[hec]

The Echo isn't the only new offering on the horizon; Android 2.3 & 3.0 devices with faster chips, like the Nvidia Tegra 2, are about to kick-start another wave of smartphone-buying frenzy.

I believe you'd be best served waiting 'til at least mid-spring before bailing on your TP2. If nothing else, the new offerings will likely lower the cost of the current ones, so either way, you win.

Granted there's always going to be something newer/faster/cheaper/better around the corner, but hardware-wise (e.g., CPU/GPU, display, glass surface, etc.), the Evo is somewhat dated, so you might as well either treat yourself to a newer generation or save money by waiting a bit.

I tried the Evo Shift for a couple of weeks and returned it. I simply couldn't justify paying $20 more per month for a device that I didn't find that much more superior to (and nowhere near as easily customizable as) the TP2, especially after breathing a bit more life into my TP2 with a hard reset, running the Sprint TP2 cleanup and WiMoSpeed to overclock, and only installing apps/games I actually intend to use. BTW, I've played around with my wife's Evo and came to the same conclusion (though I actually liked it better than the Shift).

I'm gonna let the phone & CPU/GPU/chipset manufacturers slug it out for a while to see who has garnered the most adoption and developer/modder support when the dust has settled, meanwhile hoping Android matures into a more fully-featured platform. For that matter, here's to hoping all the mobile OSes evolve quickly to deliver a more compelling experience.