Reasons for upgrading 1.5 to 2.1?

[DC-eris]

I apologize if this question has been answered many times before, but with all the many threads on 2.1, it's hard to find answers sometimes. But my question is what are the main reasons why I should upgrade from 1.5 to 2.1?

I have had my Eris now for close to a month, have had no problems and love it (only complaint is short battery life but I can deal with it). I've read about all the bugs that can happen with 2.1 and realize not everyone gets those, but it's hard to get a good sense if it's only a vocal minority who experience those bugs or if it's a decent percentage who are affected. I don't want to risk going from no problems to a potentially buggy Eris unless there are some nice features available in 2.1 that I'd be missing. I've read about some of them new features (which I think are pinch-to-zoom home screens, google map navigation) but not sure what they all are.

Right now I'm inclined to avoid the upgrade and be happy with what I have that works well. Does anyone have advise either way? Thanks!

 

[Tooleman694]

Iv had my phone about a month as well..

Going from 1.5 to 2.1 I really didnt see much of a change.. the phone still works the same for the most part.. big differences I saw were big changes in the settings. Plus they added navigation and the cool scaling effect to zoom out the desktops..

Oh and browsing the web is a bit different.. takes a while to get used to but its an improvement..

The weather effects are nice too..

My phone used to lag a bit with 1.5, and the lag is still there with 2.1.. but I am used to lag.. iv had lag for years using MS mobile phones..

 

[jreed2560]

Is you phone not bugging the piss out of you to dl the upgrade? From my understanding its going to keep notifying you of the update until you do it.

More to the point, there are a lot of things different on 2.1. Navigation is one(audible turn by turn directions) and Leap(pinch to zoom on the home screen allows you to see all seven home screens on one screen) is another. those come pre loaded onto the phone. For me the best thing about 2.1 is the Market. Better interface, screen shots of most apps, and more apps available. I would suggest going to the root section following the steps to root your phone. This will give you 2.1 (that is very similar to the OTA) and the ability to go back to 1.5 if you don't like it. It is a complicated process, but the only way to do it so that you can go back if you change your mind. If you dl the OTA you can still go back to 1.5 it just adds a few extra steps. (I've done it and it is possible)

 

[astrostrat89]

Weather effect (just eye candy I know)
Turn by turn for free
Pinch Home screens
Some 2.1 only apps (Twitter most noticeably)
Yahoo mail support (if you have @yahoo and not a @ymail)
Interface enhancements
youtube is little better

My stability has been questionable though, on my 2nd wipe trying to find out if it was a certain app causing it.

 

[DC-eris]

I have been getting a notification to upgrade just about every day, but I usually ignore the little icon at the top for a day then clear away the notice. Not a big deal but I imagine it could get old after awhile. The navigation sounds nice but I could live without it, same with zoom on the home screens. I could see missing out on some apps that are only available for 2.1.

I'm wondering if the browsers are faster (page loading)?

I was planning to upgrade soon, after backing up my contacts and apps and making sure to note my personalized settings. But with the many issues that have been brought to light, I wasn't sure if I should do it. But as you mentioned, I could go the root way to go back to 1.5 if I experience any problems.

 

[jreed2560]

Yeah it doesn't sound like overclocking or apps 2 sd would be of interest to you, but those things definitely make everything run faster. If you're looking for stock 2.1 to be some huge performance boost to 1.5, you will be very disappointed. Root also gives you access to apps like cache cleaner that clears cache from all your apps at once, and auto killer that sets page file limits so your phone isn't using unnecessary resources. If your looking to speed things up root is the way to go.

 

[Cajun83]

I would suggest going to the root section following the steps to root your phone. This will give you 2.1 (that is very similar to the OTA) and the ability to go back to 1.5 if you don't like it. It is a complicated process, but the only way to do it so that you can go back if you change your mind. If you dl the OTA you can still go back to 1.5 it just adds a few extra steps. (I've done it and it is possible)

You can jump back to 1.5 if you did the OTA... without rooting.

http://androidforums.com/htc-droid-eris/80361-you-may-able-go-back-1-5-2-1-ota.html

 

[jreed2560]

very nice! I stopped paying attention to that thread when after the first 15 post nobody had successfully tried it.

 

[Cajun83]

very nice! I stopped paying attention to that thread when after the first 15 post nobody had successfully tried it.

Yeah, I wasn't keeping up with it either... someone else in another thread linked to it... lol

 

[truelove79]

The reason I upgraded: 2.1 is better.

Sent from my Eris using Tapatalk

 

[BlazeD OnE]

The reasons I DOWNGRADED back to 1.5...


2.1 is all eye candy, pinch to leap, stupid for me at least, I only use 3 screens and not to mention I could cram it into 1 screen if I wanted. hate teh weather animations, yes I know you can turn it off. I had alot of little things with 2.1 that bugged the crap out of me. laggyness, soft keys taking forEVER to light up. speaker is all echoy. none of these problems occur in 1.5 number 1, and number 2, I don't use nav. I have a GPS in the car and know quite well how to read a map.