Database Users

Here's why I sold my Universal....or why i'm keeping it!

NOT ME!
I'm yet to get my universal, its on its way
Whats worse, it'll take another 15 days...as my sister is getting it from USA for me...and i'll have to wait till she makes it
I was just freaked out by the number of ppl selling away their devices, and thought i'd just start a thread where all of them give their reasons here...so that we'd know if it was the memory problem, or battery life, or bulkiness or whatever maybe the reason....and will help others making a decision to buy it!
Also, if you're one of those hanging on to the device from a while, and feel that this is "the" device to own, then tell us why!
Keep it nice and concise, bullet points as much as possible for easy reading
S

I'm keeping mine. The 'faults' are mostly little niggling things that can usually be gotten round by various hacks/tweaks people have made. And yeah it's a bit big, but you do get used to it
Positives:
- It's like having a little laptop.
- Connectivity wise it truly has it all - 3G, WI-FI, BT, video calling, SDIO, IRDA, etc. No other device has all of this.
- The WM5 OS makes it very easy to write programs/hacks for, so we will see a lot of these over the coming months.
- The VGA screen has a massive "wow" factor!
- Mini-USB connector and charger are very convenient indeed.
- Full-size headphone/speaker socket.
- Built in terminal services client is VERY useful!
- Awesome little keyboard with very good looking backlights.
- Persistant flash-based storage.
- Battery life is very good, lasts for many days on one charge.
- 4 (FOUR) speakers, and 2 (TWO) cameras! Flash is a nice gimmick too.
Basically for me, the huge amount of positives outweigh the small amount of negatives. Best "phone" I have ever owned.

dreamtheater39 said:
NOT ME!
I'm yet to get my universal, its own its way
Whats worse, it'll take another 15 days...as my sister is getting it from USA for me...and i'll have to wait till she makes it
I was just freaked out by the number of ppl selling away their devices, and thought i'd just start a thread where all of them give their reasons here...so that we'd know if it was the memory problem, or battery life, or bulkiness or whatever maybe the reason....and will help others making a decision to buy it!
Also, if you're one of those hanging on to the device from a while, and feel that this is "the" device to own, then tell us why!
Keep it nice and concise, bullet points as much as possible for easy reading
S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
on a side note,
how much is your sister gettin it for for you from the US? did she have to sign a line?

vapor said:
dreamtheater39 said:
NOT ME!
I'm yet to get my universal, its own its way
Whats worse, it'll take another 15 days...as my sister is getting it from USA for me...and i'll have to wait till she makes it
I was just freaked out by the number of ppl selling away their devices, and thought i'd just start a thread where all of them give their reasons here...so that we'd know if it was the memory problem, or battery life, or bulkiness or whatever maybe the reason....and will help others making a decision to buy it!
Also, if you're one of those hanging on to the device from a while, and feel that this is "the" device to own, then tell us why!
Keep it nice and concise, bullet points as much as possible for easy reading
S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
on a side note,
how much is your sister gettin it for for you from the US? did she have to sign a line?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bought it at Mad Monkey Boy's Gadgets for 930 USD [qtek 9000]...and 20 USD for shipping to her address...
That makes it a total of 950USD....in comparison to 1350 USD here in India!!!
San

@sl9, I can only manage one day of use from my Exec's battery. I have been very careful with it from new. My Nokia 9500 with similar use can give me twice the life of the Exec battery. With the Exec if you use BT and forget to shutdown PIE you could run out of battery while you think the unit is "off/standby".

dreamtheater39 said:
vapor said:
dreamtheater39 said:
NOT ME!
I'm yet to get my universal, its own its way
Whats worse, it'll take another 15 days...as my sister is getting it from USA for me...and i'll have to wait till she makes it
I was just freaked out by the number of ppl selling away their devices, and thought i'd just start a thread where all of them give their reasons here...so that we'd know if it was the memory problem, or battery life, or bulkiness or whatever maybe the reason....and will help others making a decision to buy it!
Also, if you're one of those hanging on to the device from a while, and feel that this is "the" device to own, then tell us why!
Keep it nice and concise, bullet points as much as possible for easy reading
S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
on a side note,
how much is your sister gettin it for for you from the US? did she have to sign a line?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bought it at Mad Monkey Boy's Gadgets for 930 USD [qtek 9000]...and 20 USD for shipping to her address...
That makes it a total of 950USD....in comparison to 1350 USD here in India!!!
San
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wow thats crazy man. but thanks for the heads up

I echo everything sl9 has said. The most important positives for me are:
- persistent storage
- WM5 means I never have to use my stylus, except for 3rd-party apps that haven't caught up yet
- full keyboard makes SMS a breeze
- some very useful touches in the software, like the easy switch on/off of BT and WiFi using just a couple of keyboard presses
- flexible and automatic speaker usage depending on the machine's orientation
- the way the thing feels in your hands (cool/cold, solid, 'tight'): it's nice to hold
- the VGA screen for browsing, Excel, calendar, contacts, ListPro and Today screen (I'm in proper VGA mode)
- battery lasts days for me, but I'm probably a lighter user than y'all and now (because most are awful on WM5) have no 3rd-party apps except PocketZenPhone, TomTom and ListPro (per day: 8 hrs Bluetooth, 1 hr phone, 10 SMS, 1 hr general use, 30 mins WiFi browsing)
- stability: Haven't done a reset in a week or so. I never force-close apps, but rely on WM5 to handle it. I have no idea how much program memory I have free, and I don't care: it just works
- Microsoft's contacts app is very good for keyboard-only use: makes dialling a contact easy
- there are some neat improvements in the UI, such as the way BT comes on automatically when you choose 'ActiveSync over Bluetooth', and headset mode is always on automatically if BT is on and the machine has found your headset to pair with
Negatives for me:
- WiFi reception is very poor
- OEM-supplied voice dial is poor. I hate having to record voice tags, and it's not 100% reliable with detection. This could be my HBH-65 headset though. Sometimes the voice dial prompt cuts in when I'm trying to answer a call on the headset :evil:
- Microsoft's calendar app is very very weak, as is PocketIE, and PocketOutlook for emails
- the phone app should scale to VGA properly and it should have a built-in T9 contact finder (the O2-supplied 'Smart Dialler' doesn't take advantage of the hardware keyboard, so is pointless)
- speaking of which, O2's bundled software is pointless and unhelpful
Umm....
- oh yeah: the cameras are still very weak and useful only for taking emergency pictures, such as recording car accidents that you have and newsworthy moments
- the camera flash is useless as a camera flash, but very good as a torch, if only the machine had an easy way of using this feature
- the hardware application buttons aren't as programmable or flexible as they could/should be. I wish we could program each button through the OS for both Press and Press-'n-Hold
Of course a big negative ATM is the lack of 3rd-party apps that are truly compatible with WM5, but this is hardly the fault of HTC or the mobile operators.
So, the hardware is excellent (with the exception of the cameras and WiFi reception) but the OS-bundled software is flawed. Hopefully we'll get ROM updates that will improve things, just like we did for earlier HTC machines.

jah said:
@sl9, I can only manage one day of use from my Exec's battery. I have been very careful with it from new. My Nokia 9500 with similar use can give me twice the life of the Exec battery. With the Exec if you use BT and forget to shutdown PIE you could run out of battery while you think the unit is "off/standby".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then I would say your battery may be faulty. Do you have wi-fi on?
With bluetooth on permenantly, my MDA PRO lasts for 3~ days on one charge. Without bluetooth, it lasts for 4-5 days.
I'm a fairly light user though, 1 short voice call a day on average, although I do open it up and turn on the screen about 10 times a day to check for reminders, text, notes etc.
Perhaps you are a much heavier user of it than I am? Even so, battery life on your device does seem unusually short

@sl9,
Without BT I get 3.5 hours of use with a combination of eBooks, PIM, email & web browsing (50% using 3G). With BT on that reduces to 3 hours. I use my Nokia in a similar was as a phone, ebook reader, PDA, etc. This is my second Universal as I had a JJ before the Exec and the JJ's battery life was a little worst. This level of use is not unusual for a business user who also travels a lot.

