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Greetings,
I am from germany and new on this forum, though I keep peeking in here for quite some time now and today is the time, where I believe I should post my very own impressions about the HTC Prophet.
I was using my old S25 (Siemens) cell for nearly 6 years now and since today I was quite happy about it. It was functional, worked, never let me hung and still works fine (I only changed the service provider to go for the HTC Prophet and let the contract for it run out).
At my new job I met a bunch of people who had that HTC Magician. They primarily bought it for the same reasons as most of us. It was a small device, had PocketPC capabilities, you could listen to sound files, watch movies, navigation, phoning and keeping contacts.
Sadly my reality looks quite differently than I initially had in mind. After some real life scenarios I realized that going for this smartphone was a big and really expensive mistake and I start to regret it now.
I also have a good history of PDA's and PocketPC's (Palm, Casio E125 etc.).
Problems that I have with the HTC Prophet (That I initially never thought about).
Speaker on the back side is the most supid thing that I ever have seen. Sure once you see these little machines you don't think about any problems that it might have.
You get it demonstrated by your colleagues and you see that it's an awesome device (on the first looks). But that thing is simply too silent. Sure loudness is quite a subjective thing and everyone of us hear differently.
But the HTC Prophet with its speaker on the back side is silent. In real life scenarios that thing is either laying on the table (where the speaker will be hidden by the table plate) or laying on a book or on a surface that keeps hiding the speaker. Or you keep carrying it around in that belt case that you receive with that thing. It's too silent.
I was on a trade show not long ago and I kept carrying that thing in that black belt case around my belt. With a smoking jacket around it. The trade show was well visited and therefore quite noisy (not loud but similar as if you go into the mensa at university). The thing is I kept missing one call after another, needless to say that I missed all SMS or schedules that my kalendar kept. I started to look at it at random times only to notices whether I missed something or if new SMS arrived.
A coleague of mine had another smartphone WM5 device carrying around with him, that thing otoh was quite loud. It yelled around that even I could realize it even meters ahead. Also the speaker, microphone and earspeaker was quite boosted.
Then at night during that few days trade show I slept in a motel where I used that device as a alarm clock. It was silent. Luckely I had a quite nervous sleep so I was able to wake up correctly in the morning but the alarm was quite silent. You've been able to hear it but not if you had a well sleep.
Earphone and Microphone. I have big issues listening to the person on the other end and the person has issues listening to my voice and the normal conversation goes on in multiple "pardon can you repeat" sentences. Specailly if you leave the office to go outside on the street for talk (so your colleagues don't need to follow your private conversation) it's even worse. I need to stick a finger in my other ear only to hear the person on the other end.
I think this is quite inacceptable for a device that is sold primary as "phone". I must say that I have the original rom on it, it's as I received it from this german company with the one letter and one number. With all the junk and stuff on it. Nothing touched, it's maximum loud, nothing flashed - as is.
Now a few days ago I went to another colleague of mine and compared his HTC Magician with my HTC Prophet. We set the devices to maximum loudness and played this "alouette.mid" file at the same time. His HTC Magician was drowning my HTC Prophet in all aspects. It was noticable louder than my HTC Prophet. It had better speakers and microphone. Sure it has the speaker on the backside as well but both devices were on the table head at head and his one nearly lifted off of the table while mine was silently sitting there playing "alouette.mid".
I mean, my old Siemens S25 was loud, I was able to hear it even outside of the office room on the floor, or in the kitchen (to jump back to it to pick it up) but this thing (the HTC Prophet) can't be left out of sight. If you move away more than a few meters in a silent office building then you keep missing everything.
I really don't know how this thing can be sold as phone. It misses any quality assurance during manufacturing. From that stupid backside speaker till any real life scenarios. It's more or less a play toy for geeks but rarely something for people doing business or need to keep schedules.
Otherwise that device is quite ok. Sure it has a slow CPU (yes it is slow. There was a few articles I read where people keep saying that it's not slow and that everyone who tells that it's slow are ignorants or something) but take my word. It's slow but it's ok for a phone. It's not the biggest problem since it works smoothly enough as PocketPC for adresses etc.
I started to dig around on many forums after I realized some of the problems on my own and realized that a lot of people complained about silent speakers and microphones and I must confirm this. There are many other problems with that device as well like speaker breaking quickly or the pluging jack for the headphones. I can not confirm this but I bet my pants that these issues are there for real.
I also realized (like on most forums) that people seem to be doing nothing else with it than flashing random XYZ kind of roms onto it in hope something changes (what, most people don't know either - so my impressions - and a few seem to have bricked their devices as well). But can this be ? Can this be the purpose of this device ? To flash it because it sucks in all other aspects ? People who hope to get a new rom version with news inside it, other people who hope that it boots faster (works faster) or whatever their aim is.
But for business people who only want to use the device to keep their contacts, get in touch with people, receive notices and keep schedules it's just a waste.
I started complaining to the new service provider and hope that they're going to replace that device with something that works. No play toy or something. I changed from my old service provider to the new one only for this smartphone and now I regret it. They already informed me that they are going to take it back and fine me what I have paid for it but this is not solving the problem. The problem is that I am stuck with a new contract and no phone to use or no suitable alternative to go. But taking it back without any complaints is just a sign that they might have received plenty of complaints from others.
Anyways that's so far all I have to say. I was new here before I bought the HTC Prophet and I really hope that my little review could help the one or other in making his decisions. Before you blindly jump in buying this HTC Prophet be sure that you go and inform yourself on all kind of forums and news sites. The HTC Prophet is a nice machine - no doubt - but it's useless in a couple of areas and one of them is phoning and getting notices (speaker). This is a big no go for me.
greetings,
Spatzm
I really like my Prophet.
Yes the rear speaker is a problem but it's the only problem. Just wait till it stops working completely. There is a workaround for this. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=281331
Also, yes it was a bit slow but a helpful chap called Ikarus produced an excellent overclock utility which has really helped. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=270751
I will upgrade when the time comes though - maybe a Hermes or an Artemis.
I wrote quite a long post to explain in detail why I seem to disagree with you on almost every point you try to make. But I'd rather keep it short. (and I don't mean this in a nasty way, my experience is just totally different than your 'review')
Speaker: no problem at all for me. I mainly use it in loud areas. Also use it as alarm clock too and it's loud enough (believe me when I say I'm not a light sleeper). I do however use PocketZenPhone for my phone profiles (volume, call volume, ringtone stuff etc etc) and SPB Time (alarm clock).
Upgrading: Have a look on what forum you are here. Most people come here because they seem interested in upgrading the thing with a rom. For possible free extra's. Who doesn't want to have free extra's? (hell, why do people upgrade their computer, their software, their bios? Because it's all crap? I don't think so at all).
There are loads of phones on this forum, from your perspective they are all crap because people are trying to upgrade them? And yes, upgrading is difficult at times and if you do it wrong, you brick your device. Can't blame HTC for those people pusing the upgrade button...
But all with all, I'm sorry to see you are so dissapointed in your Prophet phone. Perhaps the thing just isn't your thing. And it doesn't meet up to your expectations.
