[HD2 General] kcaj32:
Read a lot on these forums and finally decided to take the plunge. Went to a Sam's Club to pick up my HD2. Initially I asked to add to my existing line as an upgrade. I had called T-Mobile earlier and they had told me that I will be able to use my existing $25 a month data plan for the G1 and will not have to upgrade to the $30 plan.

The Sams club CSR could not upgrade me on my existing $25 data plan so she called T-Mobile. They said No-Go, I have to bump to the $30 plan. I wasn't too sure if I'll like the phone so wanted to try it for a few days. But the catch is that, if I don't like it, and want my androind data plan back, I cannot get the $25 plan again, I'll be put on a $30 plan. So I started a new line of service, added to my existing family plan (just to try out the phone).

Got it on Friday evening, and here are some pros and cons:

Things I miss:

Android Market

Tap and hold for context menu on everything

Smaller form factor (easy to hold and tap anywhere on the screen with my thumb). On the HD2, I cannot access at least one of the corners of the huge screen without adjusting my grip.

No finger prints (My G1 still had the original screen protector that came with the phone and did not smudge at all).

Google Maps Navigation

Slideout keyboard

Things I don't miss:

Bulkiness of the G1

3.2" screen

Things I love:

The Screen Size

Sense UI - I think its a very nice implementation.

Camera - Takes really good (clear) pictures and videos. Compared to the G1, its more than a 100% better

Ease of getting loads of apps off of anywhere on the net.

The amount of control I have on the phone.

Ability to install apps on the SD card (I haven't tried this yet as 1Gig is a lot of memory to play with, compared to the G1).

Things that I don't like:

Some of the windows menus haven't changed since my last owned windows device (MPX200 - Windows Mobile 2002)

Bad battery life. My G1 gave me at least 2 days, if not 3 when I initially bought it. This one lasts just about 24 hrs.. But I haven't really made any changes to the HD2 preserve battery life (my brightness is still Auto and its pretty bright all the time).

Other things I've noticed:

No freezing for me.

I installed the Cookies Home Tab mod last night and love it. But the device did seem a tad slow after the install (on the home and weather pages of sense). Also, I did not know that the Cookies Home Tabs is just a regular install and not a Rom... Somehow I was under the impression that I'll have to install HSPL etc just to get more app shortcuts on Sense Home.

Other stuff:

I don't message a lot, Actually I haven't sent any yet, but received a few from T-Mobile.

I haven't setup my mail accounts. I primarily use Hotmail and have 30+ folders and some 5000+ emails total in all folders. So I'm not sure how this will react on the phone.

I'm using the sim card from my G1 and the data works just fine. Haven't seen H, but I do get 3G where I used to get on my G1.

Bottom line:

I might keep the phone but I'll be trying it out for another 2 weeks at least. Sense UI has give me all the basic stuff and made it look really good. Other members are adding onto that and making my phone better.

I think I can get most of the stuff I need for the phone from just this forum and so unless Android comes up with something really out of the world, I think I'm going to keep this phone. Iphone is just out of the question, there is no way I'm buying one of those.

I am a .net developer so might just create an app or two for my phone.