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Blackstone vs Experia...

Some time early next year i will be upgrading my good old Imate Jamin with a new phone... Currently i am considering these 2 phones...
Both are solid build by HTC, both have 800x480 screen.
So what did i find out untill now...
Big beautifull screen vs small beautifull screen.... Blackstone
Nice keyboard vs No keyboard..........................Xperia
Quallcom processor vs Quallcom processor..........Tie
Good 5 Mpix camera vs superb 3.2 Mpix cam.......Tie
Qvga Video vs VGA video at 30 fps....................Xperia
GPS without software vs GPS with pay software...Tie
Touchflow 3D vs Pannels..................................Tie
Motion sensor vs no motion sensor.....................Blackstone
No joystick vs mini joystick and Other buttons......Xperia
So far it comes pretty close to a tie... AS i really like the awesome screen and the motion sensor from the HD, but i will abssolutely miss the keyboard, controll buttons and VGA video...........
Downside of both phones should be their low processing power...
What else can you add to my comparison ?

Lord.Bachus said:
Some time early next year i will be upgrading my good old Imate Jamin with a new phone... Currently i am considering these 2 phones...
Both are solid build by HTC, both have 800x480 screen.
So what did i find out untill now...
Big beautifull screen vs small beautifull screen.... Blackstone
Nice keyboard vs No keyboard..........................Xperia
Quallcom processor vs Quallcom processor..........Tie
Good 5 Mpix camera vs superb 3.2 Mpix cam.......Tie
Qvga Video vs VGA video at 30 fps....................Xperia
GPS without software vs GPS with pay software...Tie
Touchflow 3D vs Pannels..................................Tie
Motion sensor vs no motion sensor.....................Blackstone
No joystick vs mini joystick and Other buttons......Xperia
So far it comes pretty close to a tie... AS i really like the awesome screen and the motion sensor from the HD, but i will abssolutely miss the keyboard, controll buttons and VGA video...........
Downside of both phones should be their low processing power...
What else can you add to my comparison ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Design:
Xperia = 3
HD = 10
On that field HD wins easyly, my opinion of course

Screen size - Blackstone
GUI: TouchFLO vs Xperia Interface: ??
Dimensions/Portability: Blackstone
Price: Blackstone

NeedAPhone said:
Screen size - Blackstone
GUI: TouchFLO vs Xperia Interface: ??
Dimensions/Portability: Blackstone
Price: Blackstone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Screen size - Blackstone (Big screen easy to use even without stylus, vs X1 where you often have no choice than to work with the stylus.)
GUI: TouchFLO vs Xperia Interface: Blackstone (Simple, effective. just nice and good.)
Performance: Blackstone (Smooth and faster. higher performance [tested by some german reviews]. Vs X1 which is laggy especially where it shouldn't be: on its panels! Up to 4 seconds!! waiting time when switching panels)
Multimedia: Blackstone (Bigger screen -> much nicer to watch movies, and pictures. Better sound quality [tested by german reviewers]. X1 has no equalizer onboard.)
Browsing the net: Blackstone (Again bigger screen -> reading webpages and surfing much more comfortable. X1 doesn't support flash out of the box [maybe same with the Blackstone] but as testet in reviews, it can lead to problems when you try to install flashlite on the X1.)
Dimensions/Portability: Blackstone (i prefer slim but wider over, bulky. but thats just peronal at least, slim devices fit more into pockets or bags)
Writing: Blackstone (Now thats really jsut a personal choic. But i prefer a virtual keybord. its just that when i am writing a message, i tend to look on the screen to see what i am doing but when working with a keypad, i have to look on the keys [especially when its hard to feel a differents between the buttos as with the X1 and other phones] Also, adding a keyboard to a phone, makes almost twice the sice [Diamond -> Touch Pro]. And many people who bought such phones, often come to the conclusion that thay don't really use the keyboard most of the time.)

The Xperia will have a specific interface base on SPB mobile shell

Huck33 said:
The Xperia will have a specific interface base on SPB mobile shell
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it is all over youtube, it is one of the many panels.

