Yet Another HTC Touch HD Review - Touch HD General

I know people have had just about enough of reviews of this thing, but I beleive every single one brings new perspective... so here is mine.
First a bit about myself and how I use the device... I am a power user, email phone, sms, very finicky tweaker, power internet user and moderate multimedia user on my mobile device. Devices I have owned in the past are iPhone, iPhone 3G, HTC Kaiser, HTC Wizard, SE T68i, SE P910i, Nokia N95. I also do mobile device testing at work because we develop a mobile phone application. However thi is more of a casual review.
So here it is :
Initial impressions : The HTC Touch HD, is a VERY good looking device. The moment it comes out the box it jumps out at you, the glossy finish, the sleekness, the minimlastic look is all very nice.
However, you begin to notice when the goodness when you turn the device on. When the thing comes up, and everything gets loaded up, what you see on the screen is ABSOLUTELY fantastic. Enough to take an average cell phone users breath away, the resolution is apparent and spectacular.
My apprehensions in getting the Touch HD were :
1) Keyboard.. I am a heavy email and SMS user and I wouldnt move away from my Wizard for the longest time due to the keyboard
2) Finger use... after using the iPhone, i realized what a pleasure it is not to pull out your stylus anytime you needed anything.
Having said that, let me tell you, that I can totally get used to using a keyboard on this thing. yeah i still miss my keyboard, but im sure in a couple of weeks, I will be very well versed to using the keyboard and ahrdly miss a hardware one. They keys are spaced out, goen are the days of the old WM keyboards and this is good. I make some mistakes but far fewer than I thought I would.
Finger use. The Touch HD is very finger friendly. I can do MOST things without pulling out the stylus (and I have BIG hands). Its also good to eb able to pull outt he stylus for those applications with small input boxes and highlihgting text and if you want to give transcriber a whirl (which works well btw)
Screen sensitivty : This is the one thing that really worried me as soon as i started playing with it.I had been used to a capacitive screen and in my opinion, out of the box it required double the pressure for gestures and just overall feel of it. Made me very anxious at first. But after a while (and a few tweaks) its growing on me. It still more pressure and things are still more quircky since I am not 100% used to the gesturing with that much presssure, (its no iphone) its still very very good. The problem happens if u lift ure finger above the threshold point while gesturing, the application/link gets triggered.
Video : I immideately launched youtube and saw a video.. it looks better than any other mobile phone I have ever seen i real life... and I go to CES... nuff said
Performance : I am very happy so far with it. keep in mind, im a tweaker, so ive got all kinds of junk on it already, and i havene experienced any slowdown or lock ups. I just watched Life using my slingplayer over edge (no 3g in the US.. ) and it was brilliant throughout, in full screen.
Camera : In good light, the camera is as delivered. ALthough even moderately low light, it is unusable, which is dissapointing. Outdoor daytime shots, the thing is a champ and can get decent shots easily.
GPS : Works well, I dont see any lag, I drove around 1 hour in San Francisco, with eyes fixed to the phone and didnt see much lag or loss. GPS doesnt lock indoors on the first floor, on my second floor it will lock within 45 seconds.
Other stuff : I am running ,
Diamond Tweak,
TF3D Config,
Advanced Config,
Background for all tabs (Annoying transparent bar at the top of all manila applications after this.. still very usable though),
Weekday mod,
Automatic Wallpaper changer,
TF3D main clock and alarm goes directly to SpbTime,
WIMP,
phoneAlarm for automatic profile switching (although my locations arent working .. ),
Friendmobilizer for facebook,
MusicID,
Gyrator 2,
SKtools and
Sprite Backup
Adobe Flashlite 3.1
... all succesfully without hitches.
There is other things that I probably missed. I will add to the review as I can.
All in all, the device is totally worth the $700 i paid for it from clove tech, who got the device to me in three days and Chris was very very helpful. People always do a double take on it and the screen is so lovely i turn it on jsut to take a look at the screen. I am very happy with it and keeping this one as my personal device for now.

Dude,
Solid review. I can see from your previous phones your a heavy user, as am I.
Keep us up to date.
G.

cool review from experience! definately keep us posted...

