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I am the proud owner of a HTC touch HD phone, and a very happy owner too. I got it just before Christmas, and it is currently running on Duttys rom, 2.6. All in all my best phone so far.
As many, I have always looked upon the iPhone as one of the absolute best phones ever made, in my opinion it more or less revolutionized how we look upon a phone’s capabilities. However, since I have never had an iPhone, I found it hard to argument for or against it. Therefore I have bought one (used), which will arrive by mail within the next few days. When I get it, I will use it for a month and keep posting here how it goes and how it performs compared to the touch HD. Why do I do this? Because I’m curious, and because I want to see what all the hype is about, and most of all, i hate the fact that everyone is *****ing about which product is the best, but only a few has actually had and used the two phones for a longer period of time.
So far I bought the phone (iPhone 3g), and I am waiting for it to arrive. I must say the wait is long I have downloaded iTunes, so all I’m waiting for right now, is the phone itself.
Besides the normal things you do with a phone (calling, sms), I daily use my touch HD for web browsing, email correspondence and video and music. All of which performs perfectly (thank you coreplayer ). So this is what I plan to use the iPhone for, since touch HD is a windows mobile phone, I rely upon activesync to take care of my outlook contacts and calendar notes, we’ll see how well iTunes does this.
I also like the fact that it is so easy to get what you want with windows mobile, mostly through you guys here at xda.
When the phone arrives I’ll post my first experiences.
Update: 15-4-2009
It'll arrive tomorrow. Thanks for all the replys
Update 17-4-2009
First impressions
So i’ve used the phone for all in all 5-6 hours so far, so I can only tell you about my first impressions. I had some problems getting my music from my pc to the phone, it turned out that you have to enable music synchronization in itunes, in order to get anything transferred to the phone. First thing I did was to transfer my music through explorer (drag and drop), more or less the exact same way as with touch hd, this isn’t allowed, so I had to go through itunes, convert all my music, find out how to get it from itunes to the phone, before I could listen to music. In all in all much more difficult than I had believed, but now I know how it works, so hopefully this won’t be an issue in the future. I can see the problem for those who has many more songs than I had on my laptop, it’s takes a long time to convert to the itunes format, so this would be a major drawback. Why can’t I just put my mp3’s directly on the phone?
This being said, I really like the flow on the phone, the framerate compared to touch hd, is better, giving a better feel. However, I’ve been a bit annoyed by the sensitivity of the screen; it probably takes some getting used to.
Finally, when I used the phone this morning in my way to work, I had some issues with the 3G connection. My touch hd has no problems what so ever when I am using to surf and check mails and so on, the iphone used 3G for 3 minutes, and then I found myself browsing using edge, which is in my opinion is not an option. This is something that will be an annoyance if it keeps up (I’m hoping it was a onetime only).
As for the browsing itself, iphone surpasses the touch hd. Opera is simply to slow compared to safari, but if I can’t get a proper connection, there really is no choice.
One thing that really impressed though was the app store. All though you have to put in your credit card information in order to create an account, it is really easy to browse through all the apps, find what you like and install it. And there really are many different and funny apps, which all in all lifts the overall user value.
I’ll return in next week with more views. Thanks for all the responses
04-05-2009
The first many days.
Hey, sorry for the delay. Been busy at work, but finally found some time to write some more. I have had and used the phone for quite some time by now, it performs as expected. All though I begin to see the small bugs, which most people forget to mention when recommending the iphone. I read somewhere that the iPhone simply “just works”. That is not entirely true, yes I have never had a smartphone that performs as well as the iPhone, it has the least amounts of crashes and so on. However, to say that it simply works, is wrong. When I browse the web, safari hangs on every load, so you have to wait for the entire page to load until you start navigating. Furthermore the video player used in safari has a tendency to hang a lot when you are viewing a longer video, and especially if wifi is turned on. But still, the browser is the best mobile browser so far. Opera hangs/stalls/dies a lot too, and of the two browsers, I prefer safari. There’s still a long way to go until web browsing on the mobile is perfect.
The phone itself has rebooted three times, one time in a game and the two other times it just stalled and went black. Odd… Again if I compare to touch hd, it is more or less the same. My touch hd also died a lot of times, and the one thing that annoyed me most on a windows mobile device, is the fact that the memory isn’t flushed correctly. To many times you have to do a hard reboot, in order to get the memory cleared and to get good performance again.
I mentioned the connection problems earlier, or the lack of connection… Well it hasn’t improved, when you are traveling, the phone looses connection so many times it’s a major problem. Sometimes safari stops working when the connection is lost. Damn, that annoys me… So why don’t you just use wifi? Because with wifi turned on, the battery is used up in no time at all. This brings me to the next issue: The battery. I have to charge the phone one time every day, even with wifi turned off. “Then you use the phone a lot” you might say, and the answer would be: “yes I do, but that’s what the iphone is all about…”. If you don’t use the iphone for all the things that are so nice on the phone, why use it at all. I listen to music, surf the web, check emails, and play games on it daily. And this results in a charge a day. So all in all, the battery performance is poor. Furthermore if you are playing a game, and receive a phonecall, the game is shut down, without save, stupid…
This brings me to the app store, this is the one thing that makes me praise the iPhone. Yes we have the same on windows mobile, but not so approachable and comprehensive. Installing a game or a program could be much much easier on winmo. There is only one big flaw in the app store, if you are connected through 3G, there is a max on 10 mb per download. So if you find a game that’s larger than 10 mb, you have to wait to download it. Why??? 10 mb on 3g shouldn’t be a problem… By the way, you gotta love the facebook app… All though you can’t connect a contact to its facebook profile, it’s still a nice app
The GPS is not entirely accurate, but still usable. I won’t say that much about the gps since I don’t use it allot. And google maps is more or less the same as on touch hd.
The last thing: I saw many movies on touch HD. I have ripped many of my dvd’s and converted them to divx. On touch hd you just transfer the movie to the phone and you can see it. On iphone I have to convert it to some stupid format in order to see it. I hate having movies in so many different formats, and hate to rely upon itunes.
I’ll write a new post in the near future, and as for the guy who commented on my description on to much sensitivity: Sorry, but that’s just my experience of the phone
Samoht2003 said:
I am the proud owner of a HTC touch HD phone, and a very happy owner too. I got it just before Christmas, and it is currently running on Duttys rom, 2.6. All in all my best phone so far.
