So, I got an HTC Evo yesterday...

I'm coming off of the T mobile G1, so I'm very familiar with Android and all that the system has to offer. I loved the G1, but this new phone was just too good to pass up.

Pros:
-Super fast, nothing lags and it's easy to multi-task.
-Great camera (8 megapixel).
-Fantastic screen, very rich in color. Nice and big too.
-The kickstand is a brilliant feature on this phone. Listening to music or the radio through it is easy.
-GPS works like a charm.
-The onscreen keyboard is amazing. I was sworn to be a hard-keyboard only guy, but this is fantastic. Too easy...
-Great variety of built in apps, the HD YouTube is great.
-Works very well as an mp3 player. My iPod touch is currently not working, but this is a great substitution.
-The amount of information that is available at one time is amazing. On one screen, I can see the time, the weather, the temperature, my text messages, my friends' updates on Facebook and twitter, and my calendar.
-4G speeds are awesome.
-Takes very good video.

Cons:
-The battery life is not great.
-Certain frequencies create some sort of a distortion noise when someone is talking to you on the phone.
-Video calling is not working, but they hope to have that fixed within the week.
-It's a little too big to comfortably carry around in your pocket.
-It's a little hard to find spots where you get 4G speeds. When you find them though, it works very well.
-When you use it in public, lots of people come up to you and ask if they can try it. That's annoying.

I really like this phone and I plan to keep it. Nicely done HTC.

 

Does it use the Sense interface?

Just got HTC Legend 4-5 days ago. I'm loving it, although there are a few really irritating things that are driving me nuts. I've had Nokia all my life so I'm still adjusting, I guess.

It's a shame the battery life sucks on these things, because they are pretty much the perfect gadgets.

 

I played with one today and I feel that the phone is too big. I have a hero now and I love the android OS, I think the one downfall for the EVO is the size, it fells too big holding it in one hand. IMO

 

Yes, Sense interface. It's fantastic.

The battery life is terrible. I hope a third party company offers a bigger one like they have for the Palm Pre. I'm considering carrying around a second battery.

When I first picked up the phone, I had the same reaction. I've had it for a few days now, and I can honestly tell you that it's not too big. It feels fine in my pocket and it's great to type on. I think in that sense, (no pun intended) the bigger screen is very useful. I think if it were smaller, the onscreen keyboard would be pretty difficult to type on. (Well, at least it was on my old G1.)

 

Mine is slightly smaller than the 3G iPhone and I thought it was too big first, getting used to the size now. Awesome stuff.

 

It's only been 4 days and I'm very used to the size of the Evo. And hey, video chat seems to be working now.

Can't wait until the Skype app is released.

 

Played with EVO at Sprint Store today while waiting for them to service my Pre and my daughters Pre. As usual (for the 5th time for me, and the 3rd time for her) they are going to replace our Pre's with brand new ones to arrive in a couple of days.

So I think I'm going to sell those and switch to the EVO and give Android a try.

Have to tell you though, just playing with the EVO today got me a little stressed out..lol. I'm sure there is a learning curve, but there is nothing currently out there as elegant and intuitive as WebOS. Not even close. Too bad the current WebOS hardware sucks and the OS is stagnant already after a year.

So my daughter and I will probably be EVO converts by the end of the week...

 

I bought a Hero a couple weeks ago when my Instinct broke. My intent was to trade up once the EVO became available. I binned that plan when I heard about the extra $10/month 4G charge -- 4G won't even be available in Los Angeles for another six months at the earliest (we all know these things never get deployed on time). I get annual upgrades with Sprint Premier, so I'll upgrade to whatever the new hot phone is next June once all the 4G issues get worked out.

On principle alone, I'm not paying for a service I don't have access to -- even if it's only $10 per month.

 

You won't regret it. There is definitely a learning curve, but IMO it offers a lot more than Web OS once you get the hang of it.

 

100%

Once you understand it and get used to it, you will never go back.

 

i got one. it's great, see ya ATT...sucka

 

Oh well. No EVO's to be found anywhere around here. Sprint - none. Best Buy - None. Radio Shack - None. When? Don't know - each place has 50+ people on a waiting list, could be weeks.

I'll never understand it - the lack of supply. I'm over the initial excitement now and will probably wait a few more months.

 

Some manufacturers are better than others at keeping supply available, but HTC is ALWAYS terrible at it. Based on previous devices, the odds are, by the time supply is finally to where it should have been, it will be outdated and something else will have come along to beat it. Your best bet if you really want to get one is to slip a $20 bill to the manager at a corporate store to get you the next one that comes in.

 

I don't know if it is an HTC thing or a Sprint thing. I was second in line to get a Pre when they were released, but for months after that they were almost impossible to get anywhere. Now the same thing with the EVO. I've read that 50,000-75,000 units were sold.

Yet, you hear that hundreds of thousands of IPhones go out on launch day.

Surely they realize that they lose out on a lot of sales because the people that "had to have one" get over it after having to wait a few weeks.

