Thinking of purchasing, need some opinions

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Hey all,
Firstly, if this thread is in the wrong place, then by all means move it. There are specific threads for Android and Wp7 questions, however this does not have to do with either of them specifically.

Anyways, I'm thinking of getting the HD2; I know it's an ageing phone but it seems to do the impossible

My reasons are
1) I'm looking for a phone to tie me over until I can afford a more "Upgrade-y" kind of upgrade, specs wise it is a downgrade from my current phone.
2) I love tinkering with phones and using the latest builds of whatever this baby runs. Unfortunately I'm no dev but maybe I'll get to it some day. Anyways, this will be more or less a toy for me, and perhaps even an educational tool.
3) I've gone through a lot of phones and I tend to get somewhat bored with them, which is why I cycle through them pretty often. The amazing HD2 runs so many things I doubt I'm going to get bored.

Anyways, I would like some user opinions on the usability of this phone. I realize that using the latest Jelly Bean build or whatnot will probably be slow and sluggish, and that's usually fine (as long as it's not slow to the point where it's unusable) but at times I will need stable roms. I'd like to know how performance is on the most stable of roms. I don't use it for games much, only texting and light web browsing, so for these simple tasks I'd expect them to be buttery smooth, but is that how it works in reality? let me know.

Also, aside from the great things I hear about the HD2, I've also heard of a freezing issue that pretty much renders the phone unusable without a hard reboot, and I hear it is due to the CPU overheating. I'm not sure if this is such a common issue but please let me know.

Finally, how does this perform with day to day functions? Screen legibility, speaker volume, responsiveness, battery life, etc...

Thanks a ton!

-Dillon

I had no problems using the HD2 until the digitizer died on me (common issue).. Screen legibility is great on such a huge screen, speaker volume is good, responsiveness is good, and battery life is decent. I could get through an entire day with some calls, some games, some texting and still have ~40% left. The performance is great on most roms I have tried. All AOSP/CM/etc ICS, GB, and Froyo are all very smooth. Even the sense roms ported over from newer devices are butter smooth. There are so many choices, you can practically flash a new rom every week and won't be bored by the end of the year.

Hey, thanks for the reply.
Do you know what the digitizer problem is caused by? Perhaps I can prevent it. But if I can't, would buying a new digitizer fix the problem?

Sent from my Kindle Fire using xda app-developers app

No problem, the digitizer problem is caused by the digitizer flex ribbon physically wearing out over time. It only occurs because the "end call/power" button is directly on top of that flex ribbon.. You can avoid this by not using the power button at all and use an app that emulates that button to turn off your phone. Buying a new digitizer will fix the problem, but if you have never opened the HD2 before, best to pay a professional to do it since it is a pain in the arse to disassemble and assemble..

Been using an HD2 for a good while and basically I would have to think very caerfully before upgrading. It does everything I need and does most things very well indeed. If you can find one at a good s/h price I'd say go for it.

Advantages:
Good screen for Internet browsing,etc.
Gorilla glass so reasonably damage-resistant.
One of the best phone cameras I've used, can be tweaked even further, see hacks.
GPS and magnetic compass.
Plays music even when in standby.
NOT WM7 so you don't have to encrypt the microSD card.
Stable. Runs for weeks without crashing.

Disadvantages:
A bit large. (I keep mine in a shirt pocket, which I find works well.)
Needs charging daily if you use it a lot. (Spare batts are cheap though)
Limited RAM, therefore don't open too many apps at once.
OS WM6.5, less easy to use than Android, though plenty free apps available.

Major annoyance:
Random dialling when on phone screen, due to static or a shirtsleeve-touch. Wish I could find a way to remove that speed-dial background list which seems to be the culprit. Basically, NEVER leave the thing on the phone screen unless you are in a call.

Minor annoyance:
Badly placed volume keys. Hard to pick up without accidentally changing volume.
Not all headphones are suitable for music use. Some give very inadequate volume.

Originally Posted by IWR

Been using an HD2 for a good while and basically I would have to think very caerfully before upgrading. It does everything I need and does most things very well indeed. If you can find one at a good s/h price I'd say go for it.

