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Hello fellas and ladies!
My brother got an iPhone a few weeks ago and of course I have been testing it and comparing it to my first love (universal), which is still up for sale if anyone is interested !!!
I would like to mention the following (based on my comparison with my Uni) and ask you a question!
Pros:
3G/wifi internet is faster on the iPhone
- On Uni I have tried with Opera 9.5 and IE
Games are so much more advanced and flawless especially with the accelerometer!
Battery with heavy use on the iPhone lasts a little over a day! The Uni lasts much less with heavy use!! The battery on the Uni is terrible...
Cons:
No SD slot
Battery is not easily accessible
I hate iTunes
practically no cracked/patched soft/games <----- Huge downfall!!
At the moment I can't think of much else.
I can't wait for Omni any longer, they've been promising it for over a year and nothing yet.
So my question is: Would you consider switching from the Uni to the iPhone, and why?
serjay said:
Hello fellas and ladies!
My brother got an iPhone a few weeks ago and of course I have been testing it and comparing it to my first love (universal), which is still up for sale if anyone is interested !!!
I would like to mention the following (based on my comparison with my Uni) and ask you a question!
Pros:
3G/wifi internet is faster on the iPhone
- On Uni I have tried with Opera 9.5 and IE
Games are so much more advanced and flawless especially with the accelerometer!
Battery with heavy use on the iPhone lasts a little over a day! The Uni lasts much less with heavy use!! The battery on the Uni is terrible...
Cons:
No SD slot
Battery is not easily accessible
I hate iTunes
practically no cracked/patched soft/games <----- Huge downfall!!
At the moment I can't think of much else.
I can't wait for Omni any longer, they've been promising it for over a year and nothing yet.
So my question is: Would you consider switching from the Uni to the iPhone, and why?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never!! never!!
I just have too much reasons to not buying an Iphone never in my life......
Read here to find out more: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=314455
orb3000 said:
Never!! never!!
I just have too much reasons to not buying an Iphone never in my life......
Read here to find out more: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=314455
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have respectfully read and agreed with most points in that thread!
However! my main reason for getting the iPhone would be internet access and battery life. Yes! I said it! battery life! my Uni will not last 5 hours internet browsing + video + music + games + work (word, notepad, calc, txt, mail, camera and so on) And I don't want to get an extended battery as its bulky as it is.
As much as we all want to hate the iPhone (me included!), we can't deny its internet browsing speeds both on WiFi and 3G (which is at the moment my main interest) Also GPS, accelerometer (fun!) and the crisp LCD! + more of which I can't think of right now.
I also have a problem with my Uni losing signal quiet often, and I get complaints that I'm unreachable!!! and I have tried many ROMs and Radios to fix this.
I don't know if its the hype of the iPhone or my frustration with the Uni that I'm considering it.
I guess, I just want a phone that works and capable of browsing 3G speeds...
But I will miss all the necessities that PPC offers!
Why can't someone on this forum flash the iPhone with WM6.1???!!!! Now that would be sweet!
I don't know what to do, I'm in dire need of battery life + 3G speed + 3.5 LCD (and above) + compact and accelerometer lol
Any thoughts?
I had an Iphone and sold it....as a gadget is nice specially for its multimedia features, but as a convergence device falls short in many ways..I wouldn't even consider trade it back for my HtC tilt much less for the Uni.
Could you buy/check in your country Samsung i900 Omnia? Much more features than iPhone, everybody speaks very good about it, and in Italy even cheaper than iPhone.
If I had to choose between Omnia and iPhone no doubt for Omnia, but I still have my Universal and it still works so good (even better with all the ROMS here )
asolano895 said:
I had an Iphone and sold it....as a gadget is nice specially for its multimedia features, but as a convergence device falls short in many ways..I wouldn't even consider trade it back for my HtC tilt much less for the Uni.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I completely agree with you and I'm not even thinking of it as a replacement of my beloved Uni no matter how many times my Uni losses signal. I've even considered carrying them both in my two pockets, and yes I am joking!! but the thought did cross my mind!
But wouldn't you confirm that the battery life is better, 3G/WiFi is faster, and undoubtedly we'll see some development as far as hacks and manipulations with the ROM... I'm really hoping that someone can flash it with WM6.1 now that would be an awesome phone!
dagosjt said:
Could you buy/check in your country Samsung i900 Omnia? Much more features than iPhone, everybody speaks very good about it, and in Italy even cheaper than iPhone.
If I had to choose between Omnia and iPhone no doubt for Omnia, but I still have my Universal and it still works so good (even better with all the ROMS here )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We do have the i900 up here, but I don't want to downgrade to a smaller screen if anything I'd like a larger one. Aside from the screen size it's a very impressive phone!
I don't understand why manufacturers do this moronic.... THING!!!! its absolutely frustrating why would you compete (i900) with the iPhone which has a 3.5" lcd with a 3.2"!!!!???? if only i900 had a larger screen I wouldn't even turn my head in iPhone's direction....... uuuuhhhhggggghhhhhhh
Why not get a touch diamond or touch pro? I have gone from the XDA Exec (Universal) to the diamond and am happy.
The on screen keyboard is tricky at first but my diamond flies and gets over a day so far when using GPS / Wifi etc. I would have gone for the pro as I am very used to the unis keyboard but in the end I couldn't justify the £150+ on top of what I got my Diamond for to go with the Pro just for the keyboard, card slot and extra memory. Try one out you might be surpised how nice they are and what they offer
AndyChecker said:
Why not get a touch diamond or touch pro? I have gone from the XDA Exec (Universal) to the diamond and am happy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish it was that easy, but I can't seem to settle with a smaller screen size than the one I have now.. I simply can't.
I appreciate your recomendation but the screen size is stopping me from moving past this obsession with the iPhone! Also, the speed of the 3G/WiFi as I mentioned above is what pushing me to get the iPhone...
All the people I know who own an iPhone not only are they happy with it but with every passing day they enjoy it even more.
The iPhone is far from being a good phone for buisiness use. You have limitations with e-mails, you don't synchronise easily with Outlook, the contacts are not accessed as easily as on WM6 and that is a very important aspect, if you have many contacts in your list.
The iPhone will make you scroll much more through the list, which is time consuming.
I tried the browsing, but the lack of keyboard is frustrating. The browser might be quite good, but it is not THAT much better.
iTunes is too annoying for me - I don't want to synchronize my musics, I just want to copy my mp3 songs. I HATE iTunes and would NEVER buy an iPod unless they change that.
Then you get a completly locked device, no memory expansion, no SDK, no freeware,...
I know - there now is a free SDK, but it is limited (cannot access all funtions) and developers have to pay to publish it, which means there won't be freeware.
All in all, I would say, the iPhone looks good, is a nice gadget and suits a normal user fine.
I however like to have something more powerfull: great screen, keyboard, lots of software and emulators. Hell, on the Universal you can even run DOS!
Cheers,
vma
vma said:
The iPhone is far from being a good phone for buisiness use. You have limitations with e-mails, you don't synchronise easily with Outlook, the contacts are not accessed as easily as on WM6 and that is a very important aspect, if you have many contacts in your list.
The iPhone will make you scroll much more through the list, which is time consuming.
I tried the browsing, but the lack of keyboard is frustrating. The browser might be quite good, but it is not THAT much better.
iTunes is too annoying for me - I don't want to synchronize my musics, I just want to copy my mp3 songs. I HATE iTunes and would NEVER buy an iPod unless they change that.
Then you get a completly locked device, no memory expansion, no SDK, no freeware,...
I know - there now is a free SDK, but it is limited (cannot access all funtions) and developers have to pay to publish it, which means there won't be freeware.
All in all, I would say, the iPhone looks good, is a nice gadget and suits a normal user fine.
I however like to have something more powerfull: great screen, keyboard, lots of software and emulators. Hell, on the Universal you can even run DOS!
Cheers,
vma
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Completly agree mate, well said!
In that case I would prefer to try HTC G1 with the new Android, but Iphone never!
Cheers
vma said:
...I HATE iTunes and would NEVER buy an iPod unless they change that.