As many, I have always looked upon the iPhone as one of the absolute best phones ever made, in my opinion it more or less revolutionized how we look upon a phone’s capabilities. However, since I have never had an iPhone, I found it hard to argument for or against it. Therefore I have bought one (used), which will arrive by mail within the next few days. When I get it, I will use it for a month and keep posting here how it goes and how it performs compared to the touch HD. Why do I do this? Because I’m curious, and because I want to see what all the hype is about, and most of all, i hate the fact that everyone is *****ing about which product is the best, but only a few has actually had and used the two phones for a longer period of time.
So far I bought the phone (iPhone 3g), and I am waiting for it to arrive. I must say the wait is long I have downloaded iTunes, so all I’m waiting for right now, is the phone itself.
Besides the normal things you do with a phone (calling, sms), I daily use my touch HD for web browsing, email correspondence and video and music. All of which performs perfectly (thank you coreplayer ). So this is what I plan to use the iPhone for, since touch HD is a windows mobile phone, I rely upon activesync to take care of my outlook contacts and calendar notes, we’ll see how well iTunes does this.
I also like the fact that it is so easy to get what you want with windows mobile, mostly through you guys here at xda.
When the phone arrives I’ll post my first experiences.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looking forward to hear your experinces
Yep look forward to it!
Not sure it was revolutionary... the LG Prada was a full touch screen phone before the iPhone.. Apple just packaged it well... Steve jobs could box a turd and sell it. pretty much like Apples claim on the mouse! That was actually Xerox's baby!
Looking forward to your experience and an honest review / comparison between the 2!
I actually have both (HTC Touch HD and iPhone 3g), too
Yeah, waiting to see your comments...
We are talking about Apples & Oranges here!!! Arent we?
the real great things on the iphone are aps! they are realy cool, good looking, running smooth... but only one at a time with a verry bad cam and no mms... (yet )
if it had a better cam, MMS (soon) eand a real GPS (and GPS software) i would defintly forget my HD!
way to go pal, will be glad to read your reviews.
bouyaka said:
the real great things on the iphone are aps! they are realy cool, good looking, running smooth... but only one at a time with a verry bad cam and no mms... (yet )
if it had a better cam, MMS (soon) eand a real GPS (and GPS software) i would defintly forget my HD!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh my.
Jesus phone has a lot of shortcomings, but MMS? Who cares? It's the silliest thing since plastic toothpick. Why do you want to pay your operator for this surrogate email?
And do you really consider HD's camera usable?
daraj said:
We are talking about Apples & Oranges here!!! Arent we?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really.... I'll explain...
I've just sold my iPhone 3G and bought a HD. My reasons were...
1) I get bored and I had the iPhone since last July and fancied a change
2) I wanted expandable memory
3) I think the iPhone is looking dated now. Controversial I'm sure...
4) I now want stereo Bluetooth streaming for a new iO Play car kit I have had fitted
I used to change phones far too often and had 13 in a year once, but the iPhone is the longest serving handset I've had for a while. Despite not being bleeding edge when it comes to the specification, the way you interact with it, the simplicity, the fluidity and the Apple ecosystem all added up to make it a revolutionary phone. There is a reason why every new touch-screen phone is an iPhone killer.
The email client is superb, web browsing superb and media playback superb. And the text inputs auto-correction is very intelligent and doesn't just look out for spelling mistakes, but patterns in typing which it relates to possible words.
The App store is great, but getting full of rubbish making the genuinely useful stuff harder to find. Rumours are there will be a premier store soon. The O2 contracts are great, as the free data and free WiFi access are superbly implemented, switching between seamlessly. And once you've authenticated with the free WiFi once that's all you ever have to do. I could walk into a Starbucks, McDonalds, Costa, Hotel, Airport etc etc and it would connect to the WiFi before I even realised I was in a hotspot.
But it's not the Jesus phone everyone seems to think. And I hate, really, really hate the fan-boy love affair some people have with it... to the point I was embarrassed by it sometimes.
"No, I don't want to talk to you about your iPhone, stranger...."
The limitations in the iPhone are 75% software based, most of which will be corrected in version 3 of the software. Things like additional Bluetooth profiles, landscape text input in all apps, MMS, tethering etc will be welcome additions.
And that's one of the things that bothered me. These are simple things that really should be included as standard.
Things like the poor camera didn't bother me. I mean, Sony Ericsson have been putting rubbish cameras in phones they didn't market as imaging devices for years. If the camera is the main focus, there are much better options (like buying a camera).
The lack of expandable memory is a big deal for a multimedia phone though. I can understand the marketing / product reasons behind it, but even that seems to contradict the 'one device to do everything' approach Apple take with this.
Now to go back to my original point, Apples Vs Oranges, the HD and the iPhone aren't that different. Both have huge strengths, both have huge weaknesses, both have massive amounts in common. The thing that differs between them is down to the person buying it. What do you want from a phone....?
Out of the box usability and slickness? iPhone.
Endless tinkering, customisation and free reign of what you do with your phone? Touch HD
But both have the capability of matching the other in every single aspect. There is pretty much nothing that you can do with one that you can't with the other. Exactly the same can be said for Windows PC operating systems Vs Apple Mac OS X. Funnily enough, most of what I have said above can be applied in some way to that argument too.
So, the other downsides to the iPhone.... (some of this is entirely personal opinion).
Text input needs work in it's current form. The keys are just too small. This is made up by the excellent auto-correction, but it's still poor. And you can't add in new keyboards without jailbreaking, which brings me to..
Restrictive approach to third party applications. Apples closed-door approach has no benefits. I originally thought it would be good as it would ensure reliability and stability, but there are some terribly shaky applications in the App Store. I see no benefit in this for consumers and the only way around involves invalidating your warranty.
Hardware restrictions - No expandable memory, as above. Screen size Vs chassis size and screen resolution are falling behind the competition. Poor build quality is another factor that's not uncommon either.
If you are the kind of person who enjoys Windows Mobile, I predict you will get frustrated with the iPhones shortfalls and will be jailbreaking it within a day.
Robster83 said:
Not really.... I'll explain...
I've just sold my iPhone 3G and bought a HD. My reasons were...
1) I get bored and I had the iPhone since last July and fancied a change
2) I wanted expandable memory
3) I think the iPhone is looking dated now. Controversial I'm sure...
4) I now want stereo Bluetooth streaming for a new iO Play car kit I have had fitted
I used to change phones far too often and had 13 in a year once, but the iPhone is the longest serving handset I've had for a while. Despite not being bleeding edge when it comes to the specification, the way you interact with it, the simplicity, the fluidity and the Apple ecosystem all added up to make it a revolutionary phone. There is a reason why every new touch-screen phone is an iPhone killer.
The email client is superb, web browsing superb and media playback superb. And the text inputs auto-correction is very intelligent and doesn't just look out for spelling mistakes, but patterns in typing which it relates to possible words.