Great Review... Nice to hear good things about the device I spent a fortune on...

taimoorhusain said:
I know people have had just about enough of reviews of this thing, but I beleive every single one brings new perspective... so here is mine.
Other stuff : I am running ,
Diamond Tweak,
TF3D Config,
Advanced Config,
Background for all tabs (Annoying transparent bar at the top of all manila applications after this.. still very usable though),
Weekday mod,
Automatic Wallpaper changer,
TF3D main clock and alarm goes directly to SpbTime,
WIMP,
phoneAlarm for automatic profile switching (although my locations arent working .. ),
Friendmobilizer for facebook,
MusicID,
Gyrator 2,
SKtools and
Sprite Backup
Adobe Flashlite 3.1
... all succesfully without hitches.
QUOTE]
Hey, taimoorhusain
In your stuff-list, there is also a Automatic Wallpaper changer! Wich app do you use for this and is it also working under TF3D?
can you post a link?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I'm interested in the wallpaper changer too! Please post a link

Wallpaper Changer
Here is the link to it... and yes it does work with TF3D
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=435041

taimoorhusain said:
Here is the link to it... and yes it does work with TF3D
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=435041
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks taimoorhusain for your support ,

Where are you guys getting your Touch HD's from in the US??? I'm on AT&T and want one BAAAAD!

Bought mine on Amazon...took 3 days with 2 day shipping

Jizzay1 said:
Where are you guys getting your Touch HD's from in the US??? I'm on AT&T and want one BAAAAD!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are many usa HD sellers & stores on EBAY...

Related

New Panel: Facebook

Theres a New facebook panel available; from what i have seen, its only on the US SE site at the moment, but im sure it will be in the uk one soon - for now - have a link:
http://www.sonyericsson.com/download...okPanel_X1.cab
Also changed the language site, I can't download.
Can you post the cab please?
Thanx!
http://www.sonyericsson.com/downloads/fd/36/FacebookPanel_X1.cab
wow, that panel is simply awesome! so nicely designed! this must be ported to other WVGA devices!
can we get some screen shots and a quick review - i dont have my X1 with me right now so i would like to know what to expect?
jimmeh1988 said:
can we get some screen shots and a quick review - i dont have my X1 with me right now so i would like to know what to expect?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some screens
It's AWESOMEEEEEE!!!!!
it's really good (although a bit slow at the start, but then I do have nearly 500 friends).
allows you to upload photos and call contacts.
very nice looking panel, works great, now u can upload photos as well...
Just installed this as well and I love it. I have tested it on my WiFi connection, and it _could_ be a little faster for pulling the data down, but still, it's nice to finally see some new panels for the X1. I really like the photo upload feature too, super simple.
On a side note, I am running Wisbar Advance 3 + WAD 2 on my X1, and I find that after the device has been on for a while (without soft-resetting), my Panel key will not launch the panelmanager. It seems to do something, but then quits back to the Today screen. I then checked in the System Processes and found that it was using 21mb of RAM! Even after terminating that process and restarting 'panelmanager.exe', it will not come back. A soft-reset is needed to fix it.
I don't believe this is a WA+WAD issue, because I've tested by terminating both of those apps, but panelmanager still refuses to launch via the X-Panel key sometimes...anyone else experience this sort of thing with their panels?
Otherwise, I'm sooo happy with this device, and I show it by giving my love back to the phone via the 3.5" port ooooo weee!
it's cool in some ways almost as cool as iphone/ipod touch version
and in some ways much cooler
very pro work with the gui
like it a lot. Big thanks to whoever made it. More panels now!
Best looking panel around. Great work!
scar45 said:
and I show it by giving my love back to the phone via the 3.5" port ooooo weee!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
haha...
Yea it's definitely a great looking panel, works very well also, liking the many features of it, although i got a windows error once, but i am liking it, hopefully more panels like this quality soon to come.
just installed it and so far it seems to look good haven't had time to play with it yet tho.
Waiting for Orkut panel aswell !
Awesome, looks good....
yea it does look pretty nice i thought i was doing something special with skybook i guess not
Vid
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vbZIiqw5NWI
This renewed my faith in the X1.. I wish they included the Facebook chat like iPhone/iPod does though

