User Reviews + first impressions

[yourfriendmat]

Have someone point at the camera with their outstretched arm, but make sure that the tip of the finger is no closer than 1.5ft from the camera, and make sure the entire hand and arm is within the display. See if that gives you the popout effect.

Ok I did that the best I could in my lab (found a lamp with a flexible arm). You really do get some popout! It's difficult to stay focused on it, though. I'm guessing that the brain has a hard time with the discrepancy between the parallax information and focusing depth information.

Luckily I'm not one of those pansies that gets a headache! (hehe... no offense to you pansies... er uh... people who do!)

 

[novox77]

Ok I did that the best I could in my lab (found a lamp with a flexible arm). You really do get some popout! It's difficult to stay focused on it, though. I'm guessing that the brain has a hard time with the discrepancy between the parallax information and focusing depth information.

Luckily I'm not one of those pansies that gets a headache! (hehe... no offense to you pansies... er uh... people who do!)

pop-out, as I have learned since I first started trolling this forum, makes 3D gimmicky. Movie makers exaggerate popout for the wow factor, but it causes serious eye strain. Under controlled conditions, like the procedure I provided you, it can be tolerable, but it should be avoided in general. Non-gimmicky 3D presents depth information in a realistic way and with minimal strain required to view it.

 

[EarlyMon]

1.11.651.3

Maybe we'll get an OTA update release day?

Homescreen -> Menu -> Settings -> System updates -> HTC software update ... if you find a box for updating the system with a "check now" - give it a go. If they're planning an OTA on Friday, it's likely already on their servers ready to go.

According to Sprint support, on 6/24, there's the minor update I'd posted on earlier, to 1.13.651.7.

 

[yourfriendmat]

Very nice!

Honestly, as anxious as we all are to figure out if these battery reviews are true or not, I'd really not sweat it. It's a new toy. God only knows how much gas I went through when I first got my Camaro. If anyone has an accurate gauge on average battery life before the 24th, I'd be surprised.

And how the hell did you have enough patience to not rip open the box until after you took pictures? Where is the little kid at the Christmas tree anxiety? This is why I need to get it done at the Sprint store. So they get through activation before I can even get my hands on it.

But very nice, man. I have a few questions, but I'll hold off until you can do a more comprehensive play session.

Feel free to ask something. I'm by no means a professional, so if there's a detail you'd like to know, I'd be willing to look into it.

 

[treven21]

Indoor pics with flash and without?

Feel free to ask something. I'm by no means a professional, so if there's a detail you'd like to know, I'd be willing to look into it.

 

[yourfriendmat]

Homescreen -> Menu -> Settings -> System updates -> HTC software update ... if you find a box for updating the system with a "check now" - give it a go. If they're planning an OTA on Friday, it's likely already on their servers ready to go.

According to Sprint support, on 6/24, there's the minor update I'd posted on earlier, to 1.13.651.7.

Nada.

 

[yourfriendmat]

YFM......can you take a couple pics using the flash and without..... indoors please? The quality looks great with what you posted outdoors.

Thanks in advance!

Take a look at my Picasa Album again

Took two more. I realized you asked for flash/no flash, not lighting conditions

 

[Cajunkid]

Talking about serious photography. Why not just invest in an expensive camera?

 

[yourfriendmat]

Talking about serious photography. Why not just invest in an expensive camera?

You would for serious photography. I don't think that's the point. However, if the phone has a camera, it may as well be the best possible. I think a camera would have to do a pretty terrible job for it to be a deciding factor in my phone purchase, though.

 

[Android 17]

Pictures look like an improvement over the 4G. How is the physical camera button? Do you find it really does make a difference?

I can imagine wanting to take a lot more pictures simply because of the added ease of it.

 

[Cajunkid]

If HTC tried to mesh a great camera with a phone O think the result would be horrendous. You would blink and the battery would be at zero. If HTC gave us a great camera nobody would ever upgrade their phone.

 

[marctronixx]

yes compromises have to be made. thats why they could not get the kickstand built into the device.. compromises.. they have to pack so much stuff in a small package.. so please no one should expect the camera to shoot like an alexa! (google it)

there is also a camera thread so lets not turn this into a camera thread k?

 

[marctronixx]

hey YFM,

someone on the SP forum who has one stated you can remove blockbuster and nascar completely.. is this true? can you check to see if you can do this?

