The Leo's large screen size, capacitive touch screen, and the fast processors were the three factors that had long attracted me to this device, and I've been patiently waiting for it to come to Australian shore. On the 19th, I rushed to one of the Telstra shops and spent a good few hours playing with this exciting phone. Finally, a capacitive touch screen that would rival iPhone. Finally, I found a good replacement for my beloved 5 inch HTC Athena which I so much loved (See my review.)
I was surprised that I was the only customer in the store having any interest in the device, as I though there must be hugh interest in it. There was a guy wearing an HTC T-shirt ready to help with any questions on the device. I shall call him the shop assistant here. The shop assistant told me he has used 3GS for 6 months, and he thinks Leo beats iPhone in every aspects. He was given a unit more than a month ago, and if I had heard it right, he was sent to Taiwan for training, so I had the chance to clarify my doubt with him whenever a need arises.
Here were my findings:
POSITIVE
Screen size and clarify
=================
The screen size and clarify is amazing. I had expected that to be the case, and I was not disappointed.
I was also not detered by the size of the device. It is really small compared to my Athena. It is extremely pocketable. The device is also very thin and comfortable to hold.
I love the fact that HTC has removed the bezel to this extent. Well done, HTC.
Camera
======
The resolution was good, and the speed was fantastic. Did'nt have to wait for spinning colored wheels while saving.
Speed
=====
This is a fast machine. Absolutely no doubt with that. However, I also find moments when the device seems to be pausing and busy with things instead of responding to me right away. This is on an empty demo unit.
Overall Build
=========
I give it a high mark, based on my initial impression. The screen is grease prone compared to iPhone, but this is expected.
NEGATIVES
Keyboard
=======
Being used to the iPhone keyboard, I have to say that the HTC keyboard performs extremely poorly. This is despite the shop assistant's insisting that it is way way superior to iPhone "because of the larger keyboard".
I typed with the speed that I normally do with my 3GS, and here are samples of what I got:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
I invited the shop assistant to demonstrate his typing on his own Leo, and he too was making lots of mistakes. So much for a keyboard that is "way way better than iPhone's".
Camera
=====
Having used so many HTC camera in the past, I was not expecting too much here. I was surprised though that it was extremely fast - in fact faster than iPhone's. BUT, the pictures were all having an ugly pink patch in the centre!
When I discussed this problem with the Shop Assistant, he mentioned that his phone does not have this issue, so may be it is just the demo unit having the problem. He then offered his own Leo to me to try out. When I used his camera, it had exactly the same problem, and yet, the shop assistant insisted that he cannot see any pink patch!!! I spent some time pointing his camera to the floor, asked him to focus on a specific part of the floor, then move the camera from left to right, and it was obvious that the floor which was yellow/brownish in color turned pinkish when the centre of the picture frame moves across it. He was silent after that.
Web browsing
==========
When I used the www.smh.com.au website, I noted that the webpage was still wobbly throughout the rendering and only stabilised toward the end. The top part of this webpage keep changing rather than having the final layout fixed throughout the rending. I found this disconcerting.
When double tapping on a webpage, I was expecting the text to reflow such that it fits exactly to the screen width.
I was disappointed that it does not. I showed this to the shop assistant and he told me that double tapping has been patented by Apple, so HTC is not allowed to make it work!!??? He said I must use pinch zoom to achieve exact fit! Hello???
Finger gestures
===========
Many iPhone imitators tend to think that pinch/zoom, scroll, and double taps are the only gestures required to make their device friendly. I knew that they are way off the mark by such thinking, and wanted to see if HTC Leo understands this.
- The first thing I wanted to know is whether the excel spreadsheet has a way to select cells. In iPhone, we do a double tap, then without lifting the finger, drag the finger. I was trying to see if this has been copied over to Leo. I was disappointed that it has not been. In fact, I could not find any way to select the excel spreadsheet cells. Not out of the box from what I could see. I tried looking for ways to change the scroll mode to selection mode but it does not exist. I tried holding my finder down until the "T" sign appear to see if anything there lets me select the cell, and there wasn't.
- I then tried to see how easy it is to select text precisely. In iPhone, press and hold will bring up a magnifying glass showing where the cursor is so it is very easy to precisely place the cursor. With Leo, my finger covers the text, so I could not see where the cursor is. The only way is to use the keyboard arrow key which is a little clunky. To select text, I noticed that I have choose the text selection mode in the pop up menu, to change from the scrolling mode to text selection mode. A little inefficient and unproductive, I thought. I also has great difficulties selecting the text precisely down to the last character, because my finger covers the texts itself. A rather poor iPhone gesture imitation, I think.
- The traditional scroll bar has been replaced by a more finger friendly opaque scroll handle that only appear during scrolling. This is similar to the quickscroll2 feature in iPhone, but unfortunately it does not work across all applications like in iPhone, where users could instantly jump to any part of the webpages, or applications instead of having to keep swipping to the right spot.
Task switching and closing
====================
Out of the box, I could not find any easy way to switch between active task. The task manager that the shop assistant demonstrated was way too impractical as a task switching tool. It really needs something like Kirikae or Proswitcher in conjunction with Backgrounder of iPhone for multitasking.
I used to have WKTask but I'm not sure if it still work in this version of winmo. Without something like that, I would find it extremely frustrating as a user, whenever jumping from task to task. Multitasking with my iPhone is fabulous at the moment.
The shop assistant argued that I could only have such a feature if I jailbreak the phone which is too complicated and it also voids the warranty. This, of course is nonsense. Jailbreaking on iPhone is just downloading BlackRa1n.exe, run it and click on a button with iPhone connected to the PC. It takes about 30 seconds to complete. Also, unlike in Android, anyone can completely reverse jailbreaking by merely doing an equivalent of hard reset to factory condition.
Due to time and a phone call from my wife I had to stop looking deeper into the phone. Perhaps I will return another day to take a closer look.
Anyone having advice or comments on the listed negatives are welcome to do so.
Cheers.
You know, your reasons for being attracted to the HD2 is why I bought it. Weighing pros in against WM 6.5, I would hope for 6.6/7 to come along and iron out what I saw a trend was WM 6.5 being the most common negative point with the HD2 in reviews/users. Hell most of them would have been content with Android instead of WM.
For typing, I haven't used a touchscreen device (bar my Zune HD, but no text entry/calling heavy input on that sadly!) since the LG Viewty came out, along side the first Iphone whenever that was. I'm getting used to it but I feel much more competent using the widescreen keyboard by tilting. Did you try it? Predictive text sounds like it would be your thing from the screen you posted, the tutorial is really handy at the start. I can't compare it to using an Iphone but my friends at school say they prefer the HD2 because of the screensize and they make few/no mistakes.
Camera wise, I've made two registry adjustments in connection with Jpeg compression and the MPEG compression, so they are more crisp and detailed. I've seen the pink dot a lot and I can understand why the HTC guy you mentioned doesn't want to admit that's a problem, I haven't noticed it on my device but I've took quite dark pics. You can't really blame the dude, he's just making a living after all! I can't comment on web browsing, as I've done very little but I'm okay to use pinch to zoom, I can imagine you'd be frustrated without double tapping fitting the screen correctly. Atleast HTC are keeping to Patents unlike Apple/Nokia eh?
For task manager, the quickest method I find is pressing Windows button and it opens the programs list, with the task manager being at the bottom left side of the screen I find that quicker than going into settings, I guess you could make it a quicklink if you wanted?
It's begining to feel like i'm the only person that has none of the problems that people are posting about, with the exception of the over sensitive screen. (easily tweaked, no problem now)
Lots of people say 'on an iphone such and such works in every app' - yes, because apple forces every developer into a strict code of practice. Winmo may not be perfect, but there is no orwellian overseer watching everything and discarding anything it doesn't like the look of (plus taking 30% of any sales a developer makes, just for the privelage of being allowed to sell through their insanely tightly controlled 'marketplace', , , marketplace? one shop isn't a marketplace, its a shop, one shop, just one.)
IN answer to eaglesteve's negatives.
1 - Keyboard. You are correct, the default one isn't much cop. BUT, there are a number of excellent alternatives, my favourite being swype, which works fantastically well with just a little practice.
