Related
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.
how do you like your EVO?
what are the quirks that are bugging you?
what phone did you come from?
and
how does it compare to that previous phone?
i have my phone pre-order sitting at best buy still.
i have my money, i have my little gift card....only thing is i've really enjoyed the past few roms on my HTC HERO and I don't feel the need for this phone because the Hero has fit me very well. that and there is no 4g here in so cali yet so what's the point?
thanks to everyone who replies
I left WiMo on a VZW xv6800
Quirks........
no signature in SMS and the native email client sucks. I can only get my main folder in Hotmail and not all my other folders were my mail is separated to.
Anyone know a better email client that will resolve that?
I thought Seven would do it but i see they dont have a client for Android as of yet.
weedahoe said:
I left WiMo on a VZW xv6800
Quirks........
no signature in SMS and the native email client sucks. I can only get my main folder in Hotmail and not all my other folders were my mail is separated to.
Anyone know a better email client that will resolve that?
I thought Seven would do it but i see they dont have a client for Android as of yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
after 1 week with the stock text client i switched to handcent. it is SO SO SO SO SO much better in my opinion
i hate the mail client for hotmail/yahoo as well BUT i only really use gmail and that one is perfect for me so...maybe think about switching to gmail?
oh jeeze....thats what she said.
my evo is treating me great! my first complain was with the battery, but with a few discharge/recharge cycles, it seems to be doing well.
everything else is pretty much gravy. i love the screen, the real estate is just MASSIVE.
bottom line, you're going to love this thing
Phenomenal piece of hardware.
I love my Evo. I am still setting it up and haven't decided if I want to root or not but its awesome.
Haven't had many quirks, the soft keys are a little sensitive and I end up fatfingering them when playing some games, no biggie. Battery isn't a huge issue if you're a resourceful person. I used my phone for 6 hours before it died doing HEAVY usage. (Navigation, Trapster, YouTube streaming, Super KO Boxing 2, Pictures, recorded a 2 min video, etc)
I came from the G1, what an upgrade.
I freaking love it!!!!
engagedtosmile said:
I love my Evo. I am still setting it up and haven't decided if I want to root or not but its awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do the unrevoked root. Getting rid of it is as simple as uninstalling the app. All Root does is give you superuser/admin rights to the phone.
I love this phone. I play iMobsters on it so addicting so I haven't had too much time to play with the phone. I've taken so many pictures.
Gripes:
Is there a way to turn flash on at night so I can record video? Videos come out dark so I haven't recorded much at night.
I disabled SenseUI but I wanted to know how I can get more widgets to fill up at least 1 or 2 more pages. Any recommendations? I noticed that when I disabled SenseUI a lot of widgets don't come up in the options.
I am coming from a Palm Pre, and this phone is so amazing. I have been using the speech-to-text on text messages and it hasn't missed a word yet. I dislike the email client, but it isn't enough to make me verbally complain. I have downloaded a few apps here and there, and so far everything is working better than expected.
I do miss the track pad or ball a little. Nothing earth shattering.
I LOVE THE SCREEN BUT they should have raised the resolution.
I wish the system didn't auto start a bunch of crap. That's an android issue and people shouldn't be forced to root to get rid of it. I'm rooted so this doesn't matter anymore but battery performance and even actual device performance improves after removing all the bull ****.
I wish they was another way to turn on the device. I miss menu menu. Should be an option.
I wish launcher pro worked over sense. I like the widgets.
Otherwise I love android and the evo. I will have a hard time going back to any screen less than 4 inches. I don't miss having s physical keyboard anymore with swype and especially swype on this awesome screen.
The speed is mostly good, it will improve as things get optimized.
how about things like, how does it fit in your pocket.
does it fit in the same spot where you stored your old phone in your car
*i have a perfect slot above my radio and i think the evo may be too thin and it will fall out while driving*
i've had an htc phone since the 6700 a few years back and everything has been mini-usb now i gotta use my blu-tooth microsb cables/chargers.
ummmmmmmmmmmmm
anyone crack their screen yet?