SiliconS said:
I echo everything sl9 has said. The most important positives for me are:
- persistent storage
- WM5 means I never have to use my stylus, except for 3rd-party apps that haven't caught up yet
- full keyboard makes SMS a breeze
- some very useful touches in the software, like the easy switch on/off of BT and WiFi using just a couple of keyboard presses
- flexible and automatic speaker usage depending on the machine's orientation
- the way the thing feels in your hands (cool/cold, solid, 'tight'): it's nice to hold
- the VGA screen for browsing, Excel, calendar, contacts, ListPro and Today screen (I'm in proper VGA mode)
- battery lasts days for me, but I'm probably a lighter user than y'all and now (because most are awful on WM5) have no 3rd-party apps except PocketZenPhone, TomTom and ListPro (per day: 8 hrs Bluetooth, 1 hr phone, 10 SMS, 1 hr general use, 30 mins WiFi browsing)
- stability: Haven't done a reset in a week or so. I never force-close apps, but rely on WM5 to handle it. I have no idea how much program memory I have free, and I don't care: it just works
- Microsoft's contacts app is very good for keyboard-only use: makes dialling a contact easy
- there are some neat improvements in the UI, such as the way BT comes on automatically when you choose 'ActiveSync over Bluetooth', and headset mode is always on automatically if BT is on and the machine has found your headset to pair with
Negatives for me:
- WiFi reception is very poor
- OEM-supplied voice dial is poor. I hate having to record voice tags, and it's not 100% reliable with detection. This could be my HBH-65 headset though. Sometimes the voice dial prompt cuts in when I'm trying to answer a call on the headset :evil:
- Microsoft's calendar app is very very weak, as is PocketIE, and PocketOutlook for emails
- the phone app should scale to VGA properly and it should have a built-in T9 contact finder (the O2-supplied 'Smart Dialler' doesn't take advantage of the hardware keyboard, so is pointless)
- speaking of which, O2's bundled software is pointless and unhelpful
Umm....
- oh yeah: the cameras are still very weak and useful only for taking emergency pictures, such as recording car accidents that you have and newsworthy moments
- the camera flash is useless as a camera flash, but very good as a torch, if only the machine had an easy way of using this feature
- the hardware application buttons aren't as programmable or flexible as they could/should be. I wish we could program each button through the OS for both Press and Press-'n-Hold
Of course a big negative ATM is the lack of 3rd-party apps that are truly compatible with WM5, but this is hardly the fault of HTC or the mobile operators.
So, the hardware is excellent (with the exception of the cameras and WiFi reception) but the OS-bundled software is flawed. Hopefully we'll get ROM updates that will improve things, just like we did for earlier HTC machines.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
woah! your negatives sure scares the daylights out of me!
- bad wifi reception??? what seems to be the problem???! for me, this is going to be really important!
- bad camera quality? how bad is it??? I saw a few pictures taken from the universal on a couple review sites, and they looked pretty good! am i missing something? (damn i didnt play around enough with the camera when i had the device with me the last week )
S

Well, the WiFi is hard to measure, but the range is nowhere near as good as my HP laptop. I struggle to get a signal on my Exec if I'm not within about 4 metres of my Access Point in my house. (Standard modern house, thin internal wooden walls.) I can use my laptop anywhere in the house (up to 10 metres away) and in the garden too, but no chance with the Universal. I need to move the Access Point.
As for the camera, I guess it's subjective, but I wouldn't rely on it for decent photos. It's OK for times when you just have to record an image but you're not needing to print it out. Here's a comparison between my Universal and a 4 year-old 2 MPixel Canon Ixus300. Both photos without flash, because the Universal's flash has no effect on photos when the subject is more than a metre from the lens. Both photos are at 640x480 and at the same compression level (filesize 38KB). Neither camera is at its native resolution, to make it a realistic comparison.
Edit: moved photos to a new thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=33960

Hmm. Not sure why they don't both appear as thumbnails. :roll:
Forgot to add: Universal was in 'Night' ambience mode.
Edit: Incidentally, when you take pictures at the Universal's native resolution (1280x1024) the quality is better, but the same problems are there: poor light sensitivity, poor light colouration, blurred focus, indistinct details etc.
It's better, but a long way from good.
And don't forget, the Canon camera is old now: 4 years. Just 2 MPixel - only twice that of the Universal.
Edit edit: Moved photos to a new thread so they don't break this one
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=33960

@SiliconS
thats a nice comparison shot! ( still wondering if you took them both with similar lighting conditions!!! )
i did read that the universal is fairly bad with "colors" as such....guess we have to live with it!
with the wifi range issue....gosh!! 4metres??? tell me your joking please!
S

dreamtheater39 said:
thats a nice comparison shot! ( still wondering if you took them both with similar lighting conditions!!! )
i did read that the universal is fairly bad with "colors" as such....guess we have to live with it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same room. Same lighting. Photos just one minute apart.
It's not really much better than my XDA2. Just bigger resolution. Low-light shots are really not its strong point though. Only by comparison can you see how bad it really is.
dreamtheater39 said:
with the wifi range issue....gosh!! 4metres??? tell me your joking please!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry - I'm serious. Maybe others can confirm, or tell me that mine is worse than theirs. It's hard to measure objectively though.

You have to be kidding about the 4m WiFi range. I have the router placed in my bedroom and i can actually connect 2 rooms away which are in serial. Oh and there are 2 concrete walls in between.
I still get 2 bars inspite of all this. If you call this weak, then i dont know what to say.
Regarding the camera, its oodles better than the xda2 or the xda2s. It is also much better than the JAM, but then again these are not very good standards to compare to. Yes, it is not as good as Nokia or SE but if the camera is the reason one decides not to buy this device, then this device is clearly not for you.

Yeah, the camera sucks. Who cares? The rest of what's on the Uni - the critical stuff - works great. Quality in a cell phone camera is few years off ...

universaldoc said:
You have to be kidding about the 4m WiFi range. I have the router placed in my bedroom and i can actually connect 2 rooms away which are in serial. Oh and there are 2 concrete walls in between.
I still get 2 bars inspite of all this. If you call this weak, then i dont know what to say.
Regarding the camera, its oodles better than the xda2 or the xda2s. It is also much better than the JAM, but then again these are not very good standards to compare to. Yes, it is not as good as Nokia or SE but if the camera is the reason one decides not to buy this device, then this device is clearly not for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi universaldoc!
i currently have an xda2 running on wm5! So when i junk my device and buy a new one, i'd first of all see what are the pluses i get by making such a decision.....
heres what i can count -
1. Awesome keyboard (i really love it!)
2. VGA screen (finally!)
3. Built in Wifi
4. Better Camera
5. 3G support (currently useless to me....but its still good!)
6. The cool factor???
7. 10MB more device root space??
8. I'm running out of points!!!
Having said that....I still have bought my universal (but i'm waiting for it get here :evil: ) only because, i'm a god damned gadget freak and wouldnt mind trading away my spare kidney for one!
I'm just reconfirming my buy....the "reality hits" phase....you know???!!
San

I totally agree with all the positives already mentioned. As far as negatives are concerned, I have none. I love my O2 XDA Exec!
One point I'd like to mention though. My XDA Exec has GREAT WiFi. When I was setting-up my MSN Messenger, my Exec detected 4 different access points including my own. I happen to notice my neighbors' access point which I helped her setup included in the list. Now, she lives about 3 apartments down, so you can just imagine the lenght and obstacles my Exec has to traverse.

