Related
Ok everyone, I have never posted before but I have been around for a little while (still consider myself noobish though)
I have been doing tons of research since the official rom upgrade has come out. I have to admit though I am more confused then ever.
Here is my problem, my wife and I both have the titan. About a mouth ago I upgraded both of ours to the dcd 2.1.0 (12/05/07) to unlock the gps and get rid of the sprint crap. I have to admit I fell in love with this version. Last night I installed the official htc 3.35.651.2 rom on my phone...I am NOT in love with it. Last night and all day today I have been searching for a replacement. Here is the source of my problem. There is so much development and creativity that people put into these phones (and the titan in particular) but is there no central place to compare and rate different roms? I was hoping to find a page that listed the top roms and the differences between them (and the official ones) but that does not seem to exist. There are several roms out there that look promising but sort of spending the rest of the day loading and testing them all I am at a loss.
If anyone knows of a great site or page that does what I have been looking for please let me know. If anyone has a suggestion to which rom I should go with I welcome your input. To that end, below are a few of the things I loved about the dcd version.
1) no extra sprint crap programs
2) working task manager (I just dont like the one on the official rom)
3) text messaging in a chat window set up. Unlike the email like set up in the official versions (I dont know if that makes sense)
4)Full Comm Manager (included more options)
Last item I would like to bring up, much has been made of EV-DO Rev.A. Do any of the custom roms incorporate this? It in its self is not a deal breaker for me, after testing load times on my phone vs my wife’s...Im not impressed but I would like it if possible.
Thanks everyone in advance. I have never posed before because I could always just find the answer if I looked long enough but in this case there is just way to much stuff out there...the curse and blessing of owning a titan
Thanks again
Mofo58
So far the only rom's for the Titan I know of is DCDs, Keys and NexsHybrid. Rev.A is not incorporated into the roms itself, but the radio. as long as you have the radio 3.35 you are fine. since you are a fan of dcd, i would suggest you try his new 3.0.1 rom. since you already upgraded with the official sprint rom, you have the new 3.35 radio (assuming) and all you need to do is flash a new rom on top of that.
Total_Lag said:
So far the only rom's for the Titan I know of is DCDs, Keys and NexsHybrid. Rev.A is not incorporated into the roms itself, but the radio. as long as you have the radio 3.35 you are fine. since you are a fan of dcd, i would suggest you try his new 3.0.1 rom. since you already upgraded with the official sprint rom, you have the new 3.35 radio (assuming) and all you need to do is flash a new rom on top of that.
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Great, I didnt know I could do that...I did say I was a noob right Thanks for your help Ill give that a try today.
Mofo58
Hi Everybody,
iPhone 3G about to be sold off, HD2 arriving Monday.
Having read this forum I'm now thinking WTF have I done!
Come on, give me some encouraging words on HD2 ownership pleeeease!
If you've got any tips for out the box new phones, like "Whatever you do don't press that button!" I'd like to hear them.
Fingers crossed it arrives on Monday as the small cold spell and a little snow grinds the UK to a standstill...
Cheers,
Gavin
It's a great phone and it works just fine. I'm sure you'll love it
Upgrade to 1.61 Turkish ROM (can set to English)
or choose your favourite cooked (unofficial) ROM, however, "voiding" the warranty.
As has already been suggested- just play with it as it is.
Remember it isn't an iPhone so some things will be very different- maybe not better or worse, just different like going from a desktop Mac to a PC
Once you are familiar with it, then decide what you want to do with it and ask for advice here if needed.
I'd say DON'T mess with the ROM- yours should come with V1.48 which is just as good as the later builds in most areas. If you can't live with the HTC Sense interface and the huge amount of memory it uses, then later consider a cooked ROM, but they are not as reliable as they need to be just yet.
If you want to use this as a media device, you will need more than the supplied 2GB memory card, so be prepared to buy one!
In short this is a fantastic device- you will be surprised how much more it can do than an iPhone once you are familiar with it, and being able to run as many programs at the same time as you want will be a novelty! The MS Marketplace is a joke though! You will need to become familiar with buying programs online then manually installing them- not difficult though!
you're making great progress
i'd say:
tip 1: order HD2
tip 2: register as a user here
tip 3: play with phone
tip 4: search these forums for whatever your needs are (fixes to things you don't like/ problems you are having; advice for how to do things; applications you require)
Hi Gavin, welcome on board,
Don't be fooled, the HD2 is NOT an iphone. You will be tweaking things till you get it just right to suit you. This is the major advantage winmo devices have over others, ie if you don't like something you can tweak it or change it.
If you have not got the time or the inclination to do this then run like hell and get your iphone back quick. If you are up for the spirit of adventure and can live with a few niggles knowing that if you spend time on here you can sort them out then welcome to our world.
