Related
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=618039
Ok, there is aleady a thread over the Nexus forum, but all I got were "pro" nexus. I was curious to see if maybe it was a bit biased... so I'm posting here and asking you guys.
HD2 or Nexus? and why? pro's and cons would be great.
I'm coming from a Windows mobile, I've gotten to like it, except for the lag... but the HD2 shouldn't have any issues. I sold my HD2 euro and wanted to wait for the T-Mobile variant to release so that I could get 3G. In the mean time I got a Nexus and am quite surprised. I love the amoled screen but what I think I love the most is the google integration. I mean voice, maps, gmail, docs, all of it... it just works great. I wonder if that was my main aspect that I'm focusing on, if the HD2 can compare? I love the latitude part... it really helps.
So if I can: 1) use latitude, 2) use google voice, 3) view google docs I'd be set cause I know it can do the other things... (right?)
What do you guys think?
I prefer the HD2, because, WinMo has a very long expérience! WinMo with Sense on the HD2 is very wonderfull ! I have no bugs or lag (sometimes but clean with SnapDragon)... I'm just waiting a new hotfix for the sms...
Android is fashion, but maybe he needs more experience !! ??
I want to tell you : "Choose your OS..." I prefer WinMo with sometimes his lags, but what do you prefer?
Sorry about my english...
I don't have either, but I'm waiting for the US HD2 as well.
I do have a HTC Dream and I feel that Android (1.6/2.1) and app selection is still not mature enough yet. My only experience with WM is WM6 on my iPAQ hx4700 w/ 4" VGA. I enjoyed all the apps that I was able to use on it. (Mainly videos and txt/pdfs)
Android DOES have some killer apps that I wish would come over to WM. Specifically the Google apps (GMaps, GMail, GTalk, GVoice, GSkyMap, Contacts integration with GMail.. etc). 'My Tracks' is an app that I enjoyed over the summer to log my jogging. Video codecs are extremely lacking. Also I prefer not have to have be connected to the internet for things to work.
^^ what do You mean by new sms fix? in 1.66 messaging works just fine, so...
anyway... I was tempted by android too at some point, but I have all the apps that I need on hd2 plus it looks much better than nexus imho. speed is great and as I spend lots of time outside, amoled screen is not a real pro for me. latest rom brings stability and sense is a pure joy to use. browsing with opera is awesome, fpsece playstation emulator elevates phone gaming to next level and after some time spent on tweaking and tuning I have a device that is hard to be beaten in ergonomy and useability. maybe winmo 6.5 doesn't look as cool as android, but it does the job well and htc spent some time to make it at least bit more user friendly. just my two pence...
Very tough call, but ultimately will be decided by what you do most with your phone.
I am staying with HD2 becuase Google calendar etc work fine, can sync my gmail account. Most important for me though is the ability to tweak. If you get the opportunity, try a HD2 with a cooked ROM (something like Dutty's or Energy).
I am equally impressed with the Nexus One, but it doesn't give me the same fun as the HD2. My work colleague has one. Whichever OS you go for, you're extremely unlikely to be dissapointed.
Umi
lol. I've had both and did try different roms. I'm just trying to see what people think. But I did like how it synced the contacts, gmail calender all that was great, I just didn't try voice, and try opening google docs. I get annoyed of the nexus on screen and the weird registry of touch. I think this is definately a tough decision.
Cheeze[iT] said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=618039
Ok, there is aleady a thread over the Nexus forum, but all I got were "pro" nexus. I was curious to see if maybe it was a bit biased... so I'm posting here and asking you guys.
HD2 or Nexus? and why? pro's and cons would be great.
I'm coming from a Windows mobile, I've gotten to like it, except for the lag... but the HD2 shouldn't have any issues. I sold my HD2 euro and wanted to wait for the T-Mobile variant to release so that I could get 3G. In the mean time I got a Nexus and am quite surprised. I love the amoled screen but what I think I love the most is the google integration. I mean voice, maps, gmail, docs, all of it... it just works great. I wonder if that was my main aspect that I'm focusing on, if the HD2 can compare? I love the latitude part... it really helps.
So if I can: 1) use latitude, 2) use google voice, 3) view google docs I'd be set cause I know it can do the other things... (right?)
What do you guys think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One things that niggles me about Win Mo (i currently have a Treo Pro and TP2) is its lack of a good Google Voice and Facebook apps.
If you're invested in Google services already like gmail,maps,voice and so on, then the Nexus 1 would be what i'd say to stick with. If you want more tinkering (custom ROMS and such) and a bit more aggravation then Win Mo should be it.
I played with a Hero for a while and couldn't believe how seamless the Google services integrate with Android.
Me personally i want Android on a HD2-sized device....
LordLugard said:
Me personally i want Android on a HD2-sized device....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. I think I enjoy the form factor of the HD2 more than anything...
The HD2 (or WinMo for that matter) is an adult's phone. Imagine if it was advertised to kids on MTV, we'd have a whole forum littered with kids in tears because they couldn't receive their friends' facebook status update.
Android/iphone is dumbed down for the general public's use. WinMo is not. Which side are you?
lude219 said:
The HD2 (or WinMo for that matter) is an adult's phone. Imagine if it was advertised to kids on MTV, we'd have a whole forum littered with kids in tears because they couldn't receive their friends' facebook status update.
Android/iphone is dumbed down for the general public's use. WinMo is not. Which side are you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats one way of putting it... I'm all for the HD2, but like I mentioned, I just need the google integration. How do you think it handles, google latitude, and google docs? I already know it does sync, mail, and maps well enough.
I looked hard at the Nexus but decided its styling wasnt doing it for me. Screen size was smaller as well.
After getting my T Mobile HD2 I was a little frustrated with what was and wasnt on that ROM. I just thought a lot of stuff would work out of the box....
So after my initial frustration, I've reflashed it with stock ROM and added stuff like coreplayer, myplayer etc ....
I got to say using the kaiser side by side with the Leo there is no comparison obviously.
The screen is superb in both quality and size. Who says size doent matter
still a happy winmo user
Get HD2.
Dual-boot with Android.
????
Profit!
Cheeze[iT] said:
thats one way of putting it... I'm all for the HD2, but like I mentioned, I just need the google integration. How do you think it handles, google latitude, and google docs? I already know it does sync, mail, and maps well enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't really comment on Google Voice/Docs as I don't use them myself - both are however supported on WinMo devices according to Google so you should be fine.
