Database Users

Handled The Beast Today

My persistent knocking on the doors of mobile phone providers within a 30 mile radius from my home finally paid off today when I finally managed to get my hands on a HD2 (hoorah).
I have always said that there is no way on earth I would spend over £500 ona sim free device without first seeing one in the metal and testing it out. No one in their right mind buys a house or car without first seeing it and, if appropriate, testing it out before buying.
First Impressions:
Even though I had seen a dummy earlier, the size of the screen does come as a bit of a surprise. However this is a very thin device which makes the whole thing just about manageable. It is not quite as in-your-face, size-wise, as, say, the Toshiba TG01. Be aware though that there is absolutely a shedload of real screen estate to play with on the HD2.
Build quality looked very good. The back plate looks like a well machined item. I tweaked the keys around a little but did not experience the "wobble" that others have talked about.
The screen is a fingerprint magnet of the first order; however it is nothing a quick blow of hot, moist breath and a clean handkerchief can't cure very quickly. Maybe an appropriate screen protector might be helpful; however I cannot confirm.
Something else that was immediately apparent was just how fast the device is. Apps opened near instantaneously and the device was simply a joy to use.
The camera was rather interesting: as a brand new device, straight out of the box and booted up for the first time, the camera screen started up with a pink hue across the whole of the screen. I immediately thought of the pink issue that a lot of people have spoken about. However after about a minute the camera settled down and the pinkish hue cleared up.
The guy from o2 said that he had seen this start-up effect on all of the cameras he had seen/used/demonstrated/sold to date so I am assuming that this is "feature" of the device.
All the shots I took (indoors in artificial light) came out just fine and the quality, to my eyes, was good as far as camera's on mobile phones go.
I did not find the lack of a hardware camera button a problem. The fact is I actually preferred the on-screen shutter button; seemed pretty cool and effective.
The Keyboard:
I opened up MS Word and moved onto the dreaded keyboard.
Within a couple of seconds I could clearly see why some of you have given up on this device and sent it back. The keyboard out of the box is awful and stringing 2 words together was a real pain. However switch off the T9 function and the keyboard is transformed into something very very useful.
Yes, you have to be quite accurate with your fingers. I found I got the best results using my fingertips pointing near vertically downwards rather than horizontal and flat. The former method presents a narrow minimal area of the finger to the keyboard, resulting in reasonable/acceptable accuracy, while the latter method simply created problems, pulling in adjacent letters to the ones I wanted to use on nearly every occasion.
The key here is that, given I had no more than a half hour with the device, I found that I made no more mistakes with this keyboard, at no greater frequency, than I do now with my resistive keyboard on my TYTN, which I have had for over 3 years.
I did not get a chance to test the voice, email or sms functions as I did not have the time. Therefore I am unable to verify whether the problems others have mentioned were present in the device I tested or not.
Availability:
It is difficult to work out what the strategy is with the supply of this device. The 3 o2 shops I went into had only received 2 devices each! 2 out of the 3 shops had sold them on within a day and the 3rd, where I did my test, had 1 left.
None of the shops could confirm for certain when their next supplies would be in or how many handsets they would get. Each one suggested contacting them on a regular basis to see what the position is.
For me, given that this is a device in demand at probably the most advantageous marketing point in the year, i.e. the run up to Christmas, I cannot understand why there is so much uncertainty around the supply chain.
What Next?:
Now that I have finally laid my hands on the device, the key question I had to address was this; given all the horror stories on here about various problems, etc, was it sensible for me to become another early adopter given that this device will be used for business purposes where reliability is essential.
The decision I have made is, given the work currently being undertaken by C'monex and others coupled with custom roms already in the pipeline, plus the hints and tips thread in this forum, on balance I think it is just about worth the risk me jumping in and purchasing a device.
I was at this point 3 years ago when I first purchased my TyTN. To this day I consider it an absolute miracle that the device did not end its days under a hammer within the first week of ownership, so appallingly awful was that device straight out of the box.
Over time, and with a lot of people doing sterling work on here, things turned around to the point where I have a device that is rock solid stable, reliable and good to use.
I would strongly suggest that if anyone is considering buying this device, they find a live model to play with first before making their minds up. I can see why the keyboard could be a real deal breaker although I intend to purchase a capacitive stylus to get around some of the problems I foresee with non-finger friendly winmobile applications.
Conclusion:
This device looks very promising and yes, it does have issues, based on the reports we have seen here on XDA. You need to play with one first before making a decision to buy.
The keyboard is very different to a resistive one and requires patience, perseverance and good technique to get the best out of it.
I did not have enough time to have an exhaustive, comprehensive play with the device; however I have seen enough to determine that, on balance, and based on emerging developments here on XDA, I could live with it. Besides my current device is now long in the tooth and needs replacing.
The only fear I have is that once I have paid out my hard earned cash for this device, HTC bring out an Android HD2-like device using the snapdragon processor, which is really what I would prefer.
My order for a HD2 plus a HTC Hero goes in next week, depending on stock availability in the UK.
I hope this quick walk through is helpful to those who are trying to make a decision on this device, one way or another.
WB

Thanks WB for this excellent overview - certainly more down to earth and focused than most reviewers who don't know what to expect in HTC phones.
I too had a similar experience to your TYTN when I purchased my Polaris. Mine nearly took a high dive from the 30th floor of an office block when I got it. However in February this year, I installed epimazzo's KhanX ROM and didn't touch it again given how stable and usable everything was.
I've been watching the Leo forum closely for the past two weeks and I can see some of the top cookers hovering and waiting to pounce (oh, Hard SPL, wherefore art thou?). This device has so much potential and is so exciting that I purchased mine sight unseen.
The bugs and wrinkles are...ahem...par for the course if you buy a HTC phone these days. To my mind, there is nothing that appears insurmountable to the ROM chefs (respect). As I said, the phone has monstrous potential - seems like a solid GPS implementation plus the accelerometer, compass and proximity sensor. Bingo!
I had the option of going for any of the Samsung Omnia II, the Acer F1 and the Toshi phones. But none of those has the depth of support found here on xda (only iPhone comes close in community support). HTC owes many people on this forum in a big way - without it, probably you and I would have sh_tcanned HTC years ago...
And for someone who is always fiddling with my phone every day, the possibility of squeezing performance out of this thing is half the fun. May not suit those who need a perfect phone OOTB (like the iPhone for example).
He says confidently before he hits the SMS lag problem...