The App store is great, but getting full of rubbish making the genuinely useful stuff harder to find. Rumours are there will be a premier store soon. The O2 contracts are great, as the free data and free WiFi access are superbly implemented, switching between seamlessly. And once you've authenticated with the free WiFi once that's all you ever have to do. I could walk into a Starbucks, McDonalds, Costa, Hotel, Airport etc etc and it would connect to the WiFi before I even realised I was in a hotspot.
But it's not the Jesus phone everyone seems to think. And I hate, really, really hate the fan-boy love affair some people have with it... to the point I was embarrassed by it sometimes.
"No, I don't want to talk to you about your iPhone, stranger...."
The limitations in the iPhone are 75% software based, most of which will be corrected in version 3 of the software. Things like additional Bluetooth profiles, landscape text input in all apps, MMS, tethering etc will be welcome additions.
And that's one of the things that bothered me. These are simple things that really should be included as standard.
Things like the poor camera didn't bother me. I mean, Sony Ericsson have been putting rubbish cameras in phones they didn't market as imaging devices for years. If the camera is the main focus, there are much better options (like buying a camera).
The lack of expandable memory is a big deal for a multimedia phone though. I can understand the marketing / product reasons behind it, but even that seems to contradict the 'one device to do everything' approach Apple take with this.
Now to go back to my original point, Apples Vs Oranges, the HD and the iPhone aren't that different. Both have huge strengths, both have huge weaknesses, both have massive amounts in common. The thing that differs between them is down to the person buying it. What do you want from a phone....?
Out of the box usability and slickness? iPhone.
Endless tinkering, customisation and free reign of what you do with your phone? Touch HD
But both have the capability of matching the other in every single aspect. There is pretty much nothing that you can do with one that you can't with the other. Exactly the same can be said for Windows PC operating systems Vs Apple Mac OS X. Funnily enough, most of what I have said above can be applied in some way to that argument too.
So, the other downsides to the iPhone.... (some of this is entirely personal opinion).
Text input needs work in it's current form. The keys are just too small. This is made up by the excellent auto-correction, but it's still poor. And you can't add in new keyboards without jailbreaking, which brings me to..
Restrictive approach to third party applications. Apples closed-door approach has no benefits. I originally thought it would be good as it would ensure reliability and stability, but there are some terribly shaky applications in the App Store. I see no benefit in this for consumers and the only way around involves invalidating your warranty.
Hardware restrictions - No expandable memory, as above. Screen size Vs chassis size and screen resolution are falling behind the competition. Poor build quality is another factor that's not uncommon either.
If you are the kind of person who enjoys Windows Mobile, I predict you will get frustrated with the iPhones shortfalls and will be jailbreaking it within a day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I meant by that is the fact the HD is highly customizable to the bones, heck you can even run an Android OS on it. Iphone is a very closed OS with very little tweaks allowed by Apple ( Not talking about Jailbreaking) From the usability to the screen to the memory to the GPS vs A-GPS.. from the camera to almost everything in both phones are different. I consider the Iphone a weekend phone While the HD is a very business oriented phone that gets the job done and good.
Not sure If I can really say they are very similar. Just my 2 cents
daraj said:
What I meant by that is the fact the HD is highly customizable to the bones, heck you can even run an Android OS on it. Iphone is a very closed OS with very little tweaks allowed by Apple ( Not talking about Jailbreaking) From the usability to the screen to the memory to the GPS vs A-GPS.. from the camera to almost everything in both phones are different. I consider the Iphone a weekend phone While the HD is a very business oriented phone that gets the job done and good.
Not sure If I can really say they are very similar. Just my 2 cents
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's fair enough. But when you sit the two side-by-side and ask them to do the same task, there isn't much difference. If you think about what you do with your phone, I'd bet the HD does things in a very similar way to the iPhone. There are only so many ways to construct a text message, make a call or browse the internet on a touch screen mobile
The one big thing I didn't mention that you have just reminded me of, is the touch screen. The capacitive screen on the iPhone is much more responsive in use.
Robster83 said:
That's fair enough. But when you sit the two side-by-side and ask them to do the same task, there isn't much difference. If you think about what you do with your phone, I'd bet the HD does things in a very similar way to the iPhone. There are only so many ways to construct a text message, make a call or browse the internet on a touch screen mobile
The one big thing I didn't mention that you have just reminded me of, is the touch screen. The capacitive screen on the iPhone is much more responsive in use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup. WVGA on HD and VGA on Iphone ( Not sure if its even VGA)
pretty much it boils down to what you do with it. I have both devices. I use the HD and the iphone sits on the desk. I am an admin at my company and we are windows based the windows mobile device it the best phone for us. While I like the Iphone it is not praticle for me to use. I hav not found any thing that I do on the iphone that I gave not been able to find an app that works on the hd doing the same or better. I really like being able to change the rom on my phone and customise it. Can't really do that with the iphone. And I think the display on the HD is much better.
daraj said:
Yup. WVGA on HD and VGA on Iphone ( Not sure if its even VGA)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Capacitive Vs Resistive is a bigger aspect than the resolution which, I agree, the iPhone falls short of. It is HVGA (320x480).
You have to be crazy to think that the iphone hasnt changed the mobile industry. It is an amazingly capable, intuitive and beautiful device to boot compared to these piece of lard htc OS's (the stock ones).
I owned about 15 HTC/Winmo devices starting with the SPV c500 and culminating in the Diamond as soon as it came out and got an iphone 3g at around the same time. None of the roms could come close to the intrinsic slickness, speed and support for the iphone, I jailbroke it, and was blown away and it became my primary device. However the iphone is currently mediacentric and not a buisness/professional phone and I needed an OQO UMPC to carry around as well but it doesnt claim to be anything else in fairness.
I have been quite impressed by the cooked Win 6.5 roms and skyfire recently though, and I am going to buy the HTC Touch Pro2 when it comes out as I need to use programs like word with a built in keyboard and tv out facility and perhaps retire my UMPC/laptops. This forum is also a great feature in choosing a HTC phone for customisation.
