[Epic 4G General] WrlsFanatic:
OK, I'll start with some background. As a former employee, I knew about the Epic before the EVO was even launched, and I actually felt bad that my friends were clamoring about buying what I thought was going to quickly be an inferior phone. The specs list doesn't lie:

Super AMOLED is amazing

Physical keyboard (if you want it)

Superior processor (faster + better battery life)

Superior camera (not in MP, but in performance)

Superior feel (I think the Epic is just the right size, stock EVO is a hair too thin IMO)

More storage (16GB out of the box + more internal)

I read every single Galaxy S review I could get my hands on for MONTHS (I must have read over 20, easy) and spent time on forums asking for specific things TouchWiz and Sense did that stock Android didn't. I was lucky enough to attend a training session that Samsung put on for retail reps (I worked at Sprint corporate, mind you) and was walked through every one of the phone's best features for 4 straight hours (camera, social integration, gaming, Swype, etc.). I even got my dad to buy one. Plus, I had always had a keyboard on my phone. I had a Treo 700p for 3 years, a Palm Pre for a year, and a PPC 6700 (worst phone ever) years back. I felt I could never go without a real keyboard because not only do I text, but I use my phone for work, and I have to respond to e-mails on it frequently (at my new job as well). For all those reasons, I thought the EVO wasn't an option for me.

But a funny thing happened when I was in that training session: I found that I had no idea why I'd ever slide open the phone because Swype was just way too awesome. That was the first time I realized that I could potentially live without a real keyboard.

Now, fast-forward to when I put in my two weeks at Sprint. I asked a friend to borrow a demo EVO over a weekend. I gave the demo number to everyone I was going to be around that weekend and shut my Pre off completely because I wanted to fully immerse myself in the EVO for the two days I'd have it.

The result, obviously, was that I chose the EVO.

Reason #1: it's more about Samsung vs. HTC. The Epic is the BEST SAMSUNG PHONE IN THE WORLD - or at least was for awhile - and still it waits for 2.2, they STILL haven't fixed the GPS issue, and they still haven't fixed the media hub issue. That's inexcusable to me. HTC pumps out updates like nobody's business, but Samsung can't even fix GLARING problems on their flagship device. But worse than that is the response of their haptic buttons on the bottom of the screen. Samsung - as most know - don't use EXT2 file system, which is just stupid. I have yet to hear a single good reason NOT to use EXT2. Both of those things together make me question the competency of Samsung to produce quality phones. My wife has an Intercept, and let me tell you, that phone should never have been produced. Half the time the haptic keys on there don't respond AT ALL.

Reason #2: there are VASTLY more EVOs in the world than there are Epics, and the Epic will never catch up. That means that the EVO will get far more love from the modding community (even if you don't care now, you might some day) and far more love from the accessory community. Extended batteries, docks, cases, etc. are all far more prevalent for the EVO than the Epic. Plus, the features that make this Galaxy S phone better than the rest also make it incompatible with the same ROMs, so you know that while - as some said - it will have a few quality ROMs, it won't get the kind of love that the EVO does. Example: When I got mine, it had HBOOT 2.02, which wasn't rooted yet. It was rooted in less than a week. You won't get that kind of community support for Epic issues.

Reason #3: this is more about what SHOULD sell me on the Epic that I just don't care about. The screen on the Epic is BRILLIANT, but the EVO's screen certainly doesn't look terrible, so it's more than good enough. The GPU is great, but I simply don't care like some do about serious 3D gaming on my phone. The EVO runs the games that are out now very well, thank you, and I have yet to see or hear of a game that is playable on one and not the other. The keyboard I REALLY thought I could never do without, but I had the Swype .apk before I even had my EVO, and unlike what someone else said, I haven't had one single problem with it. The camera options are great on the Epic, but I simply don't need some crazy good camera on my phone, and the EVO's camera is more than capable of whatever I need.

It's completely up to you, but here is what I believe you will get from an Epic:

Worse battery life until 2.2, but then, do you think Samsung will release an update that DOESN'T have problems? I have completely lost faith. If it's not media hub, it'll be something else.

Slightly less responsive keys, unless you want to change the file system to EXT2 like everyone else. I hear that helps, but have never done it myself. To me, if you're going to do that, why not ROM it?

Those are my thoughts. I put Cyanogen on my EVO, but I might go back to stock Sense. I like bare Android better, but there are always little quirks that come with ROMing, and I'd prefer everything to just work.