Raziel1 said:
Screen size - Blackstone (Big screen easy to use even without stylus, vs X1 where you often have no choice than to work with the stylus.)
GUI: TouchFLO vs Xperia Interface: Blackstone (Simple, effective. just nice and good.)
Performance: Blackstone (Smooth and faster. higher performance [tested by some german reviews]. Vs X1 which is laggy especially where it shouldn't be: on its panels! Up to 4 seconds!! waiting time when switching panels)
Multimedia: Blackstone (Bigger screen -> much nicer to watch movies, and pictures. Better sound quality [tested by german reviewers]. X1 has no equalizer onboard.)
Browsing the net: Blackstone (Again bigger screen -> reading webpages and surfing much more comfortable. X1 doesn't support flash out of the box [maybe same with the Blackstone] but as testet in reviews, it can lead to problems when you try to install flashlite on the X1.)
Dimensions/Portability: Blackstone (i prefer slim but wider over, bulky. but thats just peronal at least, slim devices fit more into pockets or bags)
Writing: Blackstone (Now thats really jsut a personal choic. But i prefer a virtual keybord. its just that when i am writing a message, i tend to look on the screen to see what i am doing but when working with a keypad, i have to look on the keys [especially when its hard to feel a differents between the buttos as with the X1 and other phones] Also, adding a keyboard to a phone, makes almost twice the sice [Diamond -> Touch Pro]. And many people who bought such phones, often come to the conclusion that thay don't really use the keyboard most of the time.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
keyboard is just like insurance, you never know when you really really need it.

d2ey said:
keyboard is just like insurance, you never know when you really really need it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A thin device is an advantage, not the missing keyboard. I am curious how well the typing will be. What do the Diamond colleagues say about this?
Xperia has some additional hardware graphics acceleration from ATI while Touch HD to my understanding only uses the acceleration provided by Qualcomm CPU - Xperia uses this as well. This point goes to Xperia. And this might be important for video viewing, coding/encoding. Not so much for the panels ... I do not care too much about the panels.
Eriol

Well this Diamond colleague says I like the keyboard on the Diamond although it is not as fast as a tactile keyboard. However, not because of the reason I expected (the fact that you cannot feel the buttons) as I got used to that quite fast but rather because the keyboard is a bit cramped on the diamond and therefore I miss keys sometimes. The landscape keyboard is really nice and I can imagine that with the added width it will be much less of a problem. Using the suretype keyboard I can type as fast as anything, if the keys were bigger it would be even faster.
Conclusion: I do not miss a tactile keyboard, but I do miss the real estate to put a virtual variant on. So with the HD I will have very little use for a tactile keyboard! My two cents.

As a Touch Pro owner I've learned that for my typical use the keyboard is not much of an asset -- I've found that I've become so accustomed to the virtual keyboard, especially the improved virtual keyboard choices in the Diamond/Touch Pro series, that I hardly ever even open the sliding keyboard. So for me the HD seems like a better choice than the X1 because it offers much greater screen real estate so using the virtual keyboard has less impact on what I'm typing into. My advice: if you really like using the hardware keyboard, try using the virtual keyboard exclusively for awhile to see if you can adapt (I know the virtual keyboard on your Jamin is small and more difficult to use but it still might help you evaluate that) -- if you can adapt to the virtual keyboard then the HD might be your better choice. If not, and you really need the hardware keyboard I suggest you should stick with a model that includes it. The problem in today's market is these devices are so expensive, if we make the wrong choice it's expensive to correct it.

Never missed the keyboard going from Kaiser to Diamond....and not sure about Xperia, but 2 things not mentioned are
SD Card: Blackstone yes, Diamond no, Xperia ??
Battery: Blackstone 1350 , Diamond 900 , Xperia ??
......power and hard memory, quite important features

PJ6363 said:
Never missed the keyboard going from Kaiser to Diamond....and not sure about Xperia, but 2 things not mentioned are
SD Card: Blackstone yes, Diamond no, Xperia YES, microSD
Battery: Blackstone 1350 , Diamond 900 , Xperia 1500
......power and hard memory, quite important features
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
101010101

PJ6363 said:
Never missed the keyboard going from Kaiser to Diamond....and not sure about Xperia, but 2 things not mentioned are
SD Card: Blackstone yes, Diamond no, Xperia ??
Battery: Blackstone 1350 , Diamond 900 , Xperia ??
......power and hard memory, quite important features
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Xperia has an SD slot......
Xperia is rumored to have the longer battery life
Eriol said:
Xperia has some additional hardware graphics acceleration from ATI while Touch HD to my understanding only uses the acceleration provided by Qualcomm CPU - Xperia uses this as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this is true, Xperia would be a leap ahead of HTC...
I never understood HTC's pollicy not to use some of the speciall embedded Quallcom hardware...

For 3D gaming the Xperia will be a better deal as well ... The HD is missing some control buttons for this as well. But, honestly, 3D gaming is not what I want to do with this hardware ...
We will see how Xperia and HD perform on video viewing and things like this.
Eriol

The only Games i like to play on my Prophet are the oldscool LucasArts Adventures and some strategy games, and they will be fantastic to play on a screen like the Touch HDs. For 3D Gaming i prefer my PC, ive no need to play shooters with bad graphics and without mouse
I will definately buy a Touch HD as soon as it comes out.

