What are your final thoughts on the Desire after living with it?

Tyseyh · Dec 10, 2011

Rooting the Desire is easy, the hard part is understanding everything.

Mattb81 · Dec 11, 2011

As Rasta says, rooting is a one step process. All the prep work is just to make sure the phone can communicate to your pc.

leerees · Dec 11, 2011

If I'm honest, this phone is pure junk. I initially brought the phone for taking pictures and video and for checking email.

1) Email is not possible as push will kill the battery. In fact do anything on this phone and your battery is gone like the wind. If you disable everything (and I mean everything) then you can get 3 days out of it, but what's the point, might aswell have an oldskool nokia and get 2 weeks battery life.

2) the sound in video is recorded at 8khz and there is absolutely no way to change it, 8khz is worse than telephone quality, all video clips are unusable due to the absolutely appaling sound quality.

3) The frame rate of the video is jerky and uneven, this is due to the datarate on the SDcard being nerfed, so as with the audio there is no fix.

4) It's very hard to understand what people are saying due to the appaling sound quality of the ear peice. This is not just "a little tinny" or "not the best", the sound quality is absolutely appaling. If anybody has ever seen those joke talking christmas cards, the sound is the same as that

5) the camera lens fuzzes over after 2 months, meaning you can no longer take pictures or videos with this phone unless you remove the back cover and lens.

6) wifi tethering is impossible because it cuts off, despite setting it to never expire.

7) Add to this all of the bugs of the official software and it makes you wonder how this phone ever got passed testing.

All in all it has cemented my view that HTC is a 2 bit company that produces sub standard products. I know that I will never buy a HTC phone again. This really is the worst phone I've ever owned. I've actually stopped using the desire and instead went and brought a cheap

muzzman · Dec 11, 2011

leerees said:
If I'm honest, this phone is pure junk. I initially brought the phone for taking pictures and video and for checking email.

1) Email is not possible as push will kill the battery. In fact do anything on this phone and your battery is gone like the wind. If you disable everything (and I mean everything) then you can get 3 days out of it, but what's the point, might aswell have an oldskool nokia and get 2 weeks battery life.

2) the sound in video is recorded at 8khz and there is absolutely no way to change it, 8khz is worse than telephone quality, all video clips are unusable due to the absolutely appaling sound quality.

3) The frame rate of the video is jerky and uneven, this is due to the datarate on the SDcard being nerfed, so as with the audio there is no fix.

4) It's very hard to understand what people are saying due to the appaling sound quality of the ear peice. This is not just "a little tinny" or "not the best", the sound quality is absolutely appaling. If anybody has ever seen those joke talking christmas cards, the sound is the same as that

5) the camera lens fuzzes over after 2 months, meaning you can no longer take pictures or videos with this phone unless you remove the back cover and lens.

6) wifi tethering is impossible because it cuts off, despite setting it to never expire.

7) Add to this all of the bugs of the official software and it makes you wonder how this phone ever got passed testing.

All in all it has cemented my view that HTC is a 2 bit company that produces sub standard products. I know that I will never buy a HTC phone again. This really is the worst phone I've ever owned. I've actually stopped using the desire and instead went and brought a cheap

Dudditz · Dec 11, 2011

Any issues you encountered? - Memory issues and battery issues. Both easily sorted though.

Did you eventually root? - I did, can't remember how long I had the phone before I did it though. It was hellish, buggered it up a couple of times before a late night bit of guidance from SUroot sorted me out.

Do you feel you shouldn't of had to? - I likely would have anyway, if only to try out some other ROMs

Will you upgrade or go sim only because your Desire is still a sexy machine. - Not sure on this one really. I can upgrade at the end of May. I think it all might depend on how well the Desire can run ICS. If it works and works well I may well keep hold of it and just let my contract tick over until something that really catches my eye comes out. Then again, there might be a really good handset out by the time my upgrade rolls around. Got plenty of time to ponder that one.

All in all though, it really is the best phone I have had. And to think I nearly got an iPhone..,

Spoke to T-Mob at upgrade time, told them I wanted an iPhone, the guy says I should look into the Desire. So I held off, looked into a lot of reviews and to be honest, still wanted the iPhone.

Then I went into the shop and got a demo. And the rest, they say, is history.

And to be very honest I can't see me moving away from android now unless
a) It takes a serious backwards step
b) It ceases to exist
c) Another platform comes out that trumps android totally in each and every way.

Rastaman-FB · Dec 11, 2011

Sheshnag said:
First of all Rasta I would like to thank you for your help on both phones. But I used z4root to root my San Fran but looking at the Desire root guide I have to do multiple stuff, things like hboot drivers to root Desire. Then there is s-on, and s-off which I have no clue about.

on none 2.3 roms you can use visionary++ or oneclick to root the desire like z4root. this doesnt allow you to flash a rom or recovery.
Im pretty sure thats the same for sanfrancisco
if you want to flash a rom and get a recovery on there you need to
get mr pigfish to find out what type you have
temp root the device
flash the recovery through another program

with desire you just download the pc drivers and run either unrevoked or revolutionary to do the full root solution
if you want a temp root like z4root you can use superoneclick or visionary++

leerees said:
If I'm honest, this phone is pure junk. I initially brought the phone for taking pictures and video and for checking email.