And for people who say the iphone doesnt have microsd, poor camera etc... How many crippled HTC devices have we seen? The iphone has been in a class of its own untill recent catch up devices.
imperiallight said:
And for people who say the iphone doesnt have microsd, poor camera etc... How many crippled HTC devices have we seen? The iphone has been in a class of its own untill recent catch up devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Expandability is (in my opinion) essential for any electronic devices. I have an 8GB card in my HD now, and I plan on upgrading to a 32GB soon by simply inserting a memory card. iPhone...can't do that. You have to buy a new phone to do so. I also have a spare battery which I can swap out when I am on the road and can't charge my phone...like camping perhaps. Iphone...can't. I like to copy and paste text from one program to another (multitasking). iPhone...can't. The HD 5MP camera takes great pictures which can be geo tagged with great accuracy. iPhone (until v2.0 comes out)...can't. Sure, there are some HD's out there that are crippled or bricked. Why? Because people that have the mental capacity to appreciate a multitasking device/computer actually like to open the hood and tweak it. Sure, iPhone apps may seem to run smoother. But that's because of the lack of multitasking! My HD (or any other Windows Mobile device) runs processes and applications in the background so you can do more and be more productive.
Honestly, do a side by side comparison of the HD and the iPhone. And I am not talking software, I mean hardware. We can debate applications all day, but it's the hardware that defines the capabilities. If you want a list of HD hardware features then I will post them for you.
*double post*
DerrickD2,
You have misunderstood the thrust of my post, that the iphone was/is a trailblazing and revolutionary device in the mobile sector. It seems anywhere bar this 'nerdy spec-hugging' forum that its not too hard to accept. The Touch HD is a better device in my opinion too as like I already stated, other companies have played catch up. There is no need to tell me its hardware specs.
But to pick up on a few points:
* Upgradeable SD is important, it annoys me to only have 16gb but I can stream content off free iphone optimised filestores available, some providing 10gb a go. Not ideal but workable.
* Spare battery, well the iphones battery is pretty decent and lasts for many years. If you want to keep the battery charged you can do it on the fly by adding these 'double your battery' packs and their ilk/cases when you are running low and you dont even 'have to swap the battery':
http://us.kensington.com/html/15462.html
* You can cut and paste text in jailbroken phones within the app. You can mulitask too, to an extent on JB phones although I dont know if it's sytemwide cut and paste (prob. not)
* Megapixels aren't everything on a camera. Its about the lens too. The 2MP camera of the iphone image quality is known to be quite decent, better than most 3.2MP HTC offerings but I agree it should have a better camera.
* Like I said the iphone isn't productivity centred and its probably why they dont consider multitasking a crucial feature but from what I understand its processor is faster than any HTC phone. Jailbroken iphones can run background apps too but obviously native apps dont support this.
We can debate applications all day, but it's the hardware that defines the capabilities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is so contentious! Hardware can define the capabilites and software/OS/User experience can define the capabilties! It depends on what the consumer needs. Horses for course's!
I have waited faithfully for a long time for Android, but now I have fallen in love with Diamond2...
I am a student, and will mostly need the phone for entertainment purposes. For my use, (mostly internet, skype, taking the occational picture, watching .avi's, mp3, old school games like nes or scummvm), which one would you pick? It's important for me the the phone is fast and responsive, and that it can edit .doc files (word, openoffice, something like that). I also would love for it to have a file-organizer (something like norton commander would have been excellent), ability to run and install files from the phone directly, and the ability to download with it (torrents, etc) and if possible, stream online content. So basically a mini-computer. Which phone do you think is best for me? I do not care about calender, email (e.i outlook) integration, or anything that has to do with planing and\or actual work, in other words
Also:
Do you belive android will get ported to the diamond 2 in the forseeable future?
So to sum up, Should I just go for the Diamond 2 or wait a month or two for the Magic (thats the earliest it will be released here in norway)?
im not an expert at this (ive had no luck with my herald), but if you check around, there are diamond android ports.
most likely, they will be on the diamond2 if they r on the 1st one.
winmo - buisiness/planning/work
android - consumor, but can do buisiness and work
(i can say this because, like i said, i had a herald, and i have the dream)
ur choice buddy ;]
just want to add my opinion. I have had 4 WinMo phones in the past, currently have the Blackstone, which im trying to get rid of. Anyways, I am a "medical" student, who really doesn't use all the features that can be found on a WinMo phone. I have played with a friends G1 and was honestly amazed at how much it just "fit" with me. I know I will probably be bashed for saying this, but phones like the android (G1) and the Iphone are really what I am interested in now. They are simplistic to use, but still can outperform your normal plain old phones. For me, if the G2 Magic doesn't wow me when it hits the U.S. shores in a couple of weeks, than I will probably purchase an Unlocked Iphone. Now, you have to base your decision on what you will use the phone for, especially if you are a student. This is my opinion, but if you are really into business type stuff where you would need all the necessities of a PC than go with the Diamond. If you want a cool, visually appealing phone that isn't as powerful as the Diamond but still gets the job done! than go with the G2.
I agree with redrazr's post above, but I would also like to add that for me a big part of going Android was to be part of something huge, right from the start. I mean, the first Android phone (the G1) has been out less than eight months and Android is already this good? That's pretty damn amazing. WinMo fanboys won't like this, but give Android eight months more and it will blow WinMo out of the water in every single aspect.
And no, WinMo 6.5 (and not even WinMo 7) will not revolutionize WinMo since they're still based on the same old crappy, sluggish platform/core. My understanding is that WinMo 8 will be the first WinMo based on a completely new and/or revamped core, and won't be out until 2013 or so.
mannyb said:
I agree with redrazr's post above, but I would also like to add that for me a big part of going Android was to be part of something huge, right from the start. I mean, the first Android phone (the G1) has been out less than eight months and Android is already this good? That's pretty damn amazing. WinMo fanboys won't like this, but give Android eight months more and it will blow WinMo out of the water in every single aspect.
And no, WinMo 6.5 (and not even WinMo 7) will not revolutionize WinMo since they're still based on the same old crappy, sluggish platform/core. My understanding is that WinMo 8 will be the first WinMo based on a completely new and/or revamped core, and won't be out until 2013 or so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He he, I have a D2 and I will not flame you for supporting Android (but then I am not a microsoft fanboy at all, I am typing from ubuntu right now ).
The problem with the smartphones imho is that they still are differentiated using their OS, sometimes even from the carrier customization. Their are more carier network toy than than their are your own toy, while they should be judged on their design, hardware specs and support only imho. Like a PC, where you can install any OS and applications you want, and are even expected to do so.
Thanks to xda-devellopers, HTC phones are closer to what every smartphone should be: an handheld computer with a large array of network connectivity options on which the user (you, that have paid for a device that is now your own, damnit ) can install the OS of his choice.
All that to say that Android should be installable on the TD2, and likely will be installable quite soon. Which is only the absolute minimum to be expected for an open-source OS for which google took A LOT from the opensource community to develop. Android should be installable on any device that has compatible hardware to run it, no excuses (HTC is at fault here, it should halp xda-develloper in the porting effort if not offering multiboot himself from the start, especially as all it's top-of-the-line smartphones are so close to each other hardware-wise).