If this is true, Xperia would be a leap ahead of HTC...
I never understood HTC's pollicy not to use some of the speciall embedded Quallcom hardware...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as i heard its the other way around:
Xperia has no graphic chip while the HD has got one. But whatever is true, areamobile and other reviewers teste it and said, that the X1 has got horrible performance in 3D and not that good in 2D. (the panels are just one of the main moments where you will see this). They also compared the X1 to the HD and said that the HD has got more power and better performance.
Battery life of the X1 is pretty good as tested. it has 1500 battery in it, while the HD has got a 1350 battery. But on the other hand, they couldn't test the HD battery. What they found out so far, is that it seems to live upt to its promised hours (which are higher than that of the X1) and that the testers where very surprised and positive, that the HD backlight doesn't use much power and as so, doesn't really impact bettery life. And that the HD performes very good on 3G, because of sime kind of new chip improvements HTC made (they asked HTC about it and recieved a statement about new architekute or improvements of their qualcomm chip)

camera/speed
as much as i believe X1 will have a waaaay better camera. Base on the reviews i've seen, the panels is so slow that makes the user feels like running vista on 512Ram. reminds me of touchflo when they first came out. what do you guys think?

i used the wizard for years, with the keyboard, then i moved to the trinity (no keyboard) thinking i was loosing a lot (but i had to buy it in a rush since i broke the wizard). Conclusion: i got used to it after few weeks and i have a much more handy device. Now i already ordered the touch hd since the extra value of a sliding keyboard is not compensated by the actual use. If i have to type a lot, i use a ...laptop... or an external bluetooth keyboard (i have a freedom keyboard which is actually very bad - but i am thinking about the dinovo mini for the touch hd)....

pzucchel said:
i used the wizard for years, with the keyboard, then i moved to the trinity (no keyboard) thinking i was loosing a lot (but i had to buy it in a rush since i broke the wizard). Conclusion: i got used to it after few weeks and i have a much more handy device. Now i already ordered the touch hd since the extra value of a sliding keyboard is not compensated by the actual use. If i have to type a lot, i use a ...laptop... or an external bluetooth keyboard (i have a freedom keyboard which is actually very bad - but i am thinking about the dinovo mini for the touch hd)....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dinovo Mini would be a nice idea i got one myself. the good thing is the touchpad, which works as a mousepad and as cursors at the same time. (Holding down the FN buttons switches the modes) or you cqan just use a little slider on the top to switch the mode of the dinovo. The only thing you will have to do, is to download the program AEKMap and the dinovo map file, so that you get all keys like F1-F12

considering that the Experia once have lost against the XDA Diamond (another compare somewhere in the board) and that the Touch HD is a further stage of PDA, not to say the state of the art, i think there is no need to compare both of them to find out, wo is the winner

Changing from Touch Diamond to Touch HD - is it worth it?

Hi all,
did anyone of you the step from HTC Diamond to the new Touch HD?
Apart from the obvious, technical differences: What is your opinion? Is it better? Is the handling the same or do you feel a difference (e.g. performance?).
What is your experience with the new Buttons at the bottom?
Thanks for any input.
Rgds
Kingshill

I'd like to know the answer to this too. I have a diamond and am not sure wether its worth the £500. Is it reallly worth it? Some people think we're mad anyway shelling out hundreds for a telephone especialy when you've got one. Maybe we need councilling?

I wonder as well if I should change. What I really love on the Diamond is the size. And the HD is big in my opinion. Sure it's nice with the big screen etc.
If the HD would have TV-out, ok, but I don't see real big advantage on the HD. Sure performance is better, but I think I will wait for the next HTC Device with probably WM 6.5.

From my point of view, the HD offers to solve all of the problems the diamond had - i.e lack of expandable memory, poor battery and tiny screen.
I managed to sell my diamond on ebay for £320. A mate of mine in trade can get me the HD at the trade price of £460. So thats an HD for £140.
HD doesnt arrive until mid week - will let you all know then.

