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I'm an intermediate (Windows) PC user and slightly more technically inclined than most of my friends and family. I bought the Dream because of it's tight integration with GMail and the promise of untold useful apps. I have some awesome apps such as 4 Timers, My Tracks, Wireless Tether, which are useful in my everyday life, and they were all free (although I donate to developers when i think its justified).
My Dream is a vastly better phone in many ways than my last (Nokia N85) and at first I enjoyed flashing new roms and the ability to change my phone in different ways.
I'm currently running Cyanogen 4.0.2 which is a great rom, but to get the most out of it and actually have a sweet running phone it seems almost required to keep up with the changes on the Dream Dev forum, read hundreds of posts, learn how to install scripts and tweek settings, add ext partitions on your sdcard for swap files, know what compcache is, etc etc.
I realise that the devs are doing everything they can to give us the best performance from our phones, and i am very grateful and applaud it. I just wish it was a little easier to keep my phone being the best it can be.
What I am really getting at is that the Dream has its obvious hardware limitations (lack of RAM and rubbish battery life being the most obvious) and I'm kind of getting to the point where I want a new phone that doesn't require so much work.
None of the recent Android phones that I have heard about offer a full 5 row qwerty keyboard. That's what i want, along with perhaps a flash on the camera and a battery that lasts a couple of days with moderate use.
I will not jump ship and go elsewhere, as I love Android, but i think a manufacturer would clean up if they released a phone with the above specs and perhaps 512mb RAM - I know i would buy it in a second, and at any price within reason.
Anyone else feel this way?
setspeed said:
I'm an intermediate (Windows) PC user and slightly more technically inclined than most of my friends and family. I bought the Dream because of it's tight integration with GMail and the promise of untold useful apps. I have some awesome apps such as 4 Timers, My Tracks, Wireless Tether, which are useful in my everyday life, and they were all free (although I donate to developers when i think its justified).
My Dream is a vastly better phone in many ways than my last (Nokia N85) and at first I enjoyed flashing new roms and the ability to change my phone in different ways.
I'm currently running Cyanogen 4.0.2 which is a great rom, but to get the most out of it and actually have a sweet running phone it seems almost required to keep up with the changes on the Dream Dev forum, read hundreds of posts, learn how to install scripts and tweek settings, add ext partitions on your sdcard for swap files, know what compcache is, etc etc.
I realise that the devs are doing everything they can to give us the best performance from our phones, and i am very grateful and applaud it. I just wish it was a little easier to keep my phone being the best it can be.
What I am really getting at is that the Dream has its obvious hardware limitations (lack of RAM and rubbish battery life being the most obvious) and I'm kind of getting to the point where I want a new phone that doesn't require so much work.
None of the recent Android phones that I have heard about offer a full 5 row qwerty keyboard. That's what i want, along with perhaps a flash on the camera and a battery that lasts a couple of days with moderate use.
I will not jump ship and go elsewhere, as I love Android, but i think a manufacturer would clean up if they released a phone with the above specs and perhaps 512mb RAM - I know i would buy it in a second, and at any price within reason.
Anyone else feel this way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can always just load a rom that is stable and one you like and leave it. Your not forced to always update. If you always want the newest and greatest then you have to update, we all knew that when we started doing this.
The unfortunate thing is that ALL roms i've tried have problems with them - things that dont work, bugs introduced when things are changed. And the devs fix some of the probs in the next release, but then new bugs become apparent.
I know this is the nature of development, and I understand this is only way devs can work to push things forward. But it means living with bugs or upgrading the rom to the next version.
I've not found a rom that has the stabililty/simplicity i really want to just use the phone, and not have to mess around with it all the time, or get annoyed because it wont keep programs like the browser running when you change to do something else, or put up with not being able to rely on the phone for its core function of making and receiving calls and lagging left right & centre.
I think that Android's true requirements are beyond the Dream's hardware - and much as devs try, they will never get past that fact, they will just find progressively better workarounds which "sort of" do the job.
If I were you I would go with an older build instead of a newer one that still has bugs. I'm still on Cyanogens 3.9.5 and have no problems with it at all, no bugs or nothing and happy with it. There is also old dude's builds that I use to be on a long time ago that was stable with no bugs also. But of course since those are older builds it might be hard to find, but if your wanting to take a step back and go to something stable and no bugs let me know I still got all roms on my pc at home.