Latitude on the other hand I do use and as far as I can tell it works as well as it does on any other device. My location is 'always' up to date and I have access to my contacts locations by the press of a button. I've seen some reports on people saying their location is not updated if GM is not running/active, but have not experienced this myself; as long as I select to "continue sharing my location" it does so no matter if it's running or not.
Now I have installed a ROM based on the official update (paul @ modaco's recommended repack).
But what's new???
I see that there are small, incremental improvements here and there, but overall I'm a bit disappointed at the lack of changes/improvements. It's all business as usual.
What's more, it turns out that Google Maps Navigation (the feature I was most looking forward to with the update) is not available in Australia so I can't use it after all.
There's also no voice searching like there is on other phones on 2.1. I tried installing a google voice search APK someone had floating around but it didn't work.
The improved Market app is nice, though I still can't filter or sort entries the way I'd want (how to sort by star rating and filter out anything containing the term 'soundboard'?)
Can anyone suggest some cool new things I can do with my new 2.1 based Hero?
Basically you can install lots more apps. But not much more. That's why I revert to stock because it's perfect
I think you can install an additional Maps apk (i think I have seen one some time ago, must be somewhere on my sd card), then you had 2 Maps entries in your program list, one of them did navigate, even if official navigation was not yet available.
Not sure if that still works though
MercuryStar said:
What's more, it turns out that Google Maps Navigation (the feature I was most looking forward to with the update) is not available in Australia so I can't use it after all.
There's also no voice searching like there is on other phones on 2.1. I tried installing a google voice search APK someone had floating around but it didn't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be patient, Google Maps Navigation and Google Voice Search are available in Germany and other European Countries since today, I guess, they will come soon also down under With 1.5 you'll never see them on the market ...
hkr said:
Be patient
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
That should be HTC's slogan FFS.
You can look for Brut.all maps somewhere in xda - they contain navigation everywhere in the world I think.
I've since read about Gallery 3D and live wallpapers. And voice integration in the keyboard. Again, not on HTC's official 2.1. Um... so HTC's customers just miss out?
I guess I could try waiting for the world wide english ROM. But I doubt it'd be something they'd have specifically removed just for the Taiwan ROM (would they?).
My other option is moving to a vanilla (AOSP perhaps) ROM. But then I'd miss the HTC features that are good like HTC mail, Peep, etc.
Anyway, I doubt I'm the first person to have grumped about this, you've probably heard it all before.
MercuryStar said:
I've since read about Gallery 3D and live wallpapers. And voice integration in the keyboard. Again, not on HTC's official 2.1. Um... so HTC's customers just miss out?
I guess I could try waiting for the world wide english ROM. But I doubt it'd be something they'd have specifically removed just for the Taiwan ROM (would they?).
My other option is moving to a vanilla (AOSP perhaps) ROM. But then I'd miss the HTC features that are good like HTC mail, Peep, etc.
Anyway, I doubt I'm the first person to have grumped about this, you've probably heard it all before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firstly Gallery3d is an aosp thing i think, Its from eclair (Vanilla 2.1) Live wallpapers are not made for our hero,Mainly for HTC Phones using a snapdragon CPU so we wont get those.....Maybe if you had come from the raw 1.5 sense build to 2.1 Sense you would notice the difference?
Having running 2.1 for a while before the update is released will put a downer on the official update..
Oh and now we have no green camera issue
I was happy with 1.5 but I've installed VillainRom 10 and it's a nice update. Nothing spectacular but it just feels a bit more fluid and snappy. The camera surprised me: it seems a lot quicker and has more options.
MercuryStar said:
Now I have installed a ROM based on the official update (paul @ modaco's recommended repack).
But what's new???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are some things some people have been really looking forward too, so they might be happy. But this is why people like me and others have been saying for a long time that the whole 'HTC-hate-thing-when-is-the-updating-coming' is very stupid, because in the end... it's just an Hero ROM!
Still, to be complete, some (new) things people might've been waiting for:
They got access to apps that were missing from the Market on <= 1.5
Bluetooth file transfer (and maybe other missing profiles?)
Google Navigation / Buzz / or other new Google additions 'only for 2.x'
Faster camera app
Newer (optimzed / faster) official Sense build.
People expecting Gallery3d, livewallpapers, Friendstream, etc... they just don't realize they have an Hero... a device that was already outdated when it came out, let alone a year later.
bonesy said:
Maybe if you had come from the raw 1.5 sense build to 2.1 Sense you would notice the difference?
Having running 2.1 for a while before the update is released will put a downer on the official update..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was running stock sense 1.5 on it previously. Just rooted, no modifications.
MercuryStar said:
Now I have installed a ROM based on the official update (paul @ modaco's recommended repack).
But what's new???
I see that there are small, incremental improvements here and there, but overall I'm a bit disappointed at the lack of changes/improvements. It's all business as usual.
What's more, it turns out that Google Maps Navigation (the feature I was most looking forward to with the update) is not available in Australia so I can't use it after all.
There's also no voice searching like there is on other phones on 2.1. I tried installing a google voice search APK someone had floating around but it didn't work.
The improved Market app is nice, though I still can't filter or sort entries the way I'd want (how to sort by star rating and filter out anything containing the term 'soundboard'?)
Can anyone suggest some cool new things I can do with my new 2.1 based Hero?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's no 2.2, but still I feel that's a considerable Update.
Yes there are small updates here and there which make the experience better. Things like App Update notifications, nice fullscreen weather animations, more widgets, like Power controls, better camera, more setting options etc.
One of the most considerable advantages over 1.5 is app support. Apps which were coded for 2.1 are now visible and available. What's more Hero was the biggest factor in developers developing for min. version 1.5, as there are lots of Heros around. Now it's 2.1 all the way.
Other things of the top of my head: better Exchange, better faster browser, better Contacts manager, Voice integration and most certainly alt of under the hood improvements.
P.S. Use brut maps for navigation, as someone already said.
Biggest thing for me is probably Bluetooth, actually being able to send files, photos, music to another phone is something I have been missing a great deal.
graculusthegreenbird said:
Biggest thing for me is probably Bluetooth, actually being able to send files, photos, music to another phone is something I have been missing a great deal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll second THAT!
slovoflud said:
P.S. Use brut maps for navigation, as someone already said.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks to both of you for the tip about Brut Maps. It works
I've just flashed VanillaEclair and am enjoying it.