I have the diamond (actually a t-mobile mda compact iv) as a work phone, and have just bought the HD to replace my personal tytn.
I actually see them as two different phones, for two very different purposes. The HD is a great recreational phone, while still allowing me to be connected to my business services. It's great for browsing and using as a controller for my home automation system. Essentially because of the size of the screen (bear in mind the hardware of the two devices is almost identical).
The HD I would be nervous about taking for a night out, or with me to play sport, or when travelling - it's too awkward to handle and keep safe in demanding circumstances, and increases the risk of breakage. Whereas the diamond is an ideal size and easily protectable in harsher environments.
It is a shame that neither phone has a point to attach a lanyard. This is particularly unfortunate for the HD because sometimes handling it, particularly when removing the case, really does not feel safe.

SOLSchweiz said:
I wonder as well if I should change. What I really love on the Diamond is the size. And the HD is big in my opinion. Sure it's nice with the big screen etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to agree. After the Diamond, the Touch HD feels H-U-G-E. I've had the HD for a week and I'm still surprised by the size very time I pick it up. My ideal device is same form factor as Diamond, but with larger full-front screen. Don't need the D-pad. Apart from the marvellous THD screen, I appreciate the longer battery life.

AFW said:
I have to agree. After the Diamond, the Touch HD feels H-U-G-E. I've had the HD for a week and I'm still surprised by the size very time I pick it up. My ideal device is same form factor as Diamond, but with larger full-front screen. Don't need the D-pad. Apart from the marvellous THD screen, I appreciate the longer battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha ha, for me the feeling is the oppsite. After Athena's 5 inch screen, Touch HD feels tiny. I would be happier if it is 4.5 inch. It makes all the difference in internet surfing, spreadsheet, word processing, picture viewing, and video watching.

I went from Diamond to HD (still have the Diamond as a backup)
Observations/reasons;
LOVE the look/feel of the HD (I liked my iPhone in this regard as well - just hated far too many aspects of it...) and ultimately I want to get Android onto it....hopefully!!
Diamond always niggled me in that it had a tiny screen so was fiddly for touch/finger control (I avoid stylus operation as much as possible - it's fiddly and annoying). Also that there was no mSD card option/expandabilty. O/S was sluggish and slow compared to the HD (especially TouchFlo - which is noticeably faster on the HD)
Aesthetically - IMO the HD gets it hands down over the diamond (and any other phone out there, including the iPhone!)
The Diamond is handy if you like small phones and aren't very demanding on performance, but otherwise the HD is a better performing tool all round.
Battery life on the HD seems quite comparable with the Diamond - in actual fact possibly slightly better (the Diamond battery life was pretty grim)
Just my thoughts/opinions

The HD is better then the Diamond
Bigger Screen
Responsive Screen
Expandable memory
More Ram
Better Battery Life
All in all the TF3D is alot more quicker and responsive then the Diamond, and currently im using a stock rom, so imagine when there are cooked roms for this.
I would recommend you get this phone
I havent touched my Diamond since i got it
and now im selling my Diamond

i have the both, and i think HD is better than diamond on all point except dimension but it is not a real probleme because you can put hd in your pocket too.

I also have both and I must admit it´s a BIG change... The screen´s great, the battery life much improved and the touch screen a pleasure to use... but it feels much bigger in the hand than the Diamond. I have to agree with AFW the ideal would be Diamond size but without the D Pad but out of the two I´ll be sticking with the HD
Can´t wait to start cooking.... this baby will fly!

Thanks chaps - I will spent the money and get one asap.....

diamond vs Touch HD

anyone of you guys upgraded your diamond to a Touch HD, or plan to?
Can you give me some reasons what you like/dislike about the two phones?
Thanks

I have done this on friday. I really like my diamond but I must say allthough in relation to the diamond the HD is no quantum leap but there are many little thing that are improved on the HD:
The display is H U G E, brighter and seems to be more touch responsive.
Touchflo has been improved ( user definable tabs, stock tab, some minor improvements) and seems to be working a lot smoother, even smoother than the TouchFlo 3D from the "pimped" Diamond ROMS.
You´ve got quite a lot more RAM so no RAM shortage even at hungry apps like Igo8.
To be honest there are some things I miss on the HD in comparison to the diamond ie. the notification LED´s on the D-pad but all in all I am more than happy with my HD and don´t regret buying it, so if anyone would like to buy a Diamond, just PM me

