Desire questions?

[HLA91]

Hi all, I hope this is in the right place

My phone broke about 1 week ago and it was just a couple of days after my parents asked me what do you want for Christmas, I have never had a smart phone before I had my K800i for 4 years so I never looked at other phones.

I quite like the look of the HTC Desire, I did glance at the Galaxy S but the contract prices were too high for my parents so that went out the window pretty sharpish. Is the HTC Desire a goods choice for reliability and usability.
I have read many pros and cons but I would like to hear it first hand about any faults with it. Or should I look at another android phone for one reason or another? Like I said I am new to the smart phone world and I have only had a week to look around at the phones. Basically what I want is a phone that rings and I can access the web to check my emails and play with some apps.

Sorry if the questions are a bit jumbled its just I couldn't quite figure out what I wanted to ask and part of me is locked onto the desire (don't know why) another part of me says I don't need a smart phone and the other part says "but wouldn't it be nice to check your emails on the go" so I am rather muddled.

Many thanks

HLA91

 

[Guamguy]

I am pretty happy with my HTC Desire. My example is factory unlocked, no carrier, official Froyo upgraded pushed OTA by HTC and Google. You didn't really clarify what region are you or what carrier you are using.

The HTC Desire might be the best smartphone of 2010

Highest rating by Reghardware. 90 points. Also Editor's Choice (iPhone 4 scored 75 points, Omnia 7 70 points, HD7 scored 80 points, Galaxy S and Nexus One scored 85 points).

T3 Device of the Year

Techradar's top smartphone of the year (outscored the Desire HD, iPhone 4 and a whole host of other Android phones).

Personally, even though I know some people are purists and only want the pure Android, I love using HTC Sense that I continued to use my Droid Eris side by side even though I managed to acquire a Nexus One. It was the reason why I bought the Desire. HTC Sense, frankly, is very phone smart and has a lot of neat detail like scrolling text messages on the lock screen to a very convenient phone button on the front screen.

Compared to the Nexus One, I feel the Desire scrolls smoother. The HTC Sense keyboard is one of the best software keyboards I've used and nothing beats having a key that can both input an alphabet or a number. I also like its autocorrection, the way it presents multiple word choices and so on.

One aspect where the Desire beats other Android phones is that all the menu buttons below the screen are old fashioned mechanical, not some touch button. The mechanical buttons are very smooth and tactile to press on, like a button on a German car. Its a true pleasure just to flick around these buttons as you switch from one app or menu to another.

The phone is truly beautiful to look and hold on your hand. The back is very smooth. Your eyes are easily drawn to the workmanship that makes up the machined aluminum body around the screen.

The bads are, it has a very limited phone memory, like 145mb, thanks to all the preloaded apps and the HTC Sense, and which gets even less if you got Flash installed. You need to keep track which apps under Froyo can be moved to the SD card. If you like to ask, I can give you quite a list. Fortunately that list is growing.

The battery is 1400mah. Its not as bad as other Android phones when it comes to battery usage (Droid Incredible has to be the worst), but its not the best either. The battery part of the Desire is the same as the Nexus One and appears to be the same as the Desire Z and G2.

This phione is a true beauty but if the Desire Z is offered for the same price I may take the Desire Z because that is a newer design and has more internal phone memory. If you can get an HTC Desire for a good price I say go for it.

 

[sloseph]

i got my desire about a month or so ago like you i spent a lot of time trying to find out what was the best phone and i went fo the desire

i couldn't be happier, it does everything (and more) that i want it to, looks great, its nice and light but not too light it feels cheap

great phone id definatly recomend it

 

[bryantest]

HI

Newbie here

I'm contemplating of purchasing this phone vs Samsung Galaxy S

I noticed that these two have somewhat identical hardware specs but the Desire has less battery life than the Galaxy S

Why is this? Is it because:

a) the hardware of Desire has a higher power consumption than the Galaxy S?

OR

b) the widgets and apps of the Desire consume more power than the Galaxy S?

I just need to get a definite answer. or at least a logical one. Thank you!

 

[Tino]

To be honest I have never had any trouble with my Desire's battery (after about a week, takes a few charges to get the battery up to scratch). My Desire is un-rooted and using 2.2 and I usually charge it over night every night but it will last two days for me with moderate usage. My friends Galaxy S is alot more suspect in the battery department and he uses it less than I do! Although this might all change when Galaxy S finally gets 2.2.

Having used both handsets I actually prefer the Desire and recommend it to anyone, the only downfall is that the memory is pants, but easily fixable with root whereas the Galaxy S is great with 8gb internal memory. The Galaxy S' screen blows the Desire away imo, but that is its only plus (though a big plus). The Desire also feels alot better made, the Galaxy S just feel plasticy and cheaply made. Both absolutely brilliant phones though its just which you prefer.

 

[HLA91]

the only downfall is that the memory is pants, but easily fixable with root whereas the Galaxy S is great with 8gb internal memory.

But surely apps will just install to the SDCard once the internal storage is used up? Why would I have to root it?

 

[SUroot]

But surely apps will just install to the SDCard once the internal storage is used up? Why would I have to root it?

Because it doesnt work like that. Android 2.2 allows parts of some apps to be moved to external storage if the developer codes the app to do that. Its a huge shortfall, but yes rooting does over come it.

I have a desire. Ive modified it up to the hilt. I would never consider another phone in its place.

 

[Bnice]

Why not the Desire HD ?

 

[SUroot]

Who me?