2 - CAmera. SOrry, I just don't have a pink spot, and i've tried to see it, really i have. Lots of different lighting conditions, plain white paper, different distances, and it just isn't there on mine.
3 - Excel. Again, the swype keyboard has a very handy keypad style screen with arrows, cut,copy,past, home, end, and a lovely 'select text' button which when toggled on lets the arrows select not just excel cells, but files in lists, words in documents, etc.
4 - Precision text selection. (Swype's text selection ignored for the moment) The magnifying selection box can be enabled with a simple registry tweak of changing a 0 to a 1.
5 - SCroll bar not being the same in all aps. OK, this one you are correct, BUT, thats because it is an open marketplace, not controlled by one egomaniac forcing the developers to all play by his rules or not at all.
6 - Task switching. It takes a minute or so to set up, but place a shortcut to taskmanager in the start menu, then that alows you to add it as a shortcut on the home screen. Result = press home key to get to home screen, then open taskman from there, two presses admittedly, but still no more than 3 seconds work.
7 - Jailbreaking. Goes back to the orwellian aspect of the iphone, you shouldn't NEED to jailbreak something you have paid good money for, you should be free to do as you please with it, and not have the manufactirer try and thwart you at every software update.
Not that I want to sound like i'm glorifying the HD2, it's all about preference, i just wanted to point out that your 'cons' aren't actually the big deal they may appear at first glance.
Keyboard: I use TouchPal, but the basic keyboard is fine - particularly if you have the predictive text working (it would have given you perfect results). {Note it does support mutli touch on the keyboard.}
Camera: no problems with mine (no pink spot). There was a patch to fix the problem on the HTC website (for those unlucky enough to have the problem)
Brower: Double-Tapping will reflow the text - I had no problems with the Sydney Morning Herald site.
Excel: You can select multiple cells via the Menu -> Edit -> Make selection.
Task switcher: There are quite a few switchers such as Xtask for WM6.5 (and WM6.5.5). The shop assistant is clearly a idiot as they are simple programs and no "Jailbraking" (custom ROM?) is required.
Re "poor imitation of iphone gestures" - text select has been around in the WM world since it began. Yes, it is dated. No it is not an imitation of the iphone.
Lynehammike,
Actually, the predictive text failed to correct the mistake. It appears that the error correction algorithm is not good enough. The only way to type correctly with the HD2's stock keyboard is to type very slowly and look carefully at where you touch the screen.
Are the vast majority of Leo owners having the pink camera problem or only a handful of unluckly ones? I remember vaguely that Nexus' camera also have exactly the same problem, so is this caused by faulty hardware then? I can imagine how costly it would be for HTC to mass recall the phones and replace the hardware. I wonder if they could use the software to manipulate the color in order to eliminate the pink hue?
No, double tapping does not reflow the text correctly. I tried both IE and Opera and know for a fact that they do not reflow correctly.
I'd go back and try the multicell selection the way you describe. Thanks for the tips.
The shop keeper did show me a task switcher, but task switching simply involves too many steps. With my iPhone, I simply double press the home key to immediately see the list of runnig task, and switch to any one, or kill anyone there. This works regardless of whether the taskbar is visible or not. And it would not kill off a process to cause the device to freeze.
There is really nothing to jailbreaking. It is as simple as running a cab file in winmo device, and nowhere near the complexity of Hard SPL and cooked ROM flashing.
Application programmers who detest the tight control of Apple, and do not wish to seek Apple's approval for the program they write can always take the Cydia route, which is itself a hugh application market. Really there is no real issue that needs worrying about. Upgrading from one Apple firmware to another is a piece of cake, and both App Store and Cydia's applications could be reinstalled automatically without any loss of settings or data after re-jailbreaking.
I really like the screen and CPU of Leo. I wish it can run Android OS. Nexus' hardware somehow does not appeal to me enough. Not as much as Leo's anyway.
I just read from this post that
"they(HTC) just covered the (pink hue) problem with some smart image correction settings. Same cannot be said for motion capture where the said algorighm would most likely slow down the capture and result in dropped frames at the highest settings and that's probabbly the reason why the defect is still visible on video captures ie the patch doesn't fix video capture"
I didn't occur to me to test the video also, but looks like the pink hue problem also applies to videos.
My 2 Cents
Hi steve, good to see u after u1000
I can just say that for a fast input and errorfree and most accurate, i use swype.I dont think so iphone can ever compete with that.I can type @ 100 wpm with swype and same goes for android.
well there are many task managers, available to let u switch among the tasks.
iPhone has safari so WM has lot of options with opera 10, which i guess iphone cannot have in near future.
Ability to visit sites like rapidshare.com and download big 100 mb files and save them to 16 gig storage card, i gues no OS can even think of it as of now.
Pich and zoom can work almost everywhere and it is more than perfect in excel, helping browsing, selecting rows, copy paste them, editing formulas(I am a sales head, so have to check lot of sales reports hence i prefer big screen)
Battery life is better thaniphone 3gs and it doesnt get hot loke iphone 3gs.Compass is also awesome, can be used in google maps(I guess in iphone to use compass in maps, a patch is needed and can be done only by jail break)
and of course upgrade to WM7, will make it more than perfect :d
I suggest, have a relook at it, and am sure u will get it
eaglesteve said:
Lynehammike,
Actually, the predictive text failed to correct the mistake. It appears that the error correction algorithm is not good enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do u have XT9 on in the first place , judging on the screenshot? I tried doing a test and mine work perfectly well. even if i intentionally key in the wrong keywords provided in your screenshot, they autocorrect-ed for mine.
I agree with Kivine - in the photo you have definately dissabled the predictive text.
for reflow: double tapping works (with a small caveat). If you tap next to a photo - it does appear to reflow only the margins of the text next to the photos. If you double tap below the photo area it will reflow correctly.
Cheers,
Michael
Lynehammike and Kivine,
You mean the XT9 must turn green on the keyboard for it to work correctly? If so, I'd go back to give it another try. Thanks for the tips.
hdubli said:
Hi steve, good to see u after u1000
I can just say that for a fast input and errorfree and most accurate, i use swype.I dont think so iphone can ever compete with that.I can type @ 100 wpm with swype and same goes for android.
well there are many task managers, available to let u switch among the tasks.
iPhone has safari so WM has lot of options with opera 10, which i guess iphone cannot have in near future.
Ability to visit sites like rapidshare.com and download big 100 mb files and save them to 16 gig storage card, i gues no OS can even think of it as of now.
Pich and zoom can work almost everywhere and it is more than perfect in excel, helping browsing, selecting rows, copy paste them, editing formulas(I am a sales head, so have to check lot of sales reports hence i prefer big screen)
Battery life is better thaniphone 3gs and it doesnt get hot loke iphone 3gs.Compass is also awesome, can be used in google maps(I guess in iphone to use compass in maps, a patch is needed and can be done only by jail break)
and of course upgrade to WM7, will make it more than perfect :d
I suggest, have a relook at it, and am sure u will get it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey hdubli,
How are you mate. Good to see you here again!
100 wpm?? Are you serious? Sorrry, no offence, you would have to put up a youtube demo for me to believe you.
As to browser, there are at least 10 on the iPhone that I've been using and comparing. You have far better browser on the iPhone, sorry, it's true. Apple does not have 130,000 fart applications you know . You can probably find at least 30 browsers around, whereas you get probably about 5 in winmo platform?
As to saving hugh files from sites such as rapidshare, I do it all the time on my iPhone.
Device getting hot happens to my Athena, Touch HD, and iPhone occassionally. Not really a problem specific to any platform I think.
Compass on googlemap has always been there in 3GS since day one without patch. Did somebody tell you that only jailbroken phone can do that?