I am running cyan 4.02 and have no problems whatsoever from it, you really don't have to stay on top off it at all times since you are more technical than most as you say, you can turn around and read the first post and the change log and have a good idea of what is going on. You might have a problem with the costant devolpment but I find it great that people are taking the time to get the android platform better than it was in the beginning, don't be suprised if people from google are on here taking ideas and hard work to make the general source better. The better android gets will only get better with more devolpment, remember the magic and hero just came out still basiclly running the same base as we are. Oh and some of us just got into new contracts and just got their phones and don't want to run out and buy a new phone just cause it has better specs, I want my phone to live up to it's upmost performance possibe by these work arounds so that the next android phone that I get will be 100 times better and more efficent on that hardware
supremeteam:
I think you're right - I've just restored my cyanogen 3.6.5 backup and I forgot how decent it is, using swapper it does respond quite well. To be fair, the only reason i upgraded past 3.6.5 was because I was always having a problem with the HTC_IME - it would never stay on "phone keypad" rather than "qwerty", and it also interfered with my physical keyboard by turning on the "enable prediction for qwerty keyboard" option. Other than that I never had any problems with it. This problem is a BIG annoyance though...
Oh - and the fact that the phone rings (silently) about 3 times before anything is shown on the screen or a ringtone is heard. Forgot about that one...
Also, I'd just like to add that I am in no way bashing cyanogen - i have found his roms to be the best/fastest/most stable out all i have tried, hence why i am using them. I have used a few other roms that were just a joke, with force closes all over the place, and much more serious bugs/errors than i have mentioned here.
Overall, for me, i think cyanogen is the best dev out there, consistently pushing the boundaries of performance, and regularly updating his rom. That much is obvious from the popularity of his roms' threads.
update withdraw
I agree with you that cyanogen is a great devolper but so are jac and drizzy and those other guys that are putting a ton of work into hero, maybe soon we will have a good working rosie but in the mean time I could rant how those are buggy and lag a lot, but even with a cupcake rom you have to break a few eggs to make an olmet and that are the bugs that we are gonna have to live with, truthfully I am addicted like a drug addict to all the constant update from cyan to see what is next to come, just the fact the I have been on 4.02 for a couple days is making me go through update withdraw, I flash a hero rom just for the hell of it just to see the progress, it was on my phone for maybe a whole 10 minutes before I booted my nandroid backup of 4.02
gridlock32404 said:
I am running cyan 4.02 and have no problems whatsoever from it, you really don't have to stay on top off it at all times since you are more technical than most as you say, you can turn around and read the first post and the change log and have a good idea of what is going on. You might have a problem with the costant devolpment but I find it great that people are taking the time to get the android platform better than it was in the beginning, don't be suprised if people from google are on here taking ideas and hard work to make the general source better. The better android gets will only get better with more devolpment, remember the magic and hero just came out still basiclly running the same base as we are. Oh and some of us just got into new contracts and just got their phones and don't want to run out and buy a new phone just cause it has better specs, I want my phone to live up to it's upmost performance possibe by these work arounds so that the next android phone that I get will be 100 times better and more efficent on that hardware
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do appreciate what you're saying - that i want to have my cake and eat it! I suppose that's true in some respects. I can honestly say that my Dream is the best phone I've ever had, and the efforts the devs make to push the envelope are just amazing! Their knowledge and skills are something special - and to do it all for the love of it (and of course the respect of the community!) is definitely to be applauded.
I do also hope that google devs do read these forums, and incorporate the work into the official roms! I think they should pay the devs on xda, as they clearly do a lot of work that google ought to have done!
I hope that google does donate to these devs because they have done an amazing job with what they have to work with, I just wish I understood programming better and had the patience for it, I think my phone is better than my computer now, wait anything is better the my computer right now since I burned out my power supply. By far this is the best phone I have ever owned and now I am a android lifer because of the devs. When I first got my phone, it was worthless to me before I rooted it, good thing I found xda back when I had my wing so I knew right where to go and by the end of the first day I had it, it was already rooted
If google pays the devs or give them jobs then we will have to wait long time for our update and cool stuff, they need to just donate lots of money to them so they keep hooking us up first at xda and not the general masses all at once, I don't think they could handle the general awesomeness
setspeed said:
I'm an intermediate (Windows) PC user and slightly more technically inclined than most of my friends and family. I bought the Dream because of it's tight integration with GMail and the promise of untold useful apps. I have some awesome apps such as 4 Timers, My Tracks, Wireless Tether, which are useful in my everyday life, and they were all free (although I donate to developers when i think its justified).