I don't have wi-fi yet though hoping to get it sorted in the next month or so. Though on the odd occasion I've switched the Exec's on, I've picked up stuff that must be about 30 - 40 metres away. I know for sure I picked up my cousin's network from around 20 metres outside his house the other week - and he lives in a converted barn with thick interior / exterior walls!
Regarding everyone else's positives and negatives, I agree with most. The camera is a LOT better, and is better than the 2.0MP one we had up to a few months ago. However, it's certainly not the main reason for buying a phone and certainly not in a feature-rich device such as the Exec. The pose factor alone is worth it, especially when sat in laptop mode in the car :wink:
It's 3G. It's an awesome looking bit of kit. One or two niggles in the software that will be ironed out. It's inspired 3 of my colleagues and bosses at work to get one. Less kit to carry around between home and work (no cradle, just a lead). VGA screen - which I STILL look at in awe sometimes. I didn't think I'd get to like landscape mode, but now I LOVE it.
Best XDA by far for me, and I've had most :wink:
Cheers
Ant

if else is positive, the main negative would be the response to incoming phone calls especially thru BT headset :evil: ... you would be lucky to take it from the 1st time ... usually it takes 2-3 sec which is more than enough for the caller to hang up :evil:
Believe it or not ... I use the Universal now only for data activities (e-mail, net, ...) and I have to carry my old i-mate for phone things ... nice scene ... huh ? :x
I can't wait to see a real update for the Radio ROM
ohh ... and a one hell missing feature ... a secondary LCD on the cover to avoid opening the screen just to see who's calling ... a very simple idea you find on almost all flapping mobile phones!!!!

Thinking about it

Well, I was thinking about buy a Kaiser and then I started to look at the specs and the Im really really thinking about getting 7501. I have few questions for people that own it.
1) First how is it as a phone ??/?
2) Is it posible to cary on belt, the belt clip case ?
3) How is the internal GPS ?
4) How is the camera quality ?
5) is it worth it ?
Thanks in advance.

1) It works great as a phone... if you're willing to use a bluetooth headset. Along with voice dial, I rarely need to actually touch the device for phone functions. Speakerphone is very good if you don't mind everyone hearing your business.
2) There is only one know belt clip case, and that had problems, I think. Updated model is "Coming soon!" (I hope)
3) GPS works well. Slow cold startup with some programs. Very convenient after years of carrying a hockey puck.
4) I find the camera good for a phone camera, some people have reported some color issues. I ahve not experienced that.
5) For me, yes, it is worth it. It is big... but I am in love with that gorgeous screen where I can actually see spreadsheets, web pages, etc. Wouldn't type the next great novel on it, but keyboard is fine for writing shortish messages. Workmanship is solid. The mag attachment of the keyboard actually works pretty naturally, although backlighting on keyboard would have been a plus. Probably not possible. Also nice sans keyboard as a lovely video player.
If you can afford it, don't mind comments about "your phone is HUGE", and like to have something that is more functional overall than the usual PPC phone, I'd say go for it. Otherwise, Kaiser might suit you better.
yozh said:
Well, I was thinking about buy a Kaiser and then I started to look at the specs and the Im really really thinking about getting 7501. I have few questions for people that own it.
1) First how is it as a phone ??/?
2) Is it posible to cary on belt, the belt clip case ?
3) How is the internal GPS ?
4) How is the camera quality ?
5) is it worth it ?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

PS: Great support network on this board as well.

wgary said:
PS: Great support network on this board as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THanks for a great explanation. THe belt part is really a killer for me. I really love to have such a nice screen. I would love to see it in person and try it out for my self. Video reviews are great, but until you see it, its not the same. Thanks again for the comments. Anyone else with some comments ?

The best one i ever had... never fell the same before... this is the best...
Nice screen, great functionality.. Perfect storage size... etc
Just recommended!!!

Belt clip
yozh said:
THanks for a great explanation. THe belt part is really a killer for me. I really love to have such a nice screen. I would love to see it in person and try it out for my self. Video reviews are great, but until you see it, its not the same. Thanks again for the comments. Anyone else with some comments ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am actually using the t-mobile HP 6315 belt case for the phone and it works perfectly. Its a pretty tight fit for the phone and keyboard but if you are of with just carrying the phone, it would not be a bad option!

cornelius said:
The best one i ever had... never fell the same before... this is the best...
Nice screen, great functionality.. Perfect storage size... etc
Just recommended!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like LOVE to me! And I know just how you feel. My wife says I love my phone more than her. No comment.
You do raise an excellent point -- not constantly running out of memory is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

wgary said:
1) It works great as a phone... if you're willing to use a bluetooth headset. Along with voice dial, I rarely need to actually touch the device for phone functions. Speakerphone is very good if you don't mind everyone hearing your business.
2) There is only one know belt clip case, and that had problems, I think. Updated model is "Coming soon!" (I hope)
3) GPS works well. Slow cold startup with some programs. Very convenient after years of carrying a hockey puck.
4) I find the camera good for a phone camera, some people have reported some color issues. I ahve not experienced that.
5) For me, yes, it is worth it. It is big... but I am in love with that gorgeous screen where I can actually see spreadsheets, web pages, etc. Wouldn't type the next great novel on it, but keyboard is fine for writing shortish messages. Workmanship is solid. The mag attachment of the keyboard actually works pretty naturally, although backlighting on keyboard would have been a plus. Probably not possible. Also nice sans keyboard as a lovely video player.
If you can afford it, don't mind comments about "your phone is HUGE", and like to have something that is more functional overall than the usual PPC phone, I'd say go for it. Otherwise, Kaiser might suit you better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
(1) - (5) Agreed. As to size, I have never felt the ameo is too big. I rarely carry the keyboard (not that that adds much. It fits neatly into a pocket (suit, jeans, short) and you never have to put it to your head, using a BT headset. I always felt slightly worried with my Uni to my ear).
Finally, the crowning glory - the screen. I upgrade every year but could never go back to a smaller screen. That applies even when not running in VGA.......
Love? Probably.

I love it but I disagree about the size.
It is too big as a phone. The need for a bluetooth headset is such that one should have been included.
Although calls with bluetooth headset are PERFECTLY convenient it still means you have to have the device on your person: while this is fine for work or home it does mean that you need to take a second phone out if you fancy some leisure.
Yes the device can happily be used without the keyboard, but I never liked the idea of carrying £500 worth of technology in my jeans without some kind of hard protection over the screen, much as it did feel 'nicer' without the keyboard attached.
I have heard mention of belt cases but I couldn't bear the reaction from my girlfriend/friends if I had to unzip a big pouch strapped to my waist to send a text.
The camera is superb, maybe not as responsive as a Cybershot camera phone but very impressive in terms of clarity and sharpness. I suspect the Kaiser's camera will be identical to that of the Ameo, although the Ameo does have a very bright LED light compared to any other phone I've seen.
The build quality of the Ameo is superb. A really well-built little machine and I LOVE using it. I NEVER use it as a phone but a lot of people manage to, so it's probably more my easily-embarassed nature that stops me doing so.
Oh and you can plug gadgets into it!
The long and short of it is that despite the impressive spec of the Kaiser the QVGA screen still puts me off. I didn't used to be too bothered but the Ameo has changed my mind.
Yes I like it and I think everyone should get one, though you might want to keep your old phone if you've got a stag do or a birthday party looming on the horizon!