So once the playfield is levelled and Android is installable on the TD2 (as it is on the HD, even if it is work in progress), I think that the TD2 and Magic should be compared from hardware and design alone. That's why I have chosen the TD2 (I like its design more, and a higher resolution screen is a big plus for me, I read a lot on my smartphone). But for other people the Magic could be better (digital compass, larger battery, more physical inputs like the trackball and additional buttons are its advantages imho)
gkai said:
So once the playfield is levelled and Android is installable on the TD2 (as it is on the HD, even if it is work in progress), I think that the TD2 and Magic should be compared from hardware and design alone. That's why I have chosen the TD2 (I like its design more, and a higher resolution screen is a big plus for me, I read a lot on my smartphone). But for other people the Magic could be better (digital compass, larger battery, more physical inputs like the trackball and additional buttons are its advantages imho)
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Click to collapse
Could not agree more. I'd pick Android over WinMo any day of the week, but let's be honest; WinMo phones have the best hardware. The few Android phones on the market definitely can't hang in that aspect. The only thing I can't stand about WinMo hardware is the resistive touchscreen they're stuck with. WinMo does not support capacitive screens as far as I know.
im going with the magic
i dont really like the look of the diamond 2 and the magics screen is bigger..and plus its going to have a 5mp camera for the US version ..i miss android..i went from the G1 to the Touch HD to the iPhone...touch hd was the worst expierence..windows mobile was dreadful for me...iphone..i dont feel as free with it but the variety of apps is quiet appealing to me especially after you jailbreak it..and android..lacked alot in the beginning but it was awsome i just hated the fact that i have to open the damn keyboard for every little thing i needed to type and i didnt want to wait for cupcake..but magic here i come
So in the last 15 or so months I have had 8 PDA's... 6 of them were WinMo, & Honestly I love WinMo for its versatility & The touchFlo interface is freeking awesome.. But.. I am using a g1 now & The only phone I am looking at other than it is the MyTouch (magic) the day T-Mo releases it (if not sooner).. The android OS has shown me to be much much more intelligently designed & Has yet to have any major issues (I have only had to soft reset the phone 2 or 3 times in the last 2 months).. The App Store is also a huge factor as well.. With free apps that actually work & improve the value of the device.. My last phone before this was a Touch Diamond (unlocked GSM) & I loved it for that beautiful High Res screen & The fact that movies on it were Absolutely Amazing.. Not to mention the small form factor.. But on the other Hand using the Cinema App downloaded for free from the android app store My movie playback looks almost as good (ie 1080i vs 1080p ish) & on a bigger screen.. Also Much less herky jerky to start & stop...
I am super excited for the Magic to come out, but if I had my choice I Would have kept my Diamond & Used Android on it & Somehoe managed to make a MicroSDHC work on it.. That would be my absolute perfect phone.. The Diamond 2 on the other hand I Think only had 1 thing over the diamond & thats the MicroSDHC slot as the increased screen size isnt in my opinion enough to be worth the increased mass.. Its like an inbetween size from the original diamond & an HD & I Dont think thats a necessarry spot to fill..
My 1 And only complaint with the G1 is the bulk & The Magic will obviously resolve that & only a Pocket test will be able to tell if it feels as small & easy to cary/use as the Diamond was..
The port for the diamond 2 will never be complete and always behind the current release of Android.
While the Diamond 2 has a higher resolution screen than the Magic the Magic is capacitive and performs much better in direct sunlight. Android will never run as well on the Diamond 2 as the magic.
macsbac said:
The port for the diamond 2 will never be complete and always behind the current release of Android.
While the Diamond 2 has a higher resolution screen than the Magic the Magic is capacitive and performs much better in direct sunlight. Android will never run as well on the Diamond 2 as the magic.
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Click to collapse
Capacitive vs resistive is not so simple an issue: After testing the iTouch, I was all for capacitive, partly because it is more responsive to fingers, but even more because it offer a hard glass screen, much harder and durable than soft plastic resistive screen...
However, after testing the TD2 resistive screen, I must say that reactivity is almost as good as capacitive (not as good, but it is ok for me).
Durability could still be an issue, but the screen seems harder than my previous PDA, and with screen protection + flip case this is not an issue anymore.
BUT with resistive screen I have the possibility to use the stylus, which is very nice for accurate pointing (not relly needed for android, but very usefull for WM) and freehand drawing/ handwriting recognition. this may look like a gadget, but given the number of time I use my PDA as a notepad for quick drawing (abroad, when you do not speak the local language, a picture is worth a dozen words, and a thousand innacurate gesticulations ;-) ).
Capacitive do not allow the use of a stylus (except of the fat-and-soft tip variety, which I consider as completely useless, because it offer no real accuracy improvement), and, for me, this is a significant drawback. If a capacite technology evolve to allow for a pen-like stylus with pinpoint accuracy, then it would definitely burry resistive technology. Not before, especially for asian countries where the ability to draw characters is really useful.
For the direct sunlight, I agree: TD2 is not good under direct sunlight. Barely readable with high contrast large font text, but nothing more. Older PDA were better for this, and I believe you that Magic may be better too. I would be surprised if it was great, though, besides e-ink or passive LCD (reflective technologies), no screen has ever been great under direct sunlight ;-)
And for Android not running as well on the TD2 than on the Magic, yes, but the difference should be minimal: the hardware is almost the same, and Android is opensource, so the porting, once the bootloader/HARDSpl is done, should be quite straightforward...
I have owned winmo phones, played with an icrap, and now own a g1, and I will say I'd never ever go back. Android is always improving and will never stop improving. We have a few great developers that are always making this o.s. better. If you are looking for a phone for hardware, wait till one come out with Android. Otherwise get a magic. From what it seems like from your post, you'd be happier with android and the "wow" factor.
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.
hello
im looking to buy a new phone in about a month and im deciding between the nexus one and the iphone. i currently have a HTC Touch Diamond and i have suffered quite a bit with this phone and im doubting the quality of the products that htc makes. i have read all the reviews and the specs and im still finding it hard to choose so i want to find out from u guys here if it is actually the perfect phone or it comes with glitches, and the occasional freezing.
dragonoflight said:
hello
im looking to buy a new phone in about a month and im deciding between the nexus one and the iphone. i currently have a HTC Touch Diamond and i have suffered quite a bit with this phone and im doubting the quality of the products that htc makes. i have read all the reviews and the specs and im still finding it hard to choose so i want to find out from u guys here if it is actually the perfect phone or it comes with glitches, and the occasional freezing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you do want a phone with 3G glitches, faulty software and occasional freezes / reboots then be sure to buy the iPhone. Ask my wife about her wonderful iPhone
Seriously though, just about every modern phone has some flaws and requires a restart every now and again ... its progress
iPhone simple and capable with loads of apps and support, sort of a "Tomy - My First Phone"
Android edgy and capable with loads of apps but not as many as iphone (most companies will release to the iPhone first due to the huge base of customers who will buy).
