TP2 vs. MY Touch Pro

[Oxymoron238]

Okay, now I've seen some reviews (okay, MANY reviews) of the touch pro compared to the original touch pro. But the touch pro that the reviewers compare it to tends to be much different from my touch pro.

I want to give as much info as I can, so we can compare my phone to the Touch Pro 2. This will help me be able to decide if the upgrade is worth it, and it might help someone else get an idea of the comparison between a TP2 and a tweaked TP1.

Here's the condition that my alltel touch pro is in:

1. I'm running a rom from Calk's kitchen (WM 6.5.1 build 23414)

2. The overheating issue is pretty much fixed thanks to No2Chem's nuedynamicclock (bring down the voltage to lvl 0 and there's next to no heat, except when I talk and charge simultaneously)

3. As for talking and charging, I can get 2-3 hours talk time on a single charge (the battery can last from 8am to about 5pm with HEAVY usage). I have a dock that charges one battery while I use one, so I can switch batteries at virtually any time and get back to 100% battery.

4. Some OS lag, but not much.

5. I can type pretty quickly on the keyboard (I type outlines of my novels on my phone, and I really those normally unused functions like tab, ctrl. etc.)

6. The back battery door doesn't creak anymore (I put some scotch tape on the back, and it quit creaking.

Okay, so there's the main points of my phone. I really wanna see how it stacks up to the Pro2. To add to that, there are some things that worry me about the Pro2's features, and hopefully someone can tell me if they will be a problem or not. Here they are:

1. The keyboard. Will the missing keys become a problem for a frequent Word Mobile user?

2. The Screen. Is it really THAT much better than the Touch Pro's screen? Personally, I've never been concerned about screen size in a phone (I used to watch crazy amounts of movies on my razr).

3. No camera flash. How does that work out? Does it take a lot of getting used to?

4. Here's my main, biggest concern EVER with the Touch Pro 2; the missing Dpad. For me this means no more touch panel potential, limited button remaping capabilities. To make it worse, I like to play games on my phone A LOT (currently I have over 40 games on my Touch Pro 1). How bad will the lack of a Dpad hurt my gaming experience?

For further information, if I got the Touch Pro 2, it would be the Verizon one since I have Alltel.

So, those are my concerns. Will the Touch Pro 2 be worth the upgrade from my Touch Pro? I REALLY REALLY appreciate anyone who takes time to give yet another review of their phones! Thanks!

[Skism]

1.The keyboard. Will the missing keys become a problem for a frequent Word Mobile user?

I've been typing a lot through text, word, and excel and it has not been a problem for me. All the keys necessary are there. There is also a pretty good feature that allows you to hold a key (digital keyboard) and the symbol corresponding to the key can be selected without pressing function, cap, or shift.

2. The Screen. Is it really THAT much better than the Touch Pro's screen? Personally, I've never been concerned about screen size in a phone (I used to watch crazy amounts of movies on my razr).

3. No camera flash. How does that work out? Does it take a lot of getting used to?

I can't take any pictures in dark conditions. Compared to the touch pro any pictures during the day look pretty much the same, in some instances I saw that some pictures looked better... Could be circumstances. I do miss the flash, but I'd rather buy a real digital camera if I'm trying to take a lot of pictures. As far as recording, I haven't had a great experience...

4. Here's my main, biggest concern EVER with the Touch Pro 2; the missing Dpad. For me this means no more touch panel potential, limited button remaping capabilities. To make it worse, I like to play games on my phone A LOT (currently I have over 40 games on my Touch Pro 1). How bad will the lack of a Dpad hurt my gaming experience?

I have used the arrows on the arrows on the keyboard and that works out pretty good... I even think its a lot more responsive.


If you can get the phone for 350 or less I'd say do the upgrade... Its a great phone. Battery life is awesome for me and I work in an area where my phone is ALWAYS looking for service. You appreciate the bigger screen once you actually start to navigate on it... So far the best WINMO device I've had.

[Oxymoron238]

Wow, I'm blown away with how fast and thorough your response is.

At first I was thinking about holding out until the next device (considering that the Pro2 came out within a year of the original Pro's launch), but I'm glad to hear that you can still play games on it.

The battery life is a whole other issue for me too. I don't know what it is, but I NEVER get the same battery life as everyone else. For example, many people on these forums say they get over 24 hours of heavy use out of their phones with a certain tweak. I do the tweak, and it improves my battery life, but not as much as it was supposed to.

After over half a year of this happening to me, I wonder if the Pro2 will really give me the battery life everyone says it does. A guy on pocketnow.com said that the Pro2's battery life was worse than the Pro's (I'll find you the link if you wanna see it). Anyway, I'm starting to believe he was wrong, because everyone who has the pro2 says otherwise.

Another thing is my contract. I just got the original Pro last Christmas, so I don't know if I can get the Pro2 at a 2-year contract price. What do you think?

EDIT: For those of you who wanted that link, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNbYBlvaLmY&hd=1

[twistedfish]

1. The keyboard. Will the missing keys become a problem for a frequent Word Mobile user?
YES!! I love my TP2, but I severely miss having a TAB key.

2. The Screen. Is it really THAT much better than the Touch Pro's screen? Personally, I've never been concerned about screen size in a phone (I used to watch crazy amounts of movies on my razr).

No comparision, I was very happy with the screen on my TP, but the TP2 screen is amazing. I cycled my TP to my wife and a few days ago I went to use the web on it it and I realized how much I appreciated the additional screen space. If you are outlining on it I would venture to say that will be one of the greatest upgrades that you will see.

I know what youare saying about movies on a smaller screen, but once you start watching them on the TP2 you will have a hard time going to anything smaller.