Update
Well, since I wrote the short review above and read XDA LEO forums end-to-end so my initial thoughts on jumping in and buying the device faded a little. Part of the problem was the sheer volume of negative noise coming from a number of people on these forums plus the fact that I have been here before with the Tytn, taking a year before I had a device I could both trust and like.
Those painful memories made me think long and hard about jumping in and doing the deed. What I needed to do was to get a sense of perspective and balance which was proving difficult to find on XDA. Also being able to lay hands on a device at will to play with was proving very difficult as the limited stocks becoming available were flying off the shelves as fast as they were coming in. This was at odds with all the negativity I was picking up here.
Now don't get me wrong, I am not knocking people. Those that were brave enough to post their honest views about the device, albeit negative ones, did me a huge favour, despite the fact that most of them faced massive hostility from the masses. What this meant for me was that instead of going into any decision rosy eyed I knew that if I bought into the HD2 world there would be problems to overcome, over and above the usual tweaks that one does because its windows, don't you know?!
Some sense of balance was found via the following polls, which I found to be invaluable:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=598900&highlight=polls (severity of grid display)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=595655&highlight=poll (weird touch-screen behaviour)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=591011&highlight=poll (earpiece and voice quality)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=2075 (HD2 speaker quality)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=592375&highlight=poll (in search of balance).
So, approaching the festive season with the family nagging me to tell them what I wanted for Xmas, I rang a supplier, talked through all the known issues with them, which they were aware of. However the rate of returns on HD2's to them was so small as to be infinitesimal which meant one of 2 things:
- People were buying the device and either liking it or could live with it or
- The supplier wasn't telling me the truth (highly unlikely as I have been using them for a while now).
They were happy enough to agree to take the device back and return my funds if I did not like it either under the 7 day distance selling rules in the UK or by me ringing them up and indicating my preference.
Went back to the family, gave them the news and......a brand new HD2 landed in my sack on Xmas day via Santa Claus. What an amazing guy he is! Someone should offer to have his children for him.
Broke the box open last night, ie Xmas night and despite my anticipation, took time out to charge it up properly. Time spent now conditioning the battery correctly equals solid battery performance later down the line.
Tackled the beast in anger today. It is true to say that in the metal, this is a beautiful piece of engineering. Build quality on my version at least is excellent with none of the wobbly keys and ill fitting screen problems reported by others being noticable.
Went through setting up the device as I want it (yes, its been a long day and I have stopped now), made a complete backup immediately as my master backup, then installed tips no 8, 44, 46, 58 from the hints and tips thread and made another backup, separate from the original. This way if anything goes wrong I can simply roll back to the last successful change.
Points Worth Commenting On:
Keyboard:
The keyboard needs a degree of accuracy to use it successfully. I did not find the sensitivity out of the box an issue at all. Where I had to be absolutely accurate was in keying in my sim unlock code into the phone. Got that wrong too many times but practice will make perfect.
An even greater level of accuracy is required when trying to put ticks into selection boxes, e.g when installing Memmaid. This can prove frustrating as can the process of copying and pasting. I am sure that the capacitive stylus coming out of HTC will help with this "problem".
For me the keyboard works best without T9 switched on. However for sheer speed the Swype keyboard which I have installed is the way to go. Another version of this board (SlideIt) is readily available and I will be moving to that asap as Swype is NOT free-ware nor, as I have just found out, not officially released yet for the windows platform.
Weather Animations:
The weather animations are very good, just the sort of thing a chap needs to gain bragging rights down at the local pub. I have already seen most of the animations today due to the readily changing weather conditions we have had where we live.
Back Cover:
There is a serious but amusing thread on here where someone could not get their back cover off. Having already been through that thread I was not looking forward to my experience. However I can report that as long as you follow the instructions in the guide the cover is pretty easy to take off and put back on.
Overall First Impressions:
There is a hell of a lot to like about the HD2. There are things that I felt needed to change to suit me better. I have altered SMS to show in traditional mode rather than conversation mode as this works best for me.
Twitter and Facebook are of no use to me so these have not been configured.
I have yet to work out how to get the built-in picture viewer to pick up and show my pictures on the external SD card and there are a whole host of other things I have yet to get done. However day 1 has gone very very well indeed.
I will add to this post as I get to know the device a little better. In the meantime I am off to read the full manual to pick up on what else I need to know.
WB
PS: For those interested I am running Rom 1.48 straight out of the box. Not bothered with the SMS fix as I have not had any issues with SMS sending and receiving so far.
I am being meticulous about killing off apps not required but running in the background via the task manager. Also been straight onto the notification queue lock-up problem by installing Memmaid to sort that out.
Need to find a way of making sure that the X button really does kill off these open apps to save valuable memory space.
PPS: Really annoying niggle is after 10 goes I have not been able to put on the HTC screen protector properly. No matter how hard I try, even using a large cardboard piece to smooth it out, I can't get all the air bubbles out. I really want to use the protector but as it stands, I might have to take the risk and ditch it unless someone can pass on a full-proof method for putting the damned thing on properly.
I have never ever had this problem before in all the years I have had of devices that needed their screens protecting.
More updates soon.
WB

Regarding keyboard I recommend to use Swype or Finger Keyboard.

its a support forum 99% of posts here will be problems

wacky.banana said:
The only fear I have is that once I have paid out my hard earned cash for this device, HTC bring out an Android HD2-like device using the snapdragon processor, which is really what I would prefer.
My order for a HD2 plus a HTC Hero goes in next week, depending on stock availability in the UK.
I hope this quick walk through is helpful to those who are trying to make a decision on this device, one way or another.
WB
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Honestly I'd recommend waiting for the Xperia X10 if you want an android device. The HD2 in its current state is not something I'd want to use for everyday business use; it has still got some minor problems that needs addressing.

Toss3 said:
Honestly I'd recommend waiting for the Xperia X10 if you want an android device. The HD2 in its current state is not something I'd want to use for everyday business use; it has still got some minor problems that needs addressing.
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have they sorted the speed of the x10 out yet, last videos i saw it was terrible

sharpey said:
have they sorted the speed of the x10 out yet, last videos i saw it was terrible
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It's still in its beta stages so the software is bound to get faster once they've sorted out the minor bugs. I really doubt Sony would release it in its current state, but considering HTC released a device without proper texting support and awful call quality I can't say I'd be surprised.

Next year HTC brings out the HTC Bravo, it's an Android Phone (V. 2.0) with the snapdragon 1GHz and total similar to the HD2 instead of the 3,7" AMOLED (more than 16 mio colors) display .
I think it's the same as the hd2 just the android version of it
regards
HTC BRAVO: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/08/htc-bravo-pictured-more-lucidly/

sharpey said:
its a support forum 99% of posts here will be problems
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@ sharpey,
Hey fella, merry Xmas to you. If you have been on here as long as I have you would know that XDA is not a support forum but a Developers forum, hence the name XDA-Developers. The conversation and posts used to be about cooked roms, hacking, development of tools and utilities, etc and pushing the technical envelope, NOT coping with people who won't or can't RTFM (read the manual).
It's only in recent times that new users have attempted to change the format and shape of the forum and it has now become, in part, a support forum because people like me like to help other people. Only problem is the noise generated by this process tends to obscure the real nuggets of good information one is looking for before investing in a device like this, e.g, SPL availability and associated development, availability of cooked roms, flexibility of the device from a hacking perspective, and so on. This is what I meant when I said I was looking for a balanced view on here but found it difficult to find what I was looking for although the polls I have linked to also provided useful info.
@ all others,
This thread is just a running update of the journey I went through until I got a HD2. I know there are a lot of people out there who are holding back on buying one as they are confused by how much information/misinformation there is out there on the HD2. All I am doing is sharing my experience in the hope that it helps someone.
Right now the device is 2 days old and I am Just loving it. :. Yes, there are some minor annoyances like the lack of a sent indicator when sms messages are sent; however I trust the device and if I want to be sure I simply look in my sent box to confirm the message is gone.
If you are considering buying a HD2, read this thread plus all the links, read the independent 3rd party reviews then go play with one in the metal, and, if you are happy, go buy one and ENJOY!!
WB

Finally, I sold my HD2 !!