My Dream is a vastly better phone in many ways than my last (Nokia N85) and at first I enjoyed flashing new roms and the ability to change my phone in different ways.
I'm currently running Cyanogen 4.0.2 which is a great rom, but to get the most out of it and actually have a sweet running phone it seems almost required to keep up with the changes on the Dream Dev forum, read hundreds of posts, learn how to install scripts and tweek settings, add ext partitions on your sdcard for swap files, know what compcache is, etc etc.
I realise that the devs are doing everything they can to give us the best performance from our phones, and i am very grateful and applaud it. I just wish it was a little easier to keep my phone being the best it can be.
What I am really getting at is that the Dream has its obvious hardware limitations (lack of RAM and rubbish battery life being the most obvious) and I'm kind of getting to the point where I want a new phone that doesn't require so much work.
None of the recent Android phones that I have heard about offer a full 5 row qwerty keyboard. That's what i want, along with perhaps a flash on the camera and a battery that lasts a couple of days with moderate use.
I will not jump ship and go elsewhere, as I love Android, but i think a manufacturer would clean up if they released a phone with the above specs and perhaps 512mb RAM - I know i would buy it in a second, and at any price within reason.
Anyone else feel this way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its like you read my mind
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?
Click to expand...
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?
Click to expand...
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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!!!
Click to expand...
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.
Im really looking to get one these bad boys tomorrow,Im coming from a g1 and im a little nervous about leaving android to go with windows again. The last windows phone i had was the tmo wing,i loved it at the time but it was a little frustrating having to keep on flashing new roms to stay updated and happy,plus I havent flashed anything since then so Im pretty much a noob at flashing again. I've read a couple of posts that other people posted on leaving android and its pretty much 40% in favor and the rest regretting it. Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated.
jkiller122 said:
Im really looking to get one these bad boys tomorrow,Im coming from a g1 and im a little nervous about leaving android to go with windows again. The last windows phone i had was the tmo wing,i loved it at the time but it was a little frustrating having to keep on flashing new roms to stay updated and happy,plus I havent flashed anything since then so Im pretty much a noob at flashing again. I've read a couple of posts that other people posted on leaving android and its pretty much 40% in favor and the rest regretting it. Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it all comes down to whether or not you can deal with pretty sh*tty battery life and without tons and tons of apps... If you want apps, you DONT want WM...
but the phone is extremely cool and EXTREMELY customizable... if you want this phone and apps, then you can either wait for the android port which is gonna take awhile from my understanding or you can wait for the EVO 4g that comes out this summer for sprint.. which is basically this phone with a 8MP (and 720p video recording) camera and android os..
I just got my HD2 but I might trade it in when that sumb*tch is released
Only if you don't mind constantly removing battery
Phone has horrendous stability issues.
Most issues come with the stock rom. Flashing (this is my first WM phone and I would consider it easy) to a more stable ROM here that can be found in these forums, helps get rid of a lot of the instability. For most, you sort of have to go through a lot to get the phone to actually act like a phone.
Thanks for the help guys,i really dont want too deal with any more battery issues with a new phone, i had enough battery issues with the g1 so thanks for telling me that cause thats pretty much a deal breaker for me. AS for the evo 4g,i was eyeing that but its for sprint and unless i pay $800 for an unlocked one i dont i will get it as i have tmobile. Another alternative i was thinking on is the nexus one,i spoke to a tmobile rep today and he said he has the hd2 and its siiting on a windowceil somewhere in his house and he claims the nexus one is the best phone out now. what are you guys thoughts on that.
Don't let a few people stray you away from picking up a good phone.
1. You are supposed to condition the battery for peak performance. Drain it completely. Turn it off. Charge it up to 100%. Turn it on and use it until its drained completely again. Repeat process. Unless there is something wrong with your battery, this will give you good longevity.
2. A custom ROM solves 90% of the problems people have with this phone. I didn't have any problems with mine on the stock ROM, but it works much faster and better on the custom one.
3. I came from the G1 and MyTouch and have not looked back even once. Sure there are more PUBLICALLY available apps. The customization ability and apps out there for WM is HUGE. You just have to look for them and do a little digging. They aren't right there in front of you spoonfed like Android does.