Bought the all powerful HD, sold the almost as powerful Diamond to my brother, never looked back.
The Diamond was 90% for me, the HD 99%... Blackberry Bold was 95% and iPhone was 85%, was comparing with those as well at the time. That one missing % is my ONLY gripe with the HD: the lack of superior screen *quality*, more on that later.
My reasons to buy HD and sell Diamond:
- The screen is now actually big enough to use as a touchscreen, even with WinMo.... Superior browsing and video watching to boot. Perfect!!
- 3.5" jack suddenly allows me to connect my Shures to the thing, despite the HD's mediocre audio quality just like the iPhone and any other non-SE phone
- SD card slot was actually a MUST for me, I want a 32GB card in there the day it comes out. I carry a lot of files with me and my Diamond was always full. Heck, I installed some nav software and it was full, forget movies.
- No more DPad... Shoot me here but the more software tweaks there were for the Diamond, the less I needed the DPad, I only remained to use it when typing, but now they put arrows on the softkeyboard so byebye DPad.
- MUCH FASTER SOFTWARE I am not kidding here the HD is out of the package lightning fast, I don't know what they did right or what they did wrong with the Diamond but on the Diamond I needed a hundred rom flashes to get it to be speedy, and still then, WINMO WAS DAMNED SLOW while my 5 year old PDA did the same things 100 times faster, not so with the HD, which just responds.
- The led on the top of the device to indicate status is a joke when looking at it objectively, such a led must always be on the face of the phone to be of any use. Personally I really want it on the top since I hate having constantly flashing leds drawing my attention, both the Diamond and the Blackberry Pearl annoyed the hell out of me in that regard, a little notification sound or vibrate is more than enough for me to remember I had to check my phone, especially when receiving mail at work every 5 minutes.
However, I am a multimedia addict/professional and so I was sold mostly on the huge screen.
The screen *quality* of the Diamond however, is better. Better viewing angle, better contrast ratio, better color temperature. Don't get me wrong, the HD has a GREAT screen, but compared to the Diamond it tends to look yellowish, bland, a tad cheaper I guess... the things that blow the Diamond screen out of the water are the size, touch layer and backlighting. The touch layer is a mile more responsive than the one on the Diamond screen, and the backlighting is stronger, resulting in a brighter screen.
Don't get me wrong the difference is not huge, but you will notice. Also, the iPhone is about the only TS phone with a good viewing angle, thats why it always looks good in videos when compared with HTC devices, but when viewing the HTCs from front you will not be able to tell the difference in quality other than that the HD screen is so much sharper than other phones.

Old Diamond, New HD
Snoopy997s said:
anyone of you guys upgraded your diamond to a Touch HD, or plan to?
Can you give me some reasons what you like/dislike about the two phones?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Snoopy997,
I've done the jump.
This video is interesting to compare these 2 devices (even if it's a TP and not a Diamond) : http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=fSaW7U5tDXU

I sold my Diamond for £340 on ebay, got the HD at cost price (due to a contact of mine) at £450. Total price £110.
I dont regret a damn thing, the Diamond had an awesome spec (Apart from its pitiful 4GB storage) but was too damn flawed. Battery was awful, truly awful to the point where I complained to HTC and they suggested I stop pushing email!!
Im glad I sold when I did because the value of the Diamond is falling day after day. The HD is an improvement in everyway. I was always jealous of my Wife's iphone screen - now her screen seem titchy compared to my glorious HD! Go for it, sell the Diamond now or else the value will plummet. I hear HTC want to release a 16GB diamond soon too.. that will depreciate the value of the original even more.

To be honest, the HD is just a Diamond with a big screen. ok, the specs are slightly better with HD, but you don't reaaly see that when you're using it. The screen is better on the diamond. Razor sharp with deep colour. The HD isn't quite so sharp and looks a little washed out in comparrison.
I think the diamond perfoms better with GPS. In google maps my location is quite off from where I really am. If i'm driving dorwn a road, the HD thinks i'm not on the road but walking through trees and houses. I can't use mine as a sat nav for that reason.
The HD is ok, but not for £500 when you already have a diamond.

Thank you very much for all you responses! Actually, Im moving from an elf touch to a Diamond or Touch HD.
I have reasons for wanting both but haven't really settled on which one yet.
I like the diamond, because its smaller and can be used 1 handed for fone and some other stuff. the dpad helps.
I like the Touch HD, because the huge better res screen, expandable SD card and over all better specs. I'm hesitant because lack of dpad. Not sure how navigating file explorer would be with the touch only input...I guess I could use the stylus too.
can the touch be used 1 handed for opera mini browsing and other simple task, like checking text messages, etc?

getting HD next week and keeping my Diamond :> love my Diamond and it is lightning fast with new dutty 3.3.
Huge screen made me buy it and sdhc slot. But bigger screen is always weaker and you have to be more carefull with it, so i also have Nokia 5100 for rough situations

They're totally different phones, simply because of the form factor. The Diamond is high res, but the screen is tiny - that extra inch means 85% more screen area.
As a result, web browsing and video simply isn't practical beyond a novelty. It's a very good phone if neither of those is particular important to you, and of course less screen area means less prone to damage.

diamond compared to HD....
In a few words.... JUST NO COMPARISON!
Battery life - (charging twice daily), Phone volume (extremely poor), Poor Signal Issues, extremely bad overheating, i actually bought a 2600mA battery bank to cure power issue, the diamond ate the HTC battery bank like jaws eating the back of the ORCA boat in the movie (bank supposed to hold 4 complete charges) and just wanted more and more! 3 Brand new handsets within a 3 month period, all suffering with the above issues, plus a few other issues killed the diamond.
RIP - HTC DIAMOND, i knew you for a short time, its not something i want to remember.... like a nightmare!