 

[HuDuVuDu]

hey YFM,

someone on the SP forum who has one stated you can remove blockbuster and nascar completely.. is this true? can you check to see if you can do this?

Yes Please try and let us know.

 

[yourfriendmat]

hey YFM,

someone on the SP forum who has one stated you can remove blockbuster and nascar completely.. is this true? can you check to see if you can do this?

Yep

 

[novox77]

removable crapware. wow, these companies really are listening.

 

[EarlyMon]

I am stunned by this development of logic. Way to go Sprint!

 

[yourfriendmat]

removable crapware. wow, these companies really are listening.

It looks like they don't even REALLY include them in the first place. For the blockbuster app, there was an icon that took up a whopping 500 KB. You open it and it takes you to the market to download. NASCAR looks similar, but I refuse to open it

Sadly, I can't get Green Hornet to load. It just sits on a "Downloading Licesnse" pop up for a long time...

 

[EarlyMon]

I understand to d/l Green Hornet, you have to activate the HTC Watch account or some such. Did it walk you through that? (Just realized what one of the reviewers said - that might not turn on until 6/24.)

 

[yourfriendmat]

I understand to d/l Green Hornet, you have to activate the HTC Watch account or some such. Did it walk you through that? (Just realized what one of the reviewers said - that might not turn on until 6/24.)

Yeah, HTC Watch is good to go. One of my fellow trial-ers seemed to get it working. I'm trying to see what he did.

An update on 3D:
I can view 3D content from anywhere between 6 inches from my face to about an arm's length. The sweet spot is pretty narrow, but there seem to be multiple. My girlfriend was playing with the phone and I could watch it along with her.

Also, REALLY bright 3D photos don't work so well with the parallax barrier tech. Seems like the back light bleeds through the PB LCD.

 

[yourfriendmat]

Call quality isn't that bad. My girlfriend said I sounded fine when I called her, and I only had 2 bars. She sounded kind of saticy once in a while, but that could be the fault of low signal. I'll try more tomorrow, but by then, I'm sure all the SP peeps will have theirs.

 

[novox77]

i noticed multiple sweet spots on the Nintendo 3DS as well. Though the secondary and tertiary ones are not as good and they are just as narrow if not narrower than the primary.

 

[bobby2478]

Ok I did that the best I could in my lab (found a lamp with a flexible arm). You really do get some popout! It's difficult to stay focused on it, though. I'm guessing that the brain has a hard time with the discrepancy between the parallax information and focusing depth information.

Luckily I'm not one of those pansies that gets a headache! (hehe... no offense to you pansies... er uh... people who do!)

Thanks for the review!

One thing to note about headaches (not just to you, more as general feedback), I don't think it's something that occurs instantaneously, neither does eye strain. I think these come into effect after staring at 3d content for a long period of time.

Last night I saw my first 3D movie (a pre-screening of Cars 2 in 3D), and while it used 3d glasses I think the effect on your eyes is close to the same. It was cool to see stuff pop out at you, but after watching the movie for 2 hours I could definitely feel my eyes were getting strained and a very minor headache / eye ache was starting to develop.

I have perfect 20/20 vision and never have had to wear glasses/contacts, and have never had any issues with eye strain before. But I could definitely tell after staring at the 3D content for 2 hours, my eyes were getting tired.

So while everyone's results may vary, I think that any problems people experience with 3D are likely to not happen instantly after looking at a 3D photo for example. But if you watch a 3D movie for a couple hours on a small screen that may not be in the "sweet spot" you refer to, I could definitely see people experiencing some discomfort over time.

 

[bobby2478]

pop-out, as I have learned since I first started trolling this forum, makes 3D gimmicky. Movie makers exaggerate popout for the wow factor, but it causes serious eye strain. Under controlled conditions, like the procedure I provided you, it can be tolerable, but it should be avoided in general. Non-gimmicky 3D presents depth information in a realistic way and with minimal strain required to view it.

+1 for your comments on popout and eye strain. After watching my first movie in 3D last night, the popout effect is very cool, but after seeing it for 2 hours I could definitely feel eye strain going on!

 

[marctronixx]

ive got 2 50 inch panna plasma displays that are 3D. ill hook up the evo 3d to the sucker via the mhl and see what i get...