Then you get a completly locked device, no memory expansion, no SDK, no freeware,...
I know - there now is a free SDK, but it is limited (cannot access all funtions) and developers have to pay to publish it, which means there won't be freeware.
...lots of software and emulators. Hell, on the Universal you can even run DOS!
Cheers,
vma
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These are the reasons as to why I still haven't committed to an iPhone.
It would be very hard to go from a Uni to something so "LOCKED" and "ONE DIMENSIONAL" But I do need a fast internet browsing device and a better battery life without the bulk, and not to mention the ability to receive calls in a home's basement which my Uni is not capable of doing.
Perhaps I'll wait until the G1 comes out as orb3000 said but than again I've seen it and its hideous!
I don't know... I just need a phone that works with fast browsing abilities, but then again I'll miss all the things that the Uni and WM represent!!
Honestly try a touch pro or diamond for a few hours - get one and send it back if not happy? I think you will be surprised
AndyChecker said:
Honestly try a touch pro or diamond for a few hours - get one and send it back if not happy? I think you will be surprised
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe I'll go back to the mall and play with the diamond again... but I need someone to come with me so that I can be held away from the iPhone!! any volunteers?
vma said:
the contacts are not accessed as easily as on WM6 and that is a very important aspect, if you have many contacts in your list.[/QOUTE]
ahhh...Not true, with the latest firmware you can search through your contacts like in WM6
[QOUTE]
The iPhone will make you scroll much more through the list, which is time consuming.[/QOUTE]
Again, this is not true; for alphabetically arranged stuff in a list you can use the Alphabet row on the Right hand side to quickly scroll, otherwise IMHO scrolling is a lot easier with the new Multi-touch vs taking out the stylus and using it to scroll.
[QOUTE] tried the browsing, but the lack of keyboard is frustrating. The browser might be quite good, but it is not THAT much better.[/QOUTE]
Again, safari is miles ahead of internet explorer, using NF or opera reduces the margin by a fair margin, but guess what, all the sites that have been "optimized" for the iphone really fit seamlessly with the entire UI, and that is what makes safari a joy to use. Actually if you have an iphone (or can beg, borrow or steal one) try going to web sites like google, yahoo, amazon, facebook and see the difference yourself
[QOUTE]iTunes is too annoying for me - I don't want to synchronize my musics, I just want to copy my mp3 songs. I HATE iTunes and would NEVER buy an iPod unless they change that.[/QOUTE]
with the new itunes and the 2.0.x firmware , you can drag and drop your music into your iphone.
if you don't want to sync your PIM to outlook, you can forgo itunes completely and use a "FREE" winamp plugin"
going a bit off topic i simply HATE active-sync.(i may be a bit biased here as i owned a palm pilot and simply loved the simplicity and stability of Hot-sync
[QOUTE]Then you get a completly locked device, no memory expansion, no SDK, no freeware,...[/QOUTE]
Again, when we got our devices (UNI in our case) did we not have to worry about CID unlock, SIM unlock ???
How is jailbreaking and unlocking the iphone any different than what we did??
As far as an memory expansion slot is concerned, HTC is coming out with more and more devices without expansion slot, so why just blame apple??
[QOUTE]I know - there now is a free SDK, but it is limited (cannot access all funtions) and developers have to pay to publish it, which means there won't be freeware.[/QOUTE]
1)Yes, the SDK is free but is limited
2)Search for open toolchain to know how to get complete access
3)since you don't use iphone/itunes you have NO CLUE about the amount of free ware available through itunes. And did i mention that most of the software on the installer app and CYDIA is FREE.
talking bout "limited access", did the CORE player guys ever get access to the nVidia graphic accelerator in some HTC's??
[QOUTE]All in all, I would say, the iPhone looks good, is a nice gadget and suits a normal user fine.[/QOUTE]
very true
[QOUTE]I however like to have something more powerfull: great screen, keyboard, lots of software and emulators. Hell, on the Universal you can even run DOS![/QOUTE]
1)Uni's screen is CRAP. on a mildly sunny day, at max brightness the screen is completely washed out and unreadable.Yes it does have a VGA screen but the color reproduction, contrast is really really bad.
the iphone's screen on the other hand is FANTASTIC. with the sun beating down hard, the thing is still very readable!!! not to mention the contrast,brightness and colour reproduction is very good.
BTW when will HTC realise that it is time to R.I.P for the 65k screens???
2)leaving the 3g stuff apart, the iphone is way more powerful than are UNI (which is to be expected as the UNI is almost 3 years old)
3)if you can run DOS on the UNI, i can run UNIX bash on the iphone
4)there are loads of free QUALITY softwares and emulators available for the iphone (free and paid)
P.S- i made the switch from my uni to the iphone last year in oct. and have not regretted the decision even once.
heck its been more than 3 months since i last charged my UNI
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you fallenczar for the quality information as you are a previous Uni owner, thus you can create a relation between the two and provide a none biased opinion.
Thank you!
serjay said:
Thank you fallenczar for the quality information as you are a previous Uni owner, thus you can create a relation between the two and provide a none biased opinion.
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not a problem at all.
however bear in mind that your choice should be decided on what you intend to do with your phone.
if you REPLY to lot of emails/ need PUSH-email/edit documents / then stay away from the iphone.
if on the otherhand , you only read emails (or only occasionally reply) and want a good, simple and stable phone with excellent multimedia functions, go for the iphone.
on a side note, i felt that my UNI was never a good "phone", i always had problems with signal strength, people complained that my voice was to 'muffled' or choppy.
after switching over to the iphone, i have not experienced these problems, now it very well may be that my cell service provider has upgraded there equipment or installed a new tower in my vicinity, but i have reason to think otherwise
Never get rid of my Uni
Yes, I'll never get rid of it! It's a great device!
I laugh at those who carry around their laptops and cellphones. I have it in my pocket... Running WM, linux or Dos - trying to run Android, what would you want more...
hey guys just got my iPhone...
Would like to point out that so far I'm not impressed but I am loving the fast internet speeds. YouTube quality is absolutely horible; I am very disapointed with its quality very choppy but is still watchable.
I'm enjoying the fact that I can post using my phone, hoever entering text is very difficult and uncomfortable but I'm sure I can get used to it.
I will try to compare it to the Uni and report back
serjay said:
hey guys just got my iPhone...
Would like to point out that so far I'm not impressed but I am loving the fast internet speeds. YouTube quality is absolutely horible; I am very disapointed with its quality very choppy but is still watchable.
I'm enjoying the fact that I can post using my phone, hoever entering text is very difficult and uncomfortable but I'm sure I can get used to it.
I will try to compare it to the Uni and report back
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
choppy video...
how fast is your internet speed???
Sorry I haven't been home enough to make a comparison to my Uni...
What I found out is that the streaming video quality of the iPhone is as much pixelsted as on any other device, so I take back what I said above.
The 3G speeds are well beyond what I expected and a significantly faster than on my Uni.
I am very pleased with it right now and I can't wait to jailbreak it. I wish we had a section for the iPhone on this forum...
I'm posting using the iPhone, and the texting i'm getting used to so no issues with that!
Overall very pleased!
P.S. I've yet to try out the games..
I am the proud owner of a HTC touch HD phone, and a very happy owner too. I got it just before Christmas, and it is currently running on Duttys rom, 2.6. All in all my best phone so far.
As many, I have always looked upon the iPhone as one of the absolute best phones ever made, in my opinion it more or less revolutionized how we look upon a phone’s capabilities. However, since I have never had an iPhone, I found it hard to argument for or against it. Therefore I have bought one (used), which will arrive by mail within the next few days. When I get it, I will use it for a month and keep posting here how it goes and how it performs compared to the touch HD. Why do I do this? Because I’m curious, and because I want to see what all the hype is about, and most of all, i hate the fact that everyone is *****ing about which product is the best, but only a few has actually had and used the two phones for a longer period of time.
So far I bought the phone (iPhone 3g), and I am waiting for it to arrive. I must say the wait is long I have downloaded iTunes, so all I’m waiting for right now, is the phone itself.