If you are happy having a simple interface with no options of customisation and are happy never being able to do anything your own way or take shortcuts then the iPhone is for you.
If you are happy to do a bit of tinkering and customise your phone then the Android is for you.
Both are amazing phones and look good and are easy to use. Specs wise Nexus one wins hands down.
If you love google and use Gmail, contacts, etc. And if you dont like iTunes and stuff then Nexus One is definetly the way to go.
But if you like all the crazy apps thats out on the iphone seems quite good for that, however Nexus One has got some really good apps aswell! A lot of people say iPhone is still easier to use. But I would say nexus one is just as easy and highly customizable which is cool.
All comes down to personal preference...
iPhone is obviously more stable seeing as OS 4 is going to come out whereas Android is 2.1, iPhone has less bugs and stuff im guessing..But Nexus one should be no trouble as your everyday phone and internet device!
I always fund iPhone really boring, with out jailbreak there isn't much in it.
Lots of apps and what else? I never had able to figur it out . If you coming from windos mobile i think you should get Nexus. You would love it.
I've been using WM since 1997 (PPC).
I've got my Nexus One yeasterday its my first Android device, i like it.
as far i saw iphone is mostly problem free and i want a phone with causes a little problems a possible but i have been with xda for more than 1 year and have gotten into the habit of customising so a phone with a little change in interface would be nice. the quality of the apps u get in the iphone is extremely good, u always get a nice colour full, smooth and simple interface. i personaly dont know about android apps but my experience of windows mobile apps is that they are ****. they come with 1980 style buttons and some times they don't even fit on ur screen cos thy were build with the developers looking at a different phone and the apps are expensive. so you see i don't want to go through that again.
I'm not sure there is anything such as the perfect phone since everyone has some different interpretation of what that is. I just received my Nexus One yesterday and I'm switching from the iphone, although I have extensive experience with winmo, palm and symbian. A few observations:
Build Quality: this is the best built phone I've seen in a long time. It has the exceptionally solid feel of the iphone, but still gives you the removable battery feature and expandable storage. In addition, it just feels great in the hand, nicely rounded with great build materials. Just overall top notch build and feel.
Software: I spent yesterday evening looking at the applications on my iphone and trying to find comparable ones on Android. I was successful for about 90% of what I use. The applications may look a little different, but the functionality is essentially the same and I haven't had any issues so far. There are a couple that I couldn't yet replace like the kindle app, cnn and the NY times, but I expect they'll be there eventually. A few others like ewallet have equivalent products on android such as splashid.
Useability: The iphone is dead simply which is both a strength and a weakness. I've always found it to be a little too easy and the lack of customization was frustrating as well as the lack of multitasking. I've always found the multitasking issue rather humorous since so much of the tech industry used to point this out as a weakness in the palm os and now the iphone has the same weakness years later and it's not an issue for the writers...go figure. The N1 is not quite as simple as the iphone and you'll probably spend a little more time getting used to it and setup the way you want, but you'll end up with a phone that meets your personal needs as opposed to someone else's view of your needs.
Overall I'm finding it to be a top notch phone that I expect will only get better as the OS continues to evolve. Google seems to be on a pretty regular update cycle and it continues to evolve. As the os attracts more users the applications will continue to grow as well.
One final word. I wouldn't equate the winmo htc experience with what you'll have with an android htc device. Winmo definitely contributes to issues with some of the htc phones. This device is in a whole different league.
here is few questions if you guys could answer it would be really helpful
does it freeze or have problems when running multiple apps?
do the apps have nice interface and are thy smooth?
does it lag alot?
and i herd mutitouch is coming to the google phone does anyone know when?
does it freeze or have problems when running multiple apps? - Nope for me its been pretty smooth, no stuttering at all, Apps open very quickly.
do the apps have nice interface and are thy smooth? - yes most do, there are one or two that do not scale well to the larger screen, these will be fixed with updates, just waiting on the devs to resolve.
does it lag alot? - no lag for me what so ever.
and i herd mutitouch is coming to the google phone does anyone know when?
- no one knows, its been demo'd on the European version of the Nexus One. However you can have multitouch browsing using either a custom ROM (soon to be released) or the Dolphin Browser (free download from the market place).
I know exactly what you're going through with your WinMo and HTC. I had multiple problems with the two just barely working at all. Android is so different but so much easier to find things in. I've played with iPhones and yeah they're fun for a bit but I have a friend with one that has had it for a couple months and is already starting to get bored with it. He says he's jealous of my Android and how much more I can do with it. It always looks different each time he looks at it.
I can tell youre trying to compare the Nexus One to your diamond because Ive used that phone and know what youre talking about with the lag and freezing and theres simply no comparison between the N1 and diamond, if you do get it you will be simply amazed.
I own a nexus, g1, iPhone 2g, and a touch pro 2. I can easily say in terms of speed, battery life, and overall enjoyment, the nexus is easily king. The keyboard is on par with the iPhone as far as usibility, which I could never say about the g1's onscreen. You can still sync your iTunes library with the correct software, it's the best mobile web browsing experiance I've had to date.
Simply put, nexus one ftw!
i think il wait to see how the muti touch on the nexus one turns out. thanks for all ur help!!!
bigger screen, higher resolution, brighter, prettier, easier to unlock and root... none of this cat and mouse crap with apple and the dev team...
I'm sure there are other things to compare..
oh yeah!!! the N! has bluetooth stereo stream and the iphone doesnt...
but, apple is gonna announce a new iphone this feb... so... up to you if you want to wait or not.
The N1 has a 1 Ghz proc, vs iPhone's 600 Mhz,
an 800x480 screen vs iphone's 480x320 (There are as many pixels shoved in the short side of the N1's screen as there are on the entire tall side of the iphone's screen, it's been widely cited as the best looking screen right now, with bright whites and colors and blacks like velvet. It can play full 720p HD video in this resolution.),
512 mb RAM vs. the iPhone's 256 mb, though of course you probably don't need it on the iPhone as you can't even run more than one app at a time (clearly, the iPhone is not a computer)
However, the nexus one doesn't have as many apps. The apps it does have are incredible, though, and you can emulate SNES, download torrents, Remote-desktop to your PC from anywhere with 3G/wifi, run a wireless tether without much trouble. Generally, the kind of stuff Apple would never let you get away with. While Apple has some cooler games, their utilities simply don't stack up.
