Database Users

Are you happy with your HD2?

I am trying hard, coming from android but its very difficult the apps are so lacking. I do miss my google sky maps, and my real working gps. For some reasons gps on the HD2 is garbage, I dont even know if it works.
Open market is a big help on the HD2, and following a lot of tweaks, its manageable , I dont want to risk flashing it.
Any app recommends?

flash the device
resco explorer is good
zenonia is a great game for windows as is ivy the kiwi
what else? chainfire graphic acceleration
gtx5 theme
I don't do gps really at all...never have so that's an app I don't use...
tcpmp/coreplayer will help

Dutty's Task Manageris a must have.
I would post the link but I'm not allowed to since I'm a new member. You can find it in the Apps repository thread.

HD2
Hi,
I too came back to Winmo from android, and to be quite honest I miss nothing.
Yes I dont have the cool Bic concert lighter app, or the flashing cop car light app, but the phone does what its supposed to do. Its a productivity thing.
Keeps track of my work Exchange account, my other 3 email accounts. Edits Office documents on the fly, oh and has the best screen ever placed on a phone.
And the GPS works great on this phone. No you cant get the free turn by turn Google app, but for 29 bucks (its a steal) you can get Co-Pilot, which works well and doesnt require an internet connection to guide you. Try out the Co-Pilot, it works really well for me, and it now has TTS for street announcement and free live local search!
fhaines

Your GPS works fine, open google maps, hit menu, press "Use GPS", then press the small blue box which contains a small light blue dot on the bottom right side of the screen. Be sure to give the phone enough time to connect to the satellites displayed on the top right side of your screen.
I've never had a better GPS on any phone.

I like my HD2 after using it over 2 weeks.
However, I wish the standard keyboard was better. I HATE hitting the 'xt9/abc' toggle when I want to hit a or z. I also HATE accidentally hitting the show/hide icon for the keyboard and hiding the keyboard while I'm typing. I converted over to Swype due to this.
I also wish the HTC Messaging app didn't lag. I makes the phone feel slow when I'm trying use this app.

I'm coming from android too and to be honest I was thinking on cooking my Own Rom cause all of the ROMs available are not to my liking either to sloooow or crappy icons or maybe missing some tweaks and home tabs BUT! I rather Go back to my android (Had it since day 1)
I given up hope on HD2 sad I know I expected to be WWAAAAYYYY much more of a better phone.
I got the phone 2 weeks ago But I find myself using my G1 more.
so I'll prob sell it on Craigslist and get a N1 (which was my actual fir option)
You will probably endup doing the same

I like my HD2 Hardware not the operating system

Bitter sweat to say the least. I really like this phone, it has some crazy advance features over today phones but the software (WindowMobile / Sense UI) has really let me down. I did my research (as I do with all phones) so I was really excited to try something new (I have an iPhone) but it's been more headaches than joy.
The only reason why Im holding on to it is in hopes WP7 or Android ROM comes soon, as of right now, I've swapped my sim back into my iPhone.

Well, I took the plunge and did what i feared the most. I added a ROM and I'm loving this phone. No more lag, freezes, bugs, or having to have 10 cabs installed.

digitallysick said:
I am trying hard, coming from android but its very difficult the apps are so lacking. I do miss my google sky maps, and my real working gps. For some reasons gps on the HD2 is garbage, I dont even know if it works.
Open market is a big help on the HD2, and following a lot of tweaks, its manageable , I dont want to risk flashing it.
Any app recommends?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
best device i've owned (and i've had about 8). just get the tweaks so customize it and add a few key apps (for me: resco explorer, resco photo viewer, iGo8 -GPS - work great for me, & core player). my device runs almost flawlessly.

without a doubt this is the best windows mobile device I have run to date everything is flawless!\
trust me when I say this
MESS WITH A CUSTOM ROM
you will love your device. its as easy and fast as a jailbreak

digitallysick said:
I am trying hard, coming from android but its very difficult the apps are so lacking. I do miss my google sky maps, and my real working gps. For some reasons gps on the HD2 is garbage, I dont even know if it works.
Open market is a big help on the HD2, and following a lot of tweaks, its manageable , I dont want to risk flashing it.
Any app recommends?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If apps are you're looking for, it'd be best to go back to Android. Apps are not the strongest draw of the HD2. App development for windows mobile is essentially dead, as developers are now focusing on WP7.
On the note of GPS, it works great for me. I use it every morning on the way to work (helps me navigate around traffice jams).

So far love the build quality as its super solid with no slop like my former TILT and Fuze. The only issue I have is with the camera design which stick out too far and is unprotected from fingerprints and scuffs. The case they provide really doesn't shield it. WISH they would have kept the same design as the Euro/Asia specd HD2 so that accessories could be interchangable. They have some really good cases for the HD2 but not the TMobile versions. Getting screen protectors that truly fit and not leave gaps seems to be a problem as well. LOVE the screen and true capacitive touch.
Software so far - only owned it a week at most and its not been used all that much is pretty fast and the screen is amazing. Wished the bluetooth caller id announce worked and had the ability to record conversations which does not work. Status and other things work fine - so maybe they'll be some fix in the future.
BIG issue is with the 3g network reception. Goes from EDGE to 3g at will. Seems to lock on 3g when return from standby or power up for a few minutes then it will jump to E. Been doing this since I got it - don't think its a design/hardware issue just requires an update in the radio. Will not return it as in more populated areas it locks on 3g and stays locked. Will see. Had AT&T before so not too familiar with TMOBILE in my area. Download speeds are only in the 800 range. ATT in great area would get around 1200.
Voice quality so far is on par or better than AT&T but the volume could be a little higher even with it set full high.
For the price I paid with a new two year contract of (99 - discount code) 75 through a 3rd party and I get the AAA activation waived and 14% off my bill I definately can't complain. Ordered the phone last Monday - received it Wenesday.

Loving my HD2 with the energy tom

stim141 said:
So far love the build quality as its super solid with no slop like my former TILT and Fuze. The only issue I have is with the camera design which stick out too far and is unprotected from fingerprints and scuffs. The case they provide really doesn't shield it. WISH they would have kept the same design as the Euro/Asia specd HD2 so that accessories could be interchangable. They have some really good cases for the HD2 but not the TMobile versions. Getting screen protectors that truly fit and not leave gaps seems to be a problem as well. LOVE the screen and true capacitive touch.
Software so far - only owned it a week at most and its not been used all that much is pretty fast and the screen is amazing. Wished the bluetooth caller id announce worked and had the ability to record conversations which does not work. Status and other things work fine - so maybe they'll be some fix in the future.
BIG issue is with the 3g network reception. Goes from EDGE to 3g at will. Seems to lock on 3g when return from standby or power up for a few minutes then it will jump to E. Been doing this since I got it - don't think its a design/hardware issue just requires an update in the radio. Will not return it as in more populated areas it locks on 3g and stays locked. Will see. Had AT&T before so not too familiar with TMOBILE in my area. Download speeds are only in the 800 range. ATT in great area would get around 1200.
Voice quality so far is on par or better than AT&T but the volume could be a little higher even with it set full high.
For the price I paid with a new two year contract of (99 - discount code) 75 through a 3rd party and I get the AAA activation waived and 14% off my bill I definately can't complain. Ordered the phone last Monday - received it Wenesday.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're looking for a really nice case that protects the camera, check out the leather cases at noreve.com. The leather flip case is very nice and you get to choose from different leather types and colors. It's made for the euro version, but it fits my tmous hd2 fine. Protects real well, too. Dropped my hd2 on my driveway the other day... couple small scuffs on the case, but phone is fine.

I too came from android g1, I didnt realize how much i loved android when I first got the HD2, After I figured out how to operate it, took about 48 hours, figured out how to sync it with WMDC got all my contacts and email. IT FREAKIN ROCKS. I am so impressed with syncing up with outlook on my computer and to my hd2. I have pretty much found all the same type of comparable apps as android. but so i love it!
I have also flashed it with a new rom as as long as you follow the instructions step by step, and use tested radios and roms. watch youtube videos so you know what goes on with your phone during the process so you dont get freaked out.