Start off by reading the hints & tips thread on here plus all the other similar threads here that have said the same thing as you ie "convince me to buy a HD2" and see what they say.
All the best,
WB
PS: I'm well happy with mine but then I have been with winmobile for 3.5 years and am quite used to tweaking and changing things as part of a generally very enjoyable ownership experience.
Hi,
Thanks for the replies.
I've no problem with tweeking things, I'd rather that than stuck with no options on the "locked down" zPhone!
It's things like the volume and SMS problems that concern me
Cheers,
Gavin
i was wondering who in here has come over to this phone from a blackberry.
likes? dislikes?
i have been reading some on here about the "lag" with the HTC HD2. is this true? all the reviews i read say nothing about it. and i do not like a laggy phone. and disabling Sense makes no "sense" to me...
also, is there alot of customizations that can be done? how about updates? are they common like on a blackberry? will win7 mobile be able to be run on this? hows the battery life compared to the iphone? (that is why i dont have an iphone any more, i cant stand the battery life)
i LOVe the looks of that phone...
Thanks all!
I jummped the Blackberry ship for the HD2 last week.
I wont be able to answer ALL your questions 100%, but I will be able to help.
Lag, If you use your task manager and close the unused programs, then you *shouldnt* have any lag. I am still using the stock phone settings from T-Mo. and I am not seeing any lag at all just by closing the app/programs this way.
Customizing, The phone is still new, and the devs here are working hard to push out new stuff all the time. But the phone is VERY customisable. If your comfy working with DLL and CAB files you can change the layout/colors/buttons/exctra of the dif screanes and apps.
WP7, As of right now.. No. But the devs here are working on it, as well as the Droid os.
While Blackberry has updates offten, it still upto the provider to push em out to the end users, and T-Mo, is the worst at doing so. But you can get all the updates/mods/apps from the devs here.
Batterie life can be awesome, or it can be the bane of your phone. lol. If you keep task manager clean, the batterie will last for wat feels like for ever. I ran both of the Transformer movies from start to credits, played on the internet a bit, and made a few calls, and still had a lot of bat strength left. but if you run a lot of apps in the back ground, and dont keep your task manager clean, you will charge your phone 2x a days.
Over all im loving this phone. I have a ton to learn about it still, but it is a great phone.
My $.02
Wolfee
Thank you so much for your reply. that helped alot.
i just sold 2 of my BB's, so i am looking now at buying one i cant wait
I have to say with my blackberry experience with the one I carry around for work, a Nextel 8350i. being the network admin for the company I work for, and I also work with the BES server software. they can get pretty laggy as well at times. especially when there is alot of background data transfer going on to the BES server.
In the end i prefer my HD2 to blackberry. I consider the BB a good platform for someone who wants something that just works, and arent very technically minded like the people I work with. I can already imagine the issues Id run into trying to introduce the WinMo platform there.
WinMo is good for technical users that like to tweak and customize and can live with or work around the occasional bug, and are able to figure things out for themselves or with the help of a support forum like this
I would never recommend WinMo for someone that requires hand holding with anything technical/computer related. it just becomes too much of a hassle and waste of time for me having to support them.
great post...that makes me feel better to. i feel the same way, i have owned alot of blackberrys and they do lag alot more.
and i am one who LOVES to tinker with things..so i am thinking i might like this better...are there ways to recover if you play TO much and brick your phone?
also i cant seem to find any screen shots of what the sms inbox looks like? was wondering. is it threaded messages?
IF you successfully install HSPL, the chances of really "bricking" your HD2 are pretty low. The worst thing you can do "brick" a TMOUS HD2 is to flash an incompatible Radio (one with ...51... in the identifier string). As long as you stay with T-Mobile compatible Radios/ROMs, you should be fine.
dvigue said:
great post...that makes me feel better to. i feel the same way, i have owned alot of blackberrys and they do lag alot more.
and i am one who LOVES to tinker with things..so i am thinking i might like this better...are there ways to recover if you play TO much and brick your phone?
also i cant seem to find any screen shots of what the sms inbox looks like? was wondering. is it threaded messages?
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Click to collapse
Yeah, it has threaded sms messages. And there are almost always ways to recover your phone from bricking it, unless you flash the wrong radio, like he said in the post above. Just don't flash ones with .51 in them and your fine. Odds are you won't even need to flash your radio, so it's nothing to worry about. Good luck with your new HD2. Its the most versatile, powerful phone when you learn to use it well.
Yeah, I was a fellow BlackBerry user. I've had 2 in past... and my most recent device was the BlackBerry 9700.
I certainly miss the days where I'd manage to squeeze 70 hours out of a single charge cycle.
