Good time to leave TP2?

[vonnieglen]

Originally Posted by chardog

I think I'm pretty right with the xp to vista upgrade. That's as best as I can describe it in tech terms. Vonnie is already wanting to mess with android from the TP2.

I didn't mean to start any problems here. To me this is an interesting thread. I enjoy Chardogs comments even if he might misunderstand my motivation a bit. To me it doesn't matter a whole lot about how the TP2 stacks up against more powerful devices such as the EVO. I can't use an EVO on my plan. In the early 80s I spent months working with and programming computers that didn't have a tenth of the power the TP2 packs in a device that will fit in a shirt pocket.

I purchased two TP2s on Ebay over the weekend, one is scheduled to arrive this coming Thursday and the other on Friday. It wouldn't matter to me how perfect the OS was out of the box. I like to get into the nuts and bolts of everything that I purchase. This includes everything from bicycles and hang gliders, to lumber mill equipment to cars, trucks, motorcycles, airplanes, computers, phones, DVD players and almost every other electronic gadget I get my hands on. When I first got the PPC-6700 aka the HTC Apache, it never gave me any grief, but I started tweaking the setup almost immediately. Even using WM 6.5 and Opera 10 surfing on the tiny screen of the Apache is a challenge. I am really looking forward to the larger screen of the TP2.

The TP2 is the best phone that Sprint will allow us to use without giving up our Fair and Flexible Plan. To me that is a challenge. I am very excited about trying out all the great stuff that I have been reading about here and in other forums. The truth is I have too many projects right now, but this one has caught my imagination. As I stated previously Sprint through their corporate policies is trying to force me to drop a plan that I was told that I could keep for as long as I wanted. Because of this if I can get most of the functionality of a more advanced phone by tweaking the TP2, it will give me a real sense of satisfaction.

As far as Microsoft Operating Systems... I have used them all from MS-DOS 2 on up. Many years ago I had a work study job as a computer lab assistant helping students and maintaining dozens of computers running MS-DOS 3.1. Microsoft has had some Operating Systems that many considered losers; in my experience even those builds considered losers by most could all be tweaked to work just fine.

I never had any substantial issues with ME or Vista. For years I have been helping friends with their computer problems; often they have had issues that they blamed on the OS. I can't actually remember any case where the problems my friends were certain were from deficiencies in the OS... actually had anything much to do with the OS. Even after I got them up and running and explained the issue with them... they would often be back to blaming the OS a short time later.

As far as Android... I don't have any problems with Windows but I still like to play with Linux now and then on my laptops and desktop computers. Sprint won't let me put an Android phone on my plan, using Android on the TP2 will give me a very special thrill.

[chardog]

I'm on a similar plan vonnie, SERO. We do have the option of pay an extra $10 a month for a newer device (android), and mobile to any mobile, which basically makes this plan nearly unlimited calling. I mentioned it to the other user stuck on a cheap plan. Ultimately too cheap to upgrade :P which is fine. I'm just not going to pretend that this TP2 is even a midlevel smartphone. it's the bottom of the barrel celeron with way too little ram, trying it's best to run vista ultimate. btw, windows ME and vista were the worst products microsoft has ever made.

IMO, the TP2 is too underpowered and should have been created in a blackberry type form factor minus the touch screen features. The big screen kinda implies that you touch items with your fingers, but being a resistive screen, it's just poor execution. Capacitive screens were available for a while when the TP2 launched. it was well obsolete when it came into production.

In short, don't get you're hopes too high.

[steveo70]

Can't say I come from royal lineage in the expertise, but the latest and greatest isn't always the best for everyone. Isn't that why we have all these options and this site? I've been available for an upgrade on my line for 8 mos but haven't. Love this phone. Capacitive screens are nice, until your sitting in the woods hunting, bored and freezing and the closest cedar twig is "best friend" stylus. Custom ROMS, shipped ROMS? Aren't we all here because one or the other works best for us yet we all NEED something more out of each?

[gTen]

Originally Posted by vonnieglen

I never had any substantial issues with ME or Vista. For years I have been helping friends with their computer problems; often they have had issues that they blamed on the OS. I can't actually remember any case where the problems my friends were certain were from deficiencies in the OS... actually had anything much to do with the OS. Even after I got them up and running and explained the issue with them... they would often be back to blaming the OS a short time later.

To be fair Windows ME has SERIOUS issues...and M$ even admitted that their is an unfix-able memory leak in ME and only fix is to upgrade to XP..it is what effectively killed the 9x based kernel and moved windows to the NT based kernel..

As for the TP2, while its no way on par with the latest devices with 1ghz processors and powerful GPUs it is a good phone...I've had it for over a year with few issues which most I was able to fix after some tinkering..I still have it on my other line and use it time to time but my heart is kinda with my Epic now lol...

Overall though PPC6700 vs TP2 is a step up, unfortunately though unlike the PPC6700...HTC cheaped out and did not include proper 3d and direct draw drivers :/..the device though is clocked faster (you can also overclock it for performance) and has a dedicated modem DSP which was introduced after mogul onwards...