Are You Happy-Discount?
stim141 spoke about a discount code...paying only $99.00, as well as other "deals." Where did you get that code and how do you apply it?
I'm, in LA been living on the Edge with my Advantage 7501 onTMobile. Would rather have 3G than Edge, and a slimmer device.
And what ever happened to the 4.8 inch HTC Thoth (Athena2)?
bagua

I love my HTC HD2 running energy ro and battery lasts way longer than it did with stock rom

ecyoral said:
I love my HTC HD2 running energy ro and battery lasts way longer than it did with stock rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm people I have heard people say that ROM eats batteries. Nice to see yours is lasting longer. This is my top rom to use when I get the energy to root my phone, kinda scared as of now.
BUT YES..... I love my phone even through the freezes, bad reception, and constant 3g loss of signal.

My first week with the Evo 4g coming from an iPhone 3G

For the first five days I had a huge issue with the battery draining while in standby, and because of that I expected to return the phone. Now that I have logged out of google talk and changed to CDMA auto it's doing much better... I seem to get at least 6 hours of continuous use with little power draining when the screen is off, which I can definitely live with.
Here are the things I love about the evo:
* Being able to plug it in to my computer and mount it as a drive. So simple, and so frustrating that apple won't allow it.
* Google navigation. It's awesome, and much safer since it has text to speech.
* The screen size is amazing... I love that it lets me view docs in meetings so I hardly have to print anything
* Wifi tethering
Here are my main issues, the big ones that might make me have to return it:
* Horrible wifi reception. I have yet to pick up a signal at work, and I have no problem with my iPhone & laptop.
* It sucks as a media player. I have a huge library full of lossless files, and I don't have the energy to convert everything (yes I've tried doubletwist and andless but I can't get it to recognize the artist/album/songnames properly). I listen to a lot of music so this is a major PITA for me.
* Build quality kind of scares me, light leakage etc.; it makes me feel like I need to get the insurance. This plan is costing me way more than an iPhone 4 would (since I still have two other lines on AT&T with one year left on the contract and I get a lower corporate discount) and I hate the thought of paying any more.
The evo is not without it's imperfections, but I love it so far and shudder at the thought of having to go back to an iPhone. In fact I picked up my 3G today and it felt like a sad pathetic joke, like going back to one of those 12 lb. i486 laptops from the 90's. And nobody wants that.
Gary

cloudyphiz said:
For the first five days I had a huge issue with the battery draining while in standby, and because of that I expected to return the phone. Now that I have logged out of google talk and changed to CDMA auto it's doing much better... I seem to get at least 6 hours of continuous use with little power draining when the screen is off, which I can definitely live with.
Here are the things I love about the evo:
* Being able to plug it in to my computer and mount it as a drive. So simple, and so frustrating that apple won't allow it.
* Google navigation. It's awesome, and much safer since it has text to speech.
* The screen size is amazing... I love that it lets me view docs in meetings so I hardly have to print anything
* Wifi tethering
Here are my main issues, the big ones that might make me have to return it:
* Horrible wifi reception. I have yet to pick up a signal at work, and I have no problem with my iPhone & laptop.
* It sucks as a media player. I have a huge library full of lossless files, and I don't have the energy to convert everything (yes I've tried doubletwist and andless but I can't get it to recognize the artist/album/songnames properly). I listen to a lot of music so this is a major PITA for me.
* Build quality kind of scares me, light leakage etc.; it makes me feel like I need to get the insurance. This plan is costing me way more than an iPhone 4 would (since I still have two other lines on AT&T with one year left on the contract and I get a lower corporate discount) and I hate the thought of paying any more.
The evo is not without it's imperfections, but I love it so far and shudder at the thought of having to go back to an iPhone. In fact I picked up my 3G today and it felt like a sad pathetic joke, like going back to one of those 12 lb. i486 laptops from the 90's. And nobody wants that.
Gary
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome!
Thanks for your iPhone/Evo thoughts.
I have some friends at work that are curious about Evo and how it compares to an iPhone.
I've been with Sprint for 10 years, so I've never had an iPhone.
These XDA forums are full of really good folks that want to help out.
Enjoy you Evo!

I also came from a 3G and have similar opinions:
Screen - Damn this screen is beautiful. It definitely is hard to go back to the iPhone just because of this. In addition, I can see much more on the screen without having to zoom (unsure if this is because of the larger screen or increased resolution, or both). On the other hand, it does seems more reflective than the iPhone. I have a hard time seeing the screen in the sun because of all the glare. It's very nice indoors though.
Syncing - much better than the iPhone. iTunes is okay when it works but it just has too many problems. Plus, being able to manually put things on the android without having to root is awesome.
Navigation - Wow. Google navigation blew me away when I first used it. Streetview is a nice touch. Nothing compared to that on the iPhone unless you pay a decent amount.
Customization - being able to root and apply all sorts of different ROMS is pretty badass. Currently, I'm using a Froyo ROM and I have to say... much better than HTC Sense. I guess I like stock android better (I hate HTCs keyboard - too crowded).
Notifications - hot damn I love notifications on android. This is what may keep me on android. It works so well with gmail.
Widgets are awesome
My issues that may swing me back to the iPhone (and please, if I can fix any of these issues, let me know):
I hate having to press the power button to wake from sleep. Maybe I'm just used to pressing the bottom button on the iPhone, but it was just so much easier for me. Of course, not a deal breaker, but very annoying.
It could be just me, but the screen seems hypersensitive. When I'm scrolling up and down, I'm constantly opening apps/menus that I don't want to. It seems to be getting better, so maybe I just need to get used to it.
I'm in Hawaii and the 4G is supposed to be pretty good -- looking at the coverage maps on sprint shows mostly blue where I live. However, I seem to get spotty coverage and the speeds compared to 3G aren't what they advertise. I was so looking forward to 4G. To add insult to injury, leaving 4G on drains the battery like no other.
I'll probably get flamed for this, but I think most people agree the iPhone's OS is much more polished. It doesn't help that both HTC and Sprint add applications and background processes. Scrolling on the android is a tad slower and a little more jerky. One thing that bugs the hell out of me is, on HTC sense, if you press the applications icon, open an application, but decide to go back to the applications screen, it doesn't do that! It goes back to the home screen. That frustrates me so much. Froyo doesn't do that so right now I'm pretty happy.
I can't think of anything else, but I'm pretty torn right now about keeping the EVO or getting an iPhone 4. Any advice?

binxer said:
I also came from a 3G and have similar opinions:
Screen - Damn this screen is beautiful. It definitely is hard to go back to the iPhone just because of this. In addition, I can see much more on the screen without having to zoom (unsure if this is because of the larger screen or increased resolution, or both). On the other hand, it does seems more reflective than the iPhone. I have a hard time seeing the screen in the sun because of all the glare. It's very nice indoors though.
Syncing - much better than the iPhone. iTunes is okay when it works but it just has too many problems. Plus, being able to manually put things on the android without having to root is awesome.
Navigation - Wow. Google navigation blew me away when I first used it. Streetview is a nice touch. Nothing compared to that on the iPhone unless you pay a decent amount.
Customization - being able to root and apply all sorts of different ROMS is pretty badass. Currently, I'm using a Froyo ROM and I have to say... much better than HTC Sense. I guess I like stock android better (I hate HTCs keyboard - too crowded).
Notifications - hot damn I love notifications on android. This is what may keep me on android. It works so well with gmail.
Widgets are awesome
My issues that may swing me back to the iPhone (and please, if I can fix any of these issues, let me know):
I hate having to press the power button to wake from sleep. Maybe I'm just used to pressing the bottom button on the iPhone, but it was just so much easier for me. Of course, not a deal breaker, but very annoying.
It could be just me, but the screen seems hypersensitive. When I'm scrolling up and down, I'm constantly opening apps/menus that I don't want to. It seems to be getting better, so maybe I just need to get used to it.
I'm in Hawaii and the 4G is supposed to be pretty good -- looking at the coverage maps on sprint shows mostly blue where I live. However, I seem to get spotty coverage and the speeds compared to 3G aren't what they advertise. I was so looking forward to 4G. To add insult to injury, leaving 4G on drains the battery like no other.
I'll probably get flamed for this, but I think most people agree the iPhone's OS is much more polished. It doesn't help that both HTC and Sprint add applications and background processes. Scrolling on the android is a tad slower and a little more jerky. One thing that bugs the hell out of me is, on HTC sense, if you press the applications icon, open an application, but decide to go back to the applications screen, it doesn't do that! It goes back to the home screen. That frustrates me so much. Froyo doesn't do that so right now I'm pretty happy.
I can't think of anything else, but I'm pretty torn right now about keeping the EVO or getting an iPhone 4. Any advice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have currently an iphone 3Gs and just got the Evo opening day. I am just now able to really install and get a feel for the EVO since we just got back from vacation. I am becoming more and more pleased with the EVO each time I use it. THere are many things that the EVO can do that iphone cant do even being Jailbroken, which my Iphone is. As i use it i will report more. Right now im having loads of fun with my EVO. Yes, I will get the iphone 4 when it comes out. I guess you can tell im a gadget kind of person. There are just a few things with the EVO that has to be fixed, and I feel like it will be much better with the Froyo.
One thing I really like about the EVO is its browsing. How it resizes the screen and paragraphs so you dont have to scroll right to left. Iphone doesnt have that. Yet. Maybe the new update. Will wait and see. But for now, Evo is in my pocket and iphone is on the bedroom nitestand.

