Need your input in order to make purchase

[kgnupe2]

Ok I have a tp2 and im thinking about the jump to android and epic but i hate samsung with a passion but its been a while so im thinking about giving them another run. 10 questions i really hope you all can help with your input and wisdom.

1, I have a tp2 with a great rom( tw ) so i can run internet wifi router free is this feature stable and able to be done with the epic. I dont want my data billed for wifi, im sure i have to root the epic just like unlocking the tp2 but is it free and is wifi routing available.

2. hows the feel of the keyboard and slider i love the tp2 tilt screen and i know the epic does not tilt but hows the slider and hand position for texting and other things.

3. hows the battery life compared to the tp2

4. what are the cons to the epic what just pisses you off.

5. how is samsung quality compared to htc. (now i know htc aint the best but i like the ability to hack and mod most htc devices)

6. i am a wm user since forever and a heavy user of office mobile are there good android versions of ms clones of ms office.

7. durablity i have dropped my tp2 a couple times it semi durable how the epic.

8. modding how is it going are there chefs working on the bloat and fine tunning the epic.

9 how is the media player i know some of my questions are software based but im a wm buff thinking about making the jump since sprint aint getting a wm7 device untill late feb early march ( one of my friends work as a tech in device development for sprint and they told me early march release) so how is the android media player.

10 how is the gps i use it alot.

Thanks to anyone that can help me answer any of my questions. coming from a tp2 that i love but need need more power. the epic is my only option. please respond. Thanks again in advance.


I want to hear from as many people as possible please

[darren.wlsn1]

1/ if your not rooted you can usb tether using pdanet plus other choices, if your rooted theres wifi tethering. both free. hotspot is 30$ mnth available w/o root
2/ hrd kb better than tp2 imo.
3/ battery life better even w/o tweeks
4/ battery charges too slow, thats all i see wrong
5/ tons of mods now more to come im sure
6/ no idea on this
7/ quality as good as tp2
8/ roms are out with bloat removed
9/ no issues others out there to dl
10/ no issues here but some do have issues

[kgnupe2]

Thanks darren, does anyone else feel different or have more input to offer.

[revaaron]

the TP2 battery is definitely better. the only way to get even near that with the epic is if you don't use it and put on juice defender. Mind you when you use juice defender, it disconnects your datalink all the time so when you click on a web page, it needs to re-connect which usually times out.

The kb is ok. not as good as the tp2, but what is. Also, the Fn and Shift keys are swapped. I make a lot of mistakes cause of that.

the battery charge is a pita cause it's 5hrs+ to charge. Also, when I plug it in, I get tons and tons of "your battery is fully charged" but it really isn't.

I love the epic and it's my best/favorite phone ever... but just don't forget your charging cable.

[gTen]

Originally Posted by kgnupe2

1, I have a tp2 with a great rom( tw ) so i can run internet wifi router free is this feature stable and able to be done with the epic. I dont want my data billed for wifi, im sure i have to root the epic just like unlocking the tp2 but is it free and is wifi routing available.

There is, one for ad-hoc tethering and one for infrastructure tethering.

2. hows the feel of the keyboard and slider i love the tp2 tilt screen and i know the epic does not tilt but hows the slider and hand position for texting and other things.

Personally I'd say its no TP2 keyboard but its at least #2

3. hows the battery life compared to the tp2

If you use Juice defender you should be able to match it or surpass it depending on your use/settings.

4. what are the cons to the epic what just pisses you off.

So far most of them have to do with adjusting..after using it for a month it seems to be a none issue..I guess only thing I want is to be able to use full 4g speeds when I tether which doesn't happen :/

5. how is samsung quality compared to htc. (now i know htc aint the best but i like the ability to hack and mod most htc devices)

Hacking has nothing to do with build quality...in terms of outside build quality on par with tp2..inside build quality probably better.(it feels very light as its very compact inside)..as for hacking ,we got custom roms..but its gonna take some time to unlock full potential.

6. i am a wm user since forever and a heavy user of office mobile are there good android versions of ms clones of ms office.

It comes with an Office program..but I have not had much chance to try it yet

7. durablity i have dropped my tp2 a couple times it semi durable how the epic.

I have not gotten a chance to drop it yet..but the screen is made of Gorilla Glass :/

8. modding how is it going are there chefs working on the bloat and fine tunning the epic.

So far a few roms remove bloat, some overclock to 1.4ghz..etc..loo at the upgrade section.

9 how is the media player i know some of my questions are software based but im a wm buff thinking about making the jump since sprint aint getting a wm7 device untill late feb early march ( one of my friends work as a tech in device development for sprint and they told me early march release) so how is the android media player.

Android aside, Galaxy S has native divx/xvid playback and native mvk playback. There is also many chocies to media players like mvideoplayer which lets you see subtitles in mvks and Rockplayer for more codecs, we can play back 720p in high 5.0 high profile..and according to specs, locked in the CPU is potential for 1080p...also its not wm7 its wp7..completely different OS..has nothing to do with winmo..

10 how is the gps i use it alot.

A few people are reporting issues..most seem to be software related...and samsung is promising a fix..for me though GPS seems to work fine..but I dont use it too often.

[darren.wlsn1]

its weird but i have 2 tp2s (one leaving) and epic gets better battery life but by alot than either tp2 and one has a week old battery and im not using juice defender.

