Hey all,
Firstly, if this thread is in the wrong place, then by all means move it. There are specific threads for Android and Wp7 questions, however this does not have to do with either of them specifically.
Anyways, I'm thinking of getting the HD2; I know it's an ageing phone but it seems to do the impossible
My reasons are
1) I'm looking for a phone to tie me over until I can afford a more "Upgrade-y" kind of upgrade, specs wise it is a downgrade from my current phone.
2) I love tinkering with phones and using the latest builds of whatever this baby runs. Unfortunately I'm no dev but maybe I'll get to it some day. Anyways, this will be more or less a toy for me, and perhaps even an educational tool.
3) I've gone through a lot of phones and I tend to get somewhat bored with them, which is why I cycle through them pretty often. The amazing HD2 runs so many things I doubt I'm going to get bored.
Anyways, I would like some user opinions on the usability of this phone. I realize that using the latest Jelly Bean build or whatnot will probably be slow and sluggish, and that's usually fine (as long as it's not slow to the point where it's unusable) but at times I will need stable roms. I'd like to know how performance is on the most stable of roms. I don't use it for games much, only texting and light web browsing, so for these simple tasks I'd expect them to be buttery smooth, but is that how it works in reality? let me know.
Also, aside from the great things I hear about the HD2, I've also heard of a freezing issue that pretty much renders the phone unusable without a hard reboot, and I hear it is due to the CPU overheating. I'm not sure if this is such a common issue but please let me know.
Finally, how does this perform with day to day functions? Screen legibility, speaker volume, responsiveness, battery life, etc...
Thanks a ton!
-Dillon
I had no problems using the HD2 until the digitizer died on me (common issue).. Screen legibility is great on such a huge screen, speaker volume is good, responsiveness is good, and battery life is decent. I could get through an entire day with some calls, some games, some texting and still have ~40% left. The performance is great on most roms I have tried. All AOSP/CM/etc ICS, GB, and Froyo are all very smooth. Even the sense roms ported over from newer devices are butter smooth. There are so many choices, you can practically flash a new rom every week and won't be bored by the end of the year.
Hey, thanks for the reply.
Do you know what the digitizer problem is caused by? Perhaps I can prevent it. But if I can't, would buying a new digitizer fix the problem?
Sent from my Kindle Fire using xda app-developers app
No problem, the digitizer problem is caused by the digitizer flex ribbon physically wearing out over time. It only occurs because the "end call/power" button is directly on top of that flex ribbon.. You can avoid this by not using the power button at all and use an app that emulates that button to turn off your phone. Buying a new digitizer will fix the problem, but if you have never opened the HD2 before, best to pay a professional to do it since it is a pain in the arse to disassemble and assemble..
Been using an HD2 for a good while and basically I would have to think very caerfully before upgrading. It does everything I need and does most things very well indeed. If you can find one at a good s/h price I'd say go for it.
Advantages:
Good screen for Internet browsing,etc.
Gorilla glass so reasonably damage-resistant.
One of the best phone cameras I've used, can be tweaked even further, see hacks.
GPS and magnetic compass.
Plays music even when in standby.
NOT WM7 so you don't have to encrypt the microSD card.
Stable. Runs for weeks without crashing.
Disadvantages:
A bit large. (I keep mine in a shirt pocket, which I find works well.)
Needs charging daily if you use it a lot. (Spare batts are cheap though)
Limited RAM, therefore don't open too many apps at once.
OS WM6.5, less easy to use than Android, though plenty free apps available.
Major annoyance:
Random dialling when on phone screen, due to static or a shirtsleeve-touch. Wish I could find a way to remove that speed-dial background list which seems to be the culprit. Basically, NEVER leave the thing on the phone screen unless you are in a call.
Minor annoyance:
Badly placed volume keys. Hard to pick up without accidentally changing volume.
Not all headphones are suitable for music use. Some give very inadequate volume.
IWR said:
Been using an HD2 for a good while and basically I would have to think very caerfully before upgrading. It does everything I need and does most things very well indeed. If you can find one at a good s/h price I'd say go for it.
Advantages:
Good screen for Internet browsing,etc.
Gorilla glass so reasonably damage-resistant.
One of the best phone cameras I've used, can be tweaked even further, see hacks.
GPS and magnetic compass.
Plays music even when in standby.
NOT WM7 so you don't have to encrypt the microSD card.
Stable. Runs for weeks without crashing.
Disadvantages:
A bit large. (I keep mine in a shirt pocket, which I find works well.)
Needs charging daily if you use it a lot. (Spare batts are cheap though)
Limited RAM, therefore don't open too many apps at once.
OS WM6.5, less easy to use than Android, though plenty free apps available.
Major annoyance:
Random dialling when on phone screen, due to static or a shirtsleeve-touch. Wish I could find a way to remove that speed-dial background list which seems to be the culprit. Basically, NEVER leave the thing on the phone screen unless you are in a call.
Minor annoyance:
Badly placed volume keys. Hard to pick up without accidentally changing volume.
Not all headphones are suitable for music use. Some give very inadequate volume.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the informative response. Did you happen to have the digitizer issue that Jian had, or the overheating issue?
When you said that some headphones were unsuitable for music, was it specifically headphones with a Mic or Volume control on them? Trying to use a pair of Monster Jamz (which had volume/playback control for iPod/iPhone) didn't really give me a "full" sound without pressing on the play/pause button.
Also, all of these things were on WinMo 6.5, correct? Have you tried a WP7 or Android rom?
Had my phone since release date.yep your right, the phone is a Beast!
I cannot recall how many roms, builds, os's whatever you want to call em i have installed in the past year fews and everytime i love my phone even more .i think the only time i will get another phone is if the hardware specs outweigh the hd2 that it cannot cope will a new os ie window8 apparently
Listen, There are thousands of reviews on this website but dont read into it that much. Its all about trial and error and how you go about your own business - by all means read the threads too as common faults do occur- but every phone user is different and alot of factors have an impact ie have you got the right radio installed ,have you got the right SD card? Have you formatted the card properly ie task 29 before installing a new rom have you installed the right files etc all these issues people face are repairable but ultimately,so you will have a different experience than others.
The old windows6.5 rom were absolutely great and fun to customize
Android builds that i tried were up to scratch for everyday use , stability wise, battery life fantastic internt browsing email etc great no lag freezing
Windows7 some battery issues with certain roms and overheating i did come across at first , again if you experience this "trial and error" try another rom, im currently using pdamatejam now for 2months no looking back.. For everyday use, stability excellant, battery life over 24hours etc no lag freezing
Im dualbooting so chopping and changing inbetween android and windows 7 a feature many phones cannot offer.i love the hd2
Note..Newly release build/roms will be unstable when first , thats expected but overtime they become more stable as through feedback from this forum the little errors problems are reticfied -i always wait until these problems are eradicated but everyones different as lot ofpeople like to try new releases roms and leave feedback which is what the dev are asking for-
Another note the SD card ..this is a MASSIVE factor imho which causes many people problems ie boot loops freezing crashing.... I have been through 5different sd card from the start of the hd2 when you stop having problems you know you got the right one, but stay away from fakes Period.