 

The HD2 on T-Mobile was the exact same way. It's been on back order for so long, nobody wants it any more. It's an HTC thing. Sprint (or any carrier for that matter) has nothing to do with inventory allocation except for taking intiative in ordering the device. If the device is successful (like the Evo), Sprint has no reason not to order it, they make a ton more on revenue from rate plans and data features in conjunction with selling the device than they spend buying the phone so...there ya go.

At any rate, I saw a dealer today with a huge sign in front of their store that said "we have Evo's in stock" so I went in to check it and they were out of stock and had been since it launched. They tried to sell me something else then offered to put me on their waiting list which was 3 pages.

 

I bought my EVO in Studio City, they had a few of them.

 

I have my EVO too. I think the processor is fast, but I am not liking the UI at all. "Sense" has a learning curve and is counter-intuitive, and to synch with Outlook, it is a $40 aftermarket app. This is something that should be standard along with synching photos or media off your desktop.

I am probably going to hang on all weekend to it, and if I am not comfortable, Monday it goes back to the store and I'll just use Skype for another 3 years
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I'll admit it, I am getting used to this, but I still would have rather had WinMo5 like on my old iPaq. I see so many bad business decisions made by Google with Android that I don't know how they can survive on an only geek user base. I am not at the point of droidrage, but I am just not that pleased.

I have had a 50% failure rate downloading apps in the marketplace, most notably AIM. We can talk marketshare here, though Google has some deep pockets to fail so badly at this.

Better marketplace: Apple
Smoother interface: Apple
Tech savvy users: Droid
More powerful: Droid
Steeper learning curve: Droid
Better support: Apple
Better experience: Apple
Better default apps: Droid (but these are Sprint apps)
Better connectivity: Apple
3rd party hardware: Apple

Conclusions Apple = App; Android = And?

 

Everywhere local still sold out, and all say "weeks".

Noticed today that Sprint.com didn't say "sold out" anymore - so ordered 2 online, should arrive Tuesday.

Hopefully I'll get used to the on-screen keyboard. Tried that once a couple of years ago and couldn't stand it - but this one seems better. Always said I'd never get a phone without a physical keyboard, yet here I go...

 

EVO's in hand now, too bad I'm going to be tied up for the next few hours.

Guess I got lucky, about an hour after I ordered online on Sunday, the website showed "sold out" and still does...

 

Some apps that I like:

-Vignette- Great camera app with some very cool effects
-aDyno- Works pretty well
-iReal Book- For all you musicians out there
-Google Sky Map- VERY cool app, perfect if astronomy is your thing
-Text Bomb- Funny app
-Prank Dial- You can have some fun with this one
-Throttle Copter- classic game
-Robo Defense- VERY addicting game
-Pure Calendar- Great widget
-Dolphin Browser HD- FANTASTIC web browser. Much better than the Android one.
-AudioManager Pro- Great widget for managing the volume of your phone.

 

I love (all these are free):

Shazam (it records a playing song and gives you name and title of it, very handy when listening to radio)
Seesmic (excellent Twitter app)
Notes (very good note app, much better than Android one)
OI Shopping (good shopping list maker)
Aldiko (personal library: Download free books and read them, very cool when stuck in airports etc)
ShopSavvy (will read barcode of many products and suggest the best price and where to buy it. I use it for English books and CD's)
Filkie Wallpaper (big collection of awesome wallpapers)
Billboard100 (listen to music clips from the Billboard 100 list, cool for discovering new music)
Relax and sleep (noises one can sleep to, like rain, ocean noise creek, traffic, birds etc.)


They haven't opened the Android market here for apps you need to pay for, so I've discovered tons of good free ones (not that paying a dollar or two for an app is such a big deal).

 

Out with the boys in Glendale, heading to the LA Gun Club in a bad low-light situation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPJAtkaOXOk

 

So far, so good. Big "usability" learning curve.

Main "curves":

1. Autocorrect is driving me crazy. my text messages are sometimes uncipherable because I didn't notice that autocorrect picked a totally different word because I typed a word it didn't know (like a street name for example). Pre had a less intrusive autocorrect. I guess it cuts both ways, and I'm getting used to it now.

2. How do you now what is "running"? Do you need one of those task managers? With the Pre, all you had to do was move between "cards" (like windows) - running applications had open cards. With android, it seems that most applications give you no way to "exit" them - and when you go back to the home screen they are "closed" yet "open". Is there an easy way to open already running tasks?

Otherwise, awesome phone. My first app purchase was a "big" one - Remote Desktop for $19.95. Finally, a usable RDP client from a mobile device, and over 4G it is nearly as fast as my desktop.

 

#2 -- go into Setting>Applications>Running Services (may be named different than whats on my Droid)

I honestly don't like the "app killer" apps. I d/l'd when I first got the phone and eventually I noticed my battery life was becoming horrible. I uninstalled it and battery life improved. Just personal preferrence/experience though.