When the black menu bar appears, it does not have a larger screen.
Thanks and thanks!
I hate my evo because I finally have it exactly how I want it. It operates perfectly and I have pretty much finished customizing it! And customizing it was half the fun
Now I can't move on to anything else for a new project, because EVERYTHING else is a downgrade
...if you haven't rooted, you haven't even started
I was going to return mine (told my wife about it, she was happy to have a the extra cash for our upcoming beach trip) until I read this thread (basically working on a mod to remap the softkeys and remove the menu bar). I made my decision to get rid of the LTEvo when I realized that I have spent nearly every minute on this phone trying to restore the basic functionality that exists on my OG Evo. What's the point in upgrading if I have to make so many compromises just to get back basic functionality?
Now, if they have that button-remapping/bar-removing fix within my 14day return period, then I will happily keep my LTEvo. If not, well, as it is the LTEvo can't beat my OG Evo's efficiency (or screen size when the menu bar appears) by any decent margin. So IMO there's no point in keeping it when there's no substantial improvement (the increases in hardware are significantly offset by the decreases in functionality).
Here's the gist. And as it stands,
- LTEvo has a screen that is higher quality, but not larger (when the menu bar is displayed).
- The LTEvo has the same internal memory as my OG Evo with the partitioned SD card.
- The LTEvo has slightly more upgradeable memory, but my OG Evo has WiMax to make use of the memory (I do not, and will not have LTE in my area for some time).
- The LTEvo has more processor power and to run what I want to run, but my OG has more softkeys and shortcuts and quick settings in the notification bar to significantly speed up access to what I want to run.
- The LTEvo has a better kickstand, but my OG has better micro USB placement.
- The LTEvo is much thinner, but my OG is much shorter (and again has the same size screen).
- The LTEvo has a larger battery, but my OG's is replaceable.
Frankly, as it is the stock LTEvo can't beat my rooted OG Evo by enough to justify the purchase.
If the dev at XDA can make that fix work, then the LTEvo will officially have a larger screen AND it will be significantly more efficient. If I can have the larger screen and increased speed that I was promised, then I'll keep it
I'm sure many will disagree, but I personally don't want to have the newest phone because it's the newest. I want to have it because it is simply the best and most efficient/effective.
HAHA That's great! Did you really remember that off the top of your head? Remind me to hire you if I ever go into politics. I'm not sure exactly what I'd do with you... but it would be better than letting the other guy have youI'm not happy about the button change at all, but I recall what someone said in September 2010 -
..........
What? Like I could actually resist?
PS - meanwhile, QuickDesk and a long home press for anything especially needed, I guess. Or maybe SwipePad.
HAHA That's great! Did you really remember that off the top of your head? Remind me to hire you if I ever go into politics. I'm not sure exactly what I'd do with you... but it would be better than letting the other guy have you
I expect to root this phone at some point if I keep it. But I'm still disappointed that I'm forced to root it in order to regain basic functionality that was available in the stock OG Evo.
Very true.I actually have good memories of the many chats I had with you and other cats in the Evo forum, and the why I hate my Evo thread was a classic.
They were good times. And I too love the sarcastic threads
I do think that you might be a little unkind here, so let's revisit -
I admit that I'm being highly critical of the device. Unkind? Maybe a little, but I feel like my complaints are well grounded. Besides, I seem to be the only person in this forum being critical of the device... someone needs to point out the flawsAgain, I know I'm not winning any friends with these arguments. But it's not a perfect device and I feel that it would have been much closer to perfect if the layout had not changed.
I think that those of us that got in early on the Evo rooted it for 3 primary reasons - out of the box the battery sucked out loud, it was laden with bloatware, and it wasn't smooth (remember the original frame rate limiting kernel?). Four reasons if you count the Sense haters (but I tend to class those as the combo of the first three).
Wow, I had completely forgotten about the frame rate restriction! That was annoying. But yeah, I agree.
EL TEvo has none of those issues. Frankly, if you handed me one back at the Evo launch, I might have remained a lurker, never joined, and would have adapted to the buttons. I adapted to the Evo buttons coming from a Moment.
Had I never had an Android before this, I would have just adapted to the buttons. The problem is that I know how much better they were before. There were 4 buttons with essentially 6 functions (yeah, there was the option to pull up the keyboard, but that wasn't very practical). Now we have three buttons (good) but only three functions (cutting our options by 50%, and cutting productivity but significantly more given the things they chose to remove). I simply want my 3 buttons to have the 6 functions I previously had.
So my point is maybe that change is constant and if you must root to get what you need here, you are already starting out with a far, far superior platform than the Evo ever was.