Good luck
Thanks a ton guys
I've another question; Should I get the TMOUS phone for it's bigger ROM capacity? If so, how can I even tell if it has more ROM than the regular? All T-Mobile phones are like that?
DillonBladez said:
Thanks a ton guys
I've another question; Should I get the TMOUS phone for it's bigger ROM capacity? If so, how can I even tell if it has more ROM than the regular? All T-Mobile phones are like that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes all tmous have 1gb internal rom. You can tell a tmous by the red+green send+end keys, and it says T-Mobile beneath the ear piece.(and its fractionally longer) They're slightly easier to brick than regular hd2, but only in one particular way (wrong radio) so as long as you know the danger it needn't be a worry.
As for jellybean, in the days since your first post there are now several jb roms that are shaping up to be as good as any previous versions. I'm running jb with my processor UNDER clocked, and barely a hint of lag anywhere.
Thanks for the insight!
This phone really seems to live up to it's name.
What do you guys think of WP8 on the device? I think I read somewhere that it's using a different kernel or something from WP7, and that it's a pain in the ass to get it to work with new hardware that it wasn't meant for.
i got the hd2 when it came out and i'm still using it today. It's just that good.
Also, I forgot to ask; Is there a notification LED on the HD2? It seems so small that it's not really mentioned anywhere, for any phone, but it's quite useful to me.
DillonBladez said:
Also, I forgot to ask; Is there a notification LED on the HD2? It seems so small that it's not really mentioned anywhere, for any phone, but it's quite useful to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes there is. It is on the left side of the speaker and it only has two colors: amber/orange and green.
I personally think the development effort would best be utilised on last of WP7 to make functionality superb & a few innovations to make W8 users envious.
Chasing latest OS's does not always result in real practical usable device.
friend its perefect the phone big variety of roms!
Sorry for not replying for a while,
Does the hd2 encounter some of the force close mishaps caused by lack of ram? Its only got 512mb, and I find my current phone with the same amount of ram to be doing this often. Would the wp7 Roms perform better in the stability aspects?
Thanks a ton,
Dillon.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
I still have an HD2 sitting w/a couple extra cells I'm not using, it's still brand new, it was never used just the box opened. I'm kinda slow answering emails but give me a shout.
I'm running the latest Jelly Bean build without overclocking and I think it runs rather smooth. At times it can pause for just a slit second but this isn't very often.
If your looking for a great phone that can do just about anything (but Sense 4) then this is the phone. Because this phone has a very high developer following it
often has new ROMs being released. This is one of the biggest reasons why I got the phone myself. I came from the HTC Touch Pro 2 so I picked this phone up
back in late 2009 early 2010. There are some great deals for the phone now that its several years old but I really feel this phone is going to last a long time to come.
htccraze said:
I'm running the latest Jelly Bean build without overclocking and I think it runs rather smooth. At times it can pause for just a slit second but this isn't very often.
If your looking for a great phone that can do just about anything (but Sense 4) then this is the phone. Because this phone has a very high developer following it
often has new ROMs being released. This is one of the biggest reasons why I got the phone myself. I came from the HTC Touch Pro 2 so I picked this phone up
back in late 2009 early 2010. There are some great deals for the phone now that its several years old but I really feel this phone is going to last a long time to come.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm looking to use the phone mainly for text messaging, perhaps some facebook and light gaming.
Right now I'm choosing between the HD2 and the S II.
They both seem to have a bit of developer backing (obviously the HD2 has more), but is the S II worth the extra $150ish over the HD2?
Hmm thats hard to say. Both are great phones but personally I like HTC phones a little more. Mainly because I like HTC Sense. Samsung though is my second favorite so you really can't go wrong with either. I really like the Galaxy S II and the screen is a lot better then the HD2 as well as the camera. Some of its other specs are a little better then the HD2 but the big selling point is choice. With the HD2 if you start to get tired of Windows Mobile 6.5 (stock) you can switch to Android. Then if you ever get tired of that you can go to Windows Phone 7.5. I've bought several phones since I bought my HD2 some even that were dual core but I've always seem to end up going back to the HD2 so that should say something. I would check out some videos on youtube about both phones you're looking at to try and get an idea of what you feel you'll like best.
Related
Hi all,
Well, I'm a bit confused here and slightly disappointed.
After all the hype surrounding the Leo pre-release, I was well up for it when my mobes was due for a contract renewal, but reading the forums and speaking to people such as Vodascum it seems all it not as good as I had hoped. There seem to be loads of people plagued with problems and issues which doesn't seem like a good thing at all.
The phone seems to have an awesome hardware package and an extremely good HTC skin over the WM6.5 base, but is it worth the hassles that people seem to be experiencing? Will WM7 solve everything and make it a true iphone killer?
What are your thoughts? Have you been struck with issues? Is it worth getting in the hope WM7 will make it better? My Diamond is ace, but it's getting old and needs replacement. I previously REALLY wanted a Leo, but I'm not so sure now - help meeee!
Cheers ta.
I love mine, Had the pink spot issue but that was solved with a patch. I have played around with various CookedROMS but have reverted to 1.61 as it seems stable.
Personally, I don't regret all the hassle I went through getting hold of it. and wouldn't hesitate recommending it!
TA
There's more people on this forum that are happy with their HD2 than there are ones that are unhappy with it.
I think you've only seen the 1 sided argument that is unfortunately getting shouted about.
Some people are having a few minor issues, and a smaller number of people are having some major issues, but there's a very large number of people that are having no issues, or very slight ones that they simply don't care about.
For example, the pink hue on photos is so barely noticable on my phone that it really doesn't matter (unless I take a picture of a piece of white paper and then reduce the image size by 80%). Also, I can type like a madman on it, barely making a mistake, but others say it's the worst keyboard in the world (or that it's "KILLING THEM"!!)
The only real way for you to find out is to get one. Most service providers give you 14 days to return something you don't want, and it's a legal requirement to provide at least 7 days, so just get one and have a play. Decide for yourself. No-one can tell you whether you'll like it or not.
I think johncmolyneux pretty much sums it up. I have had/have some problems(Slow loading SMS is the main one) BUT im still a very happy chap. I would only advise you not to get this phone if you don't want to spend time tweaking it. Without installing a few extra apps and making some tweaks here and there i wouldn't be anywhere near as happy. For me thats the main reason i got it. I wanted something i could really play with and customise as opposed to other more locked down devices.
jp_iles said:
Hi all,
...There seem to be loads of people plagued with problems and issues which doesn't seem like a good thing at all....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure I'd say there are "loads of people" who are "plagued with problems". Rather, there seems to be a tiny but vocal minority of people here on this forum who do nothing but complain about issues that the majority of people haven't experienced.
The HD2 is an excellent phone and I'd happily recommend it to anyone.
