6 Months with EVO...Review

[Baker]

I will say that as much hype as this phone received and as much as I liked it at the beginning, it just keeps on impressing me. *The mobile hotspot feature is probably what makes it most attractive to boaters. *Instead of having an aircard or anything of that nature, you can simply tether your computer through your phone WIRELESSLY. *It is very simple to use and it just works. *Up to 8 devices can tether at one time. *I have only done 3 at once but it worked just fine....even as my niece was playing games on it and as I had to use it as a camera all at the same time. *I have seen speeds up to 2mbps(probably about a 1mbps average) on 3 g and all the way to 8mbps(about 3-4mbps average) on 4g!!!

Also, there is a wonderful Navionics app that turns your phone into a chartplotter. *Obviously this would not be your primary chartplotter and maybe not even your secondary, but it IS on your person at all times and if you ever need it, it is there. *I have used it while OPB(Other People's Boats) and it can be of assistance in those situations.


Anyway, it is VERY rare that a technological device can be released and still be at the top of the pack 6 months later(I am including other phones at the top here as well although I do personally believe EVO to be the best). *The designers of these latest phones have really outdone themselves.... *I thought that come Xmas season there was going to be a whole new round of devices....but none really in the rumor mill(surprisingly).


In summary, if you spend a lot of time on the hook coastally, this is quite a powerful device if you wish to maintain connectivity while at anchor.


AND...Sprint is the only only service provider that I am aware of that gives you true unlimited data. *All of the others have data caps... *So you can stream away....Netflix....Pandora...whatever. *You do that on Verizon and you will have a very nice surprise come bill time.


-- Edited by Baker on Tuesday 7th of December 2010 11:24:02 AM

 

[Codger2]

Ditto....Ditto....Ditto....
I can't begin to list all the advantages of EVO as John did but my wife and I can't imagine any phone doing more! This "device" has added safety to our land and sea trips.

 

[Tidahapah]

Don't know if I can get all those gismos here in Aus.
But (when my I phone comes back from repairer) the hand held chart plotter would be good.
It would probably be terrific in helping me get back to the boat from the Pub.

Benn

 

[Delfin]

For those who find Sprint's coverage weak, as I do, the Verizon Droid X is a similar droid platform.* I trialed both, seeking an alternative to my iPhone that was tapping into an increasingly overloaded network.* By way of comparison, I felt the Droid was better mechanically - having buttons for key functions rather than soft keys.* Also, the battery life I experienced with the EVO was pretty minimal, whereas the Droid will go a couple of days with normal usage.* Both have some cools aps, and the one that turns the phone into a computer in a network with Internet access so your laptop can go online is way better than the iPhone equivalent.* Both droid platform phones are great, but I'm pretty happy with the Verizon version.

For what its worth.

 

[Baker]

The Droid X and iPhone were certainly the phones I was referring to when I was saying "top of the pack" devices. I wasn't aware that the iPhone was able to tether wirelessly??? *To each their own on the soft keys...I thought the Droid keys felt cheap and the EVO soft keys work perfectly....but that is a personal preference. In the end, if a particular carrier has poor coverage in your area, it doesn't matter how good their device selection is. You have to go with the carrier that provides you coverage. Verizon has the best network....but you pay for it!!!! *And teh peace of mind that comes with not having to worry about data overages is quite nice with Sprint. *Hopefully they will continue to offer that feature going forward.

-- Edited by Baker on Wednesday 8th of December 2010 07:04:53 AM

 

[Woodsong]

I love my iPhone as a handheld computer but as a phone it is terrible! I have NEVER had as many dropped calls in my life as I have had with this dumb iPhone and i was an AT&T customer via my blackberry for 5 years prior to getting my iphone this summer. So far I am not really liking it much at all.
How long does your battery last on the Evo?

 

[Baker]

Mine will easily last all day. In a phone as capable as these phones are, you can't ask for anything other than getting you through the day. I admit, I rooted my phone (jailbreak) which allows your more control over how the phone operates....and allows you wireless tether for free... The EVO got a bad wrap on battery life when it came out but as people learned how to set it up, it works perfectly fine. And with a rooted phone you can actually set profiles with how the CPU operates. I do not feel the need to do this since my battery lasts all day and then some. Wireless tether will smoke the battery as will certain games. But if you use it mostly as a phone, it will last for dayS. I do have a custom "ROM" that maximizes battery life. Ironically, there is a custom ROM that is made to look and operate just like the iPhone....I have it on the SD card in my phone but have never installed it. I might give it a go today just because...

. The newest Android phones are impressive devices!!!....so much so that they are 6 months old and still remain at the top of the heap with no rumors of replacements...YET!!! I am already up for an upgrade(paid full price) and it will take a lot to pry this thing outta my hands. Minor improvements aren't gonna cut it. It better be dual core and/or something at least 1.5 gigs or better!!! Obviously battery life becomes an issue with more powerful processors. And Woodsong, it is the best PHONE I have ever had. Not only do iPhones suck on the users end, but I hate calling and talking to people with iPhones....the call quality on the other end sucks too!!! It sounds like they are in a tin can!!! Anyway, as the iPhone "proliferates" to other carriers, we will see if that helps...I hope so. I am an EVO guru so feel free to ask any questions.

 

[Delfin]

John, you mentioned you had to jailbreak your Evo to allow it to tether for free, or did I misunderstand?* I'm using PDANet on my Droid X, which is a free download, works better than Verizon's $20/month hotspot function, and allows seamless tethering w/o jailbreaking.* I had to keep my iPhone jailbroken to retain tethering, which meant I couldn't update the software - a major pain.