Yes, the promise that it will be upgraded to WM7 is a reason why I take an interest in Leo. However, I'm not sure if this is a smart thing, as WM7 is always in the horizon like a mirage in the desert, with availability date that is being pushed back all the time, to be replaced by WM6.X. I now do harbour serious doubt about Microsoft's technical abiliity to deliver, and question what they're doing. Here they have WM7, then there is a zune phone, and a pink phone.... I sure hope they know what they 're trying to do... At the moment, the real competition is between google and apple in the mobile phone area, with MS reduced to a mere pawn swept to the side, IMO. Unless MS comes back with something really good and really soon, they might just completely disappear from the scene, I'm afraid. Apple certainly does not see MS as a rival anymore in the smartphone business. The only credible rival is Google. That's why Apple is now trying to team up with MS, and to use Bing instead of Google as the default search engine in iPhone. You know what they say? The enemy of my enermy is my friend. It's an intereting world.
Hi there.
Well I will not argue and start a debate on WM Vs iphone , but my experience of 3 years of iphone and 8 years of WM and 2 years of android tells me that WM is still a better of all three.More freedom.
I can only say that the users report more and more problems on iphone, and all the iphones magic is on jailbreak else there is nothing.
You can get a youtube video to watch on wmpoweruser.com for hd2 and it is really very fast, i abandoned all my hard keyboard phones.
I suggest look it again from all the angles, basically the freedom which u will get, right from custom roms to apps, and lot of things which u already know, and I hope you will come back to the flavour again
Related
Hi,
How can I configure my trinity so that a click on messaging ALWAYS goes into the sms inbox and not my outlook inbox?
Any ideas?
Thanks
W
I would also like to know.
Windows Mobile is so remarkably badly designed. It just beggers belief. Just little things like this.
Also, do they expect you to get your stylus out just to close the phone? cos its very difficult to hit that tiny X in the top right corner with your fingers. They should make it a phone first, a pda second.
I think simply, they are idiots.
I have not any problems as you have. I choosed the sms one time and after that it always comes to sms inbox when I press messaging
...and if you log into MSN Messenger, it takes the liberty of loading your Hotmail JUNK onto the phone. Then it displays that you have say 2 new hotmail emails on the meesaging bar on the today screen. If you click on this its about another three clicks just to get to SMS. Then if you close it again and go back to Today screen, you click again on messaging and it is back in Hotmail inbox... requiring even more clicks to get it to SMS.
Each time i have to do this my life gets profoundly shorter.
just use left and right on the dpad to cycle through the messaging accounts
I really cant understand you guys: It is a VERY small device with amazing abilities. And WM5 can do a lot of things.
FuzzMunky said:
I would also like to know.
Windows Mobile is so remarkably badly designed. It just beggers belief. Just little things like this.
Also, do they expect you to get your stylus out just to close the phone? cos its very difficult to hit that tiny X in the top right corner with your fingers. They should make it a phone first, a pda second.
I think simply, they are idiots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can close the phone app by pressing the red button, no problem.
FuzzMunky said:
I would also like to know.
Windows Mobile is so remarkably badly designed. It just beggers belief. Just little things like this.
Also, do they expect you to get your stylus out just to close the phone? cos its very difficult to hit that tiny X in the top right corner with your fingers. They should make it a phone first, a pda second.
I think simply, they are idiots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you noticed a button with "OK" written on top? Have you tried to press the red button after the conversation is over? Have you noticed that pressing the menu button and selecting another program will send the phone application to background? I am asking because you don't seem to have spent much time trying to learn how to use a Windows Mobile device. There are at least three ways to close the phone without touching the screen but you haven't even found one.
Regarding the default account for messaging: I usually open Messaging from the entry in the Today menu and that always returns to the last used account, usually the SMS inbox for me.
Im just pissed because I cant get any SIP things to load without having to go through a long process of unloading today plugins and setting sipchange, then soft resetting, then reloading all the plugins.
I will admit, I didnt realise a press of the Red button exits the phone app. I eventually remapped a hold of the left button to close whatever the current app is. Useful for TOMTOM, so you dont have to go through the menus. I stlll find it annoying how you cant just have the messaging default to SMS.
There is definitely no denying though that for however much the programmers have got right, they are still so far from having the perfect implementation of a PDA OS, And they should be after this many iterations. They still have tiny keyboards, tiny scroll bars, buttons shoved into corners. Look at the iPhone interface and tell me that isnt a far more intelligently designed interface.
I like my device, dont get me wrong, Im just a perfectionist and I want to get rid of all the niggles I have with it. .. and I hated Windows 3.0 which this feels like a lot of the time.
FuzzMunky said:
There is definitely no denying though that for however much the programmers have got right, they are still so far from having the perfect implementation of a PDA OS, And they should be after this many iterations. They still have tiny keyboards, tiny scroll bars, buttons shoved into corners. Look at the iPhone interface and tell me that isnt a far more intelligently designed interface.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that most problems come from the fact that the PocketPC form factor was designed (or I should say copied from Palm) long before the idea of using it for phones. Most improvements in WM5 were actually related to making it more usable as a phone. So if there have been many iterations most of them were in a PDA context not a phone one.
Regarding the iPhone interface: I won't judge before I have actually used it, and most probably that is never going to happen
FuzzMunky said:
Im just pissed because I cant get any SIP things to load without having to go through a long process of unloading today plugins and setting sipchange, then soft resetting, then reloading all the plugins.
I will admit, I didnt realise a press of the Red button exits the phone app. I eventually remapped a hold of the left button to close whatever the current app is. Useful for TOMTOM, so you dont have to go through the menus. I stlll find it annoying how you cant just have the messaging default to SMS.
There is definitely no denying though that for however much the programmers have got right, they are still so far from having the perfect implementation of a PDA OS, And they should be after this many iterations. They still have tiny keyboards, tiny scroll bars, buttons shoved into corners. Look at the iPhone interface and tell me that isnt a far more intelligently designed interface.
I like my device, dont get me wrong, Im just a perfectionist and I want to get rid of all the niggles I have with it. .. and I hated Windows 3.0 which this feels like a lot of the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just get an iPhone... but dont ask for thousands of games, dont ask for MS Exchange Push Mail, dont ask for Outlook compatibility (works bad on iPod), dont ask for Word, PowerPoint, Excel, dont ask for GPS, dont ask for WiFi and/or Bluetooth...
IMHO your ranting about small issues is not appropriate. Just read the manual and try the workarounds people show you here...
So are you saying that WM5 is perfect in your eyes? Or that if you have any problems with it you should never talk about them?
I am confused. Sounds like you just want people to shut up and be mindless consumers.
FuzzMunky said:
So are you saying that WM5 is perfect in your eyes? Or that if you have any problems with it you should never talk about them?
I am confused. Sounds like you just want people to shut up and be mindless consumers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only to you. I just think this: If I got one device with ten things working and one not (in fact it worked!) and another device with 3 things working I wouldnt call the 1st one "badly designed".
Well, let's see. As soon as people get their WM5 device I imagine they will want to put some application launcher buttons on the today screen.
Oh that's right; you can't without installing some third-party software.
Ok. So then they might want to make shortcuts to these apps using the keys on the front of the device.....
Oh that's right; you can't do that without installing some third-party software.
Would you prefer it if I precursed all criticisms with the positives? So, for example: Windows Mobile 5 is this, it's that, in fact, here is a run down of the binary code as a description of it and here are some technical specifications and a glossary of terms.... but... I think that they should let you place application shortcuts on the Today Screen.
Nonsense my friend, nonsense.
saminegm said:
Just get an iPhone... but dont ask for thousands of games, dont ask for MS Exchange Push Mail, dont ask for Outlook compatibility (works bad on iPod), dont ask for Word, PowerPoint, Excel, dont ask for GPS, dont ask for WiFi and/or Bluetooth...
IMHO your ranting about small issues is not appropriate. Just read the manual and try the workarounds people show you here...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just because something is the most versatile thing available doesnt make it well designed. Take a closer look at your desktop Windows installation...Take a look at your car....
warnysouth said:
Just because something is the most versatile thing available doesnt make it well designed. Take a closer look at your desktop Windows installation...Take a look at your car....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But yes, I do appreciate the workarounds a lot, thanks,
FuzzMunky said:
Ok. So then they might want to make shortcuts to these apps using the keys on the front of the device.....