binxer said:
I also came from a 3G and have similar opinions:
Screen - Damn this screen is beautiful. It definitely is hard to go back to the iPhone just because of this. In addition, I can see much more on the screen without having to zoom (unsure if this is because of the larger screen or increased resolution, or both). On the other hand, it does seems more reflective than the iPhone. I have a hard time seeing the screen in the sun because of all the glare. It's very nice indoors though.
Syncing - much better than the iPhone. iTunes is okay when it works but it just has too many problems. Plus, being able to manually put things on the android without having to root is awesome.
Navigation - Wow. Google navigation blew me away when I first used it. Streetview is a nice touch. Nothing compared to that on the iPhone unless you pay a decent amount.
Customization - being able to root and apply all sorts of different ROMS is pretty badass. Currently, I'm using a Froyo ROM and I have to say... much better than HTC Sense. I guess I like stock android better (I hate HTCs keyboard - too crowded).
Notifications - hot damn I love notifications on android. This is what may keep me on android. It works so well with gmail.
Widgets are awesome
My issues that may swing me back to the iPhone (and please, if I can fix any of these issues, let me know):
I hate having to press the power button to wake from sleep. Maybe I'm just used to pressing the bottom button on the iPhone, but it was just so much easier for me. Of course, not a deal breaker, but very annoying.
It could be just me, but the screen seems hypersensitive. When I'm scrolling up and down, I'm constantly opening apps/menus that I don't want to. It seems to be getting better, so maybe I just need to get used to it.
I'm in Hawaii and the 4G is supposed to be pretty good -- looking at the coverage maps on sprint shows mostly blue where I live. However, I seem to get spotty coverage and the speeds compared to 3G aren't what they advertise. I was so looking forward to 4G. To add insult to injury, leaving 4G on drains the battery like no other.
I'll probably get flamed for this, but I think most people agree the iPhone's OS is much more polished. It doesn't help that both HTC and Sprint add applications and background processes. Scrolling on the android is a tad slower and a little more jerky. One thing that bugs the hell out of me is, on HTC sense, if you press the applications icon, open an application, but decide to go back to the applications screen, it doesn't do that! It goes back to the home screen. That frustrates me so much. Froyo doesn't do that so right now I'm pretty happy.
I can't think of anything else, but I'm pretty torn right now about keeping the EVO or getting an iPhone 4. Any advice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To shut off the locksreen go to the matket and get no lock.
After it is installed just launch it and click on the lock.
After that you will just heve to hit the volume button to bring upi the home screen.

I had pretty bad light leakage on the bottom after the first couple days, now that part of the screen has lifted by about 0.5mm and it moves when I squeeze down. This thing has to go back . Just for the hell of it I tried browsing the web on my 3G... I can't imagine going back to such a tiny screen, but it looks like I have to. ugh.
Gary

Cool good info here.

cloudyphiz said:
I love it so far and shudder at the thought of having to go back to an iPhone. In fact I picked up my 3G today and it felt like a sad pathetic joke
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LoL
You sir... have had an AWAKENING!

I came from the iPhone and I can personally tell you this thing DESTROYS the iPhone..
1. CALENDAR SYNC via Exchange - Calendar use is WAY better on Android - one touch navigation of the "Where" clickable numbers(granted the iphone had this) and a beautiful widget to go on the front screen... another widget to show me my upcoming appointment and another to make a "Calendar folder" which makes it a bit easier
2. Notifications, Multi-tasking... Ahh the beauty of using Pandora while writing an e-mail or text message instead of going out of the song each time... being on Skype and Facebook Chat at all times and being that much easier to get ahold of (without the phone call to use my minutes)... LOVE IT
3. Screen Size, Screen Brightness - the screen destroys the iPhone and I have no problem with the touch at all..
4. Apps - I love the openness of the apps.. any major app I used (Pandora, Slacker, etc) are on both Android and iPhone (granted they are usually a bit more developed on the iPhone but I get things like MP3 Explorer that let me download songs when I want them.. something I would need to jailbreak my iPhone for...
5. Customized Home Screen - No need to talk about that... way better then iPhone... I don't feel like I'm the same as every other iPhone user
Okay Okay I coudl go on literally forever ... My iPhone feels like a dinosaur.. Facetime will probably be better video chat then QIK - because QIK SUCKS!!! But its only over WiFi and iPhone 4 to iPhone 4... so I'm not that envious..
One bad thing - battery... granted you get way more power and you can expect that the battery won't be as good... and I'm near a charger most of the time anyways... but I wish they woulda put a super super strong battery in this thing .. I'd be willing to deal with a thicker phone for a battery that's twice as capable!

I just don't get why android can't play all video types.. I'm very surprised that someone hasn't figured out a way to make this work.

jtadeo said:
I just don't get why android can't play all video types.. I'm very surprised that someone hasn't figured out a way to make this work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah.. but my guess.. soon there will be an app on the market that will be better and use more formats.
Like most things on android.. if you dont like it.. you can find an app for that!

Mod. edit: Warez link removed. RockPlayer is a beta, the developer didn't consent it's distribution. Consider this 1st warning!http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=6805512#post6805512http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=6805512#post6805512http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=699824

cloudyphiz said:
For the first five days I had a huge issue with the battery draining while in standby, and because of that I expected to return the phone. Now that I have logged out of google talk and changed to CDMA auto it's doing much better... I seem to get at least 6 hours of continuous use with little power draining when the screen is off, which I can definitely live with.
Here are the things I love about the evo:
* Being able to plug it in to my computer and mount it as a drive. So simple, and so frustrating that apple won't allow it.
* Google navigation. It's awesome, and much safer since it has text to speech.
* The screen size is amazing... I love that it lets me view docs in meetings so I hardly have to print anything
* Wifi tethering
Here are my main issues, the big ones that might make me have to return it:
* Horrible wifi reception. I have yet to pick up a signal at work, and I have no problem with my iPhone & laptop.
* It sucks as a media player. I have a huge library full of lossless files, and I don't have the energy to convert everything (yes I've tried doubletwist and andless but I can't get it to recognize the artist/album/songnames properly). I listen to a lot of music so this is a major PITA for me.
* Build quality kind of scares me, light leakage etc.; it makes me feel like I need to get the insurance. This plan is costing me way more than an iPhone 4 would (since I still have two other lines on AT&T with one year left on the contract and I get a lower corporate discount) and I hate the thought of paying any more.
The evo is not without it's imperfections, but I love it so far and shudder at the thought of having to go back to an iPhone. In fact I picked up my 3G today and it felt like a sad pathetic joke, like going back to one of those 12 lb. i486 laptops from the 90's. And nobody wants that.
Gary
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good comparison. One app you might wanna try for you music needs is btunes. It is basically like the iphone music player. It does cost money but so far its the best one I have used. I have the Hero so I do not know if it works on the EVO yet but you might wanna give it a try. Also when you buy a app if you havent figured it out yet you have 24hrs trial if you dont like it uninstall and you will be refunded. Hope that helps

dwertz said:
Mod. edit: No it's not. Warez link removed. This is a beta, the developer didn't consent it's distribution.http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=6805512#post6805512http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=6805512#post6805512
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it a free program?

