My Nexus S Experience - Nexus S General

My Nexus S Experience - Nexus S General

I just returned my Nexus S a few days ago. I am going back to the Nexus One until a better HTC phone hits the market for T-Mobile. Hopefully, that happens in the summer time.
I thought the Nexus S was going to be a great phone. Especially since it has a better screen (and bigger), better CPU, better speaker, better Android version, NFC, and better call quality. Turns out that it's just a headache for me to use and I can't use some of the basic functions on it. For example, the Browser doesn't work. By doesn't work I mean that it's so laggy that it is completely unusable. It happens in mobile websites and desktop oriented websites. My Nexus One handled websites 100% better.
Secondly, this is the main reason of why I returned it. The GPS doesn't work. I use GPS functionality for a lot of things on my phone with a lot of apps. There's a problem when this doesn't work. Maps, Navigation (sucks when I'm trying to navigate somewhere and it shows me hopping all over the screen because it can't get a lock), Places, Latitude, and Geo-tagging pictures. None of those work properly. I can't believe Google let Samsung put the faulty hardware in their phone too. It almost feels like it was just a phone for Samsung to sell more phones and to let Google push their new, over-hyped OS.
For now, I'll just continue to use my Nexus One. I hope it gets Gingerbread soon. And as for me, I'll never buy another Samsung phone in my life. They are a terrible company, whose only goal is to set record selling numbers by having million dollar ad campaigns about phones with DEFECTIVE hardware in them.

Moved to general and closed. This is a developers forum, and have already had many diatribes on why the Nexus S is a poor phone. We are here to develop, and not troll or lead to flaming based on comments made repeatedly in a forum. Thank you.

Related

My iPhone experience

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!

Thinking of returning my HD2

As stated in the thread title, I am seriously considering returning my HTC Touch HD2, because I find it almost completely unusable compared to the iphone that I owned previously.
Pros
- Amazing screen
- Everything else that has been highlighted in all the positive reviews that persuaded me to buy the device in the first place (spec, camera, connectivity etc.)
Cons:
- Touchscreen keyboard is unusable and not accurate, even after calibaration (compared to an iphone)
- Web browsing using Opera is frustrating due to the unreliable touchscreen - I find it impossible to click on links; particularly on sites such as this one (with small page numbers etc.) - even when I zoom right in I still can't click the link - there is a huge delay before anything happens, without any feedback to show the link has been clicked - this stuff just worked on the iphone, depsite the smaller screen
- Random app switching, erratic behaviour (screen moving on its own) and regular freezes in all modes/apps
For those who think I am some kind of Apple fan-boy, that couldn't be further from the truth - my iphone developed a dead strip of icons, which forced me to sell it for peanuts, so I vowed to never buy another! The truth of the matter is that the UI of the HD2 just isn't in the same league as the iphone - it's just a cheap imitation.
Maybe if it had Android instead of WM it would stand a chance, but as things currently stand, I find the HD2 completely unusable and will probably be returning it on Monday and getting an iphone, assuming I can persuade Mobile Phones Direct to adhere to the distance selling regulations that provide a 7 day cooling off period (according to their T&C's this only stands if the box is unopened, which is wrong)
Please note that I am posting this for the benefit of others, to provide my personal feedback after using the phone for the last few days. If anyone has any suggestions for how to rectify the problems noted above, I will happily try them.
Catman

I feel your pain...
Hi,
I know how you feel - I've only had it a day and i'm already getting that dreaded feeling! On the plus side I'm delighted to be away from that Stalin 'Jobsie' and his locked down iPhones - on the down side this HD2 is about as user friendly as the space shuttle compared to the jesus phone, and I sued to be so impressed with the iPaq from 6 years ago!!
I do think that I can live with it - just it's not going to be the long winded love affair type relationship - more the 'throwing at the wall' one minute, loving it the next!
Luckily, mines through o2 so i'm going to run with it for 10 days and see how we get along - if all else fails then there's always the 3GS to fall back onto. Although I wasn't for Android on this handset to begin with - from where i'm sitting now it does make more sense!
Good luck figuring it all out!

Look here :http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=583638
For some handy tweaks including, haptic feedback in Opera and the abiltiy to click links without zooming in!!!
But I do feel your pain, a little let down with the OS on this phone, everything else is excellent..... build quality, screen, asthetics, CPU, RAM, etc.. Just the OS is a pile of poo! lol

The truth of the matter is that the UI of the HD2 just isn't in the same league as the iphone - it's just a cheap imitation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot. You just proof yourself wrong ^^. Whether its better or worse is another question, but imitation? You mean the shortcuts on home screen? You're just *****in'. Pls close this thread we dont need that destructive posts.
Advice: Sell the HD2 and dont complain. I can click even the small ugly boxes in Windows Mobile itself. I dont know how long you've tried to click somethin', but if you really feel that it is impossible for you go back to resistive screen, on the Touch HD it wasnt that bad IMO.

NetDwarf said:
Thanks a lot. You just proof yourself wrong ^^. Whether its better or worse is another question, but imitation? You mean the shortcuts on home screen? You're just *****in'. Pls close this thread we dont need that destructive posts.
Advice: Sell the HD2 and dont complain. I can click even the small ugly boxes in Windows Mobile itself. I dont know how long you've tried to click somethin', but if you really feel that it is impossible for you go back to resistive screen, on the Touch HD it wasnt that bad IMO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everyone's entitled to their own opinion...even one sided twerps like you.

It's kinda strange for me to read your feedback, I had chance to play with the test version of the HD2 and things worked pretty well, most of your "cons" I could not find on my preliminary experience!?

Catman3146 said:
assuming I can persuade Mobile Phones Direct to adhere to the distance selling regulations that provide a 7 day cooling off period
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
(hollow laugh)
Good luck with that.

I hear you man. I have the same considerations..
I don't have freezes or random app switching though. and I don't really care about the UI since I use spb mobile shell which runs excellent and so god damn fast on this thing.
but the screen is a problem when browsing. it's not accurate enough for my taste. and using the keyboard is also more cumbersome than on my Topaz...
it really is a beautiful and fast device. sometimes it feels like using a computer more than a phone and that's pretty cool too.
I'm still thinking...

Your poor experience seems to be the result of a faulty handset. For the first 4 days of receiving my HD2, the phone's touchscreen kept making its own decisions, even when left idling on the desk. The touchscreen registered wrong inputs and I had the same impressions of the phone as you have now. It was the final straw when the phone just kept registering the 2 option in Phone mode and refused to stop until I hit the soft reset button.
I took it down to the shop I bought the phone from, had it exchanged after explaining the situation (it did take a threat of wanting a full refund when they initially refused to classify the phone as faulty) and the replaced new handset is a complete different phone to the first one I had, the touchscreen does what suppose to do!
Before throwing all hopes away on the HD2, trying getting it replaced first. It is a genuinely good product, it's a shame that quality control has let some of us down.
Your experience with Opera should be resolved by Karlos G's link.
[EDIT] My phone was also purchased from Mobile Phones Direct. They are rather poor when it comes to refund and exchanges, trying to make up excuses as to why you cannot refund or exchange the phone (lies, lies and more lies... just don't go with the flow). State your case and don't let them push you around.