+1
Myself and a few of the Mods on 4WM have HD2's and they are very good indeed. There are a few users who fiddle with settings, install dodgy tweaks then complain when things go wrong.
Give it a try- hopefully you won't be disappointed
I've not had any problems with mine and I'm very pleased with it indeed. Still running the stock 1.43 ROM with all the hotfixes applied. Go for it. I'm sure you won't regret it.
jp_iles said:
.... I previously REALLY wanted a Leo, but I'm not so sure now - help meeee!
Cheers ta.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
I truly understand your dilemma. Read the threads below then go find yourself a device and play with it.
The key to your decision is this; if you are happy and able to find the time to tweak your device as necessary then you will end up enjoying it. If you don't have the time or are easily frustrated or prefer the simplicity offered by other packages such as Nolia and iphone then DON't buy this phone.
DO NOT buy this phone without playing with one in the metal first.
Hope this helps.
WB
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=595166
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=575604
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=583638
I'm also running the 1.43 stock rom.
I never had any issues with the sms not being sent.
The pink dot is fixed by the patch.
No other bugs for me, this is truly one of the best investments I've done.
People having problems with their phones probably would write here and even start new threads, but as long as the phone is working well there's no reason to write or for that matter, start a new thread just to say "my phone owns". Which is probably why you've got the impression of many people having trouble with their HD2's.
As I said, many people have had the sms-sending issue, which I've never experienced.
The ONLY real bug I have is the slow loading of the SMS's, which I hope will be solved. It does not kill me however.
Funny story, yesterday me and my friend (who has an iPhone) tried skype over our mobiles, as we both have use the GPRS for free but have different operators we finally found a way to call eachother for free.
We first tried skype over WiFi and it worked great. He then turned to the 3G and tried to call me, while Skype told him that this function is not available. So on the iPhone 3G-calling did not work (I don't know if there is a workaround for this or not, it doesn't matter, it's not standard and if you want to make it work you'd have to tweak it which makes the iPhone no better than WinMo).
I then tried the 3G and it worked perfectly.
I really can't see what all this WinMo bashing is about. I've played around with the iPhone and it is so boring, I could never imagine trading my HD2 for the iPhone.
Of 120 who have responded to a poll on the HD2 on this site, 3 had opted to return it, 4 hated it and were stuck with it (I'd bet at least one of those has since recanted), 12 were ambivalent and 89 either liked or loved the device. The balance of nine related to the plans of non-owners of the device, of whom six were keen to get one and three weren't.
You can find the poll and the results here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=592375
jakem is correct in regard to the noisy minority, but then that is only really to be expected - if you have problems you are likely to complain. NeilM may be even closer to the truth in terms of ill-advised 'tweaking'.
There was a surge of slightly suspicious negative postings by very new members that led to speculation around a smear campaign - you pays your money and you takes your choice on that one.
Personally, you would have to prise mine out of my cold, dead hand...
The phone is great - had a Nokia N95 so not familiar with tweaks so ran the HD2 stock 1.43 ROM and it has been fine, fine, fine. Due to useful sites like this, I have got a few of the tweaks on and set the phone up how I like it. Was thinking of an iPhone last year but would not touch one now as it would be rubbish in comparison!
Would recommend you get one, read the manual and take your time before loading lots of apps, etc on it!!
jp_iles, if you loved your Diamond you will certainly love the Leo. I had a Diamond and thought it was awesome, granted battery life was terrible, GPS was inaccurate, camera was rubbish but this didn't stop it being the best phone I've ever owned until now . The Leo does have some problems and can be twitchy but IMO this just adds to it's charm, I'm sure the guys/girls here at XDA will do the same as they did for my Diamond and keep releasing/patching/tweaking stuff which will just evolve the Leo into something even better than it is now.
I had my hd2 for a week. It never ran more than 5 minutes at one time. It is gone in for repair. I will miss it. I will not replace it. Having been an early adopter for more than a decade, I know there is always a price t pay one way or another. My computers, laptops, micro pc, pocket pcs and cell phones have all taken a back seat to this device. Hope this helps you in your decision.
i love my hd2, wouldnt trade it for all the iphones in cupertino.
I absolutely LOVE this phone!
I still have my Touch Pro knocking about and I was using today to do some bits and pieces, it's utterly pants in comparison!! The size of the screen is useless, the resistive screen is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO unresponsive compared to the capacitive on the HD2 (having said that, the ability to accurately "write" using a stylus or your nail is definitely missed).
The speed of the HD2 is just spot on (though I wouldn't turn down "more" speed!). The GPS lock-on time is infinitely better than any other phone/external GPS receiver I have ever used. I don't know what more to say, it's amazing!
I. LOVE. THIS. PHONE.
It is a nice phone, well in my opinion , the
1. build quality seems solid but do not drop this beautiful piece of hardware
2. vibration feedback motor resonates a little but not annoying
3. earpiece and handsfree(back) speaker have irritating resonating sound
4. wired headset produces this irritating resonance as well
5. phone calls made with earpiece or back speaker are too loud
6. phone calls and music do have good quality on both BT carkit and BT stereo headset thus use these when possible
7. when having a call it is still possible to "press" wrong buttons with ears or even when in pocket
8. reliable software
9. nice camera but whitebalance corrects white to be pink
10. gps reception is excellent
well that's about it.
I really would like 3, 4 and 5 corrected.
Thanks for the swift responses peeps, lots of useful thoughts.
I'm still really miffed that Vodascum aren't offering it any more to non-business customers, although I'm sure I got my Diamond when they were only offering it to business customers. Meh - I shall try the "I'm leaving you" trick to get a nice deal out of them. If that doesn't work, I'm off to O2 - we have internal transmitters at work so thats a bonus.
Thanks again.
JP
I'm not sure I'd say there are "loads of people" who are "plagued with problems". Rather, there seems to be a tiny but vocal minority of people here on this forum who do nothing but complain about issues that the majority of people haven't experienced.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. That sums it up perfectly.
Look at this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=592375
75% are happy with the device. Another 10% are ambivalent. That is a better result than the iPhone reached in recent satisfaction surveys - despite that HTC has no reality distortion field like Apple.
Hi
I come from Diamond, then HD and now HD2. The HD2 is the best of all those because it is really very fast and excellent big display. Some thoughts:
1- HD camera is probably a little bit better than HD2 one. HD2 has the flash and this is good, but pictures seem more focused and crispy on HD
2- USB connector is a microUSB, not the worldwide miniUSB. I bought a couple of adaptors on ebay to allow reuse of all my cables at home, work and car
3- Stop the tentation to throw it away after the first hours of usage because you cannot select on the screen list boxes and check boxes! HD2 does not have stylus and it requires a little bit of experience (couple of days) to hit in the right place the small icons or list boxes
But in any case I would never come back to HD.
Regards
Stefano
stefanospizzica said:
2- USB connector is a microUSB, not the worldwide miniUSB. I bought a couple of adaptors on ebay to allow reuse of all my cables at home, work and car
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A few times I heard it was an advantage. Still don't understand why.