The reason the AT&T network blows in many, but not all areas is because they stopped investing in maintaining the G3 equipment focusing their $ on next gen and next next gen platforms.* Regardless, mine became unusable as a piece of business equipment.* Not sure what was wrong with the EVO I trialed for a month, but the battery life was 6 hours.* Obviously fixed now....

 

[JD]

Baker,

I looked at Sprint but here in NC the coverage is so much better with Verizon.* So I kept Verizon and got the Motorola Droid X.* We had only 3G when I got it a couple of months ago but it works great non the less.* Our issue is down at the boat and so far it seems to perform well as a phone and a tether.* The phone itself warns that it will use battery life up if not plugged in when in the wifi mode.* The Android plate form is King* end of story.* It blows away anything I have seen and I'm sure there are differences as to the type of phones but it is so far ahead of other systems that any Android is just going to be better.

It may be true as you said about the unlimited time but I had that discussion with the folks at Verizon and they assured me that unless I watch movies a lot or am a gamer, neither of which I do that they allowed air time will be enough.* So far my bill has gone down from having the Air card.

They just went to 4G (naturally) so we may just move the wife to 4G and check out the differences to see if it is that much better for what we do with the phones.* My other option is to move the wife to Sprint and then compare the service when at the boat.* Sprint gives one month to drop the plane and return the phone so I can keep my wife on my plan and*sign her up on Sprint with a new plan, then move her number to Sprint after the one month trial if we like it or just drop it.

 

[Baker]

Delfin wrote:

John, you mentioned you had to jailbreak your Evo to allow it to tether for free, or did I misunderstand?* I'm using PDANet on my Droid X, which is a free download, works better than Verizon's $20/month hotspot function, and allows seamless tethering w/o jailbreaking.* I had to keep my iPhone jailbroken to retain tethering, which meant I couldn't update the software - a major pain.

The reason the AT&T network blows in many, but not all areas is because they stopped investing in maintaining the G3 equipment focusing their $ on next gen and next next gen platforms.* Regardless, mine became unusable as a piece of business equipment.* Not sure what was wrong with the EVO I trialed for a month, but the battery life was 6 hours.* Obviously fixed now....

PDAnet is a WIRED tether(maybe it supports wireless tether now[bluetooth]...I don't know)....and it is only free for http sites and not httpS sites. *I have used it before and it is not bad. *And the paid version is well worth it for only 10 bucks. *I do a lot on secured sites so the free version wouldn't cut it. *And one of the nice things about Android is the developers will base their ROMs on the most current software...so no need to unroot to accept an update. *You just install a ROM based on the most current software. *Ironically, root users generally get te most updated software before the carrier pushes out the software. *Google generally releases the code well in advance of the carrier pushing it out and many times it is leaked before that. *The developers are already jackin' around with the latest version of Android(Gingerbread...2.3) and I could install a (very) beta version of it on my phone right now just to see what it looks like although it isn't working all that smoothly yet. *Those developer dudes are nuts.

JD, the folks at Verizon are gonna tell you what you want to hear......and for the most part, they are correct. *Verizon allows 2 gigs(I think) and the average user will stay below that. *I am an above average user(not by much) and still linger around that 2 gig mark....although I have gone above that a few times. *I have downloaded a 200mb file before ....10% of your usage is blown in one sitting. *When you tether you can burn up bandwidth because you are going to full sites versus sites formatted for a phone.... *A root app called "Wireless Tether" actually talleys your data usage right there on the screen....and it is not at all uncommon for me to use 100s of MBs in one sitting. *Anyway, just a peace of mind thing.

*





-- Edited by Baker on Wednesday 8th of December 2010 09:09:05 AM

 

[JD]

Baker wrote:

JD, the folks at Verizon are gonna tell you what you want to hear......and for the most part, they are correct.**

*Anyway, just a peace of mind thing.*

John

You are 100% correct on both counts, but the peace of mind with no coverage is not worth much.* So we will try the experiment and see how it shakes out.

Thanks for the site and all of your help.* Now make sure you aren't streaming while sitting in that second seat.

*

 

[Baker]

Yep....you gotta have coverage!!!! *And Sprint is usually significantly cheaper!!! *Calls to ANY celphones are free....not just Sprint phones....so you can survive on a plan with lower minutes as the only thing that counts against your minutes are calls to landlines. *Hopefully it will work for y'all.

-- Edited by Baker on Wednesday 8th of December 2010 09:19:38 AM

 

[Phil Fill]

All smart phones of really small computers, and like computers you have to close applications.* So if your smart phone is slow degrading its proable becaseu you have to many applications open/running.


*
As for which phone is the best that is up to you personally.* The only business phone I allow is the Blackberry, and we use Verizon.* Being I am not interest in personal applications it has the best over all coverage, international calling, allow company and personal emails, and tethering to a computer.* As to applications I believe, but I will check it more based on the carrier rather than the actual phone?*


*
I drop my phone, who guessed it in the water!* So I have a new Blackberry Storm with soft keys which I really did not like but after several weeks I am sort of getting use to it.*But those of*us have long finger nails the hard keys would be better, as the soft keys require the touch of your finger.******

 

[Baker]

PF...the Blackberry is still king of pushing email!

 

[Carey]

Baker wrote:

PF...the Blackberry is still king of pushing email!

JohnI don't know the EVO, but I have to say I love my Blackberry and Sprint. Sprints service works well for me nearly everywhere I go, and as you say, the pricing is the best. We have two Blackberry's with unlimited data plan, and a thousand shared minutes of talk time. Due to the free cell to cell, we never exceed our minutes. We only pay $130 a month for the two phones. The same service from AT&T with iphone would be $200. I really can't complain about the phone or service at all.

*