For me the thing lived up all too good to my expectations and even more than that.
For me it's loud enough (maybe with the help of some programs I don't care) it's fast enough and even though I have been 100% happy with it all along I even upgraded it with a newer ROM.
I use it for phoning/smsing, calendar/appointments, adresses, car-navigation, games, watching movies, wireless internet etc. etc. and that all works flawlesly for me...
TheBrit said:
I really like my Prophet.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=281331
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=270751
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Thanks for providing these links. I'm a technican myself and am used to many pocketpc's and pda's back in the years. I also did development for those devices so I am skilled enough to know what to do.
But the primary point of mine is differently. My workday looks like this. Starting morning at 7:00 and come back at home around 20:30. A lot of traveling from A to B. Basicly a fulltime job. Now you might imagine that business people don't want to play around with their PDA.
They simply don't have time to do so. They expect that the device they bought "simply works". The terminoloy "simply works" means. You turn it on and you start working with it. There is no time and also no intentions to mess around with the hardware. Like opening it and fix what HTC had failed to solve on their own.
I am also aware of the overclocking utilities that exists but this can't be the point either. But as I said it's probably the last problem that I care for now.
I think that HTC miserabely failed with their products due to bad engineering and bad QS. I only hope that some of their engineers are reading this forum so they can think about the stuff they build.
Re My advise don't go for it - you'll regret it.
RaptorRVL said:
I wrote quite a long post to explain in detail why I seem to disagree with you on almost every point you try to make. But I'd rather keep it short. (and I don't mean this in a nasty way, my experience is just totally different than your 'review')
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Hello RaptorRVL, thanks for your reply. I really appreciate your feedback and I would like to raise a few further points to explain the situation.
First of all, not everyone is a technican. Most people don't know about Registry, they don't know about OmapClock, they also don't know howto flash ROM, they also don't know what AKU is.
They simply want to use the thing they paid money for. I have the feeling that you see everything as the expert kind of person that fully controls his device in all areas like knowing every DLL, knowing every Registry entry, knowing the hardware and much more. But you shouldn't forget those who bought a small device and who wants to use it. We are simply too busy with work rather than having all the time digging in all places to seek for answers where HTC has failed.
Speaker: no problem at all for me. I mainly use it in loud areas.
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But the speaker seems to be a problem by many other people. You only need to fire up Google and search for "HTC Prophet loud" or similar keywords. You can hear a lot of complaints about silent speakers, broken speakers, silent microphone or earphone, broken headphone jacks etc. You can even use search on the whole forum here and find similar complaints by others. I must admit that this is something I initially wasn't aware about but I wished someone would have told me before I was going for it.
And that's why I am here writing my second message on this forum to inform those new readers here who use this forum as a starting point to read about the pros and cons about the HTC Prophet.
Upgrading: Have a look on what forum you are here. Most people come here because they seem interested in upgrading the thing with a rom. For possible free extra's. Who doesn't want to have free extra's? (hell, why do people upgrade their computer, their software, their bios? Because it's all crap? I don't think so at all).
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Yes I am in the forum for general Prophet discussions. The one for Prophet upgrading is one further. This was also one of the first places that I came to before I bought my Prophet to inform myself about it from those who are already using it.
There are loads of phones on this forum, from your perspective they are all crap because people are trying to upgrade them? And yes, upgrading is difficult at times and if you do it wrong, you brick your device. Can't blame HTC for those people pusing the upgrade button...
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No! I was only refering to my HTC Prophet here which I had the chance to compare in real life scenarios on that trade show (noisy area), within the motel (as alarm clock), with the colleagues HTC Magician and with another colleagues HTC (dunno what it was called, it has a knob in the middle and looks more like a real phone).
I don't know whether other devices have similar issues but I think that HTC needs to get in here and do something. You only need to google for all the problems it have. There are plenty of forums existing outside and the more people buy one of these devices the more "similar" problem reports you receive.
If one person complains then this is probably a one time issue but if plenty of people start complaining about the same issues then there's something where HTC needs to fix.
You are right that you can not blame HTC for a bricked Prophet, but you can't blame the users either since they expect that a new updated ROM might solve the one or other problem they noticed.
But all with all, I'm sorry to see you are so dissapointed in your Prophet phone. Perhaps the thing just isn't your thing. And it doesn't meet up to your expectations.
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And here lays the problem. I can not know whether this device dissapoints me or not without having tried it out first. I didn't knew about all the hardware related issues. I also didn't put any weight into other peoples complaints for silent speakers and realize now that I better did pay attentions to it since it really is a huge problem.
Look I and probably others didn't buy it for playing or toying around with it (Random today screen tweaking, overclocking and rom flashing) we bought it for our serious daily needs. As sort of companion that helps doing our daily tasks, keeping schedules and do the thing it has to do. Inform us where our brain leaves us alone since we can not remember everything. Of course the OS side of it does the job but the hardware side is failing here due to weak components used.
I didn't read every word of every post, but I don't think you state which version of the Prophet you have. That said I have the Jamin with their latest ROM. I have no reason to play with other ROMs. Reliability is important for my usage.
To be honest I DON'T have the majority of the issues you seem to have. Specifically the front speaker is so loud that I have to set the volume to 50% to prevent hurting my hearing on normal phone calls. With respect to the rear speaker the volume is more that sufficient to use as an alarm clock.
The major issue that I have is the CPU performance in stock form is only just adequate. But remember static high clock rates translate into low battery endurance. I'm using Battery Status to perform automatic clock rate scaling and battery life is good or better than stock, while CPU performance is very good.
From reading I'm of the opinion that not all Prophets are created equal, but might be made so by flashing an alternative ROM.
Spatzm said:
Greetings,
I am from germany and new on this forum, though I keep peeking in here for quite some time now and today is the time, where I believe I should post my very own impressions about the HTC Prophet.
[snip]
greetings,
Spatzm
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but I don't think you state which version of the Prophet you have. That said I have the Jamin with their latest ROM. I have no reason to play with other ROMs. Reliability is important for my usage.
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Normally I would write something like "The user don't know anything about Prophet versions - he/she only uses it". But I have an XDA NEO - G4 and this one doesn't have a front speaker (only a really silent ear speaker).
To be honest I DON'T have the majority of the issues you seem to have.
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I have only one issue with it and not "majority" (which implies dozens of issues). The only issue I have is the weak components used for speaker, ear speaker and microphone.
From reading I'm of the opinion that not all Prophets are created equal, but might be made so by flashing an alternative ROM.
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Yes I have the impression myself now. But that shouldn't be the problem of the end users or customers. That's the big problem of HTC for implementing some sort of quality assurance.
I also doubt that flashing an alternative ROM (there is no official alternative ROM that guarantee fully functionality (but more on this later on) that will solve a hardware issue. Flashing a new ROM don't change the position of the speaker from the back side to the front side.
I also think you should start reading my replies more carefully to understand that not everyone has the time or the geek factor to flash "or want to flash" his Prophet to use it.
By front speaker I mean the speaker that used when the phone is on your ear.