Besides the normal things you do with a phone (calling, sms), I daily use my touch HD for web browsing, email correspondence and video and music. All of which performs perfectly (thank you coreplayer ). So this is what I plan to use the iPhone for, since touch HD is a windows mobile phone, I rely upon activesync to take care of my outlook contacts and calendar notes, we’ll see how well iTunes does this.
I also like the fact that it is so easy to get what you want with windows mobile, mostly through you guys here at xda.
When the phone arrives I’ll post my first experiences.
Update: 15-4-2009
It'll arrive tomorrow. Thanks for all the replys
Update 17-4-2009
First impressions
So i’ve used the phone for all in all 5-6 hours so far, so I can only tell you about my first impressions. I had some problems getting my music from my pc to the phone, it turned out that you have to enable music synchronization in itunes, in order to get anything transferred to the phone. First thing I did was to transfer my music through explorer (drag and drop), more or less the exact same way as with touch hd, this isn’t allowed, so I had to go through itunes, convert all my music, find out how to get it from itunes to the phone, before I could listen to music. In all in all much more difficult than I had believed, but now I know how it works, so hopefully this won’t be an issue in the future. I can see the problem for those who has many more songs than I had on my laptop, it’s takes a long time to convert to the itunes format, so this would be a major drawback. Why can’t I just put my mp3’s directly on the phone?
This being said, I really like the flow on the phone, the framerate compared to touch hd, is better, giving a better feel. However, I’ve been a bit annoyed by the sensitivity of the screen; it probably takes some getting used to.
Finally, when I used the phone this morning in my way to work, I had some issues with the 3G connection. My touch hd has no problems what so ever when I am using to surf and check mails and so on, the iphone used 3G for 3 minutes, and then I found myself browsing using edge, which is in my opinion is not an option. This is something that will be an annoyance if it keeps up (I’m hoping it was a onetime only).
As for the browsing itself, iphone surpasses the touch hd. Opera is simply to slow compared to safari, but if I can’t get a proper connection, there really is no choice.
One thing that really impressed though was the app store. All though you have to put in your credit card information in order to create an account, it is really easy to browse through all the apps, find what you like and install it. And there really are many different and funny apps, which all in all lifts the overall user value.
I’ll return in next week with more views. Thanks for all the responses
04-05-2009
The first many days.
Hey, sorry for the delay. Been busy at work, but finally found some time to write some more. I have had and used the phone for quite some time by now, it performs as expected. All though I begin to see the small bugs, which most people forget to mention when recommending the iphone. I read somewhere that the iPhone simply “just works”. That is not entirely true, yes I have never had a smartphone that performs as well as the iPhone, it has the least amounts of crashes and so on. However, to say that it simply works, is wrong. When I browse the web, safari hangs on every load, so you have to wait for the entire page to load until you start navigating. Furthermore the video player used in safari has a tendency to hang a lot when you are viewing a longer video, and especially if wifi is turned on. But still, the browser is the best mobile browser so far. Opera hangs/stalls/dies a lot too, and of the two browsers, I prefer safari. There’s still a long way to go until web browsing on the mobile is perfect.
The phone itself has rebooted three times, one time in a game and the two other times it just stalled and went black. Odd… Again if I compare to touch hd, it is more or less the same. My touch hd also died a lot of times, and the one thing that annoyed me most on a windows mobile device, is the fact that the memory isn’t flushed correctly. To many times you have to do a hard reboot, in order to get the memory cleared and to get good performance again.
I mentioned the connection problems earlier, or the lack of connection… Well it hasn’t improved, when you are traveling, the phone looses connection so many times it’s a major problem. Sometimes safari stops working when the connection is lost. Damn, that annoys me… So why don’t you just use wifi? Because with wifi turned on, the battery is used up in no time at all. This brings me to the next issue: The battery. I have to charge the phone one time every day, even with wifi turned off. “Then you use the phone a lot” you might say, and the answer would be: “yes I do, but that’s what the iphone is all about…”. If you don’t use the iphone for all the things that are so nice on the phone, why use it at all. I listen to music, surf the web, check emails, and play games on it daily. And this results in a charge a day. So all in all, the battery performance is poor. Furthermore if you are playing a game, and receive a phonecall, the game is shut down, without save, stupid…
This brings me to the app store, this is the one thing that makes me praise the iPhone. Yes we have the same on windows mobile, but not so approachable and comprehensive. Installing a game or a program could be much much easier on winmo. There is only one big flaw in the app store, if you are connected through 3G, there is a max on 10 mb per download. So if you find a game that’s larger than 10 mb, you have to wait to download it. Why??? 10 mb on 3g shouldn’t be a problem… By the way, you gotta love the facebook app… All though you can’t connect a contact to its facebook profile, it’s still a nice app
The GPS is not entirely accurate, but still usable. I won’t say that much about the gps since I don’t use it allot. And google maps is more or less the same as on touch hd.
The last thing: I saw many movies on touch HD. I have ripped many of my dvd’s and converted them to divx. On touch hd you just transfer the movie to the phone and you can see it. On iphone I have to convert it to some stupid format in order to see it. I hate having movies in so many different formats, and hate to rely upon itunes.
I’ll write a new post in the near future, and as for the guy who commented on my description on to much sensitivity: Sorry, but that’s just my experience of the phone
Samoht2003 said:
I am the proud owner of a HTC touch HD phone, and a very happy owner too. I got it just before Christmas, and it is currently running on Duttys rom, 2.6. All in all my best phone so far.
As many, I have always looked upon the iPhone as one of the absolute best phones ever made, in my opinion it more or less revolutionized how we look upon a phone’s capabilities. However, since I have never had an iPhone, I found it hard to argument for or against it. Therefore I have bought one (used), which will arrive by mail within the next few days. When I get it, I will use it for a month and keep posting here how it goes and how it performs compared to the touch HD. Why do I do this? Because I’m curious, and because I want to see what all the hype is about, and most of all, i hate the fact that everyone is *****ing about which product is the best, but only a few has actually had and used the two phones for a longer period of time.
So far I bought the phone (iPhone 3g), and I am waiting for it to arrive. I must say the wait is long I have downloaded iTunes, so all I’m waiting for right now, is the phone itself.
Besides the normal things you do with a phone (calling, sms), I daily use my touch HD for web browsing, email correspondence and video and music. All of which performs perfectly (thank you coreplayer ). So this is what I plan to use the iPhone for, since touch HD is a windows mobile phone, I rely upon activesync to take care of my outlook contacts and calendar notes, we’ll see how well iTunes does this.
I also like the fact that it is so easy to get what you want with windows mobile, mostly through you guys here at xda.
When the phone arrives I’ll post my first experiences.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looking forward to hear your experinces
Yep look forward to it!
Not sure it was revolutionary... the LG Prada was a full touch screen phone before the iPhone.. Apple just packaged it well... Steve jobs could box a turd and sell it. pretty much like Apples claim on the mouse! That was actually Xerox's baby!
Looking forward to your experience and an honest review / comparison between the 2!
I actually have both (HTC Touch HD and iPhone 3g), too
Yeah, waiting to see your comments...
We are talking about Apples & Oranges here!!! Arent we?
the real great things on the iphone are aps! they are realy cool, good looking, running smooth... but only one at a time with a verry bad cam and no mms... (yet )
if it had a better cam, MMS (soon) eand a real GPS (and GPS software) i would defintly forget my HD!
way to go pal, will be glad to read your reviews.
bouyaka said:
the real great things on the iphone are aps! they are realy cool, good looking, running smooth... but only one at a time with a verry bad cam and no mms... (yet )
if it had a better cam, MMS (soon) eand a real GPS (and GPS software) i would defintly forget my HD!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh my.
Jesus phone has a lot of shortcomings, but MMS? Who cares? It's the silliest thing since plastic toothpick. Why do you want to pay your operator for this surrogate email?
And do you really consider HD's camera usable?
daraj said:
We are talking about Apples & Oranges here!!! Arent we?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really.... I'll explain...