I guess your are one of the unlucky people to get a "monday"-device. mine has none of the problems you have. my screen is accurate, opera is sometimes picky when you don't zoom in, and I have never experienced any erratic behaviour. the only problem I can recall is the camera issue (pink teint).
I applied Karlo G's link but I still have problems clicking links when zoomed out. maybe I have to get more accurate I'm still getting used to a capacitive screen.

chronicle said:
Everyone's entitled to their own opinion...even one sided twerps like you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think NetDwarf has a point... an imitation? Hello? on the iphone you've got hundrets of icons and THAT'S IT!... but this beautiful Sense UI. an Imitation? omg

I agree about the keyboard. I don't understand why they couldn't just have made it the same as the one on the Hero, which is excellent.
Maybe in the next software update they will sort the problem. I have tried some other keyboards and they are even worse than the stock one IMHO, so I'm starting to think it's partly to do with the screen sensitivity. I have tried the sensitivity tweak .cab which purports to help the issue but still it frustrates me.
The word prediction algorithms on the iPhone are infinitely superior, and the screen sensitivity is balanced just right. I have both phones in front of me right now and so have a good balanced perspective on this issue.
Here's my opinion on what is better and what is worse of the two based on a year's ownership of an iPhone and a week's ownership of the HD2 (just based on my USAGE, not pure spec!)
iPhone 3G Pros
More balanced screen sensitivity compared to the HD2 - fewer mistakes with the keyboard or onscreen selections.
More efficient and reliable browsing experience
Transflective screen.
Built in podcatching client. I'm yet to find one to compare with iTunes on the iPhone, although Google Listen comes close on Android. Hopefully they will port it to Windows Mobile soon. iTunes finds even the most obscure Podcasts, most other podcatchers require going online to find feeds that are not well known as their database doesn't have the same span as Apple's iTunes store.
Comparatively small in the hand
Better loudspeaker - clear and resonant.
Better Facebook client (by a HUGE margin)
Better BBC iPlayer experience/general online multimedia experience. Many sites tailor their output to iPhone.
Easier to quickly send/reply to a text (I use iRealQuickSMS and I dont think anything similar is available on WinMo)
Built in App Store with 100s of thousands of apps at very reasonable prices (yes I know a lot of them are crap)
Better Youtube app with full sign-in option which includes subscriptions' newest videos
I prefer the iPhone email client.......the Windows one is horrible for HTML content (sorry guys)
Much better IM client in the form of Beejive than anything Windows Mobile currently has on offer. IM+ is slow and ugly.
More tightly knit development and modding scene (XDAs is split over multiple handsets)
iPhone 3G cons
Inconvenient for quickly adding music - iTunes can be a bit of a cludge
Conversion of Video content is almost always required and takes so long that I don't usually bother unless I'm going on a long journey.
Comparatively low screen resolution, screen isn't as bright and clear as the HD2
Limited bluetooth support (although I don't GENERALLY need bluetooth
No option to buy an extra battery so I often have to carry an external one with me.
Low RAM so things often slow down with heavy usage.
Processor not as powerful as that of the HD2 (although it does have hardware acceleration)
HD2 Pros
Gorgeous, huge screen
Multitasking (although I only use it for IM and the iPhone has push notifications which don't use anywhere near as much battery as having an App constantly running in the background and connected to the internet.)
1ghz processor and plenty of RAM means few slowdowns
Video playback without conversion (through Coreplayer)
Nicer weather integration than the iPhone
Better camera than iPhone 3G (but not 3Gs), dual flash.
Great built quality, slimmer than the iPhone.
More comprehensive browser, similar speed but greater screen real-estate and download support. More browser tweaks available.
Open operating system....supports third party skins such as Touchflo and PointUI
Better sound quality through the same Apple headset as the iPhone (in my opinion). Richer, warmer sound.
Easily customisable ringtones and message tones through the device itself, with no jailbreaking required.
Once unlocked, stays unlocked. No worries about device baseband update causing SIMlock.
Facebook and Youtube account/upload integration.
Expandable memory, easier to add files than the iPhone.
HD2 cons
Fiddly UI generally compared to iPhone.
Oversensitive keyboard. Poor prediction algorithms that seem to rely too heavily on getting the first letter right.
Tinny and poor quality speaker. Sounds like an old AM radio on full blast. Awkward positioning on the back.
Paltry 2g card included in box. iPhone comes preloaded with 8gb minimum
Battery charges a lot slower than iPhone
Poor App store - overpriced Apps, too few innovative ones....most of the best ones such as Coreplayer just aren't there. This is not the HD2s fault, it's just that it has a big effect on the user experience when an App store has such a lame selection. Hands up the man who'd pay £5.99 for Pacman, or £18.14 for SPB Wallet!!!
Youtube app is limited and doesn't support account subscriptions. For such a socially-orientated device this is poor show for HTC, and I'm disappointed.
Inbuilt Twitter app is inferior to most iPhone freebies such as Echofon, and a million miles away from being as good as Tweetie. The nearest Windows Marketplace Equivalent TouchTwit costs £3.99 (Tweetie is £1.79 and still a lot better). Microsoft need to get their arse in gear and sort out the Marketplace.
Rubbish Facebook app, browser is better.
These points are just what came to mind for me based on MY WANTS AND NEEDS.
I do like the HD2, I'm not saying it's rubbish. Most of the problems are just about the software, and if Microsoft step up and get the Marketplace right, and HTC release a new ROM with some upgrades and tweaks then who knows.....things might be ten times better.
Aside from it's **** speaker and the slightly dodgy camera tint issue I cannot fault the HD2's hardware. It is really lush, and I love holding it. It is a joy to have in the hand.

Catman3146 said:
As stated in the thread title, I am seriously considering returning my HTC Touch HD2, because I find it almost completely unusable compared to the iphone that I owned previously.
Pros
- Amazing screen
- Everything else that has been highlighted in all the positive reviews that persuaded me to buy the device in the first place (spec, camera, connectivity etc.)
Cons:
- Touchscreen keyboard is unusable and not accurate, even after calibaration (compared to an iphone)
- Web browsing using Opera is frustrating due to the unreliable touchscreen - I find it impossible to click on links; particularly on sites such as this one (with small page numbers etc.) - even when I zoom right in I still can't click the link - there is a huge delay before anything happens, without any feedback to show the link has been clicked - this stuff just worked on the iphone, depsite the smaller screen
- Random app switching, erratic behaviour (screen moving on its own) and regular freezes in all modes/apps
For those who think I am some kind of Apple fan-boy, that couldn't be further from the truth - my iphone developed a dead strip of icons, which forced me to sell it for peanuts, so I vowed to never buy another! The truth of the matter is that the UI of the HD2 just isn't in the same league as the iphone - it's just a cheap imitation.
Maybe if it had Android instead of WM it would stand a chance, but as things currently stand, I find the HD2 completely unusable and will probably be returning it on Monday and getting an iphone, assuming I can persuade Mobile Phones Direct to adhere to the distance selling regulations that provide a 7 day cooling off period (according to their T&C's this only stands if the box is unopened, which is wrong)
Please note that I am posting this for the benefit of others, to provide my personal feedback after using the phone for the last few days. If anyone has any suggestions for how to rectify the problems noted above, I will happily try them.
Catman
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for me the HD2 is the best. I agreed with the keyboard but i found a solution.
Install Touch Pal and a cab in order to reduce the sensentive leval of the screen (the cab you can download on this forum). Now i can write even better as on the pro 2 - its really great. Forget I-Phone now.