My phone history is no small list i've tried pretty much everything out there From N97, to Blackberry 9700... HD2 cought my eye because i originally had the HD, however it seems that i'm getting the itch to move on to possibly the N900 or E72
Anyways just wondering what your experiences have been like with your device, and what are your most cool applications?
I change phones quite often too. My last phone in fact was a N900. Great phone yet I felt it was a bit slow. So far I am loving the hd2 and don't have plans to switch for quite some time. With every phone there was always something that bothered me. I thought Windows mobile would be it but so far it has been great. My only past issue was with a touch diamond being a bit sluggish, this hd2 definitely does not have that problem.
I could possibly see a jump to the N900, but an E72 (used to own an E71)?! No way. Using symbian is like jumping through a time warp to the past.
i know im lil off topic but i feel you guys on never finding perfect phone before one i got now. I dont mean to push android on WM guys but other then lil lag sometimes its been best phone for me.
It's gonna take a real monster of a phone for me to even think about considering getting rid of my HD2.
I've never been as happy with a phone as I am with this, and I don't think I'll start having wandering eyes for a looooooooong time!
wait till Winmo 7 comes. I reckon it will be a real sweet OS
I also change phones quite often. I always loved my iphone 3GS, but the HD2 has kept my attention for a while now. It does everything my iphone used to do for me.
I think once Microsoft implements Xbox live games into winmo, we'll all be laughing!
I'll get bored when they have a dual core 1.5 GHz Snapdragon or Tegra 2 HD3 with WM7
DMAND said:
I'll get bored when they have a dual core 1.5 GHz Snapdragon or Tegra 2 HD3 with WM7
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And AT LEAST a 4.7" screen. lol - I wouldn't really want one that big, but I definitely don't want smaller!
johncmolyneux said:
And AT LEAST a 4.7" screen. lol - I wouldn't really want one that big, but I definitely don't want smaller!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't mind an even bigger screen. They could do it with the hd2 by removing the border around the lcd. Imagine nothing but screen corner to corner.
in the end it's still a phone.. doesn't have wheels or boobs..
The experience of the HD2 in most cases spoils you, and you will find it difficult to use a phone with a smaller screen. Apart from the earpiece quality at the higher frequencies, i am completly happy with this phone having owned about 10 different phones including iphone.
bel_z_bub said:
in the end it's still a phone.. doesn't have wheels or boobs..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But I heard that on WM7 it will preform BJ's .
I must say, the HD2 is one of the best phone I came across.
I've worked over 2 years as the buyer for a multimedia chain and got the oppertunity to test drive a whole lot of device.
Also I'm using a ppc over 7 years now and untill the HD2 there were only 2 devices who have the "professional"/fun factor that the HD2 has.
And that was the Magician and the Universal.
Now I don't argue about the N900 because he has a "full" linux on it and for the linux guru's this is a wonderfull device. But if you aren't that good or fond in Linux then there is nothing special on the N900, and he is idd quite slow in normal use.
The other problem is that several years ago people did not compare a ppc with a normal phone (nokia symbian and etc...) but the mainstream users now also want a pcc thus the discussing is started... (certainly no personal blame meant)
I have no intentions of getting rid of the HD2 until there is a Nvidia Tegra powered platform available running WinMo7 with a screen equal to or bigger than the HD2.
The extra screen size compared to other mobiles on the market today really does make all the difference. I see people considering exchanging their HD2 for the Nexus One, but personally I find the screen a real letdown after being used to my HTC.
The one thing that does bug me about it is the low capacity battery included but, touch wood, so far I've managed to keep it running 24/7 by charging thru the night and every now and again in the car. Not enough of a let down for me to start looking at other handsets anyhow.
emigrating said:
The one thing that does bug me about it is the low capacity battery included but, touch wood, so far I've managed to keep it running 24/7 by charging thru the night and every now and again in the car. Not enough of a let down for me to start looking at other handsets anyhow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a serious battery drain, do you work so much on your device?
Eg I use my device constantly, 15 sms/day, 1 a 2hours phone, 30min surfing wifi and or hspda and I can do over a day and a half with one battery charge
This topics makes me laugh (not being offensive).
But it's pretty difficult to get bored of it. Of course we could have much more action on it but i'm sure in time we will have that also.
I cant see myself getting bored of the HTC HD2 anytime soon. Still got lots to do to it. Custom Roms, writing my own apps etc. Once i have it perfect then I will be using it until my contract runs out and i can get the latest super phone for free
Seeing as I have just discovered 800x480 encoding of 720p videos using WinMenc makes amazingly clear videos, and the demo of Electopia showing OpenGL 2.0 capabilities, I don't see myself getting bored any time soon.
thomas_pieps said:
That is a serious battery drain, do you work so much on your device?
Eg I use my device constantly, 15 sms/day, 1 a 2hours phone, 30min surfing wifi and or hspda and I can do over a day and a half with one battery charge
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I use it constantly for the web and MSN (wifi/hsdpa/3g) as well as calls/sms. I could probably tweak it to last longer by disabling wifi/bluetooth etc when not connected but haven't found a good app to automate this yet.
Of course, once I find a 'cheap' car-cradle with built-in micro-usb (ie. put the phone in the cradle and it automatically starts charging - rather than fiddle around with cables and whatnot) the batterylife won't be a problem no more.
karkid said:
My phone history is no small list i've tried pretty much everything out there From N97, to Blackberry 9700... HD2 cought my eye because i originally had the HD, however it seems that i'm getting the itch to move on to possibly the N900 or E72
Anyways just wondering what your experiences have been like with your device, and what are your most cool applications?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No where near board with it but as you've most likely tried everything there is for the HD2 why don't you list your best top 10 apps that you've tried and then we'll compare notes
For me the HD2 is my very first PocketPC/Smartphone. For me this phone is very powerful that it'll do fine for the coming years, if the phone can last that long. My only reason for switching to another phone is when the specs are at least equal to the one of the HD2, MUCH improved battery life and support of both capacative and resistive touch with adequate software and UI support. You can't get better than that. I'm not a gamer, so more power and a higher frequency is not necessarily my wish.
I really wanted to go for an Android device, but since none of them is GSM and has a screen this big, I'm going for the HD2.
Just a few questions:
1. Is the glass screen prone to cracking? Even on gentle drops?
2. How oversensitive is the touchscreen? Can I type as fast as I do on my Nokia E90?
3. Does it have a tendency to corrupt 16GB microSD cards? I've seen some threads around it.
4. How stable is it for daily life usage?
5. Does it work with a bluetooth keyboard?
6. Can you hook up a PS3 bluetooth controller and play FPSce on it?
Edit, some more questions:
7. Does it have audio/video lag while playing reasonable quality videos? REALLY worried about this one...
8. How's the camera and video recording?
Thanks to whoever can answer these.
1. There have been different reports. Some say they've broken theirs on gentle drops, others have had some big drops with no damage. I find the HD2 to be a good solid build. Best advice is get a good case and be careful.
