[gTen]

Originally Posted by TexasAggie97

Ok, so I have an HTC Arrive with the Windows Phone 7 operating system and am so disappointed by the lack of customization that I am thinking of leaving Windows Phone and defecting over to Android (shhhh, don't tell any Windows Phone fanboys). I had been a Windows user since my IPAQ but Windows Phone 7 has really screwed things up (see my Windows Phone Review).

So my question for you Samsung Epic 4G users are below. I am hoping that the Android system is better and more suited for my needs.

The dark side beckons

1. I can't stand Zune and being forced to use Zune to transfer Movies & Music. What program(s) does Android use?

Well sprint locked out support for samsung kies tool..which si the official one but there are popular ones like DoubleTwist and etc..or you can jsut copy via wifi/sd card/usb and etc...there are prob no limits to ways to sync...

Can I update codecs on the video player so I can view .mkv or .avi files? I can't do this on my Windows Phone, I have to "convert" them using Zune.

Well here is the thing, samsung was nice enough to include mkv support and avi (divx/xvid) support from the get go..aka you got full hardware decode on those videos...if you need subtitles you may want to get 'mvideoplayer'.. and if for some reason you need slower software decode there is 'rock player'..

The phone can generally play 720p on highest encoding settings via hardware decode no problemo..the chipset can play 1080p too but its been locked sorry...

1a. Can I just drag and drop into a window like I can with a USB flash drive? What about non music/movie/picture files? How do I transfer those?

yup for USB mass storage.as for pictures any way you like it I guess..as stated before wifi/usb/bluetooth/sync you name it..

2. Can I upload videos and photos directly from my phone to Facebook? I enjoy taking photos and videos of my family and don't like the way Windows Phone forces me to connect to Zune, transfer the video to my PC, then upload it to Facebook. Is the video camera HD?

I think so via the Facebook app..as for video camera...yup its HD 720p..

3. Can I remove the memory card or use one with more capacity? I don't like the fact that I would have to basically rip my HTC Arrive apart to get to the memory card.

Yup, just open back cover and its right there..can't miss it..

4. Device volume control? My HTC Arrive has serious problems with volume when listening to music and videos. Has anyone had problems hearing music or especially movies ripped from DVD's on their Epic, say in a loud gym setting? On one movie in particular, I had to force my Arrive's headphones into my ear and hold them there so I could listen to the voices in the movie.

The Epic has one of the best audio chips for mobiles if you use headsets and with Voodoo sound it makes it A LOT better..if you mean without headsets and speaker phone..the speaker phone is ok but haven't tried a movie without headsets :/

5. Microsoft Exchange Server Sync? I cannot get my HTC Arrive to sync to our exchange server here at work. However, other devices, iPhones & Androids, have been able to sync. Anyone have a problem syncing to an exchange server with the Epic?

You should have no problem syncing..

I'm not looking for a phone I can unlock or hack. I don't want to have to do this to use the phone and applications. I want to be able to customize my phone without having to "unlock" it. I want the freedom to use whatever multimedia players I want and most importantly, want the ability to transfer files from my desktop to my phone without hassle or having to use a skydrive, e-mail, or Zune to do this!

You will be able to do all of those without unlocking....but you may wish to do that to get custom kernels which let you save battery life or overclock for example..or wifi tethering...the voodoo sound too...

I will tell you this though, rooting on the Epic is fairly safe...safer then flashing a rom in winmo...

My biggest fear with a Samsung phone is that my wife has had two different models and both were very poor quality and basically fell apart after a year, whereas I have had an HTC phone since my PPC-6700 and rarely had problems.

Well its a hit and miss kinda thing..I used an ppc-6700, mogul and TP2 and dropped them like a million times with not even a scratch..other people just dropped them once and they broke..so far I've dropped my Epic a few times and it seems ok...but what can I say I'm lucky with phones :/

The phone by itself is made of plastic mostly and while that does make people think its low quality its not the case, the plastic is there to make the phone lighter...I mean once you pick it up its as light as a feather..and when falling it should generally take less damage..its also made out of Gorilla Glass..so its pretty durable...don't be mistaken though that doesn't mean its indestructible and still should be treated with care like any other phone.