After 3 weeks, I decided that it is over, it was not the device I waited for. The HD2 disappointed me badly. I will not talk to much about the tragedy, but some of the reasons are below:
1- Voice quality pretty bad and distorted, nothing even close to a 300$ handset.
2- SMS are sent when they want, the HTC SMS application lags too much with a few dozens of SMSes.
3- Device is very fast after a Hard Reset but once you start flooding it with applications it slows down significantly.
4- Screen was perfect, until today. I suddenly noticed the screen behaving in a weird way and not responding as expected and less sensitive. Opened notepad and made some tests: It's jittering... why? NO IDEA...
5- The top right side display glass is not totally flush with the side plastic,it's like 0.5mm deeper than the bottom and that worries me.
6-Not worth mentioning it but it's the famous camera problem. Not a major cause but it's making me nervous knowing how much HTC is taking time fixing a what so called software problem.
7- Battery life. Seriously, it's really bad. 8 hours video playback in their dream. with 40mins video playback, the battery drops 15+%
HD2 keeps amazing me day after day with the number of issues I must deal with and who knows what's next. Maybe some of you don't have all of the bugs I mentioned but some other have even more.
For a 900$ unit, that is the price of 2 high-end handset, the HD2 is not worth it. This phone is for sure not a business phone.

Buy Nokia 6700 phone and foget about smartphone and specially about Windows.
If you wish stable - buy simple phone from Nokia. If you wish nice view and great interface - buy Apple. I bough Leo only for fun. And Im happy.

You can see everything to this guy..but he is right about the poor call quality. I had the same on 3 different HTC HD2 units.. cracking and popping!
Nice to see you are able to buy something that suites your needs

Strange...
I have NONE of the problems you listed above.
Except for the camera bug, but that one exists on other phones as well and is not noticeable on most pictures - the camera is still better than most other smartphones.
OK, here's my take:
1- Call quality is really good. Loud and clear, no stuttering whatsoever. Not the best voice quality ever but better than most other smartphones.
2- SMS: I didn't have a problem with SMS, but it seems like some people do. Hovever, disabling HTC Messaging is really easy and the problem is solved. That's really nothing to complain about.
3- Device is ALWAYS fast. Yesterday I saw that I had TomTom running in the background for several days and I didn't even notice it, because the device NEVER slows down, no matter how much stuff you have running and for how long. Other devices, even my iPhone 3G, needed soft resets a lot more often because they became slow.
4- Must be a hardware fault. Things like this can happen, no matter how expensive the phone is.
5- Can't confirm this either. I've NEVER seen such a high build quality on any phone. Any other phone feels like a cheap toy in comparison to the HD2.
6- See above. All HD2' have this, but other phones have it as well and the HD2's camera is still much better than a lot of other smartphone cameras, and it's really among the best cameras you can find in a smartphone.
7- Battery life is not great, but sufficient. Sure, the Touch HD had great battery life and the HD2 can't come close - but still the HD2's battery life is average for a smartphone.
Sure, the HD2 is not perfect, but no other phone is perfect either. The HD2 is certainly THE smartphone that comes closest to being perfect. There is no better one.
And by the way: Don't you think it's a bit stupid to open threads like this?
What makes you think that people care about whether you sell your device or not? There's clearly something wrong with you if you need to post threads like this!

Well, there are alway people that like phones and people that don't like phones.
I like my HD2 very much. It has just two issues from your list. Nr. 6 and Nr. 7.
Ok, Nr. 3 is a "half issue".
The device slows down when too many applications run simultaneously, but not when I install too many. There might be around 20 additional apps on my HD2 and it runs like after a hard-reset. When I launch 5-9 Apps, the device slows down, but that shouldn't be a surprise.
The bottom-line for me is, that the HD2 is almost perfect for me. My List of issues is:
- The photo-issue (we all know what is meant)
- Battery life could be better, even with 1.48 instead of 1.43
- The keyboard reacts on the slightest touch, which is not very comfortable for me while typing. (maybe there is a fix available, if so I didn't find it by now)
- The camera-lens stands out a little from the rest of the device-backside. If they decide that it is necessary, they should have softened the borders more. Maybe with rubber or plastic.
For me there is no showstopper-bug in the device. I hope that one or two issues are resolved by softwareupdates in the future. All over all, I'm quite satisfied with the HD2 and I think the price is OK.

Big mistake. I am on my second HD2 on the o2 1.43 ROM, and now have no issues what-so-ever (touch wood). The first one crashed when using headphones and I couldnt hear the person on the other end when I initiated the call.
Now that I have a fully functioning machine, it is great! You will regret selling it.

DennisMoore said:
The keyboard reacts on the slightest touch, which is not very comfortable for me while typing. (maybe there is a fix available, if so I didn't find it by now).
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There are several fixes for that, I use this one and it makes it a bit easier to type.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=5071018&postcount=430

No device is perfect. The question is: How close to perfect can you get?
What people don't realize, is, that no matter how expensive a phone is, it will never be perfect. And no matter how expensive it is, hardware faults can always happen.
Assuming the 7 issues above exist, how about other phones? I'm sure I could list AT LEAST twice as many issues for ANY other phone - Droid, Satio, iPhone... it doesn't matter, they all have problems and the all have A LOT more problems or limitations that restrain them from being perfect.
You won't get a perfect device, no matter how much you pay - but the HD2 is, in my opinion, by all means the closest you can get to perfect.
If small issues like that SMS bug are already enough to make you sell your device - good luck finding another one, I'm sure you won't because every other phone has much more serious issues!

The problem is that we are too demanding.
I don't have any of those issues: only once I had a SMS that wasn't sent. Rebooted the device and voila... SMS sent.
The voice quality it's very loud, it's always in the minimum, and clear.
Battery, there are not much devices that can perform better. My ancient Raphael had lower life battery, doing the same things.
And the 0.5mm "problem"?!
Just out of curiosity, which phone you consider to be best than the HD2?

Everybody is entitled to their own opinion and to start their own thread. At least he took the time to tell us why he sold his device and whether we agree or disagree with his reasons is not important. Most of us like this device, with all of its shortcomings, and are willing to spend time in optimizing it, others cannot live with that and sell it. Both parties should be respected and treated that way.

maati said:
No device is perfect. The question is: How close to perfect can you get?
What people don't realize, is, that no matter how expensive a phone is, it will never be perfect. And no matter how expensive it is, hardware faults can always happen.
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Click to collapse
Im a member since 2004 and have been with xda and htc since 2003, flashed almost every htc device and work I even for Nokia and never carried a Nokia phone so you need too much time to understand what I mean
XDA BlueAngel, HTC TouchPro2, HTC HD are very good devices.
Search in the Leo forum about the number of faulty, returned, swapped etc. devices and it has not been out for more than 1 month. The rate is a complete failure.
Go read the polls. 27/110 find the earpiece a total worthless crap wherease 27/110 find it good. The other are somehow neutral.. That is 50% of the people ARE NOT happy with it.
Screen jittering: 60% have no problem whatsoever but 40% DO have. If that is good as results, you need to take some math courses.
I do not want a perfect phone, it's just that I am not ready to pay that much for such a buggy high fault rate phone.

maati said:
MOD EDIT - Removed post due to it being pointless
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Listen, this thread is not to annoy anyone. Go read how many threads are like : Do you like the lea? how good is the leo? do you think i should by a leo, leo vs bla bla , is it worth buying the leo.. etc...
Everybody knows that people at HTC read the forum. And when I open a thread complaining, I address my parol to HTC not for smartass people like you. Spar me your advices and comments.

maati said:
No matter how you put it: Threads like this are stupid. They don't help anyone. I respect people who are not satisfied with their device for whatever reason, but I do NOT respect people who need to annoy others by opening stupid threads like this.
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unfortunately I disagree with you on this one. Maybe he just wants to share with this community why he thinks that the HD2 is not a good device and future buyers may do with that whatever they want.
At least he is honest.

maati said:
If you want to complain to HTC, write a message to them.
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Trust me, they are already flooded with tons of e-mails full of complaints

The he should post this in one of the threads already available!
"Use the search before opening a new thread!" also applies to posts like his.