Too big

 

[HLA91]

I did look at the HD but its

 

[SUroot]

The screen is bigger do uses more battery. Same power CPU but newer architecture may be more efficient.

Not sure on internal memory space.

 

[HLA91]

Just looked at the HTC Desire HD on carphone warehouse and they say it doesnt have bluetooth but on HTC site there is bluetooth so can anyone confirm/deny this please

 

[Griff_LI]

It definitely has bluetooth (spec as per HTC site).

 

[HLA91]

I just looked at the Desire HD Vs the Samsung Galaxy and apart from the reduced weight and increased storage the galaxy isnt good enough to really sway me. Anyone have any views?

 

[Jammy]

The screen is bigger do uses more battery.

Surely it's about the resolution of the screen, rather than the pixels?

Same power CPU but newer architecture may be more efficient.

Much more efficient - 45nm manufacturing process vs 65nm. Also has the Adreno 205 GPU rather than the Adreno 200. The 205 is something like 3x better.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snapdragon_(processor)

Not sure on internal memory space.

Desire has 512MB, HD has 1.5GB.

____

Both The Desire HD and the Desire have Bluetooth 2.1

The Desire HD has a 1230mAh battery, compared to the Desire's 1400mAh, although the new 45nm Snapdragon may make up for this... Try Google/Youtube...

The Desire has 576MB of RAM vs the Desire HD's 768MB.

I'm fairly sure the Desire HD has an updated radio, and can theoretically achieve twice the 3G download speeds of the Desire(7.2Mbs^-1 down/2Mbs^-1 up vs 14.4Mbs^-1 down/5.76Mbs^-1 up). This likely won't make a difference in real world performance though - at least for a good while...

The Desire HD supports all the video formats the Desire does as well as .avi and .xvid.

The Desire HD has the new HTC Sense, and as of now, the Desire does not.

The Desire HD has 802.11 n WiFi, whereas the Desire doesn't.


I think that's everything...

 

[Bomberman]

I just looked at the Desire HD Vs the Samsung Galaxy and apart from the reduced weight and increased storage the galaxy isnt good enough to really sway me. Anyone have any views?

Yeah. Avoid Samsung phones like the plague (ex original Galaxy owner).

 

[HLA91]

Yeah. Avoid Samsung phones like the plague (ex original Galaxy owner).

can you expand on this?

 

[SUroot]

Surely it's about the resolution of the screen, rather than the pixels?

Its about everything.

 

[Jammy]

can you expand on this?

I think he's referring to the rate of updates...

 

[Bomberman]

I think he's referring to the rate of updates...

Yeah pretty much. But also the fact that it just didn't work properly in any way.

 

[Jammy]

Yeah pretty much. But also the fact that it just didn't work properly in any way.

I think that problem has been addressed in the Galaxy S ^_^

Who knows about updates though...

 

[Cougar]

Yeah. Avoid Samsung phones like the plague (ex original Galaxy owner).

This.

Two things. The original Galaxy was a pup. I'm not going to go into it in detail, have a look at the forum here. Suffice to say, Samsung sold us up the river.

When I came to replace it, the Desire and the Galaxy S were my only two real options. Both are similar on paper, both have pros and cons but nothing overly critical.

I then looked at the forums here. The Desire forum was full of people singing the praises of their phone; the Galaxy S forum was full of people complaining about bugs and issues, faulty GPS and lag issues that Samsung were promising "improvements" on. Not fixes, you understand, improvements. And as an ex-Galaxy owner, I treat these claims with some scepticism.

From there is was a no-brainer. Same crap, different handset. Desire all the way. It'll take a paradigm shift in Samsung's attitude for me to ever contemplate a Samsung handset again (certainly where Android's concerned anyway).

 

[Bomberman]

I think that problem has been addressed in the Galaxy S ^_^

Who knows about updates though...

Dunno about that to be honest mate, GPS issues etc - just have a look at the first page of the S forum here! Burn me once, shame on you, twice, shame on me. That said, I swore I'd never have another HTC after my Vario II....
But yeah the updates thing, i7500, portal etc. etc.


Hey Cougar! Good to see ya ps; my mate just got the call from o2 today - tried to claim the Galaxy was getting 2.2 this week Then they tried to force the SGS again - bt a Desire is on the way

 

[Cougar]

<grins> hiya.

Vario II is the TyTN 2, yes? Utterly pish as shipped, absolutely stellar(*) after a firmware upgrade.

Galaxy on 2.2? Hilarious. I've more chance of seeing Windows 7 running on my ZX Spectrum.

(* - See what I did there? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?)

 

[coos lick]

I see you've been looking at the carphone warehouse - the advantage there is they sell their phones unbranded - without the bloated crappy malware a lot of the carriers put on it. I got my Desire through one if their online shops - mobiles.co.uk. It was on the orange network - same as my old payg mobile so I was able to get my old number transferred over after the phone arrived. Phone was free, 24 month contract @ 25 quid a month. It was a cash back deal with the first 10 months half price so 12.50. You have to pay full whack and send in bill statements at 6, 9, 12 months, then they send you a refund. Just coming up to 6 months so I'm not sure if this works yet though. Does sound a bit too good to be true, but happy with the 25 quid anyway! The other advantage of getting an unbranded phone is you don't have to wait for the updates - I got 2.2 over the air as soon as it was issued by HTC. 2.3 is coming up so I'm keeping my fingers crossed I get in the first wave as well! it would be a shame to have the best hardware but not have the most up to date software!

Ps - has anybody else tried this cashback thing - does it happen?