I want back to my Diamond and returned the HD. The HD was nice but I thought the screen was to big and the lack off LED notifications (apart from the little red one on the power button) for SMS etc... The ROM use to freeze a lot for upto 10 secs during TF3D navigation.
The HD for me was going to be my true multimedia device but the sound volume and quality did not reach my target.
I decided to get another contract worth £15 per month and a free 8GB touch ipod.

Me too... returned and sticking with the Diamond, expected more and it isn´t such a big improvement. Plus it feels much bigger and for everyday use it´s just a bit to big for me.

An Urgent Question About the Awesome HD MINI's Screen

Hi everybody..
I have been considering buying this wonderful device but during my looking into the specifications I noticed this new strange resolution 320x480 HVGA which is the first time for me to come across this type of screen!
My question is, after your experience with this device, have you encountered any problems which are due to this specific type of screen? either on the level of program compatibility, which is most important, or any other problems?
The device is just the hit for me but this screen thing is holding my hand
Thank you in advance..

Yes, of course, some applications do not run, especially alternative keyboards such SlideIT.
Nevertheless most of them work just fine.
If you use specific legacy application, post a question on this forum to know if it works or if there are some alternative ones.
For example, I used in the past TomTom Collins French english dictionnary. This worked well on Diamond, but no way on HD mini. I had to change to slovoed that work fine, even if I like less the UI.

Thank you for your reply..
It's good news that MOST of the applications have no problem running on this device
Ok - of course there are many applications I want to make sure of before buying but some are essential and some are not so I'll ask about some programs that are of importance to me:
1) iGo for navigation
2) Navigon
3) Mobipocket Reader << this is the most important program in my Diamond right now so it has to work properly

No answer!

Have some patience!
iGO8- there are 2 threads on this, and there are ways to get it to work
Navigon: No idea
Mobipocket: No problem at all here- one of my most used programs!

Thank you NeilM
Well, so far so good, but need to make sure of other programs which I might mention here to make sure they work..
I just don't get it, why would HTC use such a screen? Is there any specialty that I should know about? Why not just use a WVGA or at least a normal VGA if that'll cost them much
Pardon me for my ignorance I have my history with PPCs but lately I wasn't up-to-date with the new ones

I think it is market economics. A number of Android devices also use HVGA so the same basic screen can be used across a range of phones.
Also WVGA and HVGA are both widescreen format which suits current usage patterns of video etc.
A less power hungry screen is a definite advantage in a smaller device. I don' t find the display any less usable than my HD2 in normal use, though I did need to use a registry editor to enable Cleartype, without which text is very poor; for some reason O2 have disabled the control panel for this.

NeilM said:
I think it is market economics
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The rule says: NEVER produce a perfect device << well, maybe it's not a disadvantage to have this screen but temporarily with the compatibility issues, it's really annoying!
Ok, I want to ask you as a user of HD MINI, how do you find the screen in terms of clarity, brightness, accuracy? How do you compare it with the Diamond's << I love that screen - I mean I understand the MINI is 3.2 inch whereas the Diamond is 2.8 inch so does this H in HVGA has a noticeable effect on the screen compared to its size?
Thank you for the information

As a previous Diamond user I have to say for me the HD Mini is much better. Obviously it is capacitive/multi touch which makes it very different in use, but the extra size makes a big difference.
OK, maybe icons and graphics are a little less definitive at the edges but it doesn't affect everyday use.
Personally I think VGA on a very small screen is pointless as text can be too small to read and web pages are very small, so HVGA is an improvement.

It seems that will be the new trend on Windows phone 7 and ohter phones (android, Iphone).
HVGA for small and WVGA for big screens. It is effectively strange, because it is even not the same aspect ratio.