Leo, what gadgets do you plug to it?
yozh, you HAVE to look at the device in person. Everytime I saw a review on the x7500 I passed it by because I thought it was BIG and it never interested me. I went today to a local store were they import phones and I was about to purchase the nokia e90. I told the guy as I was getting ready to pay for it that I would just like to take a quick look at the x7500. He opened it and I said WOW WOW WOW. Love at first sight, I pushed the nokia to the side and told the guy to ring me up for the x7500!
Btw, I spent 2 hours reading reviews and some forums to make sure the nokia was for me. Than I finally gave in to buy it. But with the x7500 I had no clue what it was and what it did and just bought it that quick. I did know it was a ppc and that it had 3g support (which works great in chicago) and I was sold. Than when I saw the screen as he turned it on for me I was a happy camper. Than he tells me it also has GPS! And than he said it has 8gb on board! And a 3mp camera and ......... I went home with empty pocket and a smile in my face.
It is one GREAT device! OH, with a2dp,3g,wifi and if you want better battery life you can switch to just use gms,edge. You cannot go wrong. Just need to buy a BT headset that vibrates when phone rings.

Know what you mean!
I had a similar experience to you. Altho ive used alot of Windows Mobile based Pocket PCs and Smartphones, I wanted a decent high spec device to check emails, surf the net, wifi and 3G were both a big plus for me.
I wandered into my local T-Mobile store and asked to have a look at the Ameo, didnt even think id own one. But i took the plunge, travelling another 30-40 miles the next day as my local T-mobile didnt have it, so they called up another store and made sure that stock was available.
Ever since then ive been more than happy with it.
Yeah its huge, and yeah its cumbersome in terms of size in your pocket. Maybe its a substitute for the size of my manhood, hehe! we'll never know! (when i get the phone out usually i receive the response - 'look at the size of that!!!!!')
The point is:
1. Huge screen - Great in VGA mode, but also great in standard, out the box mode to. Watching movies on the Ameos generous sized screen is a joy. Ive never been able to do that on any other phone for lengthy periods of time.
2. 8gb Storage! wow! What more can i say!
3. GPS - as long as the frequent updates are applied, getting a GPS fix is quick and works like a dream
4. 3Million Megapixel Camera. Just got a seperate Canon camera for serious shots, but when abroad on holiday, the Ameos camera was fine.
5. Heavily used as an mp3 player, can use my Bluetooth headset OR standard 3.5mm headphones, a great little touch! (thats what I like, USB charging, standard headphone socket - shows that HTC arent greedy!!!! take note, Samsung / Sony etc etc!)
6. Mini SD memory! Cheeeap! Get a 4gb card! 12gb total storage! Now thats useful!
7. Wifi, rapidly available in most places now.
8. 3G - Sooo speedy, ive found its actually faster than Oranges 3G!
9. Internet Sharing - Use this when theres no Wifi for my laptop, great little feature which works really well.
10. Windows Live - Another application that uses the size of the screen to an advantage! This is the best Messenger yet!
This device is built for T-Mobiles Web'n'Walk plans. No worring about surfing the net, anywhere, anytime! Its great, complete data freedom!
Now when i look down at my device and the little G or 3G symbol has appeared, no frantic panic'ing trying to close the apps down and close the internet connection.
All i would say is that since the Apple iPhone, i really hope the Windows Mobile interface continues to improve. Rather that being the slightly dull business style interface, should be more like SPB Mobile Shell and Wisbar.
Roll on fancy interfaces, i mean, the quality screen would look amazing with a decent UI! Its only a matter of time.
Yeah its big, but who cares! Its not the size that matters! Its what it does that counts! and there are wayyyyyy to many plus points having this phone! (as i hope ive illustrated!)
I cant help thinking how the next device will improve on this one???? Better VGA Screen? Bigger Storage? Slightly smaller overall size? Mmm! Its gonna be tough!

Some questions before buying

Hello all my first post here
I wanted to buy HTC TOUCH HD to replace my N95 8GB since i like WM phones but i have some questions before doing this:
1_How is the overall build quality of this phone ?
2_How is the audio quality in both headset and loudspeaker ? for example compared to devices like my N95 ?
3_How is the screen sensitivity?
4_Is it upgradeable to windows mobile 6.5?
i've many reviews but i wanted to ask the people who own this phone
Thanks

build quality is outstandind
touchscreen is wonderful, can even be tuned with a 3rd party program (hdtweak).
I have myself been running a custom made wm6.5 for about 3-4 months already, but it's everyone's choice if you want to use custom made or stick to stock.
can't really say or know if htc is going to release a stock 6.5 for touch hd or not.... those who know are not allowed to say - those who don't know have grown bored to continually to ask that
abe

thanks and how is the sound quality ?

Amiri,
The phone's build quality is sturdy. The only point is that it creeks once in a while when it is at a certain angle in the central part of the back cover due to the empty hollow space between the back cover and the battery. Slipping a piece of folded paper will be able to fix this issue easily if it bothers you that much.
The screen sensitivity is fine. However, due to the nature of resistive screens, the corner of the screens are not as sensitive as the center portion of the screens. In reality, we're talking about a 20 ~ 30 % difference in pressure required. Will you notice this? Yes. Will it bug you? Unlikely.
And no, the TouchHD will not be getting the -official- 6.5 upgrade. However, I'm sure rom cookers will get theirs in. If you want the stock upgrades, go with TouchPro2 or TouchDiamond.
Cheers.

thanks well i like TOUCH HD more than Pro2/Diamond2 because of bigger screen also i like its design more,
but u guys didn't talk about the audio quality,how is it ?

MaziarAmiri said:
thanks well i like TOUCH HD more than Pro2/Diamond2 because of bigger screen also i like its design more,
but u guys didn't talk about the audio quality,how is it ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TC,
I'm sorry but I don't know much about the headjack quality as I don't use it much. However, the speaker is pretty hollow and low on the bass. Nothing to yell about. My w800i has a much better speaker.
I'm sure the headjack output will be good if you used quality earphones.
Cheers.

the sound quality through the headphone jack is outstanding !
i have the nokia N95 as well and i can tell you that it is much better and much louder (the n95 was not that loud, at least compared to the HD).
i don't know about the speaker quality though. it's good for calls but no clue about music...
by the way, the stock earphones are good enough (at least for me, but i'm not a music whore)
~sekibun

hey mate, congratulations on making your mind for the move!
I too had changed from nokia n95, first time going for a windows mobile, and here are my thoughts..
about the build, it seems solid, compact and no squeezes what so ever.
touch screen sensitivity is alright i guess, i find it to be sluggish a bit when trying to browse through programs, its a bit glitchy. But then again, this is my first windows mobile, so am not sure how it performs compared to other similar devices.
About sound quality, having had a nokia n95, it is utterly disappointing, you have to say bye to the beautiful stereo sound of the n95. when you set a ringtone and receive a call, it sounds like an old radio ( the one with one speaker and a big knob to tune). headphone quality isnt a whole lot better either, definitely inferior to n95. You will have to sacrifice sound quality for functionality...and i must say, its worth it so far i am loving this phone, apart from the continuous paranoia of scratching the screen, and the constant wiping of fingerprints of the screen, this phone is truly brilliant!
One more thing...you will be a little disappointed with battery life, its 2-3 days max if you use it ONLY as a phone lol.
Good luck