I would comment that the Prophet is a platform and Jamin, XDA Neo, etc are products. In fact the user shouldn't even know or be concerned with the underlying platform. He should buy based upon the end user product's features and performance. Note that HTC doesn't necessary have to manufacture each product to identical specifications. And I say this from a OEM's perspective.
With regard to flashing various firmware and debugging a product one purchased, I only can agree with your position. My only point is that what issues you have doesn't necessary apply to all versions of the Prophet.
Dopod released a patch to increase volume. If your product doesn't have this fix (e.g. running the most current firmware) then I would be thinking about getting my money back or Ebay it if that is not possible.
Spatzm said:
Normally I would write something like "The user don't know anything about Prophet versions - he/she only uses it". But I have an XDA NEO - G4 and this one doesn't have a front speaker (only a really silent ear speaker).
I also think you should start reading my replies more carefully to understand that not everyone has the time or the geek factor to flash "or want to flash" his Prophet to use it.
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Silent but loud, slow but fast ?!
I share all comments claiming weakness of Prophet speakers and slowness of its processor and i'd read too much about these before buying one.
Anyways, many claims about the OMAP come from users who did not overclock. At 286mhz the baby is fast enough for me and no serious standby time shortening.
Coming to the speakers, using the oldphone ring, i find it loud enough. Of course there's always individual tastes and feelings. Mines are not so negative.
Finally, don't forget to set sound level to maximum for alarms and disable program sounds. This prevents boring sounds when you use menus.
slow or fast its in your hands only
well in my eyes , i had took the S200 (qtek) or whtever name he have, as base for smartphone app. for security usage. like you i had to choose between the stability , quality and speed. the hardware base had all i need, battery and SD, wifi and BT, and all very steady. yes speed stunt me slow at begining, but with the help of jesterz and one of his coocked Roms, i got it fatser, and for the final battery status gave me real overclock of 247-260 which is more than i need. when i load it with streamin video (mpg-2) no it dose not gag nor crash nor hang. thats more than i had with HP/ASUS/ etc pda on the same level. have more trust in your littel device. remember rule 1.
garbadge in-garbadge out. set it correctly and you'll have only fun.
Not loud enough to wake up?
Although the sound quality is not the best I found my old JAMin loud and strong as an alarm, especially with the LB sound file. In fact I am using the same file on my new SE P990i. I sold the JAMin as a trade-in and bought a P990i a month ago and although I am very happy with the new phone as it improves in all areas where I found the Prophet not so good (built-in support for A2DP, camera, sound quality and so on), sometimes I miss my old phone. What I don't miss though is the SCREEN ALIGNMENT PROBLEM. I am amazed how well the touch screen on the P990i works and how it even lacks an Align Screen function.
abubasim said:
Although the sound quality is not the best I found my old JAMin loud and strong as an alarm, especially with the LB sound file.
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I don't know what a LB sound file is. May you post it please ?
What I don't miss though is the SCREEN ALIGNMENT PROBLEM.
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I never had a Screen Alignment problem with my HTC Prophet but I keep reading about these issues on plenty of other news sites and forums.
So to sum it up these are the most known hardware related problems that come along with the HTC Prophet.
* Backside speaker useless and totally misplaced if the phone is placed on the table.
* Ear speaker quite silent, if you are in a noisy area or street then you need to plug a finger in the other ear to hear the other participant clearly.
* Microphone quite silent, the other part is permanently asking to repeat what's said.
* Headphone plug is causing problems when unpluging there's no sound sometimes (not confirmed by me but found on various places).
* Backside speaker is dying at times (not confirmed by me but found on various places).
* Backside speaker is applied at the backside.
* Misalignment of the touchscreen (not confirmed by me but found on various places).
* Battery life ends with 28% and needs recharging (I have the same problem. The device needs to be recharged).
These are the common problems, that I came along so far. Windows Mobile itself is operating normally so far, but the hardware is causing problems. Every company with name by now would have started a call back to replace the faulty systems. My next device will be from an manufacturer with name, who has skills in doing proper devices - no no-name branding.
* Backside speaker useless and totally misplaced if the phone is placed on the table.
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Not much of a problem for me.
* Ear speaker quite silent, if you are in a noisy area or street then you need to plug a finger in the other ear to hear the other participant clearly.
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Not a problem for me.
* Microphone quite silent, the other part is permanently asking to repeat what's said.
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Not a problem for me.
* Headphone plug is causing problems when unpluging there's no sound sometimes (not confirmed by me but found on various places).
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NOt a problem for me.
* Backside speaker is dying at times (not confirmed by me but found on various places).
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Yes this has happened to me twice not. First time it went for a repair - second time I used a workaround - see my first post in this thread. Has anyone had this on a G4 - maybe it's fixed in that version.
* Backside speaker is applied at the backside.
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Same as first issue on this list.
* Misalignment of the touchscreen (not confirmed by me but found on various places).
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Not been a problem for me.
* Battery life ends with 28% and needs recharging (I have the same problem. The device needs to be recharged).
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Not been a problem for me.
I'm sure some people have problems with the phone, which is in fact not really surprising because it's a stuffed up little machine with lots of sensitive electronics in it (made as cheap as possible to position it in the market for a certain price obviously).
But I must say that when looking at forums and people with problems there, you might not get a good idea of what's really going on with a device.
Forums are usually filled with questions and complaints instead of people searching for the forums to say "Hey! My device is working just properly! cheerios!".
It would be much more interesting to know how many devices have been sold and what % of those had faults/problems. Mind you, the prophet is sold world-wide and is a very popular device, which would increase the number of people with complaints on a forum considerably.
I wouldn't exactly call HTC a no-name manufacturer too. It's just that they are not well known because they have always made their hardware for other companies who put on their own brand and name on the device. Yet still it is a HTC product.
I haven't had a single problem with my device and know a lot of people who don't have problems with the thing too. I know someone who works in a store selling them and he says they don't see loads of the devices coming back with the complaints/problems you write.
For example, I have none of the problems you list up there. If the phones would have been so bad, don't you think I should at least have one of the problems here? Or do you think I'm the exception of having a error free phone and faulty devices are the standard?
So perhaps a somewhat more subtle approach on the subject might not hurt. I could be reading you the wrong way, but it almost seems like because of your dissapointment of your device you are on a small crusade stating the prophet is a very bad device. A device that only works for geeks with too much time on their hands changing roms, editting the registry and repairing the device themselves.
Which is, ofcourse, not the case at all.
TheBrit said:
Not much of a problem for me.
Not a problem for me.
Not a problem for me.
NOt a problem for me.
Same as first issue on this list.
Not been a problem for me.
Not been a problem for me.
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Yes, but it has been a problem for many others. It's as simple as that. If there are a few geeks really happy with it then be it that way. This thing simply isn't the right device for serious people who simply want to do their work. It's that simple.
LB.wav
Spatzm said:
I don't know what a LB sound file is. May you post it please ?
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If you the open the Clock settings and choose the Alarms tab then you can choose the sound file to be played by tapping the bell icon. LB is one of the provided sound files. In case it's missing on your phone then here it is.
Spatzm said:
Yes, but it has been a problem for many others. It's as simple as that. If there are a few geeks really happy with it then be it that way. This thing simply isn't the right device for serious people who simply want to do their work. It's that simple.