Looks like HTC's Sense stuff doesn't really evolve all that much across Android versions, whereas they've updated a bit more of the non-Sense stuff (much of which people with phones other than the Hero already had).
At the moment I'm feeling a little that I don't want to be held back by HTC Sense, hence giving a Vanilla ROM a spin.
Hi
I recently lost my Hero and have been offered (by my bank insurers) a replacement Hero or an HD2 (or other phones I'm uninterested in). I loved the Hero, although it was laggy and generally underpowered, but the whole Android thing was/is pretty damn good. I've also had a Tytn II, so I'm aware of the WinMo foibles. My other half has also given me her Hero (for the time being at least) because she just doesn't get on with it. So, what do I do from here:
1) Opt for replacement Hero and either sell it or give my gf's one back to her?
2) Take the HD2 and make it my primary phone
3) Take the HD2 and sell it so I can buy a iPhone 3GS (or upgrade early and get a 4)
Day to day, I need to be able to run the following:
Evernote
Remember the Milk
MP3
Video
RSS feeds
Solid browsing
RSS feeds
Good calender integration (with Googlemail preferably)
Good Twitter app
Good Facebook app
Separate work and personal contacts (currently all work contacts are on Exchange and all personal ones are on Googlemail - handled perfectly by Android)
Solid and reliable GPS (for both driving (if possible) and tracking my running/biking - Android has 3-4 great apps for this)
Integration with Exchange (inc tasks preferably) as well as Googlemail (inc Calendar if possible)
The Hero does the above very well, but like I say is a laggy - a Desire would be great but not really an option.
The iPhone does it all (not sure how it manages/separates contacts though) and obviously has the huge app store.
The HD2 has a luscious front end and possibly does all the above - but does it separate work stuff from personal stuff? And do you still have to dig around in the WM backend to get it to do things?
Anyway, that's generally where I'm at. What do you recommend? Would appreciate any thoughts and comments.
Thanks in advance.
SC
PS I'm in the UK and use Vodafone.
EDIT: I should add that I've checked out loads of HD2 reviews and the concensus seems to be that the front end is really quick n slick, but ultimately it's still a WinMo OS - the former looks great and certainly looks the part, but does the latter really cause "problems?"
EDIT: I've also read that the HD2 can develop lag/hanging - but I guess every phone can. Is there a fix to this? I've heard that flashing the ROM can sort this, but returning the phone to HTC seems OTT to me. What say you? Cheers
I've also heard that the XDA forum has links to various (unofficial) WM app stores - haven't really found them yet, so can anyone say whether these "additional" apps are genuinely good?
I'm gonna be honest here, bud. The hd2 probably isn't for you. It is essentially a tweakers phone. here's why:
The lushus front end you speak of is painfully slow out of the box and to get it running smoothly you need to install a couple of apps (a 3d driver patch and a program to force the cpu to run at full speed all the time).
The facebook app is ok but i would not call it excellent and that's after you install the update from MS marketplace.
Opera 9.7 is a solid browser and if you want flash have a look at skyfire or opera 10.
The GPS rocks as long you configure windows to use it properly and get the latest version of google maps. The inbuilt mp3 player sucks and sounds like a 3 year old bashing saucepans with a wooden spoon (this is coming from a partially deaf person so it's bad) there are alternatives but none of the ones i tried sounded much better until i installed SRS WOWHD 2.1 for windows mobile.
I did check to see if you could get evernote for windows mobile and you can. The reminder system is as good as outlook 2010 but you can't split your contacts into groups. Although, coz it's windows mobile exchange integration is flawless and supports ssl secured direct push (and if you have exchange 2010 and outlook 2010 you can enjoy having your text messages viewable in outlook on the pc)
For video you'll probably want to look at tcpmp or it's big brother coreplayer and WM includes the MS rss feed application.
I love the Leo but i'm an IT engineer and messing about with computer hardware and software is what i do for a living (and for fun). A lot of people find it irritating because they have a lot of problems with it, or they find the battery life is too short but from my experience it is because they are just not IT literate enough to deal with the small glitches, that 9 times out of 10, they themselves have caused.
So to summarise, if you want a quiet life, aren't interesting in tweaking or modifying your phone and want all the features on your wish list get the desire. If you want a half assed attempt at a phone, that only lets you do one thing at a time and locks you into 2 different proprietry technologies, get the iPhone and if you love tweaking and modding, want the freedom to do anything you want with your device, a massive screen and a phone so fast that, once tweaked a little, could beat the holy hell out of that windows 98 desktop you had back in the day, get a HD2
P.S. If you do get a hd2 the first thing you should do is get the office mobile 2010 update from ms because it's not included by default and is much better than OM 2007
P.P.S. Just to put my speed statement into context. The iPhone 4 which is as yet unreleased still won't be as fast as the Leo which is almost a year on the market
Going by the price of the Hero in NZ, that's a pretty good deal, no? At the very least, you could take the HD2, try it, and sell it to buy another Hero and then some, no?
I'd honestly recommend the HD2 - best phone I've ever used, and the current dev community is making new apps and mods on a daily basis. Re: listed apps, the majority are integrated in Sense UI, and the rest of the functions are fine - unsure on Remember The Milk since it's not an application I'm familiar with. Tasks/reminders?
As for the unofficial app store, check out Omarket - or just browse XDA!
EDIT: As noted above, it's a phone for those who love tweaking everything they possibly can. If you want an out-of-box experience, iphone's the way to go - Personally, I get irked every time I find something I can't change.
Thanks guys - I appreciate the lengthy replies.
Having mildly tweaked my Tytn II and Hero in the past, I'm happy to do the same with the HD2 - which I've just ordered as a replacement. I don't really want to get into rooting and custom ROMs but I've no problem digging around to a degree. I trust the developers here and generally look forward to getting the most out of this phone.
BTW, does it integrate well with Googlemail for contacts and calendaring? All my personal stuff is on there. Or do you have to use the SIM or memory and proprietary apps?
Also, do most market apps utilise the WM UI or does the HD2's skin kick in and make the experience more lush?