[IDEA] touch friendly brightness app SetBrightness - screenshot included

Fellow developers
As many here, I have welcomed the new era of touch friendly apps and GUIs. In the plethora of great applications that we can all find here, I feel there's a need for one more (most likely for many more, but this post focuses on only one )
Basically in everyday use, I have always had a problem with quick brightness change. The urge for that usually strikes in the least convinient moments e.g. during a car drive when the sun starts shining straight into my screen and there's no time for little tete-a-tete with good 'ol stylus, or cycling the level of brightness. None of the existing solutions seem to be perfect.
Therefore I think there's a hole to fill in by an application that I imagine, could work on very similar basis to MarcLandis's - SetVolume.
Please have a look at the concept screenshot attached.
I believe it's pretty self explanatory.
Just few words of comments:
- two separate battery & external brightness tabs (though they can be on a single screen as well),
- advanced button - is a link to system brightness panel,
- power button - is a link to the system power panel,
- +/- increase/decrease brightness level.
Optional features could include:
- skin support,
- cooperation with current apps such as S2U2,
- linking to hardware/software buttons,
- ... I'm sure you can think of some other things as well.
I understand, that due to different implementation of brightness panels/reg keys by different manufacturers this app can be a challenge. But I'm sure that's not impossible also and can be solved by different configuration profiles, or other solutions that I'm prolly not aware of.
Unfortunately being 'code deblitated' I cannot write this app myself. However, on my side I can offer full support in the graphics department and help to prepare the needed elements for different screen resolutions.
Your comments are most welcome, and hopefully someone can stand up for the challenge
regards
efbiaye
Its already done in WKTASK - the best task manager for WM.
I suggest you change its normal setup to do a Launch when you hold the close X button down (easily done with a finger).
This then brings up a customized menu that can have the brightness, volume you are looking for.
this is exactly what I want to do as my next project!
I hope you will help me with graphics.
Stay in touch, please.
Dear bsw11,
I'm of course familiar with your app, which btw. is really great, however it exceeds the simple functionality of just a brightness app that I was looking for.
My point was, to have such app literally 1 click away (either hardware/software button). Currently I had created a direct shortcut to my Windows brightness panel, the problem is - that it isn't finger friendy at all - you have to pinpoint the slider, which is next to impossible if you're driving a car, or even in public transport where everything is shaking.
Maybe MVBklight... which is a today plugin also
francarl said:
this is exactly what I want to do as my next project!
I hope you will help me with graphics.
Stay in touch, please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to heear that francarl of course I'm ready to help.
Hi..In the last few days i wrote an application like this.. if you want to try.. all feedback are welcome..
Only VGA/WVGA HTC for now..
mylostblog said:
Hi..In the last few days i wrote an application like this.. if you want to try.. all feedback are welcome..
Only VGA/WVGA HTC for now..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately I don't have VGA HTC device to test :/
fbifbi said:
Unfortunately I don't have VGA HTC device to test :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is an alpha.. QVGA WQVGA are now supported too..
For other brand i need more time.. i have to find the right dll to invoke
Can Mylight be themed like the concept? In the new rom I installed my volume adjustments look much like the concept it would be nice if the backlight adjustments matched. Is this something easy to do?
I installed mylight aaaaannnnnddd yeah it doesnt seem to actually do anything? Is this just a graphic demo of what it would look like? Cause as I push the yellow thing up and it fills it up it doesnt actually change the screen brightness.

How can we get this ball rolling?