Absolutely love the phone much better than my HD2. Only 2 quirks for me is that I cant control all volumes (media, notifications, phone calls, etc.) with one setting and that I can never tell where my battery percent is. I always have to guess if im on 85% etc. OTT it has exceeded all expectations.
dukins said:
Absolutely love the phone much better than my HD2. Only 2 quirks for me is that I cant control all volumes (media, notifications, phone calls, etc.) with one setting and that I can never tell where my battery percent is. I always have to guess if im on 85% etc. OTT it has exceeded all expectations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
uhh, there's an app for that (more like 100 apps for that). Most are free too.
gonzoangel said:
how about things like, how does it fit in your pocket.
does it fit in the same spot where you stored your old phone in your car
*i have a perfect slot above my radio and i think the evo may be too thin and it will fall out while driving*
i've had an htc phone since the 6700 a few years back and everything has been mini-usb now i gotta use my blu-tooth microsb cables/chargers.
ummmmmmmmmmmmm
anyone crack their screen yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It fits in my pocket quite well. (Is it just me or are there a lot of jokes that would go there?) I think that it being as thin as it is actually makes it better than my Hero. Just my opinion.
I got the silicone case from Sprint and it doesnt slide around in the cubby in my car at all. Next is the car mount
Led desire light. App to turn led into flashlight. Turn that on then open camera app
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
dukins said:
Absolutely love the phone much better than my HD2. Only 2 quirks for me is that I cant control all volumes (media, notifications, phone calls, etc.) with one setting and that I can never tell where my battery percent is. I always have to guess if im on 85% etc. OTT it has exceeded all expectations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use an app called battery left. It is free and really nice.
Aridon said:
I wish launcher pro worked over sense. I like the widgets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-That is exactly what I was thinking when I installed launcher pro but removed it due to that reason
Aridon said:
Otherwise I love android and the evo. I will have a hard time going back to any screen less than 4 inches. I don't miss having s physical keyboard anymore with swype and especially swype on this awesome screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't even know what swype was 20 min ago. I installed it and did the tutorial, sent out a few texts. Will take some time to get used to, but so far it seems promising. Thanks.
Pros:
I absolutely love the size. Not too big, not too small.
Kickstand, HDMI out, dual LED flash, 720P recording.
Haptic feedback is great.
Cons:
For some reason, most of my incoming text messages are time stamped incorrectly. I have googled the living hell out of this problem, but can't find a legit fix anywhere.
The camera is so grainy that it feels like I'm using a camera phone from the 90's. Flash clears this up in dark lighting, but indoor photos are terrible.
Stock keyboard is a nightmare. Thank god for Swype.
Lock/Power button is hard to locate without looking at times.
Overall, I couldn't be any more disappointed in the camera. With all the time they spend on kickstands, flash, and such a massive screen I would have thought they'd spend more time on something as standard as a camera. I've read that not many people have this problem- so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that this is a faulty camera in my phone.
All my friends have been amazed how much I've been tinkering with my phone all weekend. I laid in bed Saturday night for 3 hours (until about 2am) playing with all the cool apps and features of the EVO. They all laughed when I told them I was in bed until 2am (laying next to my wife) while playing with the phone. Yes, "playing" because it's been so much fun. I already had the original G1 when it was first launched 2 years ago, so all this wasn't new to me. I can't imagine how a NEW user to Android would be just blown away at first glance of the EVO.
I was first blown away of the size of the screen. It is sooo much better to view text. I was equally blown away at the speed of the phone and apps (and it's supposed to be faster with 2.2 JIT ??? wow!!). Battery was great for me. I was using everything, including 4G. I was getting tired of waiting for the juice to run out. I was blown away at the Sega Genesis emulator and speed of the games.
I don't have any complaints, but if you twisted my arm and forced me to find something to improve on I would list:
1) Action buttons on the bottom (home, menu, back, and search). They are very sensitive and I keep hitting them accidentally. Not a major problem, but still, I think they should have been physical buttons.
2) Trackball, nice to use instead of keyboard arrow buttons, but as someone else said: This is not a deal breaker.
3) 4G: I live in Houston so we have 4G coverage, but it's spotty. I was in Best Buy over the weekend talking to the ClearWire rep and we were on the edge of the city (in Katy) and he had his usb Dongle to get 4G reception. I still right up next to the antenna and we both ran speed test from SpeedTest.net. The Rep kept getting MINIMUM of 6 Mbit down and 2 Mbit up, while I was getting max 2.25 MBit down (I've since gotten 3.35 MBit down while at home over 4g). With our limited testing I would have to conclude that 4G is NOT ClearWire or Sprints problem, but more of a HARDWARE issue. The USB dongle probably had a better antenna whereas the EVO antenna didn't pick up the signal as much. We were deep inside the Best Buy store and the ClearWire 4G reception was at least 75%, while I barely got 1 bar on my EVO. I changed positions, and we made sure we were both on the same servers running our speed tests. But, 4G is still much faster than 3G, but not what I was expecting.