Xeon said:
maati said:
No matter how you put it: Threads like this are stupid. They don't help anyone. I respect people who are not satisfied with their device for whatever reason, but I do NOT respect people who need to annoy others by opening stupid threads like this.
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Did you just call me stupid ? because Im not gonna go that low and answer back...
What your mind doesnt realize because it's limited somehow
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If you say you won't call him stupid, because you won't go that low...then also don't say his mind is limited, its basically the same...
So please stop all this arguing, and saying how bad the HD2 is. I'm not gonna say how good or how bad it is, cause there are always people who think different.

Hi Xeon,
Sounds like you were just unlucky.
I have NONE of the problems you have described except for the camera issue. The fix for the camera is already being tested (according to the Vodafone UK device team) so it should be with us shortly.
This device has totally exceeded my expectations... it is truly epic.
I have been using winmo for many many years (probably about 15 years in total) starting off with PDA's then consolidating my mobile devices into winmo pda phones. Ive been there, seen it and done it ALL with windows mobile.
The HTC HD2 is BY FAR the best device i have ever had the pleasure to work with.

By request I've opened this thread again and cleaned a few posts. If it continues in a flaming manner if will be closed permanently

Going to close this thread now because this is becoming uncivil

Then why is it open again?
So please stop all this arguing, and saying how bad the HD2 is. I'm not gonna say how good or how bad it is, cause there are always people who think different.
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That's the point. Are those thousands of happy users all opening threads to tell everyone how much they like their HD2's? NO.
So why do those few who don't like it think that they must tell everyone?! There's clearly something wrong with people opening threads like this.
Threads like this don't help anyone. If you think they do, then it would be necessary that everyone who likes the device opens a thread as well.
And in general, we don't open threads for things that have been discussed before. This applies to questions and to complaints as well.

Is the Leo really that bad? Advice please!

Hi all,
Well, I'm a bit confused here and slightly disappointed.
After all the hype surrounding the Leo pre-release, I was well up for it when my mobes was due for a contract renewal, but reading the forums and speaking to people such as Vodascum it seems all it not as good as I had hoped. There seem to be loads of people plagued with problems and issues which doesn't seem like a good thing at all.
The phone seems to have an awesome hardware package and an extremely good HTC skin over the WM6.5 base, but is it worth the hassles that people seem to be experiencing? Will WM7 solve everything and make it a true iphone killer?
What are your thoughts? Have you been struck with issues? Is it worth getting in the hope WM7 will make it better? My Diamond is ace, but it's getting old and needs replacement. I previously REALLY wanted a Leo, but I'm not so sure now - help meeee!
Cheers ta.

I love mine, Had the pink spot issue but that was solved with a patch. I have played around with various CookedROMS but have reverted to 1.61 as it seems stable.
Personally, I don't regret all the hassle I went through getting hold of it. and wouldn't hesitate recommending it!
TA

There's more people on this forum that are happy with their HD2 than there are ones that are unhappy with it.
I think you've only seen the 1 sided argument that is unfortunately getting shouted about.
Some people are having a few minor issues, and a smaller number of people are having some major issues, but there's a very large number of people that are having no issues, or very slight ones that they simply don't care about.
For example, the pink hue on photos is so barely noticable on my phone that it really doesn't matter (unless I take a picture of a piece of white paper and then reduce the image size by 80%). Also, I can type like a madman on it, barely making a mistake, but others say it's the worst keyboard in the world (or that it's "KILLING THEM"!!)
The only real way for you to find out is to get one. Most service providers give you 14 days to return something you don't want, and it's a legal requirement to provide at least 7 days, so just get one and have a play. Decide for yourself. No-one can tell you whether you'll like it or not.

I think johncmolyneux pretty much sums it up. I have had/have some problems(Slow loading SMS is the main one) BUT im still a very happy chap. I would only advise you not to get this phone if you don't want to spend time tweaking it. Without installing a few extra apps and making some tweaks here and there i wouldn't be anywhere near as happy. For me thats the main reason i got it. I wanted something i could really play with and customise as opposed to other more locked down devices.

jp_iles said:
Hi all,
...There seem to be loads of people plagued with problems and issues which doesn't seem like a good thing at all....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure I'd say there are "loads of people" who are "plagued with problems". Rather, there seems to be a tiny but vocal minority of people here on this forum who do nothing but complain about issues that the majority of people haven't experienced.
The HD2 is an excellent phone and I'd happily recommend it to anyone.

+1
Myself and a few of the Mods on 4WM have HD2's and they are very good indeed. There are a few users who fiddle with settings, install dodgy tweaks then complain when things go wrong.
Give it a try- hopefully you won't be disappointed

I've not had any problems with mine and I'm very pleased with it indeed. Still running the stock 1.43 ROM with all the hotfixes applied. Go for it. I'm sure you won't regret it.

jp_iles said:
.... I previously REALLY wanted a Leo, but I'm not so sure now - help meeee!
Cheers ta.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
I truly understand your dilemma. Read the threads below then go find yourself a device and play with it.
The key to your decision is this; if you are happy and able to find the time to tweak your device as necessary then you will end up enjoying it. If you don't have the time or are easily frustrated or prefer the simplicity offered by other packages such as Nolia and iphone then DON't buy this phone.
DO NOT buy this phone without playing with one in the metal first.
Hope this helps.
WB
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=595166
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=575604
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=583638

I'm also running the 1.43 stock rom.
I never had any issues with the sms not being sent.
The pink dot is fixed by the patch.
No other bugs for me, this is truly one of the best investments I've done.
People having problems with their phones probably would write here and even start new threads, but as long as the phone is working well there's no reason to write or for that matter, start a new thread just to say "my phone owns". Which is probably why you've got the impression of many people having trouble with their HD2's.
As I said, many people have had the sms-sending issue, which I've never experienced.
The ONLY real bug I have is the slow loading of the SMS's, which I hope will be solved. It does not kill me however.
Funny story, yesterday me and my friend (who has an iPhone) tried skype over our mobiles, as we both have use the GPRS for free but have different operators we finally found a way to call eachother for free.
We first tried skype over WiFi and it worked great. He then turned to the 3G and tried to call me, while Skype told him that this function is not available. So on the iPhone 3G-calling did not work (I don't know if there is a workaround for this or not, it doesn't matter, it's not standard and if you want to make it work you'd have to tweak it which makes the iPhone no better than WinMo).
I then tried the 3G and it worked perfectly.
I really can't see what all this WinMo bashing is about. I've played around with the iPhone and it is so boring, I could never imagine trading my HD2 for the iPhone.

Of 120 who have responded to a poll on the HD2 on this site, 3 had opted to return it, 4 hated it and were stuck with it (I'd bet at least one of those has since recanted), 12 were ambivalent and 89 either liked or loved the device. The balance of nine related to the plans of non-owners of the device, of whom six were keen to get one and three weren't.
You can find the poll and the results here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=592375
jakem is correct in regard to the noisy minority, but then that is only really to be expected - if you have problems you are likely to complain. NeilM may be even closer to the truth in terms of ill-advised 'tweaking'.
There was a surge of slightly suspicious negative postings by very new members that led to speculation around a smear campaign - you pays your money and you takes your choice on that one.
Personally, you would have to prise mine out of my cold, dead hand...

