Need Recommendations

[Kage]

Alright, I'm new to Android (had a pre) though I've got a hero in the house I'm familiar with. I've been reading a lot of topics here and now that I've got my evo (currently charging for its first time off the shelf) I'd appreciate some tips and advice.

I already plan to get an Otterbox
The BB associate put Advanced Task Killer on it and said he personally uses it. He also recommended LaunchPro.

Now, I use my phone a lot and want several things out of it. Firstly.. I'd like to be able to use it throughout the day to check my email without it dying. My pre died in less than 8 hours usually. This had a lot to do with bad signal at my work. I have plenty of signal if I roam, but phones naturally look for their own. If there is a way to fix this.. that'd help.

So.. what are the essential apps and set ups?
I know people will have different opinions, but I'm open to them all. I'd rather go off someone's experience than try things out for myself.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

I would ditch the task killer. A lot of times they cause more problems than they are worth. Launcher Pro is a personal preference. I would use Sense for a while to see if you like how it works (hint: if you like how the Hero works you'll like the EVO).

Otterbox is a good case, if you need that kind of protection. Check out the accessory section for case reviews and recommendations.

See how the battery life is at first (if you're roaming a lot sorry you will probably die quick). There are plenty of threads here and in the hacks section about battery life.

 

[Caitlyn McKenzie]

Slap the Best Buy employee for touching your phone, and remove the task killer. Just because he personally uses it doesn't mean its right (and since he's a Best Buy employee, his knowledge is essentially none).

 

[eldub1]

Yes, dump the task killer.

 

[Kage]

Alright, task killer is scrapped. I noticed a lot of apps like Amazon open themselves even after you close them. Is there a way to prevent this? I figure because I'm going to be roaming... I should set things up properly and prevent battery drainers. I've already adjusted the screen settings and turned off 4G which of course I have no access to as well as GPS, Bluetooth, and Wifi (when I don't have access).

 

[Caitlyn McKenzie]

Alright, task killer is scrapped. I noticed a lot of apps like Amazon open themselves even after you close them. Is there a way to prevent this? I figure because I'm going to be roaming... I should set things up properly and prevent battery drainers. I've already adjusted the screen settings and turned off 4G which of course I have no access to as well as GPS, Bluetooth, and Wifi (when I don't have access).

Just because they show up doesn't mean they're running. Unless you actively see them using CPU, they're not doing anything. (95% of the apps you'll see in task lists and such are in the background completely suspended, not even running, just cached)

GPS doesn't need to be disabled unless you don't want it to work when you need it GPS is completely powered off whenever you're not using it. You can tell when it's active when a satellite icon pops up in the notification bar at the top.

 

[emeraldayotte]

I also came from a Pre. Glad you got rid of the task killer. I've been using Juice Defender and been getting pretty decent battery life.

Juice Defender does nothing more than try to connect to WIFI whenever possible and regulate your data connection. It does the common sense stuff that I'm to lazy to keep up with. Also my email is set to manual during off-peek times (weekends and after 6pm).

With those two I've been getting decent battery life.

Sent from my HTC Evo using Tapatalk

 

[DonnaJ415]

Three words : Seidio 3500MAh battery

I Love my Evo

 

[Jerzyiroc]

Slap the Best Buy employee for touching your phone, and remove the task killer. Just because he personally uses it doesn't mean its right (and since he's a Best Buy employee, his knowledge is essentially none).

LMAO. Ya seriously. Big no no. Vin dizzly knows his stuff. Task killer is a mess and he's dead on about the GPS. I don't turn anything off. Mobile is always on, GPS is always on, I have stuff syncing all the time. I get great battery life. For future reference, if you buy a phone from Best Buy, purchase, then run. Run as fast as you can.

 

[olemil#AC]

Three words : Seidio 3500MAh battery

I Love my Evo

I'll second that Donna....big time!! AWESOME battery! Instead of going hours before charging, you go days with this battery before charging. Makes the EVO a complete package hands down.

 

[Kage]

Yesterday with only a few minor changes.. I used my evo for 6.5 hours straight. It was heavy usage (music streaming, downloading apps, setting things up, and testing things out like the trillian beta). I did not put the phone down and only managed to get it down to 20% battery. Already that is a major improvement in comparison to my pre which wouldn't last 1/3 of that. I had wifi the whole day which is probably why I did so well, but I am confident that I'll make it through the average work day with plenty of juice..

I love my evo