4. If you can flash a Wing, you can easily flash the HD2. It's ridiculously easy in comparison to other phones I have flashed/rooted. This forum is one of the best to show you what to do and how to do it. It makes it almost impossible to mess anything up.
My phone can and does last several days on a charge now that I have it conditioned and on the custom ROM. Go to the store, use the phone, and play around with it.
You will not be disappointed if you take the time to learn the phone and don't expect it to just work and be perfect out of the box. WM is not that way. Just like you can't expect your computer to be just how you want it out of the box, the same applies here. It takes some customization, some work, and some trial and error to make it do what you want.
tj05fx4 thanks for the well thought out response, after reading yours and a couple of other posts i'm most likely gonnna get it as there looks like there wont be another good phone coming out for tmobile anytime soon I might as well get this one. Hopefully i wont miss android too much but then again there's talk about an android port in the future(I still dont know 100% how that will work) but i'll look forward to it
jkiller122 said:
tj05fx4 thanks for the well thought out response, after reading yours and a couple of other posts i'm most likely gonnna get it as there looks like there wont be another good phone coming out for tmobile anytime soon I might as well get this one. Hopefully i wont miss android too much but then again there's talk about an android port in the future(I still dont know 100% how that will work) but i'll look forward to it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ive been looking into this phone as well...just keep your old android phone (for me its a MT3G) and keep flashing roms to it thatway its alwasy updated
My HD2 battery was scary the first week also.
Now it totally beats the G1 battery to death
Now if I have it on constantly, and I mean constant, then it only lasts about 5 or 6 hours. But under normal use I can forget to charge it overnight and still mae it through the next day.
There was NO WAY my G1 could ever do that.
I bought 3 batteries for my G1 (one was a 2200mha) and needed them.
I ordered one for my HD2 and now think I should have saved my money.
Not sure what "stability issues" the guy is talking about. Only problem I ever had was the music player would stop playing for a second when my outlook was syncing.
Moving from stock rom fixed that.
The HD2 is the fastest, nicest and most customizable phone on the market. Don't let the negative people get you down.
They don't know how to use their phone because the came from another O/S (which I did too) or they have a broken phone. It works great.
Stability issues
A glance at the forums will answer the myriad problems with "stability;" I can say that using the phone for its intended and advertised purposes causes it to lock up, or sometimes just get very slow and jittery, period.
I DO know how to use my phone. I've been on windows mobile since winmo5 and on this forum since 2007.
This phone is not fit for its intended purpose and is half baked. It is the "emperors new phone" to mix a metaphor.
However I've not returned mine as I have hope that these issues can be resolved, but, I've had to waste a ton of time already with this thing.
Maybe mine is faulty, but a quick review of the forums will show that many must be also. In any event anyone buying this phone should be well warned that it will be a vortex of lost time and considerable frustration to get it to work anywhere near as advertised.
ministersin said:
Not sure what "stability issues" the guy is talking about. one on the market. Don't let the negative people get you down.
They don't know how to use their phone because the came from another O/S (which I did too) or they have a broken phone. It works great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had my HD2 since release day and have only experienced the lagging/freezing issue once, and that was early on when I inadvertently used the HTC/Sense Messaging application that comes with the HD2. That application is the bane of this phone. I don't text a lot, so I rarely used it, but if you send and receive a decent amount of text messages and you use this app, you are definitely going to experience lagging/freezing.
I found a post in the forums here to disable the HTC/Sense Messaging app and use the standard WinMo messaging app and have had ZERO issues with the phone ever since. I've also flashed to a number of Kumar's cooked ROMs with ZERO issues.
IMHO, the majority of the "stability" issues people talk about are related to that damned HTC/Sense Messaging app because without using it, my phone runs perfectly. Once in a while, I'll download an app that is poorly written and cause the device to act up, but a simple uninstall fixes it right away and I stay away from that app.
That said, only you can determine if you want to do the things you need to do to get the phone singing the way you want it to. Only you can determine if you absolutely have to have the thousands of useless apps that the Droid market has or if the apps on OMarket, MS Marketplace, Handango, etc. are enough.
This phone is an absolute keeper for me.
vplaza96 said:
I've had my HD2 since release day and have only experienced the lagging/freezing issue once, and that was early on when I inadvertently used the HTC/Sense Messaging application that comes with the HD2. That application is the bane of this phone.
IMHO, the majority of the "stability" issues people talk about are related to that damned HTC/Sense Messaging app because without using it, my phone runs perfectly.