alien79 said:
hey mate, congratulations on making your mind for the move!
I too had changed from nokia n95, first time going for a windows mobile, and here are my thoughts..
about the build, it seems solid, compact and no squeezes what so ever.
touch screen sensitivity is alright i guess, i find it to be sluggish a bit when trying to browse through programs, its a bit glitchy. But then again, this is my first windows mobile, so am not sure how it performs compared to other similar devices.
About sound quality, having had a nokia n95, it is utterly disappointing, you have to say bye to the beautiful stereo sound of the n95. when you set a ringtone and receive a call, it sounds like an old radio ( the one with one speaker and a big knob to tune). headphone quality isnt a whole lot better either, definitely inferior to n95. You will have to sacrifice sound quality for functionality...and i must say, its worth it so far i am loving this phone, apart from the continuous paranoia of scratching the screen, and the constant wiping of fingerprints of the screen, this phone is truly brilliant!
One more thing...you will be a little disappointed with battery life, its 2-3 days max if you use it ONLY as a phone lol.
Good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to add to alien79's comments:
One thing the HD (and other windows mobile devices) has over the N95 is the ability to add additional software, tweaks, new OS, etc etc. If you search and read threads in this forum along with the wiki you'll notice that you can completely flash a new rom with tweaks for speed, smoothness and stability as well as fixes for sound quality, stuttering etc. All you need to do is search, read, ask questions and you'll find that almost everything you seek is awaiting you!!

Yes the most reason that i'm getting a winmo phone is because of its customizations but i really need a phone that has a good audio quality,i'm getting mixed results here one say its better than N95 the other guy says its worse my only concern is the phoens audio quality now,and i am getting mixed answers

MaziarAmiri said:
Yes the most reason that i'm getting a winmo phone is because of its customizations but i really need a phone that has a good audio quality,i'm getting mixed results here one say its better than N95 the other guy says its worse my only concern is the phoens audio quality now,and i am getting mixed answers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You remind me when i decided to buy this phone and had sleepless nights thinking if it was a right decision , dont worry though, its a forum, getting different responses is anticipated, as people have different opinions, and different music taste. Ofcourse having a good headphones is going to improve the sound quality, and as Fallen star mentioned (not that i have tried yet, as am still a noob) maybe different roms and tweaks can improve sound quality. Unfortunately there is nothing you can do about the phone`s speaker...you will have live with it, and having such a great phone in my opinion, makes it easy to ignore this minor slip....
lay back, relax and think microsoft

So loudspeaker is bad? strange because gsmarena.com gave "Excellent" to TOUCH HD's loud speaker:
http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_touch_hd-review-300p4.php

MaziarAmiri said:
So loudspeaker is bad? strange because gsmarena.com gave "Excellent" to TOUCH HD's loud speaker:
http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_touch_hd-review-300p4.php
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Click to collapse
that is a decible scale, solely to measure the "loundness" of the sound, nothing to do with quality. Bear in mind that an airoplane as around 120 db sound scale, that aint pretty sound eh

So if the phones audio quality isn't good i guess i have to wait for a better model from HTC

Leo - To buy or not to buy - what you guys think?

OK - so aside from bias/ability to afford/shipping/tax/price or other logistical factor - can we have a show of hands as to who has already bought a HD2 and has something to say - particularly what about the device makes you happy, what makes you sad?
Let's try keep it away from supplier/delivery issues or local network/band/signal issues - just pure usability/hardware/software.
Personally after trying one out in a store last week I finally received the experience I feel you want when moving to a PDA from a smart phone. What does our community think after using it for a while?

noofny said:
OK - so aside from bias/ability to afford/shipping/tax/price or other logistical factor - can we have a show of hands as to who has already bought a HD2 and has something to say - particularly what about the device makes you happy, what makes you sad?
Let's try keep it away from supplier/delivery issues or local network/band/signal issues - just pure usability/hardware/software.
Personally after trying one out in a store last week I finally received the experience I feel you want when moving to a PDA from a smart phone. What does our community think after using it for a while?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
too subjective a question....for every person on here that says get it, there will be one that says don't get it.
the final decision must be yours....nobody here can make your decision for you. Make a list of the important things for you in a phone, then find the phone that matches those needs the best.
for example, I think the iphone has a much nicer interface, more apps, better screen (touch interface, not size or clarity), but for me it just doesn't handle business functions very well and that made me choose the HD2 since this was my primary need.
if you do the same process you might find the ideal phone for you

I got mine on Sunday just gone, was an upgrade from a Diamond. I loved my diamond, but as soon as I had setup my HD2 with contacts and apps etc I was loving this even more. Each time I use it I find something new, like facebook linking, then seeing in a contact card all communications with that person.
I'm yet to use the footprints, but look forward to trying it out.
The main thing for me was the screen size, I always had problems with the tiny diamond screen, but this is so crisp, easier to use and much easier to keyboard with.
Also the damn speed of the device is amazing, so fast, the OS loads so quick. I soft resetted it and put it down to expect a few minutes wait like on the diamond, but was rebooted so quick!
The one thing I would love to see is a facebook tab, like the twitter tab, shame they didn't implement that!
The specs that come with this phone are truely awesome, and that was the overall selling point for me, as I knew how good HTC phones were I just had to have something with the specs that this phone comes with.

twisted-pixel - good point about the subjectiveness. I suppose what I'm fishing for here are peoples post-usage horror/love stories - moreso with regard to hardware and usability. It's a nice big screen but it's also a nice big slab of tech - how do you find the size, whats the battery life like, do you notice anything bad about the capacitive screen, how often (if ever) do you feel the need for a stylus and say 'doh', does the headphone port become dodgy after use - or the micro usb port? I suppose because of this community we all have flexibility and solutions around software, so I meant to make this more hardware related I guess.

noofny said:
twisted-pixel - good point about the subjectiveness. I suppose what I'm fishing for here are peoples post-usage horror/love stories - moreso with regard to hardware and usability. It's a nice big screen but it's also a nice big slab of tech - how do you find the size, whats the battery life like, do you notice anything bad about the capacitive screen, how often (if ever) do you feel the need for a stylus and say 'doh', does the headphone port become dodgy after use - or the micro usb port? I suppose because of this community we all have flexibility and solutions around software, so I meant to make this more hardware related I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I admit to loving the phone...with one exception...the sensitivity of the screen is a complete disaster for me. it's very difficult to type on, someones it responds to the slightest touch, other times it doesn't. accuracy is also an issue (that was to be expected on a screen with high resolution I suppose)
and yes, I've tried all the tweaks going before anyone suggests it (currently running v3.3 of the tweak with sensitivity on)
I think if I had come straight from my HD then I would have been impressed, but I come from an iphone where the screen was a delight to use.
however, the rest of the phone makes up for that small failing.

noofny said:
twisted-pixel - good point about the subjectiveness. I suppose what I'm fishing for here are peoples post-usage horror/love stories - moreso with regard to hardware and usability. It's a nice big screen but it's also a nice big slab of tech - how do you find the size, whats the battery life like, do you notice anything bad about the capacitive screen, how often (if ever) do you feel the need for a stylus and say 'doh', does the headphone port become dodgy after use - or the micro usb port? I suppose because of this community we all have flexibility and solutions around software, so I meant to make this more hardware related I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, you will find more people venting than praising any device on this forum, as people only seek help when they have problems.
I must admit, I personally think it is the best device I have ever used.
For a quick overview from me (in comparison to the X1, but most comments are applicable):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=5667230&postcount=6

I stumbled on this video on youtube;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-3Bi-Eg2gQ
...and love his brutal (albeit bias and sometimes naive) honesty, it helps you make a decision because it's not a rant. So far you guys are proving some intelligent feedback also - so thank you and let's keep it coming!