[steelio]

KG-
I am in the same boat as you. I have been using WM for a long time. Back in the palm v. Windows days. Palm just kinda pissed me off as far as imputing etc. I was not an early jumper to Android or Iphone/Ipod. I have watched in envy though of friends with Ipods/phones and Droid based devices. So I jumped ship and bought a Galaxy S / Epic. I do not have it turned on fully quite yet and only have it working in WiFi and am eagerly waiting for 10/1/10.

So here are my assessments so far. Battery...not as good as my TP2, BUT when I use the Epic I am using it pretty heavy. Things that I did not like about my TP2 are cleared up with this phone. I do not like the slowness of the TP2. You know what I mean it is evident with all WM devices from way back. And sure I have slowed down the Epic, but since I am a WM user I just open up the task killer and start killing tasks.
Browsing on the interwebs....it is very enjoyable with this phone Did I mention it is fast? I mean like WOW! I have used various ROMS on the TP2 trying to make it work like this phone does. I too am a pretty heavy wifi tethering user, but can use this phone instead of a PC when doing things on the internet. Sure it does not do everything, but it does a lot.

First thing I noticed was it seems lighter. To me that means build quality is not that good. The lack of tilting screen is annoying. I did not realize how often I used that until it was gone. The TP2 seems like it has more metal in it than this Epic.

Oh BTW I hate Samsung phones with a passion. They have always been the worse phones I have ever used.

The customization on the Android is pretty nice as well. I have put on live wallpapers and really have tried to slow this thing down and it handles everything very nicely. The screen is amazing the Keyboard...Well I was a little leery about this one. I love my TP2 keyboard. I think it is one of the best keyboards out there on any device. The Epic one well it is a little too big. Does it work as good as the TP2? Sure. Can you type as fast? Sure. Do you miss keys? No not really. Then what is the problem? Well I have found out the only time I really and using the keyboard is when I turn it sideways and get on the internet. Other than that I find myself using the touchscreen keyboard. I NEVER use a touchscreen keyboard because I hit like 16 other letters than the 1 I am typing and it is slow etc. Not here, and the addition of the swipe (Still trying to get used to) makes this great!
It is thinner lighter, and bigger than the TP2. Not sure how many drops it will take, but I do have insurance that I am paying for.

Over all my grade for this vs. my TP2. I have been trying to get my TP2 to work like this epic does for years. make me happy and sad at the same time. Do not like jumping ship from HTC I like their devices. I am happy to move away from WM. I am getting things to my PC and phone better now without syncing the phone to the PC.
Long term? I am looking at using this phone for at least a year (sprint Premier allows yearly upgrades) but think I can easily use this phone for the 2 years.

I do not know about the voice quality yet so I can not speak to that. OR the kind of reception this gets compared to the TP2. There are some trade-offs, but a lot more gains then losses.

[Masterface7]

Originally Posted by kgnupe2

Ok I have a tp2 and im thinking about the jump to android and epic but i hate samsung with a passion but its been a while so im thinking about giving them another run. 10 questions i really hope you all can help with your input and wisdom.

2. The keyboard is not as good as the tp2's the keys are flat as opposed to domed on the tp2.

3.epic probably has better battery life than the tp2 running android. However tp2 running windows mobile has so much more battery it is not even close. I guess Ill have a better judgment after the seidio extended (same shape) battery comes out but my tp2 can make it 2 days with moderate use, while the epic will need a charge every night for sure with moderate use.

4. 150 kb/s upload speed capped on 3g, hopefully it is fixed. also A huge con is that I dont get one back until friday oct 1st. I had one for a week and a half when it first came out.

5/7. I have had my tp2 for 1 year and with minimal work I could sell it as gently worn. It is an incredibly durable phone. The epic I guess more time will tell from the 10 days I had it I would say it was extremely sturdy. The slider felt pretty tough ( a little wobble is to be expected) and I think for the 1st 30 days I am going to go screen protector-less and just try out the gorilla glass ( I am pretty careful anyway)

8. Clockwork recovery works on it (I am told this is a good thing) and I have seen a few kernels, some oc'ed. Also some roms have popped up.

9. HOLY CRAP that is why you buy this phone. It plays mkvs out of the box it is powerful enough to just slap on any hd file you have laying around and wow it looks good. It struggles with softsubs but there are probably apps to fix that.

10. I have always gotten a pretty quick locks with gps on the epic. I do usually perform a restart or soft reset every couple of days so that may fix any problems because I think the main problem is getting locks after long periods of the phone being on.

I do miss winmo but it is worth the sacrifice to get the hardware power of the epic.

[kgnupe2]

I just want to say thanks to everyone but after having the phone for 24 hours i hate it i never knew how much i loved the tp2 keyboard and tilt definite deal breaker and the gps bug was an issue for me, i didnt get to root it as i was just trying it out but i have to admit I love htc if they only get their $h!t together and produce a keyboard evo. I might have grown used to the keyboard and with rooting probably fixed all the minor issues but the phone was fast as hell and processing power was incredible, but the phone and its aesthetics are the normal samsung junk (there is worst phones out there then the epic but for now ima wait for htc to step up)

[gTen]

I can guess based on sprint's record there would be no high end keyboard phone from HTC for at least a year maybe 2 on sprint...sprint likes to keep 1 phone in each factor on their major lineup..and Since there are rumors of an Evo 2 and a Galaxy S 2..my Guess is next year would be Evo2 for touchscreen only and Epic 2 for keyboard..maybe in 2012?