Tilt2 good upgrade from Tilt considering Android? - Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Android Development

Pardon me mods if I'm not in the right place, but it was my best guess based on the situation.
I'm having a hardware issue with my Tilt, and upgrade costs versus repair costs might make the Tilt2 a solid option. I know that the Tilt2's WM experience will be an improvement over the Tilt's. What I'm not sure about is Android.
My question is this - considering the very well-developed Android system over on the Kaiser/Tilt, would the Tilt2 be a naturally good upgrade? Strong points included the ability to stay with a good WM system while Android development progressed (Tilt2 is similarly strong in this regard, I'm sure), as well as the overall great job being done by the developers on these forums.
I know that some features I used often on the Tilt's Android are not quite there yet here on the Tilt2, especially GPS. I realize it's all speculation at this stage, but are there any red flags I should be aware of, any known issues that would render future development of these features impossible? I'd probably be willing to jump to the Tilt2 if the potential was strong, even if current stages are short in areas that I enjoy en everyday use. I guess I just want to make sure that there isn't anything known that would completely prevent any possibility of future development in things like GPS, BT, camera, etc.
Any thoughts/suggestions?

Meh, 50/50
Man, there are pros and cons when it comes to the Tilt 2. I absolutely loved my TyTn II. I went from it to an Iphone 3GS, and then reverted back to the Tilt 2, for lack of business-related features on the Iphone. I've had mixed emotions on my Tilt 2 ever since I first picked it up. Some days, I love it. Some days, I cant stand it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, as I'm sure you are, on the possibility of a full-blown Android ROM that runs quick and smooth on this thing. To be completely honest, the stock Windows ROM needs tweaking just to run smoothly. On top of that, it has one of the most buggy SMS applications I have ever seen on a smartphone. I fell in love with HTC devices, and the Tilt 2 is a nice piece of hardware, but you have to do some work to get the software to where it just "fits". I am currently looking around for that "one ROM" that I will just love. And so far..... no luck.
Bottom line, the phone has amazing potential. Either it be a kick-butt Windows Mobile ROM, or a fully functional Android ROM, these will be the saviors of this device. Don't expect a warm and fuzzy feeling right out of the box, though.

That's actually really helpful, thanks for the input. Any ideas on similar devices? Just kinda weighing the options. The Pure is another upgrade possibility, and I'm sure there are more out there. That hardware keyboard on the Tilts is nice, though.
Either way, tweaking is fine with me. That's the fun, that's why I'm thinking WM/Android and avoiding the iPhone. I like the innovation and experimentation found here on XDA. I know that occasional crashes and resets come with the territory, I guess I'm mainly looking for a device that will allow me a similar level of functional flashing fun that the Kaiser did (and may still do if repair is easy).
dressanderc said:
Man, there are pros and cons when it comes to the Tilt 2. I absolutely loved my TyTn II. I went from it to an Iphone 3GS, and then reverted back to the Tilt 2, for lack of business-related features on the Iphone. I've had mixed emotions on my Tilt 2 ever since I first picked it up. Some days, I love it. Some days, I cant stand it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, as I'm sure you are, on the possibility of a full-blown Android ROM that runs quick and smooth on this thing. To be completely honest, the stock Windows ROM needs tweaking just to run smoothly. On top of that, it has one of the most buggy SMS applications I have ever seen on a smartphone. I fell in love with HTC devices, and the Tilt 2 is a nice piece of hardware, but you have to do some work to get the software to where it just "fits". I am currently looking around for that "one ROM" that I will just love. And so far..... no luck.
Bottom line, the phone has amazing potential. Either it be a kick-butt Windows Mobile ROM, or a fully functional Android ROM, these will be the saviors of this device. Don't expect a warm and fuzzy feeling right out of the box, though.
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Click to collapse

Well then yeah, I would defiantly give the Tilt 2 a shot then. If your comfortable with flashing/customizing/crashing then you will be well on your way to what you want. (Wow... that's a lot of W's) I would avoid the Pure though, waaaaaay to small. OR you could hold off until the almighty Windows 7 Phone series launches. Trust me THE DAY that one is released for AT&T, the Tilt 2 will be a paperweight for a while.

You gotta remember that most of where your money is going, is to HARDWARE.
Right now, hands down, Tilt2 is the best Touch and Type device on the market. The WVGA screen combined with the best hardware keyboard of any handset, HTC or otherwise, cant be beat.
Some people don't care about the keyboard, but personally I HATE typing on a touchscreen, and I NEED my keyboard. I had a Tilt also, and I loved that phone, it made the top 25 Most Innovative Inventions of 2007-2008 list (one of those years), and the Tilt2 makes that handset look like a baby's toy. LOL (slight exaggeration)
Only thing is, Tilt2 was supposed to be last years line up, America is just slow as hell getting us handsets. There are going to be some REALLY nice Touch and Type HTC handsets coming out for 2010, you may just want to wait, and see whats in the second quarter 2010 lineup.

Thanks all. Confirmed that the Tilt2 is a nice device to be thinking of right now. I'll see how everything goes with my Tilt, and if it is indeed upgrade time, I'll probably be a Rhodium Android end-user guinea pig before long.
So just confirming, it looks like there's at least potential for fully-featured Android (GPS/WiFi/BT/Data/USB/etc.) in the future? No definitive permanent impossibilities that anyone's aware of?