1) Email is not possible as push will kill the battery. In fact do anything on this phone and your battery is gone like the wind. If you disable everything (and I mean everything) then you can get 3 days out of it, but what's the point, might aswell have an oldskool nokia and get 2 weeks battery life.

Welcome to any microsoft push solution that is android or IOS. this isnt htc or desire specific

leerees said:
2) the sound in video is recorded at 8khz and there is absolutely no way to change it, 8khz is worse than telephone quality, all video clips are unusable due to the absolutely appaling sound quality.

this is true. i dont really use video for anything but a few lols

leerees said:
3) The frame rate of the video is jerky and uneven, this is due to the datarate on the SDcard being nerfed, so as with the audio there is no fix.

on stock htc roms this is the case however its not dure to the sdcard datarate being nerfed, it is fixable and is custom roms video is not choppy even at 720p. audio is shite though i cant argue with that

leerees said:
4) It's very hard to understand what people are saying due to the appaling sound quality of the ear peice. This is not just "a little tinny" or "not the best", the sound quality is absolutely appaling. If anybody has ever seen those joke talking christmas cards, the sound is the same as that

in all honesty i dont have that, my nokias have sounded worse and i can hear people clearly on my phone tbh :/

leerees said:
5) the camera lens fuzzes over after 2 months, meaning you can no longer take pictures or videos with this phone unless you remove the back cover and lens.

yep thats 100% true although i got some rubbing alcohol and cleaned the cover as it wasnt scratched. it has a tint that goes off when exposed to air. the alcohol removes that

leerees said:
6) wifi tethering is impossible because it cuts off, despite setting it to never expire.

mine doesnt

leerees said:
7) Add to this all of the bugs of the official software and it makes you wonder how this phone ever got passed testing.

All in all it has cemented my view that HTC is a 2 bit company that produces sub standard products. I know that I will never buy a HTC phone again. This really is the worst phone I've ever owned. I've actually stopped using the desire and instead went and brought a cheap

APK · Dec 20, 2011

Its a brilliant phone, but the memory isue is a killer, I have gingerbread, but that is all, maybe when I get time I will look into rooting, but why should I have to, just to get to work as intended, until HTC resolve issues like this, the I-sheep will stick to their overpriced I-phones, yes they are inferior for many reasons, but you don't need to fiddle with them all the time.

Jon_LTD · Dec 20, 2011

APK said:
Its a brilliant phone, but the memory isue is a killer, I have gingerbread, but that is all, maybe when I get time I will look into rooting, but why should I have to, just to get to work as intended, until HTC resolve issues like this, the I-sheep will stick to their overpriced I-phones, yes they are inferior for many reasons, but you don't need to fiddle with them all the time.

I think HTC have learnt their lesson with the Desire as no other models (including the newer Desire range) suffer from this and have bags of room. Granted you shouldn't have to root to have 15+ user apps on your phone, but once its done, the Desire still holds its own in relation to all the new SmartPhones. Just depends if you want to go through with it.

shackfan · Dec 21, 2011

amit_eighty8 said:
the names say it all 'BRAVO'

the time it was launched it was the best .... and the best I ever owned

but now I feel urge to have bigger screen , more space ,better gpu & battery...cause time changes the need

This just about sums up my feelings. I also want a much better camera and hd video recording. My eyesight isnt as good as it was and need a bigger screen and if I start watching films on it they will look better. It really was a revolution in phones but having had the overheating problems and sent it back once, it still freezes on me, needs several attempts to turn back on, nearly everyday and the battery is crap.
Thing is what next? Sensation se or Samsung Galaxy 2 or maybe a Sony Ericson?? Due to upgrade in March, so I had better start looking

Oh, and I really dont understand what rooting is and how it effects the warranty etc so havent gone down that road.

Sak01 · Dec 22, 2011

One area where I'm definitely feeling the limitations of the phone is when I put lots of widgets on my homescreens with a live wallpaper running in the background. Very laggy.

It's not that big of deal but I would like the freedom to pimp out my homescreens as much as I want.

Tyseyh · Dec 22, 2011

Really? How many widgets do you mean? I don't use live wallpapers, a gimmick I find

Rastaman-FB · Dec 22, 2011

ditto, i dont use live wallpapers. i find they irritate me

Howard Hopkinson · Dec 22, 2011

Same here too. No live wallpapers for me, I don't like the battery drain.