okay ive had a fair few htc devices, and im a fan of flashing custom roms etc.
i've just ordered an s740 as i think they look like lovely devices and have heard good reviews so far.
Now i've seen olipro's thread which went off topic..
so how shall we get the development ball rolling?
how about a collection to get olipro one of these devices
(going for about £180 - £230 on ebay)
and im sure if we all donate £5 - £10 (or more or less if need be) it wont take us long before we get some good custom roms etc
i know i can't be the only one out there thinking this!
Let me know what you guys think
comon guys
50 views and not one comment?
is everyone really that happy with their device???
Hi,
I only find 1 thing annoying. When the keypad is locked I am still able to use the keys for volume.
For the rest I think the device is pretty good.
Ray
r-jansen said:
For the rest I think the device is pretty good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it is pretty good as well but could still use a few tweaks. I would contribute to any of the following on an otherwise clean ROM...
OS
Windows Mobile 6.5 - Well this is an obvious update, especially if HTC never offers one.
Usability
Tx9 - Sometimes Tx9 is used and sometimes not in various applications on the ROM. Would be much better if it were one or the other.
Browser System Command Warning - Warning on dialing phone numbers from the browser seems unnecessary if the dialer is going to 'verify the number is correct' anyway.
Key backlighting - Frequently I get a reminder late at night and the phone is locked but the reminder doesn't turn on the key backlighting so I can see which option is which. Other applications are inconsistent as well.
Home start menu All Programs - I would prefer to have the option to not see 'all programs' there.
Home start menu scrolling - I don't like having to choose 'more' there. I would much prefer the scrolling through each panel of nine icons.
1,2,3,4 app - I suspect this is an HTC feature but I really dislike having one more UI to learn. When you flip the keybaord open it shouldn't prompt you with a 1 SMS, 2 email, 3 messenger and 4 exit menu even if it is for 5 seconds. Better to keep whatever menu you are in.
Features
Weather Panel - This seems like it should use the GPS and pick a city. Also, if you turn the phone off or in flight mode and turn it back on it should recheck the GPS and change the city or prompt to change the city.
Option to keep keyboard locked even if open - Well some of us have little kids and they figure out how to get the keyboard open pretty quickly
Codecs
I don't know what ships by default but some obvious codecs would be AAC, AC3 and any other standard codecs.
Additional Applications
Impromptu Meeting App - The automatic ring feature is great if you use exchange since your phone will go into vibrate mode in meetings. In fact you get kind of dependent on it handling that for you so if you go to the movies or dinner or an impromptu meeting you forget to switch to vibrate or afterward you forget to switch back. It would be nice to have an app to put a placeholder appointment on your calander for an hour or two (which would switch to vibrate) . Even better if it would remove the appointment afterward.
Shortcuts - It would be nice to create shortcuts to applications in something that shipped with the ROM.
Settings
Home Page - I know this can be changed in the registry but while someone is at it change the web homepage to igoogle or google mobile.
If I like something on Rose, it is boredom with her when setting/tweaking. Without any "exciting" seeking/trying/zilions of reflashings of ROMs.
And, to be honest, MOST of things on your list ARE included in basic settings and some others are easy to be changed by simple (permanent!) tweaks in registry. I'm lazy to collect here what's where, so just two examples:
Rose IN STANDARD supports not just AAC, but AAC+ and eAAC+ as well, others are H.263, H.264, MPEG-4...
Function of your lovely Impromptu Meeting App you can activate on standard Rose in seconds: just activate Auto in Profiles. OK, it does not vibrate (it switches into quiet mode), but it exactly switches automatically ringing behaviour based on calendar events IN STANDARD. And they're much more such things (avoiding Action Menu, keylock not deactivated by sliding of te keyboard)...
So instead of calling for extra ROM, which will do what's already there, my recommendation would be classic: Read the f..... manual first. And if anybody would see gimmicks like iGoogle on homescreen or GPS based weather as so exciting that it will deserve tens (if not hundreds) of working hours on extra ROM just for these - you'll be a lucky man.
IMHO, spending few hours with searching around for settings and these few tweaks would be much faster and time efficient...
we don't need HardSPL, SSPL would be fine. Perhaps we bribe Olipro
$10 each ? whats his price
I'm sure if one of you lent oli your rose for a bit he could work his magic and get the job done
fuk i am on board. can we have some info from olinex(olipro+cmonex) as to how much donations is needed to get this done! i am getting one but shocked as to the lack of dev activity here. come on guys support yourn device.........once we have some solid feedback from the olinex crew then we can get ball rolling! they would really need the device but it is so similar to the touch pro in form factor that HDSPL for touchpro might need slightly tweaking to work on s740
I think this forum is dead no one poast here no one wants to do something with this model..are you so happy with your phones as they are without any improvements?
Maybe if someone could give as a tutorial how to make an HSPL we could do it more fast and we could make the ball rolling can someone do this?i am would be glad to help and do something for this device cuz it`s too awsome :d
shingers5 said:
fuk i am on board. can we have some info from olinex(olipro+cmonex) as to how much donations is needed to get this done! i am getting one but shocked as to the lack of dev activity here. come on guys support yourn device.........once we have some solid feedback from the olinex crew then we can get ball rolling! they would really need the device but it is so similar to the touch pro in form factor that HDSPL for touchpro might need slightly tweaking to work on s740
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, I guess if it's enough to buy a htc rose for testing it'd be good.
cmonex said:
well, I guess if it's enough to buy a htc rose for testing it'd be good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how much would be needed to get this device? i got mine pretty cheap through the trade contacts..............
shingers5 said:
how much would be needed to get this device? i got mine pretty cheap through the trade contacts..............
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no idea... how much is pretty cheap? I don't mind if it is SIM locked. can make SIM unlocker no problem

WM 6.5 - It's a joke!