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
to the people who switched from the iphone 4 to focus. any thoughts?
In the last year and a half, I've gone through a Nexus One, iPhone 4, Samsung Captivate, and now I'm on a Focus.
TLDR version at the bottom, since after writing this out I realized this is a mini essay..
Here are my thoughts:
Android is the OS you should be on if you want (nearly) complete control and lots of features not necessarily supported by your carrier (free tethering!). Unfortunately, assuming you're on AT&T, your options for serious Android phones are limited to a Nexus One or a Captivate. Between the two, I actually preferred the Nexus. Slightly weaker CPU, but you'll get updates pretty immediately, and it's a lot easier to mod that phone vs the Captivate. Also, I never had a single problem with the Nexus One as a GPS unit, but like many others my Captivate was sketchy at best when it came to GPS.
So far, the iPhone in my experience has the best battery life. I never really had to worry about it, and I'm a fairly heavy text/web browser/email user. It's obviously going to have the widest selection of apps, though that didn't necessary mean they were all useful. If games are your thing, the iPhone was also ahead of that by a long shot. However, without jailbreaking, it really is locked down. Tethering through AT&T's rate is a joke, seeing as it uses your already purchased data plan, and outside of changing your ringtones and wallpapers, you're fairly limited in customizations. Despite this, there isn't currently an option to tether at all on WP7.
Now having a Focus with WP7, I can say that the interface is very refreshing. Sometimes I just want to stare at the home screen because 1) the live tiles are cool and 2) the SAMOLED screen is amazing with a black background and brightly colored tiles. The web browsing experience is fast, but noticeably lacking compared to Android and iPhone (due to lack of webkit/html5). It's not a deal breaker by any means, but it was something I noted. The keyboard is about on par with the iPhone.
Build quality compared to the iPhone feels just as sturdy, in my opinion, despite the plastic body. It actually feels better in the hand to me, because of the curve back and slight lip on the bottom. It's also noticeably lighter to hold and carry around. So far the battery is holding up nicely with moderate to heavy text/web browsing/email/staring at pretty tiles.
Call quality was good, found the ear piece to be a bit clearer and louder than the iPhone. The biggest difference for me at the moment is of course the Marketplace. This is where the iPhone's ~4 years on the market really shows the gap. But given that this is Microsoft we're talking about, I don't expect their market to go the way of the Pre (which I also briefly owned) and be a barren wasteland (comparatively).
TLDR
iPhone 4 has ~4 years of exposure behind it with it's marketplace and iOS functionality, and it shows. Focus/WP7 has a fresh UI and is promising with Microsoft backing it. Build quality is very different between the two, but both feel sturdy and reliable. If you're making the leap to Focus/WP7 from an iPhone 4, you shouldn't have any big regrets, so long as you're not tied deeply into the iTunes ecosystem or your life depends on certain iOS only games.
I have both still and am trying one against the other for everyday use for my needs. So far, the Focus lacks on a few things, but no deal breakers, as the functionality should come with future updates like cut and paste.
Since I fired up the Focus, it has given me hope that this OS will give Apple a run for the money.
I like the iPhone 4 but the whole iOS thing has gotten kind of stale for me after 2 1/2 years of iPhones so I bought a Focus to try out and so far so good. It lacks many of the nicities and features in the iPhone but overall it's been easier to use, it's MUCH lighter and doesn't feel like brick in my hand. I'm also a big user of Slingplayer and man, there's no comparison with the video and audio. HD shows up as bright, colorful and full screen and the audio is much louder and more understandable then when using the iPhone or iPad. I still have 3 weeks to return the Focus and I'm not committed yet but it's a damn good Rev 1 phone.
I agree with all of you but for me there have been some things I just don't understand why MS did what they did.
Notifications - There is a noticeable space at the top of the screen that hardly used. It is sometimes used for notifications as in text messages but not for email or twitter notifications.
Keyboard - In portrait its on par with iphone and even MT Android but why not a full landscape keyboard have you guys seen it? The empty space at the top of the screen is there on the side now and wasted.
Phone - 2 keystrokes to get a dialer why and to make it worse why no smart dialing in the dialer. I know you can use the search button but its not the same.
