I need some convincing

[makryger]

I have the HTC Imagio right now. My 30 day trial ends at the beginning of November. What I like about the phone is that there is a free app for practically everything i need- things like wifi tethering, MS office document editing, push hotmail, etc. But the hardware in the HTC Imagio is outdated, so I keep wavering between keeping a WinMo phone, and switching to Android. Everytime I look for an app I would use, WinMo wins. Everytime I compare the hardware, the android wins out.

So I need someone to convince me that Android will not leave me lacking functionality. Some examples...
1) Wifi Tethering- I would like to turn my phone into a wireless router occasionally, to use the 3G internet on my laptop. Is rooting these phones difficult? Would it require me to lose the 2.0 operating system?

2) I've been reading google voice reviews recently for android (on cyrket), and all the recent ones have been really really bad. Is there a problem with this app?

3) How is the interoperability with Windows 7? Is syncing possible? I have TV shows (wmv probabl) to put on my phone. Does it connect to computer via bluetooth easily?

4) I am looking for a nice interface like sense ui/ touchflo 3d. Are there good android widgets or something else to make the phone look impressive?

5) Is android battery life same/good/better than an equivalent WM phone?

6) Is the OS easily customizable? For example, Verizon installed their MediaFlo software on the Imagio, which I didn't need. Within days, someone figured out how to go into the registry and completely remove MediaFlo from startup.

7) What other "killer" apps are available for Android that would convince me to return my Imagio?

Now, please, convince me to switch to an Andriod OS.

 

[Jacqueline]

I have the HTC Imagio right now. My 30 day trial ends at the beginning of November. What I like about the phone is that there is a free app for practically everything i need- things like wifi tethering, MS office document editing, push hotmail, etc. But the hardware in the HTC Imagio is outdated, so I keep wavering between keeping a WinMo phone, and switching to Android. Everytime I look for an app I would use, WinMo wins. Everytime I compare the hardware, the android wins out.

So I need someone to convince me that Android will not leave me lacking functionality. Some examples...
1) Wifi Tethering- I would like to turn my phone into a wireless router occasionally, to use the 3G internet on my laptop. Is rooting these phones difficult? Would it require me to lose the 2.0 operating system?

2) I've been reading google voice reviews recently for android (on cyrket), and all the recent ones have been really really bad. Is there a problem with this app?

3) How is the interoperability with Windows 7? Is syncing possible? I have TV shows (wmv probabl) to put on my phone. Does it connect to computer via bluetooth easily?

4) I am looking for a nice interface like sense ui/ touchflo 3d. Are there good android widgets or something else to make the phone look impressive?

5) Is android battery life same/good/better than an equivalent WM phone?

6) Is the OS easily customizable? For example, Verizon installed their MediaFlo software on the Imagio, which I didn't need. Within days, someone figured out how to go into the registry and completely remove MediaFlo from startup.

7) What other "killer" apps are available for Android that would convince me to return my Imagio?

Now, please, convince me to switch to an Andriod OS.

I don't know about convincing as I think phones are a very personal decision. I can answer some of your questions, though.

1) The 2.0 SDK was released to developers today and no phones have come out with 2.0 yet (Droid will be first), so no one has rooted it yet. In theory pdanet or something similar will work, but we need to have something in hand first to try it.

2) I looked on Cyrket and it looked like the only people having problems were those with a non-standard ROM. I'm sure it will be addressed by the ROM developer soon.

3) Too early to confirm, but I expect it will work out of the box to allow easy transfer of files between the phone .

4) Look for ahome, panda, and other home/theme applications.

5) It will vary with the phone just as it does with WinMo. It is more dependent on hardware and battery size. With the hardware and battery of the droid, I expect to get a normal day's use out of it. If I spend a lot of time doing things that keep the backlight on, I expect to need to recharge during the day.

6) Android is fully customizable.

7) For me, the browser is the app that really kills winmo. I'm constantly borrowing DH's pre when I need to look something up because the winmo browser is so poor, and yes I have the opera winmo browser. It is at least better than IE, but iPhone/iTouch, Web OS, and Android just slay them. Add to that Google Voice and no iTunes leash for my podcasts, and that makes Android my killer OS. YMMV

 

[TogaLive]

Well it looks like your numbered questions have been answered, but look at any others which may enter your mind like this. Boy Genius Report labeled the Droid as quite possibly the best phone they have ever reviewed, and that is saying ALOT! If you have any more questions, just go and read their full review on the phone.

P.S: I had been looking at the Imagio for awhile, until I found out about the droid being released so soon (officially the 6th along with the HTC Droid "Eris"), needless to say after probably 4 hours spent in the local verizon store testing out the Imagio, I opted to wait for the Droid, and I will be the first in line to pick mine up come next friday!

 

[makryger]

I don't know about convincing as I think phones are a very personal decision. I can answer some of your questions, though.

1) The 2.0 SDK was released to developers today and no phones have come out with 2.0 yet (Droid will be first), so no one has rooted it yet. In theory pdanet or something similar will work, but we need to have something in hand first to try it.

2) I looked on Cyrket and it looked like the only people having problems were those with a non-standard ROM. I'm sure it will be addressed by the ROM developer soon.

3) Too early to confirm, but I expect it will work out of the box to allow easy transfer of files between the phone .

4) Look for ahome, panda, and other home/theme applications.

5) It will vary with the phone just as it does with WinMo. It is more dependent on hardware and battery size. With the hardware and battery of the droid, I expect to get a normal day's use out of it. If I spend a lot of time doing things that keep the backlight on, I expect to need to recharge during the day.

6) Android is fully customizable.

7) For me, the browser is the app that really kills winmo. I'm constantly borrowing DH's pre when I need to look something up because the winmo browser is so poor, and yes I have the opera winmo browser. It is at least better than IE, but iPhone/iTouch, Web OS, and Android just slay them. Add to that Google Voice and no iTunes leash for my podcasts, and that makes Android my killer OS. YMMV

Thanks for the comments, they definitely make me feel better. Any idea if programs from SDK 1.6 will generally be compatible with SDK 2.0?

 

[LxMeister]

From what I've been reading as I installed the 2.0 SDK, programs for 1.5 and 1.6 are compatible with 2.0, just not the reverse.

 

[knickerbocker]

Thanks for the comments, they definitely make me feel better. Any idea if programs from SDK 1.6 will generally be compatible with SDK 2.0?

I would think 90% would work on your phone fine - because it is the same basic OS, but would not take advantage of the new items from 2.0. I am guessing some the developers will update their apps based on 2.0 as well.

This is just my guess based on what I know of software development.

 

[Jacqueline]

Most should work fine. I'm sure there will be a few that will have either code or screen resolution issues.

 

[billd]

From what I've been reading as I installed the 2.0 SDK, programs for 1.5 and 1.6 are compatible with 2.0, just not the reverse.

Which would be consistent with most SDK's in general. The newer runtime can usually handle the older programs but the reverse often doesn't work because the new programs use one or more API's not available in the older runtime.