I've just sold my iPhone 3G and bought a HD. My reasons were...
1) I get bored and I had the iPhone since last July and fancied a change
2) I wanted expandable memory
3) I think the iPhone is looking dated now. Controversial I'm sure...
4) I now want stereo Bluetooth streaming for a new iO Play car kit I have had fitted
I used to change phones far too often and had 13 in a year once, but the iPhone is the longest serving handset I've had for a while. Despite not being bleeding edge when it comes to the specification, the way you interact with it, the simplicity, the fluidity and the Apple ecosystem all added up to make it a revolutionary phone. There is a reason why every new touch-screen phone is an iPhone killer.
The email client is superb, web browsing superb and media playback superb. And the text inputs auto-correction is very intelligent and doesn't just look out for spelling mistakes, but patterns in typing which it relates to possible words.
The App store is great, but getting full of rubbish making the genuinely useful stuff harder to find. Rumours are there will be a premier store soon. The O2 contracts are great, as the free data and free WiFi access are superbly implemented, switching between seamlessly. And once you've authenticated with the free WiFi once that's all you ever have to do. I could walk into a Starbucks, McDonalds, Costa, Hotel, Airport etc etc and it would connect to the WiFi before I even realised I was in a hotspot.
But it's not the Jesus phone everyone seems to think. And I hate, really, really hate the fan-boy love affair some people have with it... to the point I was embarrassed by it sometimes.
"No, I don't want to talk to you about your iPhone, stranger...."
The limitations in the iPhone are 75% software based, most of which will be corrected in version 3 of the software. Things like additional Bluetooth profiles, landscape text input in all apps, MMS, tethering etc will be welcome additions.
And that's one of the things that bothered me. These are simple things that really should be included as standard.
Things like the poor camera didn't bother me. I mean, Sony Ericsson have been putting rubbish cameras in phones they didn't market as imaging devices for years. If the camera is the main focus, there are much better options (like buying a camera).
The lack of expandable memory is a big deal for a multimedia phone though. I can understand the marketing / product reasons behind it, but even that seems to contradict the 'one device to do everything' approach Apple take with this.
Now to go back to my original point, Apples Vs Oranges, the HD and the iPhone aren't that different. Both have huge strengths, both have huge weaknesses, both have massive amounts in common. The thing that differs between them is down to the person buying it. What do you want from a phone....?
Out of the box usability and slickness? iPhone.
Endless tinkering, customisation and free reign of what you do with your phone? Touch HD
But both have the capability of matching the other in every single aspect. There is pretty much nothing that you can do with one that you can't with the other. Exactly the same can be said for Windows PC operating systems Vs Apple Mac OS X. Funnily enough, most of what I have said above can be applied in some way to that argument too.
So, the other downsides to the iPhone.... (some of this is entirely personal opinion).
Text input needs work in it's current form. The keys are just too small. This is made up by the excellent auto-correction, but it's still poor. And you can't add in new keyboards without jailbreaking, which brings me to..
Restrictive approach to third party applications. Apples closed-door approach has no benefits. I originally thought it would be good as it would ensure reliability and stability, but there are some terribly shaky applications in the App Store. I see no benefit in this for consumers and the only way around involves invalidating your warranty.
Hardware restrictions - No expandable memory, as above. Screen size Vs chassis size and screen resolution are falling behind the competition. Poor build quality is another factor that's not uncommon either.
If you are the kind of person who enjoys Windows Mobile, I predict you will get frustrated with the iPhones shortfalls and will be jailbreaking it within a day.
Robster83 said:
Not really.... I'll explain...
I've just sold my iPhone 3G and bought a HD. My reasons were...
1) I get bored and I had the iPhone since last July and fancied a change
2) I wanted expandable memory
3) I think the iPhone is looking dated now. Controversial I'm sure...
4) I now want stereo Bluetooth streaming for a new iO Play car kit I have had fitted
I used to change phones far too often and had 13 in a year once, but the iPhone is the longest serving handset I've had for a while. Despite not being bleeding edge when it comes to the specification, the way you interact with it, the simplicity, the fluidity and the Apple ecosystem all added up to make it a revolutionary phone. There is a reason why every new touch-screen phone is an iPhone killer.
The email client is superb, web browsing superb and media playback superb. And the text inputs auto-correction is very intelligent and doesn't just look out for spelling mistakes, but patterns in typing which it relates to possible words.
The App store is great, but getting full of rubbish making the genuinely useful stuff harder to find. Rumours are there will be a premier store soon. The O2 contracts are great, as the free data and free WiFi access are superbly implemented, switching between seamlessly. And once you've authenticated with the free WiFi once that's all you ever have to do. I could walk into a Starbucks, McDonalds, Costa, Hotel, Airport etc etc and it would connect to the WiFi before I even realised I was in a hotspot.
But it's not the Jesus phone everyone seems to think. And I hate, really, really hate the fan-boy love affair some people have with it... to the point I was embarrassed by it sometimes.
"No, I don't want to talk to you about your iPhone, stranger...."
The limitations in the iPhone are 75% software based, most of which will be corrected in version 3 of the software. Things like additional Bluetooth profiles, landscape text input in all apps, MMS, tethering etc will be welcome additions.
And that's one of the things that bothered me. These are simple things that really should be included as standard.
Things like the poor camera didn't bother me. I mean, Sony Ericsson have been putting rubbish cameras in phones they didn't market as imaging devices for years. If the camera is the main focus, there are much better options (like buying a camera).
The lack of expandable memory is a big deal for a multimedia phone though. I can understand the marketing / product reasons behind it, but even that seems to contradict the 'one device to do everything' approach Apple take with this.
Now to go back to my original point, Apples Vs Oranges, the HD and the iPhone aren't that different. Both have huge strengths, both have huge weaknesses, both have massive amounts in common. The thing that differs between them is down to the person buying it. What do you want from a phone....?
Out of the box usability and slickness? iPhone.
Endless tinkering, customisation and free reign of what you do with your phone? Touch HD
But both have the capability of matching the other in every single aspect. There is pretty much nothing that you can do with one that you can't with the other. Exactly the same can be said for Windows PC operating systems Vs Apple Mac OS X. Funnily enough, most of what I have said above can be applied in some way to that argument too.
So, the other downsides to the iPhone.... (some of this is entirely personal opinion).
Text input needs work in it's current form. The keys are just too small. This is made up by the excellent auto-correction, but it's still poor. And you can't add in new keyboards without jailbreaking, which brings me to..
Restrictive approach to third party applications. Apples closed-door approach has no benefits. I originally thought it would be good as it would ensure reliability and stability, but there are some terribly shaky applications in the App Store. I see no benefit in this for consumers and the only way around involves invalidating your warranty.
Hardware restrictions - No expandable memory, as above. Screen size Vs chassis size and screen resolution are falling behind the competition. Poor build quality is another factor that's not uncommon either.
If you are the kind of person who enjoys Windows Mobile, I predict you will get frustrated with the iPhones shortfalls and will be jailbreaking it within a day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I meant by that is the fact the HD is highly customizable to the bones, heck you can even run an Android OS on it. Iphone is a very closed OS with very little tweaks allowed by Apple ( Not talking about Jailbreaking) From the usability to the screen to the memory to the GPS vs A-GPS.. from the camera to almost everything in both phones are different. I consider the Iphone a weekend phone While the HD is a very business oriented phone that gets the job done and good.
Not sure If I can really say they are very similar. Just my 2 cents
daraj said:
What I meant by that is the fact the HD is highly customizable to the bones, heck you can even run an Android OS on it. Iphone is a very closed OS with very little tweaks allowed by Apple ( Not talking about Jailbreaking) From the usability to the screen to the memory to the GPS vs A-GPS.. from the camera to almost everything in both phones are different. I consider the Iphone a weekend phone While the HD is a very business oriented phone that gets the job done and good.