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What is quite funny is the fact that you just called everyone who likes their device (or do not agree with you) a geek and apperantly not a serious person.
Like I said in my other post, it might not be a bad idea to take a somewhat more subtle approach to the whole subject, instead of just reading the forums fast and sum up the first 8 problems you come across and state them as facts.
RaptorRVL said:
What is quite funny is the fact that you just called everyone who likes their device (or do not agree with you) a geek and apperantly not a serious person.
Like I said in my other post, it might not be a bad idea to take a somewhat more subtle approach to the whole subject, instead of just reading the forums fast and sum up the first 8 problems you come across and state them as facts.
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Hello,
This wasn't meant as insult or offense. I was just quite fed up with the device when I replied. The thing is that everyone has a right to like his / her device.
For my personal impression this thing is more a geeks toy rather than something for people like me who are deep into all kind of works and need a serious companion.
One that doesn't need tweaking, fixing or worrying. Something that simply works and does its tasks. I depend on connections with other people, it's my work, my business. I can not offend people by telling them to repeat themselves 20 times just because my cell is failing.
No problems with that but we also need to keep an eye on those people who have serious issues with it and the list is getting longer.
You said (or wrote) that people do not agree with me but I already received replies within this thread from people who confirmed parts of the issues raised.
I think it's just fair to light both sides of the medal. It's not fair to only hype this device and ignore or speak all issues it has to death.
So, just because YOUR Prophet is fine, doesn't mean that other peoples Prophet is as well. You are just the lucky one or your service provider bought working branches rather than getting the monday devices.
I don't ask for much and simply hope that some people from HTC are spending some time reading the contents of this forum and get uphold of these issues.
Thailand and probably most other asian countries are known to not supply the same quality standards that europe requires or that we are used too.
Just my opinion and I believe that I speak many people out of their heart here.
Spatzm said:
So, just because YOUR Prophet is fine, doesn't mean that other peoples Prophet is as well. You are just the lucky one or your service provider bought working branches rather than getting the monday devices.
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Well, we can turn this around and talk about how your device is the bad one and how that doesn't mean all the others suck too. I just don't think this is very productive. You don't like it, but others like it.
I for one am very happy with my Prophet, and guess what: I am from Germany too and I also got my phone from o2. I never had to change ROMs or overclock the processor. The only "geek" thing I've done is to abort the installation of the extended ROM.
My device is working just fine and I've never had any problems. No broken speaker, battery working fine, no screen alignment problems. It's fast, it's smooth, it's loud.
And oh yeah (and I really don't mean this in a smartass way), if I'm in a loud environment and can't hear the phone, the vibration massaging my leg lets me know someone is calling. Not a solution for the earpiece problem but at least for the incoming SMS and organizer alarms.
Well, to sum it up: you're not happy, others are. Simple as that. I don't know if it's very smart to keep discussing this.
RaptorRVL said:
What is quite funny is the fact that you just called everyone who likes their device (or do not agree with you) a geek and apperantly not a serious person.
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So...I'm a Geek!
I'm also a serious user. I use the Diary, Contacts, phone, TomTom etc etc. Bubble-Breaker when on the t.....never mind. Syncing the Diary and Contacts with both my home PC and my work PC a great bonus - so simple and so very useful.
Okay, I'm seriously looking into getting a HD2 next month, however some of the negatives about this device concern me.
For one the speed doesn't always seem to be up to scratch compared to other Snapdragon devices (though it sports the same processor). Is it really that much of an issue? Is the HD2 still fast enough for most/all tasks? Also I've seen keyboard lag mentioned a fair bit too, a small issue, or not?
The next issue would be the pink hue I've seen on just about every sample image from the HD2, I know this is an ongoing thing and no one seems to have narrowed it down to either a software or hardware fault. Is it really that bad? Also I've seen very little shots from the HD2 that look even decent quality.
Thirdly is Windows Mobile, now I am aware of a lot of people that prefer Windows Mobile to Android, but again is it really that much of a deal breaker? I see a lot of people saying the HD2 hardware with an Android would be a match made in heaven, and that concerns me as I do not want to be left disappointed.
Basically I would like some views from both sides and someone to confirm whether this truly is the best phone I could buy, or whether I should look elsewhere, taking the above issues into account.
Thanks.
Hey,
I hope to get my HD2 next week but I have had some play time with a Demo unit and it was super fast and very smooth, think Iphone but much better. To quote comic book guy “Best phone ever” well in my opinion anyway.
I would always pick WM over Android, you can do so much more with WM.
There does seem to be a small but vocal group who are hell bent on making the HD2 out to be a bad phone or in some way crippled by HTC.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=583618
Hmm, have one now for over a week:
1. Speed - really fast and better than iphone, especially when you take into account the multiple applications at once.
2. Keyboard lag - super fast, could actually do with a slow down !
3. Pink hue - no idea about that, my screen is really excellent
4. WM vs Android - no comment, WM has been around for longer
Obviously I wasn't clear with the pink hue, I was meaning a pink hue in photo's taken with the HD2's Camera.
But thanks for the reassurance guys, keep 'em coming.
Oh, I see what "pink hue" is from your view now.
Well, HTC have never really been able to make super a quality camera function. But, the HD2 camera is OK and quick. I have not noticed a pink hue but I also would not claim to be an image expert. Nice thing on the HD2 (compared to the HD) is finally a LED flash.
But, I doubt anyone buys this as a top quality camera and, of course, no one buys an iphone as a camera either !
I'll have a play with some flash images - it would not surprise me if the LED is screwing up the colour balance.
Thanks for that Dave. I'm still very much undecided, to be honest I was 100% for getting the HD2 till I read some of the problems on the forum here. Now I'm not so sure.
The problem with reading problems on a forum is that for the most part, that's what most people come on a forum to do. Nowhere for even the most amazing device will you find more "wow" posts than "omg it sucks" posts. The majority are from people who didn't research their purchase properly. Even for what is supposed to be a developer-centric site, there is an enormous number of ignorant and unintelligent people.
It's a fantastic device, and the performance is so far ahead of my previous WM devices it's not funny. The pink middle on photos is a problem that seems to be affecting a few units (not mine), but it'll either be fixed by a ROM update or else according to HTC you can return for a replacement.
WM vs. Android is a completely personal choice. You might as well ask us what colour shoes you should wear. What do YOU prefer?
I read many post before buying the HD2, most probably I was in the same state of mind you are.
Having done a huge mistake with the SEX1, I risked my money on another WM. Have to say I'm more than pleased with this beast.
It's fast, very fast, had a ton of applications which were sucking out a lot of memory and not in one instance had I experienced lag. It was only when I went in Task manager that I realised how many applications were running. Apparently, the applications will only close when the required memory exceeds the available memory, I stand to be corrected.
Reception is excellent, far better than my SEX1.
Sound quality is impressive, again far better than the SEX1. My system volume is set at 55% and when playing music on the speaker the sound quality is very good and quite loud. Apparently when the phone senses that it's in a case it automatically increases the volume, you defo won't be having problems there.