Related

New Phones coming out

Hey guys,
I was just wondering what all new phones you have heard were coming out. I got a Tilt2 and seems like I have 30 days to return it. I don't really love the phone. It's still slow. Constantly locking up. Not an upgrade over my Raphael at all other than the screen.
So basically, what are new ATT phones coming out? Anything Android I should look at? Anything HTC is releasing that is actually an upgrade?
No point in flaming, I've been with the newest and latest HTC versions of phones for the last 4+ years. They have been great. But they aren't even upgrading anything anymore, and Android is passing them and at the same time being cheaper. It is unfortunate, but I thought you guys might have some opinions or rumors on new phones that were actual upgrades.
Thanks!
You can try Nokia N900
be careful of how you want people to respond. claiming software on an htc device (against another htc device) is its downfall in the xda forum will make it too easy for people to lash out against you.
The Jack of Clubs said:
be careful of how you want people to respond. claiming software on an htc device (against another htc device) is its downfall in the xda forum will make it too easy for people to lash out against you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Um...Okay?
The Jack of Clubs said:
be careful of how you want people to respond. claiming software on an htc device (against another htc device) is its downfall in the xda forum will make it too easy for people to lash out against you.
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Click to collapse
Really I mainly mean lock up as in the software can't work right because of the hardware. I'm mainly critiquing the hardware, not the software. The software would be awesome, if it had a processor to run it.
Don't all the recent HTC devices (not including HD2) have the same specs?
schwalbach said:
Really I mainly mean lock up as in the software can't work right because of the hardware. I'm mainly critiquing the hardware, not the software. The software would be awesome, if it had a processor to run it.
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I think you mean't that the software was bad and then someone posted something slightly threatning... The truth is the software is bad. My phone locked up constantly and was awefully slow. I posted that I didn't like it and got a bunch of stupid comments but I did get a few useful ones. Here's what I did to get my phone working pretty well.
I didn't like touch flo, i thought it was slow and didn't offer things I need like tasks. I like the today screen but wanted more functionality. My answer is SPB Mobile Shell. Remove everything from the today screen and just use that. Somehow it uses memory better than touch flo or today screen. I can load the device up with running programs (like 80%) and it responds quickly. I have clearRam running at 12:15 everynight to close it all out while I'm asleep and I wake up to a fully ready to go phone...
Hope this helps...
LG Expo is out or should be out soon, it's packing a snapdragon processor, memory and RAM are the same as the tilt 2, but still it has a snapdragon. I'm also a little disappointed in HTC, i mean it's taking them 3 generations of the touch pro just to upgrade the processor, the touch pro 2 should have had at least a 600 mhz-800 mhz processor. But thats just my opinion.
schwalbach said:
Hey guys,
I was just wondering what all new phones you have heard were coming out. I got a Tilt2 and seems like I have 30 days to return it. I don't really love the phone. It's still slow. Constantly locking up. Not an upgrade over my Raphael at all other than the screen.
So basically, what are new ATT phones coming out? Anything Android I should look at? Anything HTC is releasing that is actually an upgrade?
No point in flaming, I've been with the newest and latest HTC versions of phones for the last 4+ years. They have been great. But they aren't even upgrading anything anymore, and Android is passing them and at the same time being cheaper. It is unfortunate, but I thought you guys might have some opinions or rumors on new phones that were actual upgrades.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know anything about the Tilt2 locking up, because, well, I had it for less than an hour before I HardSPL'ed it and flashed a custom ROM to it. It has never locked up on me even once. Funny thing, even though the processor is the same as the Fuze, my Tilt2 is a LOT faster than my Fuze. I mean a LOT. I don't quite understand it myself, but it is self-evident when I perform actions on either device. It even took about one third the time to flash the same build/date ROM (check my sig.) to my Tilt2 that it took to flash to my Fuze.
I know this isn't the point of the thread but I've had a Tilt 2 for a couple of weeks now, running the stock ROM (with tweaks and regedits) and have had no lock-ups. The phone doesn'r seem slow or laggy at all to me. I had a Fuze last year for a week but returned it because it was so bad. The Tilt 2 is a major improvement IMO.
the lg expo is just not a better phone. it has a snapdragon processor but thats not going to be what makes the phone. lg is a bad brand and makes bad products. and if you keep windows mobile but stray away from htc youll regret it. people dont make roms for many other manufacturers. you wont beable to squeeze out more performance by flashing a new rom. youll be stuck on stock with all the bloat and none of the htc enhancements. if you really want it, buy it, its not my money.
As far as I can see with new devices not any real HTC replacement for Rhodium will come till 2011, so let´s enjoy it!!
there are ways to make the rhodium better. a better camera with flash. i would have liked to have a 5mp camera as is fashionable with this generation of phones. some would say a capacitive screen but compared to the hd2 the sensitivity is close to the same. and being a business phone i think having a stylus for notes is more important. the only thing you would really want a capacitive screen for is zooming and it has a zoom bar. i secretly miss a dpad though they always disappoint a little, knowing they could be better. and the chrome could have been skipped on a bit. i love a good hardware keyboard and the touch pro 2 has the best of any phone ive ever used. i cant see myself getting rid of it since almost no phone will have anything like it.
goodbyereality said:
I don't know anything about the Tilt2 locking up, because, well, I had it for less than an hour before I HardSPL'ed it and flashed a custom ROM to it. It has never locked up on me even once. Funny thing, even though the processor is the same as the Fuze, my Tilt2 is a LOT faster than my Fuze. I mean a LOT. I don't quite understand it myself, but it is self-evident when I perform actions on either device. It even took about one third the time to flash the same build/date ROM (check my sig.) to my Tilt2 that it took to flash to my Fuze.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So did I. The latest version of Energy does help with the lock ups, although the previous one was locking up and this one is still slow.
Not a software thing, but some examples are things like:
If I have a lot of texts, it takes forever for them to load a thread, and when I exit the person's text part it will basically take 10 seconds to get back to the list of everyones texts. Sometimes the top bar(where Start menu is) will get stuck and show things like the top-right X and the previous top bar for the last program I was in even when I'm back at the home menu. The weather animations lag everything sometimes(Sense 2.1 ones, not 2.5 because 2.5 made it lag even crazier.)
Seriously though my favorite phone was the Tilt 1. Then the Fuze just blleewww. Now this one is an upgrade and I like it better than the original Tilt, but only slightly. The hardware and specs aren't even much better at all it seems, and it simply isn't worth $500 for almost no upgrade. I've played with some of the Android/Palm/Iphone phones with better specs and stuff and everything is just snappier and smoother. Once again, its nothing our chef's can fix, just HTC isn't giving us upgrades.
So thats why I was asking if anyone had heard anything about real upgrades on ATT. Even if I have to switch to Android, just an upgrade.
I obviously think switching to another WM6.5 that isn't made by HTC is a bad idea just because of the custom ROMs, so I can only look for a better HTC phone or Android, and neither seem available.