That's the thing... I agree that it's superior, but not $200 worth of superior (as it is). It may be starting in a place that is far superior to where the stock OG Evo ever was, but not a rooted OG (with respect to the partitioning of the SD card and the customizable rosie that brings the two platforms closer to equals). If we had the full screen available to us, and the long-press shortcuts, then I would say that the LTEvo (1)meets the basic functionality of the rooted OG, if not (2)significantly improving all of it, and also (3)adding additional wonderful features. But as it stands, IMO the LTEvo actually comes in below the rooted OG Evo with respect to #1, which discounts the greatness of #2 and #3. Once the fix comes along and I can root the LTEvo to bring #1 up to par, then it will be $200 worth of superior IMO. But is it too much to ask that my 3rd generation stock Evo be all-around better than its 2 year old rooted predecessor? Maybe if you take into account certain advantages of root (such as free wifi hotspot, and notification-bar quick settings), but I'm not.
Google is making many of us crazy with their new UI directives. They started specifying fewer buttons a few months after the Nexus release, and speaking of that, it could be worse, we could have gotten stuck with soft buttons only like the Nexus. HTC could have saved a buck on that, but they didn't.
True, and if there is enough consumer backlash, Google may backpedal on this layout. I hope they do, or at least I hope to see a future Android update adding the long-press features back in.
I fully understand the concept of just working without root. WifelyMon's Evo Shift is that way. It's smooth, it's quick and the battery lasts without babysitting a thing.
I intend to root, but I would prefer not to root at first and just run with the phone for a while until the dev community has expanded. But now I find myself waiting for the dev community just to get back basic functionality.
I don't recall when you rooted your Evo. I did mine early on, when it took 78 steps (the actual, not made up number) to do the whole job, including getting the engineering bootloader to get s-off.
Wow. Even though I was waiting for the Evo since the day it was announced, I didn't pick it up until a couple months after release. As for rooting... I rooted somewhere between that nasty 78 step process and before the simple unrevoked stuff. I vaguely remember needing to copy some code from the DIY, but I doubt it was anywhere near 78 steps worth of material.
The only thing that I am staring down for root while I wait to get mine is s-off.
And I am hating the button change with a passion. I think that I am definitely going with SwipePad as one of my first apps to mitigate that pain.
I used SwipePad for a long time (LOVED it!) until Amazon released Wave Launcher one day for free. They are both good, but since I only needed it for 3 shortcuts I found Wave Launcher to better suit my needs.
But Android is all about choice, and life is too short to sweat it if your mileage varies on this phone or my opinions stated here.
As you have said, at a lower price point you would find it acceptable.
Ultimately, that's taking a subjective measure and repeating the other points as if objective.
By getting the Evo a few months after its release you missed the worst of it.
You're comparing a rooted Evo with the missing launch frustrations against an unrooted, bleeding edge, just launched LTEvo and really setting your own price on lost button functions.
Less than being unpopular for being critical, you're simply repeating subjective measures.
Return the phone and see what happens to the price and in root development in a few months. Then you can compare oranges to oranges at a more palatable price for you.
Meanwhile, it's new, it has quirks and bugs - business as usual for every major launch of every top end phone. That's not news.
The brave one here was crow11ad who, after being a staunch supporter, simply announced that he had to return his and move on over a single feature critical to him.
The buttons are the buttons, and they are what they are.
And the screen, camera, ram, storage, ability to fit in with the Sprint Network Vision upgrade and operating system upgrades are what they are.
Along with the bugs and changes.
I actually have good memories of the many chats I had with you and other cats in the Evo forum, and the why I hate my Evo thread was a classic.
I do think that you might be a little unkind here, so let's revisit -
I think that those of us that got in early on the Evo rooted it for 3 primary reasons - out of the box the battery sucked out loud, it was laden with bloatware, and it wasn't smooth (remember the original frame rate limiting kernel?). Four reasons if you count the Sense haters (but I tend to class those as the combo of the first three).
EL TEvo has none of those issues. Frankly, if you handed me one back at the Evo launch, I might have remained a lurker, never joined, and would have adapted to the buttons. I adapted to the Evo buttons coming from a Moment.
So my point is maybe that change is constant and if you must root to get what you need here, you are already starting out with a far, far superior platform than the Evo ever was.
Google is making many of us crazy with their new UI directives. They started specifying fewer buttons a few months after the Nexus release, and speaking of that, it could be worse, we could have gotten stuck with soft buttons only like the Nexus. HTC could have saved a buck on that, but they didn't.
I fully understand the concept of just working without root. WifelyMon's Evo Shift is that way. It's smooth, it's quick and the battery lasts without babysitting a thing.
I don't recall when you rooted your Evo. I did mine early on, when it took 78 steps (the actual, not made up number) to do the whole job, including getting the engineering bootloader to get s-off.
The only thing that I am staring down for root while I wait to get mine is s-off.
And I am hating the button change with a passion. I think that I am definitely going with SwipePad as one of my first apps to mitigate that pain.
But Android is all about choice, and life is too short to sweat it if your mileage varies on this phone or my opinions stated here.
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