It does not come with the latest .NET!
The "honeycomb" start menu is a display of idiocy gone rampant
No apparent way of altering icon-size
send to top - send down only options for arranging icons
send down only sends to where icon used to be
send to top sends ALL the way - an item in a folder is not sent to top of folder but to the very top!
Too big icons, with any "not small" amount of apps, prepare for thumb-sore, coz you'll be spending a LOT of time scrolling to get to something at the bottom
Titanium - it's ugly, and when you go to Today->Elements, it has no configuration options, honestly I couldn't be bothered to check it out further.
HTC aren't too bright either....
Thank God for
wkTask (which btw causes the honey-comb to stop working after some time - who cares?)
iPhonetoday - here's the deal: Apple has a good UI idea - steal it! But noooo we need to do our own stuff - HTC Sense (is there any) - Titanium (I had one look at it - it is ugly)
HD Tweak - fixing the poo
TouchPal - now THAT's how you go about making a keyboard , HTC I'm looking at you, MS you're not even in the class!
Opera, a decent browser YAH, too bad that HTC bungles it by integrating it an idiotic way.
OPERA default reg - one man hero fixes BigCorps poo
this list needs to be longer, I am just too tired from spending a whole day upgrading and the subsequent puking and the ongoing "get stuff back to sanity" procedure
Amazing that one-man armies like the guys who did most of this stuff, individually are brighter, smarter and more clever than the combined MS collective or the drones at HTC
acebone said:
It does not come with the latest .NET!
The "honeycomb" start menu is a display of idiocy gone rampant
No apparent way of altering icon-size
send to top - send down only options for arranging icons
send down only sends to where icon used to be
send to top sends ALL the way - an item in a folder is not sent to top of folder but to the very top!
Too big icons, with any "not small" amount of apps, prepare for thumb-sore, coz you'll be spending a LOT of time scrolling to get to something at the bottom
Titanium - it's ugly, and when you go to Today->Elements, it has no configuration options, honestly I couldn't be bothered to check it out further.
HTC aren't too bright either....
Thank God for
wkTask (which btw causes the honey-comb to stop working after some time - who cares?)
iPhonetoday - here's the deal: Apple has a good UI idea - steal it! But noooo we need to do our own stuff - HTC Sense (is there any) - Titanium (I had one look at it - it is ugly)
HD Tweak - fixing the poo
TouchPal - now THAT's how you go about making a keyboard , HTC I'm looking at you, MS you're not even in the class!
Opera, a decent browser YAH, too bad that HTC bungles it by integrating it an idiotic way.
OPERA default reg - one man hero fixes BigCorps poo
this list needs to be longer, I am just too tired from spending a whole day upgrading and the subsequent puking and the ongoing "get stuff back to sanity" procedure
Amazing that one-man armies like the guys who did most of this stuff, individually are brighter, smarter and more clever than the combined MS collective or the drones at HTC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go somewhere else to troll.
then stick with 6.1
I'm not trolling - and if you think it is trolling, why do you repeat the whole shebang?
And no I wont stick with 6.1, why should i? I never said 6.1 was better than 6.5. In fact I think that 6.1 is crappier than 6.5.
IT JUST SO HAPPENS that I am the owner of a Topaz, I had to go windows mobile due to Exchange at work.
Gotta say this though - Battery-life with 6.5 is amazing COMPARED to 6.1. It's right up there where it is supposed to be.
JeffHowden said:
Go somewhere else to troll.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you didn't need to quote his whole post...that's trolling in itself isn't it?
also, i don't see it as trolling. I got a very handy tip for a new keyboard i'm going to check out. (Thanks, acebone)
acebone said:
Gotta say this though - Battery-life with 6.5 is amazing COMPARED to 6.1. It's right up there where it is supposed to be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So i'm taking this to be WM6.5 stock? and not some cooked ROM? interesting...what battery life are you getting currently on average?
Yes. He's right and not trolling. I'm disappointed with thw new official rom too and after a day i flashed a cooked rom.
There is NOTHING wrong with the official ROM, stop whine so f-ing much will you.
no f-ing here please
I must say after testing the official rom for cuple of hours i flasht the cooked rom again. Now I hope that the chiefs will improve the speed of the roms
I am using the stock Rom Danish ROM.
About the battery life, I am not so sure that I was right. I watched today as percentages just dropped away....
It just seemed to go on and on yesterday....
And yes - check out the TouchPal keyboard. The better your language-pack for the keyboard - the better it works.
Right now I am on a very crude Danish language version I brewed myself, and it still kicks some serious b...
titanium
to be honest i think i am the only person here who actually likes the windows default one lol
i cant get the weather app to work on it though, so i need to play around
and i have found that 6.5 is faster than 6.1 by a good 10% if not more, also my battery life easily lasts a day, where as before it would make it just to the end of my working day rather than my whole day
but yeah the honey comb, move to very top is a bit smegged, as i would prefere to place things where i wanted them,
Drag-On said:
you didn't need to quote his whole post...that's trolling in itself isn't it?
also, i don't see it as trolling. I got a very handy tip for a new keyboard i'm going to check out. (Thanks, acebone)