No need to read... I am just gonna vent a little

I was fooling myself that I got great phone, but I am done as of now... windows mobile is a piece of broken, plastered together laggy piece of ****. No miracle ROM is going to change that. I have spent $350 on a piece of garbage. I am waiting for a Iphone 4G and going to buy some more AAPL shares. Thanks to all the Chefs and great community here for at least trying to make this miserable phone work a little bit better.
Good luck everybody
Ex Rhodium owner
How long did you have your device? I know your tired of it but Athine OS ROM may give it a fresh breath.
Why Apple? I mean that Sh*& is SOO locked down! you will likely have to jailbrake it to as much as tether(simular on windows/android but you dont have to boot connected to black box or PC)
And i do sympathize with you about WinMo it is laggy out of the box. myself I enjoy tweaking and learning how it ticks.
However if i may i would like to suggest the evo 4g. its android. people who know know. you know?
my beef with apple is while i like my apple II C i did not pay for it and ill never give them a cent. good luck running flash with Iphone 4g as they pissed off adobe and simply wont support it out of the box.
Now as for Windows Phone 7 thats just garbage! its so sad to see the HD3 coming out with that. poor thing wont be able to multi task or copy/paste!
Now I only use windows on a PC when I absolutely HAVE to other than that im on Linux.
The evo 4g and iphone 4g will debut around the same time (June/2010) and HD3 will come out when it does, i dont remember when.
In summary it cool to have beef with Microsoft but go Linux(Android) first NOT Apple!!
Thats my vent thanks if you read it have a great day
I have had my phone for 9 months. Long enough to express my opinion. Rhodium is great phone, best keyboard I have seen. You said that WinMo is great for tweaking, but I need my phone to work, funny that is has been advertised a business phone.
I don't want to tweak it, I want it to work. I need to take pictures wile on the job, email or MMS them to my partner, listen to streaming music while traveling between the work sites and use calendar. Is it too much to ask ? I have tried to use use iphone for week, it just works, I can do everything... no stress UI just flows, fast responsive, emailing taking pictures and listenig to online radio , everything working right out of the box. Paypal, grooveshark they dont even have applications for WinMo.... this OS is falling into obscurity and they don't want to put their applications on it. I feel like an imbecile that i fell work "business" marketing garbage. I will definitely look into evo 4g, but I am not going back to WinMo. Anybody wants to buy a Rhodium ?
Not that my suggestion will make any difference, but if you want a plain phone that just works throw HTC Sense into the virtual recycle bin...HTC sense is much more for multimedia than business. There are some great WinMo apps that spruce up the basic today screen to give you quick links. You can also try out Titanium, which a lot of people have done some cool UI stuff with.
You can actually download nanoshark, which I believe is a UI to interact with grooveshark. I've also found (not tested) a paypal software for WinMo in one search: http://www.freewarepocketpc.net/ppc-download-paypal-mobile-by-smarttouch.html
At the end of the day, it seems those who throw in the towels have made up their mind day 1. Best of luck w/ your next phone and I really do hope you think twice about over paying and lining apples pocket.
I had same feelings as you...... BUT!!
bombastus said:
I was fooling myself that I got great phone, but I am done as of now... windows mobile is a piece of broken, plastered together laggy piece of ****. No miracle ROM is going to change that. I have spent $350 on a piece of garbage. I am waiting for a Iphone 4G and going to buy some more AAPL shares. Thanks to all the Chefs and great community here for at least trying to make this miserable phone work a little bit better.
Good luck everybody
Ex Rhodium owner[/
I bought my Tilt2 and had it about 6 months and was sick about how it preformed in every way. I taught myself how to flash ROM's by reading forum after forum after forum. Thanks to all the guys on this forum that has made me proud to be an owner of a Tilt2. There are many great ROM's here to try but if you only have time to try just one, please try valkyrie.ftp v6.2.25009TR2.5 you will love your phone. In my area my internet speeds are better than any iPhone I have came across. I take them to mobilespeedtest.com and they are like ... dang man ... now what kind of phone did you say you had. lol Trust me man, b4 you sell your phone or trade it off, try this ROM and let the fun begin ....... been there ..... now loving my Tilt2 .... good luck!!!
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Click to collapse
bombastus said:
I was fooling myself that I got great phone, but I am done as of now... windows mobile is a piece of broken, plastered together laggy piece of ****. No miracle ROM is going to change that. I have spent $350 on a piece of garbage. I am waiting for a Iphone 4G and going to buy some more AAPL shares. Thanks to all the Chefs and great community here for at least trying to make this miserable phone work a little bit better.
Good luck everybody
Ex Rhodium owner
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Click to collapse
if anything go with the EVO 4g...it blows iphone 4g out da water..plus it has two cams for video conferencing and a 4.3 in. AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with pinch to zoom. plus the new wimax frequencies. or that new dell thunder coming out is looking pretty hot right now.
sorry to hear about ur bad experience with WM. after doing the various fixes and patches, my device NEVER lags on the TF3d UI or while in wm. everything works..can easily do all the stuff u said iphone 4g can do with no problems. fixes/patches meaning: memory leak mod, sd tune up, no push internet, dynamic proxy, deleted bloatware, plus my AtmDng 3d driver helps alot.
im due for an official upgrade from at&t. ima eventually let my girl have this one. i want a bigger screen...lol there are some powerhouse devices about to drop this summer and fall. this rhodium is just my training grounds for future devices. i got this as a warranty replacement for my original kaiser/tilt, since they stop makin them or whatever.. wrked out good for me..lol the phone now is a million times better and faster thn when i took it out the box. Go XDA
The Iphone/ipods are designed that anyone from the age of 3 years to 90 years old can pick it up and just use it. Which is great... BUT when you want to do something with it it wasnt originally intended to do you have to wait for their "official updates" or jailbreak your phone which alot of mac-aholics are nervous about. The great thing I have seen about windows phones is dev's have actually developed ways to get the phones up to par with newer models without having to flash and void warranties. This I realized very quickly when I moved from palm to htc and had my Vogue. I was able to get TF2D working on that before TF2D was even released. Now if you still have the Vogue you can actually have it working as a fully fledged android device!
The Touch Pro and Touch Pro 2 were the same. Right now you don't even need to have to flash a custom rom to get sense 2.5 running anymore. They have that all cabbed up for us (mind you I still flash.) Taking programs from other phones and tweaking them to work on ours seems to work fairly easy as well.
You can't do HALF the things possible with the iphones you can do with even the most basic windows mobile phone. The phone thing I thought the Iphone had that was better then the touch pro was the screen size. However, the display resolution was just garbage. That was quickly fixed with the Touch Pro 2 I would say.
Basically think of the Iphone like an automatic car..... then windows mobile phones are more like standard/stick cars. You have more control over what the "Car" can do and when... you can tweak its performance to better suit whatever your need might be.
If you like the Iphone interface guess what... you can download a skin that mimic's it almost exactly!!!
bombastus said:
Anybody wants to buy a Rhodium ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey! I do !
The Iphone/ipods are designed that anyone from the age of 3 years to 90 years old can pick it up and just use it. Which is great... BUT when you want to do something with it it wasnt originally intended to do you have to wait for their "official updates" or jailbreak your phone which alot of mac-aholics are nervous about. The great thing I have seen about windows phones is dev's have actually developed ways to get the phones up to par with newer models without having to flash and void warranties. This I realized very quickly when I moved from palm to htc and had my Vogue. I was able to get TF2D working on that before TF2D was even released. Now if you still have the Vogue you can actually have it working as a fully fledged android device!
The Touch Pro and Touch Pro 2 were the same. Right now you don't even need to have to flash a custom rom to get sense 2.5 running anymore. They have that all cabbed up for us (mind you I still flash.) Taking programs from other phones and tweaking them to work on ours seems to work fairly easy as well.
You can't do HALF the things possible with the iphones you can do with even the most basic windows mobile phone. The phone thing I thought the Iphone had that was better then the touch pro was the screen size. However, the display resolution was just garbage. That was quickly fixed with the Touch Pro 2 I would say.
Basically think of the Iphone like an automatic car..... then windows mobile phones are more like standard/stick cars. You have more control over what the "Car" can do and when... you can tweak its performance to better suit whatever your need might be.
If you like the Iphone interface guess what... you can download a skin that mimic's it almost exactly!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good analogy..on wm like a manual/stick
Sent from my AOSP on XDANDROID MSM using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
I know what you mean, execpt for me it is just the opposite. I got my Tilt 2 after I threw my iPhone across the room because you can't do a damn thing with it unless you jailbreak it and then it never is quiet right. I have a Samsung that is goatbreaked and a Motorola that is modded and now I am learning this Windows Mobile stuff. It is fun and most of the stuff I try actually works. Go figure!!! LoL !!! anyway I guess that is my two cents and to each his own. Good luck with your iPhone if it fits your needs. - Take care
bombastus said:
I don't want to tweak it, I want it to work. I need to take pictures wile on the job, email or MMS them to my partner, listen to streaming music while traveling between the work sites and use calendar. Is it too much to ask ?
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All of these things worked just fine for me out of the box on my ATT Tilt2, and that stock ROM has been blasted as the worst, most bloated version.
And what is so hard about taking pictures with the TP2? Its simple and works great. And low-light photos on the iPhone are absolutely aweful on the iPhone. In a side-by-comparison, indoor low light photos on the TP2 blow away the iPhone.
Going from the TP2 to the iPhone is one end of the spectrum to the other. I'll agree that if you don't like to tweak and customize, than the TP2 is probably not for you. And the iPhone is about as customizable as a microwave oven.