Battery life is an issue, but it could well give you a day, for me it's not a decisive issue as the phone is connected to the pc every evening.
Camera could have been better, but then again its a phone, and hence all phones, be it 5,9,12 megapixel, will never be excellent photo takers.
Overall, I think that this phone deserves 8/10. It could well be improved with some ROM updates but the GUI, Manilla, is excellent. I love it!!
I have just recently ditched my Google G1. Whilst I enjoyed Android, I think that the Sense GUI on the HD2 is a lot better. The screen is just miles, miles better.
I was worried about the text input side of things - I have always preferred hard keyboards hence the G1. But having got used to the soft keypad of the HD2 I think it is fab.
Overall (and so far!) I would give the HD 2 a rather fantastic 9/10....LOVE IT!
Thanks for all the positive feedback guys. I guess I still really need to think this through, but I think your input will make the decision easier.
Hello
I've used HTC for years since opening my eyes past the Nokia and Sony Ericsson stuff so had the Vario 2 and 3 and then loved the touch hd (blackstone). Finally went for an Android with the release of the Hero as it got such rave reviews and phone of the year etc...
Basically it depends what your priorities are to be honest. My overview of the phones are these:
HERO = Great user friendly device with simple layout, all makes sense and is easy to use and does everything well although nothing is outstanding. Great allround phone for the medium - high end user. Apps are unbeatable for ideas, functionality, price (or lack of as hundreds possibly thousands are free!) and generally GOOD phone. Fun, functional and well priced. Camera is naff!
HD2 = Not so user friendly although it makes sense to the experienced user but very serious piece of kit. Not as fun but very customisable and powerful, superb speed, good amount of cabs out there and assistance from some of the geniuses knocking around on this site etc. They can help you do pretty much anything you want to it. I personally love this phone more than any other phone i've ever used but i like the windows thing even though the marketplace is a con and expensive and very empty still (i know it's newish but they shouldve at least launched with a decent selection ready for people as incentive!). The screen is outstanding, the camera is much better now that HTC have discovered that Flashes exist! Still not on a par with Samsung or Sonys but its a balance in a product so priorities again. The Sense and Touchflo is great, future rom potentials is there too.
If you want a gimmicky (although good) app based fun phone get the Hero, if you want a serious power-smartphone get the HD2 and customise away.
HTC are such a great non mainstream company (in Joe Publics eyes not us gadget lovers) but i feel with phones like the Hero they really are gonna be a main player in less than 3 years as long as they keep their superb efforts up!!!
Good luck!
Well this thread has been very useful to read I'm trying to decide between iphone 3GS or HTC touch HD2. Would love to find a phone that doesn't lag ...
Do people still feel the same way 3 months later - have HTC come out and fixed any problems? Does the HD2 start to lag after its been in use for a while - or is it still really smooth for people?
Sorry if there are other threads that answer these questions ... links to any similar discussions would be good if that's the case.
After 3 weeks, I decided that it is over, it was not the device I waited for. The HD2 disappointed me badly. I will not talk to much about the tragedy, but some of the reasons are below:
1- Voice quality pretty bad and distorted, nothing even close to a 300$ handset.
2- SMS are sent when they want, the HTC SMS application lags too much with a few dozens of SMSes.
3- Device is very fast after a Hard Reset but once you start flooding it with applications it slows down significantly.
4- Screen was perfect, until today. I suddenly noticed the screen behaving in a weird way and not responding as expected and less sensitive. Opened notepad and made some tests: It's jittering... why? NO IDEA...
5- The top right side display glass is not totally flush with the side plastic,it's like 0.5mm deeper than the bottom and that worries me.
6-Not worth mentioning it but it's the famous camera problem. Not a major cause but it's making me nervous knowing how much HTC is taking time fixing a what so called software problem.
7- Battery life. Seriously, it's really bad. 8 hours video playback in their dream. with 40mins video playback, the battery drops 15+%
HD2 keeps amazing me day after day with the number of issues I must deal with and who knows what's next. Maybe some of you don't have all of the bugs I mentioned but some other have even more.
For a 900$ unit, that is the price of 2 high-end handset, the HD2 is not worth it. This phone is for sure not a business phone.
Buy Nokia 6700 phone and foget about smartphone and specially about Windows.
If you wish stable - buy simple phone from Nokia. If you wish nice view and great interface - buy Apple. I bough Leo only for fun. And Im happy.
You can see everything to this guy..but he is right about the poor call quality. I had the same on 3 different HTC HD2 units.. cracking and popping!
Nice to see you are able to buy something that suites your needs
Strange...
I have NONE of the problems you listed above.
Except for the camera bug, but that one exists on other phones as well and is not noticeable on most pictures - the camera is still better than most other smartphones.
OK, here's my take:
1- Call quality is really good. Loud and clear, no stuttering whatsoever. Not the best voice quality ever but better than most other smartphones.
2- SMS: I didn't have a problem with SMS, but it seems like some people do. Hovever, disabling HTC Messaging is really easy and the problem is solved. That's really nothing to complain about.
3- Device is ALWAYS fast. Yesterday I saw that I had TomTom running in the background for several days and I didn't even notice it, because the device NEVER slows down, no matter how much stuff you have running and for how long. Other devices, even my iPhone 3G, needed soft resets a lot more often because they became slow.
4- Must be a hardware fault. Things like this can happen, no matter how expensive the phone is.
5- Can't confirm this either. I've NEVER seen such a high build quality on any phone. Any other phone feels like a cheap toy in comparison to the HD2.
6- See above. All HD2' have this, but other phones have it as well and the HD2's camera is still much better than a lot of other smartphone cameras, and it's really among the best cameras you can find in a smartphone.
7- Battery life is not great, but sufficient. Sure, the Touch HD had great battery life and the HD2 can't come close - but still the HD2's battery life is average for a smartphone.
Sure, the HD2 is not perfect, but no other phone is perfect either. The HD2 is certainly THE smartphone that comes closest to being perfect. There is no better one.
And by the way: Don't you think it's a bit stupid to open threads like this?
What makes you think that people care about whether you sell your device or not? There's clearly something wrong with you if you need to post threads like this!
Well, there are alway people that like phones and people that don't like phones.
I like my HD2 very much. It has just two issues from your list. Nr. 6 and Nr. 7.
Ok, Nr. 3 is a "half issue".
The device slows down when too many applications run simultaneously, but not when I install too many. There might be around 20 additional apps on my HD2 and it runs like after a hard-reset. When I launch 5-9 Apps, the device slows down, but that shouldn't be a surprise.
The bottom-line for me is, that the HD2 is almost perfect for me. My List of issues is:
- The photo-issue (we all know what is meant)
- Battery life could be better, even with 1.48 instead of 1.43
- The keyboard reacts on the slightest touch, which is not very comfortable for me while typing. (maybe there is a fix available, if so I didn't find it by now)
- The camera-lens stands out a little from the rest of the device-backside. If they decide that it is necessary, they should have softened the borders more. Maybe with rubber or plastic.
For me there is no showstopper-bug in the device. I hope that one or two issues are resolved by softwareupdates in the future. All over all, I'm quite satisfied with the HD2 and I think the price is OK.
