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I really want to like my desire but really need convincing

slugger09

Well-Known Member
Jul 20, 2010
185
4
Northern Ireland
I got an HTC Desire today from Orange UK, I am coming from iPhone and wanted to leave over the IOS4 cock up and I just wanted to get away from Apple in general. But I have a few annoyances with the Desire that are making me want to stay with Apple to be honest.


  • General build quality is poor compared to the iPhone, its made of cheap plastic
  • Its just not as polished or user friendly as the iPhone
  • There seems to be a lot of thinking involved where as the iPhone there was none
  • Speaker volume distorts when turned up
  • Headphone volume is really low, which is an issue as I listen to my iphone all day at work and don't think i'd be able to hear this
  • Radio reception is poor even on strong signals
  • Horrible Orange rubbish on it, can it be removed?
  • Battery life seems poor, when I put the battery in it was half full, it was flat 10 mins later
  • Seems to be a wifi issue if you debrand

So can any of these issues be resolved?
 
I got an HTC Desire today from Orange UK, I am coming from iPhone and wanted to leave over the IOS4 cock up and I just wanted to get away from Apple in general. But I have a few annoyances with the Desire that are making me want to stay with Apple to be honest.


  • General build quality is poor compared to the iPhone, its made of cheap plastic
  • Its just not as polished or user friendly as the iPhone
  • There seems to be a lot of thinking involved where as the iPhone there was none
  • Speaker volume distorts when turned up
  • Headphone volume is really low, which is an issue as I listen to my iphone all day at work and don't think i'd be able to hear this
  • Radio reception is poor even on strong signals
  • Horrible Orange rubbish on it, can it be removed?
  • Battery life seems poor, when I put the battery in it was half full, it was flat 10 mins later

So can any of these issues be resolved?

Welcome to the forum

You will probably find the thinking is where the 2 phones are different, it will seem like 2nd nature after a little while.
Battery life improved on mine after a few charges/discharges, most poeple on here get a day or more per charge i often get 3 days.
Orange branded handsets are a pain i debranded mine to get rid of the orange crap.
You can also go the rooting road & install custom roms too.
Some people get better or worse reception depending where they live.
Never had any problems with my headphone volume, try a different pair of headphones.
 
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General build quality is poor compared to the iPhone, its made of cheap plastic
The build quality is fine and much better than most phones. It is a different style from the iPhone.

Its just not as polished or user friendly as the iPhone
But a lot more flexible. Android is still in development my friend and I would argue some aspects of it are far more polished than the iPhone - home screens for example. The UI on the iPhone is essentially just a list of icons - like wow!

There seems to be a lot of thinking involved where as the iPhone there was none
Because you had no real options on the iPhone.

Speaker volume distorts when turned up
Agreed, it could be better...

Headphone volume is really low, which is an issue as I listen to my iphone all day at work and don't think i'd be able to hear this
I have not experienced this... my volume is fine and too loud on the highest settings.

Radio reception is poor even on strong signals
Not experienced this either...

Horrible Orange rubbish on it, can it be removed?
I have an unbranded phone, so not issue for me. It can be removed but you will probably find it too hard if you feel that the phone is not user friendly. Do a search.

Battery life seems poor, when I put the battery in it was half full, it was flat 10 mins later
If you drained 50% in 10 minutes, you have a serious problem with your phone. My phone lasts 32 hours with fairly good use. Can get 48 hours if very careful. No worse than my old iPhone. Battery gets better after a few charges. Also, you need to play around with some settings so phone is not doing more than it needs to.


Moral of the story - THIS IS NOT AN IPHONE. If you want a phone that is like an iPhone - buy a freakin iPhone. T
 
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Welcome to the forum

You will probably find the thinking is where the 2 phones are different, it will seem like 2nd nature after a little while.
Battery life improved on mine after a few charges/discharges, most poeple on here get a day or more per charge i often get 3 days.
Orange branded handsets are a pain i debranded mine to get rid of the orange crap.
You can also go the rooting road & install custom roms too.
Some people get better or worse reception depending where they live.
Never had any problems with my headphone volume, try a different pair of headphones.