I always find, the best thing to do with a new phone, is try some tweaks etc and then if it doesn't work out, return it. The tweaks usually fix most of the issues that people have. Without this site I would have really regretted getting my X1 for example. But XDA made it amazing.
I love the HD2, and the only problem I have had so far is getting used to the capacitive screen. Any of the other things (like task manager) have been fixed using tweaks from here.
We are so lucky to have all the amazing guys here on XDA developing and discovering all these tweaks for us, and keeping them all in one place.
I suggest you try some of these (they should fix most of your issues).
I would agree, the keyboard can be crazy. But I think it is a case of getting used to it. Every phone is going to be different. That's the nature of the world we live in.
Even then, I think the cons you have mentioned (most of which are fixable).
I hope you do try those tweaks and that they work for you.

Thanks for all your helpful suggestions and comments. I think it is important for people to get a balanced view about the device (particularly compared to the iphone), after reading so many unilaterlly positive reviews that fail to mention many of the flaws I have highlighted.
I will try the tweaks suggested and see how I get over the next couple of days before making a final decision (I'll post an update here), but HTC really should have done a better job with the initial release (the iphone had none of these problems - I bought one of the very first handsets in the US way before it was released here in the UK).
I am still hopeful that the issues are primarily software-related rather than dodgy hardware, but I will try to get a replacement out of MPD to try if this proves to not be the case.

I think you will find Catman, that most of the issues are related to the way the ROM is setup.
I think the tweaks should fix some of them. Have a read through the tips and tweaks list, and see what you can find. Some of them should help. Also, the CABs from smaberg here should also help.

If you sell it, contact me asap !
I am ok to buy !

For anyone struggling with the keyboard, go to the hints and tips thread and install the referenced CAB to reduce screen sensitivity. My keyboard was basically unusable but installed it and it works about the same as the iPhone maybe slightly better because errors are still corrected with the dictionary a lot better...

Catman3146 said:
but HTC really should have done a better job with the initial release (the iphone had none of these problems - I bought one of the very first handsets in the US way before it was released here in the UK).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow if you think the iPhone had no problems at launch, you really are living in backwards land.
BTW, I don't think any HD2s have exploded yet either. I'm not sure if you think incendiary injuries are a positive or negative feature? To be "balanced" we should agree that it is both.

Wow, I find the keyboard excellent, I wonder whether its a ROM-version thing...
Regards browser - have you tried Opera Mobile 10?

Thread for the "HAPPY" GT-i9000 owners...

I have been reading threads dedicated for Galaxy S for the past 2 weeks seeing only disappointed people complaining for various things/bugs/problems, that almost none applied for my personal case.
Thinking that this is very unfair for the specific phone (my opinion after using it 2 weeks now), I would like to just check how many users are happy with the device...
Personally, I have NO problem with GPS fix (navigated a lot through cities and national roads in Greece, Athens and Piraeus), and my phone is not laggy at all. I currently use the phone a lot for various reasons (gaming, e-mails, browsing, navigating, etc), and I really can't find any bug that would make me think of changing the device.
Is it just me? I am using the stock rom version XXJF3...

I've not experienced any lag or GPS issues. That could just be me and you though!
I upgraded to FroYo a day after I got it and I couldn't be happier. Im glad I didn't get a Desire now. This screen is just so... amazing!

I'm also still on the official firmware and I also consider myself a satisfied customer.( At least for now - you only know how good a product really was until after you're done using it in 2 years or so, right?)
Anyway, I DO have the lag issue. It's just that I have it under control by (sadly) using a task killer , and compared to other mobiles on the market, the galaxy s still does the best job for me.
written on a mobile device

i came from the nightmare that is the Desire and its atrocious battery life and the stupid htc bug of "no trickle-charge".
The SGS has been one of the best phones i've had. The lag issue is there for me and i dont have an external sd to try out the mimocan fix... but even then the superb reception, awesome screen and great battery life make it a deadly combo.
GPS also works fine for me on JM2 rooted.

I must say that I'm very happy with my SGS, and I'm sure that some posters just post negative comments to wind people up.
I was amazed to read today that one poster was claiming that Samsung would never release 2.2, while in the dev forum for the SGS people are posting their impressiopns of the pre-release 2.2 from Samsung.
There is one poster who can be found on any thread relating to GPS, complaining about his experiences, but I have found that once I worked out how to use it, my map positioning works well without any modifications from how it came out of the box.
I can only say that anything that I have tried on my SGS has worked once I have sorted the right way to do it, and while I can accept that there are problems, I have faith that Samsung and the experts on this forum will soilve them.

Im also very happy with my SGS! Best phone I have ever used. I do have the same bugs as others i.e "lags" (although I have never experienced 10 second long stalls more like 2-3 second hickups) and since using luncher pro the stalls are much better.
I think the SGS is a coupple of firmware updates from beeing perfect.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

I have had my phone for 2 weeks, went from JF3 to JG5 & now JM2 rooted with SD fix, as it is at the moment it is extremely fast for a Smartphone & I am very happy with what it is capable of, I may even hold off on froyo if the speeds arnt as good as what I get now.
Also I like playing, and having a phone that is very hackable and pretty much unbrickable is a godsend when trying stuff out. Had a couple of scarey moments but its all fun

I am using the phone for the past 10 days and didn't much to complain about it.
Intially there was a problem installing the kies and detecting the phone but it was resolved in a matter for 10mins by googling. After 10days of experience I have no complains and very happy with this piece from Samsung. Although havn't worked much with the GPS (Bandwith issues - India) but no lags (>2sec - if any). Works really well with games and sound quality is awesome.
True Fan for SGS...
Cheers Samsun!!

Gotta admit, I wasn't thrilled with it to say the least when I first got it, but I'm now happy with it as it is (JM2, rooted, EXT4 hack, autokiller). Runs fast and is nice to use, and I think definitely as good as an iphone 4 which was the other phone I was considering at the time. Shame, the apps aren't better but thats not the phones fault.

Remember everyone, there's a HUGE amount of happy campers with any device. iPhone 4, Samsung Galaxy S, etc. It's usually the minority comprised of nitpickers, enthusiasts, and people with genuine problems that fill up forums like this.
Oh, I'm part of the enthusiast group I think.

gabbybob said:
There are always idiots moaning - especially on Xda - it's like a magnet for the morose maudling naysayer - poor boys - cry into your pints. I think it's an excellent device - that screen and it's sheer grunt have it stand well apart from the competition - let's see some developers get behind this and make the games, media and applications (for that is their true label, not that propogated by the narcissistic fool known as Jobs)
It's the potential for excellent gaming which I think we'll see in the future on Android that I think will propel this - it already has excellent Sound, Video playback, GPS (I've never had any problems - the fix is quick and accurate), camera is great - get a grip - it's the convergance device I wanted.
Pop a 32GB MicroSD in and on top of the 8GB / 16GB already on the device you have 40 - 48 GB storage - in other words, loads of Multimedia be it Books, Albums, Films, Magazines, Applications - whatever
So, well done to Samsung - let's see Froyo in a timely manner as promised (not another **** up like those idiots at HTC; yes I had a Hero)
Enjoy my son - Ignore the idiots - I do and usually go much further by having many laughs at their expense - schadenfreude ? Definately !!!
S xx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it is going a bit far to call people trying to work through some issues with the phone "idiots". When I go to a forum I want to see both the good points and the bad points and I like the fact that xda does have people that find the bad things in phones and try and work on solutions for them. I would hardly call those people idiots as you are.
I think a bit of balance is a good thing and we don't really need the name calling do we? If you are old enough to make it to the forums then surely you are old enough not to have to resort to insults on other members especially in a thread about happy people, you dont sound too happy
As for the phone, I came from the nexus and I do like it a lot, I do have some issues but the positives definitely outweigh the negatives so I am holding on to it for now because its the best android device so far in my opinion.
Screen is definitely awesome, loving the accuracy compared to the nexus and the ability to see it easier in sunny conditions and of course the size of the screen, 4 inches i think is about as big as I would want it, just the right size.
Loving the dlna abilities to stream movies off a media player in the house etc and have the horsepower to actually watch them .