From a hardware perspective the phone is great light and long battery life so far. I just wish MS would have polished it a little more I dont really see a lot of Apple users jumping ship to it. Just my 2cents
boogieboogie said:
to the people who switched from the iphone 4 to focus. any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have both a Droid Incredible and an iPhone 4 and I love the Focus and WP7 interface over both. what I'm having trouble with is the little things that allow you to control the phone more that are still missing from WP7, probably because MS rushed it to get it out before the holidays. What I miss and need on WP7 include:
A Sound Profiler that allows you to control various preset sound modes and volumes for Alarm, ringer, music, system and keyboard clicks...why is this missing
An equalizer in the zune music App
An integrated favorites app for quick dialing. I'm using the tile approach for some contacts, but it does take more real estate than necesary.
Ability to change system font size. Some of the fonts are a bit too large.
Background processing for Facebook, Twitter, and some of those other things that require that.
That ability to connect to hidden Wifi networks! Come on MS this is suppose to be a corporate phone, corporate networks are often hidden. how do you miss that!
Abiltity to fast dial using the number keys in the phone app, ala HTC Sense! Much quicker to look up contacts that way.
Contact Pictures in Call history and SMS. they are everywhere else, why not there.
Native turn by turn directions Like Android has. Come on, this is a big one the iPhone is missing out of the box and MS is making the same mistake.
the notification system is a little wacky on WP 7...if the tiles that are changing are within view, then you are good, or if you are on the lock screen you can see certain things change via the icons at the bottom, but I'd still like to see an android like pull down.
this isn't microsoft, but can someone tell me why Google Reader doesn't format on WP7 and Windows Mobile like it does on the iPhone and Android. It's annoying! and none of the Google Reader market apps like gReadie and WReader work very well....
And why can't I get WP7 on Verizon! the AT&T network seems to be extremely slow, even more so with teh focus than the iPhone.
When will this stuff be fixed!
codyt01 said:
I have both a Droid Incredible and an iPhone 4 and I love the Focus and WP7 interface over both. what I'm having trouble with is the little things that allow you to control the phone more that are still missing from WP7, probably because MS rushed it to get it out before the holidays. What I miss and need on WP7 include:
A Sound Profiler that allows you to control various preset sound modes and volumes for Alarm, ringer, music, system and keyboard clicks...why is this missing
An equalizer in the zune music App
An integrated favorites app for quick dialing. I'm using the tile approach for some contacts, but it does take more real estate than necesary.
Ability to change system font size. Some of the fonts are a bit too large.
Background processing for Facebook, Twitter, and some of those other things that require that.
That ability to connect to hidden Wifi networks! Come on MS this is suppose to be a corporate phone, corporate networks are often hidden. how do you miss that!
Abiltity to fast dial using the number keys in the phone app, ala HTC Sense! Much quicker to look up contacts that way.
Contact Pictures in Call history and SMS. they are everywhere else, why not there.
Native turn by turn directions Like Android has. Come on, this is a big one the iPhone is missing out of the box and MS is making the same mistake.
the notification system is a little wacky on WP 7...if the tiles that are changing are within view, then you are good, or if you are on the lock screen you can see certain things change via the icons at the bottom, but I'd still like to see an android like pull down.
this isn't microsoft, but can someone tell me why Google Reader doesn't format on WP7 and Windows Mobile like it does on the iPhone and Android. It's annoying! and none of the Google Reader market apps like gReadie and WReader work very well....
And why can't I get WP7 on Verizon! the AT&T network seems to be extremely slow, even more so with teh focus than the iPhone.
When will this stuff be fixed!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WP7 is coming to Verizon in January along with turn by turn directions and Flash support.
I've been playing with mine for a couple hours now. I like the device itself but it's probably going back in the morning. Couple thoughts, IMHO:
The back cover is worthless. Cheap. I never know if it's going to break when I pull it off. Having a removable battery again? Priceless. The SIM slot, specifically the contact nodes themselves, are poorly designed and I think mine bent/broke when I inserted and removed my microSIM adapter with my microSIM inside it. That's insane for a new device. They are just three little prongs waiting to break. Love the TILES!!! Love the font and the clean look of the whole OS!!! Gmail refuses to display my full email box. This makes me angry. Love the screen, when displaying the primary colors of tiles and most of the apps. On the other hand I Can't stand the washed out appearance of the IE and the screen when browsing. PTI podcast works, so big points on that one. Contacts sync is annoying, particularly since I don't have anything save for email in my Gmail contacts. My choice, my fault. I don't have a Live account and really don't want one but see no choice to download anything from the Marketplace. This is tomfoolery. Love the lightness of the phone along with the 4 inch real-estate.