But nevertheless, I am absolutely in love with the HD2. Plus, I've owned countless HTC products, and I'm always left satisfied and smiling...
THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!
(I couldn't help myself...)
i JUST got it! walmart had one left and i had a gift certificate. omg i love it alreay, and i have not even started to play with it. Guys i need your help...
what do i do first? updates? how do i know what updates to do? are there any tutorials in here i can read about noobs? i want to make sure mine is up to date for sure...but so far i love it. what a nice screen and feel...
LOVE IT!
I just upgraded from a Blackberry curve, and from an IT professional's standpoint, I love this phone. The ability to tinker, the software community here, multimedia capabilities, and the tools built in (wifi access point, slacker, etc.) are a welcome breath of fresh air to having a smart phone.
i have been looking and reading, but im getting a little confused. where do i go to find any updates for my phone? i cant seem to find any on the HTC website?
dvigue said:
i have been looking and reading, but im getting a little confused. where do i go to find any updates for my phone? i cant seem to find any on the HTC website?
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Click to collapse
Try this:
http://www.htc.com/europe/supportdownloadlist.aspx?p_id=297&act=sd&cat=all
But, I am not sure whether they are for EU or US versions.
EDIT: Just realized the link is for the EU version...here is the link for the US version....no updates ATM but keep an eye out
http://www.htc.com/us/support/t-mobile-hd2/downloads/
oh ok, that is what i wondered...so there are NO updates for the tmobile version? is that becasue i already have a newer ROM with all those updates on it? my rom is Dated 2/22/10 and is version 2.10.531.1 (82076) WWe
is this because the tmobile version just came out?
dvigue said:
oh ok, that is what i wondered...so there are NO updates for the tmobile version? is that becasue i already have a newer ROM with all those updates on it? my rom is Dated 2/22/10 and is version 2.10.531.1 (82076) WWe
is this because the tmobile version just came out?
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For this to be a smooth transition you must realize this is a completely different experience. There will not be a lot, if any, official updates. What there will be is unofficial/leaked updates that are implemented in custom (cooked) roms. Some of these will be leaked from Microsoft and some will be released from HTC but TMobile USA will most likely not leak any. Don't panic though, because this is why we love XDA Devs so much.
You will need to read MSkips tutorial on flashing HardSPL. HSPL will allow you to flash these custom roms and a few other things. These custom roms will often be cutting edge so read which ones you really want because some will simply be going for speed, others looks and others stability. There are some great cooks around here who actually combine all three.
I write this because you are already panicking on a lack of updates. That's just not how it works here so you have to let it go. You don't find the same OS version on every model like in BlackBerry or Iphone over here. Older models are having roms cooked for them that include what only the new ones have out the box because many of the older phones here don't have the memory or are simply out of the loop for the carrier and HTC. My 8525 was like that. I'm just explaining so you understand the landscape better.
The best way to succeed here is to search and ask questions once you can't find the answers. Most of the stuff you have questions about has been asked and answered before (most but not all). Make sure to read in this forum and the other HD2 forum because the phones aren't that different. If you have a question or concern about a specific program or rom make sure you ask the question in that thread and not create a new thread.
Welcome to WinMo and XDA Devs. Also our TMo USA HD2's do have the latest official updates.
Hope your htc hd2 blows up! The starter of this thread is a joke! He bothers me for two days texting me as early as 5am saying he wants the phone please dont sell, as he's waiting for the money. We make a deal after going back and fourth on text messages. He tells me a few hours later he's not buying because he bought it locally at walmart. WHAT A PATHETIC JERK!! I ^&%^ wasted my time taking pix to send him just for him to take this whole thing as a JOKE! I lost out on another potential deal because this idiot agreed on buying it. BE AWARE of this LOSER!!!
addicus said:
For this to be a smooth transition you must realize this is a completely different experience. There will not be a lot, if any, official updates. What there will be is unofficial/leaked updates that are implemented in custom (cooked) roms. Some of these will be leaked from Microsoft and some will be released from HTC but TMobile USA will most likely not leak any. Don't panic though, because this is why we love XDA Devs so much.
You will need to read MSkips tutorial on flashing HardSPL. HSPL will allow you to flash these custom roms and a few other things. These custom roms will often be cutting edge so read which ones you really want because some will simply be going for speed, others looks and others stability. There are some great cooks around here who actually combine all three.
I write this because you are already panicking on a lack of updates. That's just not how it works here so you have to let it go. You don't find the same OS version on every model like in BlackBerry or Iphone over here. Older models are having roms cooked for them that include what only the new ones have out the box because many of the older phones here don't have the memory or are simply out of the loop for the carrier and HTC. My 8525 was like that. I'm just explaining so you understand the landscape better.