The phone is great - had a Nokia N95 so not familiar with tweaks so ran the HD2 stock 1.43 ROM and it has been fine, fine, fine. Due to useful sites like this, I have got a few of the tweaks on and set the phone up how I like it. Was thinking of an iPhone last year but would not touch one now as it would be rubbish in comparison!
Would recommend you get one, read the manual and take your time before loading lots of apps, etc on it!!

jp_iles, if you loved your Diamond you will certainly love the Leo. I had a Diamond and thought it was awesome, granted battery life was terrible, GPS was inaccurate, camera was rubbish but this didn't stop it being the best phone I've ever owned until now . The Leo does have some problems and can be twitchy but IMO this just adds to it's charm, I'm sure the guys/girls here at XDA will do the same as they did for my Diamond and keep releasing/patching/tweaking stuff which will just evolve the Leo into something even better than it is now.

I had my hd2 for a week. It never ran more than 5 minutes at one time. It is gone in for repair. I will miss it. I will not replace it. Having been an early adopter for more than a decade, I know there is always a price t pay one way or another. My computers, laptops, micro pc, pocket pcs and cell phones have all taken a back seat to this device. Hope this helps you in your decision.

i love my hd2, wouldnt trade it for all the iphones in cupertino.

I absolutely LOVE this phone!
I still have my Touch Pro knocking about and I was using today to do some bits and pieces, it's utterly pants in comparison!! The size of the screen is useless, the resistive screen is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO unresponsive compared to the capacitive on the HD2 (having said that, the ability to accurately "write" using a stylus or your nail is definitely missed).
The speed of the HD2 is just spot on (though I wouldn't turn down "more" speed!). The GPS lock-on time is infinitely better than any other phone/external GPS receiver I have ever used. I don't know what more to say, it's amazing!
I. LOVE. THIS. PHONE.

It is a nice phone, well in my opinion , the
1. build quality seems solid but do not drop this beautiful piece of hardware
2. vibration feedback motor resonates a little but not annoying
3. earpiece and handsfree(back) speaker have irritating resonating sound
4. wired headset produces this irritating resonance as well
5. phone calls made with earpiece or back speaker are too loud
6. phone calls and music do have good quality on both BT carkit and BT stereo headset thus use these when possible
7. when having a call it is still possible to "press" wrong buttons with ears or even when in pocket
8. reliable software
9. nice camera but whitebalance corrects white to be pink
10. gps reception is excellent
well that's about it.
I really would like 3, 4 and 5 corrected.

Thanks for the swift responses peeps, lots of useful thoughts.
I'm still really miffed that Vodascum aren't offering it any more to non-business customers, although I'm sure I got my Diamond when they were only offering it to business customers. Meh - I shall try the "I'm leaving you" trick to get a nice deal out of them. If that doesn't work, I'm off to O2 - we have internal transmitters at work so thats a bonus.
Thanks again.
JP

I'm not sure I'd say there are "loads of people" who are "plagued with problems". Rather, there seems to be a tiny but vocal minority of people here on this forum who do nothing but complain about issues that the majority of people haven't experienced.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. That sums it up perfectly.
Look at this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=592375
75% are happy with the device. Another 10% are ambivalent. That is a better result than the iPhone reached in recent satisfaction surveys - despite that HTC has no reality distortion field like Apple.

Hi
I come from Diamond, then HD and now HD2. The HD2 is the best of all those because it is really very fast and excellent big display. Some thoughts:
1- HD camera is probably a little bit better than HD2 one. HD2 has the flash and this is good, but pictures seem more focused and crispy on HD
2- USB connector is a microUSB, not the worldwide miniUSB. I bought a couple of adaptors on ebay to allow reuse of all my cables at home, work and car
3- Stop the tentation to throw it away after the first hours of usage because you cannot select on the screen list boxes and check boxes! HD2 does not have stylus and it requires a little bit of experience (couple of days) to hit in the right place the small icons or list boxes
But in any case I would never come back to HD.
Regards
Stefano

stefanospizzica said:
2- USB connector is a microUSB, not the worldwide miniUSB. I bought a couple of adaptors on ebay to allow reuse of all my cables at home, work and car
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A few times I heard it was an advantage. Still don't understand why.

Should I get a Leo?

With the HTC being the flagship phone for HTC, there seems to be many issues with this phone which seem very surprising for such an expensive phone.
HTC LEO or Nokia X5

Well, I haven't used an X5, but have had my Leo since thursday afternoon, been non stop using, installing new software / games on it, have not had 1 slow down, screen glitch, battery power has been exellent considering use of the phone I have done (WiFi always on, played games, watched movies music etc...)

dmonuk said:
Well, I haven't used an X5, but have had my Leo since thursday afternoon, been non stop using, installing new software / games on it, have not had 1 slow down, screen glitch, battery power has been exellent considering use of the phone I have done (WiFi always on, played games, watched movies music etc...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank for your reply, very interesting I was reading that the phone is plagued with;
Extreme battery drain issues
Screen glitches
And SLOW performance and lag
ROM flash issues
SMS issues

Most of the problems have been niggles, though there have been a few major issues suffered by some people. It doesn't seem to follow any logical rules who gets one that has problems sending SMS messages, or maybe others that seem to dial by themselves.
All in all it is an excellent device- probably the best HTC have yet released.
Expensive? Not really in comparison to the cost of other SIM free phones when newly released. All the major flagship HTC releases have been in the £500-£600 in the 1st few months, but they do come down eventually.

More expensive means more features, more features means more bugs
But don't worry. HD2 is great phone. Best keyboardless Windows Mobile device. It still is Windows Mobile device, so be warned if you haven't had one.
But if you had WM device and you are looking for new one, and you don't need hardware keyboard, then HD2 is great.
Sure there is many complains here .. but that is what forums like this are for. It's not so bad.

finesse said:
Thank for your reply, very interesting I was reading that the phone is plagued with;
Extreme battery drain issues
Screen glitches
And SLOW performance and lag
ROM flash issues
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Extreme battery drain? No- for a high powered device it lasts quite well. Cetainly better than my previous TG01
Screen Glitches: It is sensitive, but no 'glitches'
Slow performance/lag: Not at all
ROM Flash: Try and install something not designed for it and you may see issues. Stick to the official updates and no bother at all.

Finesse,
If you have seen and used the Nokia then I would go for it. As soon as you come to a device with the premise that it has a host of problems then your future good relationship with that device is lost before it starts!
Seen that so many times on this forum, hence my advice.
WB

I cant really speak for the Nokia x5 as I have never heard of it and dont know what operating system it uses but I have had my HD2 for over a month now with no problems at all. Everything runs smooth, screen looks amazing and games look fantastic.
If you have negative thought then steer clear as in my experience those people create their own problems to meet their own expectations but on the other hand if you are just curious because of other peoples negative comments then I would say dont pay any attention as overall its a fantastic phone and well worth getting. You wouldnt be disapointed and everyone else will drool when you get it out of your pocket. I dont know if you could say the same about a "nokia"

finesse said:
Extreme battery drain issues
Screen glitches
And SLOW performance and lag
ROM flash issues
SMS issues
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, the only issue that really existed was the SMS issue but that's been solved with patches from HTC.
Screen issue can be solved simply by reducing sensitivity.
All the other issues do not exist. There is no extreme battery drain, no lag and no ROM flash issues.