Not sure If I can really say they are very similar. Just my 2 cents
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's fair enough. But when you sit the two side-by-side and ask them to do the same task, there isn't much difference. If you think about what you do with your phone, I'd bet the HD does things in a very similar way to the iPhone. There are only so many ways to construct a text message, make a call or browse the internet on a touch screen mobile
The one big thing I didn't mention that you have just reminded me of, is the touch screen. The capacitive screen on the iPhone is much more responsive in use.
Robster83 said:
That's fair enough. But when you sit the two side-by-side and ask them to do the same task, there isn't much difference. If you think about what you do with your phone, I'd bet the HD does things in a very similar way to the iPhone. There are only so many ways to construct a text message, make a call or browse the internet on a touch screen mobile
The one big thing I didn't mention that you have just reminded me of, is the touch screen. The capacitive screen on the iPhone is much more responsive in use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup. WVGA on HD and VGA on Iphone ( Not sure if its even VGA)
pretty much it boils down to what you do with it. I have both devices. I use the HD and the iphone sits on the desk. I am an admin at my company and we are windows based the windows mobile device it the best phone for us. While I like the Iphone it is not praticle for me to use. I hav not found any thing that I do on the iphone that I gave not been able to find an app that works on the hd doing the same or better. I really like being able to change the rom on my phone and customise it. Can't really do that with the iphone. And I think the display on the HD is much better.
daraj said:
Yup. WVGA on HD and VGA on Iphone ( Not sure if its even VGA)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Capacitive Vs Resistive is a bigger aspect than the resolution which, I agree, the iPhone falls short of. It is HVGA (320x480).
You have to be crazy to think that the iphone hasnt changed the mobile industry. It is an amazingly capable, intuitive and beautiful device to boot compared to these piece of lard htc OS's (the stock ones).
I owned about 15 HTC/Winmo devices starting with the SPV c500 and culminating in the Diamond as soon as it came out and got an iphone 3g at around the same time. None of the roms could come close to the intrinsic slickness, speed and support for the iphone, I jailbroke it, and was blown away and it became my primary device. However the iphone is currently mediacentric and not a buisness/professional phone and I needed an OQO UMPC to carry around as well but it doesnt claim to be anything else in fairness.
I have been quite impressed by the cooked Win 6.5 roms and skyfire recently though, and I am going to buy the HTC Touch Pro2 when it comes out as I need to use programs like word with a built in keyboard and tv out facility and perhaps retire my UMPC/laptops. This forum is also a great feature in choosing a HTC phone for customisation.
And for people who say the iphone doesnt have microsd, poor camera etc... How many crippled HTC devices have we seen? The iphone has been in a class of its own untill recent catch up devices.
imperiallight said:
And for people who say the iphone doesnt have microsd, poor camera etc... How many crippled HTC devices have we seen? The iphone has been in a class of its own untill recent catch up devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Expandability is (in my opinion) essential for any electronic devices. I have an 8GB card in my HD now, and I plan on upgrading to a 32GB soon by simply inserting a memory card. iPhone...can't do that. You have to buy a new phone to do so. I also have a spare battery which I can swap out when I am on the road and can't charge my phone...like camping perhaps. Iphone...can't. I like to copy and paste text from one program to another (multitasking). iPhone...can't. The HD 5MP camera takes great pictures which can be geo tagged with great accuracy. iPhone (until v2.0 comes out)...can't. Sure, there are some HD's out there that are crippled or bricked. Why? Because people that have the mental capacity to appreciate a multitasking device/computer actually like to open the hood and tweak it. Sure, iPhone apps may seem to run smoother. But that's because of the lack of multitasking! My HD (or any other Windows Mobile device) runs processes and applications in the background so you can do more and be more productive.
Honestly, do a side by side comparison of the HD and the iPhone. And I am not talking software, I mean hardware. We can debate applications all day, but it's the hardware that defines the capabilities. If you want a list of HD hardware features then I will post them for you.
*double post*
DerrickD2,
You have misunderstood the thrust of my post, that the iphone was/is a trailblazing and revolutionary device in the mobile sector. It seems anywhere bar this 'nerdy spec-hugging' forum that its not too hard to accept. The Touch HD is a better device in my opinion too as like I already stated, other companies have played catch up. There is no need to tell me its hardware specs.
But to pick up on a few points:
* Upgradeable SD is important, it annoys me to only have 16gb but I can stream content off free iphone optimised filestores available, some providing 10gb a go. Not ideal but workable.
* Spare battery, well the iphones battery is pretty decent and lasts for many years. If you want to keep the battery charged you can do it on the fly by adding these 'double your battery' packs and their ilk/cases when you are running low and you dont even 'have to swap the battery':
http://us.kensington.com/html/15462.html
* You can cut and paste text in jailbroken phones within the app. You can mulitask too, to an extent on JB phones although I dont know if it's sytemwide cut and paste (prob. not)
* Megapixels aren't everything on a camera. Its about the lens too. The 2MP camera of the iphone image quality is known to be quite decent, better than most 3.2MP HTC offerings but I agree it should have a better camera.
* Like I said the iphone isn't productivity centred and its probably why they dont consider multitasking a crucial feature but from what I understand its processor is faster than any HTC phone. Jailbroken iphones can run background apps too but obviously native apps dont support this.
We can debate applications all day, but it's the hardware that defines the capabilities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is so contentious! Hardware can define the capabilites and software/OS/User experience can define the capabilties! It depends on what the consumer needs. Horses for course's!
I've been wanting and waiting to buy the xperia since it was released. I'm finally just about to buy it (had one ordered but the order fell through on their end, and so now have time to reconsider). I'm a programmer and very technically-minded, so I am not anticipating having any technical problems with optimizing/dealing with the phone. I'm looking for something powerful (and beautiful) that I can customize and use fully for a while.
However, I see many posts here about people regretting purchasing the xperia, mostly because of sluggish performance (and case cracks). When I go to the local Sony store to play with the display phone they have, I can definitely see that I would be very unhappy with a stock set, it's too unresponsive for me, plus the finger-friendly issues with win6.1. I know all about the different speed tweaks and touchscreen response tweaks available here for the xperia, but it's hard to get a feeling for just how well they work and how much a difference they really make.
But since I'm a regular xda reader, etc, I have hopes that some of the nice roms posted here will improve the system responsiveness, I'm especially looking at gtrab's set, mobilevu's v-lite and wild child's concept rom.
My question is: even if you continue to stick with the phone, do you actually regret getting the xperia?
I've been waiting for a long time for a real killer phone and while the xperia looks like it for me, I don't want to be disappointed even with custom roms... the hero looks like an option to me if the xperia isn't going to live up to my hopes.
thanks!
Absolutely I regret it. At the time I had just drowned a k850i, and bought another k850i to replace it. Then I saw a decent deal on an X1a, and I went for it. For the money, this phone just isn't worth it. I was happier with my SE dumb phones. I'm waiting for the Idou or whatever they're calling it now. This is after spending months waiting for the c905a...
best phone if you know how to use wm or if you are not too stupid to figure out how
some people are really dumb and should just get an Iphone though
DatDereX1 said:
best phone if you know how to use wm or if you are not to stupid to figure out how
some people are really dumb and should just get an Iphone though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely.
I never had a single doubt about it.
My question is: even if you continue to stick with the phone, do you actually regret getting the xperia?
Yes, I regret getting the Xperia X1.
I've had an XDA of one sort or another for the last 4-5 years so I'm used to WinMo and it isn't the OS that's the problem. My perception is that it is too fragile for day-to-day use. My sig says changed twice due to cracks in the casing... make that three times as of today!
It is only the fantastic ROMs from the talented chefs here at XDAdev that make it bearable. Most of the ROMs have Rhodium enhancements, and since I really like those enhancements, I'll be looking at a Rhodium next time around.
Nope because I get every dollar (even with the discount) out of my purchase. I use ALL of the features on a daily basis lol.
I do not regret buying an X1. But, buyer beware, it is not perfect out of the box.
My fun was getting it perfect for my preferences. I enjoy having the option to dig in and customize my device with various software or settings tweaks.
It is a well made device and the R3 rom which was finally released for NAM yesterday has improved my reception as well as speed and smoothness running different programs.