I got the HD2 the day it was available in my country (one of the first in europe) and despite all the fixes and xda-dev recommendations i couldn't have it for more then 1 weekend. I sold it on monday morning.
I hated typing (i did try the keyboard cab which should lower the sensitivity), loading sms with some exchanged texts already (loading was awful for such powerful device), visibility outside was horrible, battery,..
Maybe my rant will be understanded better if i mention i'm a blackberry user that likes to try out new "hot phones" (no matter which brand or type of usage).
I've also tried the Nexus One and would say i liked it a tiny bit better then HD2, but still couldn't have it for more then a week.
So, why am i writing this.. After MWC last week, i've kind of wanted to give HD2 another shot. For the following reasons..
I've came across some nice taskbar buttons (which make it look so much better..), I saw there is a fix for sms loading time, i guess i could always install a different keyboard,.. and most imortantly i got a very nice (cheap) offer for a brand new HD2. Yesterday i even ordered a nice case (didn't like the one that comes in the box) and a screenprotector (which might reduce the fingerprints, which i hated so much and a visibility outside,.. hope i'm not too optimistic).
If i somehow manage to be happy with HD2, i might even go for the exnteded battery. And i'm kind of feeling the hype for WinMo7 rom for this device.. Don't know if it will be any better or worse, i just know there is some excitement about it
Hope my rant / "long mess" didn't bore you too much

+1 to buy with eyes closed.

OK, this will be quick because I'm supposed to be doing something else right now but anyway...
I've just sent my HD2 back because of a problem with the microphone so if anyone should be telling you to think of other alternatives - it should be me.
But I can't because I love the phone. It's fast, responsive, it's got most of the features that you could ever want (minus USB host), the screen is gorgeous and the interface is pretty damn usable.
It's not perfect however... Customising it is more trouble than it should be. There is a slight pink hue in the middle of the camera when the contrast and saturation are turned up high enough to make the colours look half lifelike and when the screen is completely white, at certain angles you can see the grid dots that make the screen's matrix.
So to resume, if you don't mind spending some time on it and you're not completely obsessive about things being absolutely perfect (I am and I can still get to sleep at night) then you should be very happy with an HD2.

NeoGreendawg said:
There is a slight pink hue in the middle of the camera when the contrast and saturation are turned up high enough to make the colours look half lifelike and when the screen is completely white, at certain angles you can see the grid dots that make the screen's matrix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The pink hue is solved with an update from HTC (here)
The dots are also visible on an iPhone, its down to the technology, not the device alone.

rp-x1 said:
The pink hue is solved with an update from HTC (here)
The dots are also visible on an iPhone, its down to the technology, not the device alone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I'm sorry but the HTC hotfix did slightly improve the issue but it certainly didn't resolve it in my case. I love the phone believe me but I somehow doubt that anyone who isn't employed by HTC or affected by Daltonism could honestly claim that it has completely solved the issue.
Edit : Not trying to be rude or make out that it's a deal-breaker but I know that as a potential buyer I'd want to know about it.

I've had the HD2 for three weeks and use it every day. I also end up resetting it every day. I've come from a Nokia N96 and before that the N73, so I'm comparing it to the N96. I am very pleased with the speed of the phone and how operations take way less than a second to perform, instead of several seconds a la N96.
The phone itself is a bit too big. Perhaps a 4 inch screen would have been enough. Even though I have big hands, it's just too big to walk around and hold the phone with one hand. I'm scared of dropping it. The headphone port's on the bottom of the phone - it causes the cable to tangle up around the phone when in a pocket.
I have found plenty of bugs in the stock O2 1.43 firmware and know how to deal with the main ones.
I didn't realise the phone had an FM tuner until I found it after a few days on the Start menu - I used the N96 FM tuner almost every day. Unfortunately the tuner on the HD2 is really poor. It is unable to obtain a good quality signal. Sound dips out. There's an awful lot of interference in places where the N96 would have relayed a good quality signal. In places where the N96 got a poor signal, the HD2 has static. BBC Radio 1 has the most powerful signal in my area, yet the HD2 fails to get consistent reception. There's just too much interference and I often just shut the radio off. A huge let down; I wonder if it's hardware or software at fault.
The N96 music player was very well featured, but incredibly (pathetically) slow. In contrast, the HTC Music app has no such delays, is very fast but somewhat basic in comparison. A lot of cool N96 features are missing; there's no way to call up the keyboard to locate tracks, track details can't be edited, tracks can't be deleted, backing out of an album takes you to the top of the album list and not to where you were. There's no hardware buttons to change tracks when the phone's in a pocket (a swipe up/down on the lock screen to change tracks would be nice). Volume control has too few stages so is either too loud or too quiet; volume within the Music tab has more stages but doesn't always work (error in Services.exe). General audio quality is rather poor - even the iPod classic 5G sounds better! Occasional unexplained sound dips and audio which lacks in bass and treble. The oddest thing is the shuffle feature tends to replay swathes of tracks that have already been played.
Video playback is very impressive because of the screen size. Can't fathom why the Windows Mobile OS cannot play WMV. Get quite a few dropped frames and put that down to the poor quality 1.43 ROM and perhaps not-fully-developed decoders. Video viewing in general is very nice, although an afterthought within HTC Sense, as the video playback has essentially just been tacked on to HTC's photo viewing app.
I do like the phone, it is good enough to stop me wanting to go back to my last phone. I'd get one, but the HD2's not quite the tech lover's wet dream that some of the big review sites make it out to be. Having bought it from the O2 network, I'll seriously doubt I'll ever be able to officially upgrade the firmware (HTC isn't even listed on their software upgrade pages), so I'll have to learn alternative methods one of these days to see if I can iron out some of the bugs!

Wish they would just whack a snapdragon and capacitive screen in a HD and re-release it....think that would satisfy a lotta folks. Cheers all for your input, it's really helping me to set realistic expectations.

I was contemplating on whether I should buy a Nexus One instead of the HD2, but I decided to go for the HD2 instead because it was cheaper, had a nice screen resolution, specifications don't differ much between both devices, and i'm looking forward to the Windows 7 release on the HD2

i am currently contemplating to switch from HD to HD2....is it worth it?

Buy it!
I come from the HD. The HD2 is what the HD should have been from the first instance.
Fantastic:
- speed (and I am using a stock French Orange ROM based on 1.43!)
- screen
- usability
As far as precision is concerned: I need a phone to check and type (even long) emails, and read documents. XT9 works just great, but even in ABC mode in landscape the accuracy is pretty good (and I type fast!).
If you need to play around with programs using stylus-based input, yes, then it gets really annoying (try to edit your registry in Total Commander and you'll get crazy).
In summary: if you want to tweak it like crazy all the time or intensively use older programs with small menus, then consider buying an alternative with a resistive screen and a stylus. But if you actually want to USE your phone with the standard applications, just buy it and you'll get the best of the market today imo!

to buy or not
i have it for a month after the trinity.
sorry but it hasnot voice call
no handwriting recognition
battery ends quickley
no video call
no .chm file reader
all of these were on the trinity.
so i am sorry buing it

Mastoid said:
I was contemplating on whether I should buy a Nexus One instead of the HD2, but I decided to go for the HD2 instead because it was cheaper, had a nice screen resolution, specifications don't differ much between both devices, and i'm looking forward to the Windows 7 release on the HD2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope you do realize that there may eventually never be a WP7 release for the HD2?

rottttman said:
i have it for a month after the trinity.
sorry but it hasnot voice call
no handwriting recognition
battery ends quickley
no video call
no .chm file reader
all of these were on the trinity.
so i am sorry buing it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
U'd better search for infos about the phone after buying it

[Q] Some questions before buying a X10...

