Epic Noob Question

[QMaverick]

Currently I am running a Droid 1 with Gingerbread installed thanks to Peter Alfonso. I love it. I don't love Verizon and a lot of the new crap they are pulling. Sprint is also cheaper per month if my wife and I both switch. I'm contemplating the Epic 4G.

Originally, I was thinking the Evo 4G Shift, but I REALLY want the front-facing camera.

So, I have four questions:

1.) Is the bootloader locked? I want to be able to install ROMs made from the Google SDK, like my current Gingerbread port, if at all possible. I see, after searching the forums, there are a lot of custom ROMs, but I'm not sure whether these are built of Samsung releases (like Droid 2 ROMs are Motorola), or built from Google SDKs.

2.) Is there a good stock ROM out there? I really, really don't like Touchwhiz.

3.) How has the keyboard mechanism held up for you guys? I insist on a physical keyboard because I like to play some old school games (Angband) that'd be really difficult without it. I'm also quicker on one.

4.) How is the camera for video-calls? It has kind of a low resolution, but if it's optimized correctly, that shouldn't matter TOO much. What's your experience?


Thanks in advance guys!

 

[dtm_stretch]

Currently I am running a Droid 1 with Gingerbread installed thanks to Peter Alfonso. I love it. I don't love Verizon and a lot of the new crap they are pulling. Sprint is also cheaper per month if my wife and I both switch. I'm contemplating the Epic 4G.

Originally, I was thinking the Evo 4G Shift, but I REALLY want the front-facing camera.

So, I have four questions:

1.) Is the bootloader locked? I want to be able to install ROMs made from the Google SDK, like my current Gingerbread port, if at all possible. I see, after searching the forums, there are a lot of custom ROMs, but I'm not sure whether these are built of Samsung releases (like Droid 2 ROMs are Motorola), or built from Google SDKs.

2.) Is there a good stock ROM out there? I really, really don't like Touchwhiz.

3.) How has the keyboard mechanism held up for you guys? I insist on a physical keyboard because I like to play some old school games (Angband) that'd be really difficult without it. I'm also quicker on one.

4.) How is the camera for video-calls? It has kind of a low resolution, but if it's optimized correctly, that shouldn't matter TOO much. What's your experience?


Thanks in advance guys!

1. No locked bootloaders here. Our first gingerbread rom(CM7) just hit alpha so it should be fully functional soon enough.
2. There are some AOSP(vanilla android) roms available.(Check out the rooting section for more info)
3. I have yet to see any post regarding a failed(or loose) slider mechanism it is very stable.
4. Video calls just doesn't quite seem to be there yet; and not because of the quality of front facing camera. It really isn't that bad on wifi but if you are on 3g it isnt great and very laggy.(never tried 4g) I honestly believe video calls is never going to catch on completely.

 

[ttriplett1]

Check out this post for a list of SDK ROMs...

froyo-eb13-roms-kernels-themes-other-mods-updated-3-14-a

 

[RBrown9180]

sprint is also offering $125 credit towards your bill if you switch carriers. I think if you are running the original droid the epic would be a significant upgrade.

 

[QMaverick]

sprint is also offering $125 credit towards your bill if you switch carriers. I think if you are running the original droid the epic would be a significant upgrade.

that's what I'm hoping. I have my OG Droid clocked at 1.1 GHZ running Gingerbread though...so it performs pretty darn nicely. Super AMOLED is tempting though.

That $125 credit is the whole reason I'm considering doing this now.

Thanks for all the info guys.