Desire scratch resistance and other questions

[Emu76]

After 4 months of proudly owning a Milestone (great phone) the power button unfortunately broke, and so I took it to the Carphone Warehouse to get it repaired. It was sent off to Motorola, who can't fix it because they can't get the parts they need, since they don't make the phone anymore.

Today a man from the Carphone Warehouse called me about it, and basically told me it would be far easier to offer me a replacement. He gave me a list of 6 phones: HTC Desire, Wildfire, SE X10, X10 Mini Pro, Vivaz or another Milestone.

The obvious choice is clearly the Desire, but I have a few questions first.

1.) How scratch resistant is the screen? The Milestone's Gorilla Glass meant I could take it out at night and to parties etc. and it never got harmed one bit. I do avoid putting phones in the same pocket as keys or other metallic items, but I want to be able to use the phone without worrying about what it's going to look like in the morning, and preferably without a screen protector (I hate them). Bend and pressure resistance is as crucial, if not more so.

2.) How close to stock is the phone? One impressive plus point for the Motorola Milestone is that it runs an almost unmodified version of Android. I like HTC Sense, but I have also been developing apps with the help of my Milestone, and obviously an unmodified version of Android is useful here. If the Desire is roughly representative of similar devices, that will do, but I don't want something as far removed as Motoblur running on my phone.

3.) What is it like for gaming? I've noticed the Desire doesn't have a dedicated GPU like the Milestone, but a much faster processor instead. Is this detrimental or helpful when it comes to gaming? I also heard the 2.2 update improved 3D performance by something like 450% but I can't be sure about that. I don't want the phone to be out of date in this area before I get it, especially since I already know my old Milestone runs modern 3D games smoothly.

4.) Something I forgot to ask the repair guy was whether or not the replacement will be new. If there is anyone in the UK who has had dealings with the Carphone Warehouse in the past few months or so, and been in roughly the same situation as me, what was your experience? The last thing I want is a 'refurbished' phone that has been abused beyond belief and is almost (or already) out of warranty.

Thank you all in advance for your help.

 

[SUroot]

1.) How scratch resistant is the screen?

Quite. After 10 months I have a couple of very light scratches. I keep it loose in a pocket on its own, but I have dropped it from rib height onto concrete surfaces several times, so this was most likely the cause. I can't see it unless the screen is off and I manoeuve it around in the day light

2.) How close to stock is the phone?

It has the HTC sense UI which is good as a manufacturer's UI but for a close to stock feel you can install launcherpro.

3.) What is it like for gaming?

Pretty good. Some of the emulators (PSX4droid) need a bit of overclocking to run well though, but android specific games are fine

I recently found out thanks to Usta, that it does have a GPU. The Adreno 200 chip

 

[Emu76]

Quite. After 10 months I have a couple of very light scratches. I keep it loose in a pocket on its own, but I have dropped it from rib height onto concrete surfaces several times, so this was most likely the cause. I can't see it unless the screen is off and I manoeuve it around in the day light
It has the HTC sense UI which is good as a manufacturer's UI but for a close to stock feel you can install launcherpro.
Pretty good. Some of the emulators (PSX4droid) need a bit of overclocking to run well though, but android specific games are fine
I recently found out thanks to Usta, that it does have a GPU. The Adreno 200 chip

Thank you very much for your help. I was definately leaning more towards a Desire but I've found this video and it's putting me off a lot. I don't want to feel like I'm downgrading in any way, especially as I want to be able to run GT Racing: Motor Academy HD and I have no idea if that will even work. From what I've seen it doesn't look good

 

[mr.hachi]

I've had my desire nearly a year and it hasn't got a mark on it. At first I used a velvet case I got off amazon but after a while realised that I didn't need a case. The phone is always kept in a pocket on it's own and has been fine. A quick rub over the phone with a cloth used for cleaning glasses and it still looks as new as the day I got it.

 

[amlothi]

Why are you so against putting a screen protector on it? I can't even tell mine has one most of the time. The nice thing is, if the screen protector itself gets scratched or damaged, it is cheap and easy to replace it. Just curious why you don't like it. I don't feel like sensitivity is affected at all either.



Also, I'm not sure if you are interested in rooting your phone, but I recently (finally) caved and did it. I don't really miss HTC Sense that much at all using a custom ROM now without it. Before rooting I tried SUroot's suggestion of using Launcher Pro, but it always felt a bit slow and clunky with Sense still running in the background all the time. Just my personal experience.