Likewise I think the comments are a little unfair. You invaraibly find more people with issues on forums than those without, it is after all the sensible place to look for support.
I do have issues with mine, but at the same time I'm pretty happy it. I suspect I'll be one of the first in line for the Galaxy Tab too when it comes out as I like the idea of the same device with a larger screen for home browsing.

My GPS is working fine. Had lag with stock FW (JG3), but with JM2 and now JP3 it has been working great.
Only issue I have using JP3 is that I drop 3G connection sometimes when setting it to WCDMA mode only, so I had to go back to using auto mode instead which is no biggie.
I live in area with very bad reception, and I'm lucky to get one bar showing on all phones I tried and many times get dropped calls, but so far with the SGS that happened only once. My USB 3G modem almost never found a proper 3G connection even if I tried placing it optimally, but the SGS often gives me 3G and 3G+ without looking for a good spot.
My battery life is about double compared to what I would have expected.
Reading this forum I get the impression I'm somewhat lucky, but IMO it's a very awesome phone!

gabbybob said:
There are always idiots moaning - especially on Xda - it's like a magnet for the morose maudling naysayer - poor boys - cry into your pints. I think it's an excellent device - that screen and it's sheer grunt have it stand well apart from the competition - let's see some developers get behind this and make the games, media and applications (for that is their true label, not that propogated by the narcissistic fool known as Jobs)
It's the potential for excellent gaming which I think we'll see in the future on Android that I think will propel this - it already has excellent Sound, Video playback, GPS (I've never had any problems - the fix is quick and accurate), camera is great - get a grip - it's the convergance device I wanted.
Pop a 32GB MicroSD in and on top of the 8GB / 16GB already on the device you have 40 - 48 GB storage - in other words, loads of Multimedia be it Books, Albums, Films, Magazines, Applications - whatever
So, well done to Samsung - let's see Froyo in a timely manner as promised (not another **** up like those idiots at HTC; yes I had a Hero)
Enjoy my son - Ignore the idiots - I do and usually go much further by having many laughs at their expense - schadenfreude ? Definately !!!
S xx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait a second, you criticise HTC, but wasn't it Samsung who eventually had to backtrack when they couldn't go beyond Android 1.6 for the Behold?
You fail to miss as well, the 8 Gig or 16 Gig phone you buy has two gig less for multimedia and storage because it is partitioned to install Applications, so you're really buying 6 Gig or 14 Gig. That wasn't in the fine print.
Although the phone has 512 Meg RAM, you cannot use it, and even the leaked Froyo builds you cannot access the full 512 Meg RAM (ie it doesn't show as a total anywhere).
The lags are very real, but some people live with them. The suggestion is that the phone has two different types of memory, one sequential and one random access, and the lag is caused by some random data being on the sequential area. Other fixes involve not used vfat but partitioning an area of your sdcard to ext3.
Doubt the GPS issues all you like, call me an idiot, whatever, just take a look at this and tell me my GPS is working without a problem:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...2.494749,-1.744981&spn=0.007447,0.022724&z=16

I don't use GPS, so that's had no impact on me whatsoever.
I was surprised to see the number of people complaining about lag and 10 second stalls, as I never experienced anything that severe on the stock Optus firmware. At most, it was 2-3 seconds when opening or closing an app, pretty much exactly what happens normally on my previous phone (HTC Hero).
Basically, I believe for anyone not into the rooting / rom scene who's unaware of XDA they probably have no clue that there's even a problem with the firmware on their phones. I sure didn't until I was informed I should be unhappy.
After mimocan's fix my phone flies, and I really couldn't be happier. I'm loving playing NOVA far faster than on my iPod Touch 2nd gen and the screen is drop-dead gorgeous for videos. The contrast and black levels are so good I'm actually only using black as my wallpaper which makes my minimalist widgets appear to be floating on black glass, causing my friends to do a double-take (hiding the top bar in Launcher Pro or ADW makes this effect even more pronounced). It really makes it look like the entire front surface on the phone is the screen since the edges aren't visible.
The only thing I would have liked is some nicer case material(s), as it doesn't 'feel' anywhere near as much of the premium device it is compared to the Desire's soft-touch plastics and aluminium.
For the record, I thought I'd hate Touchwiz but I don't mind it at all since the changes are minimal from stock Android. I do use Launcher Pro and ADW thought simply to enable 5 rows on the homescreens however.

I have a great phone now but only after flash+root+lagfix+launcher pro+autokiller. That's a bit much to ask an average customer. Samsung did a horrible job releasing this phone the way they did, the hardware is really nice but the software is ****e.

Most people who are healthy don't go to the hospital.
This forum is where the sick come to play.

I think the poster is an idiot, myself.The premise for the thread is sound, but the attitude and opinion is laughable.
I am very happy with the phone - I do not have problems with lag though it has gotten a bit slower now I have added more apps, I dont find myself bothered by it, but like the other person who posted the GPS track, my GPS is not usable for the purpose of recording tracks at all.
Initially I called Samsung and was told "there is no problem, its normal behaviour" - at this point, I had very little choice but to publicise the issue to add my voice to the MANY that have GPS problems.
This thread seeks to marginalise people with genuine problems, and is selfish and unnecessary with respect to being part of the solution.
What do you (people with phones that are fine) lose by the threads complaining of problems?
What is to be gained by NOT publicising the problems? (Hint: Nothing, for those affected...)
I am of the opinion those that have no problems DO NOT use the devices to record tracks. Many seem to be able to navigate with the GPS as it doesnt get too whacked out for long, but for recording a track its useless (see previous link). Having said that, I have struggled to get a sat fix when driving too, so been unable to navigate (and got lost as a result).
If the thread stuck to positives, instead of itself being negative, you would have me here singing praises for the good things too. But instead, I am just annoyed at your insensitivity for those that paid good money for a product that doesn't meet expectations.

Love the phone, and I had both the HD2 and Desire, as I am an HTC fan, and I chose the SGS over the two. No problems with the GPS, but there is one thing that bugs me and I tried to find a solution for it, videos with AAC audio get out of sync, only with JG5 the problem seems to be minimal.