3. No camera flash. How does that work out? Does it take a lot of getting used to?

I never really use my camera, I occasionally will grab a quick photo and it does reasonably well for that, but if you want good pictures buy a camera don't scold your phone because it can't do double duty.

4. Here's my main, biggest concern EVER with the Touch Pro 2; the missing Dpad. For me this means no more touch panel potential, limited button remaping capabilities. To make it worse, I like to play games on my phone A LOT (currently I have over 40 games on my Touch Pro 1). How bad will the lack of a Dpad hurt my gaming experience?

Not a big loss to me, I round it to be more a pain that it was worth. I must admit I am not a real gamer. I do play a few but for the most part I use my phone for a phone, email, internet access (I can't believe I am saying that), and videos.

I love my TP2 and I have brought along a half dozen people that love theirs.

I hope this helps.

[moovius]

Originally Posted by Oxymoron238

4. Here's my main, biggest concern EVER with the Touch Pro 2; the missing Dpad. For me this means no more touch panel potential, limited button remaping capabilities. To make it worse, I like to play games on my phone A LOT (currently I have over 40 games on my Touch Pro 1). How bad will the lack of a Dpad hurt my gaming experience?

The Dpad on the TP1 is the worst piece of design I've ever encountered. One fixed piece of plastic that is supposed to handle at least 8 different functions. I constantly am having problems with key presses being interpreted wrongly:

1. Instead of moving the cursor to the left, it will bring up the call screen.
2. Instead of going to the home screen, it will take me to the call screen.
3. Instead of moving the cursor to the right, it will close down the application I'm in (I guess it thinks i'm hitting end phone call button).

So I don't think I'd miss the dpad very much since I dread using it at all. I miss the mogul dpad, at least they were smart enough to define each key separately with the mogul.

Note: I'm not a TP2 owner, I still have my Sprint TP1 and I'm contemplating a change after just 7 months with this thing.

[Oxymoron238]

I know what you mean; using the dpad does take some SERIOUS getting used to on the TP1, but I've actually managed to find out how to use it with little to no hesitation between each key press.

Oh and if it helps, moovius, you can use dredsensor to disable the four buttons on the bottom to allow your dpad to be used correctly.

Thanks for your quick responses so far! I'm lovin' it (<----- McDonalds!)

[TheMostToys]

The tab key is the only thing I miss on the keyboard (miss it a LOT).

I never used the flash to take pictures, but I often used it as a flashlight. I miss this the most, it was an amazing flashlight and with Torchbutton it was very quick to start.

Missing dPad takes a little to get used to, but not much, I don't really miss it.

The screen is AWESOME and well worth the upgrade, however it is also the primary reason for any possible complaint about reduced battery life. As a larger screen it obviously requires more power, but they put a bigger battery in to compensate so it's pretty much a wash, but with heavy use and bright backlight settings, it may have an impact. Your idea of having two batteries to swap is very good and will eliminate this concern.

I don't know if Verizon has this option, but if you can buy it and if you are not happy, return it within 30 days, why not? Heck, if I said you could drive away in your favorite car for 30 days would you?

Good luck

[Oxymoron238]

You are EXACTLY right about the camera flash TheMostToys. That's my main use for the light on the back (the flashlight/htorch). I guess though, if you have a huge screen, then I guess you can use that for light I guess.

I guess, now that I think about it (sorry that I didn't put all this in the first post), but another huge issue for me is the hardware specs. Screen and keyboard aside, it's practically the same phone under the hood, and that's kinda killing it for me. If I upgraded, I wouldn't feel like I was getting a new phone; it would just feel like I paid 200-350 bucks for a bigger, higher-res screen and a new keyboard to get accustomed to all over again. Does it really feel completely new to you guys?

Oh, and I'll look into that 30-day trial deal. IF Alltel/Verizon has it, then that'll be really helpful in bringing me to my final decision.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I forgot something. You say there really IS a reduced battery life on the Touch Pro 2? Hmmm... that confuses me. Some say the battery life can last two days easily with frequent use...

[orlandojumpoff]

i think the pic from here shows how big of a difference it is (notice the same piece of paper used to cover the tp1 screen is put on the tp2): http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showpost.p...06&postcount=4

the keyboard is so much better... and seeing how you use your phone to type out drafts, you will appreciate it. you can remap your keys with free software to add tab btw.

the dpad is the only thing that may bother you. i personally hated the tp1 dpad even tho i mastered it, so i dont mind that its gone. just have to get used to using the touch screen more.. but with more screen realestate, it makes it easier to view more of the screen... imagine typing up your drafts on that big screen compared to the tp1. anyway, there is a tool that remaps the volume keys to dpad functions.

if u have the money and u can get it for 350 or less, i say upgrade... the next htc phones to hit probably wont have dpads either, so why wait? and an htc phone with a keyboard? that probalby wont cmoe around for another year... to me, that's a long time to be using a tiny vga screen with cramped keyboard..

[jmorton10]

My only complaint about the KB is the missing tab key.

I am not like most users as I hardly ever use the hardware KB. I use my own customized version of TouchPal 3.5, & I find that I can type insanely fast using that & T+ technology (much faster than ANYBODY can type on a hardware KB)

The screen is fabulous (& I loved the screen on my four TP's). I was getting pretty decent battery life using NFSFAN's latest ROM, but it is still better using the TP2 for me.

I also miss the camera LED, but as previously stated I used it for a flashlight (I don't think I ever used it once for the camera). As far as the D-Pad, the only thing I miss is using the round center button for "enter". I use AEButton + which helps, but I still miss the scroll wheel from my old xv6800 so less hardware buttons is not a plus IMHO..

~John