I have been reading a ton of reviews on the X10, and am thinking about getting one. However, I have some questions about it that can only seemed to be answered by everyday users and not tech blog critics, and was wondering if you can help me sort out some doubts. Especially when the 2.1 Update just come out and the critics haven't properly reviewed it yet.
- How is the battery life? Several places on the internet says the battery life is horrible. I am secretly hoping that there are also people who love the battery life that just haven't given it a shout yet. I don't mind charging it once per day, but can it survive through at least 4 hours of music playing, about 50 texts, 1 hour of call with 3G turned on at all times for one day?
- Ringing Volume/Vibration Strength? Would you still be able to hear it ring in a busy citycenter?
- Is TimeScape THAT useful? Do you use it, or do you use the native messaging app?
- Keyboard - GSMArena says the 2.1 update helped a lot. Your thoughts?
- Last but not least, do you regret getting the X10? What would you have gotten instead?
I know I sounded annoying - please give in just any input. Thanks a lot in advanced!

I work for a cellular company, and really use the Internet a lot on 3G/HSPA. And I have 9GB of music playing nonstop. The battery lasts about 5-7 hours. I always have a spare battery available to last the day.
The ring/buzz is not very loud. I often have missed calls.
Timescape is more usable with 2.1.
Sent from my X10i using XDA App

I have been using the X10 since April 26th and I think it is a great device with one fairly major flaw. The in-call volume is ridiculously low even at maximum level. It has been reported to SE since release and has not improved at all over the course of two software updates. It's my belief that the hardware is inadequate to raise the volume and users will be forced to live with it.
- How is the battery life? Several places on the internet says the battery life is horrible. I am secretly hoping that there are also people who love the battery life that just haven't given it a shout yet. I don't mind charging it once per day, but can it survive through at least 4 hours of music playing, about 50 texts, 1 hour of call with 3G turned on at all times for one day?
Battery life was abysmal to start, improved on R2 firmaware and has improved again on the 2.1 update.
- Ringing Volume/Vibration Strength? Would you still be able to hear it ring in a busy citycenter?
Ringer volume is adequate, even in busy places. I do not use vibrate unless I'm in a meeting and it is useful enough to alert me.
- Is TimeScape THAT useful? Do you use it, or do you use the native messaging app?
I do not use Timescape at all. I don't bother with Facebook or Twitter so it is essentially useless unless you like eye candy. I suppose if you are very socially inclined through these services that it would be benficial.
- Keyboard - GSMArena says the 2.1 update helped a lot. Your thoughts?
Keyboard has improved with the latest update and I find it to be on par with the better on-screen keyboards.
- Last but not least, do you regret getting the X10? What would you have gotten instead?
I do not regret purchasing an X10. I'm happy with it. It is excellent for browsing and both audio and video capture and playback. The camera is outstanding as long as it is not dusk or later. The phone has good signal strength and call quality. The in-call volume is the only problem.

Thank you for your comments!
Regarding in-call volume - could this be solved with a headset/pair of earphones? I'd imagine that I would most probably use it as my primary music player anyway.

yes you can solve it by using headsets as I always use them for music playing and receiving phone calls
My battery life last minimum 13 hours with constant use ( beautiful weather live wallpaper ) with facebook and twitter updating every 1 hour.
I do use timescape and I found it very useful, the only downside of it that it uses the browser to open comments or status, it would be better if it uses integrated application or 3rd party apps to open the notifications.
the ringtone volume is not the best in crowded places as you will miss some calls eventually.
And no I do not regret buying it because I am enjoying it

Ok i dont know whats wrong with the people above but they should check their ears and handsets. First my battery lasts 2 days with medium use and a whole day with heavy use. Any smartphone with this kind of capabilities wont last any longer (iphone, galaxy s, desire hd.. etc) . The loudnes of internal speaker was fine on 1.6 and now with 2.1 is great. The external speaker good enough and a lot better than some brand new devices like the desire hd wich speaker is terrible. The phone itself is great, dont beleive this reviewers as they dont take time to play with the devices and they just test everything stock and untouched. The x10 is the best smartphone phone ive had and ive had quite a few some of woch are galaxy s and still have an iphone 4 wich my wife uses. Let me tell u from build quality, good looks, stability and usfulnes to modding, customising and having fun.. this phone delivers. Its just solid. I have looked for many other options and i just cant find anything that matches my needs better than this. For example the galaxy s is cheap built very light and ugly and really unstable had it for a week and its gone. Iphone is just simple and boring with no customatisation whatsoever, small screen and everyone has it. Htc devices have bad cameras and bad audio quality witch i cant cope with. The new dhd for example has a really bad loudspeaker and a really ****ty 8mp camera also battery life is half that of the x10. The x10 is unique device and my strong points that i look in a phone are : works good as a phone, has a big bright screen thats easy to read, fast and responsive, stable, good camera, good audio quality internal and external, good battery life, a lot of customatisation options to make it look and work as i want it to, sd card, removable battery, flash light (very useful), notification led (very very useful). The x10 gives me all this and more. There is many many x10 users that are very very happy with their handsets and i think you will find that out soon . Personaly the best experiance ive had with a phone. Hope this helps.
Sent from my X10i using XDA App

Nankov said:
Ok i dont know whats wrong with the people above but they should check their ears and handsets. First my battery lasts 2 days with medium use and a whole day with heavy use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Basically, it all depend on your usage... some have 4 days battery life while other 7 hours of battery life..
if you use your phone to update your social life every X hours, have direct push emails to your phone, live wallpaper that connects to your internet every 1 minute to check weather forecast. listen to music for 2 hours a day, play games for another two hours. Then you'll get the 13 hours I'm talking about..
Medium usage can take me up to 3 days but I am a heavy user so I don't think that I will cut-off anything just to save battery time
In the end it depends on how are you going to use your X10.... butt keep in mind that comparing to other android devices, X10 has the better battery life

The battery lasts me a day and usually have around 30-40% remaining before I go to bed. About 15 hours of usage. I listen to songs on it for about 30 minutes each day, 30 minutes ebook reading, 30-60 minute angry birds, a few texts, and some random playing around with it just for the sake of it, I feel like it is a bit improved since 1.6, about 15% more.
Ring is pretty loud, although I still have some missed calls because I keep decreasing the ring volume by accident.
In-Call volume has been a bit improved after 2.1, I can now hear the other person at a skytrain station, could still be louder tho.
Timescape takes too long to start up, I really never use it.
As for keyboard, there are tons of alternatives on the market, so I don't think that will be a problem at all.
Finally, I would probably get a WP7 phone if I hadn't got my x10, WP7 feels quite sexy IMO. But the x10 is still much more impressive than the n900 i traded. ( missing the built in FM transmitter though )
good luck

- How is the battery life?
I got about that sorta useage but i dont use headphones, i play the music over bluetooth to my sterio in my car and in the office. and i get 18 to 20 hours out of it.
- Ringing Volume/Vibration Strength?
The ring tone is a bit quiet but still prety good. you just have to find the right ringtone, or tweek yours till it's right. (theres Apps for that ) i herd my phone in the machine shop at work so i'd say it's loud enough.
- Is TimeScape THAT useful? Do you use it, or do you use the native messaging app?
Timescape is prety cool, i like how you can put all the post from all your social and SMS in cronological order. I dont use the native Messenging App nemore I use Handcent to make and read my messeges. Timescape is just to slow.
- Keyboard -
I like the new keyboard heap better, i'm still using it since i got the update. and prob will keep using it i think.
- Last but not least, do you regret getting the X10? What would you have gotten instead?
Was loooking at a Samsung Galaxy but went for the X10 instead, Now my GF has the Galaxy i'm glad i went for the X10. it looks good, (doesn't look like a Iphone ) it's fast, and works.