I have also flashed it multiple times with custom roms from the chefs here at XDA.
While the price for it was, and still is, ridiculous, I am happy with the phone overall.
I would love to see a winmo 6.5 upgrade for it in the future but realistically, I don't expect it.
I have had mine for around four months, have no cracks in the case and protect my screen with a Martin Fields protector. I use a ICE-45 OEM case.
I would recommend this phone as long as you have disposable income.
It doesn't matter what you buy, in six to twelve months something better will be available. That can be said for all high tech devices.
i do regret it, i've been using sony ericsson for 3 years and lots phones: k800> k608> M600> W880> K850 > W960 >xperia1
somehow Xperia1 is not perfect to me
- camera isnot better even than k800/k850/w960
- music player is definitely worsen/ not friendly than k850/w960- this 2 phones were amazing at its onw strengths- camera/music
- xperia speed is somehow slow/ often hang
that all i want SE to improve and put effort on X2/3 which should have combination of k850 camera/ w960 music and speed. if they do it, their phone would be perfect all aspects
If you are not too concern about the lack of response, I would say its one of the better WM phone..
If you are not too concern about phone hanging once in a while, I would say its one of the better WM phone
If you are not too concern about the music quality, I would say its still one of the better WM phone
If you are not too concern about Window Mobile OS, I would say go get the X1
Do your research on the X1 and compare features before you decide..
For me, yes, I regret it and it has such a low resell value that I am stuck with it for a while now
xperiance said:
I've been wanting and waiting to buy the xperia since it was released. I'm finally just about to buy it (had one ordered but the order fell through on their end, and so now have time to reconsider). I'm a programmer and very technically-minded, so I am not anticipating having any technical problems with optimizing/dealing with the phone. I'm looking for something powerful (and beautiful) that I can customize and use fully for a while.
However, I see many posts here about people regretting purchasing the xperia, mostly because of sluggish performance (and case cracks). When I go to the local Sony store to play with the display phone they have, I can definitely see that I would be very unhappy with a stock set, it's too unresponsive for me, plus the finger-friendly issues with win6.1. I know all about the different speed tweaks and touchscreen response tweaks available here for the xperia, but it's hard to get a feeling for just how well they work and how much a difference they really make.
But since I'm a regular xda reader, etc, I have hopes that some of the nice roms posted here will improve the system responsiveness, I'm especially looking at gtrab's set, mobilevu's v-lite and wild child's concept rom.
My question is: even if you continue to stick with the phone, do you actually regret getting the xperia?
I've been waiting for a long time for a real killer phone and while the xperia looks like it for me, I don't want to be disappointed even with custom roms... the hero looks like an option to me if the xperia isn't going to live up to my hopes.
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I regret getting the Xperia...
The Primary Reasons (In Priorities Order) That I Got Xperia:
1) Optical Mouse - All of the reviewers on the internet kept referring the D-pad as an Optical Mouse. I didn't want an Optical Joystick, I wanted a Mouse. Furthermore the effing reviewers rarely mentioned that the D-pad was horrible.
2) The keyboard - Everyone raved that the keyboard was amazing, so I thought that I'd enjoyed it. But I think even the HTC Touch Pro 1 has a better keyboard. Why? We all know the front D-pad on TP1 and X1 sucks so much. But atleast Touch Pro 1 is designed for text functionality and has a keyboard D-pad which Xperia lacks. I was at first content with the lack of keyboard arrows because I expected the optical mouse and D-pad to work flawlessly. The Xperia does not have good indicators for Capitalization or blue FN keys. You have to look at the screen and it is hard to tell compared to looking and typing simultaneously on the keyboard. I always capitalize or insert symbols/numbers unexpectedly. The number keys are hid behind the text and I have never used a keyboard on a phone before so I thought it was a smart move with the Xperia. But it's just totally not effective.
Furthermore I rarely use the front D-pad in portrait mode because that is when my stylus is out, and I learned that it is most useful to use it when you are in keyboard mode, except the optical mouse is hard to use and I want keyboard-like arrow buttons.
3) I never had a depressed screen before - I learned that I would rather have scratches on my phone than have a depressed screen. I remember on a few forums that I praised the X1 for having the "usefulness" of a depressed screen, and now I apologize and join the other side of the argument.
4) I thought the screen was big. I was wrong, I've never had any phone with 3 inch screens before and I thought that 3 inch was big. This is why I do not install Touch Flo roms on this phone because Touch Flo owns on a 3.5+ inch screen, but is pointless in a <3.0 inch screen
5) I expected the front face keys to be easy to press and enjoyable. Boy was I wrong.
6) I thought the chrome was metal chrome as well. I was wrong again. It is chipping off already and the D-pad is also chipping off is glossy paint. But I have to admit it that peeling that paint off makes the D-pad looks much more high quality at the cost of losing the shininess.
7) I thought that the silver battery cover was scratch less and easy to remove from the back. It took me 3 months to perfect the art of battery cover removal.
8) The CPU is slow, but I think there is something wrong with my Xperia. I have a Samsung SCH-I760 in which Pocket Player and Core Player is twice as fast as the Xperia X1 with optimized settings.
The only thing that is preventing my from selling my Xperia is the fact that I love the gorgeous R3A Media Panel and its interface and the 3.5 mm headphone jack and the Flash LED.
xperiance said:
My question is: even if you continue to stick with the phone, do you actually regret getting the xperia?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What none of the replies are saying is that it depends quite a lot on where you live and mostly work.
Why ? Because the X1 has a truly terrible GMS signal reception in marginal areas, irrespective of which radio ROM you have installed. I've tested this side by side with an HTC P3650 and an Acer DX900, using the same SIM in each device, directly after one another. The X1 works fine in the cities, hopeless in marginal areas.
Also the 3G UMTS (internet) capability is limited to 1900/2100Mhz in the X1. If you need UMTS 850Mhz in regional areas, try for an X1a.
The original battery is underpowered and heats dangerously with continued use of GPS or wifi while on charge.
Hmmm this is a hard one to tackle.... for me I always regret some part of the phone... maybe frustrated is the work I should use instead of regret. my phone progression has been
550 motorola flip --> Motorola TAC Elite --> Motorola QWERTY messaging phone (forgot the model) --> SE P800 --> BB 7250 & SE W900 --> BB 8830 & Nokia N95 --> BB 8830 & Nokia N85 -- BB 8830 & SE X1
the X1 marked a major change in the way I used my personal phone, primarily for e-mail and messaging, so my criteria have changed a bit. Although the N95/N85 were smart phones, i still primarily used them as phones, and not integrated messaging devices. The Blackberry was always for work, and has always primarily been a messaging device so I have drawn the baseline experience from that.
To answer your question in short: No. No serious regrets.
To answer you question in detail: Yes, I have regrets but the issues can be mitigated/X1 seemed to be the best blend of trade-offs:
1) Lack of free integrated international maps. Global data roaming costs and arm and a leg. Pay as you go in some countries don't include data, so Google Maps downloading data is a bit of a concern when i'm using the GPS abroad. This was a factor when I was deciding between the X1 or N97. I spend 9 of 12 months in home territory so i can probably manage without free international maps. (Garmin, Wayfinder don't have maps for Japan or other Asian countries that I spend time in, and you have to pay for maps unlike the free Nokia Maps app)
2) Windows Mobile quirkiness. WM 6.1 is slow. Weird things happen like accounts go missing, spontaneous reboots, lock ups, crashes, when you install different things. It's not as customizable (stock), I haven't found a voice dialler/voice synth, and the menu system is not intuitive. The messaging system is more robust however, and there is great aftermarket customization (ROMS and MODS from here), etc. I think some of these shortcommings can easily be rectified by the community, but they're still annoying. COmmunity and aftermarket support maturity ended up being a huge factor for me.
3) Form factor. It is slightly thicker than my N85, but thinner than my N95, just as wide, and only 1 cm or so taller. It is comfortable in my hand and is pocketable. The N97 is not much bigger, but the BB Bold is a lot fatter. Seemed like a good compromise.