Thanks again
SC
Iphone 4 slower then HD2 yeah right> hahaha
Googlemail works fine mate just set it up as an outlook account and the mail will be pushed instead of searched for every hour or so, my contacts and calender entries sync fine from gmail.
and @brushednwhite check the specs
You can integrate with google as an exchange server and sync calendar/email/etc. There's a thread in the T-mobile HD2 forums about it, I use an actual Exchange account so Gmail's just sync'd as an additional email account. It's pretty versatile.
As for the UI, each application has its own. Sense UI is just a front end for HTC's applications and menu skins. There are applications that have the same look though, and you can change/replace anything in the default WinMo menus anyway - I have no problem with 6.5's look myself.
Rooting Android isn't really comparable to WinMo - you may have to disable security warnings to install unsigned apps, but the highly recommended BSB Tweaks will do that for you. Hard SPL is the closest to rooting, it basically lets you install custom ROMs and radios. I have no problem with the stock ROM myself, and it's the first time that's been the case for me - your mileage may vary.
brushednwhite said:
Iphone 4 slower then HD2 yeah right> hahaha
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What a totally helpful and impartial reply!
M3PH said:
I'm gonna be honest here, bud. The hd2 probably isn't for you. It is essentially a tweakers phone. here's why:
The lushus front end you speak of is painfully slow out of the box and to get it running smoothly you need to install a couple of apps (a 3d driver patch and a program to force the cpu to run at full speed all the time).
The facebook app is ok but i would not call it excellent and that's after you install the update from MS marketplace.
Opera 9.7 is a solid browser and if you want flash have a look at skyfire or opera 10.
The GPS rocks as long you configure windows to use it properly and get the latest version of google maps. The inbuilt mp3 player sucks and sounds like a 3 year old bashing saucepans with a wooden spoon (this is coming from a partially deaf person so it's bad) there are alternatives but none of the ones i tried sounded much better until i installed SRS WOWHD 2.1 for windows mobile.
I did check to see if you could get evernote for windows mobile and you can. The reminder system is as good as outlook 2010 but you can't split your contacts into groups. Although, coz it's windows mobile exchange integration is flawless and supports ssl secured direct push (and if you have exchange 2010 and outlook 2010 you can enjoy having your text messages viewable in outlook on the pc)
For video you'll probably want to look at tcpmp or it's big brother coreplayer and WM includes the MS rss feed application.
I love the Leo but i'm an IT engineer and messing about with computer hardware and software is what i do for a living (and for fun). A lot of people find it irritating because they have a lot of problems with it, or they find the battery life is too short but from my experience it is because they are just not IT literate enough to deal with the small glitches, that 9 times out of 10, they themselves have caused.
So to summarise, if you want a quiet life, aren't interesting in tweaking or modifying your phone and want all the features on your wish list get the desire. If you want a half assed attempt at a phone, that only lets you do one thing at a time and locks you into 2 different proprietry technologies, get the iPhone and if you love tweaking and modding, want the freedom to do anything you want with your device, a massive screen and a phone so fast that, once tweaked a little, could beat the holy hell out of that windows 98 desktop you had back in the day, get a HD2
P.S. If you do get a hd2 the first thing you should do is get the office mobile 2010 update from ms because it's not included by default and is much better than OM 2007
P.P.S. Just to put my speed statement into context. The iPhone 4 which is as yet unreleased still won't be as fast as the Leo which is almost a year on the market
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@M3PH, what program(s) did you use to crank up the CPU speed on the HD2? Been looking for one but could do with some advice on what programs/tweaks to use
Thanks
why not keep your gf's phone and buy her something else to use?
sam29792 said:
@M3PH, what program(s) did you use to crank up the CPU speed on the HD2? Been looking for one but could do with some advice on what programs/tweaks to use
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The programe you are looking for is LeoCpuSpeed v3.
brushednwhite said:
Iphone 4 slower then HD2 yeah right> hahaha
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's certainly no faster.
I'd be inclined to agree with M3PH's summary of the HD2. Given the choice now I'd go for an Android based OS. Not to say I don't love my HD2 and WM 6.5.x. But it does seem dated in comparison. How about getting the more expensive phone, selling and getting an unlocked say, Desire?
Spacechimp said:
.....EDIT: I should add that I've checked out loads of HD2 reviews and the concensus seems to be that the front end is really quick n slick, but ultimately it's still a WinMo OS - the former looks great and certainly looks the part, but does the latter really cause "problems?"
EDIT: I've also read that the HD2 can develop lag/hanging - but I guess every phone can. Is there a fix to this? I've heard that flashing the ROM can sort this, but returning the phone to HTC seems OTT to me. What say you? Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally i love WM. The lag/hanging you speak of was there for me from the moment i turned the phone on for the first time and it is caused by the that lovely UI (sense). The way to solve it is to increase the filsesystem cache, use LCS to remove the autoscaling on the CPU and then set the clock speed to the maximum. I then went off and installed chainfire's 3D driver patch and tweaked the screen BPP. There are some other performance tweaks that i did but there is a thread full of them (BSB tweaks has most of them).
The sms app has major performance issues but there are newer versions available on the forum that you can install. Version 2015 seems to be the best.
I've i had the choice again i would still buy the Leo over anything else but i do recommend it to people thinking of getting one, that aren't nessecarily that patient, with words of caution.
Anyway, i'm off to burn a few litres of nitro fuel and annoy the neighbours with my poorly silenced r/c car (it's a big boys toy )
M3PH said:
Personally i love WM. The lag/hanging you speak of was there for me from the moment i turned the phone on for the first time and it is caused by the that lovely UI (sense). The way to solve it is to increase the filsesystem cache, use LCS to remove the autoscaling on the CPU and then set the clock speed to the maximum. I then went off and installed chainfire's 3D driver patch and tweaked the screen BPP. There are some other performance tweaks that i did but there is a thread full of them (BSB tweaks has most of them).
The sms app has major performance issues but there are newer versions available on the forum that you can install. Version 2015 seems to be the best.
I've i had the choice again i would still buy the Leo over anything else but i do recommend it to people thinking of getting one, that aren't nessecarily that patient, with words of caution.
Anyway, i'm off to burn a few litres of nitro fuel and annoy the neighbours with my poorly silenced r/c car (it's a big boys toy )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to let you know of a different experience...
I've never experience the lag spoken of and have never needed to set my HD2 to run it's CPU at full all the time.. (i understand thats what the CPU speed tweak does but may be wrong)
Likewise my SMS app never lags... (depends how many sms's you keep i guess)
I have installed a custom ROM (its really easy my 3 yr old could manage it) and have never looked back.