it is in beta right now so for this version yes

HTC EVO & Blackberry Bold 9650 - my experience

This is not a "vs." thread as you are used to reading...this is merely my observations since I have owned and used both devices to their fullest extent. I wanted to share these with you guys (as well as blackberryforums.com) to see what you all thought. I get a ton of email each day, a fair amount of texts and use the high side of 5k mins/month. One of the ways that I have always set myself apart is my response times. I am VP of Sales for a small wireless integration firm and used to work for Sprint and Nextel on the data side. My first smartphone was a Blackberry 7510 in 2004. I had access to every device that Nextel and Sprint had and tried 95% of them. I always went back to Blackberry.
In July of this year, my CEO gave me an EVO and I wanted to give it a fair shot. I went into with the same mentality as always - that I would be back to Blackberry in a few days. I was wrong. I immediately began reading XDA-developers on how to root the device and after that, it snowballed. I was CONSTANTLY trying to find new ways to enhance the battery life and customize my device to my liking. I played around with many different ROMS and kernels (CM6, Baked Snack, Myn and a couple others) and had found Myn's Warm 2.2 RLS4 with Netarchy 2.1.1 CFS smartass kernel to be the best fit for me. That said, I blew through batteries each day unless I was in my home office had to carry an extra one every where I went. On Friday (12/24), I saw a post on Twitter about OS 6.0 for the 9650 and decided to give it a shot. Here is my comparison based on my usage of both devices.
Screen:
Blackberry: ample size for email and texting. Marginal for video like youtube.
EVO: Gorgeous clarity and perfect for watching videos and looking at pictures.
Battery:
Blackberry: stellar battery life....not only does it hold a charge well it doesn't take long to charge. I carry an extra battery in my bag but I can barely ever remember using it.
EVO: Terrible. I have seen so many posts about how folks are getting x hours of standby or sleep or whatever..point is, it comes down to how long the battery lasts as I use the device. I found myself checking percentage drain after leaving the device on all night after every change I made (kernel, ROM, etc.)....it became rather time consuming if you think about it. Everyone always says, "yeah, but it does so much more?" Well, I got tired of worrying what my battery life was going to do when I turned GPS on to use Navigation. You would have thought that the folks that manufactured these devices would have added a little extra juice.
Size:
Blackberry: nice design...good fit in my hand but keyboard is just a tad small (I wear a XXL golf glove).
EVO: large 4.3" screen great for media but a little big to carry around daily. Until the EVO I was a BB holster guy. Having the EVO on my hip felt like a small TV on my belt. I lost that clip quickly and will never carry ANY device on my hip again.
Keyboard:
Blackberry: quite simply, it is perfect. No device can touch a Blackberry keyboard, IMO. Even other Android devices with sliders are no comparison.
EVO: This was my first time using a touchscreen device for any length of time. I didnt care for stock, tried Swype (eh) and decided that SwiftKey was the best choice for me. I got used to touchscreen with no problem and while I wasnt as fast as I was on my BB, it worked fine.
Email:
Blackberry: again, cosmetics aside, email is great. With Blackberry and BES, you know what you are getting. There is no manual sync just to be sure that all email is there. One downside is the lack of mirrored sync. On activesync, you can delete an email in your inbox and it wont show up anymore on your device. Not so with Blackberry (unless this is a new feature in 6.0). I like how easy it is to reply (letter r), reply all (letter l) and forward (letter f) emails with Blackberry. Attachments are handled ok.
EVO: My company is on Exchange 2003 so no HTML email on the stock android mail app. I bought the Touchdown app and it was just ok. While I liked the HTML email via Touchdown it used a little more battery than the stock app. I like the fact that everything is mirrored (replica of inbox). On more than one occasion I noticed that email would sync only after getting into my inbox. Functionality seemed fine 95% of the time....but not 100%. Another small irritant of mine in Android is the fact that the cc field isn't in view automatically. You actually have to hit a button to put the cc field in and then add your address.
Messaging:
Blackberry: Blackberry messenger is awesome, no doubt. Problem is you are limited to those that use it. Texting on the Blackberry is fine also. In fact, I like it as much as Android because it acts just like the email app.
EVO: Until the EVO, I had very limited interaction with texting. Literally, 90% of anyone I communicated with was on BBM. I tried the stock app, Handcent and then finally ended up with ChompSMS. Texting vs. texting it's a wash on both devices.
Browsing:
Blackberry: browsing has gotten a bit better with 6.0 but it doesn't compare to the EVO. It gets the job done but it's just ok.
EVO: I love browsing the web on the EVO. I like the auto text resize capabilities of the stock browser and the overall experience is much better.
Calendar
Blackberry: Never had an issue with the calendar on a Blackberry.
EVO: I can count 8-10 specific events that just didn't show up on my calendar on my EVO...All from Exchange and all events were in Outlook. I need to know this will work 100% of the time. Period.
Contacts
Blackberry: KIS -Keep is simple is exactly what they do. Never an issue with contacts. Always integrated nicely with the other aspects of Blackberry. In 6.0 you can see all conversations/activities within each contact.
EVO: The "people" app on the EVO was ok. When I first got the EVO, everything wanted to integrate with more than one source....it listed Google, PC, Exchange......and I only wanted Exchange....again, never felt 100%.
Apps:
Blackberry: App store is just ok...nothing great to mention here.
EVO: Android market is awesome....lots of great choices for the many things that can be done with Android.
UI
Blackberry: Simple and non-descript. 6.0 adds a good amount to it but it isn't on par with Android.
EVO: I love the time and weather widgets on the home screen. I definitely miss that on Blackberry.
Social Media:
I manage my company's Twitter account as well as our Facebook account (along with my personal accounts of each). I simply love TweetDeck for Android. With Blackberry, I haven't found a combined app that functions anywhere close. I tried HootSuite but it wasn't a combined app...I had to go into Facebook and then into Twitter. (if anyone has a recommendation here, by all means speak up).
Security
Blackberry: No contest here. If I left my Blackberry in a cab, I would not be concerned at all knowing that I could call my IT dept and have it shut down immediately.
EVO: Not so much. I know there are IT policies that can be implemented and it's "pretty" secure. I am not the IT department BUT I just don't feel as secure knowing that it isn't a BES.
Miscellaneous:
I think it's only a matter of time before Blackberry puts a much better camera in their devices. That is a big part of my satisfaction with the EVO. I am a huge amateur photographer and take pictures virtually everywhere I go. Earlier today as was driving my father in-law's 4-wheeler in the snowstorm pulling my 5 and 8 year old girls on saucers I pulled out my Blackberry and could easily turn around and snap a few shots as i was driving. Safe? probably not but I couldn't have done that as easily (if at all) with the EVO. Another thing I noticed was the ability to dial numbers from websites and calendar invites. On Blackberry, it just works. On the EVO, it was hit or miss.
Overall, the EVO is a great device. I travel a fair amount so having a device like that that could entertain me on a plane was a great draw. I loved Angry Birds, Kindle app and a few more. Problem was I would use all of that and then land and not have any juice to actually work. One of the biggest irritants of the EVO was having to hit the power button on the top to turn the device on. Sounds petty, but that bugged me.
Last week, I ordered an iPad with some Marriott points and I have a feeling that it will serve as more than enough entertainment on planes (hasn't arrived yet). I switched back to my 9650 this past Friday and because of the nature of my business I just think that Blackberry is the better device for me.
I will leave you with one stat that I pulled directly from Xobni (those not familiar with this app for Outlook, you should definitely check it out). It's a great organizer for email within Outlook but also has some analytics that will boggle your mind. It may sound petty but from the first of the year until the day I switched to my EVO my average response time was less than 3 minutes for email. From the day I switched to the EVO until this past Friday my average response time was just under 6 mins....
Ultimately, there isn't one perfect device (in my opinion). For me and right now, it appears that a Blackberry will better serve my needs from a business perspective. Thanks for everyone's assistance on this and other Android forums....you all have been great....Happy New Year!

Umm ok??? Scratching head...
sent from my DAMN EVO

Why are you scratching your head? I just wanted to give a rundown from someone that has experienced both devices.