This phone is an absolute keeper for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
'nuff said!
efjay said:
'nuff said!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only thing that bothers me is the 3G signal from TMOUSA. I will get out of that soon, but other than that this phone is not bad at all. Nice in-call volume, wifi-n (when enabled via reg tweak), 5 mp camera, and a big a$$ screen with WVGA resolution (plus a 16 gb card)...
The only time I experienced instability was when I flashed to NRG's rom. Stock works surprisingly well though (although, if I could remove most of the preloaded demos, it would be better)...
I am still in my remorse period but might just keep it after all
Hey all
I got my HD2 a month or two ago, and I really like it. Especially the HTC Sense interface. A thing of beauty, truly. Especially once you get the tweaks done to improve battery life a bit and add on some extra features.
BUT, I'm hugely disappointed in the lack of decent apps via Windows Marketplace, and trying to find an app that works properly on the HD2 by searching online seems to be marginal, at best. (I've tried several that seem to simply...not function.)
So, I'm wondering if it's possible to get Android on this hardware. I'm a total noob when it comes to phones--never flashed a ROM before--though I've built my own desktop computer, so I'm not a technical idiot. Basically, I'd feel comfortable doing it IF someone tells me that a) it's possible, and b) it's worth it.
Is it possible to put Android on my HD2? And is it worth it?
Things I consider 'necessary' to having this be 'worth it':
--Can make calls, text, MSMs, etc
--Internet access with 3G working well
--GPS works well (I'd LOVE to get a decent geo-caching app)
--Music player (Big fan of Slacker Radio)
--Camera/Video player that works well
Any thoughts? Is it worth it to try to go Android?
TheUkieVillain said:
Hey all
I got my HD2 a month or two ago, and I really like it. Especially the HTC Sense interface. A thing of beauty, truly. Especially once you get the tweaks done to improve battery life a bit and add on some extra features.
BUT, I'm hugely disappointed in the lack of decent apps via Windows Marketplace, and trying to find an app that works properly on the HD2 by searching online seems to be marginal, at best. (I've tried several that seem to simply...not function.)
So, I'm wondering if it's possible to get Android on this hardware. I'm a total noob when it comes to phones--never flashed a ROM before--though I've built my own desktop computer, so I'm not a technical idiot. Basically, I'd feel comfortable doing it IF someone tells me that a) it's possible, and b) it's worth it.
Is it possible to put Android on my HD2? And is it worth it?
Things I consider 'necessary' to having this be 'worth it':
--Can make calls, text, MSMs, etc
--Internet access with 3G working well
--GPS works well (I'd LOVE to get a decent geo-caching app)
--Music player (Big fan of Slacker Radio)
--Camera/Video player that works well
Any thoughts? Is it worth it to try to go Android?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While they have made a great leap towards getting Android on the HD 2 it is not yet available. Do a quick search for "Android on HD 2" and you will find the thread where they are talking about it.
Thanks
Thanks for the heads up. Answers my question. Perhaps I'll just have to be content with WinMo for a while and keep making tweaks.
Watch out for the fake vid on youtube if your going to be google searching!
While there has been a huge leap forward in getting a bootable Linux kernel on the HD2, the time window for a "fully functioning with all the drivers" Android is still a ways out. If you want Android, go to the Nexus One (for the best GSM Android phone out there). If you're willing to switch networks to a non sim card, CDMA network, check out the Incredible on Verizon or the EVO on Sprint.
Hope this helps.
Also, try the search feature. XDA-Developers has an incredible website and it'd be a shame to let all of its fun forum search tools go to waste. I can think of tons of threads where people have asked this question. It's out there, just find it.
Thread Closed
I'm wanting to try and get the HTC Trophy, and wanted to get some thoughts from you guys. I apologize if this is already started, but I couldn't find it... Anyway:
-Is Google lacking from WP7?
As in, can I integrate my Google Account with WP7 as in use my gmail for Email, Google Music as media store, etc... What would the limits of that be?
-Is the HTC Trophy a good/reliable device?
I played with one at the Verizon store and I loved it, but I never used it beyond tinkering around to check it out. Does the phone keep a consistent service and good network speeds? Should I wait for the next WP7 device to come to Verizon?
-Camera?
I use my x2 as a personal camera, It has 8 MP and can record 720p video. That sounds good, but truth be told, the Video recorder SUX and the only way to get 720p is to put CM7 on it(and we just got that ROM like in January; 8 months after the release of the x2) and it is still a little buggy. The Camera however is pretty nice, I like it a lot anyway.... How does the Trophy Perform in the Camera area?
