[Motorola Photon 4G] alohajeff:
I also recently made the switch from the TP2 to the Photon. Out of the box the Photon was not equipped with the necessary software to use it as a business device. I spent the better part of three days getting it to the point where I had my TP2 in one evening. Part of the problem is the HUGE number of applications available for the Android operating system. With my TP2 running Mr. X's 6.5 rom I could get work done without having to add too many 3rd party apps. And it was easy to select those apps because WM 6.5 has so few available.

Back to the Photon...

The included email app doesn't work for me. I am using K-9 Mail. I have 6 separate work related e-mail accounts setup with K-9 and the best feature so far is I can click on the CHECK MAIL button and each of the accounts will be checked automatically. On the TP2 I had to select the account, click send/receive, select the next account, click send/receive, over and over again. So K-9 Mail on the Photon kicks ass over the TP2.

The APG Encryption app works perfectly with K-9 Mail and this allows me to EASILY send and receive encrypted e-mails. This is a major step forward for me. My TP2 was setup with a difficult to use PGP style encryption program that required lots of copying/pasting. So again, the Photon with APG / K-9 beats out the TP2.

I really like the stationary bottom row buttons on the Photon. I have the Phone shortcut, browser, K-9 Email, and the All Apps button. I can drive and easily check in on things as needed. I spend less time looking at my Photon than I did with my TP2 so for me that's a major safety bonus.

The call quality is much better on the Photon than my TP2. My TP2 ear speaker sounded terrible. The Photon also has a stronger signal where the TP2 was weak. In areas where the TP2 had no signal I now have 1 or 2 bars on the Photon. I got used to telling people I'd call them back because I was heading into a dead zone... those dead zones are no longer with the Photon.

The Photon is MUCH faster than my TP2 to load a browser window. I hated IE on my TP2 and ran Opera. It would take 10 seconds to load the first browser page. On the Photon it's damn near instant.

I don't do many 3-way calls anymore. I prefer to either be on the top or the bottom... not in the middle.

The ability to use GSM is why I stuck with the TP2 for so long. One phone, one carrier, one bill, international coverage. Yeah, it's Sprint but where I live Sprint works far better than AT&T and it's 1/2 the price of Verizon. Having GSM on the Photon is excellent.

I would prefer a different dialer. I think the TP2 with Sense 2.5 had a better dialer. I haven't really looked at a modified dialer for the Photon but I have no doubt one exists.

The Photon does do some strange things with text messages in the way it threads them. Sometimes I'll have 3 separate notifications windows for texts from the same individual. When I view them I have to view one message, go back and click on the same individuals picture, then view that message, and so on and so forth. The threading on the TP2 was always rock solid.

The Photon has HDMI out via usb with a simple hack. That means showing a presentation via the Photon is a reality. My TP2 could only dream of streaming HDMI content. So in that regard the Photon again has a business feature the TP2 lacks.

I could go on and on... but I know I've made the right choice. It took DAYS of setup and I'm still tweaking but for the $99 bucks this is the best damn phone I've ever owned in terms of features and performance.

Aloha

Forgot to add... the TP2 had a superior speakerphone speaker. Flop it face down and it was loud enough for an entire desks worth of yahoos to listen to. The Photon is weak in the amount of sound it can produce. So as a speakerphone the TP2 wins. I am not going to install some hack that may blow out my poor Photons speaker... low sound is better than crackling sound.