I've had mine since Thursday afternoon as well and have been spending all day for the past few days playing with this phone, applying updates, and customizing it.
After the first couple days of getting used to it and getting everything set how I like it, I'm extremely satisfied.
This is clearly one of the best two phones in the world.
I would say it's tied with iPhone because iPhone has the best apps.
The HTC HD2 hardware wise is easily the best phone available right now.

I'm sure you meant nokia x6? If that's the case, the HD2 is a nice upgrade over that one...in every way imaginable.

freyberry said:
No, the only issue that really existed was the SMS issue but that's been solved with patches from HTC.
Screen issue can be solved simply by reducing sensitivity.
All the other issues do not exist. There is no extreme battery drain, no lag and no ROM flash issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No no no the SMS bug is not been fix even the latest patch didn't fix it
The Pink Spot stil there is just not so strong as before but stil there
The craky sound + up dawn volume issue while in call stil there in many devise
So cross your fingers and pray before buying it so you get a zero bugs devise GL
PS if i was you i would wait 8 more weeks to see what other vendors are coming with

SOLRAC13 said:
No no no the SMS bug is not been fix even the latest patch didn't fix it
The Pink Spot stil there is just not so strong as before but stil there
The craky sound + up dawn volume issue while in call stil there in many devise
So cross your fingers and pray before buying it so you get a zero bugs devise GL
PS if i was you i would wait 8 more weeks to see what other vendors are coming with
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am really not sure how to find these issues coz I'm not experiencing them. Either I'm one lucky customer or I'm just blind and deaf. Bought my HD2 just before Xmas and loving it!!!

enyaj said:
I am really not sure how to find these issues coz I'm not experiencing them. Either I'm one lucky customer or I'm just blind and deaf. Bought my HD2 just before Xmas and loving it!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have u tried sending out sms-es while ur phone is doing tethering with the computer? high chances of my smses not able to send through when i'm on tethering. Usinf VITO sms instead now...

enyaj said:
I am really not sure how to find these issues coz I'm not experiencing them. Either I'm one lucky customer or I'm just blind and deaf. Bought my HD2 just before Xmas and loving it!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess you are one of the lucky ones, me too I bought mine before xtmas.
Have you try taking picture of a white page ??? Do you notice a pinkish color in the center ?
Can you type 10 words with out faults ?
Has your phone Died? eg leaving it at night and next day he is just dead ?
Can you view an excel file in ful page, something that should be easy since both applications are MW yet Iphone does it why Leo cant ?
Are you sure there are no sms in your out box ? go in Traditional mode and check it out.
And sound while in a call is to loud, that ends up cronhing in your ears and can hear your own voice on ECHO.
Please take a look in XDA treads many people are talking about it since November
Ps I would love to be one of does who write nice things of there devise but in my case is impossible

I've had my Leo for about a month now and I'm really enjoying it so far. No battery issues and the speed as well as the display is phenomenol. It looks great and my only complaint would be the sensitivity issue, I still have problems with the keyboard but other than that everything works great.

enyaj said:
I am really not sure how to find these issues coz I'm not experiencing them. Either I'm one lucky customer or I'm just blind and deaf. Bought my HD2 just before Xmas and loving it!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No- you are one of thousands of 'lucky' customers. This sort of forum by definition focusses on negatives, of which there have been some significant examples, but they are in the minority overall.
To the OP- no-one can tell you what to buy. I don't know anything about the Nokia X5 (X6?) but rest assured that it will also have its problems, and the Symbian forums will be full of people complaining about this and that failing.
Try and get hold of a sample of each in the flesh and see which one most closely fits your requirements.

finesse said:
HTC LEO or Nokia X5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you mean the X6? If so, I tend to think of the Nokia as a polished phone with extra features like video and movie player tacked on. The HD2 (and other WM devices) are pocket computers with a phone tacked on.
A Nokia will need no tinkering and won't let you alter too much for that matter. It runs Symbian S60 5th Edition. A Windows Mobile device on the other hand.... complete opposite.
Any problems on the HD2 will be ironed out, either by HTC or by the guys on this forum who should work for HTC!
The number of times I've gone to work and had someone say look at my new LG "This", Samsung "That" or Nokia N97 and I say "Nice phone" and carry on my business. Then they say "Yeah it is... look it can do this, this and that...". I let them show off the phone, then hit them with my souped up Diamond and they go "Ohhhh..... Ahhhhhh....Woooowww!!!!!"
Then they say "That's too much for me, I could never use it!" lol Good luck, and I hope you choose what's best for you.
EDIT - Just noticed your phone list... it's quite varied and am a little surprised you asked the question! HD2 it is then...

SOLRAC13 said:
I guess you are one of the lucky ones, me too I bought mine before xtmas.
Have you try taking picture of a white page ??? Do you notice a pinkish color in the center ?
Can you type 10 words with out faults ?
Has your phone Died? eg leaving it at night and next day he is just dead ?
Can you view an excel file in ful page, something that should be easy since both applications are MW yet Iphone does it why Leo cant ?
Are you sure there are no sms in your out box ? go in Traditional mode and check it out.
And sound while in a call is to loud, that ends up cronhing in your ears and can hear your own voice on ECHO.
Please take a look in XDA treads many people are talking about it since November
Ps I would love to be one of does who write nice things of there devise but in my case is impossible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well mine has a slight pink blur when I take a pic of a white wall, but I don't do that normally, so I can't see it when I take a normal pic.
I can type very efficiently on the onscreen keyboard and very rarely make mistakes (I probably make less mistakes that I do on a real keyboard).
My phone has never "died" overnight, or any other time.
I can't really answer the excel issue, as I never use it on my phone, but that's nothing to do with the HD2, and that's what this thread is about. Get on to Microsoft for issues with their software, not the phone manufacturers.
My SMS messages get sent 100% of the time, and since I know the SMS sending problem can be sporadic, I regularly check the outbox and sent box so that I'm sure it's not happening to me.
The sound quality whilst in a call is perfect on my phone. It's exactly the same type of quality I've had on every phone I've ever had, so there's really nothing to report there.
As far as reading other threads to see what problems there are, you really need to remember that people (for the most part) only start threads when they have issues, in the hope that someone will be able to resolve them. If it seems like the majority of posts are about faults, then it is because there's not many people creating threads to say "nothing wrong with my phone". That's just the nature of forums, especially ones with a support style user base, like this.
Please remember that the people who have no problems are actually the majority. If someone comes on here and says that they do not have problems with their phone, it doesn't mean that they're saying you don't.
If you're that displeased with it, you should return it as faulty. You just make it worse for yourself by keeping it when it obviously makes you unhappy.

SOLRAC13 said:
I guess you are one of the lucky ones, me too I bought mine before xtmas.
Have you try taking picture of a white page ??? Do you notice a pinkish color in the center ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even if there is a slight pink hue as some people are getting, you would never notice this in a standard picture. But no I do not have a pink hue when taking a picture of a white piece of paper
Can you type 10 words with out faults ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can type a whole message without faults. Of course its going to make mistakes the first few times but it learns your words so the more you type the better it will become at predicting.
Has your phone Died? eg leaving it at night and next day he is just dead ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery isnt great with the 1.43 stock rom but with 1.48 upwards and all custom roms its alot longer and I only get about 2 or 3% drop overnight.
Can you view an excel file in ful page, something that should be easy since both applications are MW yet Iphone does it why Leo cant ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cant really answer this as I only view pdf and word files on my HD2 and can view both perfectly in full screen.
Are you sure there are no sms in your out box ? go in Traditional mode and check it out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sms working fine for me.
And sound while in a call is to loud, that ends up cronhing in your ears and can hear your own voice on ECHO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sound is crystal clear when in a call, just turn the volume down and its perfectly acceptable.
Please take a look in XDA treads many people are talking about it since November
Ps I would love to be one of does who write nice things of there devise but in my case is impossible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are experiencing all those faults then you should send it back under warranty for replacement.

