HTC Desire to T-Mobile G2

[n7of9]

i'm going to the USA at the end of the month and my current HTC Desire (Euro model) won't work on US 3G bands

so i started to research what phone i could get to tide me over in the USA (figured if i get a new phone, use it for 2 weeks, then sell it for $100 less than i bought it, it would be like hiring a phone for $100)

i've got my eye on a T-Mobile G2, and i just found out that the 2100MHz 3G band actually WILL work in Australia (where i live), so now there is the possibility of keeping the G2 (if i like it) and selling my Desire

so, some questions:

1. has anyone else gone from Desire to G2? your thoughts?
2. do those $10 ebay network unlock codes actually work?
3. is rooting the G2 easy? i haven't bothered rooting my Desire as it is unlocked and i never had a need to
4. what will i be missing from not have Sense? is it just the pinch-to-zoom?
5. i've never used stock android, are there are discernible differences?

feel free to throw any other knowledge my way

 

[adrienspawn]

I have pinch-to-zoom without sense. That said on my G2 I have tried Stock Froyo, Sense, and CyanogenMod. And this is literally my first phone so it was relatively easy to do this, despite all the guides being (honestly) crappy. You can switch between all of the types on a weekend and see what you prefer, but honestly cut the crap and get CyanogenMod 6.1 RC4, if not wait for the final version.

Can't comment on the rest because I haven't unlocked it yet (looking for a way right now) and I suck at cellphone radio things. But good luck!

 

[n7of9]

oh, it's good to know it's easy to switch between different UI's, thanks

 

[justme8800]

1. has anyone else gone from Desire to G2? your thoughts?
2. do those $10 ebay network unlock codes actually work?
3. is rooting the G2 easy? i haven't bothered rooting my Desire as it is unlocked and i never had a need to
4. what will i be missing from not have Sense? is it just the pinch-to-zoom?
5. i've never used stock android, are there are discernible differences?

1. I haven't gone directly from Desire to G2, but I was looking at importing a Desire before they announced the G2. The main differences would be the keyboard, the soft keys, sense, weight, and speed. The keyboard is nothing but awesome, and the phone is still crazy thin despite having it. The soft keys are a step back from the hard keys on the desire, but they're actually a lot more usable and responsive than the soft keys on, say, the nexus one. Sense... you're not missing anything, provided you upgrade your launcher to something like launcherpro, which IMO is better than sense anyways (although the Desire Z's sense 2.2 features like sense.com and predownloaded maps do look nice). The weight is IMO a good thing, the phone isn't really bigger than other phones, it just feels more solid. And as for speed, the G2 is one of the highest performance phones in the world, better than the Desire a couple times over.

2. They probably do, otherwise they'd be a scam and wouldn't last too long on eBay. Still, I believe that you can just call up and get an official unlock code from T-Mobile, provided you aren't under contract (get the "Even More Plus" plan).

3. From what I understand, it's easy enough. Don't confuse rooting with unlocking, you don't need to do one to do the other.

4&5. Stock Android is relatively clean, responsive, and easy to use. The G2 isn't strictly stock, though, as T-Mobile loads you down with a few uninstallable (short of rooting) bloatware apps like Amazon MP3 and Photobucket. Sense adds a few neat features, but nothing a trip to the app store won't get you as well. If you really decide you prefer sense, you can root the phone and install the Desire Z rom. (Though personally, I can't imagine ever going back to living without launcherpro. Which does, by the way, have pinch to zoom.)



As for other knowledge... did you know that 78557 is conjectured to be the smallest Sierpinski number? Ice hockey goalie Hap Holmes won the Stanley Cup four times, with four different teams, in four different leagues. The Ghost Slug blindly hunts earthworms using blade-shaped teeth.

 

[n7of9]

thanks so much justme...i always much prefer reading stuff from normal users rather than reviews online...i did buy the G2 yesterday, an unlocked one, and can't wait to get my hands on it

i agree about the weight, i had a Nokia N97 before the Desire and i loved the form factor (but OMG what a shit OS!)

stanley cup? is that one of those north american sports you all call a 'world series' but where only 2 countries participate?

 

[djsinco]

Off topic: When we invent the games, we call them what we damn well want to!

 

[andycall]

I went from Desire to G2. Screen quality wise, I feel it is about the same. Desire may have had a bit more saturated colors but I was expecting much less saturation on the non-AMOLED screen which wasn't the case. I am happy with the screen of G2.

As for the performance, I feel G2 is just a bit smoother but not significantly so. I heard the 3d stuff runs quite a bit better but I haven't tried them back-to-back.

You can install Desire Z's Sense UI, so if you really miss the Sense, you have an option.