The best way to succeed here is to search and ask questions once you can't find the answers. Most of the stuff you have questions about has been asked and answered before (most but not all). Make sure to read in this forum and the other HD2 forum because the phones aren't that different. If you have a question or concern about a specific program or rom make sure you ask the question in that thread and not create a new thread.
Welcome to WinMo and XDA Devs. Also our TMo USA HD2's do have the latest official updates.
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Great info....i really enjoyed your post...I cant wait to strart learning more and more about this phone. I really lucked out. My local walmart had only 1 left, and i had a gift card so i got it at a good price. I have had the iphone and this is so much better....i cant wait to start to customize it...
Thanks gang!
jain75 said:
Hope your htc hd2 blows up! The starter of this thread is a joke! He bothers me for two days texting me as early as 5am saying he wants the phone please dont sell, as he's waiting for the money. We make a deal after going back and fourth on text messages. He tells me a few hours later he's not buying because he bought it locally at walmart. WHAT A PATHETIC JERK!! I ^&%^ wasted my time taking pix to send him just for him to take this whole thing as a JOKE! I lost out on another potential deal because this idiot agreed on buying it. BE AWARE of this LOSER!!!
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Click to collapse
I really don't know what to say about this. Did I talk with him about buying his phone yes, did we talk back and fourth all day about it? yes. Isn't that what craigslist is all about? bartering, making deals etc? it was at the last moment when i found out a local walmart had one HD2 left at the same price he was selling it at, and i had a gift card so it was even cheaper, and it was 5 min from my house (for returns etc) so that is why i backed out. I am in no way a "scammer" because of this. sorry, im not.
I apologized multiple times, and he wont accept, so there is no more that I can do. I even tried a few contacts to see if they would buy it from him. I cant do any more...
on a positive, Jain75 was Very good with communication, and answered all my questions i had about the sale. he did take multiple pictures for me like i had asked. I had asked for all of that, because i was sending someone 450 dollars whom i did not know, so i wanted all the proof that the phone was legit that i could get. and he did give that all to me.
again, i feel really bad, but what else can i do? i have had MANY MANY people say "yeah ill buy that, let me get back to you" and i never hear back. at least i told him the truth,....
I just recently came over from a blackberry storm 2 to hd2 April 1. Let me say that the HD2 is a totally different experience from blackberry. I loved how the blackberry managed my business OTOH it sucked for pleasure. With the HD2 you get both business and pleasure.
HTC blows blackberry out of the water to me, at least this hd2 does. By that I mean large screen, plenty of themes, apps, etc. Not the same old tired interface as blackberry. It has NO LAG WHATSOEVER. This phone has all my needs met and more.
Only thing about windows is you have to find roms,apps, etc instead of it being in a central location.
I will be using this phone for awhile, t-mobile is crappy in my area so I unlocked to at&t.
I carry a BB Tour and a HD2 right now.
The only two things I like about the BB over the HD2 are the battery life of the BB and the keyboard. I HATE the HD2 on screen keyboard. Even swipe blows.
But if you are anything like me, it's all about the Apps (quality Apps, that is). The HD2 is my media phone, hands down (better than my iPhone). The BB is the work horse and back up music player.
HotShotAzn said:
I carry a BB Tour and a HD2 right now.
The only two things I like about the BB over the HD2 are the battery life of the BB and the keyboard. I HATE the HD2 on screen keyboard. Even swipe blows.
But if you are anything like me, it's all about the Apps (quality Apps, that is). The HD2 is my media phone, hands down (better than my iPhone). The BB is the work horse and back up music player.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hate the onscreen keyboard too lol. I have been trying to find another input keyboard that somewhat resembles blackberry.
Actually this HD2 can do it all. Give it a try. I use it for my business and media. I plug my phone up to my car everyday for media and it charges it as well.
Hi all,
First of all, I wish to preface this by saying how appreciative I am of the assistance and wealth of knowledge I have found on this forum. Without it, I must say I would have been pretty disappointed with my HD2 n its purely stock form. Much like the appstore is the iPhone's primary selling point, I believe the customisable nature of WinMo devices is their main selling point and is the reason I chose to purchase an HD2 over an iPhone (other than the cost/Tech Specs) of course. This thread is in no way intended to take away from the amazing work our chefs do!
I would also appreciate if any "If you don't like customising, why are you here?" comments off this thread also as that is not in any way what this is about. god knows I have destroyed enough PC BIOSes and mobile phones trying to customise them or tweak them for the maximum achieveable performance before it all became so mainstream.
I know this kind of a question is going to get people into "attack the n00b" mode really quickly, but i feel it is a legitimate question which could spark some insightful and intelligent discussion.
I was just wondering what your honest opinions are regarding the use of cooked ROMs.