So i'm taking this to be WM6.5 stock? and not some cooked ROM? interesting...what battery life are you getting currently on average?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My battery life certainly feels much better. I've been messing about with WM 6.5 for about an hour. In the past, my battery would have taken a hammering. So far, it's at 80%!! That's *way* better.
I like it - it's so much more responsive. Okay, so it's not a radical change and there are still far too many "non-touch-screened" applications in there that means you still need to get the stylus out.
But for nothing, I'm happy - so far!
Cheers, Rob.
edoftech said:
to be honest i think i am the only person here who actually likes the windows default one lol
i cant get the weather app to work on it though, so i need to play around
and i have found that 6.5 is faster than 6.1 by a good 10% if not more, also my battery life easily lasts a day, where as before it would make it just to the end of my working day rather than my whole day
but yeah the honey comb, move to very top is a bit smegged, as i would prefere to place things where i wanted them,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like it too.... but why not make it customisable? Seems bonkers to me
And why no in-built weather plug-in?
Tony
Regarding battery,anyone tried the Andida 1700 mAH which fits topaz with no external cover:
http://cgi.ebay.com/1700mah-Spare-B...wItemQQptZPDA_Accessories?hash=item518d58d4ab
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=572890
Please give us your feedback
What I really meant is this:
The user interface in WM is OOOOOOOLD - anyone who has seen an iPhone or and Android phone knows this.
MS knows this
HTC knows this (and have jumped the Android Bandwaggon)
WM 6.5 is a joke, because it tries to convey the idea that WM is ALSO about new intuitive fingerfriendly interfaces - and what does it have to show for it? Well 'honeycomb' which might be a nice idea, only it's implemented so stupidly that it is a joke.
Titanium also - is a joke. Eyecandy with no real benefit in my opinion. And btw. it's no candy to my eyes - more like cabbage
Now some may like HTC Tou... ooops its HTC Sense now - and it is better in my opinion than titanium, but it's just not good enough.
Actually my boss explained it to me this way:
Acebone, you see the diamond2 as a computer that can also make calls, but most people see it as a phone that can also do documents and calendar
He might be right, I just don't think that WM6.5 or Sense is good enough, that's why I spend ours installing and configuring wkTask, iPhone Today, TouchPad (commercial) etc...
With these often FREE and often ONE-MAN produced tools, I am able to put together a user-interface that is
Easier to navigate
Requires fewer clicks
Takes up less memory
Reacts more quickly with less errors
the thing here is yeah its not finger freindly as android of iphone, however it has a huge range of apps behind it which have been working for ages and will still work on for a while yet, the os is old however it is that great to adapt, there are that many different type of ui that can be installed over the top, to make it suitable for people that want things their own way, android, is great, however after using it more any lenght of time, it becomes a bore, its only really a gimick rather than a work phone, which is what windows has always been aimed at,
iphone, and android are only half a phone, and expect users to buy the features that they want the phone to do, where as with windows you get a working phone, from the time, you turn it on
WM 6.5 doesn't work with old software?
Unless I have some odd problem, my Touch Diamond 2 on which i just reflashed ROM with WM 6.5 is not recognizing the entire screen in some software. It seems like the ssoftware screen goes below the bottom of the physical screen.
Also, the TouchFlo appears to be inhibiting the touch features of screen in expand/contract +/- menus.
- Email when you choose folder the expand/contract +/- menus don't respond with one press, but require a sustained hold before they expand/contract.
Some software is is not happy in WM 6.5:
- PHM RegEdit is not happy in WM 6.5 I have to hold registry keys for long time to select them and the + - to expand/collapse keys aren't working properly. I have to hold, then i have to tap the menu bar on bottom to get them to expand/collapse. Really weird. Also, the input keyboard also needs to be held long time to popup. It seems like the ssoftware screen goes below the bottom of the physical screen. Very strange.
- I noticed similar issues in WM 6.5 with Advanced Configuration Tool by Julien Schapman. It seems like the ssoftware screen goes below the bottom of the physical screen. Selecting +/- menus requires sustained selection of folder, then i have to tap the menu bar on bottom to get them to expand/collapse. Really weird.
I wonder if these are .NET issues with older software or something like that?
Also, is anyone else noticing the new TouchFlow finger swipe direction is reversed from before? For example, in Email and PIE you have to swipe finger down to make page scroll up. Before you swiped finger up to make page scroll up! its different and is taking some getting used to. Its counterintuitive!
I am too am seriously thnking of going back to 6.1 .. now if I can just figure out how to do that ..... (anyone?)
sounds like an issue to me with the software, try and reflash it, im not getting any of those issue, but i haven't used touch flo/sense for that long
it was something I installed
I did some experimenting adding software one at a time after fresh ROM flash.
Looks like "Zoom Bar & Scroll" is the culprit ...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=518367
Too bad bc this was a great little tool .. it worked beautifully in WM 6.1. BUt in 6.5 it screws up +/- expand collapse of menus (eg in Email, or PHM Regedit, etc) and also appears to reverse the scroll inside PIE, Email, and other windows.
I'll leave the same message on the Zoom Bar & Scroll thread to let the developer know.
6.1
if you are wanting to go back to 6.1 i still have the stock rom saved on my hard drive incase i needed it