More stability, extra features and generally faster than the stock ROM.
The unofficially app stores are available. (o-market is the common one) and coupled with the windows app store means you can get nearly anything.. not to mention all the other apps that are available on XDA!!
It's a great phone and you can spend your time tweaking it or just use it.. mine's fast and stable with it's custom ROM.. no need to tweak it further.....
crispy514 said:
Just to let you know of a different experience...
I've never experience the lag spoken of and have never needed to set my HD2 to run it's CPU at full all the time.. (i understand thats what the CPU speed tweak does but may be wrong)
Likewise my SMS app never lags... (depends how many sms's you keep i guess)
I have installed a custom ROM (its really easy my 3 yr old could manage it) and have never looked back.
More stability, extra features and generally faster than the stock ROM.
The unofficially app stores are available. (o-market is the common one) and coupled with the windows app store means you can get nearly anything.. not to mention all the other apps that are available on XDA!!
It's a great phone and you can spend your time tweaking it or just use it.. mine's fast and stable with it's custom ROM.. no need to tweak it further.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree with the custom rom bit and the lag disappeared on the stock rom once i had tweaked a lil (the one that really help is a tweak to allow manila/sense more memory to use) i will always have sms lag has i have over 5000 messages in my database and the most popular contact has a little over half of that to herself .
M3PH said:
I totally agree with the custom rom bit and the lag disappeared on the stock rom once i had tweaked a lil (the one that really help is a tweak to allow manila/sense more memory to use) i will always have sms lag has i have over 5000 messages in my database and the most popular contact has a little over half of that to herself .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess I'd have sms lag with that many texts!!
Thanks all.
I'll see how it performs when it arrives and use the CPU tweak etc if necessary.
It looks like a very capable phone out of the box, so I guess I won't be wanting to customise too much - but the odd performance/functionality tweak may well be on the menu.
Cheers
SC
Get a HTC Desire. A Hero with HD2 power!!
Online it is cheaper than the HD2, so you could sell the HD2 & buy a Desire.
Spacechimp said:
It looks like a very capable phone out of the box, so I guess I won't be wanting to customise too much - but the odd performance/functionality tweak may well be on the menu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, don't fool yourself, I give you a month tops before the allure of flashing a decent custom ROM sucks you in!
Kalavere said:
Haha, don't fool yourself, I give you a month tops before the allure of flashing a decent custom ROM sucks you in!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's why I said "I guess" ... I don't want to go as deep as playing with custom ROMs but you never know ...
omar302 said:
Get a HTC Desire. A Hero with HD2 power!!
Online it is cheaper than the HD2, so you could sell the HD2 & buy a Desire.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had the Hero for nearly a year and in a way fancy a change, even though the Desire is a very sorted device. Besides, the missus is kind of giving me her Hero because she doesn't get on with it - so I'll stick 2.1 on that if and when it finally arrives.
Dears,
I would like to share with you my experience in the Samsung Galaxy S II after using it for one full week. My previous cell phone was Nokia N900 and I was owning too a Samsung Galaxy Tab. Currently I have my lovely Samasung Galaxy S II after losing the Nokia and Selling the Tab
So let us go into the subject, find below my personal review and please share yours as well but i want to highlight that I am a heavy user in terms of the following:
- Performing at least 2 hours of voice calling during the day (3G coverage - GSM).
- The mail is always in a sync mode (GMail and Yahoo).
- Gtalk, Yahoo messenger and Tango is always on.
- Surfing the web at least one hour a day.
- Heavy Twitter user @fadimck (if you like to follow ).
- Capturing at least 15 to 20 images.
Now let us check the performance in the first week:
First two days, the battery last for only half a day.
This was due to playing a lot with the setting and downloading all my previous stuff on the Market/Aptoide.
The last three days I started to use it with the normal pattern but i noticed a drain of the battery as it was disconnected at 7PM !!
I started to analyze every application to check which one is draining the battery and finally it was Twitter where it was on a push mode accordingly it was pushing Tweets all the time.
Since i switched off the push notification the battery is lasting since early morning (6:30AM) till now (8:10PM) and still 20% remaining and still using it with the above mentioned normal usage of mine.
Let us now share the experience of the OS:
- The interface is Ok and have no customization from Samsung and I like this since this makes the device faster.
- The camera quality is amazing and inndoor shots are great.
- Touch screen is similar to my previous iPhone 4.
- Like the swype Keboard than the stock one.
- Arabic support is amazing.
- Stock browser in not good accordingly i use Dolphin instead.
- Default office program is better than the one in the Tab where you can create 2007 documents.
- The weight is considered nothing.
- Working with the display in the sun is a real fun.
- Louspeakers are more than fine..
- Playing music on it is a different experience.
- Playing HD movies on it is great and i am waiting to test the TV out (since i don't have the kit now i will wait for a while)
That's for now and I will review it more in another week
I will post another post about the important applications to have but it will be in another discussion.
So please share with us your experience ....
Reserved for Future
You realize there's a half-dozen posts with hundreds of pages of discussion on battery life and AOS not being suspended properly?
Thanks for posting, ive got my GS2 a few months now and it's running flawlessly, on medium usage with Juice Defender Ultimate i can achieve very good battery life, was definitely worth the mucho €€€ i paid for it
II know and read most of them but i wanted to share mine
jonny68 said:
Thanks for posting, ive got my GS2 a few months now and it's running flawlessly, on medium usage with Juice Defender Ultimate i can achieve very good battery life, was definitely worth the mucho €€€ i paid for it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what about your opinion in the OS?
Even the worst person like me did some review,
http://www.thinkdigit.com/forum/reviews/142198-samsung-i9100-galaxy-s-ii-short-no-pics.html
@OP- You did a nice brief review, well done
Regards.
ithehappy said:
Even the worst person like me did some review,
http://www.thinkdigit.com/forum/reviews/142198-samsung-i9100-galaxy-s-ii-short-no-pics.html
@OP- You did a nice brief review, well done
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you Sir, really appreciated
When did xda turn into a phone review site thats 2 ive seen in 5 mins.
sent from my stupidly fast SGS2 using xda app
When did xda turn into a phone review site thats 2 ive seen in 5 mins.
sent from my stupidly fast SGS2 using xda app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The review is good and helps people who are thinking getting the s2, xda is a discussion forum, a review is a discussion about a phone so what's the problem
I've been a member of xda for years and to be honest I don't know what's wrong with members all I see now is "already discussed don't you use search", "your question is in the wrong forum", "why have you started a new thread"... Why can't people say thank you for sharing your experience, or why can't senior members just help the person asking instead of criticising? If a member doesn't like a thread IGNORE IT......