Success100 said:
Umm ok??? Scratching head...
sent from my DAMN EVO
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what you would call a post count troll.
Anyway I would go with BB for your business needs. I used to own a BB 8700, 8300, 8310, pearl, etc.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

gqstatus0685 said:
This is what you would call a post count troll.
Anyway I would go with BB for your business needs. I used to own a BB 8700, 8300, 8310, pearl, etc.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No doubt....when I first read it I thought you were talking about me....then I really did scratch my head. Have a good night.

Yeah, there is really no question that the battery life on the Evo is only acceptible to people that have constant access to a charger or are willing to stuff a double or tripple size battery in their pocket.
Hopefully the Evo shift 4g will be a big improvement. With its larger battery, smaller screen and more power efficient processor it should be.

gqstatus0685 said:
This is what you would call a post count troll.
Anyway I would go with BB for your business needs. I used to own a BB 8700, 8300, 8310, pearl, etc.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
umm no, try again, i could care less about post count, I just didnt see a point of this thread because just about everyone knows the advantages/disadvantages of android phones and blackberries, at least the people that post on this site. but to each his own

Mactagonist said:
Yeah, there is really no question that the battery life on the Evo is only acceptible to people that have constant access to a charger or are willing to stuff a double or tripple size battery in their pocket.
Hopefully the Evo shift 4g will be a big improvement. With its larger battery, smaller screen and more power efficient processor it should be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if that comment is true.... my phone last well over 16 hours which is enough for me.. not sure what your battery life is but that's just my experience.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Ok......
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Doesn't this BB phone have a 2.4" screen?

I sort of miss my blackberry. I'm thinking about going back. I am considering the curve 3G.
Sent from my HTC EVO 4G.

in this base.
used a 9650 for a month than swapped to the EVO.
you are pretty much spot on in every aspect. I get p.good battery life on my Evo, enough for a solid day of use where I can plug it in at night.
Tethering is much easier on the EVO than a BB.
Completely agree on the Bolds keyboard, it is simply amazing. I hated the Curve keyboard, and am yet to find a slider i like...i think i just hate sliders.
Contemplated selling my Evo and picking up a Bold again. I carry my laptop around and EVO is just basically for texting/facebook. Also, BB Facebook App is a lot better then Androids.

Good post. I agree with most of the points. The one thing that makes me stick with Android is the applications I utilize. Though there are some decent applications on the BlackBerry, many of the are so overpriced. I also find that the BlackBerry versions of some are very poor when compared to their Android counterparts. (This is the same complaint iPhone users have about Android applications!)
I'm still getting used to OS 6 on my Bold.I believe I ran into a problem with battery life post-upgrade. It seems to be related to my WiFi. I also just found out that my camera isn't working--which will be a headache I deal with some time this week.
Two areas where I don't agree: I find that the BlackBerry application store is complete GARBAGE. I had to switch devices (went from a Tour to the Bold), and it lost my applications...despite following the instructions on how to ensure they weren't lost. When trying to rectify this, I found that RIM doesn't even have support (i.e., people with whom I can communicate) for issues like this.
The second area has to do with the email reconciliation. Just as Android has synchronize, the BlackBerry has "reconcile now." I'd say they're on-par in this respect. I don't think either one is perfect. I've had lost appointments on my BlackBerry, where they have been on my Evo.
One area I didn't see in your post had to do with GPS. I find that the Evo GPS works much better than my BlackBerry's. The BlackBerry, curiously, works great with RIM's own Maps application; third-party applications (Bing/Google Maps) were hit or miss.
On the other hand, the one area where the BlackBerry shines over the Evo is in international usage. Not only will the Bold roam on GSM, Sprint has a plan that is unlimited data for the Bold. Not so for the Evo. (Though Verizon has it for both BlackBerry and Android devices.)
Joel

Decent article, a bit lengthy, but full of good info. (i personally can't comprehend how someone would have enough time to sit down and write a posting of that magnitude)
Regardless. I have a Bold 9700 for work and my Evo for personal. I HATED BB before the work phone. now that i've used it and worked on the enterprise servers, i see the merits. it's a solid little device. not as feature packed as my evo.
the one main sticking point that i can't shake is, as you said, the battery life. it's amazing how long my Bold can go. i've had it off the charger for 4 days now. no problem. it's incredible. my evo? barely goes a full 12 hour work day without a charge. i know they make expanded batteries and i could always get extra batteries. But to be honest, i have no desire to remove two layers of otterbox defender just to replace a battery. it still amazes me that HTC missed the mark so greatly on the batteries, when all the other features rock.
</rant>

jbhorner said:
Good post. I agree with most of the points. The one thing that makes me stick with Android is the applications I utilize. Though there are some decent applications on the BlackBerry, many of the are so overpriced. I also find that the BlackBerry versions of some are very poor when compared to their Android counterparts. (This is the same complaint iPhone users have about Android applications!)
I'm still getting used to OS 6 on my Bold.I believe I ran into a problem with battery life post-upgrade. It seems to be related to my WiFi. I also just found out that my camera isn't working--which will be a headache I deal with some time this week.
Two areas where I don't agree: I find that the BlackBerry application store is complete GARBAGE. I had to switch devices (went from a Tour to the Bold), and it lost my applications...despite following the instructions on how to ensure they weren't lost. When trying to rectify this, I found that RIM doesn't even have support (i.e., people with whom I can communicate) for issues like this.
The second area has to do with the email reconciliation. Just as Android has synchronize, the BlackBerry has "reconcile now." I'd say they're on-par in this respect. I don't think either one is perfect. I've had lost appointments on my BlackBerry, where they have been on my Evo.
One area I didn't see in your post had to do with GPS. I find that the Evo GPS works much better than my BlackBerry's. The BlackBerry, curiously, works great with RIM's own Maps application; third-party applications (Bing/Google Maps) were hit or miss.
On the other hand, the one area where the BlackBerry shines over the Evo is in international usage. Not only will the Bold roam on GSM, Sprint has a plan that is unlimited data for the Bold. Not so for the Evo. (Though Verizon has it for both BlackBerry and Android devices.)
Joel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didnt mean to give any addtl credit to the BB App World but to be honest, I never use it and dont have a need to use it now...I search the web for the apps and use the dl link directly from their sites.
As far as reconcile goes, the EVO worked better for email (when it did work 100%). Again this is for email only....if I deleted an email on my pc it doesnt leave my bb...it does on the EVO.
Forgot about GPS - you are correct....the GPS on the EVO was far better and could be used for lots of cool things....I get Telenav for free on the BB so cost wise that isnt an issue.....hard to come close to Google Navigation although I will say it has routed me on some pretty crazy routes before.
One other thing I forgot was notes/memos. Yes, there are apps for Android that sync manually but it's 2010. I dont want to sync manually...I use notes alot (have over 350) and I really missed them on Android.

SilverStone641 said:
Decent article, a bit lengthy, but full of good info. (i personally can't comprehend how someone would have enough time to sit down and write a posting of that magnitude)
</rant>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't "comprehend" how someone has 10 minutes to write out their experiences? Are you THAT busy?

I just remembered (after just experiencing the problem) another thing I absolutely hate about the BlackBerry email: it has a limit as to how much it will download per message. If a message is over a certain size, it pretty much flips you the middle finger. I just ran into this, actually. It doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but it is when reading HTML messages contained in external (non BES) email.
Joel

SilverStone641 said:
Decent article, a bit lengthy, but full of good info. (i personally can't comprehend how someone would have enough time to sit down and write a posting of that magnitude)
Regardless. I have a Bold 9700 for work and my Evo for personal. I HATED BB before the work phone. now that i've used it and worked on the enterprise servers, i see the merits. it's a solid little device. not as feature packed as my evo.
the one main sticking point that i can't shake is, as you said, the battery life. it's amazing how long my Bold can go. i've had it off the charger for 4 days now. no problem. it's incredible. my evo? barely goes a full 12 hour work day without a charge. i know they make expanded batteries and i could always get extra batteries. But to be honest, i have no desire to remove two layers of otterbox defender just to replace a battery. it still amazes me that HTC missed the mark so greatly on the batteries, when all the other features rock.
</rant>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your Bold 9700 is GSM, Bold 9650 is CDMA and GSM when needed.
GSM phones have much better battery life compared to CDMA ones. I would get about a day in a half-2 days of battery on my Bold. Evo if I rarely use it, i can get up to 30-34 hours of standby basically, but if using moderately I can get 20-24 hours. Bold with heavy use would last me a full day at least, Evo with heavy use i'm lucky to get 12 hours.
I do love the Bold, adn would have no qualms about going back to one. Especially if I had a Tablet also or something easier than my laptop. Might have to throw my Evo up for sale for $350 and see if I get any bites, haha.