Oh that's right; you can't do that without installing some third-party software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I fully respect that Windows Mobile might not be your cup of tea (I had major trouble to adapt to the Nokia S60 interface but a lot of people like it) but to be honest I am just happy with having the last used applications appear automatically in the Start menu, something that no other phone operating system does. I have the programs that I use most frequently always available in that list and it has room for 5 entries which is more than enough for me. And you can choose the 6 items which stay permanently in the Start menu, so you have 11 programs easily accessible plus 3 customisable buttons on the sides of the phone. It works for me.
I am going to swap cellular carriers and want to buy a Touch Dual. I already have a CDMA Touch and know its features well, but what are the main differences betwenn the touch and the touch dual. I know the dual has a slide out keyboard and a smaller screen, but what else is different. What are your like and dislikes?
I suppose you can easily find out about most of the good/bad features simply by reading one of many reviews available via Google search. So, perhaps I'll try to point out some things that are often left out of reviews.
Touchflo - This is over-hyped. The default Touchcube is quite useless because of the unintuitive choice of shortcuts. Prepare to have to mess around with registry and image files to get the Touchcube the way you want it. Grab-to-scroll is great, but it's nothing exciting nowadays.
The new photo viewer - Also over-hyped. The gestures take time to get used to. Performance is slow if your photo collection gets large. Most importantly, it doesn't allow you to organize your photos in directories. I've since ditched this for Resco's Photo Viewer.
The HTC Home plug-in - Arguably the best Today screen plug-in available.
WM6 - Will offer you limitless customization options if you are willing to take risks with registry and ROM files.
The camera - Almost unusable. Blurry photos unless you steady your hand against a solid object. This is either caused by an extremely slow shutter speed or it's a driver issue. The consensus is that it's the latter. Fortunately, HTC will be releasing proper drivers soon.
Internet Explorer - The default browser is useless. There's a bug that makes viewing large pages painful. The more you scroll away from the top, the more lag you experience with scrolling. Fortunately, there a fix for that here in this forum. Also, you will need to add PIE+ if you want any functionality out of the browser.
HTC Audio Manager - This is quite nice to use personally. Don't understand why some prefer WMP. But I suppose this is a personal preference thing. The sound skips every few minutes. But it's not a big deal.
As a phone, the Touch Dual is a dream come true. There are so many ways to dial. You can use your quick contacts. You can scroll through the contacts list. Or you can simply begin typing your contact's name or number and it will search through your contact list in real-time. This is simply great. Writing SMS and emails are great either with the touch screen or the keypad. Absolutely flawless as a phone.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=368144
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=361548
is it that hard to perform a search?
Stay away from the latest HTC phones until they've fixed that driver issue (www.htcclassaction.org).
DaVince said:
Stay away from the latest HTC phones until they've fixed that driver issue (www.htcclassaction.org).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's your choice, I like the Dual and feel that is as fast as I need.
bydandie said:
That's your choice, I like the Dual and feel that is as fast as I need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. It has it's flaws. But it is still a sweet device. After some tweaks, I'd it is a joy to use. And if HTC is going to release drivers as speculated, then it's just going to be that much better.
DaVince said:
Stay away from the latest HTC phones until they've fixed that driver issue (www.htcclassaction.org).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its only an issue if you're a serious gamer though. And a serious gamer would be more likely to use a different device?
Unfortunately, it's not just with games and video. It's the entire GUI itself. You can't even scroll without getting agitated! Imagine running your PC in safe mode.. Or running your PC with the default VGA drivers.
For those who insist on getting a Niki. Go ahead. you're the one getting screwed anyways.
We're wonder what is people thinking about their G1 device... Please vote and write down your feeling on this new phone.
G1
What does work on this phone works very well. I feel though that this phone is more for developers and hobbyist. It's not quiet ready for guys like me that have very few skills. I hope the software situation gets worked out soon or this phone will end up with no real support just like the Iphone.
i agree, some great potential with this phone, enough to make it a class leader. we just need to see some of the most reported problems ironed out first. great os and hardware on the whole.
what are "mosy reported floors"
I LOVE this phone. Of course it has its problems(lack of camera options, lack of really interesting apps(though there were a hell of a lot of interesting ones added today...), cut and paste is a bit of a pain sometimes but they are all in the software and definitely will be fixed once the device is a little more mature. Considering this is a version 1.0 device and just came out a little over a month ago it's freaking amazing. Heck I've even had iphone users gawk at some of the things it can do like street view compass mode.
Love it!!
I've had (over the past 2 years) the mda, moto q, mogul, instinct, diamond and now the G1.
Windows mobile (mda/q/mogul/diamond), although very convenient, can and will give you a headache and a large pain in the @$$. Screens are usually too cluttered. Such a small screen size with so much stuff. Lag lag lagggggggg. Pocket Internet Explorer is only there for show and orb. Other than that I would recommend opera, netbrowser or skyfire. Functionality is the best feature winmo has. I had full access to my home computer (as long as it was connected to the internet). They are essentially what they are called, PPC's (Pocket PC's).
Instinct... should be set on fire along with all the people who created that POS. Make sure it is a slow roasting fire too. Very very poor smartphone. Good at making/receiving calls though.
The G1 can and will do everying the winmo phones do (minus the head ache... hopefully). All we need to be is patient or pitch in by learning programming.
i rated it very poor, i am very disappointed with the phone and google should be ashamed of themselves. the g1 can't do 1/10th of the things my wing did and my wing was a dog. android is worse than win ce when i first tried it on '03. thanks g1 for ruining my year. xda-devs, please get winmo on this asap.
Till now only 47 peoples vote... gogogo!
Till now only 47 peoples... gogogo! Tell people how do you think on G1~
We hope TMO can see this thread and improve it on next model if possible.
Good and Bad
I rated the phone as Neutral:
Things I like:
- GPS, Wireless are great
- Some cool apps
- Smooth Feel to the screen and it isn't jerky
- Contact List (very flexible for my needs)
- real tactile keyboard
- Maps
- ShopSavvy
Things I don't like:
- Small screen
- No auto-rotate (I know it works with chrooted systems)
- keyboard missing CTRL, PgUp/Down, Arrows (for shell commands)
- Internal Storage space is limited
- Lack of ability to store to SD Card
- The cumbersome headset included (why on earth keep the mic
- Not a true Open Source (I want root access)
Things that would make this phone rock:
- optional on-screen keyboard for simple input (ease up on the wear and tear of constantly having to flip to keyboard)
- piston operated hinges (i.e. slow the shock of closing/opening the keyboard)..opens fast but slows down right before it slams open/shut
- option for normal earpiece input (vice USB headset)
So I'm really mixed. I think a huge win (for me) is the ability to store on SD card (I run out of space all the time now) and having root access. That would put my satisfaction in the upper 90's. I'm sure I'm missing other pros/cons but that's a start for me.
I bought it recently, and am satisfied with it. The screen is very bright and responsive, the browser is very good and I can install my own apps on it without hassle <3
My first one had a squeaky sound to it so I got it exchanged. I have the white one, so it can be hard to see the buttons and some of the apps feel incomplete. Thankfully, I can download the source and mod them to my liking
RouterGuru said:
I rated the phone as Neutral:
Things that would make this phone rock:
- optional on-screen keyboard for simple input (ease up on the wear and tear of constantly having to flip to keyboard)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aye, that annoys me as well, but the input API is is listed on the roadmap for Q1 09, so not too long now (hopefully).
Auto Rotate...?
Just curious if anyone concern about to disable " Auto Rotate " function once keyboard slide out.
Personally, I don't like it at all since sometime, I wish to browse the webpage on horziontal mode but only way is slide out the keyboard!
It is a $%^&*, why they just don't leave a function for user ON/OFF auto rotate ???
I give the phone itself a "very disappointed", the software "very good".
While much if the phone's problems are likely software, the squeaking and overall build quality are sub-par IMO. The battery life is horrid and, while software can fix some of it, the battery is rated very low, which begs me to ask why they spec'd such a tiny battery for a phone with these features.
The point is, I guess, that the phone itself has problems that cant be fixed with a update. The software, while lacking many simple things, at least can and will be eventually fixed.
For me the G1 is a very good start. The default packages and layouts need to be redone. For example. The contacts options don't offer enough input. Like... Birthdays, Anniversaries As well as maybe having IM support for the various default messengers on the g1 ie gtalk, aim etc.
