (see running services) and it takes up a significant amount of memory. It'd be a pain to go through and manually end these services. Even after using a task killer, most of the services persisted.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Coming from the Nexus One, which is still regarded as the baseline for a good Android device, I'd have to say I'm pretty happy with it, no regrets at all in selling my N1 to get this. Yes, I do sorely miss the stock UI and being in that comfort zone that I'll be first to get updates (even though Google has been slacking lately). With that said, the pros out number the cons.
Pros
- BLOODY fast
- Battery is 1000x better than the Nexus One. I can go a whole day on one charge and it's not an iPhone? Say it ain't so
- Screen is 1000x better than the Nexus One, and very, very close to my wife's iPhone 4
I don't know what the guy above is smoking, but the Atrix is a 1000X better than the Captivate in terms of build quality. I was sorta anxious about it being all plastic, but the phone feels rock solid. With an Otter Box Commuter on the way, I doubt I'll ever notice it was any different than my ex-N1 (with a Commuter case as well).
Neutral
- The phone isn't the prettiest, but certainly nice.
Cons
- Motoblur adds some nice touches, but overall it's slow. I'm using LauncherPro Plus which is getting me back some of my sanity.
- Doesn't come with Gingerbread out of the box :-(
- Power button location sucks
- Volume buttons are on wrong side :-(
- I know people hate trackball, but until Gingerbread makes it out to the Atrix, copy-n-paste SUCKS
I prefer this phone over my captivate 10 fold. The screen is not a big issue to me as a lot of times on the captivate screen peoples faces always had a tint of red to them. Over saturation is over saturation no matter how you look at it. The phone is also super fast in UI transitions for me and is worlds better then the captivate in that respect. Motoblur home UI used to cause all sorts of slow down but switching to launcher pro fixed all of those issues. The phone is really quick and snappy. The XDA load screen is pixelated i would assume because it is a lower res image in the first place. Also why is that even important? it's just a load screen?
Some people are just trying too hard to find any excuse to hate the phone.
tbae2 said:
The XDA load screen is pixelated i would assume because it is a lower res image in the first place. Also why is that even important? it's just a load screen?
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Coming from a Nexus One (which btw was a great phone in its own right), and having had a plethora of phones including an iPhone 4 and a Captivate, I am very happy with the Atrix.
There are a lot of people making a big deal of AMOLED vs LCD. What I'd like to add is that it really is COMPLETELY A MATTER OF PERSONAL PREFERENCE! I, for one, prefer the more natural tones and higher brightness of an LCD display, but do see the draw of the higher contrast AMOLED. There are valid arguments for the pros and cons of both types of displays, and it really is best to see the two side by side in various environments to determine what works best for you.
Moving right along to the data speed: I've read a lot of posts about the data being capped and slower than 3g phones, but this has not been my experience! I used the new SIM they sent me and made sure I was on the 4G plan, and now my downloads are consistently faster than they are on the N1 and even faster than the iPhone (funny how that the iPhone still sets the benchmark).
Lastly, I want to address the performance of the phone: I think it's phenomenal! I did root and replace the stock launcher right away, but besides that everything is stock. The phone is super responsive. The transitions are seamless. Everything works great with one exception - the lock screen which takes a second to come up.
To wrap up, I think the Atrix is a very nice upgrade to my N1 and that Motorola hit a home run with this phone. Granted, we won't realize it's full potential for a few months, but I believe that the Atrix is a great platform and will have superb development support from the community!
dew.man said:
Coming from a Nexus One (which btw was a great phone in its own right), and having had a plethora of phones including an iPhone 4 and a Captivate, I am very happy with the Atrix.
There are a lot of people making a big deal of AMOLED vs LCD. What I'd like to add is that it really is COMPLETELY A MATTER OF PERSONAL PREFERENCE! I, for one, prefer the more natural tones and higher brightness of an LCD display, but do see the draw of the higher contrast AMOLED. There are valid arguments for the pros and cons of both types of displays, and it really is best to see the two side by side in various environments to determine what works best for you.
Moving right along to the data speed: I've read a lot of posts about the data being capped and slower than 3g phones, but this has not been my experience! I used the new SIM they sent me and made sure I was on the 4G plan, and now my downloads are consistently faster than they are on the N1 and even faster than the iPhone (funny how that the iPhone still sets the benchmark).
Lastly, I want to address the performance of the phone: I think it's phenomenal! I did root and replace the stock launcher right away, but besides that everything is stock. The phone is super responsive. The transitions are seamless. Everything works great with one exception - the lock screen which takes a second to come up.
To wrap up, I think the Atrix is a very nice upgrade to my N1 and that Motorola hit a home run with this phone. Granted, we won't realize it's full potential for a few months, but I believe that the Atrix is a great platform and will have superb development support from the community!
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exactly, my phone pulls the same DL speeds I could get from my captivate in my area. The only thing I'm lacking is the upload speed.
Think I'm going back to my inspire.....on another note, the Atrix's GPS is STELLAR
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
I'm extremely happy with mine. Coming from a ton of phones recently, including iP4, Captivate, Inspire, Surround among others. It may be the perfect size of phone/screen combo for me. Atrix is super fast and I'm good with the screen.
Everyone sees it's a pentile display and all of sudden it's garbage. I don't notice pixels. Sure, maybe if I got really close and squint my eyes I might. I'll never know because I don't spend all day trying to figure out how my phone sucks. Web page loads are faster than the Inspire for me.
Battery looks to be insanely good compared to the Inspire. I'd been using mine heavily since 10am yesterday googing around with it and playing games. I didn't plug it in when I went to bed and it still said 40% when I woke up. I realize that it goes in increments of 10, but that's pretty solid.
Sound quality is excellent! Talking on the phone shows really great audio quality for me. The biggest surprise was how loud/clear the speaker is for music and nav. I couldn't be happier with the phone.
Aaron J said:
If there is one thing I am slightly disappointed in is the phone's ram. The "1gb" of ram appears to be split in half between the phone and the web top environment, so either one can only access 512mb at any one time. I'm only slightly disappointed because I expected it. It's another case of misleading, but not totally false advertising...now, about my missing "G" in network speed....
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Click to collapse
Hey, that's interesting. How did you come to this conclusion? I can't find any place in the settings that tells exactly how much RAM is in use/available.
Happy from aa TP2 but furious about what I paid for. Horrible Service no, Signed bootloader. Capped 3g Speeds, forget about 4g that is non existent where I live although it says 4G+
sdlopez83 said:
Happy from aa TP2 but furious about what I paid for. Horrible Service no, Signed bootloader. Capped 3g Speeds, forget about 4g that is non existent where I live although it says 4G+
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Just curious why you bought it if your service is so bad? We all knew the bootloader was going to be locked down because it's Moto.
I found the Inspire to be light years ahead of the Captivate, and the Atrix to be just a notch above the Inspire. Also, I like the Atrix's skinned version of Swype. I honestly didn't even know it came with Swype until last night. I was using stock the whole time. lol
As for the iPhone 4, I can see why some aren't as impressed. When it comes down to it, no phone on the market can match its polish. Some come close, but none match. For me, I just prefer Android over iOS.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App