-Market Apps?
Is there a decent amount of games and market apps available for WP7? All that would really matter to me is a few key apps that I use on a regular basis; one of which is Evernote. I use this as my lyric notebook for my music that I write for when I'm on the road or away from a notepad, I can use my phone to jot down a few lines of a song or try to complete a song when I get spare time. YouTube.. I think I saw this on the phone by default but can't quite remember. And just a good assortment of games. Also, is the paid/free apps a good combination and not ridiculous prices? Android offers a great combination of free and paid, on the iPhone, the only thing I see that is decent is like 4+ dollars so just wondering on what the users feel about the market?
-Rooting?
Is the development pretty spiffy with the HTC Trophy? Android offers Rooting and I see something like HSPC or w/e for WP7. What exactly is this and what would the benefits be if I tried to do this?
-Overall opinions?
For those that came from Android can you let me know what the biggest 'let-go' you had to take? and just an overall opinion of your satisfaction with WP7.
I thank anyone that would answer these. If anyone knows of someone that would want to sell the HTC Trophy or trade for a Droid x2, would you please PM me or post on here. I'm a contributor for the Droid x2 and many users can vouch for me in the Droid x2 area of XDA. My ROM is headlined on DroidForums.net in their forum area for the x2 and it is also here on XDA(which is where it is mainly supported).
Again, Thank you for your time,
Peperm1nt
Peperm1nt said:
-Is Google lacking from WP7?
As in, can I integrate my Google Account with WP7 as in use my gmail for Email, Google Music as media store, etc... What would the limits of that be?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google Account works fine. You can use it to sync your calender, contacts, email, etc. Google Music and such... still no support as far as I know, its not a service I use.
User snickler is working on an app for Google Music called "CloudMuzik." I don't know anything about it, but.. well.. its there.
I take normal mp3's and load up my phone with music via Zune sync, and that works just great for me. The Last.fm app rocks imo... I love using that to stream music.
Peperm1nt said:
-Is the HTC Trophy a good/reliable device?
I played with one at the Verizon store and I loved it, but I never used it beyond tinkering around to check it out. Does the phone keep a consistent service and good network speeds? Should I wait for the next WP7 device to come to Verizon?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The HTC Trophy is much better with reception and speed then my last two phones, the HTC Eris (Android) and Touch Pro2(WM6.5). I do still feel that the network speed is being held back by something, but I have yet to test it right next to a VZW tower to see if its simply my imagination.
When I was using the shipping radio (that came with NoDo), the phone had issues staying in 3G mode and switching from 1X to 3G was really slow and iffy, but this is resolved with Mango v1+ radios installed.
However, due to my situation of using my phone as my primary internet connection, it sits in the window sill whenever I am at home. To improve reception in situations like that, I have a beast of a heavy duty case on my Trophy (that and since the phone has a tenancy to fall off my window sill with my dogs go crazy...). This makes a huge difference in my reception.
Peperm1nt said:
-Camera?
I use my x2 as a personal camera, It has 8 MP and can record 720p video. That sounds good, but truth be told, the Video recorder SUX and the only way to get 720p is to put CM7 on it(and we just got that ROM like in January; 8 months after the release of the x2) and it is still a little buggy. The Camera however is pretty nice, I like it a lot anyway.... How does the Trophy Perform in the Camera area?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the camera is great for still shots, but keeping it clean is key. The 720p video recording leaves much to be desired, as it seems speed is much slower then the 640x480 mode.
Peperm1nt said:
-Market Apps?
Is there a decent amount of games and market apps available for WP7? All that would really matter to me is a few key apps that I use on a regular basis; one of which is Evernote. I use this as my lyric notebook for my music that I write for when I'm on the road or away from a notepad, I can use my phone to jot down a few lines of a song or try to complete a song when I get spare time. YouTube.. I think I saw this on the phone by default but can't quite remember. And just a good assortment of games. Also, is the paid/free apps a good combination and not ridiculous prices? Android offers a great combination of free and paid, on the iPhone, the only thing I see that is decent is like 4+ dollars so just wondering on what the users feel about the market?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Evernote appears to be available for the phone, and is rated currently at 3.5 stars. I think that most apps are decently priced. The most I have paid for an app is $9.99 (Natural Japanese), but for what the app does, its still a fantastic value. I do think that the games market is fairly mature now. You can still get classic games like Angry Birds (that they even give XBL points if your into that!), with new games/apps launching every day.