Reading on here it seems alot of people loss Wifi after debranding and that seems like a right pain in the behind to get it going again
 
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See comments below

  • General build quality is poor compared to the iPhone, its made of cheap plastic

    Aye - lightweight material that is strong and durable. Plastic is relatively inexpensive not cheap ...... big difference
  • Its just not as polished or user friendly as the iPhone

    I think it's just different and you haven't found your way aound it yet ... give it time and you likely change your mind.
  • There seems to be a lot of thinking involved where as the iPhone there was none

    not sure what you mean
  • Speaker volume distorts when turned up

    Agree up to a point .......but it's not unusable
  • Headphone volume is really low, which is an issue as I listen to my iphone all day at work and don't think i'd be able to hear this

    Not a problem -I use mine all the time as MP3 player both with expensive Bose and Sony headphones and the supplied headphones - volume fine ... with respect ...... how's your hearing?;)
  • Radio reception is poor even on strong signals
    Agree . ........but never ever used radio on any phone I've had.
  • Horrible Orange rubbish on it, can it be removed?

    Sorry buddy . but Orange is the last provider I would have a phone on . non existent reception around here...... No Vodafone "rubbish" on my Desire
  • Battery life seems poor, when I put the battery in it was half full, it was flat 10 mins later

    Battery life will improve over the first few weeks
  • Seems to be a wifi issue if you debrand

    You have been warned:D

So can any of these issues be resolved?
 
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I left my iphone behind and I haven't missed it. Frankly I just grew sick of Apple and their crazy control over what I want to do with MY phone.

I don't think Android is for everyone. I don't think my wife would like it as much as her iPhone.

If you don't dig it within the cooling off period, I would return it.
 
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Right well I think the best bet is to just play with it, does seem like a bit of a learning curve but that is a good thing, The Orange rubbish is the main thing annoying me at the min, why do they feel the need to put this on there phones:mad:
What is this 'Orange rubbish' you speak of? Mine is on Orange and is fine, maybe i am missing the point?
Cheers.
 
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Hope this helps also:

  • General build quality is poor compared to the iPhone, its made of cheap plastic
Build quality is not poor as the phone holds together well. I have been unfortunate enough that as my 11 month old daughter who is toddling has managed to get hold and drop my phone a couple of times. No scratches, chafe marks or broken battery cover whatsoever. Okay the finish isn't polished to reflect your face but I prefer my matt finish. I mean my phone is not a fashion statement.

Read this: http://androidforums.com/htc-desire/126065-tougher-than-looks.html

And this: http://androidforums.com/htc-desire/115589-build-quality-htc-desire.html

  • Its just not as polished or user friendly as the iPhone
It is as user friendly or as complicated as you want it to be.

  • There seems to be a lot of thinking involved where as the iPhone there was none
Did the iPhone wipe your bum too?? No not very constructive I agree but the reason you didn't have to think with an iPhone is that from the start your told what to do with your phone, how to do it, and above all what you couldn't or shouldn't do with it. Android is a veritable play ground for you to explore and do with what you please. Thats right you can do what you want to do with it, with a little bit of thought. However if you don't want to do that stay with iPhone. Androids about what you want to do. iPhones about what you don't want to have to do.

  • Speaker volume distorts when turned up
Agreed but I find one volume press down solves most of my issues especially with Youtube Videos.

Read this: http://androidforums.com/htc-desire/113083-poor-quality-loudspeaker.html



Certain apps and certain forms of audio seem to suffer more than others.

  • Headphone volume is really low, which is an issue as I listen to my iphone all day at work and don't think i'd be able to hear this
Not a problem here either, your not using a set of headphones with in-line volume control that isn't turned all the way up. Not trying to insult you but sometimes the simplest solution is the most obvious.

Read here: http://androidforums.com/htc-desire/78045-media-volume-too-low.html



Appears to possdibly be connected to the type of headphones between TRS AND TRRS headphones.

  • Radio reception is poor even on strong signals
Thats Orange for you but if you debrand the phone via rooting you can get a ROM with the improved Radio code installed which may help. T-Mobile and Orange are supposed to be network sharing and being with Virgin I have never had a problem.



Read here: http://androidforums.com/htc-desire/103417-data-problems-htc-desire-orange.html for some possible workarounds. I know its mainly looking at data but its all reception related.

  • Horrible Orange rubbish on it, can it be removed?
Yes but with the risk of the WiFies disappearing. This can be corrected and yes it may seem a hassle to do it one afternoon. That said whats that short period of time compared to how long you intend to have the phone.

  • Battery life seems poor, when I put the battery in it was half full, it was flat 10 mins later
Battery life is fine on many peoples Desires after they have cycled the battery a couple of times. There is plenty of info around on how to improve it but in my experience I find it best to remove any TaskKiller apps, then go through each app one after another and check in Settings>Applications>Running Services and anything still running after returning to the Home via the back key should be removed as it isn't programmed very well. Also make sure you are not constantly transmitting your location with GPS or mobile network location services with apps like Google Lattitude. This munches battery. Another common battery drain issue is the Calendar app not allowing the phone to properly enter sleep mode. The best solution to this so far is to ensure there is no active Flickr profile on the phone.

