September 13, 2010
Epic or Evo?
So, I want to buy a new phone and have not been able to find an Evo anywhere, but Samsung just came out with the Epic which is supposed to do everything an Evo does, but has a 5 mp camera instead of 8, does have a slide out keyboard (not a big deal to me), but deosn't have an HDMI port.
I'd like to use the hotspot feature to run my home computer and tv. I'm not a gamer, don't use a lot of bandwidth heavy stuff as far as I know, but I do want to see sports clearly. It'd be great to cancel internet and cable at home!
Thoughts?
Oh, also I found some other opinions from the unwashed masses by googling around.
I like my evo. However, I haven't used it for streaming video nor have I tried the HDMI port ( I know, I know if I were natedogg or doncarlo I'd already know how this works). Sprint does have some sort of TV package loading on the phone, which they talk about here: http://shop.sprint.com/en/services/power_vision/sprint_tv.shtml I think what that tells me is that you can watch some TV for free and other channels you have to pay extra for. When I'm not at work I think I'll give this a shot as I haven't tried it yet.
If you want to use it as a hotspot, you also pay extra for that. There's also something called Sprint Football Live pre-loaded but it's just a hub for news and scores for football as far as I can tell.
You could root it and install CyanogenMod (alternative android build) to avoid paying extra for the hotspot, but that might nuke the sprint TV options.
I have some questions that really don't belong here, but I can't figure out a better place to put them because they are phone related. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not really a technophobe/ Luddite. I'm just kind of stingy and lazy and weird ("weird" is the shortest explanation I can come up with for my whole anti-facebook and twitter stance). I don't buy things until I need them unless it is candy. I drove my neon for 12 years, which is insane if you know the maintenance issues of the average neon. I intend to keep a cell phone until it is unusable. I love my current cell phone because I can drop it, but it still works. However, it is a dumb phone (opposite of smart phone?) and I've had it for about 5 or 6 years now. I like it a lot, but I'm starting to notice things that may be precursors to a catastrophic failure.
My questions: of the smart phones that are available now, which ones do you think will hold up the best after 5 or 6 years? (In terms of both the reliability, but also the technology not being too antiquated compared with the features that probably will come in subsequent models.) And secondly, when do you think would be the best time to buy a new phone? It seems like right now there are still huge differences in the features between the current and the previous models of the same phone. I don't want to buy a phone and then have a *much* better phone come out 3 months later. I'd prefer to wait until the main difference between the models is that the new one is slightly smaller and comes in different colors. If somehow I could put off buying a new phone for another two years so that the rate of advancement slows down, would I be gaining that much?
And finally, how long to you expect to keep your current cell phone? Am I being unreasonable by expecting to own the same model for at least 5 years?
I've dropped my Nexus One several times, Cindy. On concrete even. I'm a klutz. I don't ADVISE it or anything, but they hold up better than you'd think.
I don't know how long I'll have this phone. I mean, I plan to use it in SOME way for a long time, but realistically new candy will come along some day and I'll have to buy it. My came-out-in-January Nexus One still holds up pretty well against the newer phones, though. It lacks some things they have, but it has some things they lack, and its processor is in the same class as the stuff coming out right now.
But that's not going to last long. I heard rumors of a 2 GHz chip coming to HTC phones this fall (mine's 1 GHz). If so, that puts them on a whole new tier. My guess is there will be some pretties on Black Friday, if you can wait that long. Even if you don't get the newest pretty, the current tier will get cheaper when that happens.
Scott's been doing a crapton of research about what's out now and what's coming out, if you want to bug him about it.
Oh, and if you drop an EVO, I suspect the sidewalk takes more damage than the phone.
I'm with ya NC... I had my lil sanyo flip phone for the past 4+ years. It came free with the cheapest phone service I could get, and I'm only replacing it because it won't keep a charge for 30 seconds anymore. I figured if I could find a phone that was internet and cable too that I would actually save money by buying it.
So, I bought the Epic, and I love the slide out keyboard! My fingers are too clumsy for the touch pad to be fun. Austin, Georgetown, and the whole corridor to Temple is all 4G, and my connection in my house is excellent. I don't care to watch first run tv programs, but I CAN apparently get college football online:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2117366_watch-college-football-online-free.html
I've been downloading youtube videos super quick, and found a free music download site that does a decent job (but with limited selections). I suspect as long as I don't go to Azeroth that I won't need much better of a connection. Now I need to figure out how to connect this all to my tv.
So, anyone have recommendations for free music? The site I'm using has limited selection, and I'm ready for 50gigs of madness. Ooh, even Madness. One Step Beyond!
Do I need antivirus protection?!
Hmmm.... a clarification: the way that I used "candy" was literal. As in I can't help myself from purchasing candy and that is why there is a large box of Nerds (TM) on my desk, and not in whatever way you are using "candy", Jon.
Yeah, sorry, I knew that. Your candy is literal, mine isn't. I couldn't care less about a box of nerds, while a box FOR nerds is certain to get my money.
NanoCindy is the AE Andy Rooney.
The HTC Evo 4G comes with the hands-free, masturbation-aiding stand.
I don't know,Ziggy. I would have hoped that this would have turned out better:
I have some questions that really don't belong here... <cut>... Am I being unreasonable by expecting to own the same model for at least 5 years?
Don't get me started on child-proof lids, though.
« Older Sweet meaty burger! | A movie quiz? No way! Newer »
To post comments to a thread you must login or create a profile.
Interesting idea. I just had a conversation with my dad about whether phones had HDMI outputs yet and apparently the answer is "yes".
Replacing your television with it is dicey unless you don't actually use the television almost ever (i.e., you have no DVR and no channel selection, just odds and ends you might be able to get from websites or torrents (sub-note: the epic supports the standard internet pirate video codecs while the evo does not, according to your links)). If a game is on a national broadcast or cable channel, they usually have exclusive rights so you would have to be lucky and have a pre-existing relationship between sprint and the league (NFL, MLB...) to see actual footage. I don't know how this works but I do see a lot of commercials with people watching sports footage on their phones and can't tell it that is supposed to be whole games or highlights or what.
I would also double check with someone who has an Evo as to whether absolutely everything can be put out on the HDMI port. I wouldn't be surprised if it only worked inside certain applications and not others (such is digital rights management). Also check if at all possible whether you get decent 4G coverage at your house before diving in. It would suck to cancel everything and find out you have lots of drop-outs and/or sub-4G coverage that means your video goes dead when you get a call. You'd also have to be sure you'd get an unlimited data plan.
As for epic vs. evo, I think there isn't a ton of difference between the highest echelon of phones. It comes down to the 1 or 2 features that happen to catch your eye or even just random things like the shape of the phone.
Any EVO users still around here that can weigh in?
posted by natedogg at 11:56PM CST on September 13