Another Huge let down is the default SMS/MMS package where it does not allow you to forward and the standard options we have become accustomed to using devices such as WM6....
The picture viewer is the worst i have ever seen in my life. Currently I have over 5500 pictures on my SD card and the default viewer does not allow me to view by Directory or simply go into the folder and view that folder, instead it tries to Cache all 5500 pictures and well 35 mins + trying to cache all of them i close it. Also with so many pictures and thousands of names of files there is no option to View a picture and MMS it directly to a contact.
Syncing the phone. There is currently no support for outlook and well even when you export from outlook in CSV format and import into Google it always comes up half garbled with no pictures already saved for contacts. Also not correctly saving number types. IE from outlook if u save it as a mobile number so u can sms on a WM6 device once imported into google it lists it as a regular phone# and cant quickly create a sms to that user by (auto completing the name as you type.)
The only 2 things i have notice that Remember last view is the homescreen and the Applications menu. For instance if you go into your Apps management and uninstall an app. it sends you to the top of the list. The same goes with your Contacts, Directory views, Music library, Etc.
The default options for all applications are normally the same as in notification options. So if i am getting a Text, MMS, Email or what have you it is the same notification for every notification event.
There is no "task manager" to kill processes. IE an X button to close programs or access to kill process' and while Android is supposed to close programs on its own tell that to mine when i run the Browser or Myspace, Facebook, PacMac and close out of the screens and as time passes i wonder why my phone is running slow and open up the Task Switcher and see all of these running still.
There has been no porting of Office XXXX or Open Office to support excel, docx, and the like formats to android at this time yet.
While many people think that the G1 is a big let down and got it and got rid of it. Many of us see the potentional of its power and customization. So if enough of the users voice there dislikes about standard features you EXPECT and want on your device the better the chances that they will take notice.
ultraman69 said:
i rated it very poor, i am very disappointed with the phone and google should be ashamed of themselves. the g1 can't do 1/10th of the things my wing did and my wing was a dog. android is worse than win ce when i first tried it on '03. thanks g1 for ruining my year. xda-devs, please get winmo on this asap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
your wing was a 4th generation Windows mobile device.... did you have windows CE or win2003 before you had your wing? it took windows ages to provide the flexability they offered in the wing yes we all are used to those basic things that the wing and such wm2005 and 2006 devices have on it but where your wrong is the G1 and Android has the ability with the current phone you OWN this second to surpass that little phone you call Wing. Through updates and the likes. If your so disgusted in your G1 ill get you 100 bucks for it... PM me.
G1 for 2 weeks ... returned ;?
This is not a thread to bash the G1 in anyway, this is not to compare it to other touchscreen phones. This is merely a usability distinction where i couldn't justify $400 for the device which was more or less to play with android.
the G1 is a good phone, speakers (earpiece/speaker on back) have some amplification issues when the volume is too high, coming from and SE phone however they were more than acceptable in rage and clarity if the volume was controlled.
the internet was outstanding, what i would have liked to have seen was copy and paste in browser, which may have held me to the phone a bit longer than the return period. not being able to at the very least edit docs.google.com documents was irritating at best, especially with no proper document viewer on the phone, severely constricting the email that could be sent from the phone. i am by no means a business user ... but wow, i cant even edit a *.doc thats not already on my phone to another person with some changes.
this has rambled on long enough, i just wanted to share a few thoughts that i had of the device.
diabolical28 said:
your wing was a 4th generation Windows mobile device.... did you have windows CE or win2003 before you had your wing? it took windows ages to provide the flexability they offered in the wing yes we all are used to those basic things that the wing and such wm2005 and 2006 devices have on it but where your wrong is the G1 and Android has the ability with the current phone you OWN this second to surpass that little phone you call Wing. Through updates and the likes. If your so disgusted in your G1 ill get you 100 bucks for it... PM me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While correct that the Wing has the upper hand in generations of O/S, I am reminded of a great quote:
"A wise man learns from his mistakes, a wiser man learn's from the mistakes of the one around him"
sure, you need to change the words around a bit, but the lesson is to learn from others. They didnt. Android has a lot of possibilities. Unfortunately they did not "learn" from WM6, they left a lot out. They left it in the hands of developers, who seem to be too busy writing "flashlight" and "punch meter" to write useful everyday apps that we are lacking. So far the only app that I have seen that addresses a missing feature is the missed call app 9which is AWESOME as I miss a lot of calls because they dont ring though ).
I am still keeping the phone simply because of the browsing feature, I love sitting on the couch and browsing websites smoothly. Unbelievably the browser also lacks simple features like a simple ADDRESS bar (well, its hidden in the menus so you would SEARCH and add to Google's search results instead of direct typing a URL) and switching between tabs (now called Windows) is too many unnecessary "touches" in my opinion.
I dont mean to bash the phone (and dont even think about replying with "get another phone if you dont like it") but I like to bring these frustrations up so that Google programmers know one more time why this phone is going to lose its shine if they are too late bringing themselves up to date. (PS3 Sales anyone?, Late on price cuts?). See if you are too late these days, it doesn't matter if you are better, look at MSN's Video website, its awesome and MUCH better than Youtube but no one knows about it because they were late (and they don't have their own "brand name" and its simply MSN Video)
Not being able to edit *.doc files from inside the phone's memory or google docs is one thing, and I think is acceptable on a not-so-fresh-release-anymore phone.
What is NOT acceptable whatsoever on this phone is:
Not being able to see IMAGES in Gmail??! For goodness sake Google and T-Mobile claim everything you love about google in your hand, BS. Windows Mobile did this back in 1999 (used to be called Windows CE and had its own outlook) Yes that was 1999 TEN YEARS AGO on my Cassiopea
Other items worth mentioning to those who don't have the phone:
No proper support of Google's own search on its own website! (constantly getting the blank search result page)
No Copy/Paste
No Contact Sync with Outlook (what the hell? is this Nokia 1997 all over again?)
No spreadsheet/word doc editor/viewer (ok, ok, we are waiting for all kind of programmers making incompatible with each other software
No PDF viewer (Correction, there is a great PDF viewer in the market for purchase, I meant part of the browser, I think google probably wants to come up with its own version for its Google Book website and doesnt want to use Adobe PDF)
No Flash (there goes 50% of the websites I browse)
Severly closed source and limited programming that has caused simple BS "apps" with a few exceptions. Developers are crying about how limited they are in writing programs as this phone is sooo CLOSED in all ways, there is no way to even write a Gadget for it like the clock that comes on the screen. No root access either.
Unscrollable, limited desktop space
No windows for categorizing icons. Well, Google does not believe in categorizing and file systems. I am sure all their own servers are full of FOLDERs just like Microsoft servers but they claim everything should be "LABELED" not "folder"'d.
No app installation on the SD card?? Whats this one?? I dropped my WING because it was still using the ten year old Windows CE memory system (almost) and had very limited space and was always running out.
This phone made me appreciate all the little details that engineers at Microsoft have thought of in the past 20 years and included in Windows. I think of how our life would've beeen different and productivity in the world would've been so behind if Linux, IBMOS/2 and other crap had taken over the computer world. Thanks again Microsoft for all the thousands and thousands of free "apps" you included in Windows. Stuff as simple as RIGHT clicking on the screen or COPY/Paste or just a window to categorize icons, simple stupid things I have been taking for granted for years. I am sure Google programmers would love to use Windows in all their own computers while at work. Now I know why Windows dominates the software industry even though they have failed in cluttered annoying text advertising, search, maps and a few other areas.
brooklynite said:
I am still keeping the phone simply because of the browsing feature, I love sitting on the couch and browsing websites smoothly. Unbelievably the browser also lacks simple features like a simple ADDRESS bar (well, its hidden in the menus so you would SEARCH and add to Google's search results instead of direct typing a URL) and switching between tabs (now called Windows) is too many unnecessary "touches" in my opinion.
