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Had my desire for 2 days, loving it.

CarsnGadgets

Android Expert
May 17, 2010
1,067
252
UK
After weeks of research, questions and indecision I finally bit the bullet and defected from my 2 year old iPhone 3G to the HTC Desire on O2 (UK).

so far, i'm very impressed and pleased. I love my iPhone but fancied seeing things from the other side for 18 months.

observations so far:

1. The battery life is similar to the iPhone 3G.
2. The screen is better, brighter, crisper (except in direct sunlight where it is a bit washed out as its oled).
3. The speaker isnt as good as the iPhone 3G's, a bit tinny but fine for calls, only notice it playing music, which i dont do very often without headphones.
4. I'm using double twist as an iTunes replacement and it seems ok.
I'm finding apps via www.download.com and www.androidtapp.com
and using barcode scanner to download them.
5. I couldnt export my iPhone contacts to SIM. So I exported my address book from windows 7 livemail as a .csv file. Then imported that into GMail on the pc. Then the Desire linked the Gmail contacts to the People app.
6. accesories and cases are very cheap compared to iPhone ones.

I'll add more as I learn more :D

great phone, loving android so far.
 
Another new user,

Everyday I find something new to be astounded by. I've been holding off getting dragged into the iPhone "trap" and been waiting for the hardware to come out that would do the Android os some justice. This phone is it.

Amazing, as is this forum. Great place for info and advice.

Will
 
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I am about to have another crack at Android. My last attempt was last year with the Hero - what a mess that turned out to be!

Anyway - I'm deciding between the Desire and the Nexus.

How is the music playback compared to your 3gs? How is the camera compared? (I know it's more MP, but that accounts for squat in my experience).

Some of the gameloft titles seem to be appearing. The Android crowd seem to be a stingy by nature though - so it remains to be seen whether decent games will be paid for.
I have read about people buying, then backing up the app, then asking for a refund. It's that kind of BS that really annoys me.
 
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How is the music playback compared to your 3gs? How is the camera compared? (I know it's more MP, but that accounts for squat in my experience).

The music playback seems fine, you can create playlists on the phone too which is nice. Sound quality through the speaker is not as good as iPhone, but through headphones I couldnt tell any difference.

I use 3 cubed app and the HTC music app.

The camera seems good so far, and has some nice options to adjust stuff, I havent taken many pics yet, but it seems at least as good as my 3G, plus it has a flash.

In low light levels it did seem to be a bit blurry, but so was my iPhone 3G.

I'd say get the Desire, you probably wont regret it if your coming from the 3G.
 
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one way around the lack of games is to get an emulator like SNESoid, hours of retro entertainment from hundreds of free games. :0)

I found all the accessories I needed on amazon.

SNESoid awesome :D

Accessory-wise, i guess is the popularity of the iPhone and the endless choice and reviews about.

I am about to have another crack at Android. My last attempt was last year with the Hero - what a mess that turned out to be!

Anyway - I'm deciding between the Desire and the Nexus.

How is the music playback compared to your 3gs? How is the camera compared? (I know it's more MP, but that accounts for squat in my experience).

Some of the gameloft titles seem to be appearing. The Android crowd seem to be a stingy by nature though - so it remains to be seen whether decent games will be paid for.
I have read about people buying, then backing up the app, then asking for a refund. It's that kind of BS that really annoys me.

The music playback is not as good as iphone and believe it that the speaker is poor for both music and voice. Cameras have never been htc's strong point and a new os doesn't change things. Although it is better than 3gs.

I love my Desire but considering how important froyo is and all the endless threads, the choice between that and n1 is not so clear cut for me. Plus it turns out not everyone is a Sense fan.
 
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as the speaker is on the reverse of the phone, the sound quality is much better if you sort of cup the phone to reflect the sound back off your hand whilst watching movies etc.

I think the camera seems fine, but isnt a dedicated digital camera replacement, for a phone camera though it does the job.
 
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Accessory-wise, i guess is the popularity of the iPhone and the endless choice and reviews about.

Well, remember the iPhone has been around for a long time now (in phone terms) and even through its different versions it has retained the same shape, while both the Desire and N1 are brand new so there's bound to be tons more accessories for the iPhone for the time being, but expect lots more to reach the market for the Android pair over the coming months.

I love my Desire but considering how important froyo is and all the endless threads, the choice between that and n1 is not so clear cut for me. Plus it turns out not everyone is a Sense fan.

Agreed - I love SenseUI but even so I'm really hoping Froyo gets a Desire port ASAP, because I'd happily give up Sense if it was the only way of getting the benefits of Froyo.
 
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