This is the End (move to Android, WP7, or iphh... I can't even say it)

It is now 2nd half of 2010. Apple has released the 4th version of the iPhone. Blackberry has released it's best touch screen device to date, the BB Torch. Android is poised to move into 2nd place and can possibly become market share leader in the coming months. Windows Phone 7 is being polished and will launch within the next 2-3 months.
So where does this leave us Touch Pro 2 owners? Our processors, even when overclocked are not even close to what newer smartphones have under the hood. As much as I've enjoyed using WM 6.5 with HTC Sense and MaxManilla and Cookies HomeTab and MaxSense, I'm beginning to feel like no amount of tweaking and ROM flashing can save our devices. App support for WM 6.1 and 6.5 has come to a grinding halt in my opinion. No one can argue with the fact that all the best apps are now on iPhone and Android.
So I ask my fellow Rhodium owners... when are you going to switch, and what are you going to switch to?
im moving to android...next year when i get my upgrade...windows mobile...is dead...and it kinda hurts...because when it runs right...its so smooth, but alot of the consumer market wants apps, which WINMO does have...but we dont have the novelty apps like iphones and androids...to me android is like...iphone on steriods with a touch of windows mobile productivity
my contract will be expiring until aug of 2011 so I still got like a year to go until I can upgrade. Based on what I have seen so far, I think I will be moving to android or possibly to iphone 4 because now ATT requires everyone to get a data plan, I am possibly will move to iphone 4 becasue the price will be the same regardless it's a smartphone or iphone.
So far, I am looking at captivate, iphone 4, or xperia. I am leaning toward captivate and ihpone 4 but still have not yet made up my mind.
I like HTC's sense but to be honest, I am pretty much given up on any of the WinMo phones so it's most likely going to be either android or iphone.
The good news I guess for me is that I still got a year to go so I can wait and keep looking around and shopping.
yea, its almost the end for my Rhodium. Im looking at either the Blackberry Torch or any of the WP7 phone. Might try the torch first and let the WP7 matured out first.
But its been nice using the Rhodium, surely its not the quickest but it gets the job done. Im still gonna keep it, one of the best phone that i've use.
ill be switching to android, ive never liked the iphone OS and WP7 is just a clone
as for when, i dont know, im not under a contract ATM so ill switch whenever i see an android phone with a nice TP2-like keyboard, preferably on sprint
android on a htc device most likely. love winmo tho. if they get their act right ill remain loyal.
iphone??? lol, maybe if i get over originality.... new iphone looks like **** compared to my rhod. and i expect it will never be able to catch my attention.
unfortunately I'll stay on wm 6.5! because UpToDate (a medical reference program) which is MUST TO HAVE for me, is not released for android!
If I could pass this limitation, I'll go for android (probably galaxy s i9000) for sure.
I'm tired of changing rom, searching for tweaks,testing new home screens and themes,etc... to feel like having a 2010-11 smart phone!
I'll be staying with my Tilt2 for now. Its not even a year old, and I can't justify a switch at this time. Maybe when/if ATT offers a subsidized flagship Android handset, then I'll think of switching. Especially a device with a slider QWERTY keyboard. Or if an unlocked Android phone really piques my interest (enough to justify paying full price).
Android seems to be carrying on in the spirit of Windows Mobile, offering customization and freedom, completely in contrast to Apple's walled garden. Its still not quite as slick and streamlined as the iPhone, but I have high hopes for Android in the next year or so.
As fluid, user-friendly, and popular as the iPhone may be, I still can't stand its closed architecture. Its annoying that Steve Jobs and Apple fanboys claim the iPhone is "the best" when they are still making big updates to add features which WM has had for years. Everything from tethering to multitask, icon folders, and on previous updates: cut&paste, stereo bluetooth, and so much more. And its still outrageous to me that you can't even activate an iPhone without installing Apple's bloated software package on your home computer.
I had big expectations for the Blackberry Torch and Blackberry OS 6, since there (for some time now) has been the possibility of my work forcing me to switch to a BB device. But it appears the phone has fallen far short of RIMs promises and hype. Blackberry 6 is still years behind Android and Apple. A pretty home page, with most things underlying basically the same as the old Blackberry, and tons of other issues. RIM has proven that they are out of touch with the new smartphone landscape, and will continue to lose market share to the competition. Too bad, with their dominance in the enterprise arena, and reputation for security, they could have stayed THE major player, if they had played their cards right.
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Blackberry-Torch,review-1573.html
I've already moved on from the TP2 to the Evo, and Android, not WP7 is the real successor to WinMo. For all the tweaks I made to get my TP2 working smoothly, the Evo trumped it in almost every way out of the box. Aside from voice dial, there isn't anything from WinMo that Android doesn't do better. Much better. I had been using WinMo since the Mogul, and while Android 1.6 isn't all that hot, 2.2 with Sense is both familiar and superior.
And the hardware just smokes the TP2.
android is really catching my eye right now. i got a tilt 2 off ebay a couple of months ago and its been fun using it. i also have a pure from at&t as well and i keep switching between the 2 devices. my wife has iphone and as great as it is its not for me. i love to custimise and tweak otherwise i might as well just have a crappy flip phone if i just wanted a phone. i keep eye balling the samsung captivate but im a big htc fan. i keep seeing leaked upcoming phones from htc but not sure if when at&t will get any of those. i am intrigued with wp7 as well. both i and my wife are eligible for upgrades and i use her line to upgrade phones for me as well. i dont want to jump the gun and get the captivate but its getting very tempting to since at&t suck at getting any new smartphones.
Buying a WM Rhodium phone was a big, big mistake in my opinion. I had no idea that a phone could be so slow and unresponsive. As someone who works in manufacturing, I was shocked that a product like this would even be marketed (I consider 5 soft resets a day and slow response as "defective".) I really wish I had gotten Android instead, but I'm stuck with this phone for the next year at the very least. I got burned!
having to do 5 resets a day is defective.
I am not sure what I will be moving over to yet. Im on Sprint so I may look toward the Samsung Epic. That phone is Android but it does have an actual keyboard. I am sad too because I have become so accustomed to winmo. I love the file explorer, the freedom, the cutting and pasting. Perhaps I will wait to see what windows Phone 7 has to offer, but I think having the keyboard and the freedom to customize is most important.
redpoint73 said:
I'll be staying with my Tilt2 for now. Its not even a year old, and I can't justify a switch at this time. Maybe when/if ATT offers a subsidized flagship Android handset, then I'll think of switching. Especially a device with a slider QWERTY keyboard. Or if an unlocked Android phone really piques my interest (enough to justify paying full price).
Android seems to be carrying on in the spirit of Windows Mobile, offering customization and freedom, completely in contrast to Apple's walled garden. Its still not quite as slick and streamlined as the iPhone, but I have high hopes for Android in the next year or so.