x50v! said:
I think the poster is an idiot, myself.The premise for the thread is sound, but the attitude and opinion is laughable.
I am very happy with the phone - I do not have problems with lag though it has gotten a bit slower now I have added more apps, I dont find myself bothered by it, but like the other person who posted the GPS track, my GPS is not usable for the purpose of recording tracks at all.
Initially I called Samsung and was told "there is no problem, its normal behaviour" - at this point, I had very little choice but to publicise the issue to add my voice to the MANY that have GPS problems.
This thread seeks to marginalise people with genuine problems, and is selfish and unnecessary with respect to being part of the solution.
What do you (people with phones that are fine) lose by the threads complaining of problems?
What is to be gained by NOT publicising the problems? (Hint: Nothing, for those affected...)
I am of the opinion those that have no problems DO NOT use the devices to record tracks. Many seem to be able to navigate with the GPS as it doesnt get too whacked out for long, but for recording a track its useless (see previous link). Having said that, I have struggled to get a sat fix when driving too, so been unable to navigate (and got lost as a result).
If the thread stuck to positives, instead of itself being negative, you would have me here singing praises for the good things too. But instead, I am just annoyed at your insensitivity for those that paid good money for a product that doesn't meet expectations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think it's anything wrong with threads that complain about the problems. It's obvious that there are a lot of users experiencing issues, and if I was one of them I would be angry and discuss the issues as well.
What really bothers me is that when I respond with comments about not having an issue, there are some users that will assume that it's because I'm clueless or dumb. You do it as well when you say "those that have no problems DO NOT use the devices to record tracks". And in the same post you talk about OP marginalizing users with problems?
I have been navigating in the terrain using GPSCompassMap and MyTracks. I haven't had a need to save tracks, but the other day I made a recording with GPSCompassMap when I was driving just because I got fed up with that kind of accusations.
When posting that I'm told that it must been a lucky day or that I happened to have ideal conditions...basically being accused of being a liar since I clearly stated that it's normal performance for me.
I don't get locks on satellites with SNR <20 or more than 8 sats, but it still works.
I really don't get what causes some users to lash out at anyone that does not have problems and call them idiots or liars.
I know it's hard to make any sense of things, since there doesn't seem to be any common denominator explaining why some users have a completely useless GPS and some have one that is working fine.
But it's the same with the lag and battery life as well...some people experience issues and some not, and while it's a bit more common the issue is nailed down to a particular FW or software with those, it's still not 100% clear why there are such differences how users experience the device.

Have I made the wrong choice...

I always used to use this place when I had my windows phones and found it a brilliant source of information.
I have just bought (not arrived yet) a Galaxy S and thought I'd have a look on here and I am amazed at the problems and people moaning about there devices, I read loads of official reviews and they all praise the device highly, in fact almost as high as the big Apple.
I am completely new to Android so most of the terminology is different to the old Windows mobile so I guess I shall get used to this.
But it seems this Galaxy S is plagued with lag and gps issues, this concerns me a lot as I am a heavy gps user, have I made the wrong choice in going for an Android device, would be nice to hear some positives

There are many positives on the SGS. In my opinion (from a short, but intense ownership period) the lag issue isn't as bad as it might sound.
In certain ocasions it does lag and I've ended up waiting 4 or 5 seconds for an app to open or do something.
But those events were rare and might be reduced in the upcoming Froyo ROM.
Not something that will ruin the experience I'd say, since the unit has many positive aspects, including the amazing display.
If you are a heavy GPS user I'm afraid that there are no good news. The current GPS performance is a disaster (and no proper testing was made in any professional review). Personally I consider it not to have GPS as it is so unreliable that it cannot be trusted.
IMHO that is the only critical flaw that the SGS has right now.
Don't panic yet. Perhaps it can be solved with a firmware upgrade (maybe it is not hardware-related). In any case if GPS is really important to you and you can still return your unit, I'd do it (I will do that with mine). Get your money back and watch what happens.
If Samsung/Broadcom fix the GPS issue, then it will be a good terminal worth buying again.

well, i've been along time wm user and apple user. Got the galaxy s a few weeks back, right around the time there was massive stock shortages in australia, however my galaxy s never had any gps issues. I'n my personal opinion samsung have fixed the issue with the GPS in the later firmware revisions.
Lag, well i was running stock firmware without any mods for a few weeks, not too many issues. Yes it was a little laggy at times (typically when opening big apps), but copilot ran fine better than any wm device or apple device using tomtom.
Be sure to only kill apps that your not using, dont kill email and other important things because you'll notice the lag much more.
Just upgraded to jm5 firmware with all the mods and stuff, yes its much faster but running stock is good too. I would never go back to a windows mobile or apple device, even if it was free.
good luck, just my 2c.

THUDUK said:
I always used to use this place when I had my windows phones and found it a brilliant source of information.
I have just bought (not arrived yet) a Galaxy S and thought I'd have a look on here and I am amazed at the problems and people moaning about there devices, I read loads of official reviews and they all praise the device highly, in fact almost as high as the big Apple.
I am completely new to Android so most of the terminology is different to the old Windows mobile so I guess I shall get used to this.
But it seems this Galaxy S is plagued with lag and gps issues, this concerns me a lot as I am a heavy gps user, have I made the wrong choice in going for an Android device, would be nice to hear some positives
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Coming from a windows mobile device there is truly no comparison. I've owned and test many windows mobile devices in the past, and the Galaxy series far superior than anything previously made in my opinion. The small lag/gps issues will be fixed with minor build revisions. (unless GPS was hardware but doubtful) anyways Enjoy the device, peace!

Well my JF3 stock phone lags ALOT. Installed ca 100 apps. Not tried any of the fixes. But the lag is really really bad. Just going into calendar/dialer/contacts can take 5-10 sec. Not acceptable at all

borchgrevink said:
Well my JF3 stock phone lags ALOT. Installed ca 100 apps. Not tried any of the fixes. But the lag is really really bad. Just going into calendar/dialer/contacts can take 5-10 sec. Not acceptable at all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
100 apps
Perhaps that is the source of the problem.

I came from a windows then apple and when i got the apple iPhone wow big difference...but then..unless you jailbreak you cant customized it...so then it became boring...was waiting for the iphone 4..but it looked the same...no real multitasking..plane the same...so moved to the gs and yes i got the jf3 firmware...yes gps issue...tried all the methods found...and some it worked...but then i was able to update via flashing my rom to M2 and gps issue has been solve...the lag is solve..the phine is faster..the android community is more vibrant than the iphone and that's because apple don't like ppl tweaking with their device...
So i can say that galaxy s is ideal if you are a power user..as you can customizer it to your hearts content

No real issues except the gps one (which is HUGE). The rest is nothing serious.
And the phone can be tweaked in so many ways, used like a pc, download torrents, watch movies directly without reconverting, copying music and photos without sync (I hate apple so much because of this). Also went from iphone 3g and my choice was between iphone 4 and galaxy s. Iphone 4 has a load of fun games, but the device is from Big Brother, no flexibility at all.
And as a artist/photographer the huge super Amoled was just wow.
Again, the gps issue spoils it all. I do hope Samsung fixes it because it is a pity to sell it and get the Iphone (

THUDUK said:
I always used to use this place when I had my windows phones and found it a brilliant source of information.
I have just bought (not arrived yet) a Galaxy S and thought I'd have a look on here and I am amazed at the problems and people moaning about there devices, I read loads of official reviews and they all praise the device highly, in fact almost as high as the big Apple.
I am completely new to Android so most of the terminology is different to the old Windows mobile so I guess I shall get used to this.
But it seems this Galaxy S is plagued with lag and gps issues, this concerns me a lot as I am a heavy gps user, have I made the wrong choice in going for an Android device, would be nice to hear some positives
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most people with this phone don't really have any problems. We have a lot of people on this board with what appear to be faulty GPS units (can't get a lock at all) who are very stubborn and don't seem to want to return their faulty devices, so they spam away on here. If you read through the complaint threads, you will see that it is mostly the same 10-15 people posting over and over how terrible their GPS is, and how horribly their phone lags.
That aside, if you buy a device that has an old (JF series) firmware, then you will have to flash it to a newer one if occasional lagging bothers you. Another alternative is to wait for an official firmware release before buying your phone, but that doesn't seem to be an option since you've already ordered it.
Either way, don't take the complaining on this forum as any sort of proof of widespread issues without first trying the device yourself.

Totally agree with the above. It is not as bad as some make out. I use my GPS all the time without any issues at all. Lags are minimal with later firmware. I hope you enjoy your GS.