I know EAXCTLY what you're talking about in terms of HTC and WinMo. I just upgraded from the HTC Touch to the Nexus One. There simply is no comparison, Android is an entirely different animal than WinMo.
As for iPhone vs the N1, the N1 beats it by far in terms of raw specs. In terms of OS vs OS the difference is that with the iPhone you're forced to play in Apple's little sandbox. Highly regulated app store, no "real" customization to speak of. This has the benefit of being an extremely stable and polished OS but if you're used to making things "your own" like I am, it's just not fun.
This is the first Android phone I've had, been using it for almost a week now and I will never look back. I LOVE it. Some of the apps aren't quite as good as they are on the iPhone in no small part due to the nature of Android itself. Developers have to worry about supporting multiple phone specifications and networks. It's very comparable to the Mac vs PC argument. PCs require a bit more maintenance and attention while giving you TONS of options while Macs give you stability and TONS of polish with a bit more limited options.
*Edit*
You mentioned multi-touch, the phone fully supports it at the hardware level. The only "problem" is that it's not supported natively in Google's own apps (everyone assumes this has to do with some legal concern of Google's). Developers can use the API in their apps to fully take advantage of this support and many already do. I use the Dolphin Browser over the one that comes pre-loaded and the multi-touch in it is FANTASTIC. Best part is that unlike the iPhone it auto re-scales things for you to keep them readable.
I hoping to get multi touch as soon as N1 Euro out via custom roms.
Nexus could be superior all around if our apps would mature a bit more. Yes we're growing in apps, but they lack polish. You can look at many of our apps and go "Yeah thats clearly made by an engineer". They work great, but one reason the IPhone sells is because it is pure sexy in just about all forms.
The iPhone and the Nexus One are two different beasts, multi touch is something you dont use that often as you think when you are on the iPhone. When I had the iPhone(1st gen) multi touch was on, the kb, the browser, the photo viewer, and later on gimmicky apps that just came out.
I think of the iPhone more like a PS3 whereas android phones are more like a computer
iphone or android?
its how tech savy you are, ad how much you want to learn ot use something.
the iphone is simple. you hit a button, it responds instantely and it does exactly what it said it was going to do.
andriod is more advanced. alot more ways to customize it but it comes with a learning curve. this curve isnt as bad as the winmo one but it does exsist.
so it comes down to power vs simplicity. id go for power
Hello everybody!!
It's been a while since I have posted.
I decided to post a little story of me using the HTC HD Mini, and the conclusion and consequences thereafter.
During the almost 7 months I have used this phone daily; intensively, I experienced a great many things of which I made a report.
I decided to write this report because I want to help people who want an opinion.
And I will give it based on a user experience and of course some people are not going to agree with me and that's that.
And that’s ok! I didn’t take an hour of my time of thinking this through for the haters, but for the people who want an honest opinion on a product that we love.
I started with windows mobile 5 and after I bought the HTC Touch HD with Windows Mobile 6.0.x I wanted a phone that was faster, had better graphics and more user friendly apps. I wanted a phone I could have more fun with!
I chose the HTC HD Mini and in the end.. I still love it.
But not all is said with that opinion!
Now this was important to me because it made me change my mind about a lot of things regarding HTC AND Windows Mobile...
A view of the Mini…
The design of the mini was striking to me from the beginning, from its small, but workable size to its practical but esthetically pleasing exterior. And don’t forget the big yellow surprise on the inside!
It is cute and looks stabile at the same time. It has a big pocket factor and for someone of my posture its quite ergonomic. ( I am a small guy with small hands and fingers).
And so the mini found the mini
Interface
* I really liked the new sence interface, easy to use and more user friendly then touch flow 3D was.
* I liked the way windows mobile 6.5 is cloaked so to speak, in a way that it doesn't bother you, nor makes things unnecessarily complicated.
* The weather animation and wallpapers really made me smile the first time. I really loved that one
* HTC Peep made me use twitter for the first time and I really got the hang of it afterwards.
Media
* I was happy with the camera performance and liked the way I could take pictures and upload them if I desired to.
* The photo gallery was very nice to look at and easy to use.
* The video quality was good and I was satisfied. Although editing really would have made my day!
* The music player and the download option for various album covers made it fun to listen music, although I later decided not to use the function too much because I have a LOT of music…
I have experienced the fact that my mini became sluggish, in overall performance after I loaded up a few gigabytes of music.
That really bugged me because I had a more than capable memory card.
*The Facebook app and YouTube app were easy to use, though I would have liked the YouTube app to have more options regarding viewing profiles, comments, etc. My feeling was that it wasn't complete in a few aspects.
Performance
* One of the most positive things I have experienced was the good use of battery life. The Mini takes a good 2 days use with use of various media, 3g connectivity and viewing video's.
* With the connectivity I had some mixed feelings. Although I rarely lost a phone call due to signal loss I was not always happy with the results while tethering, and sharing internet connections. But the overall internet experiences were good and I rarely had problems with it.
Browsing and Web usage
- I was satisfied with opera. This is a stable browser and it is easy in use.
- The overall web experience was good but "mini". I have realized that I don't mind the mini size of the phone, but eventually prefer a little bigger screen for internet browsing. Though it wasn't really a big deal in practical, daily use.
- I rarely have had problems with sites loading the media, or slow loading of sites.
Overall I am satisfied with the web experience.
Customization
Here came the real deal breaker for me....
After I bought the mini I was under the impression that with the development of this phone, a window would be opened for the HVGA format and the windows marketplace. I believe this has failed. For me, in Holland there are really not that many apps available for the Mini. I missed that for a great deal!!
Updating the mini and customer support
What really got on my nerves (I think everybody's nerves) were some of the updates... I strongly believe that there is a lot to be said about FAILED support for this device.
The very badly worked out updates that is, HTC provided us with.
A lot of problems later, and very very crappy customer service, we still experience user interface problems that in most high end phones, are shortly dealt with.
I read XDA a lot and it surprised me to see still a lot of problems, which HTC SHOULD have fixed, modified or kept working on some problems hinting to things that could have been thought out better because they are really development issues.
Just to name a few...
- Problems with notifications sound as well as LED notifications.
- Problems with the phone not waking up when it should
- Problems with proximity sensors
- Problems with memory cards
And so on.
Personal conclusion:
I really do love this Mini! I love its exterior and I love its interior.
But.....
I don’t like the way it has been treated. It deserved better in a way.