As fluid, user-friendly, and popular as the iPhone may be, I still can't stand its closed architecture. Its annoying that Steve Jobs and Apple fanboys claim the iPhone is "the best" when they are still making big updates to add features which WM has had for years. Everything from tethering to multitask, icon folders, and on previous updates: cut&paste, stereo bluetooth, and so much more. And its still outrageous to me that you can't even activate an iPhone without installing Apple's bloated software package on your home computer.
I had big expectations for the Blackberry Torch and Blackberry OS 6, since there (for some time now) has been the possibility of my work forcing me to switch to a BB device. But it appears the phone has fallen far short of RIMs promises and hype. Blackberry 6 is still years behind Android and Apple. A pretty home page, with most things underlying basically the same as the old Blackberry, and tons of other issues. RIM has proven that they are out of touch with the new smartphone landscape, and will continue to lose market share to the competition. Too bad, with their dominance in the enterprise arena, and reputation for security, they could have stayed THE major player, if they had played their cards right.
<snipped outside link>
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You hit the nail squarely on the head here. I considered (and still am) an Android based phone but I like the "easy button" convenience of ActiveSync. I've owned all three iterations of the Blackjack and this is my first HTC product and I have to say that I am enjoying it completely. The price disparity between the Jack and the Tilt 2 was the only thing that kept me from buying it right off the bat. Having said that, some of the features that got broken with the WM6.5 update are unacceptable. Threaded messaging worked perfectly before I updated my Jack, not so much afterward, and I hope the new official ROM update for the Tilt 2 addresses this and other issues. It was a relief to find out that it was either a Microsoft or ATT software engineer that effed things up, and not a Samsung issue as I originally assumed.
I also considered the iphone, as when i got the Jack the 3GS model was coming out so I could've gotten a 3G for a song, but I feel the same about that crappy itunes garbage software. Absolute ****e, IMO. I had to fix my daughter's desktop so many times a few years back because of that crapware and I'm not willing to go there again.
I also considered a crackberry, but nothing really interested me at the time except for the Bold and that was just as expensive as the Tilt 2.
gromky said:
Buying a WM Rhodium phone was a big, big mistake in my opinion. I had no idea that a phone could be so slow and unresponsive. As someone who works in manufacturing, I was shocked that a product like this would even be marketed (I consider 5 soft resets a day and slow response as "defective".) I really wish I had gotten Android instead, but I'm stuck with this phone for the next year at the very least. I got burned!
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Click to collapse
I'd say don't blame the phone, blame the software. While the Rhodium hardware may not spec out like the bleeding edge stuff that has been released in the last few months, it is more than up to the task of handling a properly polished WM6.x ROM. I really would have liked to see this phone with 6.1 on it. As I implied in my above reply, 6.1 worked pretty flawless for me but 6.5 has been just this side of an unmitigated disaster. Throw in all the bloat and crap that ATT wants to put on their WM smartphones and you have what we got.
Again, my hope is that the new official ROM update will address all the issues that WM6.5 created.
I have had no problems and very rarely have to reset..
I'll be waiting until a good phone has all the hardware features I like in the TP2, either android or WM7 I don't care, I'll judge in a year.
The TP2 was the best phone out for me needs when I got it, and it'll be a year or so probably before something comes out that'll make me switch. It does all I want, and more, now. Higher res and faster speed would be nice, HDMI out and a few other hardware goodies would rock, but it isn't required.
I went thru the gambit of HTC/at&t phones over the last few years. I still even have a 3125 & 8525 in my desk. I got the first Tilt, and after I got it tweaked the way I wanted it, (eventually stayed with stock rom too), it has been a work horse for almost THREE YEARS! The last two years I had it, never had to hard reset it!!!
Now I have the Tilt2...all I can say is.... WOW... I am looking forward to the next three years.
One thing folks should understand about WinMo.. or Windows in general. A lot of the 'bugginess' can be attributed to third party apps, just like your desk/laptop.
I am worried about WinMo 7. I hear the new platforms are essentially a
Zune versus a pocket pc. My phone needs to be an extension of my desk/laptops, can a Zune platform fill the bill?
going down with the ship, why switch when my phone does everything I need and want it to.
I think I could well be going to Android as I'm more swayed by the full qwerty keyboard than an operating system.
The new HTC G2 or Vision will be the way forward and I suspect I'll just take whatever OS is offered with it.
Even got a gmail account set up in readiness for the switch. It's a shame as I have no issues with WinMo but if they cannot provide the correct hardware then I'm off.
the touch pro 2 has been the best phone i've ever had. yes it was glitchy at the beginning and it froze daily, but with the right setup, its perfect. Im running the Energy Rom right now, with Spb Mobile Shell 3.5 and a custom Spb skin. Its so customizable its sickening. I've had it in this configuration for the last 3 months, and I have not had to reset my phone for that whole period of time. on top of that, my battery life is longer. I hope they will make an updated version of the Rhodium with the slide out keyboard. I really don't want to upgrade to a phone without it.
gromky said:
Buying a WM Rhodium phone was a big, big mistake in my opinion. I had no idea that a phone could be so slow and unresponsive. As someone who works in manufacturing, I was shocked that a product like this would even be marketed (I consider 5 soft resets a day and slow response as "defective".) I really wish I had gotten Android instead, but I'm stuck with this phone for the next year at the very least. I got burned!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
working in manufacturing, you shoudl have known to try out any technology before you buy it. i have tilt2 and i mess with it everyday, flashing and tweaking, and within the year or so ive had the fone ive only had 2 times where ive had to SOFT reset. never had a problem that needed a hard reset.
even now i have it oc'd at 768 and no freezing never lags, no errors.
a lot of times its just that you need to match the technology u buy. some people are windows peeps, some are google peeps, some are apple peeps.
if your constantly getting lags, needing to reset... blah blah blah... then u probably need a more simple form of tech like iphone.
if you like to tweak and customize (and know a lil something about computers) go for windows.
if you want a phone thats psp/computer, go with android.
you want a weak version of psp, go with iphone.
doug3673 said:
So I ask my fellow Rhodium owners... when are you going to switch, and what are you going to switch to?
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I am going to stay with the Tilt2 until sometime next year. I really do not care about the speed of the processor or much else as long as the phone does what I want it to do. However, support of applications is the main issue. More and more applications are getting released for the iPhone and Android only and there are a number I would like to have. MS has abandoned WinMo (which makes little sense to me, but anyway), so moving to a new platform is essential to obtain newer applications.
So, the choice is the iPhone or Android. I dislike Apple's closed system so this brings us to Android. Unfortunately, there is no Android device that I find compelling right now. What I want is an HTC device running Sense with a keyboard and at least a 4'' screen. Hopefully. such device would be released soon (it has to be GSM because of travel requirements).