Advantages:
Good screen for Internet browsing,etc.
Gorilla glass so reasonably damage-resistant.
One of the best phone cameras I've used, can be tweaked even further, see hacks.
GPS and magnetic compass.
Plays music even when in standby.
NOT WM7 so you don't have to encrypt the microSD card.
Stable. Runs for weeks without crashing.

Disadvantages:
A bit large. (I keep mine in a shirt pocket, which I find works well.)
Needs charging daily if you use it a lot. (Spare batts are cheap though)
Limited RAM, therefore don't open too many apps at once.
OS WM6.5, less easy to use than Android, though plenty free apps available.

Major annoyance:
Random dialling when on phone screen, due to static or a shirtsleeve-touch. Wish I could find a way to remove that speed-dial background list which seems to be the culprit. Basically, NEVER leave the thing on the phone screen unless you are in a call.

Minor annoyance:
Badly placed volume keys. Hard to pick up without accidentally changing volume.
Not all headphones are suitable for music use. Some give very inadequate volume.

Thanks for the informative response. Did you happen to have the digitizer issue that Jian had, or the overheating issue?
When you said that some headphones were unsuitable for music, was it specifically headphones with a Mic or Volume control on them? Trying to use a pair of Monster Jamz (which had volume/playback control for iPod/iPhone) didn't really give me a "full" sound without pressing on the play/pause button.

Also, all of these things were on WinMo 6.5, correct? Have you tried a WP7 or Android rom?

Had my phone since release date.yep your right, the phone is a Beast!

I cannot recall how many roms, builds, os's whatever you want to call em i have installed in the past year fews and everytime i love my phone even more .i think the only time i will get another phone is if the hardware specs outweigh the hd2 that it cannot cope will a new os ie window8 apparently

Listen, There are thousands of reviews on this website but dont read into it that much. Its all about trial and error and how you go about your own business - by all means read the threads too as common faults do occur- but every phone user is different and alot of factors have an impact ie have you got the right radio installed ,have you got the right SD card? Have you formatted the card properly ie task 29 before installing a new rom have you installed the right files etc all these issues people face are repairable but ultimately,so you will have a different experience than others.

The old windows6.5 rom were absolutely great and fun to customize

Android builds that i tried were up to scratch for everyday use , stability wise, battery life fantastic internt browsing email etc great no lag freezing

Windows7 some battery issues with certain roms and overheating i did come across at first , again if you experience this "trial and error" try another rom, im currently using pdamatejam now for 2months no looking back.. For everyday use, stability excellant, battery life over 24hours etc no lag freezing

Im dualbooting so chopping and changing inbetween android and windows 7 a feature many phones cannot offer.i love the hd2

Note..Newly release build/roms will be unstable when first , thats expected but overtime they become more stable as through feedback from this forum the little errors problems are reticfied -i always wait until these problems are eradicated but everyones different as lot ofpeople like to try new releases roms and leave feedback which is what the dev are asking for-

Another note the SD card ..this is a MASSIVE factor imho which causes many people problems ie boot loops freezing crashing.... I have been through 5different sd card from the start of the hd2 when you stop having problems you know you got the right one, but stay away from fakes Period.

Good luck

Thanks a ton guys
I've another question; Should I get the TMOUS phone for it's bigger ROM capacity? If so, how can I even tell if it has more ROM than the regular? All T-Mobile phones are like that?

Originally Posted by DillonBladez

Thanks a ton guys
I've another question; Should I get the TMOUS phone for it's bigger ROM capacity? If so, how can I even tell if it has more ROM than the regular? All T-Mobile phones are like that?

Yes all tmous have 1gb internal rom. You can tell a tmous by the red+green send+end keys, and it says T-Mobile beneath the ear piece.(and its fractionally longer) They're slightly easier to brick than regular hd2, but only in one particular way (wrong radio) so as long as you know the danger it needn't be a worry.

As for jellybean, in the days since your first post there are now several jb roms that are shaping up to be as good as any previous versions. I'm running jb with my processor UNDER clocked, and barely a hint of lag anywhere.

Thanks for the insight!
This phone really seems to live up to it's name.

What do you guys think of WP8 on the device? I think I read somewhere that it's using a different kernel or something from WP7, and that it's a pain in the ass to get it to work with new hardware that it wasn't meant for.