At present I am using an up to date stock ROM with many added tweaks including CHT1.7.1 and the tweaked graphics drivers and am more than happy with the way the phone looks and operates. there is no software that is missing from the stock ROM which I feel would benefit me in any way and the phone seems to operate quickly and seamlessly and so far I have not experienced any reliabillity issues.
With a long standing background in the electronics and software development field, I have always been quite a strong believer in the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" principal, but as I consider you guys and girls to be an intelligent bunch with a wealth of cumilative knowledge, I am interested in your opinions on the cooked VS customised stock ROM debate.
From what I can gather the benefits of a well developed cooked ROM such as EnergyROM or CleanEX ROM are as follows:
Menus are neatly organised and catagorised.
Extra software which is considered to be useful is preloaded.
Interface is tweaked (albiet usually no moreso than it can be with a few mods loaded on to a stock ROM)
UI and animation speed improvements.
The arguements against are as follows:
Risk (however low it is) of bricking your device
Compatabillity with different devices
Warrenty is voided (even though this can in most cases be avoided by flashing bck to a stock SPL)
Reliance on one person, or just a few people for updates rather than a huge company.
Personally, I have never used a cooked ROM, but I have been considering installing the EnergyROM on to my HD2 s it is the most closely matched cooked ROM to the way I have customised my stock ROM, however as I am currently quite happy with the way I have my stock ROM set up, I am wondering if there are any extra benefits that I have missed. It would almost seem that in my case, I am better off just sticking with the tweaked stock ROM as it serves all my needs and scouring pretty much any thread relating to a cooked ROM, I seem to stumble upon a LOT of bugs (hich have usually been fixed in subsequent releases).
To me it would seem that a lot of the time, the appeal of cooked ROMs is the "Elite" and "Geeky coolness" factor rather than actual functionallity.
Discuss....
Excellent post mate and I hope it's taken in the spirit it's intended and you're spared all the usual nonsense when questions are asked.
I've been on here a few months, but rarely ventured into the ROM's section, fairly competent with everything in the "Themes + Apps" section and like you, have my phone looking and performing pretty much how I'd want it.
All I'd perhaps want, and the reason I dip in here every now and then for a look, is perhaps a ROM which removes some of the redundant (for me) applications, ie Twitter, Footprints, Stocks etc to perhaps speed things up a little as my RAM is constantly at 60% and I'm getting low on internal storage memory despite installing everything which can be to the SD card.
But again, I wonder if there is perhaps more to this ROM flashing and whether I'd notice any real advantages which I'd not considered?
One other question for anyone who feels like answering, and it will seem silly. Are the softkeys in 6.5xx all aligned with the right hand one set further in than the left (ie non-symetrical), may seem a minor thing, but it just doesn't look right to me and if I was going to flash to something newer, I'd like to know if it can be changed.
Probably complete "noob" type questions, and apologies for partial hijack of the OP's thread, but as someone else had dared to ask some points that I'd like answered, I thought I'd stick my oar in and we can both be flamed together then.
Thanks for the support
I am the admin on another forum so I am not afraid or unfamiliar with flameage!
I'm looking forward to seeing what discussions this sparks
i think a VOTE would be great for this page....
Hi I would think the best advice would be that if you are happy with your ROM and you are not having any issues with it. Stick to it, this way you will have the peace of mind that your warranty is still in tact and you will not have to revert to reflashing to original stock without any risks.
Flashing on the other hand is fun and I feel the ROM cooks do a fantastic job of tweaking them so they work most efficiently. The chefs also remove programs that are not used that often which gives us more memory to install programs that we will actually use and the chefs also update to the newest builds for software which is dorment in the stock roms e.g. google maps,opera etc. If you update these on stock roms, it takes away valuable space due to the programs installed twice (you cannot usually replace the stock ROM versions and overwrite them with newer builds).
Naturally you will get issues cropping up with things going wrong and this is mainly due to the fact that the chefs use the newest builds before they are released officially so you can have a feel of new things that are put into them. I personally like to stick to one or two chefs and follow their progress, this way you will generally be ok as you will be aware of any minor problems and their fixes. If you flash many different ROMs with different chefs, you may encounter different problems with each of their ROMs and feel that ROM flashing seems to cause more problems than solutions.
I hope this clarifies some of your queries.
chiraag said:
i think a VOTE would be great for this page....
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I considered it, but I thought a vote makes it a little too black and white. I'd rather a more in depth discussion on the pros/cons
Adiction!!
There's nothing wrong with stock ROM's what a little tweaking can't solve.
and there wil always be problems and things that don't suite you in a cooked ROM.
Bud if you would try it once it wil become an adiction to find the newest and/or the fastest that suite your needs the best.
if you follow the guide's the change of bricking your phone are slim bud there is always the posebilety
I think it's one of the best things of my HTC and no risk no luck.