I for one who is very well versed on the forum find the search system on the xda application hard work and unless you can search on a pc which isn't always possible repeat questions may be asked. This week I'm away and I committed a foopar by daring to ask a repeat question because I couldn't find what I was looking for jes did I regret it!
Thank you for sharing your review its very helpful for anyone thinking about getting the s2.....
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
fadimck said:
what about your opinion in the OS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure what you mean mate by OS do you mean Android OS or something else?
I've had the phone about 10 days and I am a confessed phone junkie and this phone is the best phone in the world period. People who complain about nanosecond battery life or damaged units they received is another matter. Phone vs phone there is no phone that comes close when it comes to sheer power. Liking the OS is a subjective issue. As far as rating the PHONE and how it PERFORMS, it's as close to flawless in my opinion as you are going to find.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
thanks for sharing, little advice from me you might considering not to hit the automatically sycn for both your email and set to (15-30)" to refresh your tweet timeline, it might help the battery drain and yes it is the beast i mean best android dualcore smartphone till this period
I agree its nice to read other peoples reviews, I also have been a member for many years and never worried about what I posted, now the fun has been taken out of this place, with people criticising others for what they post.
Good to read something positive about the sgs2
THUDUK said:
I agree its nice to read other peoples reviews, I also have been a member for many years and never worried about what I posted, now the fun has been taken out of this place, with people criticising others for what they post.
Good to read something positive about the sgs2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad I'm not only one....
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
I agree with everything except the browser. I've always used third party browsers but I switched back to stock the last couple of days and stock is much faster and a lot less buggy than all of the third party browsers. And I've tried them all.
I think going back to something after trying something else makes you appreciate it all the more
Wish I could use stock browser.....but it defaults to mobile site display (stupid Samsung) and I hate that. Boat browser mini is amazing btw. Fastest on Android.
rockky said:
Wish I could use stock browser.....but it defaults to mobile site display (stupid Samsung) and I hate that. Boat browser mini is amazing btw. Fastest on Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you need the user agent mod mate you can set it to desktop all the time
i love the sgs2 and the in-built browser is the icing on the cake for me
leomar2.6 and his kitchen app are immense and the support he gives is so much better then samung , htc , nokia , etc etc
its the 1st android device that i have felt ticked all my boxes and its easily the best phone ive had and i am a bit of a phone addict
i dont see a problem with user reviews either , i sometimes find them more helpfull then the big websites reviews as most are honest reviews , some are filled with fanboy stuff and others with new gadget love but most are an interesting read and its good to get different opinions before forking out £500 on a device or signing a 2 year contract
hope everyone has a good day
Nice little short-term overview, As some others, I agree about the stock browser being superior (in my opinion to all other platforms), certainly in speed and rendering.
Your comment on the OS looks a little misinformed? Samsung heavily customise the default android experience with their touchwiz overlay and framework.. However I personally feel it's very intuitive and certainly superior to motorola/htc's interferences with the vanilla android interface.
I'm currently using Cyanogenmod myself, although I'll hopefully be returning to stock when the 2.3.4 (or 5) update is oficially released.
RE: stock browser -
Your talking about entering the 'debug:useragent ' in the address box right...or is there an apk/zip mod?!
Entering that script doesn't stick tho...and becomes a pain.
If there IS a permanent mod 'fix' tho that enables desktop displays by default please let me know, cause gingerbread browser is great.
(but seriously,in lieu of stock, I've done fairly extensive multi site download tests and that boat browser mini is better (faster) than any third party browsers, and eqalled if not better our stock browser in download completion.
Thanks
hope everyone has a good day[/Q
buxz777 said:
you need the user agent mod mate you can set it to desktop all the time
i love the sgs2 and the in-built browser is the icing on the cake for me
leomar2.6 and his kitchen app are immense and the support he gives is so much better then samung , htc , nokia , etc etc
its the 1st android device that i have felt ticked all my boxes and its easily the best phone ive had and i am a bit of a phone addict
i dont see a problem with user reviews either , i sometimes find them more helpfull then the big websites reviews as most are honest reviews , some are filled with fanboy stuff and others with new gadget love but most are an interesting read and its good to get different opinions before forking out £500 on a device or signing a 2 year contract
Your talking about entering the 'debug:useragent ' in the address box right...or is there an apk/zip mod?!
Entering that script doesn't stick tho...and becomes a pain.
If THERE'S a permanent mod 'fix' tho that enables desktop displays by default please let me know, I have cause gingerbread browser is great.
(but seriously,in lieu of stock, I've done fairly extensive multi site download tests and that boat browser mini is better (faster) than any third party browsers, and eqalled if not better our stock browser in download completion.
Thanks
hope everyone has a good day
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm wanting to try and get the HTC Trophy, and wanted to get some thoughts from you guys. I apologize if this is already started, but I couldn't find it... Anyway:
-Is Google lacking from WP7?
As in, can I integrate my Google Account with WP7 as in use my gmail for Email, Google Music as media store, etc... What would the limits of that be?
-Is the HTC Trophy a good/reliable device?
I played with one at the Verizon store and I loved it, but I never used it beyond tinkering around to check it out. Does the phone keep a consistent service and good network speeds? Should I wait for the next WP7 device to come to Verizon?
-Camera?
I use my x2 as a personal camera, It has 8 MP and can record 720p video. That sounds good, but truth be told, the Video recorder SUX and the only way to get 720p is to put CM7 on it(and we just got that ROM like in January; 8 months after the release of the x2) and it is still a little buggy. The Camera however is pretty nice, I like it a lot anyway.... How does the Trophy Perform in the Camera area?
-Market Apps?