Frankly, I do not have the issue with GPS, I use Google Maps Navigator a lot.
Lag issue has been addressed by JG1 or newer test firmware.
PS: I had at least 2 WinMo phones in the past, and I have to say that I love android phone.

borchgrevink said:
Well my JF3 stock phone lags ALOT. Installed ca 100 apps. Not tried any of the fixes. But the lag is really really bad. Just going into calendar/dialer/contacts can take 5-10 sec. Not acceptable at all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do you need all 100 apps to do work? that's the real problem.
I believe none of the WinMo (6.5) phone can takes 100 apps in 1 single phone and still working.

Roy Ngan said:
do you need all 100 apps to do work? that's the real problem.
I believe none of the WinMo (6.5) phone can takes 100 apps in 1 single phone and still working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not need all, but they are not running all at the same time. So it should work just fine.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

When I got mine it was between the iphone 4 and the SGS, I had an iphone 3G before, and did have a good play with the iphone 4, but ultimately it felt the same, and I felt I would get bored with it.
So I got the SGS.
At first I regretted it - it was slow and unstable, and with terrible battery life.
I've since updated to JM2, rooted, done the EXT4 hack and installed Autokiller and use optimum settings on that. I installed launcher pro instead of touch wiz, and a few nice little widgets and a few apps and games.
Now, I'd almost go so far as to say I now prefer it to the iphone 4. Yes, perhaps you shouldn't have to do all this, but I bought the phone, and I was damned if I'm going to waste my money selling and buying an iphone 4, I was determined to make it work, and now it does work, I put all the tweaking to the back of my mind - now I don't try and keep up with all the latest firmwares, instead, I am just enjoying the phone and the Android OS. The only time I will now change is when a good, official Froyo firmware is released.
The positives for me are, sheer speed (when all of the above patches / hacks are performed), the customisation options that are simply not there for the iphone - you can change virtually every aspect of your phone to your tastes - try that on an iphone. You can literally make your phone unique from any other. The screen size - yes the iphone is sharper, but you have to virtually hold your eyeball to the screen to notice - for me, the benefits of having a larger, more colourful screen are immediately apparent. Much better media support, no more converting most videos to play on it.
The downsides - well the GPS is a reported downside - Google Navigator simply didnt work for me when I tried it, but that was with stock firmware, I've not tried it since I performed my above fixes (and tweaked a number of GPS settings too). The camera is pretty rubbish IMO, imagine a 3GS camera with a few more pixels and a few more options and you're not a million miles away (but on the flipside you get 720 video recording)... no flash either. The battery life still isn't amazing - it's still very poor compared to an iphone, but ultimately, its no worse than any other android phone.
Personally, I think the SGS is up there with anything out at the moment. I wouldn't go back to the iphone at the moment - before I'd reconsider this, I'd be wanted a 4+ inch display for starters, and a lot more customisation options...
Heck... I even rediscovered the art of bluetooth file transfers again the other day!!

borchgrevink said:
I do not need all, but they are not running all at the same time. So it should work just fine.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do you use samsung default widgets try disabling them. Many people have found their phone stopped lagging so much once they disable the samsungs default widgets

tameracingdriver said:
When I got mine it was between the iphone 4 and the SGS, I had an iphone 3G before, and did have a good play with the iphone 4, but ultimately it felt the same, and I felt I would get bored with it.
So I got the SGS.
At first I regretted it - it was slow and unstable, and with terrible battery life.
I've since updated to JM2, rooted, done the EXT4 hack and installed Autokiller and use optimum settings on that. I installed launcher pro instead of touch wiz, and a few nice little widgets and a few apps and games.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah see that's what a lot new users say. The whole point of linux though is customizing on a kernel level. Literally everything can be customized, and changed, tweaked, and even ported to other devices haha..
I don't get how there is even a comparison between Apple products and the new lines of Linux based phones already out and will be releasing in just a mere 3 months. What about Microsoft as well, check out metro UI, they're something to think about. Apple is done, they give their users nothing, like I said before, you have 1 billion people with an iphone and EVERY single one is the same hah.. where's the diversity?!
If you want to ditch the lag,why don't you just get launcher pro and call it a day, worked like a charm on my old captivate with the STOCK rom hah.. so yeah

Dopedangel said:
do you use samsung default widgets try disabling them. Many people have found their phone stopped lagging so much once they disable the samsungs default widgets
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly what are they all called?

RyanZA said:
Most people with this phone don't really have any problems. We have a lot of people on this board with what appear to be faulty GPS units (can't get a lock at all) who are very stubborn and don't seem to want to return their faulty devices, so they spam away on here. If you read through the complaint threads, you will see that it is mostly the same 10-15 people posting over and over how terrible their GPS is, and how horribly their phone lags.
That aside, if you buy a device that has an old (JF series) firmware, then you will have to flash it to a newer one if occasional lagging bothers you. Another alternative is to wait for an official firmware release before buying your phone, but that doesn't seem to be an option since you've already ordered it.
Either way, don't take the complaining on this forum as any sort of proof of widespread issues without first trying the device yourself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let's clarify one thing.
I tested 7 (seven!!!) of these phone.
They were ALL broken, with a miserable GPS.
It's not spam. It's the reality. You're probably have no idea what you're talking about.

nricci said:
Let's clarify one thing.
I tested 7 (seven!!!) of these phone.
They were ALL broken, with a miserable GPS.
It's not spam. It's the reality. You're probably have no idea what you're talking about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can open google maps navigation, put in a destination, and drive whole following the maps/prompt and end up at my destination, with the prompts being completely accurate.
I can post/geotag my location with any program and it gets it instantly within 50m or so (This would be AGPS I think).
What exactly is the problem? What are you trying to do with your GPS?

The BCM4751 should be able to resolve and maintain a position down to nearly 2m. What you think is working, is actually the broken.

Do you own a Focus claim it here tell us what you think?

Samsung FocusBeautiful, crisp, or a cheap piece of junk. I would like to know.
I would like to know if you own a Focus or are considering purchasing one. I believe that word of mouth is important so I ask the community to place their thoughts about the Focus here. Also I would like just 1 post from each member who is writing their own review. Remember you can edit your post. Help me out and if you actually own a focus let us know in the poll.
Try to look at the below review for a format. Of course it is your review so write it how you see fit.
Top things I love about my Focus:
1. Thin
2. Light
3. Beautiful screen
4. SD expandability
5. Fast and responsive
6. Diagnosis Screen
Top things that need improvement for my Focus:
1. Better SD support
2. Power charging should be on the bottom of the phone
3. Power button should be on the top of the phone or harder to press
4. Screen can scratch all be it very hard to do so.
How is my windows experience on the Focus:
1. Marketplace can be buggy
2. Games are fun and vibrant
3. Programs are stable
What would you like to see improved in you windows experience on the Focus:
1. Need to allow multitasking as an option for GPS and third party audio programs.
2. Wish marketplace would show how many download an app had
3. More live tiles
4. In email adding folders to sync is cumbersome.
Who would you recommend buy this phone?
I would recommend this phone to anyone. This is the best phone I owned.

I pretty much agree with what you posted. I've really come to like WP7 and the Focus although, there is still much work to be done on the OS.
I guess if Samsung had one with a physical keyboard, I'd be all over it.

It's so fluid in motion, readable and highly consistent in design. Overall, I've got to give MS a big thumbs up. The UI is beautiful and functional.
My only real complaint is the occasional marketplace freeze.
I've had a number of android devices and I've had more than one iPhone.. I was ready for something fresh and different.. and so far this is fitting the bill quite well.
Now make with the updates, Microsoft... some new features would be nice.
As for the focus itself, it's a nice piece of hardware. The screen is gorgeous, battery life seems decent, speaker sounds good, calls are clear. It has a little creak do it if I grip it too hard, but it doesn't feel like it's going to break. I'd pretty much put it even with my Samsung Vibrant.. it is plasticky, but it doesn't feel cheap.