(bud don't listen to me because i'm an addict)
Well it took a while before I flashed a cooked rom into my phone. I use Artemis roms, and those are the only one I have tried yet - and I really do not think I will ever try another since most of them have silly and ugly mods baked in.... I like the newer 6.5.5 with bigger soft buttons and the "start" down on the left. But the most important thing is speed - with artemis, everything the phone can do, the phone does it faster running Artemis than Stock rom. Often _much_ faster. Starting Opera 10 for example takes roughly 2 secs with Artemis, 5-6secs with stock...
I started to flash custom ROMS because I got sick and tired waiting for HTC to solve my problem with data connection. I tried all sorts of official and unofficial tweaks and patches without success so I decided to take the risk with the flashing adventure.
After flashing a few ROMS from different chefs I eventually found THE ONE that solved my frustrating problem out of the box. Not only that but I was also very impressed by the performance and by the chef himself - always there, always wanting to improve, always fair and balanced. So I settled for it and it's the only ROM I flash to my phone.
I would also like to add that I prefer the close to stock philosopy because I want to do the customization myself. Even so, in my opinion custom ROMS have the following advantages compared to stock:
- you have many options to chose from
- they prove to be faster and more stable
- you have LIVE support from the chef and the other users
- you get updates much, much faster and more frequently (even if beta builds)
- you get all sorts of goodies cooked in the ROM (tweaks, apps, etc.)
- with the ROM I use you also get an app built by the chef himself to tweak the ROM to your likings
- it's rather fun to do it
just my 2 cents
I'm the same as the above poster. I got sick of waiting for my mobile operator to update the ROM (O2). I had SMS problems, data connection problems, freezong problems, the list goes on.
Then i turned into a frantic flasher..up to 5 times a day, looking for the latest and greatest. I was forever setting my phone up and it was taking over my life! I even tried cooking my own with pretty decent success.
I'm now more settled and gone for a ROM thats closer to stock with a few tweaks. It does what i want and pretty quickly too. Its a million miles away from the original phone i got back in early December, but that a good thing.
on a functional level much of the surface features that cooked roms offer could in theory be done with cabs and tweaks, but some things can only be cooked in.
also, cooking in a fix or tweak means it is there from the start, so when you hard reset it the system isn't needing to be patched, so the fix is more stable.(generaly)
on another level many of the chefs really do know a thing or two about building roms and can make them smaller faster and more stable than the stock releases.
I personally never flashed a device...I have to admit that with CHT1.7.1 things been running smoothy and perfectly. The idea of removing some applications on standard ROM sounds really great like footprint,shares,music sense...which i dont use.
As Sentinel196 says, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" , i guess i come from the same school in that sense.
by the way with all the cutomization available for CHT i find it really hard if people do not like their htc hd2
I do believe the HD2 is a very good compromise between 'works out of the box' and 'can tweak 'til the cows come home'. It's a modders dream but at the same time probably the only WinMobile device that I thought to myself "I might actually stick with a stock rom, it works"
Curiousity got the better of me... WITHIN HOURS... of getting the device. First off I noticed I was locked to Vodafone's stock rom (it was obviously a Vodafone customer selling on a new handset), I couldn't get the latest rom from HTC so HSPL'd it and flashed to stock 1.66. Good stuff, it was working fine for me.
Then I got curious again some days later and tried 6.5.5. I definitely prefered 6.5 to 6.5.5 and believe it feels much more 'balanced' on a device of this nature (giant screen, few hardware buttons) so decided I wanted to go back to 6.5 after some days of use. I remembered the stock rom did have a lot of 'junk' attached to it, despite operating blazing fast. I found CleanEX on here and from the description it sounded like a good compromise - the stock rom but with junk removed, more 'under the hood' tweaks added and all underlying software updated. Fantastic. I've been flashing to it 'til now and can't see me going anywhere else for the time being.
So yeah, the HD2 out of the box (for the most part, I realise some people have experienced bugs) is a decent device. However, coming here turns it into an AMAZING device capable of just about anything. Having the choice is fantastic. When people ask me about me about my HD2 Vs. the iPhone I can't help but be honest and state 'the iPhone just works', if you want the HD2 to fulfill its full potential you'll need to 'dedicate time to it and be one with your inner geek.'
For people stuck with locked down operator roms, the rom section on XDA is invaluable as it would seem o2 UK (my operator) have ONLY JUST upgraded their rom from the version people were using in Nov '09. Sorry, but that is ridiculous and no customer should have to wait that long for a device like this to have its bugs ironed out when people 'breaking the rules' can have it right off the bat with a bit of a learning curve. Just another reason why operator branded bull**** is a waste of everyone's time -- like movies being released in the US months/years before the UK in the 90s & til mid '00, it took file-sharing to fix that!