Big mistake. I am on my second HD2 on the o2 1.43 ROM, and now have no issues what-so-ever (touch wood). The first one crashed when using headphones and I couldnt hear the person on the other end when I initiated the call.
Now that I have a fully functioning machine, it is great! You will regret selling it.
DennisMoore said:
The keyboard reacts on the slightest touch, which is not very comfortable for me while typing. (maybe there is a fix available, if so I didn't find it by now).
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There are several fixes for that, I use this one and it makes it a bit easier to type.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=5071018&postcount=430
No device is perfect. The question is: How close to perfect can you get?
What people don't realize, is, that no matter how expensive a phone is, it will never be perfect. And no matter how expensive it is, hardware faults can always happen.
Assuming the 7 issues above exist, how about other phones? I'm sure I could list AT LEAST twice as many issues for ANY other phone - Droid, Satio, iPhone... it doesn't matter, they all have problems and the all have A LOT more problems or limitations that restrain them from being perfect.
You won't get a perfect device, no matter how much you pay - but the HD2 is, in my opinion, by all means the closest you can get to perfect.
If small issues like that SMS bug are already enough to make you sell your device - good luck finding another one, I'm sure you won't because every other phone has much more serious issues!
The problem is that we are too demanding.
I don't have any of those issues: only once I had a SMS that wasn't sent. Rebooted the device and voila... SMS sent.
The voice quality it's very loud, it's always in the minimum, and clear.
Battery, there are not much devices that can perform better. My ancient Raphael had lower life battery, doing the same things.
And the 0.5mm "problem"?!
Just out of curiosity, which phone you consider to be best than the HD2?
Everybody is entitled to their own opinion and to start their own thread. At least he took the time to tell us why he sold his device and whether we agree or disagree with his reasons is not important. Most of us like this device, with all of its shortcomings, and are willing to spend time in optimizing it, others cannot live with that and sell it. Both parties should be respected and treated that way.
maati said:
No device is perfect. The question is: How close to perfect can you get?
What people don't realize, is, that no matter how expensive a phone is, it will never be perfect. And no matter how expensive it is, hardware faults can always happen.
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Im a member since 2004 and have been with xda and htc since 2003, flashed almost every htc device and work I even for Nokia and never carried a Nokia phone so you need too much time to understand what I mean
XDA BlueAngel, HTC TouchPro2, HTC HD are very good devices.
Search in the Leo forum about the number of faulty, returned, swapped etc. devices and it has not been out for more than 1 month. The rate is a complete failure.
Go read the polls. 27/110 find the earpiece a total worthless crap wherease 27/110 find it good. The other are somehow neutral.. That is 50% of the people ARE NOT happy with it.
Screen jittering: 60% have no problem whatsoever but 40% DO have. If that is good as results, you need to take some math courses.
I do not want a perfect phone, it's just that I am not ready to pay that much for such a buggy high fault rate phone.
maati said:
MOD EDIT - Removed post due to it being pointless
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Listen, this thread is not to annoy anyone. Go read how many threads are like : Do you like the lea? how good is the leo? do you think i should by a leo, leo vs bla bla , is it worth buying the leo.. etc...
Everybody knows that people at HTC read the forum. And when I open a thread complaining, I address my parol to HTC not for smartass people like you. Spar me your advices and comments.
maati said:
No matter how you put it: Threads like this are stupid. They don't help anyone. I respect people who are not satisfied with their device for whatever reason, but I do NOT respect people who need to annoy others by opening stupid threads like this.
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unfortunately I disagree with you on this one. Maybe he just wants to share with this community why he thinks that the HD2 is not a good device and future buyers may do with that whatever they want.
At least he is honest.
maati said:
If you want to complain to HTC, write a message to them.
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Trust me, they are already flooded with tons of e-mails full of complaints
The he should post this in one of the threads already available!
"Use the search before opening a new thread!" also applies to posts like his.
Xeon said:
maati said:
No matter how you put it: Threads like this are stupid. They don't help anyone. I respect people who are not satisfied with their device for whatever reason, but I do NOT respect people who need to annoy others by opening stupid threads like this.
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Click to collapse
Did you just call me stupid ? because Im not gonna go that low and answer back...
What your mind doesnt realize because it's limited somehow
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If you say you won't call him stupid, because you won't go that low...then also don't say his mind is limited, its basically the same...
So please stop all this arguing, and saying how bad the HD2 is. I'm not gonna say how good or how bad it is, cause there are always people who think different.
Hi Xeon,
Sounds like you were just unlucky.
I have NONE of the problems you have described except for the camera issue. The fix for the camera is already being tested (according to the Vodafone UK device team) so it should be with us shortly.
This device has totally exceeded my expectations... it is truly epic.
I have been using winmo for many many years (probably about 15 years in total) starting off with PDA's then consolidating my mobile devices into winmo pda phones. Ive been there, seen it and done it ALL with windows mobile.
The HTC HD2 is BY FAR the best device i have ever had the pleasure to work with.
By request I've opened this thread again and cleaned a few posts. If it continues in a flaming manner if will be closed permanently
Going to close this thread now because this is becoming uncivil
Then why is it open again?
So please stop all this arguing, and saying how bad the HD2 is. I'm not gonna say how good or how bad it is, cause there are always people who think different.
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Click to collapse
That's the point. Are those thousands of happy users all opening threads to tell everyone how much they like their HD2's? NO.
So why do those few who don't like it think that they must tell everyone?! There's clearly something wrong with people opening threads like this.
Threads like this don't help anyone. If you think they do, then it would be necessary that everyone who likes the device opens a thread as well.
And in general, we don't open threads for things that have been discussed before. This applies to questions and to complaints as well.
Hi all,
Well, I'm a bit confused here and slightly disappointed.
After all the hype surrounding the Leo pre-release, I was well up for it when my mobes was due for a contract renewal, but reading the forums and speaking to people such as Vodascum it seems all it not as good as I had hoped. There seem to be loads of people plagued with problems and issues which doesn't seem like a good thing at all.
The phone seems to have an awesome hardware package and an extremely good HTC skin over the WM6.5 base, but is it worth the hassles that people seem to be experiencing? Will WM7 solve everything and make it a true iphone killer?
What are your thoughts? Have you been struck with issues? Is it worth getting in the hope WM7 will make it better? My Diamond is ace, but it's getting old and needs replacement. I previously REALLY wanted a Leo, but I'm not so sure now - help meeee!
Cheers ta.
I love mine, Had the pink spot issue but that was solved with a patch. I have played around with various CookedROMS but have reverted to 1.61 as it seems stable.
Personally, I don't regret all the hassle I went through getting hold of it. and wouldn't hesitate recommending it!
TA
There's more people on this forum that are happy with their HD2 than there are ones that are unhappy with it.
I think you've only seen the 1 sided argument that is unfortunately getting shouted about.
Some people are having a few minor issues, and a smaller number of people are having some major issues, but there's a very large number of people that are having no issues, or very slight ones that they simply don't care about.