The rubbishness of windows comes through very quickly

I got a bit suckered by all the good reviews for this phone on so many websites and bought it yesterday. I've had a long time [misplaced] affection for windows phones. I say misplaced because every single model I've owned has let me down.
The sense interface is great. Windows is not. I've just made 16 attempts at trying to login to windows live, struggling each time to input a 20 char secure password on the dinky keyboard and when i finally got the password right, i succeeded in invoking the 'too many failed logins' mode of windows live. Nice.
why is this stuff so difficult for windows mobile phones? why does the phone not go into landscape mode for EVERY application? why is that so difficult to implement? Why did HTC not put a bloody switch for landscape mode? you have a wide screen which would make an onscreen keyborad far more friendly yet you're still stuck trying to hit the 'sweet spot' on a portrait-mode keyboard!??! Not only are you stuck in portait mode but you no longer have a stylus to help you hit those keys!
The initial WOW factor has disappeared for me and I've only had the phone for a day!
can someone help me with some tips on landscape mode? is there some way i can map one of the hard keys to be a landscape mode switch? or some software that does something similar?
thanks!
Install BSB Tweaks this allows landscape for any appplication
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=589305
I tried but didn't seem to work for me. maybe i was doing something wrong?
i enabled the tickbox for IE and after the soft reset i tried running it but it did nothing when i rotated the screen. Am I missing something here?
try using Gyrator .. It works on every application
aloms said:
can someone help me with some tips on landscape mode? is there some way i can map one of the hard keys to be a landscape mode switch? or some software that does something similar?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've just made an app that does just that. Have a look at PLToggle in my sig.
Calm down mate, trust me, windows mobile is by far the best OS out there for mobiles. The only reason everyone prefers the iphone is because of its usability, apart from that theres not much you can do but 'get an app for that', however thanks to this forum, you can do almost anything with a windows mobile device, especially one as powerful as the leo. You just need to get used to it, if sense is bugging you, get spb shell or another ui. And of course theres gonna be loads of problems with it, its pretty new, but its good points strongly outway its bad points (oh and might I add, you'll be getting all your tech support from this site, not htc, trust me), so just give it some time and you'll realise, after 'making it yours' how awesome a phone it is.
If the keyboard isnt doing it for you, download a new one! (thats the great thing about winmo) the two popular ones at the moment are swype ( a completely different style of keyboard) or finger keyboard. I personally like the one htc supply you with, heres a tweak taken from this thread which will lower the sensitivy of the screen which makes typing much easier. Alternatively, bsb tweaks can do this all for you from its menu.
Oh and about the rotate thing, on xanny tech's pandora rom, he has a little execuatable file in the start menu with rotates everything, and its mapped to a long press of the send key, so thats pretty useful, im not running his rom anymore but if you know anything about flashing, flash his first, its very good indeed and has lots of tweaks and useful stuff preinstalled.
Hope that helps a little, if not just ask
thanks for your help mate. having bought into a 24 month contract I'm pretty much stuck with getting to learn the phone whether i like it or not.
aloms said:
thanks for your help mate. having bought into a 24 month contract I'm pretty much stuck with getting to learn the phone whether i like it or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with [★]. Once you know it better, you'll get to love it. There's so much under the hood of this thing that yes, you'll find a few things that you don't like, but they'll be outweighed by the things that you do
aloms said:
The sense interface is great. Windows is not. I've just made 16 attempts at trying to login to windows live, struggling each time to input a 20 char secure password on the dinky keyboard and when i finally got the password right, i succeeded in invoking the 'too many failed logins' mode of windows live. Nice
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You, Sir, need to check out my thread, which would surely have come up if you had used the search function. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=5197442 Windows Live/Hotmail etc seem to only take 16 characters. Anything after that is ignored. But the Windows Live application on mobile accepts more than 16 and will try and authenticate with everything you type in. 20 character password will not work. Reduce your pass to 16 characters or less and it should work. Post back in this thread to let me know if this sorts your issue out.
If it's a keyboard you're after then try Swype. Have a search for it. I too had a lot of sensitivity problems with the keyboard and it would take ages to type a simple email. Swype solved that. It's a lot less sensitive than the native keyboard and I used SIP to make it my default. In terms of landscape mode, try using Opera instead of IE (although Opera lacks flash). BSB Tweaks will handle the rest although I don't use it myself.
Trust me, stick with the phone and, with a few tweaks to have it running how you like it, you won't look back!