Thread for the "HAPPY" GT-i9000 owners...

I have been reading threads dedicated for Galaxy S for the past 2 weeks seeing only disappointed people complaining for various things/bugs/problems, that almost none applied for my personal case.
Thinking that this is very unfair for the specific phone (my opinion after using it 2 weeks now), I would like to just check how many users are happy with the device...
Personally, I have NO problem with GPS fix (navigated a lot through cities and national roads in Greece, Athens and Piraeus), and my phone is not laggy at all. I currently use the phone a lot for various reasons (gaming, e-mails, browsing, navigating, etc), and I really can't find any bug that would make me think of changing the device.
Is it just me? I am using the stock rom version XXJF3...

I've not experienced any lag or GPS issues. That could just be me and you though!
I upgraded to FroYo a day after I got it and I couldn't be happier. Im glad I didn't get a Desire now. This screen is just so... amazing!

I'm also still on the official firmware and I also consider myself a satisfied customer.( At least for now - you only know how good a product really was until after you're done using it in 2 years or so, right?)
Anyway, I DO have the lag issue. It's just that I have it under control by (sadly) using a task killer , and compared to other mobiles on the market, the galaxy s still does the best job for me.
written on a mobile device

i came from the nightmare that is the Desire and its atrocious battery life and the stupid htc bug of "no trickle-charge".
The SGS has been one of the best phones i've had. The lag issue is there for me and i dont have an external sd to try out the mimocan fix... but even then the superb reception, awesome screen and great battery life make it a deadly combo.
GPS also works fine for me on JM2 rooted.

I must say that I'm very happy with my SGS, and I'm sure that some posters just post negative comments to wind people up.
I was amazed to read today that one poster was claiming that Samsung would never release 2.2, while in the dev forum for the SGS people are posting their impressiopns of the pre-release 2.2 from Samsung.
There is one poster who can be found on any thread relating to GPS, complaining about his experiences, but I have found that once I worked out how to use it, my map positioning works well without any modifications from how it came out of the box.
I can only say that anything that I have tried on my SGS has worked once I have sorted the right way to do it, and while I can accept that there are problems, I have faith that Samsung and the experts on this forum will soilve them.

Im also very happy with my SGS! Best phone I have ever used. I do have the same bugs as others i.e "lags" (although I have never experienced 10 second long stalls more like 2-3 second hickups) and since using luncher pro the stalls are much better.
I think the SGS is a coupple of firmware updates from beeing perfect.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

I have had my phone for 2 weeks, went from JF3 to JG5 & now JM2 rooted with SD fix, as it is at the moment it is extremely fast for a Smartphone & I am very happy with what it is capable of, I may even hold off on froyo if the speeds arnt as good as what I get now.
Also I like playing, and having a phone that is very hackable and pretty much unbrickable is a godsend when trying stuff out. Had a couple of scarey moments but its all fun

I am using the phone for the past 10 days and didn't much to complain about it.
Intially there was a problem installing the kies and detecting the phone but it was resolved in a matter for 10mins by googling. After 10days of experience I have no complains and very happy with this piece from Samsung. Although havn't worked much with the GPS (Bandwith issues - India) but no lags (>2sec - if any). Works really well with games and sound quality is awesome.
True Fan for SGS...
Cheers Samsun!!

Gotta admit, I wasn't thrilled with it to say the least when I first got it, but I'm now happy with it as it is (JM2, rooted, EXT4 hack, autokiller). Runs fast and is nice to use, and I think definitely as good as an iphone 4 which was the other phone I was considering at the time. Shame, the apps aren't better but thats not the phones fault.

Remember everyone, there's a HUGE amount of happy campers with any device. iPhone 4, Samsung Galaxy S, etc. It's usually the minority comprised of nitpickers, enthusiasts, and people with genuine problems that fill up forums like this.
Oh, I'm part of the enthusiast group I think.

gabbybob said:
There are always idiots moaning - especially on Xda - it's like a magnet for the morose maudling naysayer - poor boys - cry into your pints. I think it's an excellent device - that screen and it's sheer grunt have it stand well apart from the competition - let's see some developers get behind this and make the games, media and applications (for that is their true label, not that propogated by the narcissistic fool known as Jobs)
It's the potential for excellent gaming which I think we'll see in the future on Android that I think will propel this - it already has excellent Sound, Video playback, GPS (I've never had any problems - the fix is quick and accurate), camera is great - get a grip - it's the convergance device I wanted.
Pop a 32GB MicroSD in and on top of the 8GB / 16GB already on the device you have 40 - 48 GB storage - in other words, loads of Multimedia be it Books, Albums, Films, Magazines, Applications - whatever
So, well done to Samsung - let's see Froyo in a timely manner as promised (not another **** up like those idiots at HTC; yes I had a Hero)
Enjoy my son - Ignore the idiots - I do and usually go much further by having many laughs at their expense - schadenfreude ? Definately !!!
S xx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it is going a bit far to call people trying to work through some issues with the phone "idiots". When I go to a forum I want to see both the good points and the bad points and I like the fact that xda does have people that find the bad things in phones and try and work on solutions for them. I would hardly call those people idiots as you are.
I think a bit of balance is a good thing and we don't really need the name calling do we? If you are old enough to make it to the forums then surely you are old enough not to have to resort to insults on other members especially in a thread about happy people, you dont sound too happy
As for the phone, I came from the nexus and I do like it a lot, I do have some issues but the positives definitely outweigh the negatives so I am holding on to it for now because its the best android device so far in my opinion.
Screen is definitely awesome, loving the accuracy compared to the nexus and the ability to see it easier in sunny conditions and of course the size of the screen, 4 inches i think is about as big as I would want it, just the right size.
Loving the dlna abilities to stream movies off a media player in the house etc and have the horsepower to actually watch them .

Likewise I think the comments are a little unfair. You invaraibly find more people with issues on forums than those without, it is after all the sensible place to look for support.
I do have issues with mine, but at the same time I'm pretty happy it. I suspect I'll be one of the first in line for the Galaxy Tab too when it comes out as I like the idea of the same device with a larger screen for home browsing.