anybody considering wp7?

wp7 will be hitting sprint shortly and i wonder how many evo users are considering jumping back to the dark side?
myself i won't even consider touching the platform until i can theme and customize it to my liking. maybe even be able to run android on it. plus remove that ugly UI.
I am I love that interface IMO from MCE to the zune HD but android will probably get ported to it so that would rock too. I just want something to work with a zune pass and better media options and sync.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Played with one yesterday and it was pretty awesome. I played with the wp7 phone that had the slide out speaker. The biuld quality is much better than the evo and the phone was heavy as hell.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
I won't let myself talk myself into considering wm again. I stuck with wm since the 8125 up until the evo came out. I loved my tilt 2 and of course it looks like the new tilt is wm again. Although I like that form factor, I won't be jumping ship again. Especially with evo shift coming sometime, even though we really don't know much about t yet.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
I just cant get over how ugly it is.
i used one last night at work i have to say for being version 1 of the OS its smooth and very well done
Mactagonist said:
I just cant get over how ugly it is.
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That's what I thought too until I played with it. The device is really snappy and the transition from landscape to portrait was instantaneous. That was a major problem in WM devices of the past. The phone that I played with was the HTC Surround and it felt really solid. The device was heavy (I would say twice the weight of the Evo) but it felt really good. I have a preference for heavy phones so it wasn't a big deal to me. I think I may jump ship if a comparable device comes to Sprint.
I think from the app store standpoint you would see many cool apps with WP7. I also liked WM because anything you can do on a PC you could pretty much do on WM.
i would def consider it, I played with a HD7 and once a few updates come out it will be a powerhouse
Personally, I like the UI and the devices. Presumably the device that's coming to Sprint would be the 7 Pro, which looks like the touch Pro 2 I used to have, with updated styling and hardware. And I'd love to get native support for office docs back. So far I've tried a couple android apps for viewing and editing excel and word docs and they've all sucked. On top of that, I'm still missing my TP2's physical keyboard - swype's nice, but I'm nowhere near as fast with it as I was on the TP2. I guess even though I'm on android now, I spent enough time with WM that I'm still a bit of a WM apologist (and there ARE bright spots to WM - it's just that they're all outshadowed by all the development on the competing OS's out there).
But I don't think I'll be tempted - the lack of flexibility is a deal breaker for me. No sideloading, no installing non-market apps, no removable / hot swappable storage = unacceptable for my purposes
On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if I sell a lot of them to my customers once they come out. Right now all I've got for WM is the HTC TP2 and the Snap. we've got updated BB's and androids left and right, but there's a gaping hole in the WM lineup. And it looks like the locked-down approach that WM7 has taken should appeal to business use - the end users get a fancier handset that can do more fun stuff, but it's locked down enough that the IT guy doesn't have to worry about them screwing everything up.
I hope for MS's sake that it's not too late - in the last 6 months I've seen a ton of users move from WM and BB (mostly BB) to android. It seems the end users have wanted fancier phones for a while, and the IT directors are getting comfortable enough with android that a lot of businesses are changing their policy to allow for androids. and the lines I lose to the iPhone are predominantly WM and BB devices - we don't lose many EVO's and Epic's to the iPhone. WM and BB are really losing quite a bit of momentum.
F**K WP7, F**K iOS, and F**K BlackBerry. I love Android, I love my EVO, I love HTC, and I love Google. Enough said for my answer
Sent from my EVO's 4G You?........I thought so
Wow. Got some dedicated people here. LOL. Anyway, WP7 look interesting, but I'm not jumping on it in its current "beta" form, if at all. For those who are completely loyal to an OS, I hope you're getting paid by, or at the very least own stock in Google or whoever owns your current OS. I'll never understand the mentality of a fanboy. I've been using Android for about a year, and I've yet to receive any money from Google. Seriously though, the only loyalty I have tying me down is the money I've invested in Android apps. I use Android because it's what I like best and what works best for me at this time. IOS worked for me for a while, but I got tired of the cat and mouse game with jailbreaking and Apple's whole philosophy in general. Who knows though? Maybe if WP7 really steps it up in the next 6 months or so, I'll consider a switch.
I'll be sticking with android. I'm hooked.
I'm a huge fan of Android, its the only OS that I never had a huge problem with. All if my recent phones have been Android powered. And I never really had a problem with HTC phones so I stick with them if I can. I wish I got paid by them or owned stock, but I have no problem representing what I like
Sent from my EVO's 4G You?........I thought so
I like the look of WP7 wayyyy better than Android. Android is just... ugly. I've tried many themes, Sense, stock, etc. And none of it looks right.
Then again, Android is a much better OS than WP7. Especially because it is more open.
I had an HD7 for 2 weeks. I had switched from an iphone 3gs. The first day I loved the clean UI. It looked great and exchange email is the best of all 3 platforms (no shock here). But then things went downhill. The HD7 had deplorable reception, often losing the network indicator. The phone was poorly built, with the bezel on the right side coming away from the body. The dedicated camera button that i so wanted was total junk and had to be pressed with the edge of your fingernail. The screen was total garbage. I have never seen pictures look this bad on a modern smartphone. The camera was also below par. Finally I bored with the simple UI and returned the phone for an Evo.
WP7 could be the everyman's UI, its that clean and simple. But if you like doing any amount of tweaking, stay far away!
Oh, believe me, I'm not saying it's bad to be a fan of anything. In fact, it's good to know what you like and want. Like I said, I'm currently an Android fan. I just don't have any allegiance to them. It's the fanboy mentality I don't get. Same crap happened (and still does) with Xbox 360 and PS3. I own both, and the only reason I usually buy Xbox versions of games is because I prefer the controller, not because of an allegiance to Microsoft. That would just be stupid.
I would love to try it. I really miss WinMo =(. The way I could sync everything flawlessly via bluetooth (especially OneNote). *Sigh* I can't justify plopping another couple hundred dollars on a phone though. Boo!
At any rate, I agree with live2ride. It's just an OS and nothing more. Personally, I like to play around with different platforms, it keeps my inner geek alive. For those saying you can't install apps that aren't on the market? As long as you control the registry, you control the phone...just my two cents.
Its ugly I'm not diggin those big sqares, and Im not ready to walk away from all the apps I payed for on Android.
I bet anything a home replacement to emulate WM7 will surface sooner or later.
derekwilkinson said:
I like the look of WP7 wayyyy better than Android. Android is just... ugly. I've tried many themes, Sense, stock, etc. And none of it looks right.
Then again, Android is a much better OS than WP7. Especially because it is more open.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
stock vanilla is ugly but after you theme it IMO it looks 10x better than winmo did. you can basically make android look whatever you want it to look like.
im half tempted to try wp7 but im not sure if i want to give up on my evo. that metro UI has got to go.
I wouldn't touch any OS product from MS. I'll stick with Android or iOS.