I've had my Focus since they released them publicly. The hardware is great overall. I have two iPhones (3G and 4), a Droid, Blackberry 9000 and a new Torch. The iPhone sets the bar high, and in my opinion the Focus easily competes head to head with the iPhone in terms of the screen and performance, maybe even better for speed. So far I haven't had any problems with it, in terms of the hardware. No unexpected reboots or lock-ups. I've soft-reset it a couple times on my own, and did one hard-reset to attempt to get wireless Zune sync working (still doesn't work), but that I'm sure is an OS problem. I do wish Samsung just stepped up with 16GB of NAND storage from the get-go though. Sure, an optional SD card is nice to have, but the way WP7 uses storage it doesn't surprise me people are seeing random crashes and data loss. WP7 essentially combines both storage types as one large storage, but expects performance to be the same and that's not reasonable. There's really no reason why they couldn't make NAND the primary, and SD secondary for more static things like music and documents.
In the beginning battery life was pretty bad. But I think it just took a few charge cycles to correct that. I get almost two days out of it without wifi. With Wifi it drops to maybe a day and a half at most.
The AMOLED screen is just awesome. Clear, bright, smooth.
I'm looking forward to MS releasing a WP7 update though. There are so many little bugs/features that are missing, besides the popular copy/paste that I rarely use anyway.

I agree with the first post.
I (STILL) only get all of one bar of signal in my house with it. AT&T signal was bad seven years ago and hasn't improved which kind of forces me to return it and wait for a CDMA version. At least with Verizon I get three & four bars everywhere in the house. Too bad I have to wait another month or two to get a WP7, because other than not being able to make or receive calls at home I really like the Focus a lot.

Pretty much agree with the first post. I really like this phone.
When reading email, I wish there was a way to make the font bigger that would also word wrap so you don't have to move back and forth to read the email. Either autosize to a larger font with word wrap, or just let me select a larger font size.
I love the voice search! It's worked for me in noisy resturants and standing along side a busy road. Impressive!

I really like my Samsung Focus primarily because in my usage the OS has been stable, fast, and really easy to navigate.
The lack of available applications (for whatever reasons) is a huge issue. I own both an iPhone and Droid X. If I didn't have those phones on which to use apps I think I'd be a little less kind at this moment to WP7 and the Focus
Overall I think what MSFT has TODAY is a great first smartphone for someone who has not used one before.
Will this progress to a serious contender in the smartphone space? I don't know but I'm hoping that it can be one of the top 3.

webdev511 said:
I agree with the first post.
I (STILL) only get all of one bar of signal in my house with it. AT&T signal was bad seven years ago and hasn't improved which kind of forces me to return it and wait for a CDMA version. At least with Verizon I get three & four bars everywhere in the house. Too bad I have to wait another month or two to get a WP7, because other than not being able to make or receive calls at home I really like the Focus a lot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
iPhone's reception fairly blows, also, and AT&T is awful at my house. I bought a zBoost YX-545 GSM/PCS repeater, stuck the antenna in the attic where I get at least a couple reception bars and put the unit in the upper floor of the house. That now gives me 4 or 5 bars throughout the house and yard and helped the iPhone considerably and does just as well with the Focus. If you have any reception at all, this is a better solution than AT&T's hit-or-miss microcell.
Personally, I like the screen and the weight. It's so nice being able to pull it out of my pocket, take a quick glance at the screen to see if there's anything of interest and, if not, pop it right back from where it came. The screen is bright, easily read at arm's length and laid out well. The commercials about "saving us from our phones" actually made sense once I used the phone for a few days. One thing that drove me nuts about the iPhone was the form and weight. It's akin to having a brick in my shirt pocket and the weight makes it practically jump out of my pocket any time I bend over a bit. The Focus has a much nicer form with the rounded edges, it's thin and it's relatively light weight means it's been less prone to wanting to slide out of my pocket. It's being so thin and rounded makes it more difficult to pick up off a flat surface than the iPhone.
I've used iPhones for the past 2 1/2 years and while the iPhone has it all over the Focus as far as functionality, what the Focus currently does is so much easier to do that I believe I'm ready to commit and forget about the 30 day return policy. All in all, the benefits and potential very much outweight the few drawbacks that exist, such as the plastic feel and mediocre reception.
Oh...and the expandable memory is a HUGE plus after 2 1/2 years of a phone I couldn't even open. Yes, I've read that plenty of people have had problems with it but using a Sandisk 8GB class 2 SD card I've been able to put some 10 GB of music on the phone without so much as a single hiccup in any way. I suppose Sandisk is still the best for a reason...accept no substitutes!

JDiddyC Review
(in conjunction with previous noted items)
What I like:
1. Integration of FB, apps and Live Skydrive, etc. Seemless!
2. Ability to customize the tiles on the home screen
3. Live tiles! Need I say more!?
4. Accessing info and sharing is quick and easy
What I don't like / needs development:
1. For the love of God, please let us use Bing Turn by Turn and not PAY for provider specific apps or add-ons!
2. Zune / Music portion needs work
- Channels would be nice
- Why do I have to pay for songs via AT&T when I have zune pass? This should work like market place on the Zune HD!
- Please let me use music I have on the device as a ringtone!?
Overall satisfaction:
LOVE IT! I feel pretty confident that changes to the OS and apps will come in the near future that will hopefully address the few things I don't like. Although I fear there are some agreements with providers around GPS and turn by turn directions that may keep us hacking to get around them.

Top things I love about my Focus:
1. Thin
2. Facebook Integration
3. Beautiful screen
4. SD expandability
5. Xbox Live
6. Fun UI
Top things that need improvement for my Focus:
1. Multitasking or at least backgrounding (i want pandora!!!)
2. When the Screen is locked i shouldnt be able to power off the phone with just the button! Come on now that should be common sense.
3. Flashlight app that acually uses the LED
4. Volume controls that are not all in one (i shouldnt have to turn my phone back up to 30 after playing a games at 10 because the games too loud, in turn making my ringtone way too quiet)
5. Cut, Copy, Paste!!!
How is my windows experience on the Focus:
1. Marketplace and UI can be buggy (especailly when downloading)
2. Games are fun and vibrant but with a lack of games ive grown interested in with other platforms
3. best camera phone implementation with the shutter button and ease.

bump
Can a moderator sticky this

I love the focus ALOT! I bought it outright at Rogers for $630! Its unbelievably fast and smooth....its the most fluid phone I have ever used in my life to be honest....I handed it over to my gf! Why? because I take alot of pictures and video, and so far while the focus has been good at both, it doesn't hold up to my Xperia X10,,,therefore I went back to my X10...but I play with the Focus all day long. If somehow they could write a camera app (like Vignette for android) and make the pictures cleaner in low light then the Focus would be my primary phone hands down.
Overall I'd give this phone a 9.5/10 just because I feel the camera is lacking slightly.

Lovin My New unlocked Samsung Focus
Samsung Focus is the BEST WP7 phone hands down right now! Just wished 3G and MMS would work with my T-Mo service Provider.
Anyone find out how to get into the MFG Mode?
I have been through the whole Diagnosis Mode, changed about every setting i could change and still no MMS.
btw.. thx sandrobber for listing all the codes for the diagnosis menu!