I dont mean to bash the phone (and dont even think about replying with "get another phone if you dont like it") but I like to bring these frustrations up so that Google programmers know one more time why this phone is going to lose its shine if they are too late bringing themselves up to date. (PS3 Sales anyone?, Late on price cuts?). See if you are too late these days, it doesn't matter if you are better, look at MSN's Video website, its awesome and MUCH better than Youtube but no one knows about it because they were late (and they don't have their own "brand name" and its simply MSN Video)
Not being able to edit *.doc files from inside the phone's memory or google docs is one thing, and I think is acceptable on a not-so-fresh-release-anymore phone.
What is NOT acceptable whatsoever on this phone is:
Not being able to see IMAGES in Gmail??! For goodness sake Google and T-Mobile claim everything you love about google in your hand, BS. Windows Mobile did this back in 1999 (used to be called Windows CE and had its own outlook) Yes that was 1999 TEN YEARS AGO on my Cassiopea
Other items worth mentioning to those who don't have the phone:
No proper support of Google's own search on its own website! (constantly getting the blank search result page)
No Copy/Paste
No Contact Sync with Outlook (what the hell? is this Nokia 1997 all over again?)
No spreadsheet/word doc editor/viewer (ok, ok, we are waiting for all kind of programmers making incompatible with each other software
No PDF viewer
No Flash (there goes 50% of the websites I browse)
Severly closed source and limited programming that has caused simple BS "apps" with a few exceptions. Developers are crying about how limited they are in writing programs as this phone is sooo CLOSED in all ways, there is no way to even write a Gadget for it like the clock that comes on the screen. No root access either.
Unscrollable, limited desktop space
No windows for categorizing icons. Well, Google does not believe in categorizing and file systems. I am sure all their own servers are full of FOLDERs just like Microsoft servers but they claim everything should be "LABELED" not "folder"'d.
No app installation on the SD card?? Whats this one?? I dropped my WING because it was still using the ten year old Windows CE memory system (almost) and had very limited space and was always running out.
This phone made me appreciate all the little details that engineers at Microsoft have thought of in the past 20 years and included in Windows. I think of how our life would've beeen different and productivity in the world would've been so behind if Linux, IBMOS/2 and other crap had taken over the computer world. Thanks again Microsoft for all the thousands and thousands of free "apps" you included in Windows. Stuff as simple as RIGHT clicking on the screen or COPY/Paste or just a window to categorize icons, simple stupid things I have been taking for granted for years. I am sure Google programmers would love to use Windows in all their own computers while at work. Now I know why Windows dominates the software industry even though they have failed in cluttered annoying text advertising, search, maps and a few other areas.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash was announced to be coming sometime in the near future by adobe, when is the question. There is a pdf viewer on handango however i purchased it and tried to open g1's full manual and it wont open it. GO FIGURE lol.
And contacts sync with Outlook is already out - see MailShadowG at www.cemaphore.com
- in fact, it's an entire push Exchange mail/contacts/calendar sync.
diabolical28 said:
your wing was a 4th generation Windows mobile device.... did you have windows CE or win2003 before you had your wing? it took windows ages to provide the flexability they offered in the wing yes we all are used to those basic things that the wing and such wm2005 and 2006 devices have on it but where your wrong is the G1 and Android has the ability with the current phone you OWN this second to surpass that little phone you call Wing. Through updates and the likes. If your so disgusted in your G1 ill get you 100 bucks for it... PM me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry, i didn't know that this poll was to rate the potential of the g1. potentially, any phone can be great, 5 stars...
i think by now, 2008, the requirements for a pda phone are pretty much well defined. ms may have taken 3 to 4 gens to get it right, it doesn't mean that google needs 4 gens. they don't have to invent or reinvent anything, it all already there.
unfortunately, google seems too wrapped up in UI than functionality. actually, i don't know where their focus is.
man im having a hard time with my HD, im coming from an iphone and this is my first day with it, ive been messing with it all day but its just so much different than an iphone. the screen just wants too much push its getting to me, the iphone you just flick your finger or lightly tap and it recognizes so easily. right now my biggest issue is i cant get the phone data package to work, ive got the iphone plan still but i put my sim in my friend hd and it worked fine so im wondering what i can do to get my att data working. another issue im having is using wifi at home to search web pages moving around the page is a pain and they pages always require me to scroll to the sides. is there a way for me to display the whole page horizontally so i dont have to move sideways along with up and down. this are just a few of my problems, but i can see myself going back to the iphone this thing is just too much trouble, and you cant beat that app store or jailbreaking with customs themes. i was willing to take the loss of 3g for the sharper screen but this issue with having to press against the screen has got me nuts.
does anyone know how i can sync my contacts from my windows contact list on my pc?? this is where my iphone has stored all its contacts.
I have the Touch HD, and my roommate has the iPhone... so I have used them both, and have compared them as well.
To be honest, the Touch HD is MUCH better. Also keep in mind that the two have different display screens, the iPhone's REQUIRES heat (from your finger)... so you can never use a stylus or other similar item to control it. While it does have its advantages (such as multi touch) -- it still lacks in that on the HD, you can use the stylus, or pretty much anything.
Try looking at your settings. Try re-aligning the screen. Also there is a setting to turn on noise feedback (clicking) when you are touching the screen - which might help you when you are scrolling.
Lastly - while the iPhone and jailbreaking have a lot of items... I would say that the HD [Windows Mobile] has 10 times more items and way to customize.
Any way just my two cents. Hope it helps a bit.
Keith
are there any sites you can recommend for free software cause i want to like and keep this thing for the camera but it loads apps prett slow and the media is not as easy to reach as it is on the iphone. im really just looking for sports scores updates and aim and some games for this phone
The Iphone and the HD are two very good devices for their market, generally speaking however, depending what you use it for will determin which device is for you.
There are ways of adjusting the sensativity of the HD, i wouldnt recomend this, what you are expeiencing is simply the change between the Iphone and the HD, had you never used the Iphone you would have thought the HD touch screen was amazing. Which is better? Both have their advantages, but i for one keep my fingers nice and warm in the bitter cold wind and can still use the thing, whilst my Iphone brothers are freezing their fingers off!
Your data package is a mystery, i dont really understand what you mean by its not working, stick your SIM in, then go to system settings, network, then network wizard, that will take care of any little network settings issues that may be stopping you from getting it to work.
Assuming you are using Opera you just tilt the device on its side whilst facing you, that will flip the screen to wide mode, you can just read a full website without the need for zooming in this mode. If your using IE then give up, its old and doesnt work yet, new versions will fix this. Moving the page about is very easy in Opera.
To be honest, i think your being very nieve to think this phone is "simply" better than the Iphone, you cant just jump from one device to another and directly compare them, they are two very different devices, you have gotten used to the Iphone, that is why you like it so much, I have used both and i can tell you that for what i use this thing for the Touch HD is by far the most amazing device i have ever used, hell yeah, Id go as far as saying i love my HD!
I do have some issues with it, but ill live with it for now, hopefully someone will fix them soon. They would all be about the camera. Not overly chuffed with it in its current state.
get winterboard from vito software....google it....lot like the iphone interface
Get HDTweak installed so you can the screen more sensitive.
dazza9075 said:
The Iphone and the HD are two very good devices for their market, generally speaking however, depending what you use it for will determin which device is for you.
There are ways of adjusting the sensativity of the HD, i wouldnt recomend this, what you are expeiencing is simply the change between the Iphone and the HD, had you never used the Iphone you would have thought the HD touch screen was amazing. Which is better? Both have their advantages, but i for one keep my fingers nice and warm in the bitter cold wind and can still use the thing, whilst my Iphone brothers are freezing their fingers off!
Your data package is a mystery, i dont really understand what you mean by its not working, stick your SIM in, then go to system settings, network, then network wizard, that will take care of any little network settings issues that may be stopping you from getting it to work.
Assuming you are using Opera you just tilt the device on its side whilst facing you, that will flip the screen to wide mode, you can just read a full website without the need for zooming in this mode. If your using IE then give up, its old and doesnt work yet, new versions will fix this. Moving the page about is very easy in Opera.
To be honest, i think your being very nieve to think this phone is "simply" better than the Iphone, you cant just jump from one device to another and directly compare them, they are two very different devices, you have gotten used to the Iphone, that is why you like it so much, I have used both and i can tell you that for what i use this thing for the Touch HD is by far the most amazing device i have ever used, hell yeah, Id go as far as saying i love my HD!