Review/Comparison: Desire Z vs. Touch Pro 2

I’ve defected from Windows Mobile and the Rhodium over to Android and the HTC Desire Z (code name Vision). About a million years ago (late December, actually) Jackos asked that I write a review/comparison of the device, for which I am happy to oblige. Unfortunately, a newborn baby, holiday travel, and work travel have conspired to delay me from writing such a review. But I’m finally taking the time to fulfill the promise. Jackos thought such a review would be useful for those that are looking to upgrade from the Rhodium, so hopefully that is still relevant. Based on a recent thread, I would think so! http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=949121
The move to a different OS was certainly something that I’ve been debating for some time. But as we all know (and possibly unwilling to admit), Windows Mobile is outdated and nearing the end of its useful life. Windows Phone 7 so far is a big disappointment to me. The OS seems very limited in many of the same ways the iPhone is, with reviews at various websites and comments by users verifying this notion. One article I read about WP7 was that the OS is not a good choice for power users. Android was looking more and more attractive to me. To me, it carries on the spirit of Windows Mobile in terms of customization. Things are not accessed quite the same way as Windows Mobile (there is no registry), but there is still tons of customizations, mods, and hacks available.
Being the owner of the Tilt (Kaiser) and Tilt2 (Touch Pro 2, Rhodium), I’ve become a big HTC fan, and wanted something similar, with a hardware keyboard. The Desire Z has a very similar form factor to the Rhodium, with a hardware keyboard, nearly the same screen size, and similar dimensions. I found out that Bell Canada released the HTC Desire Z in November, with 3G bands compatible with ATT's network. I decided to take the plunge. Not an easy pill to swallow, as an unlocked, unsubsidized device like this goes for a premium price of around $600 (and obviously not for everyone). But what the heck, its a been a good year, and I decided to get myself a Christmas gift. Of course, if you are in Canada, Europe, or on T-Mobile, you have access to specific versions for those locations and carriers at a much better price.
Let me tell you guys, this device is amazing. The build quality is excellent, the phone feels very high end, with most of the body being a gorgeous brushed aluminum, accented with some slightly grippy/rubbery “soft touch” plastic (also nice looking, and does not cheapen the appearance). The feel of the phone is much nicer, and seems more sturdy then the Rhodium.
The camera is 5MP with a LED flash, and yields somewhat better photos than the Rhodium. The screen is gorgeous. While the iPhone “Retina” and Samsung AMOLED displays get all the hype, the super LCD screen on the Desire Z is still very nice. Direct comparisons I have read rate it only slightly below the quality of the iPhone or Galaxy S displays. Touch response is excellent, and registers multi-touch very well.
Much has been said about this phone’s unique “Z Hinge”. See the Engadget review, if you aren't familiar with the Z-hinge: http://mobile.engadget.com/2010/11/25/htc-desire-z-review/
Some have complained about the phone not staying firmly enough in the keyboard open or closed position, or have expressed concerns of the durability of the hinge. Personally, I like the hinge and how it is designed to open easily with the flick of your thumb. But if you’re in doubt, you might want to play around with it in person before committing to buying the phone.
The keyboard itself is very good. But strangely, not quite as nice as the one on the Touch Pro 2. The the keys are slightly smaller (and one less row of keys), and do not have quite as much “travel” when pressing the keys. It feels like a slight step backward from the Rhodium, but still one of the best keyboards around. Having come from the ATT version of the Rhodium (which replaced the row of numbers with random symbols and punctuations), the missing 4th row of keys is not a big deal. But owners of other Rhodium variants will no doubt miss the number-dedicated row of keys.
Another piece of hardware that is strangely not as good as the Rhodium is the speaker. The speaker on the Desire Z is not quite a loud as on the Rhodium, but the difference is fairly minor, and most people will probably overlook this. The 3.5mm headphone jack is a welcome addition, and good riddance to adapters and special headphones that were needed on the Rhodium (at least the GSM version).
At the time of the phone’s release, this was one of the fastest Android phones available (although there is a new generation of dual core Snapdragons coming soon). Don’t be fooled by the fact that the CPU is clocked at 800 MHz. This is a newer generation of Snapdragon than the 1 GHz ones found on phones such as Nexus One and the EVO, with a different fab process and faster GPU also. The Desire Z benchmarks faster than those phones, as well as the Galaxy S, Droid X, and others. The CPU can also be easily overclocked to 1 GHz without over-volting and affecting battery lift; and much higher than that with over-volting.
Battery life seems somewhat shorter on the Desire Z compared to the Rhodium. I was often able to get 2-3 days on a change on my old Tilt2. On the Desire Z, I usually have to charge every night. I can maybe get through a day and a half; but at least a day with all but the heaviest usage. And to be honest, I’m using the phone much more than I did my old Rhodium, so that is a factor as well.
I've played around with Project Android on my trusty old Tilt2, so Android is not completely new to me. It took me a bit getting accustomed to where some things are located, but that is true with switching to any new phone OS. The OS is overall pretty user friendly. It just takes a little while to dedicate to memory where some settings and other things are located. And there is certainly a learning curve once you are ready for customizing/modifying. There is lots of new terminology, process, and tools to learn if you want to “root” (gain super user rights to access system files) and flash a custom ROM, or do other system modifications.
Knocks on Android for not being as "smooth" as the iPhone seem largely unfounded to me. The Desire Z is super smooth, and of course has tons of customization and functionality that the iPhone will never have. And if you coming from Windows Mobile, you are going to be blown away by the smoothness and stability of the OS. The only real performance weakness I’ve seen so far is switching from portrait to landscape on the homescreen, particularly when you have lots of widgets loaded.
Using the phone is a pleasure. Browser rendering is fast, with the stock browser working very well, and Flash enabled. I’ve been previously in denial that capacity touchscreens are a good thing, but multi-touch pinch-to-zoom really does make browsing a joy. Text selection (such as for cut/paste) is aided by a zoom feature that activates with a long touch on text, and also by the optical trackpad (which allows moving the cursor by single characters).
I already keep my contacts, email, and calendar on Google. So the Google integration is awesome for me. I just entered my Google login and password, and it synched all that stuff in a couple minutes. If you are not a Google user, things might be slightly annoying, as the OS will try to steer you toward creating a Google login. Google Navigation is built-in, and will give you point-to -point directions, with audio cues, and first person perspective. It works better than the tools on Windows Mobile such as Google Maps and Bing. It works so well, in fact, that I've often been using Google Nav instead of my Garmin Nuvi GPS unit in the car.
I knew moving to Android would open up a lot of software options, and in this I was not disappointed. There are tons of useful applications and games on the Android Market, and the list is constantly growing. Software developers have embraced Android, which is a refreshing change coming from Windows Mobile. Yes, there is a ton of fluff and junk in the Android Market. But most of the major applications you can think of have a quality Android version.
I’m not a developer. So I can’t comments on the development potential of this device and Android versus Windows Mobile. But so far there is pretty good developer support on the Desire Z. And many have claimed that developers will support this phone for a long time, as they seem to favor devices with a hardware keyboard. There are several stable custom Froyo (Android 2.2) ROMs available, including Sense and non-Sense options, as well as CyanogenMod (a popular and highly customized Android ROM). Gingerbread (Android 2.3, the latest version, just released) ROMs are in the works, with alpha/beta versions already available for testing. Personally, the stock ROM has been so stable and usable for me, I haven’t really been that tempted to flash a custom ROM yet, versus a Windows Phone, where a custom ROM is virtually a necessity.
I’ve babbled on for much too long. In short, if you are looking to upgrade from the Rhodium to something with a similar form factor, the Desire Z is highly recommended. Here’s a quick summary of the Desire Z versus my old Rhodium:
Pros
OS is light years ahead of Windows Mobile (smooth, stable, fast)
Awesome build quality, with a sturdy feel
Better display
3.5 mm headphone jack
Great selection of quality applications
Slightly better camera (5MP) with LED flash
Cons
Keyboard not quite as good
Speaker not quite as good (minor)
Shorter battery life
Z Hinge durability may be an issue
P.S.: If you like the review, please click the "Thanks" button below!
I really appreciated reading this review. I'm a Tilt 2 user, that hasn't found anything new out there to make me want to give up my Rhodium and I have the same feelings regarding Windows 7, so I'm very hesitant to give it a try. Android is completely new to me, but from what I've read, it seems like the natural progression for those of us on Windows Mobile.
I'm on AT&T, so I will keep a watch on this phone if AT&T decides to release their version down the road (but I won't hold my breath ). I've never used unlocked devices either so, unless they come down in price, I won't be experimenting with this model for a while.
Thanks again for posting this. I look forward to reading more about your experiences with this device.
Have fun!
Debbie
Thanks for the review. I enjoyed reading it. Well done, sir!
For a conclusion: Was it worth the money if upgrading from Rhodium?
DebbieNY13 said:
I'm on AT&T, so I will keep a watch on this phone if AT&T decides to release their version down the road (but I won't hold my breath ). I've never used unlocked devices either so, unless they come down in price, I won't be experimenting with this model for a while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having finally lost iPhone exclusivity, AT&T seems to be starting to release some decent Android devices, such as the HTC Inspire (Desire HD variant). I'm skeptical they would release the Desire Z, but maybe they will release a future HTC device with a QWERTY keyboard. One can only hope.