2. There are tweaks if you find the screen to be oversensitive and a variety of good keyboard solutions and other suggestions right in these forums. I was using a hardware keyboard on my previous device so it took me a little time to adjust. Now, I'm quite happy with my typing speed even with the stock keyboard.
3. I formatted a 16mb card and inserted it into my HD2 on day one. I have absolutely no problems to report.
4. My HD2 is very stable. I rarely have to do a soft reset even with heavy use. Again, there are utilities like CleanRam that help keep you stable without soft resetting.
5. Yes, but check the accessories threads, I don't which ones work best.
6. I'll leave that one for someone else as I'm not much of a gamer.
hd2 is a very good hardware(big screen, cute looking etc) but has WM OS (worst on the planet). in my opinion go to android phone. HTC EVO4g or Desire dunno but i can say only that the WM sux badly.
and yes its stable if u dont do anything except carrying the phone in pocket and just talk a bit....otherwise will wake up in a nightmare !
hackm0d said:
I really wanted to go for an Android device, but since none of them is GSM and has a screen this big, I'm going for the HD2.
Just a few questions:
1. Is the glass screen prone to cracking? Even on gentle drops?
2. How oversensitive is the touchscreen? Can I type as fast as I do on my Nokia E90?
3. Does it have a tendency to corrupt 16GB microSD cards? I've seen some threads around it.
4. How stable is it for daily life usage?
5. Does it work with a bluetooth keyboard?
6. Can you hook up a PS3 bluetooth controller and play FPSce on it?
Thanks to whoever can answer these.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. No more than any other screen imo, mine's ben dropped a couple of times onto hard surfaces and it's absolutely fine
2. Can't compare it to the Nokia, but certain aspects are more sensitive than the iphone, but you get used to it after about 30s. You can always change the sensitivity if you're daring enough to tweak the registry
3. I've got a 16GB MicroSD card and touchwood it's been fine. I've got a San Disk one, so maybe if you buy cheaper alternatives it won't like them?
4. It will crash on you/freeze on you fairly regularly, which can be a little frustrating at times.
5 Don't know
6. Don't know, doubt it.
For reason 4, and for the lack of apps I have been contemplating swapping my HD2. It's a shame really, as it's almost worth keeping for the home screen alone. It still amazes me when I switch the phone on and there's this gorgeous home screen with weather animation. I don't think there's a phone that comes close (maybe the EVO 4 but that's not available in the UK). The desire has the same idea, but imo doesn't pull it off anywhere near as well.
My choices at the moment are, stick with the HD2 and put up with the frustrations of it crashing, and generally not being as 'polished' as other phones (eg iphone, desire), get the HTC desire and try not to think about the home screen of the HD2, wait to see what the iphone 4G is going to be like, which is likely to be announced in 3 days time (7th June).
If you want something that works straight out of the box and has plenty of apps, consider the iphone or HTC Desire (although this is android and might not support GSM, which I didn't realise). IF you want a phone that works well with a few tweaks, and has a home screen to die for and you can live without apps (there are some, but really not that great compared to the other markets) then get the HD2. Apparantly though the Desire has a much more vibrant screen which makes photos etc much better than the HD2, and if that's true it must look great as I think the screen on the HD2 is amazing, and much better than the iphone 3G(s). I'm sure the screen on the iphone 4G will be pretty impressive though
karaern said:
hd2 is a very good hardware(big screen, cute looking etc) but has WM OS (worst on the planet). in my opinion go to android phone. HTC EVO4g or Desire dunno but i can say only that the WM sux badly.
and yes its stable if u dont do anything except carrying the phone in pocket and just talk a bit....otherwise will wake up in a nightmare !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
a typical answer of a WM hater. Sorry i do not agree
the stock roms are not the best, but when you use one of the cooked roms, there are many around, the phone is a pleasure to use, stable and does what it should do. even under heavy usage. A lot of people here on the forum are heavy users and if it was as bad as you describe they would not stay on WM.
hackm0d said:
I really wanted to go for an Android device, but since none of them is GSM and has a screen this big, I'm going for the HD2.
Just a few questions:
1. Is the glass screen prone to cracking? Even on gentle drops?
2. How oversensitive is the touchscreen? Can I type as fast as I do on my Nokia E90?
3. Does it have a tendency to corrupt 16GB microSD cards? I've seen some threads around it.
4. How stable is it for daily life usage?
5. Does it work with a bluetooth keyboard?
6. Can you hook up a PS3 bluetooth controller and play FPSce on it?
Thanks to whoever can answer these.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
6. Yes you can
1. Is the glass screen prone to cracking? Even on gentle drops?
I've dropped mine 3 times, twice off the end of the bed onto hardwood floor and once from chest hight onto a shop floor. No dents, no marks, no cracks. But of course with it having such a large glass screen you'd do well to try your best not to drop it.
2. How oversensitive is the touchscreen? Can I type as fast as I do on my Nokia E90?
Using something like SlideIT or Swype I dare say you could type a lot faster, and there are lots of tweaks to change the sensitivity of the screen to suit your needs.
3. Does it have a tendency to corrupt 16GB microSD cards? I've seen some threads around it.
I've pulled mine in and out numerous times and it's been fine and dandy. If you buy a cheap non branded card you might be looking for trouble, I'm not too sure on it though.
4. How stable is it for daily life usage?
With EnergyROM, it's awesome.
5. Does it work with a bluetooth keyboard?
I use my Mini Dinovo from time to time so that's a big ten-four.
6. Can you hook up a PS3 bluetooth controller and play FPSce on it?
Tada, CobaltController!
karaern said:
hd2 is a very good hardware(big screen, cute looking etc) but has WM OS (worst on the planet). in my opinion go to android phone. HTC EVO4g or Desire dunno but i can say only that the WM sux badly.
and yes its stable if u dont do anything except carrying the phone in pocket and just talk a bit....otherwise will wake up in a nightmare !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
whatever dude....
snerkler said:
You can always change the sensitivity if you're daring enough to tweak the registry
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your talking about the sensitivity with the keypad....how do you tweak it?
karaern said:
hd2 is a very good hardware(big screen, cute looking etc) but has WM OS (worst on the planet). in my opinion go to android phone. HTC EVO4g or Desire dunno but i can say only that the WM sux badly.
and yes its stable if u dont do anything except carrying the phone in pocket and just talk a bit....otherwise will wake up in a nightmare !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
? ermmmm.... nope.....
1 - Ive dropped mine, only a small drop though but its fine, I also managed to smash it into a fridge screen first and it didnt break, i was very lucky though! I dont advise smashing your phone against a fridge.
2 -The screen is very sensitive but bsb tweaks will solve that problem straight away....
3 - I dont use a 16gb card but the number of threads compared to the amount of people that must use these cards suggests its not a big issue....
4 - I've found it too be pretty damn stable, few hiccups here and there....
5 - Yes
6 - Yes (just dont ask me how) it can be done though.....