There is also the "Bazarr" app store for full unlocked phones that has awesome stuff like Opera for WM6.5 ported to work on WP7.
Peperm1nt said:
-Rooting?
Is the development pretty spiffy with the HTC Trophy? Android offers Rooting and I see something like HSPC or w/e for WP7. What exactly is this and what would the benefits be if I tried to do this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Unlocking" this phone by installing HSPL is a straight forward process (I wrote a guide to doing it on the Verizon Trophy), and it is WELL worth doing. HSPL allows flashing of 3rd party roms to the phone, but the Verizon Trophy (and Sprint Arrive) were only made available on 2-15-2012, so no public roms have hit for the Verizon Trophy yet. You can private message mwang to test DFT Freedom for Verizon Trophy... it's worth it.
Peperm1nt said:
-Overall opinions?
For those that came from Android can you let me know what the biggest 'let-go' you had to take? and just an overall opinion of your satisfaction with WP7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I first moved to Android, the biggest let go was Internet tethering. Using the stock Verizon rom, tethering is not enabled.
However, with the advent of HSPL, DFT Freedom for Verizon Trophy includes Internet Sharing, so the phone can be used as a 5 device hot spot.. and it is awesome. Compared to using my Eris as a hotspot, its just sweet. The rooted free tether on Android is crap compared to Mango's built in support, as NAT support is completely supported (so my XBox 360 logs on and works perfect vs not working at all).
The other big draw back for me was no Swype. I wouldn't mind it so much if Verizon would of gotten the HTC Arrive (GoldC) instead of the Trophy (SparkW), but the advantage of the Trophy is that it is a world phone, so you can still put a GSM Sim card in and roll with that later if you wanted to switch carriers or travel.
Thanks for the reply. I really want to get this phone, but no one is messaging me back for trades or buys. Do you know anyone?
Btw, I play xbox all the time, so the xbl integration has me too.
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared
Unfortunately no, I know no one that wants to trade. I know I have mine, and I am keeping it close. lol
Lol its fine,i get paid monday, probable going to get one on ebay.
Forgot to ask this in the op:
Battery Life:
I use my x2 throughout the day moderately...one full charge gives me 8 to 15 hours of battery life. I disconnect the auto sync and try my best to increase battery life, but the display DRAINS the life horribly...like 1 hour of display will put the phone to 10 % or lower. What are the thoughts on that?
Development:
I develop for android. What is the developm went like on wp7?
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared
The Trophy produces similar battery results for me, but I charge it everyday and I live in a fringe region. I turned on Mango's battery savor feature when the power is low, but I haven't really been able to use it yet.
Battery life on the Trophy is okay... You should be able to make it through the day no problems with moderate usage. If you're on the edge or frequently go out of service the phone will drain very quickly. On the flip side there are days where I rarely use the phone, and with the stock battery it will go almost 3 days with no usage.
One thing that I found out is that the EVO / ERIS battery is almost the same... It fits in the phone and the phone will use it, but the back cover won't snap on correctly. If you were looking for a larger battery the first thing you'll need is an extended battery cover. Also, the snaps for the regular trophy and Verizon are slightly different which makes it even harder to find the cover. I think you can just break a few of them off and it will fit.
The camera is okay but it's definitely nothing special. If you have good light and still shots it will produce a decent image. It's about on par with the D2 which I think is slightly worse than the X2.
The one thing that I'm kind of missing is a few networks apps. There really isn't a good app to do things like ping, wifi scanning, or speed tests. Since there is no flash you can't just load up speedtest.net in the browser.
For music I would say that using Zune works fairly well. It loads the songs very quickly over wifi, and if you had it setup to sync automatically you should be able to just put songs into the folder and the phone will download them whenever you're at home.
Youtube is not officially supported but at one time there was an HTC Youtube app but I think they had to pull it from the market. It looks like there is an app called youtube pro that gets good reviews and is free. The nice thing about the marketplace is that there are a lot of decent free games and apps like there is on android, but there are also trials of paid apps so you can try it before you decide to purchase.
My overall satisfaction with the phone is pretty high. It's definitely a step up from a D2. Just using it for simple tasks it performs a lot better although there are still some gotchas that you might have to work around. (If you use skydrive putting documents on the phone is easy, if you don't want to use skydrive then it becomes a lot harder)
That's odd.. my Eris and Touch Pro2 batteries are identical in size and fit... but neither are hi-capacity.
