It's big. This thing is huge. Although the online specs for the EVO were just a mere 0.3 inches larger in width and height compared to the iPhone, that small difference makes my fingers have to stretch just a bit more than is comfortable. Luckily, I don't use the phone with one hand very much. Although dubbed a "cellphone", I prefer the term "personal communication device". The amount of time I actually use the phone for talking is very small compared to data and texting. So the size thing doesn't bother me much.

What does bother me is the delay in response time when selecting an app or switching screens. For the much touted Snapdragon processor this thing has, I expected a much zippier response. I'm learning online that this is a known and widespread issue which should be fixed with a firmware update. Eventually.

My other gripe is in the roundabout way I managed to load my massive multimedia. I admit I've been reliant upon iTunes for a while now. I have it on my desktop, my media PC, my laptop, and of course on my iPhone. With the sharing option I maintained one set of playlists and used them with all devices. My Android powered device is not so easily maintained. I did eventually decide to use Double Twist. I was able to import my iTunes playlists using the program features. And to my surprise the music videos I had purchased with iTunes did work with my EVO. Well, most of them anyway. The videos I purchased with the iTunes Plus DRM free option work on the EVO. A claim that for some reason I assumed iTunes lied about.

It took 6 HOURS to load the media. Seriously. I timed it. Granted, since the first load it has been much quicker in updating. It's down to about an hour now. It's not like I was trying to load lots of data either. The EVO ships with a pretty generous 8GB mini SD card. I had 2 and a half Gigs left when I was done. So why the long load time? In some Double Twist reviews it mentions the software converts on the fly. Meaning, as it's loading media it will convert to a file format needed for the device. Pretty nice, but still a pain in the ass when I just want to add a few songs to the playlist.

So now I have griped about the minuses of the EVO. Let me tell you the rest. I LOVE the phone. The interface is beautiful. As someone who learned about Windows back in the day through the need to make it pretty (wallpapers, icons, sounds, etc.) going from an iPhone to the EVO has been a blast. It never occurred to me while I was using the iPhone to question how locked down everything is. The minute I turned on the EVO I felt the shroud of chains around my neck releasing. I cannot tell you how many times I turned the device off and then back on just to see the animated weather clouds or rain graphics scroll across the home screen. Eventually I had to stop that as I realized how quickly the battery was draining, yet another flaw I cluck my tongue at.

The app store is not as polished as Apple's but is fully functional, search able, and teeming with bikini babes should your taste run there. I don't love the Amazon MP3 option. I do miss iTunes in that respect. For a moment I thought I had found a good compromise in Napster mobile only to find that my "device or carrier does not allow for over the air downloads of media". So much for that. I guess Amazon MP3 mobile is my only option. Until the premiere of Google Music that is. Dun, dun, dun.....