I have the feeling this is the Cinderella story of an HTC ending line of windows mobile 6.5.x phones…
It closes a chapter, but leaves a lot of things open…
HTC made my regard for them fall, I was disappointed.
Windows Mobile 6.5.x is saying goodbye in a way, now that Windows Phone 7 is operational, but it doesn’t close with a bang. It closes very silently in my opinion.
In February, my contract expires and I can get a new phone.
And after several years… I am sorry to say, I’m saying goodbye to HTC and Windows Mobile. It wasn't the phone... it was it's broken potential in a way that made up my mind.
My interest now lies with the Iphone, it’s development and continuing evolution, it’s appeal to me has a great deal to do with the expandability, where Windows mobile 6.5.0 on the Mini ends, and Windows phone 7 constricts within it’s not even fully developed capability. I chose a different way.
My mini stays for the time being. But it will probably be my last HTC phone in a while.
I hope HTC improves it customer support, doesn’t make on-the-side-phones anymore, and develop their continuing support for their existing models.
And MOST of all not to make progress for the sake of progress or money.
Because in the end the money creates the product, but the consumer MAKES the product.
Note:
I just hope some people will find this report helpfull, and I hope it contributes to XDA's motto of finetuning the user experience, because that's what it's all about isn't it? Together we grow.
Take care guys!
Joey
O yeah i forgot to add, that I probably will try to make a review of every device I own. And in medio 2011 I believe, I will be posting things on youtube.
I think this review was very biased cos I have htc hd mini and I really don't like it. Sometimes, I feel that I made a mistake buying it. If you have a friend to buy one, I will sell mine for $100 less than the market price.
I wasn't trying to be biased really, If I didn't like it at all I would have said that out front.
And giving in the fact that I did expect more, it was more the fact that I wanted more options to do something with it than it being a crappy device.
Sorry can't help you there, with selling your phone.
Take care!
I basically agree.
I bought the mini because of its size and functionality of which i heard of from someone else ... not gonna do this kind of mistake anymore. When i bought it i was satisfied .... first month.
After this month full of euphory and for me new experience with hellabuggy HTC Sense, there was bitter awakening waiting for me. The system it uses (WM 6.5-ish) was announced to be droped right after i bought this device, but well, **** happens and there gonna be new system and new ROM i told myself. Oh dear i was wrong .... the device is obviously too slow to run the new OS.
Another cold shower came with the HVGA resolution. It took me a lot of effort to make apps iam used to working on this mini device, developed by some retard who thought HVGA on WiMo will rock. When i see the insane amount of apps for HVGA Android devices and the amount of apps for HVGA WinMo devices which i can count on fingers of one hand of a guy whos working in sawmill i understood theres something wrong with the mini.
The last drop was HTC failsupport (which i was used to to be honest) and the fact that if XDA wouldnt have existed, ill be totally lost ... hence the conclusion and advice for anyone who is even briefly playing with the idea of buying this phone ... DONT DO THAT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!
As for me, ill sell this "great phone" on e-bay and buy myself iPhone, which actually have support and gazzilion apps for lol prices in appstore. This way iam done with anything from HTC ... i had Touch Diamond and Trinity and i still have mini and EVO .. all i can say is HTC always lacked good support and this is not gonna change in the future anytime soon.
Well, ShammanCZ, I knew that before I bought my Mini. I knew about the HVGA and Windows Phone 7. But however I bought it. Because (with looking to the minimum specs of WP7) I concluded that a WP7-device with this dimensions won't ever come.
Second was the price, a WP7 device would be much more expensive (too because of the minimum specs).
And last but not least, I have had an iPod touch (which is actually the same as iPhone), and I didn't like it at all. Apple just limits you too much. I like the freedom you have with a WinMo device, and 'till now, I'm very satisfied of it!
Okay, HTC Support is very bad, but we can't help it. Thanks to XDA, where you can find lots of good devs and tweaks, this isn't a big deal to me.
in my opinion the biggest minus of hd mini is it's screen resolution (you can improve or eliminate the others minuses exept for the resolution ,and here i mean the fact that you can hardly find apps that fit this res) .
For me (and for the other buyers i guess) the plussez are:
-nice handy shape that fits well in every hand and every pocket
-light weight ,you dont get the heavy pocket sensation
-it has dedicated hardware phone button (answering,hanging) ,this was a thing i wanned when i was looking to buy a phone
-the signal is very good even in low signal area and better than other phones (i had an iphone 3g and the signal was much whorst than on mini)
-gps antenna is accurate and faster in finding the sattelites whithout network help,compared to other devices
-resistant case (i have it from more than 6 month now and it looks new even if i'm whering it in the pocket without protection shield except for the screen offcourse ,here i've mounted a shield)
-in conversation sound is loud and clear
THere would be some others but these are the first that came to my mind
Thank you all for your response to this all.
I agree with almost everything.
I found it interesting that there are so much differences in user experience .
As to this day I am counting off for the iphone 4.
Closed off as ios may be. It offers a more consumer friendly enviroment to my opinion. Than the stand alone feeling I get from HTC.
I had HTC universal and Raphael before , I bought HD mini just because of that dimension and that's perfect style.
but it's mean a toy for me after that two devices !
I cannot compare this one with that two ! but I think HD Mini is not such a bad thing that everyone says !
the worse thing of this device is HVGA resolution and you can find applications so hard for that resolution.
if it was VGA ! maybe we loved it ! but now.....
I agree HVGA has not been the top of game for me.
But then again.. battery life is great on my mini..
calls also.. and it remains a phone so that counts as well
Hi All.
I Think every one made a mistake by looking exterior sleek design. Even me, I bought this HD mini but not happy with this.
In the market thousands of free applications available but this phone doest support.
Even, I cannot install TCPMP player and lot of java based applications...
I dont know what to do. May be I will go for android phone.
shasman said:
Even, I cannot install TCPMP player and lot of java based applications...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not a HTC HD mini fault if you're not able to: it's only yours!!
Hmmz sleek design...
shasman said:
Hi All.
I Think every one made a mistake by looking exterior sleek design. Even me, I bought this HD mini but not happy with this.
In the market thousands of free applications available but this phone doest support.
Even, I cannot install TCPMP player and lot of java based applications...
I dont know what to do. May be I will go for android phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think he has a point... And I am wondering myself, how much this has played a part in me purchasing HTC HD Mini.
I think it did play a part. Because I think it's a great design. Perhaps Shasman is right and some people perhaps, did thought only of the sleek design and did not pay more attention to the specifics.
I myself loved the design, but knew about resolution. I just expected it to pick up. When there is a new Iphone... new games come out for that iphone.
And so I thought , would it have gone for HVGA.
So that's the big bummer for me.