Get it, you'll love it.....
karaern said:
hd2 is a very good hardware(big screen, cute looking etc) but has WM OS (worst on the planet). in my opinion go to android phone. HTC EVO4g or Desire dunno but i can say only that the WM sux badly.
and yes its stable if u dont do anything except carrying the phone in pocket and just talk a bit....otherwise will wake up in a nightmare !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally disagree with this. I'm using the phone let's say on nearly heavy usage and using for a week and never had to do a softreset. I'm using many apps and games and no problem with them, just remember to use task manager when finishing with apps.
Many know the fact that for example on your pc by using clean windows your pc is fast and stable, but after installing third party apps it becomes messy. so try to use good apps and your safe from freezing.
Ps. I'm previous user of android and I had many force closes with apps.
best regards. Gjizaqin
Stu1973 said:
Your talking about the sensitivity with the keypad....how do you tweak it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For keypad/typing sensitvity use tweak #91 from the hints and tips and change the number to what suits you best (tiral and error)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=583638
For overall sensitivity use BSB tweaks.
One of the best tweaks for me was #35 from the link above regarding the clickable links in opera without having to zoom in. I actually changed the value to 2 though
gjizaqin said:
. I'm using the phone let's say on nearly heavy usage and using for a week and never had to do a softreset. I'm using many apps and games and no problem with them, just remember to use task manager when finishing with apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must be one of the lucky ones. I have to use soft reset at least once/week, and I have very few apps/games on my phone, and the ones I do have are very reputable. I even had problems before I installed these. I have done a few tweaks that have stabilised it quite a bit, but it's still not great.
Initially after coming from Android, I found this phone limiting in terms of apps. Also the Google environment is pretty slick.
However, there is nothing that I've wanted to do with this phone that I haven't been able to do: streaming music, gtalk, facebook integration, the list is long.
Some apps are not quite as elegant, but overall I've been pleased with this phone. Sometimes it needs a reset to get back up to speed, but so did my android device. This phone boots so fast, its not an issue for me.
The battery life is awesome. Lasts longer than my Magic did. Everything is so fast with the 1ghz processor. All I have to do is play around with my old phone for a bit to appreciate just how much faster everything is.
One of the pleasant surprises I've had is just how seamlessly it works with my Windows 7 PC. It's like they were made for each other. I forgot about that with Android. The Sense overlay is nice, and once you get to playing with other ROMs, it's hard to get bored.
Now that the EVO is out and the reviews, I'm still happy I bit the bullet with the HD2 and don't feel the need to trade it.
P.S. This thing has mobile hotspot too, and it works great!
first let me start by saying durability is no problem. the guys at tmobile hooked me up with a gel skin included so that soaks up a lot of jarring and dropping. second i have literally taken knives razors and screwdrivers to my screen trying to scratch it and the closest i get is friction smudging that justwipes away. like i said durability no issue. I've had my hd2 since march and I'm in love. it made me drop Verizon. some hd2 downfalls? its a big smudge magnet carry some windex and a rag lol or spend at bucks on smudge covers. i think the coolest feature of hd2 is the auto light detection when i step outside my phone auto adjusts so i can see
Thank you so much everyone, for the replies. But personally, I'm only avoiding Android and Maemo because of (a) the screen size, and (b) the presence of Linux in anything makes my uneasy. Windows Mobile is a lot more homely device for me and I love experimenting with the amazing hardware the HD2 would provide...
Just a few more questions:
7. When you play videos, is there audio/video lag? How bad is it? REALLY worried about this one...
8. How good is the web browser? I want something usable for heavy websites and forum posting.
9. How's the camera and video recording performance?
Thanks in advance, if I get a good response to these, I'm getting the device for sure.
1. Is the glass screen prone to cracking? Even on gentle drops?
Seems pretty study, have dropped mine a couple of times on a hard floor with no problem (only had it a week as well )
2. How oversensitive is the touchscreen? Can I type as fast as I do on my Nokia E90?
Stock ROM might be awful, if you are used to a resistive screen you may get a shock initially but you soon get used to it, get the screen sensitivity fix and the zoomer app and all your troubles will dissipate.
3. Does it have a tendency to corrupt 16GB microSD cards? I've seen some threads around it.
Haven t got one but I haven't seen much about this, I cannot see why it would.
4. How stable is it for daily life usage?
Stick to the more popular ROMS and you will have very few problems, I found the stock very stable, perfectly so to be honest but I wanted more icandy, cookie tab for instance.
5. Does it work with a bluetooth keyboard?
Apparently so but you will have to search XDa to find out which ones
6. Can you hook up a PS3 bluetooth controller and play FPSce on it?
I have seen someone do this on Youtube but I am not sure how this was done, theoretically it should work.
7. When you play videos, is there audio/video lag? How bad is it? REALLY worried about this one...
aha, there has been a lot of talk about this. I came form a Touch HD and the video performace was dreadful. I mainly play hdtv rips of around 700 meg and dvd rips of the same size, none of these played well with my touch Hd but theu play beautifully with my HD2. I am using coreplayer for most video and TCPMP for my Ac3 encoded stuff (if direct drawer doesnt work try GDI with full zoom enabled, leave everything else be, works a treat.
8. How good is the web browser? I want something usable for heavy websites and forum posting.
Slow, all phones are slow at web browsing, we are a long way from getting decent web performance on a phone, that being said with the huge screen it is much better than just about any other phone I have tried.
9. How's the camera and video recording performance?
Surprisingly good I think, then again I am again comparing this to my Touch HD which wasn't great. The Flash is a little harsh at times but daylight pic and vids are really pretty decent for a sub 720p camera.
It should be noted though that this is a tweakers phone, you may find yourself twiddling and tweaking for a long while before you have it how you want it. For me this is exactly what I want from a gadget though, a reason why I would touch a symbian or Iphone with me cats knob.
7 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=658136&highlight=wonderful
8 - The web browsing is superb! You wanna be able to use forums? I'm posting this from my HD2 so I guess it works.
9 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=690706&highlight=wonderful
2. You should try SlideIT and the new Resco beta 6 keyboard; they both work great.
4. Nothing wrong with the stock ROM I use (1.66), but no annoying add ons by my phone company, just a plain 1.66 ROM.
Thanks alot for your feedback.
Just one more thing, how's this compared to the Droid Incredible and the Nexus One?
Now that the initial hype has died down, and t-mobile employees are officially advising against purchasing an hd2 it’s time for an educated and thorough review that new buyers can actually use. I’m not going to include any technical information, because 1) it is widely available 2) most people don’t choose a phone based on technical specs and 3) we all know this sucker is super fast. What I will do is offer up my opinions along with some tips and tweaks –NO HACKS—should you decide the HD2 is right for you.
To start with, what about the Galaxy S?