NeilM,
Of course it's better if you look at it this way; capactive/multi-touch screen, but if you look at the other side which is the definition, you'll find that:
HD MINI: 480x320 + bigger screen = less picture quality
Diamond: 480x640 + smaller screen = more picture quality
Theoretically, I prefer having smaller screen with better definition rather than bigger one with worse definition, but I wouldn't base my decision now without testing it in reality - maybe I'll like it!
And as you said before that you use mobipocket, you need bigger screen and you'll sacrifice the quality for that, but, me, the cleartype matters alot to me
Honestly, I see a screen with the size 3.2 inch as the best typical size for me, but, more importantly, it should have a suitable definition too
Again, H in HVGA stands for what?! I don't think it's for "high"

moscard
I don't think so - unless they want to go back!
I mean why not use a normal VGA, for example, for a device they think it should be a revolution in phone market?!
I might be missing something here, but is there a problem in using VGA with capactive/multi-touch screens?
Why use less resolution while you should use more!
I hate these companies!
Thank you both

- H : I suppose is for Half 320 instead on 640
- I used Diamond for two years, and I prefer HD mini screen, the smaller resolution is not really an issue, but the bigger screen is really more confortable. In addition it runs a lot faster and all the things are more reactive, especitially for phone functions. The sound is better as well.
- Just a remark vs Diamond, HD mini do not have front camera anymore. For me is not an issue but it could be.

Bright Neon said:
moscard
I don't think so - unless they want to go back!
I mean why not use a normal VGA, for example, for a device they think it should be a revolution in phone market?!
I might be missing something here, but is there a problem in using VGA with capactive/multi-touch screens?
Why use less resolution while you should use more!
I hate these companies!
Thank you both
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope you're right, but most of companies are trying to standardise anything... screen resolution as well. What I do not understand, is why they choose two resolution with diferent aspect ratio. With same aspect ratio it would be simpler to disign software apps.

Yes- HVGA is Half VGA, ie 480*320
The aspect ratio of VGA and QVGA is 4:3, which is the standard 'square screen' ratio
WVGA and HVGA are 15:9 and 15:10 respectively which are near enough both the standard widescreen resolution.
There is no doubt that both increasing the screen size and decreasing the resolution should have an adverse effect on overall resolution, but my experience of the HD Mini is thta this is mitigated by the better overall quality of the screen, regardless of resolution.
Maybe if I were 20 years younger with perfect eyesight, I might have a different view!
The effect on device responsiveness using a lower resolution is marked though: 600MHz running HVGA is much faster than 524MHz running VGA ! Going back to the Diamond makes it feel so sluggish and unresponsive compared to the HD Mini and HD2.

Not happy with the HTC HD Mini
Just a quick feedback since I am playing around with a HTC HD Mini for a while now. Its my Girlfriends and has a broken screen so I get the chance play around until I replaced the screen. My personal experience is that this device is "horrible". Bad quality screen (I used it also before it had a broken screen ), compatibility is very limited (Custom stuff like XDA Mods not as much bought Apps) further more the Touch sensitve buttons are horrible to accidentaly hit them. Maybe I am just spoiled with the HD2 but I feel there are allot of trade-off's for the smaller form factor. But the worst thing all the nice XDA stuff will probaly never support this resolution since its preaty much the only device with it. (Windows Mobile atleast) Tried Cookie and MaxSense Mod on the HTC Mini without luck. Resolution problems.
PS: Anyone ever found disassembly instructions for the HTC HD Mini? I can find it for any other phone but not the HD Mini. There were just not enough sold to pros. I guess a good phone for Woman and iPhone users.

Encountered very few problems with this resolution. Especially for the newer free apps. Problems arises only in some old apps which either support only QVGA or VGA. But most certainly, you won't want to install such old apps in this shiny new colorful gadget.
For me, the Sense improvements to the UI, and WinMo 6.5.3's own improvements have eliminated my dependent on many of the old apps. I ended up installing less apps. Mostly new one i found reading thru the forums here.
Most of the only old apps i had to carry over from my old WinMo 6.1 are the dictionaries and translators. One of my favorite translators, HNHSoft Eng-Chn Dict, works poorly with HVGA resolution. Nevertheless, still usable. Fortunately, another from my old collection, WM-DICT 2.0, which worked poorly in 6.1 QVGA, turns out to be a great performer in 6.5.3 HVGA. So in reality, i lose one and win one, makes like i didn't lose anything at all.