ddublu said:
Size:
Blackberry: nice design...good fit in my hand but keyboard is just a tad small (I wear a XXL golf glove).
EVO: large 4.3" screen great for media but a little big to carry around daily. Until the EVO I was a BB holster guy. Having the EVO on my hip felt like a small TV on my belt. I lost that clip quickly and will never carry ANY device on my hip again.
Keyboard:
Blackberry: quite simply, it is perfect. No device can touch a Blackberry keyboard, IMO. Even other Android devices with sliders are no comparison.
EVO: This was my first time using a touchscreen device for any length of time. I didnt care for stock, tried Swype (eh) and decided that SwiftKey was the best choice for me. I got used to touchscreen with no problem and while I wasnt as fast as I was on my BB, it worked fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK! Longest useless post I've ever wasted my time reading! So you say the keyboard is too small, then you say it is perfect....is it perfectly small?

2.4" screen?
Are we talking about smartphones or featurephones here?

[Q] Switch from Tilt2 to Focus?

I think this may be a no-brainer. I spend so much on my Phone bill, that ATT is going to give me a Focus for free. (or one of many other phones of my choice).
I just got my Tilt 2 is running the exact way I want it to. Should I upgrade? How happy are you with WINMO 7 and Focus?
Yes I know it's a freebe, but if ATT is planning on coming out with another phone, I don't want to use up my free turn now. That's the only thing holding me back. Thanks.
Will

william8004 said:
I think this may be a no-brainer. I spend so much on my Phone bill, that ATT is going to give me a Focus for free. (or one of many other phones of my choice).
I just got my Tilt 2 is running the exact way I want it to. Should I upgrade? How happy are you with WINMO 7 and Focus?
Yes I know it's a freebe, but if ATT is planning on coming out with another phone, I don't want to use up my free turn now. That's the only thing holding me back. Thanks.
Will
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have the Tilt working the way you want it to, why would you switch? The Focus has functionality pretty much on the level of a severely retarded iPhone. It's nowhere near and nothing like the old Windows Mobile. Mine is sitting on my desk without a sim while I wait to see if Microsoft is actually serious or if I'll be getting an Android phone this summer. I've actually used my old Fuze more recently than the Focus because even tho it was slow, unstable and barely usable half the time, the other half of the time it did almost anything I needed to get done.

I am a previous Tilt and Tilt2 owner. I am now a Focus owner. The limitations of WP7 are out there and pretty well known. If any of those are critical to you, then don't switch. If you want a completely refreshing experience, no memory problems, apps that actually close when you close them, and not having to worry about constantly tweaking your phone, go with WP7. I don't regret it for a minute. Everybody is so worried about c&p (which is coming) and multitasking... there is something to be said about the WP7 experience. It has really grown on me. I go days without a soft reset. Marketplace occasionally hangs, which is my only complaint. The beautiful thing is that they are still on the first release. The most under talked about feature of WP7 is the People hub. It is really amazing how simple it is yet how it integrates all my contacts. I'm also a big OneNote user and I love this version. I do like a hardware keyboard, but this soft keyboard is just as good as the iPhone. Critics like to say the iPhone's keyboard is better because how could something be as good as an iPhone? Well, it actually is. I had an iPhone between my Tilt and Tilt2 and the WP7 keyboard is just as good. WP7 is not perfect (yet) but it's a great start. I don't even think about my Tilt2 anymore. I figured I'd buy the best of the first set of phones (Focus) early, then wait for a good second gen one to come out and get that in a year. I don't regret my decision for a second and would never go back.

FUZE
I moved from my FUZE to a Focus on December 27th and have never looked back. Like you, I got my FUZE where I wanted it with a custom Energy ROM and lots of tweaks and apps. It was an ongoing process that I had learned to live with. I had the Focus for 4 days before I swapped the SIM out of the FUZE. In fact, my FUZE is still on the charger.
All of this crap about C&P and multi-tasking is a tempest in a teapot. I haven't missed either and I use my phone hours each day. It is smooth, seemless and everything just works like WM 6.5 should have. I can't explain here what I love about WP7, it would take too long. You have to experience it to really understand.

This summarized my thoughts exactly.
smuook said:
I am a previous Tilt and Tilt2 owner. I am now a Focus owner. The limitations of WP7 are out there and pretty well known. If any of those are critical to you, then don't switch. If you want a completely refreshing experience, no memory problems, apps that actually close when you close them, and not having to worry about constantly tweaking your phone, go with WP7. I don't regret it for a minute. Everybody is so worried about c&p (which is coming) and multitasking... there is something to be said about the WP7 experience. It has really grown on me. I go days without a soft reset. Marketplace occasionally hangs, which is my only complaint. The beautiful thing is that they are still on the first release. The most under talked about feature of WP7 is the People hub. It is really amazing how simple it is yet how it integrates all my contacts. I'm also a big OneNote user and I love this version. I do like a hardware keyboard, but this soft keyboard is just as good as the iPhone. Critics like to say the iPhone's keyboard is better because how could something be as good as an iPhone? Well, it actually is. I had an iPhone between my Tilt and Tilt2 and the WP7 keyboard is just as good. WP7 is not perfect (yet) but it's a great start. I don't even think about my Tilt2 anymore. I figured I'd buy the best of the first set of phones (Focus) early, then wait for a good second gen one to come out and get that in a year. I don't regret my decision for a second and would never go back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Thresher said:
This summarized my thoughts exactly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Double ditto. Also went from Tilt -> Tilt2 -> Focus. Minor bugs are annoying, but the upsides win over the downsides

william8004 said:
I think this may be a no-brainer. I spend so much on my Phone bill, that ATT is going to give me a Focus for free. (or one of many other phones of my choice).
I just got my Tilt 2 is running the exact way I want it to. Should I upgrade? How happy are you with WINMO 7 and Focus?
Yes I know it's a freebe, but if ATT is planning on coming out with another phone, I don't want to use up my free turn now. That's the only thing holding me back. Thanks.
Will
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Focus is a great phone. To say that it's as functional as a severely retarded iPhone is extremely shortsighted and entirely subjective. If you find usb thumb drives to be too cumbersome for mass storage, need wifi internet sharing (the Focus tethers great with my Win 7 x64 laptop via usb), vcard support, or to send video via mms (although the camera in my TP2 sucks so bad I never used it) then stick with the tp2.
That being said, the Focus is MUCH faster and way more stable. Even oc'ed to 748 MHz my tp2 was extremely laggy, especially when sliding out the keyboard. I never thought I'd be able to do w/o a hardware keyboard, but, this one is fantastic. Unlike the iPhone, the auto-correct is right 95% of the time.
I, personally, can live w/o the missing feature for the time being.
Also, you may want to wait for the LTE rolling out later this year. If you're in one of the cities that will get it, it should be much faster than the current 3G and WP May introduce phones supporting it by the end of the year.

A lot of really nifty new hardware got announced at CES this past week. But then, if you're willing to wait, something better is always going to continually be coming down the pipe. If you're looking at what's out right now, you can do much worse than a Focus.
Personally, I much prefer using my Focus over my old Tilt2. About the only thing I really miss is the ability to connect to IRC. That one does irk me. Other than that, I really am digging the new toy.

I went from an HTC Wizard to the Tilt - I never got the Tilt2 - to a Samsung Focus. Only rarely do I miss a physical keyboard. I miss some of the apps - SPB Wallet, Vito Audio Notes Touch and Mobipocket Reader. I miss syncing Office docs but I don't miss Activesync issues. Occasionally I miss the Tilt's scroll wheel and Dpad but I'm getting over it.
The Focus' screen is so beautiful and the WP7 interface is really a joy. I love this phone - it's fast and responsive and pretty as hell. I know that I'll find new apps to replace my old ones in time and I'll adjust to the differences.
My advice is that if you have programs on your Tilt2 that you can't live without then you should think twice before moving on. But if you go into a store and take a look at the Focus you might just get one anyway.
As mentioned before if you're into social networking the People Hub just handles that integration really well. Also if you use Windows Live Photo Gallery Online and or Facebook for pictures the Pictures hub handles this great.
I'm not a gamer so the Xbox live thing doesn't do it for me.
So, I love the Focus but I'm waiting for the apps to catch up.