I also strongly believe if people are willing to come here and read the 'basic' threads & take a little time out, support here is absolutely second to none. Better than an RMA to HTC, better than your operators forums, just fantastic. This does however support the idea that the HD2 is somewhat another device kept alive by XDA-developers... which I'm sure will become more apparent in the future after WinPhone7 is released.
tl;dr - The HD2 is a HTC phone which, once again, benefits more than anything from the development, tweaks, mods, hacks, customizations and support given here.
Some excellent posts so far. Thanks everyone!! Looking forward to some more insight.
I'm certainly becoming more and more tempted to HSPL and flash a cooked ROM just to satisfy my inner nerd and curiosity!
Until a few weeks ago I was a stock ROM user. To be honest the stock rom was ok but just didnt seem very stable to me with resets a normal part of life. Having looked through the various ROM threads I decided to stick with a fairly stock cooked rom and chose Artemis.
After the first few days it was very apparent that this was the way forward. Artemis transformed my HD2 into what I believe the device should have been, stable and a joy to use.
I think before you can decide on a cooked ROM you need to decide on what you want a cooked ROM for. Is it for stability (in my case) or for added features such as extra tabs, preinstalled cabs etc.
I cant fault Artemis v11, is as stock as you can get with a cooked ROM and is fast, stable and very user friendly but I expect that others will have critism over this ROM against another, like I say there are many great chefs out there and its down to personal choice which is the best.
I love cooked ROMs. This is my first Win Mo device and I have to say when I first got it I was pretty disappointed(December last year). Was pretty damn buggy and slow! O2 UK didn't seem in any hurry to release any of the improved ROMs(not sure if they have even released an update now). I did the various tweaks that people have listed to improve the phone and was pretty pleased with the result. When HSPL came out I figured I would give a cooked ROM ago as if me a n00b doing a few tweaks could make my phone better imagine what pros could do! Flashed Duttys HG series and was blown away! Have been flashing them ever since (tried a few others but always come back to Duttys). It feels nice to have all the latest software bundled up and tweaked for me! Just about to flash from HG v2.5 (COM5) to HG v2.6 (COM5). Will be maybe the 20th time I have flashed my phone Gets better each time
Always cooked. Stock roms are always lacking something... cooked, especially with kitchens allow you to play around and have fun.
Now, regarding the future of cooked roms? that much is very very doubtful. I doubt we'll see many WinMo cooked roms after 2010.
I first had the default ROM 1.43 and everything was allmost OK with little glitches here and there (first of all the battery didn't last long) then I had the official 1.48 update wich I promptly applied and everything worked the same with little things improved (still terrible battery life) then after a couple of months of constants soft resets or taking out the battery for a reset I decided to try Miri's ROMS wich are great (I always prefered the close to stock) but still with battery problems until I learned I can upgrade the radio only without damaging the ROM wich I did and somewhat improved, but just a little, then I tried Dutty's wich are great roms (still close to stock and more stable at least the COM2 version) finally I decided a couple of days ago to give a try to EnergyROM which have additional software and I whent the GTX route, and I really love it, speccially since the battery is lasting me longer with the same radio update as my previous rom and with the lovelly GTX theme but some things like CHT seems to work better cooked in that installed separatedly, in my opinion I think you will have a lot of benefits using a custom ROM, but first use the original rom a couple of months to evaluate if your unit is functional (try everything: FM radio, GPS, light sensor, etc.) and then when you get to know your device try the custom rom of your choice and prepare to be amazed, once you go custom....
Good luck!
Maybe i am talking about the wrong thing here but i will say it. In the HD2 there is very little (if not nothing at all) noticeable difference between stock and custom Rom (except some registry modifications that you can do them with the stock rom as well). It is mainly in the addiction that cooking provides that you can see a difference. In the HTC Touch HD although the difference between stock and custom rom (mainly the Custom Roms that come from the HD2) is VERY VERY BIG. The last stock rom that HTC provide is 1 year old (7/4/2009) with 6.1 Windows, Black and White slider icons, Manila 1.XX etc. So in some cases i thing Custom Rom is more needed that the Stock Rom. But in the case of the ultra-fast HD2 i believe that the difference is much much smaller.
Wow - a front pager!
Sentinel196 said:
I would also appreciate if any "If you don't like customising, why are you here?"
[...]
I know this kind of a question is going to get people into "attack the n00b" mode really quickly, but i feel it is a legitimate question which could spark some insightful and intelligent discussion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sentinel196 said:
I am the admin on another forum so I am not afraid or unfamiliar with flameage!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just thought I'd share in case you hadn't noticed; despite your concerns, you managed to make the 'front cover' of XDA-Devs!
http://www.xda-developers.com/
Next - Time Magazine?!
