Sorry if this post gets wordy. 
I started using Virgin Mobile with the LG Optimus V. It was my second Android phone and I was very pleased with it. The screensize may have been small, but at the time it didn't seem it, and although the specs weren't great, it operated very smoothly and ran most apps well. The only major gripe I had with it was the internal memory. On the stock ROM I was running out of space constantly.
Then I upgraded to the Triumph and loved it. The larger screen alone was worth the upgrade, but the faster processor and ability to run better games was a nice bonus. And having a full gig of internal space for apps meant I never ran out of memory.
However, it wasn't without issues. The screen, although large and vivid, often became unresponsive. I'd have to tap it a number of times to get a response. The same was true of the soft buttons at the bottom of the screen. And the other major issue was the GPS. It just didn't work. There were supposed fixes for rooted phones, and apps you could run to get it to connect, but they didn't seem to work for me.
The Triumph was the best that Virgin Mobile had to offer at the time in my opinion, but I was excited to see the Evo 3D coming.
And finally, the Evo V:
Amazing, in my opinion. Going from the triumph there are a few things that I instantly loved about it.
The first is the screen. It's technically larger, but I didn't really notice a change in side. It's certainly not as noticeable as the jump from the Optimus to the Triumph. But the responsiveness of it is a huge improvement over the Triumph. I love the fact that I no longer have to tap-tap-tap at times to get it to respond.
The screen also seems a bit crisper, but I don't really see much difference.
The next improvement is the GPS. Just being able to open the Google Maps app and have it find my location in seconds is a wonderful thing.
The phone is heavier than the Triumph, which may seem like a bad thing, but I like the weight of it. It feels more solid in my opinion.
I've only had the phone for the weekend, so I haven't had much of a chance to test out any high-end apps on it. But it runs fairly smooth overall, I don't think I'll be disappointed by it's performance.
Battery life is fantastic so far. They say Android takes a while to "learn" your usage and adjust system settings to conserve battery. But even out of the box I'm getting far better life than I had with the Triumph.
And the last major benefit to the update in my opinion: ICS. I love that the phone comes with (almost) the latest version of Android. No longer do I have to install a custom ROM with missing features and glitches. Don't get me wrong, I love the modding communities that spring up for all of the Android devices. They've made some amazing ROMs and tweaks for each device I've owned. But it's also nice to have an official software installed that I'm happy with (for now ).
And now for the minor negatives on the Evo V:
The first is somewhat of a pain: the power button. It's a bit too recessed and isn't very easy to press. You have to hit it right in the middle, if you try to press down on either side it doesn't budge. I've already seen someone posting a fix for this, by taking off the back and putting a small strip of tape over the button, but it's still a design flaw.
And a very picky issue I have with the phone is the case design and button layout. I like the overall feel of the Evo V over the Triumph, the nice curved, textured back. It just fits in my hand better. Yet I don't like the placement of the side buttons and micro usb port. My thumb is always sitting somewhere around the port which is a slight annoyance, and my ring finger and pinky are always jostling the (pointless imo) 3d slider.
I for one won't be using the 3D setting very often if ever, so to have a physical switch just seems silly. It could have easily been a software option to turn on and off the rare times people use it.
And then there are the soft-keys for home, menu, etc. I know this isn't necessarily the fault of HTC since there are no standards set forth for Android for hardware keys, but by having the Home button on the left instead of Menu is a hard thing to get used to. I now see why the ICS software-based buttons are a good thing, having a standard set of keys between all devices would be wonderful.
These are mostly all minor complaints, but it's the little things that make me happy or displeased.
And although there have been many threads on here stating issues with their Evo V, I'm assuming and hoping that these are the few bad units and not what the majority of the users are experiencing.
TLDR:
I went from the Optimus V (great phone but has a small screen) to the Triumph (Nice large but sometimes unresponsive screen and worthless GPS) and now on the Evo V (Nearly perfect phone in my opinion).
If you're thinking about upgrading from another Android phone to the Evo V, I'd highly recommend it!