Here are my two choices.
1. go from tilt2 now to focus
2. wait and use my freebe on another phone in the future that ATT will carry.
???

wspaw said:
The Focus is a great phone. To say that it's as functional as a severely retarded iPhone is extremely shortsighted and entirely subjective. If you find usb thumb drives to be too cumbersome for mass storage, need wifi internet sharing (the Focus tethers great with my Win 7 x64 laptop via usb), vcard support, or to send video via mms (although the camera in my TP2 sucks so bad I never used it) then stick with the tp2.
That being said, the Focus is MUCH faster and way more stable. Even oc'ed to 748 MHz my tp2 was extremely laggy, especially when sliding out the keyboard. I never thought I'd be able to do w/o a hardware keyboard, but, this one is fantastic. Unlike the iPhone, the auto-correct is right 95% of the time.
I, personally, can live w/o the missing feature for the time being.
Also, you may want to wait for the LTE rolling out later this year. If you're in one of the cities that will get it, it should be much faster than the current 3G and WP May introduce phones supporting it by the end of the year.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not short-sighted, it's the way it is. I bought a Focus the day they went on sale but every day brought about at least a couple situations that the iPhone and Fuze could easily meet and the Focus had nothing. If it did any less Walmart could package it with a prepaid card and stick it on the rack with the $25 Nokia phones that come with $30 of talk time. I don't give a damn about copy/paste, the thing that made me put the sim card back into the iPhone was that the camera doesn't save it's settings. How asinine is that? Doesn't anyone at Microsoft even use a camera? Didn't anyone bother testing it? And *I'm* the short-sighted one? That's why I don't buy that rubbish about how it doesn't have any useful features because "it's two months old". And as hard as it was to believe, the browser is actually WORSE than the WinMo browser which, in the very least, could play audio and video streams. I'm half surprised WP7 didn't come with Trumpet Winsock to make a data connection. WP7 is stable because there's practically nothing to crash or freeze. WinMo is fast, too, when it has nothing to do and a 1 GHz processor to do it on. So if I had a Tilt2 and wanted something that was actually responsive and approached the same level of functionality, I'd get an iPhone or a decent Android phone for, I'd guess, the next year given how long it took Microsoft to get the current rendition of WP7 out the door.

markgamber said:
It's not short-sighted, it's the way it is. I bought a Focus the day they went on sale but every day brought about at least a couple situations that the iPhone and Fuze could easily meet and the Focus had nothing. If it did any less Walmart could package it with a prepaid card and stick it on the rack with the $25 Nokia phones that come with $30 of talk time. I don't give a damn about copy/paste, the thing that made me put the sim card back into the iPhone was that the camera doesn't save it's settings. How asinine is that? Doesn't anyone at Microsoft even use a camera? Didn't anyone bother testing it? And *I'm* the short-sighted one? That's why I don't buy that rubbish about how it doesn't have any useful features because "it's two months old". And as hard as it was to believe, the browser is actually WORSE than the WinMo browser which, in the very least, could play audio and video streams. I'm half surprised WP7 didn't come with Trumpet Winsock to make a data connection. WP7 is stable because there's practically nothing to crash or freeze. WinMo is fast, too, when it has nothing to do and a 1 GHz processor to do it on. So if I had a Tilt2 and wanted something that was actually responsive and approached the same level of functionality, I'd get an iPhone or a decent Android phone for, I'd guess, the next year given how long it took Microsoft to get the current rendition of WP7 out the door.
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Not saving camera settings is just dumb (I seriously doubt this will be an issue for long). The browser is far better on WP7. It accesses and renders pages faster than my wife's iPhone, let alone the TP2 (IE, Opera, Opera Mini, Skyfire, etc.). At least it WILL support flash compared to the iPhone. Can you edit Office docs on the iPhone? Kinda. But, the Office hub on the Focus is considered to add great functionality to the phone by many people. TP2 can do some of this, too, if you don't mind the lag. Typing is far more accurate for me on the Focus, coming from a hardware keyboard. Believe it or not, that affects the functionality of the phone, at least for me. The Focus can tether without additional cost. If you care about music the Zune Pass is outstanding. The Focus might not have much functionality for you, perhaps, but many others would disagree. Then again, maybe all of us happy Focus users are just retarded Walmart patrons.

All I have to say is I loved my Tilt2! I got a Focus with my upgrade. I figured I keep my Tilt2 to fall back to if I didn't like it. Needless to say I loved the Focus so much I gave...did you hear me... gave my Tilt 2 because I couldn't even justify putting a price on it. That's how different the Focus is. I've read all the complaints and ironically it's the exact same ones people gave as a reason the Iphone would fail. Hell I even mocked Iphone owners. Well we know how that turned out.
As far the browser, here in New Orleans(signals vary in every region) WP7 IE is faster than any WM browser I ever had Opera 9,9.5,9.7, 9.7 with Flash,10 beta,10 Mini,Skyfire, UCWeb6,6.7,7,7 release2, NetFront 3.4,3.5,4,4 updated, Bolt,Iris, Pocket IE, Uzard. The sad thing is all of these damn browsers were installed on my phone because none were good enough. With the Focus I released much like the Iphone people I mocked, I don't need most of that bullcrap. I don't know if the IP4 has a different browser version than the 3GS, but WP7 IE is just as fast and accurate. as my nephews 3GS.
As for saving camera settings, I never taught of this till you mentioned it. Now that you mentioned it, it sounds crazy to me to save the settings. I constantly take pictures with my phone for work. Unless I'm in the exact same conditions then saving the settings would be just a big pain. Obviously, someone in the Microsoft meeting must have mentioned this. Damned if they do damned if they don't.

bennyj71 said:
As for saving camera settings, I never taught of this till you mentioned it. Now that you mentioned it, it sounds crazy to me to save the settings. I constantly take pictures with my phone for work. Unless I'm in the exact same conditions then saving the settings would be just a big pain. Obviously, someone in the Microsoft meeting must have mentioned this. Damned if they do damned if they don't.
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You still are using a fixed set of settings, the default ones. If you are OK with those is no problem, but a user should still be able to customize the settings and then save them instead of always going back to default.

I am in my first day of "playing" with a Focus, coming from a Tilt 2. Sometimes I think I should have not started.
I love the simplicity but I miss the flexibility.
So far the biggest con for me is the small font used in various places that I find hard to read after using the phone for a while. Maybe it is time for glasses but get them only for the Focus? Too bad the font size cannot be adjusted other than the places where zooming works. Speaking of zooming I miss the reflow of text, so now after zooming I constantly have to scroll sideways to read a page.
When I got the Tilt 2 I thought I was going to use the slide out keyboard more. Turned out that I rarely used it so that was not an issue moving to the Focus. I do find the Focus keyboard very sensitive. The slightest touch or even coming close enough to the screen without actually touching registers on the touch screen. Even though the Focus screen keyboard keys are very close in size to the Tilt 2 screen keyboard I have lots of typos with the Focus. I guess though that this is something that gets overcome with time.
WiFi... cannot connect to hidden networks??? Please Microsoft, reconsider this.
Once connected to WiFi what is there to do other than using WiFi for data instead of 3G? I cannot connect to my Windows Home Server to save pictures and other documents or to load some documents for the road. I know I can go thru Skydrive but that's extra steps and maybe I have documents I would rather not upload to a third party server.
I would like a common email tile on the home screen instead of individual tiles for each account. The visible home screen is limited. HTC Sense does this beatifully.
Various apps that I use save their data somewhere in the phone's memory. I would like to be able to back it up at least by copying it to my laptop or home server. I do not see any sort of file management at the OS level where I could do this. Some apps save their data in the cloud... again a third party server.
But I do have another 25 days or so to play with the Focus. I'll see how things change.