I do have some issues with it, but ill live with it for now, hopefully someone will fix them soon. They would all be about the camera. Not overly chuffed with it in its current state.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
everyone whos got an hd says this to me but i dont understand, what are you guys doing with your phone that im not, the only capability the phone has that im aware of is things like word and excel, otherwise its supposed to be a pda phone and surfing the web on this thing is near impossible(i reset the phone and got the Edge working but it feels so slow coming from 3g). zooming in and out is much more difficult than the iphone. i almost wish there were some kind of package to give this phone all the same features the iphone has for zooming and scrolling pages(occasionally ill select something while trying to scroll because ill have to press down too hard). is it ok to post links to programs on this forum, i guess thats another issue with most of these expensive windows mobile phones, everyone and their moms has an iphone so theres a lot of attention paid in terms of modding and customizing. im trying to find the G sensor that lets you rotate any program some kind of mobile messenger and sports score updater. also does anyone know how i can take my windows contacts and export them to the HD.
Loss of 3G? What are you talking about!? The Touch HD is 3.5G! Just as fast as the iPhone 3G, (depending on network coverage, of course). Plus it has even newer technologies.
thatg said:
everyone whos got an hd says this to me but i dont understand, what are you guys doing with your phone that im not, the only capability the phone has that im aware of is things like word and excel, otherwise its supposed to be a pda phone and surfing the web on this thing is near impossible(i reset the phone and got the Edge working but it feels so slow coming from 3g). zooming in and out is much more difficult than the iphone. i almost wish there were some kind of package to give this phone all the same features the iphone has for zooming and scrolling pages(occasionally ill select something while trying to scroll because ill have to press down too hard). is it ok to post links to programs on this forum, i guess thats another issue with most of these expensive windows mobile phones, everyone and their moms has an iphone so theres a lot of attention paid in terms of modding and customizing. im trying to find the G sensor that lets you rotate any program some kind of mobile messenger and sports score updater. also does anyone know how i can take my windows contacts and export them to the HD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a reason why as you said "everyone and their mom's has an iphone". This reason might also apply to you. You are obviously in uncharted territory. If you just want to web search/email/play music then stick to your iphone. A pda phone is designed for much more than that.
Dont blame the HD for your poor network connection.The HD can handle everything from 2G to EDGE, 3G and HSDPA. The phone will connect to whatever EDGE if it cant find a stable 3G (or even better HSDPA) connection. For browsing try opera mobile. And read the manual for the phone. You can adjust the screen sensitivity to your liking.You can also download a cab file here (HD Tweak) to help you with that. Any more complaints?
And yes, EDGE is slower than 3G but that depends on where you are (cell towers) and your network. If your cell provider has 3G or HSDPA signals coming off their cell towers then your HD would automatically choose the best and connect with it.
Good Lord Another Jesus Phone vs HD thread. Do we really need it It's like comparing a PS3 to a PC. One just has to learn the mysteries of WinMobile and that's what this board is all about
ha, see this is what im talking about, you guys keep telling me they are very diferent and winmobile can accomplish a lot more but leave out what. i just dont get what i'm missing. im in the U.S. so the the 3g doesnt work here as far as i know. im on AT&T. i've read somewhere that its got the correct hardware but needs some sort of firmware to possibly accomplish 3g use in the future. i just went to the htc website and put on the 4 hotfixes they had under the support section along with hd tweak 0.5.4 i found. one of the hotfixes solved an issue i was having with the slider to answer calls.
so i still have this problem with exporting contact to the phone from my pc if anyone has any tips
i'm very sorry to anyone who thinks i came on here to offend you guys, just trying to figure this thing and its capabilities out. also can someone tell me what these roms are and should i be cautious loading them, could they cause damage to my phone? i found one that looks like a package of different modifications to the phone
What is the problem with contacts from your PC to the HD ?
I assume you have PC with windows and the outlook application ? And, do you have activesync working between the PC and the HD ?
im using windows mobile device center with vista, and ive never actually set up outlook whenever i get to the email setup i start to stumble because i dont get this pop and map thing trying to setup my yahoo email
thatg said:
im using windows mobile device center with vista, and ive never actually set up outlook whenever i get to the email setup i start to stumble because i dont get this pop and map thing trying to setup my yahoo email
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should have an outlook cd-rom in the HD pack. I have set this up without access to email - I just ignored that in the setup.
I would suggest this is worthwhile as the sync from pc Outlook to HD is very simple.
I use the calendar feature and contacts in outlook on the PC and not the email.
Where are the contacts you want to sync with the HD ?
right now my contacts are in my windows address book, if i go to the start menu then contacts theyre all in there i got outlook running and did the same chose not to sync email but when i try to drag a contact into the outlook contacts outlook tells me its unable to find the WAB DLL. whatever that is
guy you really need to go and RTFM
this is xda dev, not "winmob for dummies"
sure we all have to start somewhere and i did, but i got my first winmob device and then read read read and read somemore. then played and tweaked and hardreset god knows how many times
sorry if you think im being arsey, but the questions you are asking and then solutions (where they exist) have been explored before
google is your friend, or to use the original phrase... "seek and you shall find"
For the heavyness of the touch, look on the forum. You can adjust how hard you have to push on it. Mine is set very light and you can just swipe over it with the lightest touch.
The plus side about a device like the HD is that you can adjust it as much as you want.
The reason why the iPhone is popular and liked by many imho is that its made to be easy for even the biggest idiot.
Just like game consoles are made to bring games to the masses, while a real gamer wouldn't touch a console with a 10 foot pole.
Coming from an iPhone to an HTC does take a little getting used to. I did find the extra screen pressure annoying at first as half my screen presses were ignored. Also, the iPhone is very user friendly, both out of the box and for installing new apps. With a WM device, you do need to do a little bit more to get the most out of it, but once you've got your sat nav installed, gyrator or other screen flip software, put your own skin on it, have voice dial set up and bluetoothed to everything else, and playing the video and audio formats of your choice, all in glorious 800x480, the iPhone will seem like a distant memory.
The threads to read are those pointing to the Wiki's on firmware updates, and basic tweaks (which makes a huge difference). Read the basics, and you'll find an army of people willing to help you get the most out of it. And they dont charge $9.99 for the latest firmware release!
I hope you stick with it.
TravUK said:
Coming from an iPhone to an HTC does take a little getting used to. I did find the extra screen pressure annoying at first as half my screen presses were ignored. Also, the iPhone is very user friendly, both out of the box and for installing new apps. With a WM device, you do need to do a little bit more to get the most out of it, but once you've got your sat nav installed, gyrator or other screen flip software, put your own skin on it, have voice dial set up and bluetoothed to everything else, and playing the video and audio formats of your choice, all in glorious 800x480, the iPhone will seem like a distant memory.
The threads to read are those pointing to the Wiki's on firmware updates, and basic tweaks (which makes a huge difference). Read the basics, and you'll find an army of people willing to help you get the most out of it. And they dont charge $9.99 for the latest firmware release!
I hope you stick with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the encouragement and help, most other people seem to want me to just turn back to the iphone, im not welcome ?
i just tried dling gyrator but it says i need .net framework compact so im looking for that now. can you point me in the right direction of the framework and maybe where to change the sensativity so i dont have to press as hard against the screen, or is that in the HD tweak. also what will the firmware update change.
still having this issue getting the contacts from my windows address book to the phone
Hi Guys
I've had my HD2 for about a week now, and I *really* want to love it, but I'm struggling to bond with it, here's why.
Don't flame me just yet - I'm not an Apple Fanboi. Up until a couple of years ago I used Nokia phones, and I was happy. Then, by chance, I happened to be in New York (I'm from London) when a mate called me and said that iPhones were selling for upto £500 on eBay, and you could get them in NY for half that price. It was a "no-brainer" - I went to the Apple store and bought 4, came home, sold 3 of them and kept one out of curiousity. I'd never had an Apple device of any sort before this, and wasn't a fan - I'm a Windows bloke. (my day job is as a Windows Infrastructure Architect for large businesses). I hated Apple, and the approach they had to the control over their devices. The device was also the first encounter with a decent touch screen - my only encounter before that was an iPaq 4150 + stylus.