4) Battery Life. Horrid. I could get 3-4 days normal use with my N85. I use 30% of the battery on a low usage day, and 50-60% on a moderate usage day. Mind you I use the data a lot more, which does suck up more battery, but I should get more than a day's charge out of it IMO. I'm going to chalk this up to my use of data, and hope that there is a future radio/rom upgrade that is easier on battery usage.
5) Functionality as a messaging device. I IM, e-mail, and SMS much more than I call. probably 8-to-1. I do find myself resorting back to my BB8830 for heavy IM usage sessions, possibly because I am more familiar with it, but realistically because I'm much more used to the keyboard. Heavily considered the BB Bold for this reason alone. Maybe things will change after a month or two getting used to the X1. The N97 which I also considered had serious issues as being a robust messaging device. It seemed adequate, and may have improved with further firmware releases/development, but S60 5th Edition seemed limited in more ways somehow.
6) Recessed screen. Pain in the ass. Not a deal breaker tho since I have thin fingers and am pretty dexterous. I can understand why this would be a larger issue for other people however. Definitely a poor design choice.
7) Volume. This is a quiet device. I'll have to amplify and re-jig all my custom call tones, and what not. Annoying, but manageable.
8) Poor camera. I'm used to a really good quality 5 MP Carl Zeiss lense that was on the N85. I didn't use it much but it was a nice thing to have as a backup. I feel a bit stifled by the camera on the X1, but since I'm not really using it that much, it becomes a lower weighted criteria.
So as you can see, for me, it was not a simple choice between a BB Bold, SE X1, Nokia N97, or waiting for the new Samsung B7610, HTC Touch 2, SE X2, or some other next gen device. Lots of factors, and yes I do have regrets around a lot of them, but you do the best you can and just move on.
I've found with some tweaking the X1 usable/tolerable, and meeting 80% of my needs. Nothing will ever be perfect, and if I follow the 80/20 rule, meeting 80% of my requirements for a decent price is usually as good a deal as I can ask for.
On reflection, yes... I regret it.
I resent the implication by DatDereX1 that somehow the phone's shortcomings are down to my stupidity. If it was a simple case of software, then all of the problems would instantly be resolved by a flash of the ROM - but that isn't the case. WinMo aside, the hardware is far from perfect:
* abysmal battery life
* poor responsiveness to touch
* recessed screen
* case suceptible to cracks
* poor external speaker
* reception is poor (compared to other devices in the same location on the same network)
When you throw in the stock software, you can add to that sluggish performance and poor usability. Out-of-the-box it is quite simply a device that is well below par.
With custom ROMs the situation becomes bareable but you still can't get away from the basic hardware issues... and even with the ROMs, performance is still far from lightening quick.
Even those devoted to WinMo would surely have to conceed it is not the best implementation of the OS on a device.
i bought it after selling iphone 3g...was tired of iphone's on-screen keyboard....and the phone was jus too wide...holding it made my palms ache.
other than that..the features werent elaborate
so i bought X1...X1 is everything i wanted in a phone..but it could do with many improvements.
some problems i have with x1:
1. Panels crash sometimes..very rarely..but when they do..i have to soft reset.
2. Camera is slow.
3. panels development not as fast as expected.
4. scrolling on windows mobile sux.
5. touch response....dont know if its windows mobile or hardwares fault...but it can be improved...iphone has a very good touch response.
i bought it after selling iphone 3g...was tired of iphone's on-screen keyboard....and the phone was jus too wide...holding it made my palms ache.
other than that..the features werent elaborate
so i bought X1...X1 is everything i wanted in a phone..but it could do with many improvements.
some problems i have with x1:
1. Panels crash sometimes..very rarely..but when they do..i have to soft reset.
2. Camera is slow.
3. panels development not as fast as expected.
4. scrolling on windows mobile sux.
5. touch response....dont know if its windows mobile or hardwares fault...but it can be improved...iphone has a very good touch response.
I only regret I have no Xperia. I bought one for my wife and she uses it greatly. I have no money currently to spend on another one. I'm stuck for 5+ years with my old trusted Nokia 6230 (not even 6230i) phone if you remember the one.
I know definitely my next phone will be some PPC with WinMo. Maybe X2...
i do regret buying the x1, because now i want something more powerful with more features, eye candy and sexier...but u know what? i am still yet to find the device.
i really want to replace my x1 but i cant see anything to replace it with, will never buy the iphone unless it comes with fm radio, camera light or flash, mp3 for ringtones and multitasking abilities...so im kinda stuck with my x1, lets hope the x2 is much sexier, or else i would be buying a future htc android device with sense ui
i have two problems with the x1 so far
1. the battery loses its paint when touched often
2. the battery life is worse than my p1i ...thing is that i did more on my p1i than i do on my x1
Not at all, I love it.
All phones have their faults, hell, I sold my E90 Communicator to get one of these.
I loved that phone too, but Nokia's support of it was abysmal (it took them over a year to release a firmware fix for the Bluetooth issue that they broke with a firmware release...) and it got to the point where it was becoming a pain to use.
With all technology, there will be problems, they are coded by humans don't forget
I'd rather have 'quirks' or little niggles that can be sorted with small apps or tweaks than to have a featureless brick any day of the week.
Plus, it gives me a chance to satisfy my *need* to play with the newest toys!
I love my Xperia.
I am sick of these threads.
I don't know why so many of you say that you regret buying it (even though one of you that said they regret it also said it was the best phone available).
If you are unsure about a product read more about it. If you regret buying an Xperia (especially since you are at XDA-dev) it's your own damn fault.
Hannigan174 said:
I love my Xperia.
I am sick of these threads.
I don't know why so many of you say that you regret buying it (even though one of you that said they regret it also said it was the best phone available).
If you are unsure about a product read more about it. If you regret buying an Xperia (especially since you are at XDA-dev) it's your own damn fault.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats so true.
It is just such a tiny little effort needed to put into the x1 to make it the most powerful phone of all.
Again I must stick to my phrase:
Regretting == Not being able to handle the X1
After having read one too many "I hate my Xperia and wish I had an iPhone" thread I thought I'd make a thread for people to remember why they bought an Xperia.
Does it have it's issues? Absolutely, but it makes up for it (for me at least) in many other ways.
I originally bought the Xperia X1a because it was the ONLY 3G capable WVGA device available for AT&T bands (850Mhz and 1900Mhz). It has a nice feeling keyboard, it has a beautiful display, and it has a very nice hand-feel. Even when I pick it up now it just feels so good in the hand. In fact I haven't had one that felt so good to hold since my old SE W810i. I had the Hermes and Kaiser and both were clunky and unenjoyable to hold.
The Xperia keyboard has a very pleasant keyboard. Its clicks are well defined and the arc slider's spring assist makes it a real joy to slide out. Also my battery life has been superb. Even running 24/7 Push E-mail and a separate IMAP account I still get over 48 hours of power.
Also it came with SPB Mobile Shell for FREE. SPB is, arguably the best Windows Mobile Shell available and it was a sheer joy to use, and while the default SE Panels were rather unimpressive I love that I can switch from Titanium/Sense, to SPB, to PointUI, as well as the absolutely gorgeous Growing Panel with just two presses.
While the processor is unimpressive it has been consistently able to run AVC Video at WVGA resolutions (some ROMs worked better than others, actually).
Sony also added a pretty good Xt9 SIP keyboard (I prefer TouchPal anyway) and with custom ROMS bringing Titanium and Sense to my Xperia I wonder why I would get anything else.
Pros:
1) Very High Res screen (More than double the lowly iPhone)
2) Latest UIs (I got SPB MS 3 from Korean site )
3) Great hand-feel
4) Great 3G performance (if you are on U.S. AT&T Xperia X1a is the best, for now)
5) Long Battery life
For those of you who might say I am glossing over some of the downsides, well sure, but this is a why I am HAPPY with my Xperia thread. (I have found most of the complaints to either be largely due to user error, or what I would call "making mountains out of molehills", but that's just my opinion).
Anyone else feel like their much maligned X1 has been getting unfair treatment feel free to offer some positive feedback for the device that, hopefully, we all still love.