Good post, well deserved. Enjoying the conversation and Mass-Debating(!).
Hirshy
Hey guys,
As an Ex-iphone user, i loved too playing around with photo applics that add effects to pictures, i.e. vintage look, polaroid etc... Can you recommend on any applications for HD2 of the same nature?
I have found VintagePic in the marketplace, but i can't purchase it since my credit card does not match any of the countries in the list. Any other suggestions?
Thanks, Guy
Vignette, or camera 360 are excellent for that. (android)
thanks for the suggestion, however I'm still running stock rom, which means i'm limited to apps in WM...
Any other suggestions in that department?
any clues?
Like you said, you are limited if you sick with wm ;-)
I have 3 apps who makes that and much more on my hd2
Hi,
I must admit, as a new user of HD2, I'm very concerned about messing around and ending up bricking my phone. i finally got to the stage where i have everything working fine on my WM, so I'm less eager to go about and mess things up.
However, maybe i can start reading and learning from other people's experience on the different 'adventures' that i may run into if i try to install Android on my system. as far i i understand there is still no 100% working version, but it's getting close.
Can you reference me to the main discussion thread on the forum for the android on HD2? (how to install..etc...)
BTW - do i need to take something into consideration if my Phone is a t-mobile?
Thanks,
Guy
Hi Guysu,
I do believe there are effects within your camera options that allows a few effects, under advance, on the 3rd page, you will find effects, limited to GrayScale, Seipia (for ur old look) and Negative (for whatever only God knows!)
But I do hear you, because I too am looking for some fun Cam Apps for my beloved phone. It's always a little harder to find fun stuff for a serious phone.
Benedict
guysu said:
Hi,
I must admit, as a new user of HD2, I'm very concerned about messing around and ending up bricking my phone. i finally got to the stage where i have everything working fine on my WM, so I'm less eager to go about and mess things up.
However, maybe i can start reading and learning from other people's experience on the different 'adventures' that i may run into if i try to install Android on my system. as far i i understand there is still no 100% working version, but it's getting close.
Can you reference me to the main discussion thread on the forum for the android on HD2? (how to install..etc...)
BTW - do i need to take something into consideration if my Phone is a t-mobile?
Thanks,
Guy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
we should open a support group for these kind of issues. meet once in a while exchange painful stories. long live hd2!
on a more serious note, can someone direct me to the right thread on the options to migrate from WM to Android?
guysu said:
Hi,
I must admit, as a new user of HD2, I'm very concerned about messing around and ending up bricking my phone. i finally got to the stage where i have everything working fine on my WM, so I'm less eager to go about and mess things up.
However, maybe i can start reading and learning from other people's experience on the different 'adventures' that i may run into if i try to install Android on my system. as far i i understand there is still no 100% working version, but it's getting close.
Can you reference me to the main discussion thread on the forum for the android on HD2? (how to install..etc...)
BTW - do i need to take something into consideration if my Phone is a t-mobile?
Thanks,
Guy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As someone who is only just a few months into his 24 month contract (a contract that has no built in data connection), I know the fear of mucking up your hardware. However I've found the whole experience to be quite safe.
The first step would be to get HSPL onto your phone from this thread - forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=611433
Then reading this thread - forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=713977 should give you everything else you need to know to find and install a new ROM, Radio and Android build.
I went from stock ROM on my HD2 to cooked ROM, new Radio and Android all in a day with those threads.
The only issues I've noticed so far as not being able to change the alarm times on the built in clock (just download a new one from Android market) and sometimes the screen stops responding to touch for 10 seconds or so.
thanks for your help in getting started...
I tried to catch on my reading right away, but i noticed this warning in big red scary font:
1024LEOs (from T-Mobile with 1024ROM) ARE NOT SUPPORTED
so, as a T-mobile HD2 user, that means bye bye sweet android adventure for me i guess?
Looks like your android adventures don't have to be over quite yet forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=653614
I'll swop my HD2 with yours
But my experience with Android on my HD2, it's weird, sluggish and not fun. However that jumping cow game is fun in it. .
To be honest, the last I tried, I was on stock roms and radios, now with my new artemis rom and upgraded radio, maybe i should try again.. but i recalled I couldn't make phone calls lol..
guysu said:
thanks for your help in getting started...
I tried to catch on my reading right away, but i noticed this warning in big red scary font:
1024LEOs (from T-Mobile with 1024ROM) ARE NOT SUPPORTED
so, as a T-mobile HD2 user, that means bye bye sweet android adventure for me i guess?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's an app I found via Google.
EDIT: Nvm, it looks like it's not even good.