Is there a decent amount of games and market apps available for WP7? All that would really matter to me is a few key apps that I use on a regular basis; one of which is Evernote. I use this as my lyric notebook for my music that I write for when I'm on the road or away from a notepad, I can use my phone to jot down a few lines of a song or try to complete a song when I get spare time. YouTube.. I think I saw this on the phone by default but can't quite remember. And just a good assortment of games. Also, is the paid/free apps a good combination and not ridiculous prices? Android offers a great combination of free and paid, on the iPhone, the only thing I see that is decent is like 4+ dollars so just wondering on what the users feel about the market?
-Rooting?
Is the development pretty spiffy with the HTC Trophy? Android offers Rooting and I see something like HSPC or w/e for WP7. What exactly is this and what would the benefits be if I tried to do this?
-Overall opinions?
For those that came from Android can you let me know what the biggest 'let-go' you had to take? and just an overall opinion of your satisfaction with WP7.
I thank anyone that would answer these. If anyone knows of someone that would want to sell the HTC Trophy or trade for a Droid x2, would you please PM me or post on here. I'm a contributor for the Droid x2 and many users can vouch for me in the Droid x2 area of XDA. My ROM is headlined on DroidForums.net in their forum area for the x2 and it is also here on XDA(which is where it is mainly supported).
Again, Thank you for your time,
Peperm1nt
Peperm1nt said:
-Is Google lacking from WP7?
As in, can I integrate my Google Account with WP7 as in use my gmail for Email, Google Music as media store, etc... What would the limits of that be?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google Account works fine. You can use it to sync your calender, contacts, email, etc. Google Music and such... still no support as far as I know, its not a service I use.
User snickler is working on an app for Google Music called "CloudMuzik." I don't know anything about it, but.. well.. its there.
I take normal mp3's and load up my phone with music via Zune sync, and that works just great for me. The Last.fm app rocks imo... I love using that to stream music.
Peperm1nt said:
-Is the HTC Trophy a good/reliable device?
I played with one at the Verizon store and I loved it, but I never used it beyond tinkering around to check it out. Does the phone keep a consistent service and good network speeds? Should I wait for the next WP7 device to come to Verizon?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The HTC Trophy is much better with reception and speed then my last two phones, the HTC Eris (Android) and Touch Pro2(WM6.5). I do still feel that the network speed is being held back by something, but I have yet to test it right next to a VZW tower to see if its simply my imagination.
When I was using the shipping radio (that came with NoDo), the phone had issues staying in 3G mode and switching from 1X to 3G was really slow and iffy, but this is resolved with Mango v1+ radios installed.
However, due to my situation of using my phone as my primary internet connection, it sits in the window sill whenever I am at home. To improve reception in situations like that, I have a beast of a heavy duty case on my Trophy (that and since the phone has a tenancy to fall off my window sill with my dogs go crazy...). This makes a huge difference in my reception.
Peperm1nt said:
-Camera?
I use my x2 as a personal camera, It has 8 MP and can record 720p video. That sounds good, but truth be told, the Video recorder SUX and the only way to get 720p is to put CM7 on it(and we just got that ROM like in January; 8 months after the release of the x2) and it is still a little buggy. The Camera however is pretty nice, I like it a lot anyway.... How does the Trophy Perform in the Camera area?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the camera is great for still shots, but keeping it clean is key. The 720p video recording leaves much to be desired, as it seems speed is much slower then the 640x480 mode.
Peperm1nt said:
-Market Apps?
Is there a decent amount of games and market apps available for WP7? All that would really matter to me is a few key apps that I use on a regular basis; one of which is Evernote. I use this as my lyric notebook for my music that I write for when I'm on the road or away from a notepad, I can use my phone to jot down a few lines of a song or try to complete a song when I get spare time. YouTube.. I think I saw this on the phone by default but can't quite remember. And just a good assortment of games. Also, is the paid/free apps a good combination and not ridiculous prices? Android offers a great combination of free and paid, on the iPhone, the only thing I see that is decent is like 4+ dollars so just wondering on what the users feel about the market?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Evernote appears to be available for the phone, and is rated currently at 3.5 stars. I think that most apps are decently priced. The most I have paid for an app is $9.99 (Natural Japanese), but for what the app does, its still a fantastic value. I do think that the games market is fairly mature now. You can still get classic games like Angry Birds (that they even give XBL points if your into that!), with new games/apps launching every day.
There is also the "Bazarr" app store for full unlocked phones that has awesome stuff like Opera for WM6.5 ported to work on WP7.
Peperm1nt said:
-Rooting?
Is the development pretty spiffy with the HTC Trophy? Android offers Rooting and I see something like HSPC or w/e for WP7. What exactly is this and what would the benefits be if I tried to do this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Unlocking" this phone by installing HSPL is a straight forward process (I wrote a guide to doing it on the Verizon Trophy), and it is WELL worth doing. HSPL allows flashing of 3rd party roms to the phone, but the Verizon Trophy (and Sprint Arrive) were only made available on 2-15-2012, so no public roms have hit for the Verizon Trophy yet. You can private message mwang to test DFT Freedom for Verizon Trophy... it's worth it.
Peperm1nt said:
-Overall opinions?
For those that came from Android can you let me know what the biggest 'let-go' you had to take? and just an overall opinion of your satisfaction with WP7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I first moved to Android, the biggest let go was Internet tethering. Using the stock Verizon rom, tethering is not enabled.
However, with the advent of HSPL, DFT Freedom for Verizon Trophy includes Internet Sharing, so the phone can be used as a 5 device hot spot.. and it is awesome. Compared to using my Eris as a hotspot, its just sweet. The rooted free tether on Android is crap compared to Mango's built in support, as NAT support is completely supported (so my XBox 360 logs on and works perfect vs not working at all).
The other big draw back for me was no Swype. I wouldn't mind it so much if Verizon would of gotten the HTC Arrive (GoldC) instead of the Trophy (SparkW), but the advantage of the Trophy is that it is a world phone, so you can still put a GSM Sim card in and roll with that later if you wanted to switch carriers or travel.
Thanks for the reply. I really want to get this phone, but no one is messaging me back for trades or buys. Do you know anyone?
Btw, I play xbox all the time, so the xbl integration has me too.
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared
Unfortunately no, I know no one that wants to trade. I know I have mine, and I am keeping it close. lol
Lol its fine,i get paid monday, probable going to get one on ebay.
Forgot to ask this in the op:
Battery Life:
I use my x2 throughout the day moderately...one full charge gives me 8 to 15 hours of battery life. I disconnect the auto sync and try my best to increase battery life, but the display DRAINS the life horribly...like 1 hour of display will put the phone to 10 % or lower. What are the thoughts on that?
