I require some advice.

[Sulfamylon]

Hello guys, this is my first post on this forum as I'm new to the Android world.

My yearly new phone period is closely coming and I am very interested in getting the HTC Desire Z. I have read review after review and all the specifications, but I would like to ask you guys myself how you like it.

I previously owned the Samsung Omnia II(VERY bad phone, INSANELY laggy) and it did not do as I expected it to.

I would also like to ask for any pointers to help my future phone. Can you give me any pointers on what to do to prolong the phone's life? I've read about Task Killers, do they work? Do they do more good than harm, if harm at all?

As well i've seen people with problems with the Z hinge being kind of cheap(not popping, front piece of phone hanging down). Is this common?

Thanks for reading this guys, much appreciated. Even more appreciated if you reply too.

 

[Stuntman]

I would also like to ask for any pointers to help my future phone. Can you give me any pointers on what to do to prolong the phone's life? I've read about Task Killers, do they work? Do they do more good than harm, if harm at all?

My understanding is that task killers may do more harm than good. Most apps that are designed correctly are still loaded, but would not actually run (unless they really need to).

As well i've seen people with problems with the Z hinge being kind of cheap(not popping, front piece of phone hanging down). Is this common?

What do you mean no popping?

I believe you are referring to the tension of the spring. The Z hinge is designed to be opened and closed easily. There is enough tension to keep the keyboard and screen opened or closed when holding the phone normally. If you are referring to some videos of the keyboard hanging down, you will notice that the person is holding only the screen part of the phone. This never happens when holding or operating the phone normally. If you pick up the phone normally, the grip you end up using will cause you to grab the whole phone. I've had the phone for 3 months and the phone does not open or close accidentally.

If you are thinking that the spring tension should be tighter, the side effect of that would be to make the keyboard harder to open and close. It would also cause a snapping action once you move the keyboard past half way open or closed. The Nokia N97 is designed this way. It has a tighter spring and it makes it more difficult to open and close.

 

[Sulfamylon]

Ahh, thank you for your response. So the best thing to do would just not get task killers.

May i ask,though, don't they help your battery life? If your phone is running so many programs at once would it not be better to stop those programs? Just a question...

Also, are there any tips on maintaining the phone? I check the tips and tricks section and only found a thread on the battery cover.

edit: yes, thats what I meant by the "no popping" term.

 

[nonotz]

you'll still able to kill any services / running program from "setting"

the only task manager function is to cause some error in your OS
a lot of people having "force close" issue after installing task killer

and android is smart in multitasking
i never have an issue with android multitasking capabilities

 

[Stuntman]

May i ask,though, don't they help your battery life? If your phone is running so many programs at once would it not be better to stop those programs? Just a question...

My understanding is that programs that don't need to run in the background aren't necessarily running. They may just be loaded and sit idle while doing nothing. Task killers may confuse the OS and may cause more power to be used while the OS tries to figure out what's going on. It is possible that they may help battery life, but it is also possible they make the battery drain faster. Unless you really know what you're doing, it could be hit or miss.

Android has a screen that lists what systems use what percentage of power. Whenever I check, I find that the screen uses about 2/3 of the power. The other individual systems or apps use around 5 percent each. Many of these you wouldn't want to kill since the phone needs them to operate. Others only seem to use power when I'm actually using them.

Apps that do run in the background tend to be ones that update things like news apps. These apps generally have settings that you can configure to update at a lower frequency or not at all. You can set these apps to not update at all to save power, but I don't think it really saves that much power.

Also, are there any tips on maintaining the phone? I check the tips and tricks section and only found a thread on the battery cover.

edit: yes, thats what I meant by the "no popping" term.

I don't know what you would do differently with this phone compared to any other. Just take care of it and try not to drop it. I don't do anything special. I just use it and then charge it up at the end of each day.

 

[Sulfamylon]

Ahh thanks, i understand now.

On the lines of maintaining the phone, are there any apps that will monitor the phone and how it is doing? My friend has one app called Lookout which scans his phone and etc... is this effective or a waste of space?

 

[JRedmond97]

I got the htc desire z for christmas. I only had it for amonth and i realized whenever id call people or recieve calls, my voice would be distorted and no one could hear me.

I sent the phone to get repaired for a month and got it back yesterday.
I attempted my first call today and my voice was STILL distorted.
PLUS, the battery life is HORRIBLE.
Im not a very heavy user, I'll wake up, check my texts, go to school and by time i come home its half battery.

If you're interested in a phone that has NO glitches and has a long battery life, this probably isn't the phone for you.

 

[Sulfamylon]

Are you sure? This is a first of this glitch which i'm hearing about.

Ask someone like Slug, he seems professional.

 

[Slug]

Ask someone like Slug, he seems professional.

Hahahaha, thanks for the compliment! I wish it were true, but I'm just another geek.

Anyway, back on topic.... all I can say is that the call quality of my DZ is fine, both inbound and outbound.

Battery life is a subjective thing and depends very much on personal usage. I have to say that I never found the stock DZ as bad as you're experiencing. Have you run the battery right down to the <5% warning from a full charge yet? Try that, then charging it up (switched off) overnight - the software calibration may be skewed and not accurately reflecting the true charge state.

 

[Sulfamylon]

Well I've decided on the Desire Z so I will be getting it sometime this week, thanks for all the help guys.

if I have any more questions I will be sure to ask them in this thread to avoid cluttering.