So I had this iPhone 8GB, and I learned how to jailbreak and unlock it in the UK. I did not expect to enjoy it much, but I found my self falling for it - the cliché'd phrase kept on applying - "it just worked". Exactly how you expected - everything. When I typed on the keyboard, I rarely made an error. When I browsed the web, I always hit the right link with my fat finger. Life was good - email was clear, intuitive - the right buttons were always "right there". There were drawbacks too (iTunes for starters), but these were sort of OK given the benefits. I had completely fallen in love with the thing.
Over the last couple of years, a good freind of mine had been coming over to the house with various phones to try and impress me. I shoo'd hm away with Blackberry Bolds, Storms, Android G1's and the like. Then, he came round with his latest toy - the HD2.
My first thought was "here we go again", but the more he showed me, the more I liked the look of it. I liked the nice big screen, Activesync email\contacts\calender, the multi-touch screen. I saw the way that the interface had changed from the old tiny "squared of boxes" look of Windows 3.1 to a nice finger freindly "big, modern, finger menus". The more I looked, the more I liked. I struggled a bit with typing on the keyboard, and navigating on the web, but I just thought that I needed to get used to it. It seemed to tick all the boxes. At last, I thought, Windows Mobile has finally come of age. I swallowed my reservations, and took the plunge, recieving my new phone 7 days ago.
Since then, I've had a love/hate relationship. I love the fact that I can actually make/recieve calls at home again (iPhone reception was fine everywhere, except in my house!). I've got a GPS now, and the compass. I love the quality of the camera and the video. I love that I have a flash. Looking forward to getting some great apps for them. I love the whole "smooth" flow of apps like the album for viewing pics and vids. I love that I can plug it in to any PC and install an app right there.
But then i find that there's no central repository for Apps really - Windows Mobile Marketplace is a joke - there's hardly anything on it. I'm left Googling in a hit and miss way for something I want. Which brings me to the next point - touch accuracy. I just can't get used to the screen. It takes me about 5 attempts to click on any given link on a web page, usually I hit the wrong link first, and have to go back a page, then try again. Typing with the on sceen keyboard is a disaster for me. It's like the phone has Parkinson's Desease - I just can't ge the letters I want consistently, and this makes typing a nightmare. it's compounded because when I try and hit the backspace key to correct stuff, I often miss that and end up with more unwanted characters. I don't like the tiny little "x" and "ok" buttons in the top right corner to close apps.
So I thought, "what version of the software have I got? Maybe an update to ROM, Manilla, etc will improve things." I had UK T-Mobile 1.43 ROM, so I looked around and decided that I'd upgrade to Artemis 5.5. This has improved things a bit (nicer control menus for closing apps and menues), but crucially not the way the keyboard and web respond. I also seem to suffer from the "shaking" when dragging a web page up and down, occasionaly. I was videoing a scene the other day, and the video was interupted by a DHCP message, FFS! A DHCP message!!! So the scene was half filmed. What a f*** up.
The whole experience is a real roller coaster, and I *so* want to love this device, but I'm left so exasperated by some of the basics, that I find myself avoiding using it, searching for a laptop instead. And now it seems that Windows Phone 7 will not available for the device. I'm even considering cancelling my contract, and returning the device.
Can anyone use the keyboard and web accurately? Any advice or suggestions, forecasted upgrades or similar that might help?
If you got this far - thanks for listening!
To tweak the links in Opera look in the very first sticky thread in this forum, try some of the other tweaks there too.
The keyboard would be much better with swype, shame it doesn't seem to be available any more
put a 3rd party keyboard (e.g. touchpal reduced my typing errors by more than 50%, or you can use resco keyboard which has an iphone skin by default) and always double tap to zoom before clicking on a link or pinch to zoom for more. that's how I learnt loving this bad boy
you sound to me as if you want to love the HD2 like you loved the Iphone
the thing is every device has its own nuances and niggles, I still yet have to
encounter someone who was actually totally satisfied with their gadget right
from the start up to the very end of its life expectancy.
this is why we have this world wide forum of XDA so people all over the world
with their varied expertise can tweak this and that, improve this and that
you know what i mean.
when I had the device >2 weeks ago, i did not
flash straight away (despite being a junkie with the Touch HD) as I wanted to
get the original feel of the stock 1.66 ROM, I listed down some areas which may
need some improvement. One was the Camera being over exposed with flash
in a dark environment, another was the checker board when scrolling in Opera.
By reading through and searching and participating, I found that Dutty HG 1.1
had most of my problems solved, so I flashed it, and its been almost a week
on and I can say to myself I am a bit happier with it than the Stock 1.66 ROM
I would'nt say i'd be happy with this totally and forever, things out there are improving and developing.
to summarize things it all settles down on how much you stick out and appreciate
any device/gadget. happiness is a fleeting feeling, enjoy each moment
while it unfolds in your eyes and fingers.
that is my little piece for winmo.
ozkaya said:
put a 3rd party keyboard (e.g. touchpal reduced my typing errors by more than 50%, or you can use resco keyboard which has an iphone skin by default) and always double tap to zoom before clicking on a link or pinch to zoom for more. that's how I learnt loving this bad boy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always double tap too - Stopped most of the wrong link selecting for me !
don't give up on your typing skills just yet. It took me about 2 months to get used to it, now I'm typing nearly as fast as on a laptop.
screen (over) sensitivity and dodgy key input are the two biggest drawbacks of the hd2.
install bsbtweaks for the screen sensitivity reduction tweak, and using swype (from the omnia, not the t mo one which can cause issues) solved it for me. typing takes a good few weeks to get used to, but gets easier and easier as you get used to it.(typing this on the bus using swype)
sn0rg said:
But then i find that there's no central repository for Apps really - Windows Mobile Marketplace is a joke - there's hardly anything on it. I'm left Googling in a hit and miss way for something I want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try OpnMarket for apps. Marketplace indeed is a joke...
As for the rest; don't give up yet. I had the same issues as you do now regarding typing and generally touch interface. I'm running Tom's ROM right now and I find typing is much improved compared to 1.48 or 1.66... I don't use the reduced sensitivity cabs floating around xda or BsB Tweaks. 1.48 was a catastrophy, but things improve all the time. So don't give up just yet - you'll get used to your device. I took you some time before you loved (ieeeeeuw, nasty ;-)) your iPhone, give your HD2 a month or two. It's a superior device, really.
Grtz from fellow windows sysadmin
Lukas
The Resco keyboard really helps with typing. And a new ROM speeds the Leo up. I think the reason perhaps the iPhone seems better is because its a simpler device. Our Leo's do a considerable amount more, so learning it is bound to take some time.
witch1 said:
The Resco keyboard really helps with typing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
I tested Resco and it looks really nice,
but
- the different skins did not work and
- in the standard iSkin I have only two field:
a numerical and a alphabetical.
There I miss some keys, for example < > [ ] and Backspace ....
Is this only in the test version the case?
eshd
Thanks for the replies I'm working through some of the suggestions now
Let's make it simple: some HD2 devices are definitely flawed and have a physical touchscreen problem that you won't be able to fix with software tweaks, new ROMs or whatever.
The first thing you need to know is if you device is flawed or not. A very simple test is to use the Note application and try to draw straight lines when you use your finger slowly.
The second thing you need to do is check out this very complete thread (click here). In there, you'll find most symptoms that are associated with these flawed devices. Some of these symptoms is called "The Electrocardiography"... It seems like that is what you called with another medical term "Parkinson's desease".
If you have one or more of these problems, you might want to check the hotfix that was given by the same guy who run the thread. The hotfix is in this thread here. It won't correct 100% of the problem, but it might be a BIG help.
If you go through all these steps and are not fully satisfied with the results, you might consider sending back you device to customer service (that's what I did until I got a perfect unit).
Think about it all.
Are you sure your HD2 is working correctly? I had the same issues as you and after two weeks I decided enough was enough and sent it back for a replacment. I have had that for three days now and it is a big improvement. The shaking when scrolling has gone and the typing is as good as the iPhone I tried. I am now very happy with the HD2.