Interesting so far but nothing that makes me want to replace my iPhone.
bmstrong said:
I've been playing with mine for a couple hours now. I like the device itself but it's probably going back in the morning. Couple thoughts, IMHO:
The back cover is worthless. Cheap. I never know if it's going to break when I pull it off. Having a removable battery again? Priceless. The SIM slot, specifically the contact nodes themselves, are poorly designed and I think mine bent/broke when I inserted and removed my microSIM adapter with my microSIM inside it. That's insane for a new device. They are just three little prongs waiting to break. Love the TILES!!! Love the font and the clean look of the whole OS!!! Gmail refuses to display my full email box. This makes me angry. Love the screen, when displaying the primary colors of tiles and most of the apps. On the other hand I Can't stand the washed out appearance of the IE and the screen when browsing. PTI podcast works, so big points on that one. Contacts sync is annoying, particularly since I don't have anything save for email in my Gmail contacts. My choice, my fault. I don't have a Live account and really don't want one but see no choice to download anything from the Marketplace. This is tomfoolery. Love the lightness of the phone along with the 4 inch real-estate.
Interesting so far but nothing that makes me want to replace my iPhone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just out of curiosity, where do you keep your phone contacts?
emjee87 said:
Just out of curiosity, where do you keep your phone contacts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my head and in a backup email labeled "contacts" that sits in my inbox. I redraft and resend the email to myself when I need to update any information. I only have about 10-15 or numbers to remember.
I like the OS very much. I think it has great potential, great upside. But the hardware side still leaves much to be desired against the gold standard Apple offering.
bmstrong said:
In my head and in a backup email labeled "contacts" that sits in my inbox. I redraft and resend the email to myself when I need to update any information. I only have about 10-15 or numbers to remember.
I like the OS very much. I think it has great potential, great upside. But the hardware side still leaves much to be desired against the gold standard Apple offering.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"redraft and resend"
What?
Really?
mcmexican said:
I agree with all of you but for me there have been some things I just don't understand why MS did what they did.
Notifications - There is a noticeable space at the top of the screen that hardly used. It is sometimes used for notifications as in text messages but not for email or twitter notifications.
Keyboard - In portrait its on par with iphone and even MT Android but why not a full landscape keyboard have you guys seen it? The empty space at the top of the screen is there on the side now and wasted.
Phone - 2 keystrokes to get a dialer why and to make it worse why no smart dialing in the dialer. I know you can use the search button but its not the same.
From a hardware perspective the phone is great light and long battery life so far. I just wish MS would have polished it a little more I dont really see a lot of Apple users jumping ship to it. Just my 2cents
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree about the notifications. I would of love to seen Twitter or Facebook notification heck even e-mail for that matter pop up and have a option to disable it if need be. I'm sure this is something coming in the future.
Also agree about the keyboard. I am shaking my head and wondering why there is a significant amount of unused space on the screen in landscape mode.
More active live tiles. I would love to have a live tile that would update the weather for me. I'm sure there is a app in the making but it would be nice to see that.
Also...there is no YouTube app? (I'm not talking about the YouTube that brings you to the mobile version of YouTube) Is that just a way for Google to stick it to M$?
Update:
Spoke to soon about the live tile for the weather. Weather bug has an app out for it.
AllTheWay said:
I agree about the notifications. I would of love to seen Twitter or Facebook notification heck even e-mail for that matter pop up and have a option to disable it if need be. I'm sure this is something coming in the future.
Also agree about the keyboard. I am shaking my head and wondering why there is a significant amount of unused space on the screen in landscape mode.
More active live tiles. I would love to have a live tile that would update the weather for me. I'm sure there is a app in the making but it would be nice to see that.
Also...there is no YouTube app? (I'm not talking about the YouTube that brings you to the mobile version of YouTube) Is that just a way for Google to stick it to M$?