P.S. - I got this idea from flamingsamurai
I am loving this phone right now.
*Opera mini feels as fast as my LEO and 3gs.
*The ability to use panels is a good point too.
*HTC Kaiser and TP2 were nice but chunky phones for me (bricks).
*The screen is just about as wide as the iphones and the device is much smaller.
*The hardware keys come in really handy. The optical sensor is good for menus.
*The keyboard is nice with good width for keys.
*Its a beautifully constructed metallic device.
* I am using vakleryire firestorm leo with htc sense activated in the home menu and it feels like a compact leo.
*No accelerometer but I use left softkey remapped to rotate screen.
* Android and Ubuntu are in deep progress as far as I can see (3 OS in one!).
Many more too.
Swap with 1ghz, increased ram/rom and the 0.2 inch for the screen and you have one of the best devices out there!
I like my X1 because it actually 'feels' like a communication device rather than an MP3 player with a call function. I honestly think the iphone looks and feels really dopey. I also have to agree that it feels great in the hands too. The way the keyboard springs open is just incredibly badass. The weight and the metal fascia just feel so classy. The panels are fun to change up every now and then, and I think it's just cool to have windows on such a tiny device. I thought my itouch felt like I had a little computer on me at all times, but the X1 is even more so. I feel a lot more organized on the X1 than I think I would with an iphone.
I had a hard time choosing between the X1 and iphone, but in the end, I couldn't justify paying the same price for a device (3G) with far less inferior hardware specs than the X1 just because of what it is. I generally hate apple products and didn't want to give in to their supremacy by getting and iphone. Sure apple's touchscreen is awesome, but I didn't feel I needed it for a phone; that's where my itouch comes in.
I found that apple's accelerometer annoying sometimes when I'm using it in weird angles, i.e. lying down in bed. I think I'm just glad to know that my X1 would be vastly superior in outer space than an iphone. You know, space-proof, just in case.
In the end I'm glad I made my decision to get the X1 and keep my itouch for my apple needs, rather than combining everything into one device. I'll use my itouch for video, music, and games; my X1 strictly for communication and productivity.
I actually love my X1 and think that it was the best phone I could get. After learning about the potential physical short comings, I'm going to do my best to baby this phone to make it live forever. If she dies, I'll revive her.
Sony eirccson is a pretty cool guy. eh is better than teh ifone and doesn't afraid of anything...
A message to the OP; when did you purchase your X1? Was it brand new. refurbished, or used?
Anyways, if the device was increased to the scale of having a 3.5 inch screen, I would definitely have kept my device.
Absolutely agree with everything said, especially about the X1 being space proof =D
Also people complain about WM, and I have no problem with it, its perfectly logical, and if you use a rom which you like, then it runs fine. Someday you'll be able to jump ship to android. Anyways I'll always love it, its fun to fiddle around with, rather than be a boring symbian phone, where you have no control.
And wheres the fun in having a phone everyone has?
Great thread Hannigan
I wouldn't call the phone cracking by itself user error. It's true, the phone does have good points, but it doesn't get the basics down.
If I have to keep the phone in a safe vault for it to not crack, what use is it?
I like the optical sensor and having the ability to choose between the optical sensor and physical clicks for directional input. However, I hate the feel of the keyboard.
Finally a thread where people actually enjoy the phone
What I like about the X1:
The Professional look and feel of the phone
Screen size and HD Res.
Modding capabilities and Hacks and the Different UI's you can put on it.
Camera front and Back and video recording
Optical mouse pad
Keyboard
Speed of phone, yes thats right I said Speed.
Wifi
GPS
HD games/PS1, sigh....... I miss Call of Duty 2 but I just couldn't go back to Sh!ty 6.1
And most of all The fact that their very little people that have heard of or seen this phone where i live. Actually I'm the only that owns one I don't know anybody with this phone in Auburn,NY .
@Rydock I'm glad to see your enjoying your X1 so far.
I'm still getting use to my X2 (just got it this week) but over all the more I get use to it the more I love it.
Single greatest reason why I love my X2 is .... Keyboard! =) (I hate typing on my ipod touch, nor do my fingers allow for a smooth scroll on the screen).
My only hope is the 2 up and coming firmwares fixes the little minor issues I have.
poetryrocksalot said:
A message to the OP; when did you purchase your X1? Was it brand new. refurbished, or used?
Anyways, if the device was increased to the scale of having a 3.5 inch screen, I would definitely have kept my device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought mine new on eBay from an Australian retailer selling a Telstra NextG model (it comes unlocked). Only U.S. sources I could find had significantly higher prices for the X1a. I received it in February or so I think? About 1 year old.
Why do you ask about age and status? I presume you had one and are on U.S. AT&T. Were you curious since it is so rare in U.S.?
P.S. - I would prefer a bigger, flush screen. Then again it is still the largest screened phone I have ever had. And for me the physical keyboard is a huge benefit (Had Hermes and Kaiser before so I like them side sliders).
My X1 is still my favourite phone, the modding capabilities are what does it for me.
I like the fact it's my phone, I've customised it to how I want it to work, I can't do that to any other phone I've owned.
The screen is great, it runs smoothly, i can get push email from multiple accounts no problem, I sync my contacts and calendar, vide oplayback is generally good, ther are a few files that is has problems with, but that's pretty rare.
Sound quality is great, shame abut the speaker, but I generally have it on silent and use a bluetooth headset or headphones.
It looks great, the build is solid, it's been dropped countless times now, ther are a few dents, cracks and scratches, but I expect that after the battering it's had over the last months!
I love having a QWERTY, but I wish it was more friendly for single hand use.
I've found myself using titanium over any panels, and things like the wifi router abilities, even torrents, mean i can do anything I want on it.
The X2 with a 1GHz processor would probably be my ideal phone! Just wish that looked more like the X1.
I'm happy to see that there are at least a few of us who are more than satisfied with the Xperia
It's always good to hear some positivity for a change. Thanks for the input, to all of you.
It's been a year since I last used my Xperia regularly. I would like to use it more, because I really enjoy the QWERTY keyboard (it has four rows and a dedicated @ button, etc) and it's a very versatile device. There are some great ROMs out for it now as well: Sense 2.5, Windows Mobile 6.5.3, X2 and what not.
But what keeps me from going back to it is the Xperia's tiny screen, in combination with the high resolution. WVGA is mainly used on 4, 3.7 and 3.5 inch displays, and not on merely 3 inches. In fact, is there even another 3" WVGA device in the world? It looks great, sure, but everything is so petite that it hurts my eyes
I think such a small display also puts a lid on the overall user experience. If the Xperia had a 3.5" display, or even 3.2", I would have used it *a lot* more. Because as pointed out in this thread, it does have plenty of strengths.
Hi all,
in fact I just BOUGHT an X1 afresh!
I'm using an HTC Touch HD with customized ROM as my primary device, and still think that's the best setup for me. The only things that bugged me were the width and the absolute lack of any tactile experience.
So I shopped around ...
In fact I actually ordered a Motorola Milestone: I wanted to see if I liked Android, the reviews are enthusiastic, and it has a hardware keyboard.
Guess what: I sent it back the day it was delivered. (but that's another story)
And so I went back to Windows Mobile.
My new X1 (and in fact it is brand new) has everything that I was looking for. It sits well in your hand, and I mean as a phone it feels just right. I'm quite happy with the keyboard, and I love the rich feel of the slider. And finally: Hardware buttons hooray!
Other than that it's got pretty much everything my Touch HD has, minus the G-sensor (and I can live with that).
So I use the HD for business (because it's lightweight and discreet to carry in a jacket) and for navigation (big screen!) and the X1 for leisure. Btw, the media panel is just amazing in terms of audio output!
All in all I've fully returned to WM thanks to the X1, and I don't see myself migrating to Android, WebOS, iPhone or Symbian any time soon. Windows Phone 7 Series (or whatever it's called) is downright scary in its restrictions, so I'm glad that 6.x will still be around for power users like us.
Bliss.
N.
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.
===============================
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.