Just bought 3 foci (sp), Originally got one for my step father who had been working on some old handmedowns and wanted a real smart phone of his own and one for my wife who hated her Pure with such a purple passion that I was almost ready to overlook my no Apple rule and get her an Iphone. They both are loving it.
I went ahead and got one for myself. I have to admit I did a lot of waffling between the focus and the quantum.
Personally I think the quantum's size and form factor is slightly superior. It was just the right size to fit in my hand and be worked easily with one hand while the focus is just a tad on the large size to be truly comfortable.
That said I ended up going with the Focus because damn it's a huge gorgeous screen the potential for expansion and general overall ratings it's getting on the hardware side.
My past experience with smart phones has been with winmo and palm OS. Part of my decision to go with the Samsung was because of my experiences with their older smart phones. In fact I just ran across my old I300 the other day while sorting through some old boxes and the damned thing still runs just fine after a quick charge.
Pro's
that huge screen.
smooth seamless performance.
did I mention that huge beautiful screen?
Expandable memory
Con's
Bing button is too damned easy to hit.
form factor is just a tad to big to be used consistently with one hand.
Who thought putting the USB port on the top was a good idea?
Market place is buggy and has locked up on me several times requiring a reset of the device.
Other thoughts
As a former winmo user I'm definitely missing some of the features that I knew weren't going to make it into this os. I still think it was rather stupid to drop active sync and myphone for this platform. I understand some of the rationals but it's still missed.
Same goes for the lack of access to the files system (in particular the lack of drag and drop and real support for SD storage)
That said the phone is incredibly user friendly. My wife who hated the hell out of her Pure took to this thing like a duck to water and she's far from technically competent with this sort of thing in that she's a fairly typical user who's not interested in tinkering with a device just to get basic functionality. as such this works great for her.
For my part I very rapidly got my start page re-arranged the way I liked it with my tiles organized in the manner in which I typically need them.
I'm still learning things about it like it was a bit of a surprise when my step father showed me how to voice dial calls. (so damned easy it never even occurred to me to try.)
So far everyone I've shown the phone to has been impressed (primarily Iphone users) and several have already expressed an interest in switching to WP7 as soon as their contracts come up for renewal. Especially those who aren't using Iphones since they'll be able to keep their old unlimited data plans with these devices.
I have very high expectations for the future of this platform. As soon as MS gets a couple basic features pushed out (copy/paste, task switching) and developers start getting some quality apps out I see this platform being quite competitive with Apple.
I get that there are some things that it's just never going to match winmo on and that functionality will be missed but after watching Apple dominate the market so thoroughly and observing users such as my wife beating their heads against the WinMo experience I can't really fault MS for shifting design philosophy.
Considering the fact that this OS has only been out a couple months I'd say it's off to a nice start. Sure it would have been nice to have had cut/paste and multitasking so I wouldn't have to listen to the apple fanboi's teases (hey at least it's got MMS out the box) but it is a fully functional smartphone right out the box that can already do many things much easier than my old 6.5 phone could.
Now I just have to find a good case for it.

Happy Focus owner, elated to be a part of a truly 'smart'phone era.
This phone was the best investment I ever made.
After purchasing the phone outright from Rogers in Canada, I paid an ebay guy $15 to unlock it.
I came immediately to XDA-Developers for guidance with my new toy. The community here is excellent; with a level of knowledge far beyond my wildest expectations.
Once I followed the advice of everyone here, I was able to unleash the full power of the phone on my preferred network, SaskTel.
Prior to this phone, I got a contract a year ago with a Samsung Omnia. My carrier wouldn't push the OS update, and Samsung didn't offer it direct to consumers. I was forever stuck on a crippled WinMo6.1 OS.
I am looking forward to future updates provided direct from Microsoft. This was perhaps the most significant reason I bought into the idea behind Windows Phone 7 as a future-proof platform.
The reasons I chose the Focus are the same as most around here. The SuperAMOLED screen is just a wonder to behold, and I find myself just scrolling the lists just to see the brilliance of the display in action.
Memory expansion is another boon for this device. Having at least one option in the Microsoft launch lineup with this feature is key to the platform's success. I believe like the handset manufacturers, that everyone has different needs in a device.
Storage is a need some of us have. I like the security behind the S in SD. I believe the way MS implemented the expandable memory is the way to go from a security and usability standpoint.
My final reason for choosing this phone was to test the ability of my service provider to bring alternate devices to the table. My carrier just upgraded to 3G+ from CDMA. Having a SIM based solution opened the Focus as a possibility.
I am satisfied with my carrier's network, and the phone, and the apps.
I looked at the iDevices and Android devices before making this purchase. While the iDevices were pretty much all out of my price range for the flexibility provided, I considered the Samsung Galaxy line.... in particular, the Galaxy S Vibrant (known by other names on other networks, so let's not quibble).
The only thing that kept me from the Android platform was how cumbersome it was to use.
While there are some mobile enthusiasts out there who will claim that the platform is lacking, I have never once been in a situation where I thought to myself, hey I wish I could multitask. Once something draws me away, the back button is right there, my little friend.. who always helps me back to whatever experience I engaged in before the distraction.
Personally I do not care for MMS, as my carrier charges me per use. at that rate, I can use my unlimited data and share over Facebook and SKydrive to those I want to see my photos. As a result I haven't even tested to see if the feature works with my carrier's current APN settings.
My only pain point is that a few of the features that were demoed early in the year, are not yet available in Canada.
For instance, Bing searching does not bring back local maps. The city where I live has too small a population for 2D overhead maps. I find all of this interesting, as I do have birds-eye within the bing maps silverlight experience on the desktop.
Another feature our lovely land to the north is missing is the Zune Pass. I would happily pay for the ability to link Shazam to Zune, unfortunately due what I presume to be legal reasons, the zune pass is not presently available.
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My only hope now is that someone out there will create a Kinect-Based Star-Trek Exploration game that allows me to use my WP7 device as the infamous Tricorder.
I think that would totally kick ass. I'm thinking of a title we'll tentatively name "Star Trek: Red Shirt Adventures" Where you get to explore the worlds of Kirk's day, and all those up until Picard's day.
In this fashion a good story teller could preserve Trek Cannon and shed some light on the rich history to us causal trekkies. Maybe the objective is to burn through 1000 lives in a single play through.... who knows.... it was an idea, which I give openly to the internet to turn around and capitalize on, as I lack the ambition. Surely with XNA architecture as a base on both platforms, this should be doable.

Skex said:
3 foci (sp)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
correct

Finally a phone I love
Even though I've been in IT for 30 years, I had my first taste of smart phone ownership a little over a year ago with a BB Bold. I never needed one, but finally WANTed one. It was okay, but slow and not the easiest thing to type on. On 12/27 I upgraded to a Samsung Captivate. I really like the keyboard, but the darn thing kept powering off all by itself. When I noticed board postings about others' Captivates doing the same thing, I was determined not to play "let's see if this one works" and I traded for a Focus on 12/31. It is absolutely lovely. The only complaints I have are 1) the keyboard is a bit to small and 2) the hidden "diagnosis" settings really need to be easier to access. The good thing about that is I have joined groups like this one, where I am learning things I didn't know I wanted to know!

First day, first customer!!!
I have been a loyal WM/PPC user (iPAQ, Axim, 3125, TD2), and have been waiting for this phone. Having used TD2 and several Softbank (Japan) phones, I desire the following (only):
(a) Smart dial
(b) Toggle switches for Bluetooth/Wifi (like Cookies Home tab) on the Home Screen.
Nevertheless, very happy with my Focus.

Database Users

welcome