Yes, at least one t-mobile employee tried to steer me away from the hd2 and to the galaxy s. And yes, the screen on the Samsung, while a bit smaller, is also a bit more impressive. Darker blacks and more vibrant colors. If screen resolution is the only thing you care about, even over size and price, then stop reading now, because the galaxy s definitely has a superior screen. Holding the galaxy s in my hand though, I didn’t give it a single thought. Here’s why. To start with, I prefer the slightly boxier build of the hd2. Also I feel more comfortable with a couple hard keys, and for me at least, a slightly bigger screen is desirable over a slightly better one. The real decision factor however, was that I was replacing a Samsung touch screen phone which had become intermittently non responsive to touch and after three straight Samsung phones (sgh r210 - t909 - behold) I figured I’d give HTC a chance, after all Google did.
The early days were dark.
This was my first data plan with t-mobile, so the extra 25 bucks a month was a hard pill to swallow. I was really expecting the hd2 to blow me out of the water, thus making it easy to rationalize a 50% increase in my monthly bill. It didn’t. I won’t list all the issues I had with this phone because they are well documented through out the web, but also because that’s just the start of the story.
A happy ending.
Bottom line, Microsoft is great because you can customize the **** out of it. The hd2 doesn’t suck HTC Sense sucks. IT’S HORRIBLE. A waste and an annoyance, but, easily removed. That’s right disabling HTC sense is the first and most important step to loving your hd2.
Settings > today > items (bottom tab)
Then just select windows default (HTC sense is at the bottom, but who cares)
On to the tweaks…
I read a lot about hacking the hd2 registry, but seeing as I was still contemplating returning the phone, I didn’t want to do anything drastic. So I kept it simple. Here are the apps (cabs) I installed to perfect my HTC hd2 experience. Just search the web (and Microsoft marketplace) and you can download all these apps for free. Also, to install a .cab file, just drag and drop it from your computer (connected via USB) to your phone. Then unplug your phone from the computer and browse to the file.
Start menu> file explore> storage card
Click on the .cab file you just dropped onto your phone and the app will install. Then go back to the start menu and at the bottom there should be an icon for you newly installed app. Here are mine:
GYRATOR 2 - Brins0.net
-a simple rotator. A lot of the screens on the hd2 won’t go into landscape without this app
RESET ME - Y.K. Ying
-I think I downloaded this one from the market place. I was messing around with my phone a lot in those early days, and this app cam in handy for settings that required soft reset.
HOMESCREEN CUSTOMIZER - Danny Su
-Another marketplace free download - this is the MOST IMPORTANT app I downloaded for the HTC hd2. It removed that horrible HTC Sense crap, and replaced it with a simple, one screen option.
SHOWCASE - e-natives
-for some reason, when you hit the ‘X’ in the upper right hand corner of the screen, whatever app or function is running simply minimizes. The phone is so fast though, that launching applications takes just as long as switching to them, so there’s really no point in having a bunch of apps running, sucking up battery and processor resources. This app makes that X actually close a program and not just minimize it.
So What about the camera, what about the battery?
As for the battery, it takes just a couple hours to loose half your battery power, then the phone seams to operate for another 10-15 hours on the remaining power. I read that this is a snapdragon issue (the powerful 1 GHz processor running the HD2). So while those quickly dwindling bars cause much stress, the phone will operate for almost two days without charge.
I am still looking for an inexpensive camera app to replace the HTC camera, but I have managed to tweak the settings enough (contrast, saturation, white balance) to get some decent pictures in well lit situations. The fact is, the Samsung Behold has an amazing camera in it, and the hd2 just isn’t as great. Oh well.
I'm glad you're here to tell me how to use my HD2.
This is probably one of the most redundant reviews I have read, and about ten months too late at that.
Go and tell someone who gives a feck... Surely, Jeremy Beadle is dead?
wow, someone actually chooses the hd2 over the android galaxy and y'all are ripping him for it???
get a life already.
Wow...uhm...k thanx for the tutorial there...and the REALLY craptastic review. You where trying to help people.....how?
ashasaur said:
Wow...uhm...k thanx for the tutorial there...and the REALLY craptastic review. You where trying to help people.....how?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can see what he is saying. The phone runs ALOT better without sense slowing it done. Sense is a memory hog. It caches a lot of memory. Those out of memory errors that some people get, do not happen with sense gone.
I never had a SOD on my tp2 when I started flashing my own ROMs minus sense.
Now, I've learned to appreciate what sense does add to the experience, but on my tp2, it was unbearable, even when optimized.
They're mocking him because it's a poorly done review. Get past the part about the Galaxy and read the rest.
apallohadas said:
They're mocking him because it's a poorly done review. Get past the part about the Galaxy and read the rest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in his defense, he did call it a layman's review. In other words, someone who doesn't live on here 24/7, and doesn't want to flash his phone 3x a day.
nrfitchett4 said:
I can see what he is saying. The phone runs ALOT better without sense slowing it done. Sense is a memory hog. It caches a lot of memory. Those out of memory errors that some people get, do not happen with sense gone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The out of memory errors don't happen if you know how to use the phone. People KNOW Windows Mobile is absolutely **** out of the box, but still years and years on people still complain about it, it's bewildering.
Sense is a very good base platform for CoOkie and ROM developers alike to work with and as a result make Sense a far more powerful platform for the end user.
Sense is the Cosmetics on the Zomby,and of course you know what the legend says,zombies live forever,LOL,so cheer up.!!
Wow,
Sorry but that was a disappointed review.
It was your first post on this forum and you only joined this month, so I am not sure what you were trying to advise us of to be honest. No disrepect intended.
People like me have had this phone since the November 2009 release and know all there is to know about it.
HTC Sense does not suck or slow down when you are using the correct ROM, either the lastest official ROMs, or better yet, a custom ROM like Artemis.
In interface of WM is best left in the background until you have something geeky to tweak, although WM6.5.5. is a big improvement.
Anyway, my 2 cents worth.
I agree with the last person staing that sense does not (dramatically) slow down the HD2, an I am still using Stock ROM.
The snapdragon is so powerfull.
The thing I notice however, especially with people complaining about battery life:
Most people think of the HD primarily as a Phone.
This also explains the complaint of a lot of poeple that there are no applications for it.
Given the HD2 has a big screen, which has an unusual format (like the touch HD had), there are still a lot of old apps around which run on the HD2 (some somewhat crippled, others do not run at all)
But, I came from Palm iV (monochrome) via Ipaq to p330o, Touch HD to HD2.
For me the primary use for this machine is: PDA with phone capabilities.
And not like for a lot of people, phone with PDA capabilities.
All phones of the latter category (Like eg. Nokia E71) lack a grat deal of PDA capabilities. This is where Windows Mobile has made a big heap of programming with a lot of open ends.... The PDA community jumped on top in order to improve the PDA experience.
The PDA community slowly moved to phone.
In my opinion, all die-hard tweakers / modders / programmers use the HD2 primarily as PDA. Most complaining users use the HD2 primarily as phone.
Yes, as a phone it lacks stamina (batterylife), Yes as a phone it is higly adaptable, but you will have to adress the HD2 as PDA.