Just return the darn phone, smack it to the floor and trample it good, or learn to use it since you've bought it. Please save yourself over a high blood pressure leading to a stroke, my friend. It's only a phone.. (but then there's always iPhones for usability's sake, whatever it means)
aloms said:
The initial WOW factor has disappeared for me and I've only had the phone for a day!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, you need to calm down a tad. Ok, the phone is not perfect. However, there is endless configurability for the phone. The best thing you could ever have done was to come to this site where there is a tweak for almost anything.
Sit down, fasten your seatbelt and take a look around. You need an open mind. The HD2 is no iphone. It's the iphone killer. Just needs a little tweaking that's all.
Alternatively, you could ditch it and join the bandwagon, I mean iphone!
Try Swype, best KB I hve used on a phone, my mate with an Iphone thought it was great and was going to look for it for the Iphone, once tweaked the HD2 is the best mob by far!
I was doubtful when I first had it like you say I thought I should have gone for the Iphone but now I am so happy with it
Windows is rubbish because of the HTC keyboard?? Ok...
Isnt the whole ADVANTAGE of winmo that if you dont like something you can change it?
The advantage of WinMo is the tweaking and Office Mobile My wife had a HTC Hero for 2 months and at the end she begged me to get her a new Windows Phone because the freaking Android won't open rich text format files (unfortunately in her job she is obliged to use rtf as standart file format) without great hassle even with all possible office replacements I cound find on the net. Not to speak of that, that even the enhanced HTC mail client for Android can't open messages that are sent from mail.bg (a very popular bulgarian web mail service). That was the end for Android
Hotmail mail on the HD1 was a pain, same on the HD2. Gmail is working perfectly though which is very annoying when like me, you use Hotmail on your desktop to access your Gmail emails...
aloms said:
I got a bit suckered by all the good reviews for this phone on so many websites and bought it yesterday. I've had a long time [misplaced] affection for windows phones. I say misplaced because every single model I've owned has let me down.
The sense interface is great. Windows is not. I've just made 16 attempts at trying to login to windows live, struggling each time to input a 20 char secure password on the dinky keyboard and when i finally got the password right, i succeeded in invoking the 'too many failed logins' mode of windows live. Nice.
why is this stuff so difficult for windows mobile phones? why does the phone not go into landscape mode for EVERY application? why is that so difficult to implement? Why did HTC not put a bloody switch for landscape mode? you have a wide screen which would make an onscreen keyborad far more friendly yet you're still stuck trying to hit the 'sweet spot' on a portrait-mode keyboard!??! Not only are you stuck in portait mode but you no longer have a stylus to help you hit those keys!
The initial WOW factor has disappeared for me and I've only had the phone for a day!
can someone help me with some tips on landscape mode? is there some way i can map one of the hard keys to be a landscape mode switch? or some software that does something similar?
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all get rid of that IDIOTIC iPhone imitation keyboard and replace it with the divine fingerkeyboard from xda.
And then deactivate the utterly unpredictive xt9 "predictive" (more like vindictive) text input.
I did these steps and now I can FINALLY type.
An $800 phone and it takes a donationware sw keyboard to make it usable
Aloms - I had the same problem with my Ipod Touch in the beginning. Don't worry, you will get use to it. BTW HD2 keyboard is better especially in landscape
I will join this thread with my three questions.
I have converted to the dark side and bought iPhone 3GS after having gone through a lot of phones and OSes. I have given up on WinMo (using HTC Pro) basically because of 3 issues:
1. Phone app in the sense of its responsiveness. I mean, someone is calling - first 2 seconds the hardware buttons light up, next 2 seconds the phone starts to vibrate, next 2 seconds there is a sound. Is it happening on the HD2 too? How responsive is it? Plus does it have a good gsm reception? With my HTC Pro I had to keep on testing different radio roms and have not been satisfied ever...
2. When you use HD2 say 4-5 days or longer, does it slow down over time. I mean especially when you use contacts with 1000 entries etc, or is it instant?
3. On a brand new HD2 just charged, when you load in your 1000 contacts, does it have an instant search of a contact in the contacts app? Or an email address in the "To" section when you want to write an email?
Frankly speaking, HD2 looks very tempting, but I am afraid mainly of the 3 above areas and am thinking to wait for Windows 7 or something?
PS. HTC Pro is still with me, but in the drawer...
OliveUK said:
Hotmail mail on the HD1 was a pain, same on the HD2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had a Diamond, a HD, and now a HD2 and I can say with 100% confidence that I never had 1 single problem with Hotmail. I've seen a very small number of users on here with issues and every single one of them has turned out to be user error.
I suggest the same in this instance as it works flawlessly when set up correctly, which 99.9% of users do.

Categories

Resources