Update:
Spoke to soon about the live tile for the weather. Weather bug has an app out for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using Lazy Worm as my YouTube app in the mean time. It doesn't have all the functionality of the other YouTube apps yet, but it does keep the theme of WP7 and it works well enough.
i know this is an old thread, but i will add my 2 cents.
i owned the 3G, the 3GS, and the iphone 4. the worst of the 3 was the iphone 4. it was practically worthless as a phone. i dropped 80% of my calls with it. i returned it after a few weeks because of this.
the 3G was fine and i owned it for a year and a half, but it was really slow. the 3GS was my favorite by far, and really i have very few complaints with it.
obviously the iphone was revolutionary. it started the wave of multi-touch displays and the app world was pretty phenomenal. but the truth is that technology is uncapped now and apple doesn't have the entire market, nor should they.
while MS has some glitches, they were to be expected. the marketplace doesn't provide the number of apps that the iphone market does, but how cool is it that you get to own a focus now and be on the ground-level and see new and refreshing apps as they come to life? i find that pretty cool.
my main reason for switching was just to do something different, and so far i am very pleased with the phone. i think it does everything the iphone does and potentially more, you just have to be willing to learn new techniques as you would with any new phone.
Gonna try to not repeat what others have already said.
Loving WP7 OS and everything it does. Fresh start, smooth UI and a great design paradigm. Missing some features but nothing has been a deal breaker yet. I can tell it's just a matter of time (short time) and a lot of these features will land in the OS.
Focus is OK. It's not great. I don't like the camera as much as I did on my iPhone 4. I used to take a ton of pics with my iPhone 4 but not as much now with the focus. You have to tinker with the settings to get similar quality pics and even then not all the time. Specially in low light settings, the iPhone crushed the focus clarity-wise. In day light, they are mostly the same.
If I could have WP7 on my iPhone 4, I would be extremely happy. But that's not the case. WP7 is good enough to make up for me missing my iPhone 4's hardware so far though.
The camera is actually the reason I've shelved the Focus until there's an update for it. I have to change a bunch of settings to get a half decent picture out of it and then, of course, it doesn't save those settings so I have to do it....every.....single..........time. Hard to believe Microsoft hasn't released a fix for this by now. Well, no...not really. Typical Microsoft, actually. And the hardware button isn't doing the phone any favors, either. The iPhone's on-screen button is nice because it takes no pressure so the phone doesn't budge when you take the picture. The hardware button means you can't help but move the camera when taking a picture and if it's not taken with plenty of light good luck getting a picture that isn't smeared. And finally there's the complete lack of any real features. No panoramic shots, no effects, nothing. I use the camera all the time and the Focus' software makes it almost useless so I went back to the iPhone.
nazeeh said:
Gonna try to not repeat what others have already said.
Loving WP7 OS and everything it does. Fresh start, smooth UI and a great design paradigm. Missing some features but nothing has been a deal breaker yet. I can tell it's just a matter of time (short time) and a lot of these features will land in the OS.
Focus is OK. It's not great. I don't like the camera as much as I did on my iPhone 4. I used to take a ton of pics with my iPhone 4 but not as much now with the focus. You have to tinker with the settings to get similar quality pics and even then not all the time. Specially in low light settings, the iPhone crushed the focus clarity-wise. In day light, they are mostly the same.
If I could have WP7 on my iPhone 4, I would be extremely happy. But that's not the case. WP7 is good enough to make up for me missing my iPhone 4's hardware so far though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest, I have to strongly disagree....I am a photographer, not a pro, but lots of experience and the iphone 4 camera is NOT that good. Im actually able to produce much nicer results with the focus now than my friends iphone 4. Downside is the focus doesn't save the settings you use...which will be fixed. The iphone 4 quality is WAY to oversaturated...Im not saying the focus quality is amazing...but when I change my settings its definetly acceptable quality. EV and ISO can be your best friends when used properly.
to me the focus wins hands down, my friend who is a self confessed iphone/ iphone 4 BIG time fanboy, has had all the other iphones he had got his iphone 4 like a week before he met up with me tooled around on my samsung focus for like a hour packed up his iphone 4 went to at&t store and exchanged it for a samsung focus....
Paolo01 said:
"redraft and resend"
What?
Really?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was my thought maybe it is time for him to setup a Hotmail account,
iPhone vs Focus
I have no regrets switching from iPhone 3GS and 4G to Focus.
They both have pluses and minuses, but I thing WinMo 7 is a new OS and the market place is catching up quickly.
What I miss in WinMo 7 is the customization and low level access (e.g. registry, file system).
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.
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Thresher said:
This summarized my thoughts exactly.
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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
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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.
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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.