Thanks guys.. ordering one for Monday hopefully unless I can get one for trade on here
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared
Found a trophy!! Lol hopefully be deving here soon.
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared
Awesome. I hope it works well for you. Poke around the dev forum for guides on HSPL for SparkW...
I will soon be writing a guide to keeping the newest (Mango V2) radio while still retaining HSPL. I will probably be adding it to my radio guide sometime today/this weekend. I need to upload some files/roms that will be needed to make it work.
Also, a word of warning, do NOT install any updates via Zune!!! I recently discovered when performing the Zune upgrades that the Mango V2 drivers might disable the availability to flash roms the normal way, and force using the GoldCard method (which I will add to my HSPL guide soon enough).
Thanks for the heads up.
In android we can sbf to fix bootloops and make our phone stock for warranties and such. Also to get on specific kernels or android versions. How exactly does wp7 do this or is there an option? Also HTC has unlocked bootloaders in android. Is it the same here... most of this will probably get answered when I get the phone. Just wanting to get a start in the right direction.. again, thank you for the help.
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared
My HSPL guide covers returning to stock at the end. It involves loading the bootloader and running DFT's unlocker tool, but flashing the OSPL (Original SPL). You then flash the factory rom as I have outlined.
Peperm1nt said:
Thanks for the heads up.
In android we can sbf to fix bootloops and make our phone stock for warranties and such. Also to get on specific kernels or android versions. How exactly does wp7 do this or is there an option? Also HTC has unlocked bootloaders in android. Is it the same here... most of this will probably get answered when I get the phone. Just wanting to get a start in the right direction.. again, thank you for the help.
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey peperm1nt, at Microsoft Stores, they are letting you trade in any smartphone, android, iphone, blackberry, etc towards a free, new in box, no contract WP7. you can choose from the trophy, titan, focus, radar or nokia 710 until Mar 29. link (http://slickdeals.net/f/4120241-Swa...-contract-Microsoft-Store-B-M-Only-thru-3-29?)
Thanks, there aren't any microsoft stores in my area, but I got the Trophy the past week.
Thanks tho for the info
BTW, I wish I had got this phone instead of my x2!!! like seriously, I love this phone. Only problem is the graphix of games aren't as smooth as my x2, but i guess thats the difference between nVidea & qualcomm. But other than that, this phone rox!!! UI is so smooth and the Facebook integration is nice. I'm looking into the whole modding aspect of this, still haven't got the grasp of 'rooting' this phone and making buckups to later restore if something goes wrong, my ultimate question is this:
In android you can 'sbf'(flash the phone with stock firmware). Is that a possiblity on here?
I read the restore thread; is that the equivilent to what I'm looking for?
Yes, in the HSPL thread, restoring to stock is the equivalent. You replace the moded SPL (HSPL) with the OSPL (or original SPL), and then flash a stock rom.
As for backup, I have yet to find a backup method that works after flashing a different rom, or even flashing back to a rom that I made the backup on. I'm not sure if this is an issue with CDMA Trophy or not.... perhaps I should start a thread on this since you brought it up (yes... I think I will do that now). lol
I'll look into the setup once I get the 'guts' to HSPL'ing my device, and break into the file structure. Once, I do that, I'll look at making a script or something to auto install like android does with the system folder, if this is possible or w/e.
I'm sorry for bringing android into this, But I'm not good with terminology on the WP Platform yet, but I do this to compare and show you what I'm talking about if that makes since.
Well, your Windows Live login that you used will have a record of your apps you installed, much like your Google login for the Play Store. Your contacts are on whichever account you choose, I keep mine on my Gmail account still, since I switch between my Trophy and other Android device. I also have an unlocked HD7 that I use for travel.
Just like when you were first learning to root Android, you followed the guides step by step. As long as you do the same here, you will be fine. DFT has done some awesome work, and WP7 would prolly not be where it is without them.
If you have your Trophy activated, you can use it as a hotspot, but only with HSPL and a custom rom. I never bothered doing it with my Trophy, but it's definitely an incredible thing to have, especially if you have any wifi devices you carry around.
Its great to see the development for the Trophy taking place, I had one last year but moved onto another OS/Device. Considering a return to the Trophy again and will read a bit more into the custom ROM's.