 

[SUroot]

Yeah once you decide on launcherpro for definite, rooting is the way to go

 

[Meh]

I've had mine for five months. I've got a HTC TPU case for it (bit like a cross between plastic and rubber, gives good grip and protects the back, top, sides, and the front as it has a sort of liparound the edge, looks good on too) and it's not got a scratch on it. Oh the case surrounds the power button rather than covers it, which makes it more difficult to accidently press as the button is recessed within the case, so you won't forever turn the screen on by mistake.

Had a screen protector on for three months, nothing for two now. Got fed up with botching the application, one spec of dust ruining it etc. My problem though, just not great at applying them. Going without now as I feel the screen is tough enough to avaoid damage - I keep it alone in a pocket, and if it falls screen side down the lip of the case prevents the screen impacting. If it falls on a stone or something obviously it wouldn't help, but then even with a screen protector it would probably damage it anyway.

Not found any app or game that doesn't run well for me.

I like Sense with one exception - the dock button to add items to the homescreens, do I really need a permenant button for that when I can press menu or long-press the screen?? Would rather it was a user-defined shortcut, but I suppose I could always use a replacement launcher.

 

[SUroot]

Thank you very much for your help. I was definately leaning more towards a Desire but I've found this video and it's putting me off a lot. I don't want to feel like I'm downgrading in any way, especially as I want to be able to run GT Racing: Motor Academy HD and I have no idea if that will even work. From what I've seen it doesn't look good

I dont use that game in question, or the one in the video although I do have need for speed: Shift.

It runs vrey smooth for me, however as stated earlier, I have rooted / custom rom / overclocked CPU

 

[Meh]

Whilst we're kinda on the subject of screen protectors, anyone found a matt one? A mate has one on his iPhone and it's great for avoiding smudges etc.

 

[SUroot]

Whilst we're kinda on the subject of screen protectors, anyone found a matt one? A mate has one on his iPhone and it's great for avoiding smudges etc.

I bought some that said they were anti-glare (not really matt). I just wanted to reduce reflection.

However, I have spent about

 

[wolvotim]

I've got a screen protector on my desire and can honestly say you can't tell its on. I got the first couple wrong and had to bin them but the third one went on a treat and is perfect. Get some from eBay they're only cheap so if you don't like them it isn't a great loss.

 

[SiHa]

I used a screen protector when I first got the phone last April, quite a dear one at

 

[deanshep85]

I dont use that game in question, or the one in the video although I do have need for speed: Shift.

It runs vrey smooth for me, however as stated earlier, I have rooted / custom rom / overclocked CPU

dan, shift runs bloody smooth on the Desire even on stock 2.2....I had it running on mine long before I went rooting/leedroid/overclocking

4.) Something I forgot to ask the repair guy was whether or not the replacement will be new. If there is anyone in the UK who has had dealings with the Carphone Warehouse in the past few months or so, and been in roughly the same situation as me, what was your experience? The last thing I want is a 'refurbished' phone that has been abused beyond belief and is almost (or already) out of warranty.

right first off, IF you got refurbished the warrenty wont be 'expired' on it...if you got a refurbished handset, its going to be one of two things..

a) either a contract handset that has been returned within the 7-14 day cooling off period if the customer didnt like it...and as it BEEN used once they cant sell it as new so it would be refurb...I got my desire from '3' as a refurb handset and its perfect...the only thing that was different with it was the actually physical packaging it came in...it was a refurb retail box...so plain white etc...not the nice lil retail desire box...that was IT...only difference...oh and they chucked an 8gb memory card in, not the 4gb one normally in there lol...

b) refurb handsets also cover those that have gone back for repair and had well most of it replaced and then put back into perfect order....so again it will be perfect it will almost be as new....actually theres a thread on here somewhere of someone bitching bout a refurb handset when he wanted new and what actually consituted a refurb set...

what you WONT get is a beaten up scratched to crap second hand phone from them...they cant sell something like that, even with a refurb sticker on it...

also any warrentys that were ORIGINALLY on it, will just be renewed...my handset again being refurb was given a years warrenty by 3 and a year or 2 from the manufacturer I think....whatever exacty it was...

so you should be ok with that..