On a PDA, one would tune applications (run this, kill that, beware of sync etc) Most ROM cooks still use the what I call PDA approach (load only what is nessesary, not what could eventually ever be needed, kean and mean) thus saving powerconsumption.
As to my past experience, I switch on things only when needed (wifi, bluetooth, activesync etc), except for push mail. This gives me after a normal day of use more than 50% battery life left (on a stock ROM).
For a PDA (except for the PALM iV, which did not have (serious) backlight and colour display) this is quite good.
A PDA should at least sync daily..... so this is acceptable in my opinion, and do not forget Older machines had wordse battry lives.
If one starts navigating, power consumption is incredible, and a good car-loader is almost an obligation, but then again, most navigation units need a powersource. Even the Nokia E71 drains the battery very quickly if navigating without loader attached.
As for sense/manilla:
I am an winmo addict, even an experienced user (ppc2002, ppc 2003, ppc2003SE, Winmo 5, winmo 6.1, winmo 6.5), and I seem to miss a lot of functionality in sense, so I use a lot of quicklinks to the original WinMo apps (eg. Outlook contacts, WinMo settings), yes WinMo is a bit cumbersome, but if you know your way..... Beats sense a lot of times in functionality.
On the other hand, for the quick "thingies" I still use Sense, but as soon as Sense does not live upto the functionality I need..... WinMo!!
All in all:
I can understand the review, seen from the perspective of a phone user, and I agree with it, but with a twist
For me the HD2 Rocks in a major way.
Currently I am sticking to stock, as the phne/pda does what I need and fulfills all my needs. (and more)
For apps: goto www.windowsmobilesoft.net, www.freewareppc.com, www.handango.com, www.wm6software.net, www.pocketgear.com, www.mobiletopsoft.com, pocketpcfreeware.com, pocketpcfreeware.org, freewarepocketpc.net, pocket-pc-freeware.com and many others....
IF one adds up all apps I believe there are a multitude of apps available for our winmo device even more than for any android, iOS or symbian phone all together. Agreed same apps exist 100s of times.....
Moreover even a lot of old ppc2003 software can run on winmo 6.1 (and perhaps also on wm6.5, but I have not had any time or need to experiment)
Concluding:
I am very happy with my HD2, still on stock,
Superfluous speed, no lag from Sense, but one need to use it with a lot of sense (but that has grown on me from ppc2003 on )
Battery life could be better, but I cradle it whenever I can, thus my batterylife is more than sufficient. (As an early adopter from pDA, I am used to cradeling )
Later on I will start experimenting, mainly because of Android (need to experience that too.)
For me the HD2 Rocks in a major way.
Currently I am sticking to stock, as the phne/pda does what I need and fulfills all my needs. (and more)
For apps: goto www.windowsmobilesoft.net, www.freewareppc.com, www.handango.com, www.wm6software.net, www.pocketgear.com, www.mobiletopsoft.com, pocketpcfreeware.com, pocketpcfreeware.org, freewarepocketpc.net, pocket-pc-freeware.com and many others....
IF one adds up all apps I believe there are a multitude of apps available for our winmo device even more than for any android, iOS or symbian phone all together. Agreed same apps exist 100s of times.....
Moreover even a lot of old ppc2003 software can run on winmo 6.1 (and perhaps also on wm6.5, but I have not had any time or need to experiment)
Concluding:
I am very happy with my HD2, still on stock,
Superfluous speed, no lag from Sense, but one need to use it with a lot of sense.
I could never agree more!!
In my opinion; the latest stock rom + CHT & its editor + apps = a master piece!!
All the respect for the OP's review!
i'm glad i could help spark a couple pages of discussion. I recently purchased my hd2, and i spent a lot of time on these forums learning all about it. i think my review bridges the gab between the xdadevelopers forums and those of tmobile
and to the second person that claimed my review had nothing new to offer the hd2 community, i think your actions speak louder than your words.
kyle_hd2 said:
and to the second person that claimed my review had nothing new to offer the hd2 community, i think your actions speak louder than your words.
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Not that that saying makes any sense in the context that you used it, but all this thread did was mull over old news. But on reflection, what do I care? Welcome to XDA.
Kyle mate.. waiting your review on WM5.
Hi guys,
I might buy a HD2 and I want to do everything that a current DHD or DesireZ can do. So keeping this in mind what are things that I shouldnt expect from HD2 ?
Thanks, Help me decide whether or not to buy this phone
go for HD7
Yeah, the Desire builds of Android are indeed pretty decent, and sooner or later the HD2 is gonna be running WP7 aswell so thats kinda a double win there.
sathara said:
go for HD7
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??? Hmmm, helpful.
If you want to run Android full-time, then battery life may be your biggest issue, but apart from that I find that the current Android ROMs are pretty flawless, and it might be worth the trade-off for allowing you to dual-boot to WM, and save a few £100...
I'd say software-wise there's next to no difference, so after that, it's just a case of comparing the hardware side-by-side to seeing if any differences matter to you, e.g. camera-quality etc.
And a HD7 is just the HD2 hardware, but with non-expandable memory, and an okay-ish OS. Certainly not worth shelling out top-dollar for yet.
No HD7 please. Dont want a WP7 for now. Just want an android phone.
How bad is battery while running android ? Not looking forward to run WinMo anwyays.
I wanted to buy DHD... But its not available in US. Its quite expensive. And no other options for 4.3 Inch screen
If you visit the HD2 Android forums, there's a lot in there about battery life expectations. From all that I would have read, I think a safe generalisation is ~18 hours between recharges, so it depends if that suits your daily patterns (I can just about make it back into bed each night with a little juice left, and then leave it on charge until the next morning).
I've ordered the HTC Extended Battery, which will hopefully give me 1.5/2 days.
sathara said:
go for HD7
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Click to collapse
wow............totally bad post there.....who wants to downgrade to WP7?
Apart from battery no other issues ? Battery if gives me 12 hrs of heavy usage i would be happy It delivers every thing that a nexus one /desire/DZ/DHD delivers ?
I'd really like others to reply, as the more opinions the better , but yes, I find that is is just like the Desire in every regard.
People have faced problems with:
-Data dropping
-Screen taking a while to turn on if screen rotation is on
-'Robot voice' on calls (e.g. you can't hear your call through distortion
But I believe I am right in saying that these have all been just about resolved within the last few weeks in many ROMs. Finding the right combo of ROM and Radio takes some time, but when you do, you should be fine. I face no issues on a daily basis.
The ROMs runs smooth, you get fine-running Live Wallpapers, all Apps work great without slowdown, WiFi is fine, I believe the same with Bluetooth, etc. etc. Some ROMs still have quirks, and in mine (MDeeJay Froyo Revolution) I find sometimes that I cannot save a Contact, but otherwise yes.
If money is no object, get the Desire.
If..
-You want to save the £300 or so
-Want the flexibility of another OS to use
Then get the HD.
I'd suggest looking around http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=743 and even perhaps posting this Q there as well.
Thanks. I vl do that