As for Android, you can always try the Android port for the TP2..its not 100% complete but I think it at least has working drivers lol

[quick99si]

If only Sprint got some HTC HD2 love... that device is a fully fledged WM6.x, WP7, and/or AndroidOS device with actual hardkeys and no kb. And oh yeah, it's got the megaherz and megabytes that a TP2 does not

[Tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by Dr.8820

Wirelessly posted (PPCGEEKS Fire Dept.: Opera/9.70 (Windows NT 5.1; U; en) TMO-US_LEO)

this thread is shaping up to be a classic lol.

hehe... I am addicted to this thread too! =]=]

[cmajewsk]

Originally Posted by quick99si

If only Sprint got some HTC HD2 love... that device is a fully fledged WM6.x, WP7, and/or AndroidOS device with actual hardkeys and no kb. And oh yeah, it's got the megaherz and megabytes that a TP2 does not

Yeah, an awesome phone for sure...But Sprint would never offer a phone that wouldn't work on it's network...

[Dr.8820]

Originally Posted by quick99si

If only Sprint got some HTC HD2 love... that device is a fully fledged WM6.x, WP7, and/or AndroidOS device with actual hardkeys and no kb. And oh yeah, it's got the megaherz and megabytes that a TP2 does not

honestly, i do too. that's the only device that made winmo work (the snapdragon).

[Maxx134]

Originally Posted by chardog

...
you might be fine with your vista basic laptop, and I am fine with my i7 win7 pro laptop. But there is no mistake which is the better system!

XP right?
It has the speed..
It is smaller...
It is more compatble with older applications and drivers .(kitchen & hacking tools)
It can be customized to look and act like either Win7 or Vista.
I have Xp with transparent windows, aero cursor, sidebar,
It is less sneaky and intrusive
bla,bla
ha,ha
Oh yea, and Sprint does not have a decent WinMo device like the HD2
It woks as intendid with that speed.
The TP2 would have been much better out the box with only 300Mhz more.
800Mhz would have solved alot of OS issues.

HTC always messes things up just enough for you want an upgrade.
Just look at the EVOShift.. If only it had a 4" screen and front Facen camera

[vonnieglen]

Originally Posted by gTen

To be fair Windows ME has SERIOUS issues...and M$ even admitted that their is an unfix-able memory leak in ME and only fix is to upgrade to XP..it is what effectively killed the 9x based kernel and moved windows to the NT based kernel..

In my rambling I managed to get off subject. I am not trying to dispute that Windows ME had "serious issues". "Memory leaks" can still be an annoying issue even with "NT based kernels". As you know they are usually from wayward hardware or applications. We all have our work-arounds. I doubt whether Microsoft ever said that the only way to fix ME was to upgrade to XP. As I am sure you are aware the two Operating Systems had vastly different hardware requirements.

In my experience helping friends and co-workers who were having difficulties with their ME computers... the problems they were having seldom related to actual "confirmed" problems with ME. Windows ME introduced innovations that we all now take for granted and did it with computers that were more comparible to the TP2 than a current laptop or desktop. At the time I considered ME to be a bit of a resource hog compared to Win98 SE. Windows 2000 was major progress and Windows XP of course was a huge success.

The thread here is about whether it is time to move on from the TP2 to newer devices. This is not unlike the decisions many of us had to make about our hardware as we graduated from Win 3.1 to Win98 to WinME to Win2000 to WinXP to WinVista to Win7. Each new operating system was designed with upgraded hardware in mind.

In the case of the TP2 many of us are using a carrier, Sprint who is telling us if we want to upgrade our hardware past the level of the TP2 we must upgrade our plans and pay much higher monthly fees for essentially the same service in many cases. How much longer would many of us have stuck with our old WinXP computers if our monthly expenses to migrate to Win7 went from something like $90 a month to $180 a month which is approximately what the switch would cost me. I would suggest that many of us would not have bothered to upgrade our harware were that the situation with our computers.

I am thinking that as long as Sprint sticks with this policy, long time users with grandfathered retention plans will be using TP2s for a long long time to come. I predict even after 2ghz quad processor Android 6.8 phones with gigabytes of internal memory are released there will be a dedicated band of partisan cheap skate phone geek brothers and sisters who will be proudly squeezing more out of our TP2 phones. We will be pulling out our TP2s at parties and get-togethers and proudly saying yes I can take a picture of a bar code, I have a customized start up screen that makes it like like an I-phone, I can show you the weather, I can watch a youtube video, I can show you pictures of the last time I went snow mobiling, I have got GPS, I can surf the web and play angry birds, and in just a couple more minutes my customized version of android will finish loading up... I'll show you even more, and I am only paying HALF what you are paying so take that you smarty pants superphone owner newbie. I have been playing a similar game for the past five years with a PPC-6700; my friends have only recently completely lost interest. So I have been forced to up the ante by purchasing two TP2s off of Ebay, but I am hoping to dazzle them for at least a couple more years.