  • Seems to be a wifi issue if you debrand
See above.




So can any of these issues be resolved?
 
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Play around with it for a few days and I doubt you'll want to go back to an iphone.

I've had one, and the GF has one, and I agree they're a bit 'slicker' in some respects but you're so restricted in what you can do with one in terms of customization that I think you'd soon be bored if you went back. They're too 'clinical' somehow.

Battery life on the Desire is certainly an issue which has to be managed but there are loads of tips on this site on how to achieve this. Me and the GF went out on Saturday night with our phones both fully charged at 5.30 - when we went to bed at 2.30 I had 48% left, she had 82%!!! Buy a spare charger and keep it charging whenever you can. Plenty of people reckon it improves after a few charges but I'm not so sure.
 
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  • There seems to be a lot of thinking involved where as the iPhone there was none
Yeah, that's the whole point. I love thinking! If you just wanted something simple, you'd have stayed with an iPhone. Not that its interface is all that bad - I like the iPod Touch alot. However, as a phone/pda, it doesn't fit my needs.

Take a look at the Homescreens thread. Seriously, you can do so much with your screen rather than just filling it with icons. Amazing stuff.

Some absolute positives (especially if you root):

1) Setting your ringtones AND notification tones (I couldn't hear my calender events going off).
2) Widgets - love my lockscreen widgets and my calendar laid out for me on the homescreen.
3) Wireless hotspot (root)
4) Complete customization - It's all non-stock - keyboard, SMS handler, dailer, calendar, camera, alarm clock, etc. So much to do.
5) Google Latitude (so fracking cool).
I went from not knowing anything about Android to being able to convince my iPhone friends how cool it was because of all my customizations. Those that wanted simple (non-tech) didn't agree, which I understand. Those that wanted choice and were tech savvy, they switched.

Tim
 
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General build quality is poor compared to the iPhone, its made of cheap plastic Dont confuse build quality with build materials, the softtouch matt plastic is far superior in terms of eurgonomics and everyday useability than the iPhones glass/metal design. Yes the iPhone looks aesthetically nicer but worse to actually use by far.

Its just not as polished or user friendly as the iPhone Android does not present everyone with Googles user experience, it presents you with the tools to make YOUR user experience the best it can be.

There seems to be a lot of thinking involved where as the iPhone there was none The iPhone is idiot proof, linar walls of icons with no flexability. Yes you have to spend time carefully considering how YOU use YOUR Android smartphone, but is that a bad thing? Google give you the tools to make a fantatic user experience tailored to YOU not to Apples idea of how a smart phone is to be used. I dont want to offend you but this question makes you sound like you want to be ignorant.

Speaker volume distorts when turned up Speaker quality is rubbish cant argue on this front.

Headphone volume is really low, which is an issue as I listen to my iphone all day at work and don't think i'd be able to hear this Not a problem for me, possibly an issuse with the headphones not the phone.

Radio reception is poor even on strong signals Network specific not a problem with the phone, I have great reception on t-Mob.

Horrible Orange rubbish on it, can it be removed? Again a network issue not something specifically wrong with the phone, root it or get it on a different network.

Battery life seems poor, when I put the battery in it was half full, it was flat 10 mins later You are supposed to give the phone a charge to full before you use it for the first time. Also it needs 3-5 full charge/discharge cycles to get a full charge held consistantly. Make sure every app/widget isnt updating ever 30 mins-1hour as this is pretty pointless turning stuff onto manual (i.e. it updates when u look at it) saves a ton of battery. Live wallpapers also drain battery and slow the cpu. The battery does struggle but i still get a days heavy usage consitantly.


 
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Headphone volume is really low, which is an issue as I listen to my iphone all day at work and don't think i'd be able to hear this Not a problem for me, possibly an issuse with the headphones not the phone.

Both, but more the phone. The phone is designed to accept TRRS connectors. Headphones without controls etc are TRS.

TRS will work, but some are low volume.

The 3.5mm socket on the phone is recessed in such a way that the plastic housing of the headphones sometimes prevents the TRS jacks from fully inserting into the socket, causing a poor connection which results in the low volume.
 
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Hey slugger I live in Belfast and have no problems with my Desire im on Vodafone and easily get a day and half out of my battery check your widgets like the weather one is updating every 15mins have you installed task killer to stop some apps working in the background and draining battery there's loads of tweaks to make once you get use it you will be laughing.
 
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