I started using Virgin Mobile with the LG Optimus V. It was my second Android phone and I was very pleased with it. The screensize may have been small, but at the time it didn't seem it, and although the specs weren't great, it operated very smoothly and ran most apps well. The only major gripe I had with it was the internal memory. On the stock ROM I was running out of space constantly.
Then I upgraded to the Triumph and loved it. The larger screen alone was worth the upgrade, but the faster processor and ability to run better games was a nice bonus. And having a full gig of internal space for apps meant I never ran out of memory.
However, it wasn't without issues. The screen, although large and vivid, often became unresponsive. I'd have to tap it a number of times to get a response. The same was true of the soft buttons at the bottom of the screen. And the other major issue was the GPS. It just didn't work. There were supposed fixes for rooted phones, and apps you could run to get it to connect, but they didn't seem to work for me.
The Triumph was the best that Virgin Mobile had to offer at the time in my opinion, but I was excited to see the Evo 3D coming.
And finally, the Evo V:
Amazing, in my opinion. Going from the triumph there are a few things that I instantly loved about it.
The first is the screen. It's technically larger, but I didn't really notice a change in side. It's certainly not as noticeable as the jump from the Optimus to the Triumph. But the responsiveness of it is a huge improvement over the Triumph. I love the fact that I no longer have to tap-tap-tap at times to get it to respond.
The screen also seems a bit crisper, but I don't really see much difference.
The next improvement is the GPS. Just being able to open the Google Maps app and have it find my location in seconds is a wonderful thing.
The phone is heavier than the Triumph, which may seem like a bad thing, but I like the weight of it. It feels more solid in my opinion.
I've only had the phone for the weekend, so I haven't had much of a chance to test out any high-end apps on it. But it runs fairly smooth overall, I don't think I'll be disappointed by it's performance.
Battery life is fantastic so far. They say Android takes a while to "learn" your usage and adjust system settings to conserve battery. But even out of the box I'm getting far better life than I had with the Triumph.
And the last major benefit to the update in my opinion: ICS. I love that the phone comes with (almost) the latest version of Android. No longer do I have to install a custom ROM with missing features and glitches. Don't get me wrong, I love the modding communities that spring up for all of the Android devices. They've made some amazing ROMs and tweaks for each device I've owned. But it's also nice to have an official software installed that I'm happy with (for now
).And now for the minor negatives on the Evo V:
The first is somewhat of a pain: the power button. It's a bit too recessed and isn't very easy to press. You have to hit it right in the middle, if you try to press down on either side it doesn't budge. I've already seen someone posting a fix for this, by taking off the back and putting a small strip of tape over the button, but it's still a design flaw.
And a very picky issue I have with the phone is the case design and button layout. I like the overall feel of the Evo V over the Triumph, the nice curved, textured back. It just fits in my hand better. Yet I don't like the placement of the side buttons and micro usb port. My thumb is always sitting somewhere around the port which is a slight annoyance, and my ring finger and pinky are always jostling the (pointless imo) 3d slider.
I for one won't be using the 3D setting very often if ever, so to have a physical switch just seems silly. It could have easily been a software option to turn on and off the rare times people use it.
And then there are the soft-keys for home, menu, etc. I know this isn't necessarily the fault of HTC since there are no standards set forth for Android for hardware keys, but by having the Home button on the left instead of Menu is a hard thing to get used to. I now see why the ICS software-based buttons are a good thing, having a standard set of keys between all devices would be wonderful.
These are mostly all minor complaints, but it's the little things that make me happy or displeased.
And although there have been many threads on here stating issues with their Evo V, I'm assuming and hoping that these are the few bad units and not what the majority of the users are experiencing.
TLDR:
I went from the Optimus V (great phone but has a small screen) to the Triumph (Nice large but sometimes unresponsive screen and worthless GPS) and now on the Evo V (Nearly perfect phone in my opinion).
If you're thinking about upgrading from another Android phone to the Evo V, I'd highly recommend it!
The switch is silly too, like you said.