- How is the battery life?
I play music, lots of texts and moderate calling... there has been maybe one day since I've bought it that it died before I got home to charge it, but that was at about two in the morning. If I dropped the music and kept my eye on the use, easily go two days. I have no problems with it..I don't have to be careful or not do what I want to do, and it'll still last at least the day
- Ringing Volume/Vibration Strength?
It's fairly loud, but the vibrate is great too....very rare that I don't know I get a text or call
- Is TimeScape THAT useful?
Pretty nice looking, but I don't use it. I think its just a fad, I'm kinda curious now as to how many people use it
- Keyboard -
New keyboard is nice, but you can download all sorts of things to get what you need
- Last but not least, do you regret getting the X10? Not at all, I love this phone

Battery life depends on the apps you run, how much you use wifi, gps, etc. It's a decent battery that can easily be run down with heavy use. But that's not the battery's fault. Think of it as a car battery that has to run extra lights, high power stereo system, in-car DVD... Get the picture?
Ringtone and vibrate are fine. In-call volume is the problem that has yet to be corrected.
I don't use Timescape or Mediascape. There are many other good alternatives to them.
As other users have said, you have a load of keyboards to choose from, no problem there.
The X10 came late to Android 2.1 but it's a fine phone in general. There still are kinks that need to be ironed out but in my mind it's the best looking Android phone out there.
If I were to get another phone it would have to be its successor, the x12/Anzu which should arrive sometime in 2011. Maybe that's something you want to consider.

Wow... I'm surprised. Not a single bad review here... much different from what I've been reading elsewhere on tech blogs.
I was talking to a sales rep in a local electronics store, and he was trying to get me to buy the Desire HD. Honestly, it is giant, but I don't know if I am wiling to spend that much more money.
Alright then, I think I'm sold. Galaxy S isn't an option according to reviews and its bad quality. Others are just too out of price range. I'm coming X10!

If you can try to borrow an X10 & make a call in a noisy environment, so that you're sure you can live with the audio level. Go through some of the other threads & see what people are complaining about, & decide if it's something that matters to you.

Actually, only people who never used it, hates it. That's the downside of being beautiful. You have detractors. I don't find any problem with in call volume at all. I always have two phones with me, but at noisy environment both will be the same on whatever volume level it is. My solution, go inside or plug in the headset. I'm planning to buy a SE MW600 Bluetooth headset anyway, so this part will be a moot point soon, plus the benefit of having an FM radio...

Go inside is not a solution, & not everyone wants to wear a BT headset all the time. What if you forget to bring your headset with you?
To say that people who dislike the X10 have never used one is wrong. The advice I gave is sound, you can never go wrong trying something before you buy.

To be honest. I just not only like my x10. But I really love it. Although there are some relly annoying bugs like in call volume, battery performance, virtual keyboard problem. Use bluetooth is not a solution because it will decrease the power easily.
But x10 is good phone. Trust me. If you don't like x10, it means you don't like android. This is all about OS. All about Android. All about smart phone. A phone with so many features. Just find, install. And may be tweak.
Gunawan-GN Multimedia-X10i

I know this won't go down well but here is a summary of my experiences.
I was really excited about the x10, I pre ordered it and owned it for about 6 months. I cannot in good conscience advise that you buy one. Having recently (last week) upgraded to a desire HD i realise just how poor the x10 was in so many respects. The only thing it really excels in is looks. When I bought it it was not a terrible choice, but it has only slipped further behind in my opinion. Despite the LONG awaited 2.1 update the software is still poorly implemented. SE have proven to be unreliable.
There are too many good (better) alternatives available at the same price that you should really look at them.
Hope this helped...

JamesBarnes said:
I know this won't go down well but here is a summary of my experiences.
I was really excited about the x10, I pre ordered it and owned it for about 6 months. I cannot in good conscience advise that you buy one. Having recently (last week) upgraded to a desire HD i realise just how poor the x10 was in so many respects. The only thing it really excels in is looks. When I bought it it was not a terrible choice, but it has only slipped further behind in my opinion. Despite the LONG awaited 2.1 update the software is still poorly implemented. SE have proven to be unreliable.
There are too many good (better) alternatives available at the same price that you should really look at them.
Hope this helped...
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Click to collapse
Sorry but can you please explain poor? I mean what is better in the DHD than the X10? Camera, Audio quality, Speakerphone, Battery life, Build quality? or is it just smoother because of 2.2 and you think its so great?

Nankov said:
Sorry but can you please explain poor? I mean what is better in the DHD than the X10? Camera, Audio quality, Speakerphone, Battery life, Build quality? or is it just smoother because of 2.2 and you think its so great?
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Click to collapse
Im pretty sure its because of 2.2 which in fact is being worked on for our phones as we speak, and also because of the sense ui which i think is ubber s***. To the OP, the desire hd is garbage with battery and camera quality and tbh as a long time htc customer with devices owned such as the tilt 2 and touch pro and the desire(for a month) the camera can never be as good as x10s and also battery is outstanding on my x10 it all depends on how you configure your device its your decision mate, u can get the x10 now or wait for the x12 either way sony makes quality built phones im not trying to sound like a fanboy here, i like htc and sony equally, like people said, try it out, people who hate it, never tried it!
Sent from my X10a using XDA App

Sure i can go into a little more detail...
Firstly, yes the DesireHD is fast, REALLY fast but i dont think that on its own if a fair comparison, its a newer phone.
Firstly, battery... the x10 battery is quite poor, not awful, but not great. If you use the phones features fully it will not last a day. That isnt too unusual when it comes to smart phones, but saying it has a good battery is wrong in my opinion.
The camera, part of the reason i bought the phone was the camera, and it really is not that great. The app takes a long time to open which is a real pain for "in the moment" shots and the results are below average in poor light. Not having a flash is a HUGE problem in my opinion. The camera application is hopeless too.
Timescape and Mediascape have some nice features but need to be faster. Overall though i like them.
The touchscreen, multi-touch issues aside, the actual touchscreen is quite poor. It really struggles with accuracy near the edges (more than most) and often gets "stuck" on. (I have had 3 x10 handsets, so not an isolated issue)
Sony made a lot of customisations, most of which sucked. The looked pretty (sort of) but impeded functionality and slowed things down. They have gotten slightly better in that regard but still...
As for HTC sense, i think its very good indeed. The sense launcher is not at all to my tastes, i use ADW, but the modifications HTC have made to the rest of the UI are actually helpful. Often just little things like the "magnifier" for moving the cursor in the text etc but it all adds up.
If the x10 were half the price i wouldnt have an issue, but its expensive for what it is.
To me, after 6 months of daily use, it seems obvious that this was SE's first attempt at an android smartphone, I would wait till they have had more practice or go with a manufacturer that has a better track record... Samsung, Motorola, HTC etc
Ultimately though, its a personal thing, you may fall in love with it!