Development:
I develop for android. What is the developm went like on wp7?
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared
The Trophy produces similar battery results for me, but I charge it everyday and I live in a fringe region. I turned on Mango's battery savor feature when the power is low, but I haven't really been able to use it yet.
Battery life on the Trophy is okay... You should be able to make it through the day no problems with moderate usage. If you're on the edge or frequently go out of service the phone will drain very quickly. On the flip side there are days where I rarely use the phone, and with the stock battery it will go almost 3 days with no usage.
One thing that I found out is that the EVO / ERIS battery is almost the same... It fits in the phone and the phone will use it, but the back cover won't snap on correctly. If you were looking for a larger battery the first thing you'll need is an extended battery cover. Also, the snaps for the regular trophy and Verizon are slightly different which makes it even harder to find the cover. I think you can just break a few of them off and it will fit.
The camera is okay but it's definitely nothing special. If you have good light and still shots it will produce a decent image. It's about on par with the D2 which I think is slightly worse than the X2.
The one thing that I'm kind of missing is a few networks apps. There really isn't a good app to do things like ping, wifi scanning, or speed tests. Since there is no flash you can't just load up speedtest.net in the browser.
For music I would say that using Zune works fairly well. It loads the songs very quickly over wifi, and if you had it setup to sync automatically you should be able to just put songs into the folder and the phone will download them whenever you're at home.
Youtube is not officially supported but at one time there was an HTC Youtube app but I think they had to pull it from the market. It looks like there is an app called youtube pro that gets good reviews and is free. The nice thing about the marketplace is that there are a lot of decent free games and apps like there is on android, but there are also trials of paid apps so you can try it before you decide to purchase.
My overall satisfaction with the phone is pretty high. It's definitely a step up from a D2. Just using it for simple tasks it performs a lot better although there are still some gotchas that you might have to work around. (If you use skydrive putting documents on the phone is easy, if you don't want to use skydrive then it becomes a lot harder)
That's odd.. my Eris and Touch Pro2 batteries are identical in size and fit... but neither are hi-capacity.
Thanks guys.. ordering one for Monday hopefully unless I can get one for trade on here
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared
Found a trophy!! Lol hopefully be deving here soon.
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared
Awesome. I hope it works well for you. Poke around the dev forum for guides on HSPL for SparkW...
I will soon be writing a guide to keeping the newest (Mango V2) radio while still retaining HSPL. I will probably be adding it to my radio guide sometime today/this weekend. I need to upload some files/roms that will be needed to make it work.
Also, a word of warning, do NOT install any updates via Zune!!! I recently discovered when performing the Zune upgrades that the Mango V2 drivers might disable the availability to flash roms the normal way, and force using the GoldCard method (which I will add to my HSPL guide soon enough).
Thanks for the heads up.
In android we can sbf to fix bootloops and make our phone stock for warranties and such. Also to get on specific kernels or android versions. How exactly does wp7 do this or is there an option? Also HTC has unlocked bootloaders in android. Is it the same here... most of this will probably get answered when I get the phone. Just wanting to get a start in the right direction.. again, thank you for the help.
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared
My HSPL guide covers returning to stock at the end. It involves loading the bootloader and running DFT's unlocker tool, but flashing the OSPL (Original SPL). You then flash the factory rom as I have outlined.
Peperm1nt said:
Thanks for the heads up.
In android we can sbf to fix bootloops and make our phone stock for warranties and such. Also to get on specific kernels or android versions. How exactly does wp7 do this or is there an option? Also HTC has unlocked bootloaders in android. Is it the same here... most of this will probably get answered when I get the phone. Just wanting to get a start in the right direction.. again, thank you for the help.
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey peperm1nt, at Microsoft Stores, they are letting you trade in any smartphone, android, iphone, blackberry, etc towards a free, new in box, no contract WP7. you can choose from the trophy, titan, focus, radar or nokia 710 until Mar 29. link (http://slickdeals.net/f/4120241-Swa...-contract-Microsoft-Store-B-M-Only-thru-3-29?)
Thanks, there aren't any microsoft stores in my area, but I got the Trophy the past week.
Thanks tho for the info
BTW, I wish I had got this phone instead of my x2!!! like seriously, I love this phone. Only problem is the graphix of games aren't as smooth as my x2, but i guess thats the difference between nVidea & qualcomm. But other than that, this phone rox!!! UI is so smooth and the Facebook integration is nice. I'm looking into the whole modding aspect of this, still haven't got the grasp of 'rooting' this phone and making buckups to later restore if something goes wrong, my ultimate question is this:
In android you can 'sbf'(flash the phone with stock firmware). Is that a possiblity on here?
I read the restore thread; is that the equivilent to what I'm looking for?
Yes, in the HSPL thread, restoring to stock is the equivalent. You replace the moded SPL (HSPL) with the OSPL (or original SPL), and then flash a stock rom.
As for backup, I have yet to find a backup method that works after flashing a different rom, or even flashing back to a rom that I made the backup on. I'm not sure if this is an issue with CDMA Trophy or not.... perhaps I should start a thread on this since you brought it up (yes... I think I will do that now). lol
I'll look into the setup once I get the 'guts' to HSPL'ing my device, and break into the file structure. Once, I do that, I'll look at making a script or something to auto install like android does with the system folder, if this is possible or w/e.
I'm sorry for bringing android into this, But I'm not good with terminology on the WP Platform yet, but I do this to compare and show you what I'm talking about if that makes since.
Well, your Windows Live login that you used will have a record of your apps you installed, much like your Google login for the Play Store. Your contacts are on whichever account you choose, I keep mine on my Gmail account still, since I switch between my Trophy and other Android device. I also have an unlocked HD7 that I use for travel.
Just like when you were first learning to root Android, you followed the guides step by step. As long as you do the same here, you will be fine. DFT has done some awesome work, and WP7 would prolly not be where it is without them.
If you have your Trophy activated, you can use it as a hotspot, but only with HSPL and a custom rom. I never bothered doing it with my Trophy, but it's definitely an incredible thing to have, especially if you have any wifi devices you carry around.
Its great to see the development for the Trophy taking place, I had one last year but moved onto another OS/Device. Considering a return to the Trophy again and will read a bit more into the custom ROM's.