Started with a Tilt --> iPhone --> Tilt2 and now Focus. The phone does have its quirks but I believe the pros outweigh the cons. The onscreen keyboard easily rivals or surpasses that of the iPhone. Transition between programs is fluid and seemless. The link with Xbox Live is awesome!
This is only day 2 of playing with this guy and I'm already hooked.

Just upgraded from the Tilt 2 (prior to that I used the original Tilt and then the Fuze) to the Samsung Focus -- and I will not be looking back. Finally a phone that works when I need it to! I'll trade a few, very minor limitations that I can work around for the lightning fast responsiveness of the WP7.
I can't count the number of times with the Tilt/Fuze/Tilt 2 that I stood outside an elevator needing to quickly look up a meeting room number or sitting in a meeting and needing to look up a phone number only to have it slowly lumber through the process at a snails pace with people waiting all around me in frustration. I need a phone that works in real world - real time - business situations. So I really value the simplicity and responsiveness of the Focus.
It's a keeper.

I also came from the long line of HTC phones and the iPhone3Gs. I upgraded to the Focus the day it hit the streets and as others have said I have never looked back. I do miss some of the customizing and some of the apps but in time they will come. I knew the limitations going in and while some of them have been a pain the pros way outweigh the cons. If MS keeps their word and gets the updates out and keeps them coming they have a big winner on their hands.

JamesAllen said:
I moved from my FUZE to a Focus on December 27th and have never looked back. Like you, I got my FUZE where I wanted it with a custom Energy ROM and lots of tweaks and apps. It was an ongoing process that I had learned to live with. I had the Focus for 4 days before I swapped the SIM out of the FUZE. In fact, my FUZE is still on the charger.
All of this crap about C&P and multi-tasking is a tempest in a teapot. I haven't missed either and I use my phone hours each day. It is smooth, seemless and everything just works like WM 6.5 should have. I can't explain here what I love about WP7, it would take too long. You have to experience it to really understand.
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My sentiments exactly. As a former Fuze owner, the only thing I miss are the physical keyboard, and specific apps. I purchased my Fuze the day it came out, and used it heavily during that time. I still find myself clicking on the search button to end a call, but that's a habit I'll break soon enough.
The keyboard is probably the best soft-keyboard I've tried, and I'm still learning little tips to make it even easier. That said, I really do miss the hard-keys.
The only other area of concern are the apps. I had a number of apps that I used daily, which sadly aren't yet available for Win7, and possibly may never be available.
Still, this phone is just amazing. It is extremely responsive to gestures, screens load quickly, and the screen will blow your socks off. Everyone who gets their hands on it just love it.
Now I purchased mine off contract on eBay for an incredibly good price. I doubt I would take on another contract with a phone this early in its development. If I were you, I'd wait it out a little longer. The Tilt2 is a good phone especially with custom ROMs loaded.

Wait until after the MWC in February. Some new WP7 phones might be announced then.

its hard to like this phone..

I'm finding it a bit difficult to like this phone. Don't get me wrong I feel the hardware is top notch and one of the main reasons why I bought it was because of the slide out keyboard..the thing that gets to me the most is that its for mobile.. I'm use to having sprint and Verizon and actually I still have my droid pro which is now like my secondary phone but I never realized how slow the edge network was.. Are there any suggestions for improving battery life? Also the lack of widgets and not being able to multitask is a bit of a pain..i like it a hell of a lot more than the iPhone that's for sure..

MO3iusONE said:
Are there any suggestions for improving battery life? Also the lack of widgets and not being able to multitask is a bit of a pain..i like it a hell of a lot more than the iPhone that's for sure..
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Use black for your theme instead of white. Change the email frequency (don't use push on email accounts you don't care about). Change screen time out time.
I have grown to dislike widgets on an Android device. One of the main reasons being that they slow down the phone when going from homescreen to homescreen.

So you don't have 3G service from TMO where you are? I agree that would suck.

I've always founds the widgets really useful on Android. Especially on the droid pro its all very smooth. For example, I have an unlock screen that I bought on the Android market that allows me to slide to unlock but also slide to open up any app, so from the lock screen I could go to my email, texting, flash light, etc etc. I feel like I can be more efficient on the droid pro than this phone but, Windoes mobiles7 is still really young so I'm sure they will continue to improve on the os overtime...
there's 3g here but its hit and miss..i get no 3g just edge in my house and at work I get close to nothing. Its a pain when trying to text someone since more than often it won't send it..
I had locked at my plan and saw I was paying for their "4G" lol.. I'm gonna see if its possible for me to change my plan such as removing unlimited text a long with other things since it seems like I can't even use it since service is just terrible.. I'm really liking the phone though.. This is the first Dell phone I've ever owned and I'm impressed.. I use to own a palm pre.. Palm\hp should take some notes from Dell.

You live in Illinois?

no, Tucson Arizona.. I checked Tmobile's coverage map and I see a lot of green but still, I get really bad service.. it wouldn't be the phone itself would it?

Maybe I just switched from sprint to TMO and my friends the have other phones on the network get good 3g service in Santa Barbara while the DVP doesn't. There has been reports of the radio not function properly in our phones. Mine like to flucated the signal all over the place when on a call and usually with the phone on the desk with the speaker on. So no antenna gate issues......... Still way better than my touch pro 2 I left behind.

canadariot2312 said:
I have grown to dislike widgets on an Android device. One of the main reasons being that they slow down the phone when going from homescreen to homescreen.
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Yea, I used Android for years - I had a G1, Droid, and Epic 4G all on launch day, not to mention installing Android on my HD2 - and while I thought widgets were really cool at first, I slowly but surely was using less and less of them. They make scrolling slower, they use more data, and depending on how crappy the dev was, they tended to force closed.
The one widget I do really miss is the power control widget. That's an awesome feature that I wish WP7 would emulate.

Most of the issues listed were in some way related to WP7 in general.
But I do agree that the VP radio needs some adjusting. It's still a young device, and it still seems leagues better than the TPro2's stock radio when I first got it.

MO3iusONE said:
there's 3g here but its hit and miss..i get no 3g just edge in my house and at work I get close to nothing. Its a pain when trying to text someone since more than often it won't send it..
I had locked at my plan and saw I was paying for their "4G" lol.. I'm gonna see if its possible for me to change my plan such as removing unlimited text a long with other things since it seems like I can't even use it since service is just terrible.. I'm really liking the phone though.. This is the first Dell phone I've ever owned and I'm impressed.. I use to own a palm pre.. Palm\hp should take some notes from Dell.
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3G is pretty much really good here. I usually navigate around 3 bars and when i am outside, I have full 3G. Than again, I live in one of those cities where T-Mobile's service is really good.
T-Mobile doesn't charge for HSPA+.
DeekoVB5 said:
Yea, I used Android for years - I had a G1, Droid, and Epic 4G all on launch day, not to mention installing Android on my HD2 - and while I thought widgets were really cool at first, I slowly but surely was using less and less of them. They make scrolling slower, they use more data, and depending on how crappy the dev was, they tended to force closed.
The one widget I do really miss is the power control widget. That's an awesome feature that I wish WP7 would emulate.
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3 months after I got my Nexus One, the Twitter widget just starts crashing randomly. I actually ran a test and the only time my Nexus was smooth was when it was not running any widgets whatsoever.
I would have to say that the power control widget is probably one of the better widgets just because it is made directly from Google. Turning on/off WiFi in a pinch is a useful feature. Shame that only the Google widgets are decent.

I'm gonna see if I can exchange this for a different model and see if that helps. Ever since I loaded up some songs on there, it has been freezing up as well. I really like this phone though, a lot, and Windows phone 7 is a pretty cool OS, I'm gonna exchange my phone, hope for the best and if I'm still having issues then hopefully some future update will improve the phone.

A couple of things to try to save battery are. If you are always in brightly lit environments it may actually save battery to have the brightness set to medium. Use the dark theme, red is supposed to be the most efficient color in amoled screens to my knowledge but any of the red, green or blue themes (if they are true primaries) will save a little power (I use blue). Regular use for me is probably pretty moderate by most standards. Moderate texting, 3-4 calls, browsing, gaming (my little girl loves this phone) and messing around with things I can make it thorough the day 7:00 am to 10:00 pm without problems. I am not in a 3g area so this may vary from place to place depending on service quality.