Sak01 · Dec 22, 2011

Tyseyh said:
Really? How many widgets do you mean? I don't use live wallpapers, a gimmick I find

Only 7 at the moment but the lag is still noticeable even with my least intensive live wallpaper. Even with a standard wallpaper there's still a limit to how many widgets I can use before it starts lagging.

I like my live wallpapers and widgets so it's more of an issue for me than for most other people.

Tyseyh · Dec 23, 2011

That's weird, i have exactly 7 widgets on my screens and it is fine, no live wallpaper though, so I tried with a live wallpaper too and still its fine.

Maybe coz my widgets are mainly toggles

Fishyweb · Dec 23, 2011

I have 14 widgets, but no live wallpaper. No lag whatsoever. I'm using Go Launcher, in case that is relevant. I previously used ADW Launcher (cos CM7 uses it by default), and that was quite laggy.

Maybe you should try a different launcher?

Sak01 · Dec 23, 2011

I'm using Go Launcher too. Without a live wallpaper it's fine with just 7 widgets although scrolling to any homescreen with a full screen 4x4 widget can still lag a bit. Only one of them is a 1x1 so that might be the difference. The more big ones I add the slower it gets.

Nasalhair · Dec 24, 2011

I've really enjoyed the last 18 months or so I've had with my Desire but will be up for renewal in about April or so and will probably change my handset then.

Do I wish it did more? No - what more could I want a phone to do? I use it for calls, texts, and access to the web & email. I don't use it as a media player, and I only use the camera when I don't have my camera with me.

Any issues? The physical buttons are all a bit temperamental now, the camera is poor compared to my last phones (Sony K800i and Sony C905), the battery life isn't great but then again it is a smartphone, and although I don't have many apps installed (certainly no big apps) the lack of internal memory is frustrating.

Did I eventually root? Yes. I initially rooted just to see what it would do, and started to find a few nice apps that could only really be used when rooted, such as ClockSync, and the ability to take Nandroid backups was handy. Did I install a custom ROM? Yes, I installed dGB, which was great but I was frustrated by a few things (really long startup time for one, plus I found a few other quirks such as the screen seemed less responsive, and the clock was less accurate). The increased storage space was great though.

Do I feel I shouldn't have had to root? Yes.

Will I upgrade or go SIM only? I'll upgrade, definitely. The Desire is still a great piece of kit, but as the buttons are failing I want to get a new phone. What will I get? No idea yet - possibly Samsung, maybe HTC, perhaps Sony... definitely 100% not an iPhone though.

Tyseyh · Dec 26, 2011

Stiiiilllll waiting for something to "Tickle my fancy"

yenrod · Dec 28, 2011

Any issues you encounted;

- Only when I clocked the CPU at 1113mhz & had quite alot on at the same time...

Did you eventually root?

- After a year: for SPACE...(booming voice) the final frontiere

Do you feel you shouldn't of had to?

- Totally, someone above gives a good reason & explanation !

Will you upgrade or go sim only because your Desire is still a sexy machine.

- I bought my Desire simfree so no rubbish was on it; I was on VF payg but seen the light after 11yrs.. & got myself a GIFFGAFF sim - great deals...

I could buy a new phone now either a Samsung W or even an S2 but I luv this; the woman once commented that I luv my Desire more than her once and she was being serious :rolleyes:

- I did reply 'well your not called Desire are ya'

To be honest i think we'd all agree its a once in a lifetime design that was groundbreaking and there're little aspects of it that cant be beaten ie the optical finger pad / mouse thing...

I couldn't have done without this place for advice..either, its pretty essential !!!

JDY · Dec 28, 2011

Tbh I'm quite glad the desire had low storage space otherwise I would have never rooted and never been able take advantage of everything root allows. I've still got 16 months left on my contract so Il probably have to get a new phone when my contract ends otherwise my device will be very outdated. Just looking forward to ICS for the desire

Sak01 · Dec 28, 2011

yenrod said:
I could buy a new phone now either a Samsung W or even an S2 but I luv this; the woman once commented that I luv my Desire more than her once and she was being serious - I did reply 'well your not called Desire are ya'

haha. Smooth.

What are your final thoughts on the Desire after living with it?

Android Expert

Well-Known Member

Lurker

Member

Android Enthusiast

Extreme Android User

Newbie

Android Expert

Newbie

Android Expert

Android Expert

Extreme Android User

Android Enthusiast

Android Expert

Android Expert

Android Enthusiast

Android Expert

Nasalhair

Guest

Android Expert

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Android Expert

BEST TECH IN 2023

Smartphones

Best Android Phones

Upcoming

Best iPhones

Upcoming

Tablets

Best Tablets

Upcoming

Laptops

Best Laptops

Upcoming

Televisions

Best TVs

Upcoming

Game Consoles

Best Game Consoles

Upcoming

Wearables

Best Wearables

Upcoming

Smart Home

Smart Home Tech

Upcoming

Similar threads