For example, the pink hue on photos is so barely noticable on my phone that it really doesn't matter (unless I take a picture of a piece of white paper and then reduce the image size by 80%). Also, I can type like a madman on it, barely making a mistake, but others say it's the worst keyboard in the world (or that it's "KILLING THEM"!!)
The only real way for you to find out is to get one. Most service providers give you 14 days to return something you don't want, and it's a legal requirement to provide at least 7 days, so just get one and have a play. Decide for yourself. No-one can tell you whether you'll like it or not.
I think johncmolyneux pretty much sums it up. I have had/have some problems(Slow loading SMS is the main one) BUT im still a very happy chap. I would only advise you not to get this phone if you don't want to spend time tweaking it. Without installing a few extra apps and making some tweaks here and there i wouldn't be anywhere near as happy. For me thats the main reason i got it. I wanted something i could really play with and customise as opposed to other more locked down devices.
jp_iles said:
Hi all,
...There seem to be loads of people plagued with problems and issues which doesn't seem like a good thing at all....
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Click to collapse
I'm not sure I'd say there are "loads of people" who are "plagued with problems". Rather, there seems to be a tiny but vocal minority of people here on this forum who do nothing but complain about issues that the majority of people haven't experienced.
The HD2 is an excellent phone and I'd happily recommend it to anyone.
+1
Myself and a few of the Mods on 4WM have HD2's and they are very good indeed. There are a few users who fiddle with settings, install dodgy tweaks then complain when things go wrong.
Give it a try- hopefully you won't be disappointed
I've not had any problems with mine and I'm very pleased with it indeed. Still running the stock 1.43 ROM with all the hotfixes applied. Go for it. I'm sure you won't regret it.
jp_iles said:
.... I previously REALLY wanted a Leo, but I'm not so sure now - help meeee!
Cheers ta.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
I truly understand your dilemma. Read the threads below then go find yourself a device and play with it.
The key to your decision is this; if you are happy and able to find the time to tweak your device as necessary then you will end up enjoying it. If you don't have the time or are easily frustrated or prefer the simplicity offered by other packages such as Nolia and iphone then DON't buy this phone.
DO NOT buy this phone without playing with one in the metal first.
Hope this helps.
WB
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=595166
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=575604
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=583638
I'm also running the 1.43 stock rom.
I never had any issues with the sms not being sent.
The pink dot is fixed by the patch.
No other bugs for me, this is truly one of the best investments I've done.
People having problems with their phones probably would write here and even start new threads, but as long as the phone is working well there's no reason to write or for that matter, start a new thread just to say "my phone owns". Which is probably why you've got the impression of many people having trouble with their HD2's.
As I said, many people have had the sms-sending issue, which I've never experienced.
The ONLY real bug I have is the slow loading of the SMS's, which I hope will be solved. It does not kill me however.
Funny story, yesterday me and my friend (who has an iPhone) tried skype over our mobiles, as we both have use the GPRS for free but have different operators we finally found a way to call eachother for free.
We first tried skype over WiFi and it worked great. He then turned to the 3G and tried to call me, while Skype told him that this function is not available. So on the iPhone 3G-calling did not work (I don't know if there is a workaround for this or not, it doesn't matter, it's not standard and if you want to make it work you'd have to tweak it which makes the iPhone no better than WinMo).
I then tried the 3G and it worked perfectly.
I really can't see what all this WinMo bashing is about. I've played around with the iPhone and it is so boring, I could never imagine trading my HD2 for the iPhone.
Of 120 who have responded to a poll on the HD2 on this site, 3 had opted to return it, 4 hated it and were stuck with it (I'd bet at least one of those has since recanted), 12 were ambivalent and 89 either liked or loved the device. The balance of nine related to the plans of non-owners of the device, of whom six were keen to get one and three weren't.
You can find the poll and the results here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=592375
jakem is correct in regard to the noisy minority, but then that is only really to be expected - if you have problems you are likely to complain. NeilM may be even closer to the truth in terms of ill-advised 'tweaking'.
There was a surge of slightly suspicious negative postings by very new members that led to speculation around a smear campaign - you pays your money and you takes your choice on that one.
Personally, you would have to prise mine out of my cold, dead hand...
The phone is great - had a Nokia N95 so not familiar with tweaks so ran the HD2 stock 1.43 ROM and it has been fine, fine, fine. Due to useful sites like this, I have got a few of the tweaks on and set the phone up how I like it. Was thinking of an iPhone last year but would not touch one now as it would be rubbish in comparison!
Would recommend you get one, read the manual and take your time before loading lots of apps, etc on it!!
jp_iles, if you loved your Diamond you will certainly love the Leo. I had a Diamond and thought it was awesome, granted battery life was terrible, GPS was inaccurate, camera was rubbish but this didn't stop it being the best phone I've ever owned until now . The Leo does have some problems and can be twitchy but IMO this just adds to it's charm, I'm sure the guys/girls here at XDA will do the same as they did for my Diamond and keep releasing/patching/tweaking stuff which will just evolve the Leo into something even better than it is now.
I had my hd2 for a week. It never ran more than 5 minutes at one time. It is gone in for repair. I will miss it. I will not replace it. Having been an early adopter for more than a decade, I know there is always a price t pay one way or another. My computers, laptops, micro pc, pocket pcs and cell phones have all taken a back seat to this device. Hope this helps you in your decision.
i love my hd2, wouldnt trade it for all the iphones in cupertino.
I absolutely LOVE this phone!
I still have my Touch Pro knocking about and I was using today to do some bits and pieces, it's utterly pants in comparison!! The size of the screen is useless, the resistive screen is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO unresponsive compared to the capacitive on the HD2 (having said that, the ability to accurately "write" using a stylus or your nail is definitely missed).
The speed of the HD2 is just spot on (though I wouldn't turn down "more" speed!). The GPS lock-on time is infinitely better than any other phone/external GPS receiver I have ever used. I don't know what more to say, it's amazing!
I. LOVE. THIS. PHONE.
It is a nice phone, well in my opinion , the
1. build quality seems solid but do not drop this beautiful piece of hardware
2. vibration feedback motor resonates a little but not annoying
3. earpiece and handsfree(back) speaker have irritating resonating sound
4. wired headset produces this irritating resonance as well
5. phone calls made with earpiece or back speaker are too loud
6. phone calls and music do have good quality on both BT carkit and BT stereo headset thus use these when possible
7. when having a call it is still possible to "press" wrong buttons with ears or even when in pocket
8. reliable software
9. nice camera but whitebalance corrects white to be pink
10. gps reception is excellent
well that's about it.
I really would like 3, 4 and 5 corrected.
Thanks for the swift responses peeps, lots of useful thoughts.
I'm still really miffed that Vodascum aren't offering it any more to non-business customers, although I'm sure I got my Diamond when they were only offering it to business customers. Meh - I shall try the "I'm leaving you" trick to get a nice deal out of them. If that doesn't work, I'm off to O2 - we have internal transmitters at work so thats a bonus.
Thanks again.
JP
I'm not sure I'd say there are "loads of people" who are "plagued with problems". Rather, there seems to be a tiny but vocal minority of people here on this forum who do nothing but complain about issues that the majority of people haven't experienced.
