[markli]

Sprint HTC Evo Shift 4G

I like some of you have been fed up with WM for sometime. All the freezing and lack of updates just pissed me off way too much. So I went to RadioShack and saw the deal a new Htc Evo Shift 4G for 149.99$. I am a Sprint user so I asked how much my old TP2 and Mogul would be worth. For my TP2 in rough shape RadioShack gave me over 70$ and only 10$ for my old Mogul. I used the money towards a new Evo Shift.

After being a WM user since the PPC 6700 you know the one that was the size of a brick and had the inch antenna coming out of the top. Well anyways I decided to give Android a try.

My reasoning for going to Android and not waiting for WM7 are simple. I have had way too many frustrations with Windows in the past. The Pro 7 will only have a 16gig hd internal and not allow for a memory card. I called and talked to HTC reps and they all said how WM7 is having tons of problems and even everyone of them switched to Android due to this issue. I read tons of reviews and watched videos and even tried it myself and WM7 just seems like a big miss to me. Sadly all the fun and frustrations WM and I have had are now over.

At first I was completely lost and hating that I got rid of my TP2, I walked back into RadioShack a few times to ask the guy how to do certain things. Sure the interface was completely different and annoying at first but now having it for a few days I have become to like Android.

My biggest annoyence with the HTC Evo Shift 4G starts here.

Cons - You need to download an application for any additional function you would like to use. Sure it sounds annoying but what is even more annoying is that the good ones you either have to pay for or they contain google ads.

- There are way too many useless programs that come with the Sprint version you can not delete unless you root it from what I am told. I will never use the Kindel feature or that Amazon Mp3 feature or someother programs I find dumb.

- When using the phone either in landscape mode or standard the volume buttons are in the worst place. I have hit them over and over by accident and got very annoyed. I was told there is an app to disable the buttons without rooting the device but I have not found it yet.

- Lack of singal strength. When I have my hand anywhere near the top left side of the phone my singal strength goes to 1 or no bars. I called Sprint about this and they said it is not possible and my phone must be defective. I have read that I am not the only one suffering from this problem.

- No physical end call or answer button. Im used to my TP2 and older WM devices where I could click answer or end call without having to touch the actual screen. The problem is after a while the touch screen which is told to be activated by heat sense will wear out in spots.

- When in call if my face touches the screen it ends the call. For some reason my phone screen is still active even if its up to my ear and if my cheek touches the screen it will end the call.

- It's lack of custimization. I am still new to the device but so far I haven't had much luck custimizing it beyond the main screens.

- You can not transfer over your contacts from the TP2 to the Evo Shit. The Evo Shift uses Gmail. You have to export your TP2 contacts to a csv file and then export them to Gmail. When I did this I had to go and rewrite all my 900+ contacts. For some reason Gmail writes the contacts all different. Well at least for me. I spent way too many hours retyping them all.

- Lacks internal HD space.

- The contact tab on the OS is a pain in the ass. It took me forever to figure out how to use it all.

- Being a Gmail contact setup Gmail makes Groups I will never use and I can not delete them.

- Any old notes from WM devices can not be veiwed properally on Android.

- Lack of setting functions.

- My Evo Shift 4G would not sync to my Windows 7 computer. Said it could not find the driver and I could not find the driver anywhere myself.


Pros - Android runs a lot smoother than windows.

- My old TP2 batterys work with the device all I need to do is just flip them over for the contacts to line up.

- It is comfortable in my hands.

- Tons of free apps and games to download.

- 4G capiable where avaliable.

- It has a nice fast processor.

- Friend Stream is pretty neat.

- The camera takes great pictures. (Didn't use video yet)

- When adding or deleting a new contact it automatically saves to Gmail account.

- Pdanet makes tethering easy!


There are more Pros and Cons I am sure but I have not run into them yet. This rant is not to discourage or get anyone to love or hate the HTC Evo Shift 4G for Sprint but just to give someone an idea of what I have found to be different or lacking from being a WM user for over 5 years.