I'd agree on the compatibility- almost all programs I've tried work fine. The only exceptions are TouchPal keyboard and 1-2 Remote.
1-2 Remote was poor on the HD2 as well as it's designed for QVGA and the skins are not optimised for other resolutions.
WM6.5.3 in its native form here, plus the current version of HTC Sense is a lot more stable than the native WM6.5 on the HD2 and any of the custom ROMs.
If you correctly tweak the screen (enabling Cleartype) it is very good indeed- can't understand the comment about it being poor- maybe it was faulty from the start if it failed later?
Having come from both a Diamond and HD2 I'm very satisfied with the HD Mini though I do find the screen 'touch' accuracy including the 'touch' buttons to need some getting used to. Switching the 'Touch Input' to 'Compact QUERTY' makes typing very much easier with XT9 turned on

omnia2 vs htc hd mini

hi guys,
need your input here pls.
i am trying to decide whether to exchange my omnia2 for a hd mini.
is it worth it?

Hi,
I do not know thw ominia2 but HD mini is a very nice phone.
++
- It works well and is very stable. No need to restart every day such other.
- Very responsive in regards to Diamond and Diamond2
- The size is perfect. Diamond had a too small screen, HD2 do not fit in the pocket. The HD mini fit just well in the front pocets of the gean's.
- Most of legacy such (tom tom Collins dic) run fine
- Most of new apps such (need for speed) run fine
- Screen is scrach resistant
--
- Some new apps not, such SlideIT, I hope the next version.... because of special HVGA screen resolution
- It does not have front camera. (I never used it but...)
- Screen is scrach resistant but the front glas is not unbreackable. If the phone fall on concrete or ceramic.... shbriiik the glas explode. (i tested for you)
- No electronic compas like HD2, shame, it would be usefull
I do not see other defaults, I like it realy very much.
Hope it helps

moscard said:
Hi,
I do not know thw ominia2 but HD mini is a very nice phone.
++
- It works well and is very stable. No need to restart every day such other.
- Very responsive in regards to Diamond and Diamond2
- The size is perfect. Diamond had a too small screen, HD2 do not fit in the pocket. The HD mini fit just well in the front pocets of the gean's.
- Most of legacy such (tom tom Collins dic) run fine
- Most of new apps such (need for speed) run fine
- Screen is scrach resistant
--
- Some new apps not, such SlideIT, I hope the next version.... because of special HVGA screen resolution
- It does not have front camera. (I never used it but...)
- Screen is scrach resistant but the front glas is not unbreackable. If the phone fall on concrete or ceramic.... shbriiik the glas explode. (i tested for you)
- No electronic compas like HD2, shame, it would be usefull
I do not see other defaults, I like it realy very much.
Hope it helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks. that was helpful.
anybody who has used omnia2 also? opinions welcome.

IMho : Samsung Omnia II i 8000 its far better then HTC HD Mini, because My friend at My office used Samsung Omnia II i 8000, and the Metatrader 4 Platform is running Well, the resolution is very bright (used AMOLED) and the screens is 3,7' more wide then HTC HD Mini (only 3.2')
The Product quality is more better rather then HTC.

The main advantage of HD mini over Omnia 2 is touch screen response. Omnia's response is very sluggish and fairly inaccurate. Even when compared to an average resistive screen. So the difference in experience is rather far apart. Needless to say, this makes touch typing a real pain.
Another minus point for Omnia is the UI. Not quite intuitive. To the point of being a bit confusing, if you're a first timer on this phone.
Omnia has got a faster processor. But because of its beautifully high resolution big screen, and lower RAM, it makes the phone seem slow.
Overall, the under-powered HD mini feels quicker and more responsive.

I had the same doubt and went for the Mini. The Omnia has a huge AMOLED screen, which is nice to look at, but makes the phone too big for me. And that's where the advantages end. Faster processor? Maybe, but so the HD2 does and the Mini feels smoother because of the software optimization. Then battery life is low, interface just sucks, it lags like hell... To be honest the only reason someone should go for the Omnia 2 instead of for the Mini is because for some reason he/she needs the bigger screen, otherwise I don't see the point

NitroNitrous said:
I had the same doubt and went for the Mini. The Omnia has a huge AMOLED screen, which is nice to look at, but makes the phone too big for me. And that's where the advantages end. Faster processor? Maybe, but so the HD2 does and the Mini feels smoother because of the software optimization. Then battery life is low, interface just sucks, it lags like hell... To be honest the only reason someone should go for the Omnia 2 instead of for the Mini is because for some reason he/she needs the bigger screen, otherwise I don't see the point
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another reason would be the price. The whole line of Omnia series has been falling. It gets price cuts after price cuts. Making these top brass Omnia's much cheaper than HD mini. If you compare the specs of Omnia 2 and Omnia Pro B7610 on paper, to HD mini, and then take a look at their prices, it's really lop-sided.