My GPS is working fine. Had lag with stock FW (JG3), but with JM2 and now JP3 it has been working great.
Only issue I have using JP3 is that I drop 3G connection sometimes when setting it to WCDMA mode only, so I had to go back to using auto mode instead which is no biggie.
I live in area with very bad reception, and I'm lucky to get one bar showing on all phones I tried and many times get dropped calls, but so far with the SGS that happened only once. My USB 3G modem almost never found a proper 3G connection even if I tried placing it optimally, but the SGS often gives me 3G and 3G+ without looking for a good spot.
My battery life is about double compared to what I would have expected.
Reading this forum I get the impression I'm somewhat lucky, but IMO it's a very awesome phone!

gabbybob said:
There are always idiots moaning - especially on Xda - it's like a magnet for the morose maudling naysayer - poor boys - cry into your pints. I think it's an excellent device - that screen and it's sheer grunt have it stand well apart from the competition - let's see some developers get behind this and make the games, media and applications (for that is their true label, not that propogated by the narcissistic fool known as Jobs)
It's the potential for excellent gaming which I think we'll see in the future on Android that I think will propel this - it already has excellent Sound, Video playback, GPS (I've never had any problems - the fix is quick and accurate), camera is great - get a grip - it's the convergance device I wanted.
Pop a 32GB MicroSD in and on top of the 8GB / 16GB already on the device you have 40 - 48 GB storage - in other words, loads of Multimedia be it Books, Albums, Films, Magazines, Applications - whatever
So, well done to Samsung - let's see Froyo in a timely manner as promised (not another **** up like those idiots at HTC; yes I had a Hero)
Enjoy my son - Ignore the idiots - I do and usually go much further by having many laughs at their expense - schadenfreude ? Definately !!!
S xx
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Wait a second, you criticise HTC, but wasn't it Samsung who eventually had to backtrack when they couldn't go beyond Android 1.6 for the Behold?
You fail to miss as well, the 8 Gig or 16 Gig phone you buy has two gig less for multimedia and storage because it is partitioned to install Applications, so you're really buying 6 Gig or 14 Gig. That wasn't in the fine print.
Although the phone has 512 Meg RAM, you cannot use it, and even the leaked Froyo builds you cannot access the full 512 Meg RAM (ie it doesn't show as a total anywhere).
The lags are very real, but some people live with them. The suggestion is that the phone has two different types of memory, one sequential and one random access, and the lag is caused by some random data being on the sequential area. Other fixes involve not used vfat but partitioning an area of your sdcard to ext3.
Doubt the GPS issues all you like, call me an idiot, whatever, just take a look at this and tell me my GPS is working without a problem:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...2.494749,-1.744981&spn=0.007447,0.022724&z=16

I don't use GPS, so that's had no impact on me whatsoever.
I was surprised to see the number of people complaining about lag and 10 second stalls, as I never experienced anything that severe on the stock Optus firmware. At most, it was 2-3 seconds when opening or closing an app, pretty much exactly what happens normally on my previous phone (HTC Hero).
Basically, I believe for anyone not into the rooting / rom scene who's unaware of XDA they probably have no clue that there's even a problem with the firmware on their phones. I sure didn't until I was informed I should be unhappy.
After mimocan's fix my phone flies, and I really couldn't be happier. I'm loving playing NOVA far faster than on my iPod Touch 2nd gen and the screen is drop-dead gorgeous for videos. The contrast and black levels are so good I'm actually only using black as my wallpaper which makes my minimalist widgets appear to be floating on black glass, causing my friends to do a double-take (hiding the top bar in Launcher Pro or ADW makes this effect even more pronounced). It really makes it look like the entire front surface on the phone is the screen since the edges aren't visible.
The only thing I would have liked is some nicer case material(s), as it doesn't 'feel' anywhere near as much of the premium device it is compared to the Desire's soft-touch plastics and aluminium.
For the record, I thought I'd hate Touchwiz but I don't mind it at all since the changes are minimal from stock Android. I do use Launcher Pro and ADW thought simply to enable 5 rows on the homescreens however.

I have a great phone now but only after flash+root+lagfix+launcher pro+autokiller. That's a bit much to ask an average customer. Samsung did a horrible job releasing this phone the way they did, the hardware is really nice but the software is ****e.

Most people who are healthy don't go to the hospital.
This forum is where the sick come to play.

I think the poster is an idiot, myself.The premise for the thread is sound, but the attitude and opinion is laughable.
I am very happy with the phone - I do not have problems with lag though it has gotten a bit slower now I have added more apps, I dont find myself bothered by it, but like the other person who posted the GPS track, my GPS is not usable for the purpose of recording tracks at all.
Initially I called Samsung and was told "there is no problem, its normal behaviour" - at this point, I had very little choice but to publicise the issue to add my voice to the MANY that have GPS problems.
This thread seeks to marginalise people with genuine problems, and is selfish and unnecessary with respect to being part of the solution.
What do you (people with phones that are fine) lose by the threads complaining of problems?
What is to be gained by NOT publicising the problems? (Hint: Nothing, for those affected...)
I am of the opinion those that have no problems DO NOT use the devices to record tracks. Many seem to be able to navigate with the GPS as it doesnt get too whacked out for long, but for recording a track its useless (see previous link). Having said that, I have struggled to get a sat fix when driving too, so been unable to navigate (and got lost as a result).
If the thread stuck to positives, instead of itself being negative, you would have me here singing praises for the good things too. But instead, I am just annoyed at your insensitivity for those that paid good money for a product that doesn't meet expectations.

Love the phone, and I had both the HD2 and Desire, as I am an HTC fan, and I chose the SGS over the two. No problems with the GPS, but there is one thing that bugs me and I tried to find a solution for it, videos with AAC audio get out of sync, only with JG5 the problem seems to be minimal.

x50v! said:
I think the poster is an idiot, myself.The premise for the thread is sound, but the attitude and opinion is laughable.
I am very happy with the phone - I do not have problems with lag though it has gotten a bit slower now I have added more apps, I dont find myself bothered by it, but like the other person who posted the GPS track, my GPS is not usable for the purpose of recording tracks at all.
Initially I called Samsung and was told "there is no problem, its normal behaviour" - at this point, I had very little choice but to publicise the issue to add my voice to the MANY that have GPS problems.
This thread seeks to marginalise people with genuine problems, and is selfish and unnecessary with respect to being part of the solution.
What do you (people with phones that are fine) lose by the threads complaining of problems?
What is to be gained by NOT publicising the problems? (Hint: Nothing, for those affected...)
I am of the opinion those that have no problems DO NOT use the devices to record tracks. Many seem to be able to navigate with the GPS as it doesnt get too whacked out for long, but for recording a track its useless (see previous link). Having said that, I have struggled to get a sat fix when driving too, so been unable to navigate (and got lost as a result).
If the thread stuck to positives, instead of itself being negative, you would have me here singing praises for the good things too. But instead, I am just annoyed at your insensitivity for those that paid good money for a product that doesn't meet expectations.
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Click to collapse
I don't think it's anything wrong with threads that complain about the problems. It's obvious that there are a lot of users experiencing issues, and if I was one of them I would be angry and discuss the issues as well.
What really bothers me is that when I respond with comments about not having an issue, there are some users that will assume that it's because I'm clueless or dumb. You do it as well when you say "those that have no problems DO NOT use the devices to record tracks". And in the same post you talk about OP marginalizing users with problems?
I have been navigating in the terrain using GPSCompassMap and MyTracks. I haven't had a need to save tracks, but the other day I made a recording with GPSCompassMap when I was driving just because I got fed up with that kind of accusations.
When posting that I'm told that it must been a lucky day or that I happened to have ideal conditions...basically being accused of being a liar since I clearly stated that it's normal performance for me.
I don't get locks on satellites with SNR <20 or more than 8 sats, but it still works.
I really don't get what causes some users to lash out at anyone that does not have problems and call them idiots or liars.
I know it's hard to make any sense of things, since there doesn't seem to be any common denominator explaining why some users have a completely useless GPS and some have one that is working fine.
But it's the same with the lag and battery life as well...some people experience issues and some not, and while it's a bit more common the issue is nailed down to a particular FW or software with those, it's still not 100% clear why there are such differences how users experience the device.