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Exactly. That sums it up perfectly.
Look at this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=592375
75% are happy with the device. Another 10% are ambivalent. That is a better result than the iPhone reached in recent satisfaction surveys - despite that HTC has no reality distortion field like Apple.
Hi
I come from Diamond, then HD and now HD2. The HD2 is the best of all those because it is really very fast and excellent big display. Some thoughts:
1- HD camera is probably a little bit better than HD2 one. HD2 has the flash and this is good, but pictures seem more focused and crispy on HD
2- USB connector is a microUSB, not the worldwide miniUSB. I bought a couple of adaptors on ebay to allow reuse of all my cables at home, work and car
3- Stop the tentation to throw it away after the first hours of usage because you cannot select on the screen list boxes and check boxes! HD2 does not have stylus and it requires a little bit of experience (couple of days) to hit in the right place the small icons or list boxes
But in any case I would never come back to HD.
Regards
Stefano
stefanospizzica said:
2- USB connector is a microUSB, not the worldwide miniUSB. I bought a couple of adaptors on ebay to allow reuse of all my cables at home, work and car
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A few times I heard it was an advantage. Still don't understand why.
Caveats. I love my nexus one, and have never owned any form of Apple product.
I am more or less trying to see what other people's opinions are regarding the evolution of cellphones.
In my opinion these are more or less the large evolutions.
Skipping the Bag phone, and Night at the roxx bury model
1) Nokia - Who didn't have that wonderful brick!
2) Razr - Never had one, but certainly made size crucial -
3) Blackberry - They discovered there was money in smart phones.
4) Iphone - Will stay unbiased, they certainly moved the smartphone concept.
Where would I put the nexus one? I would say it's the pinnacle of #4. Personally, i think we are stuck in #4 for awhile, and much like computer's dont need to be upgraded as say 5 years ago, phones may be there as well(for now).
I highly doubt the next Iphone makes any huge leaps. The front camera may evolutionize phone sex, but that's about it.
How do we get to #5? In my opinion, this will be stuck on the borrrrrring battery technology. What does everyone else see?
Nexus One is 4.5. It shares many features of the iPhone and adds on top iof it with the concept of developer freedom, which I beleive is crucial for moving smartphone software forward.
Just to clarify. I definitely think the Nexus one is a massive improvement, and 4.5 is certainly accurate. You could be right in that we may never see a 5 by my metrics. Or not a clean jump at least. Continual small improvement could be the ongoing future.
Eitherway, I feel good that I wont be itching to "upgrade" this time next year(which says alot for the Nexus One)
Much as the MP3 player is being obsolesced by cell phones, I think "phones" in the traditional sense will eventually be obsolesced by the all-around computer that smartphones are becoming.
but its still called a smartphone lol
I don't think the Nexus One itself is that great of an evolution, it's just another Android phone.
I'd say the platform itself is much more important.
I love my Nexus One, it's far and away the most advanced phone I've ever owned, however it's not without faults, and ultimately it's just a high end Android handset, just like the Motorola Droid/Milestone.
As for the next "big" step/evolution, I don't know if there will be anything "big" per say. As has been touched on in this thread, smartphones as we know them are metamorphosing into mobile computers, so I don't really see the scope for anything more than incremental increases in processing power and operating systems.
video calls will be a big step... however the networks will have to mature before something as data intenisve as that steps up to the plate
another thing i think would be interesting as far as the future goes is developing a phone that truely functions as a portable computer where i can ditch my desktop (granted not my gaming pc) but hook the phone up to a dock of some sort which will give me access to a monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, ect... the phone sort of goes into "pc mode" and functions as a regular computer
Video calls will be a big step?
Video calling was big advertised years ago.
And now, almost nobody really uses it.
K69 said:
Video calls will be a big step?
Video calling was big advertised years ago.
And now, almost nobody really uses it.
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when? i dont remember anything...
my thing is phones dont have a camera on the side that the screen is on... therefore its really not possible... not to mention its incredibly data intensive side so i really doubt what you are talking about is true... I would love to be able to video chat on my phone in a quality manner
sadly though, batteries are going to hinder mobile progress, li-ion batteries are nice but lets face it, its not very hard to run your nexus dry in about 5 hours if you wanted to... battery technology itself is getting old and some other source of power really needs to emerge to really stir the mobile market up
JHaste said:
when? i dont remember anything...
my thing is phones dont have a camera on the side that the screen is on... therefore its really not possible... not to mention its incredibly data intensive side so i really doubt what you are talking about is true... I would love to be able to video chat on my phone in a quality manner
sadly though, batteries are going to hinder mobile progress, li-ion batteries are nice but lets face it, its not very hard to run your nexus dry in about 5 hours if you wanted to... battery technology itself is getting old and some other source of power really needs to emerge to really stir the mobile market up
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Look at many phones in Asia, they've had video calling for years now. The US is just far behind when it comes to certain technologies. Japan has had international 3G video calling since August 2005 (3G was invented in Japan). And has been running a 3G network since late 2001.
Video calling is way old.
As for the battery issue, nuclear batteries are the answer: http://www.boingboing.net/2009/10/07/tiny-nuclear-battery.html
Video calls are not going to b next. We had those since 2004 in europe and nobody really uses them. They are expensive and a good old phone call gets the job done anyway. I concur with batteries and increemental steps in OSs and computing power, allghough nuclear batteries are still far to come. (Too bad, i had my proton pack almost ready...). This said the N1 is probably the best phone i had ever. Nothing it cannot do. Nothing I have to think"it's just a phone" for. I just love it
SPAS79 said:
Video calls are not going to b next. We had those since 2004 in europe and nobody really uses them. They are expensive and a good old phone call gets the job done anyway. I concur with batteries and increemental steps in OSs and computing power, allghough nuclear batteries are still far to come. (Too bad, i had my proton pack almost ready...). This said the N1 is probably the best phone i had ever. Nothing it cannot do. Nothing I have to think"it's just a phone" for. I just love it
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I can't see video calls on mobile phones becoming practical. The whole point of making phones calls on a mobile phone is because its MOBILE! For a video call, you have to be looking at the screen. This presents a few issues: First off, walking down the street while talking and looking at the screen is not a good idea for obvious reasons. Second, both the earpiece and microphone will be far away from you, forcing you to use either the speaker and yell into the phone, destroying any concept of privacy, or wearing a headset every time you want to talk on the phone. Having a wired headset will be a bit uncomfortable becasue the phone will be in your hand at a good length from your face, leaving the most ideal option to be a bluetooth headset.
There is also the problem of battery life. Talking on the phone AND streaming a video feed will no doubt put a lot of strain on the battery, especially if the video stream must be high quality and play back smoothly. In addition, bluetooth may be used for your wireless headset. Current batteries in smartphones will be able to pull this off for ~3 hours MAX, not including battery drain while on standby, and not taking into account how good your signal is (the lower the signal the more drain on the battery).
Austria was one of the first countries where video calling was available (may 2003).
Many phones with front cams where sold and in the first months you even could video call for free.
Now almost seven years later nobody talks about it.