If the keyboard is not an absolute requirement, the Inspire looks like a very nice phone. Larger display than the Desire Z, 1GHz processor (faster then the Z), and a slightly better camera. I've actually been finding myself using Swype more and more, and the keyboard less and less. So that has me rethinking the whole QWERTY keyboard thing, a little bit. Although I still use it from time to time for longer texts and emails.
BTW, if you like the review, please click the "Thank you" button!
Jackos said:
Thanks for the review. I enjoyed reading it. Well done, sir!
For a conclusion: Was it worth the money if upgrading from Rhodium?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're very welcome.
For me, spending the money was worth it. It was a lot of money to spend on a phone, but I absolutely love it. I tried to stick with WM as long as I could. But everything just works so much better on the Desire Z. I knew it would be a big improvement, but all my expectations were exceeded.
If you are in a market where your carrier offers this phone for a subsidized price, its a no-brainer.
Very nicely written
I have a TP2 now, also considering the Desire Z since it has a (rare these days) hardware keyboard.
Seeing how the DZ performs (especially when overclocked, wow!) does make me feel quite confident it's somewhat future-proof performance wise.
I do love the tilting screen of the TP2 very much, especially when I'm at the computer and using the TP2 for MSN or FB chat or something like that. Like having a miniature laptop
Have you ever missed the tilting screen of the TP2?
When my contract expires next month I can get a free DZ if I extend my contract.
I'll go to the T-Mobile store tomorrow and see if I can play around with one
ericino said:
Very nicely written
I do love the tilting screen of the TP2 very much, especially when I'm at the computer and using the TP2 for MSN or FB chat or something like that. Like having a miniature laptop
Have you ever missed the tilting screen of the TP2?
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Click to collapse
Personally, I was finding myself using the tilt feature on the TP2 less and less. Lots of times, I found it easier to just slide the phone open, write a quick text, then close it quickly, without having to mess with tilting the screen up and down. But of course, this is a personal preference.
The only times I've been missing the tilt screen is while watching video. With the TP2, I could tilt the screen up, then place the phone down on a table to watch. HTC should have added a kickstand, like on the Desire HD. It would have been a very easy to add, and super useful.
Perfect review!
I'm also considdering the DZ, and the review almost answered all my question.
But I still have one question: What do you do if you want to navigate without being online?
So if you're abroad and don't want the rediculous roaming costs, how do you navigate?
I now use TomTom really a lot, and I don't know what to use when I switch to the DZ.
TomTom has all the maps on the memory card, is there a good replacement for Android? With regular updates?
ronh said:
Perfect review!
I'm also considdering the DZ, and the review almost answered all my question.
But I still have one question: What do you do if you want to navigate without being online?
So if you're abroad and don't want the rediculous roaming costs, how do you navigate?
I now use TomTom really a lot, and I don't know what to use when I switch to the DZ.
TomTom has all the maps on the memory card, is there a good replacement for Android? With regular updates?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a paid Android app called Copilot, which is supposed to be pretty good, and does what you want. But I haven't personally used it. There are others, as well.
Also, the Euro version of the Desire Z has a feature of the "new" Sense called HTC Locations, which has a 30-day free trial, than once you pay the monthly fee or buy a lifetime license, you can navigate using maps downloaded to the SD card. Unfortunately, Locations and the Car Panel were removed in the Bell Canada version of the DZ. Likewise, the T-Mobile G2 does not have it, as it is Sense-free. But the feature can be obtained by flashing the stock Euro ROM to either the Bell DZ or the G2. I haven't done this, and I have no idea how well Locations works in the US. But comments by DZ users in the UK and Europe indicate they seem to like it.
i too miss my tilt 2, especially the tilts sliding kb. thats why i come back to these boards every now and again.
i got an evo back in august. i never thought id get another smart phone without a keyboard since i have had the 8125 8525 8925 and tilt2. its been a much easier transition than i thought moving to a phone with a giant screen let alone switching to a different os
almost anything i could do with wm i cant do with android only better. android is way more reliable and the tilt2 was a touch underpowered.
as soon as someone comes out with a 4.3inch lcd with a sliding kb that will be my next phone
off topic, don't believe the hype about the evo battery being weak, i get 24-40 hrs per charge, average is probably around 30 hrs and that's with 2 weather apps, face book, 4 emails accounts and Google searches off and on all day with gps location and blue tooth on. i also have a stock rom, although its rooted.
btw tc excellent read.
oh and as far as gps, i too was curious about the navigation, google nav is the best gps nav app i have ever used, but it does rely on a cell phone data connection, i think it gets enough of the info cached ahead incase you loose signal but if it needs to reroute and you dont have signal you are dead in the water. so i went on to try a few stand alone gps apps and i ended up going with aura, it looks pretty and it works but i dont like it, but its a good backup to have incase i dont pay my bill, lol, or loose signal.
Redpoint i hate to rain on your parade, but i went and seen that you have quite a few threads some of which are here in the Pro Tilt 2 forums regarding this new phone you are in love with, why not go to the forum for that phone ?
here make it easier for you...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=594
Sorry the tilt is a great phone although it is getting dated, but that is no reason for what you are doing ....
F2504x4 said:
Redpoint i hate to rain on your parade, but i went and seen that you have quite a few threads some of which are here in the Pro Tilt 2 forums regarding this new phone you are in love with, why not go to the forum for that phone ?
here make it easier for you...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=594
Sorry the tilt is a great phone although it is getting dated, but that is no reason for what you are doing ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was specifically asked for a comparison between the Touch Pro 2 and the Desire Z; for TP2 owners who may be interested in upgrading. If it was a straight up review of the DZ only, and no mention of the TP2, I would agree with you. But as you can see from reading my review, I make ample comparisons and references to the TP2, so I believe its appropriate here. The DZ is also a very logical upgrade from the TP2 versus just about every other phone on the market, due to its very similar form factor and same manufacturer.
You said I "have quite a few threads" about the DZ. But this is the only thread I started. I posted a reference to this review on 2 other threads started by others. Those threads were started by users looking for an upgrade similar to the TP2, so that actually reinforces my decision that this forum is the correct location for the review/comparison.
I did debate it for a while (of where to post), and your comment is not unreasonable. But I didn't see the Desire Z the best place to post it. The huge majority of the users on the Desire Z/Vision forum already own the phone, and they don't need to see a review for it. If the moderators don't agree with my judgment call, they can move the thread.
And you linked to the forum for the Desire, not the Desire Z. They are completely different phones.
Considering what HTC 7 Pro has become, looks like the Desire Z is the only one phone coming from HTC to replace the TP2. What a pity!
I'll wait until something new comes out to replace my PPC. TP2 still does a great job for me.
Thanks again for the review.
potna said:
i got an evo back in august. i never thought id get another smart phone without a keyboard since i have had the 8125 8525 8925 and tilt2. its been a much easier transition than i thought moving to a phone with a giant screen let alone switching to a different os
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It true, with Swype, I actually find myself using the screen keyboard much more than I would have thought. In fact, for my next phone I may seriously consider one without a hardware keyboard . . . maybe. But I personally can't stand typing on-screen without Swype.
potna said:
oh and as far as gps, i too was curious about the navigation, google nav is the best gps nav app i have ever used, but it does rely on a cell phone data connection, i think it gets enough of the info cached ahead incase you loose signal but if it needs to reroute and you dont have signal you are dead in the water. so i went on to try a few stand alone gps apps and i ended up going with aura, it looks pretty and it works but i dont like it, but its a good backup to have incase i dont pay my bill, lol, or loose signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had that same thought about having a nav program that doesn't need a data connection, so I have a backup in case I am in an area with dodgy coverage, or for foreign use. I might check out something like Copilot, which is only $5 for the US maps (and interestingly $80 for Europe!).
I would like to thank you also for the comparison and ask you about what I haven't read elsewhere.
Is there ability for teleconferencing inDesire Z?
Besides the mentioned problem with the DZ's speaker there were a few times that the feature was (even more than welcome) life-saving while using my rhodium. That, and the Excel files editing.
Also, (a "pro-" feature, not mentioned elsewhere) what about video out?
Am I asking for too much?
Redpoint:
I too have made the upgrade, from TP2 to G2 (Desire Z). Your findings mirror mine almost exactly.
Just in case any one is curious, I'll add my 2 pence.
I still kind of miss the resistive touch screen (think gloves or stylus for precision), but the cap screen is über responsive, and as you said, multi touch is pretty sweet.
I do not miss the complete lack of development of applications for WM. At least at any corporate or popular apps level.
I do miss the great MS Office and Outlook integration. Android does play nice with Exchange, though.
FWIW: Tmo G2's do have a Office compatible suite that should work for docs and xls, but I didn't get a chance to use it. I flashed to a new ROM too fast
I still have the TP2, and will likely futz with it some more, but the G2/DZ is a worthy successor.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
calrification on pro2 vs DZ
Sir/s,
i would like to know if DZ has the following functionalities:
1. exchange sync of email, calendar and contacts.
2. when you download exchange email, is it in html format?
3. can DZ record 2 way voice call? (not via speakerphone)
Above are the features that im frequently using on pro2.

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