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

[Tyseyh]

Since most people are due an upgrade anytime soon I was wondering.. as the title says, what are your final thoughts on the Desire after having lived with it for a year or more?
Do you wish it did more?

Any issues you encountered?
Did you eventually root?
Do you feel you shouldn't of had to?
Will you upgrade or go sim only because your Desire is still a sexy machine.

Any points please post 'em, I'm interested in what you all think.

 

[SUroot]

It's great with root

 

[Tyseyh]

I think we shouldn't have to root to sort out the memory issue, it should have a pre configured setcpu like application pre installed, that would be great.
Tbh I think that and the stock ROM battery time are about my only issues.

 

[shauny13]

A much much better phone, when rooted and running raw android.

 

[Howard Hopkinson]

A fantastic phone when rooted, not so great unrooted due to the low memory issue. However, given the possibilities, I would have rooted whether or not there was a memory issue as I like the idea of customising my phone. For example, I had GB long before it was released by HTC, add to that the vast number of available roms and the possibilities are almost endless.

Not due an upgrade until July next year at the earliest, not sure what I'll upgrade to as yet.

I quite like the look of the Samsung Galaxy Note, but that by no means is the phone I'll end up getting lol.

 

[Hadron]

Do you wish it did more?

Yeah, made breakfast, travelled in time, and took photographs in low light.

Any issues you encountered?

Used to take a long time to lock GPS, back when I had stock firmware. But no, nothing serious.

Did you eventually root?

About 4 weeks after I got it.

Do you feel you shouldn't of had to?

Actually I did it before I was forced to. I'd always expected I would, if only because I guessed that official software updates would cease about a year after I bought it, and hence at some point I'd be relying on community software support. And since it was going to happen sooner or later, it was probably inevitable that it would end up sooner...

I agree it should have been made with more storage, but truth be told I'd have done it anyway. And the next one will also be rooted shortly after I buy it - a couple of weeks to learn my way around and make sure there's no manufacturing fault, and that will be it. I want to be able to take proper backups and control the device properly.

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

Mine was bought unconnected and I've been sim only all along. So I don't have a timetable for an upgrade, except that it doesn't make sense when buying that way to change them too often.

So basically I'll change when I feel the need, not before.

 

[rowlers]

best phone I've ever had...
Rooted after 2mths~ of owning it because I knew it would be better for it.
dGB makes it fabulous.
No desire (geddit!!!) to upgrade after 15mths...

 

[coos lick]

Depends how well it runs ICS....

Had it for about 18 months before rooting. Wanted to get the official GB to see if that would help with memory issues, and was also curious what the new Sense would be. Wasn't worth the wait. Now going through the usual custom ROMs (waiting for Runnymead AIO to load while typing this). It has made a big difference in being able to download whatever app I want now.

Only two issues remain. The first is battery life. I use it to read books on the commute, and that kills the battery whatever ROM. Second is that the trim under the volume rocker has cracked, and also the volume rocker itself seems to be splitting. I think this is just age and use though.

Due upgrade in April. Probably will - just to get something shiny and new, but the Desire has been good. May even root the new phone earlier!

 

[Tyseyh]

Depends how well it runs ICS....

May even root the new phone earlier!

i think i will be more open to the idea of rooting it not long after i get it too, just because i rooted this one.
One thing i will miss though is you lot, all helped me at some stage, all seem really nice.

 

[Kibbster]

I was thinking of buying an iPhone 4 to replace the Desire just for a bit of a change but then went back to flashing a new ROM and it's like a new phone again.
The urge to upgrade has died down a lot now which is just as well as I'm not due an upgrade for a year yet!

I rooted the phone because I had to, ran out of space within a week or so of getting the phone then realised the life of the stock ROM was going to be very limited for me.
Since rooting the phone has been anything between better than stock to perfect depending on the ROM and my mood at the time.

It's still a good phone once you overcome the storage problems.
Performance is good and battery life is good (when rooted with kernel change and setCPU)
No reason to need a new phone yet.

Next new phone I get will have a bigger screen, I know that means a bigger phone but I've found the small screen size limiting and one of my biggest regrets.
Hopefully next phone I get will be able to take better pictures in low light as well.

 

[Parsen66]

I rooted after about 6 months, annoyed at the lack of memory.

Ive tried various ROMS and each time its like a new phone.

Not due an upgrade for a year yet but having full control over everything now makes the handset brilliant.

 

[amit_eighty8]

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

 

[Evil Genius]

i rooted and never looked back.

it made the phone so much better that i'm thinking of doing a SIM only deal instead of another phone deal.

 

[Vicdude]

I HAVEN'T rooted my Orange branded phone believe it or not and my observations are as follows:

The memory issue used to be a big problem for me but I didn't have the balls nor the knowledge to root so that forced me into REALLY understanding and considering what I used my phone for.
I realised that many of the Apps I wanted were infact just pure novelty, such as Goggles and Layar. I didn't use my phone half as much as I thought.
Now my "housekeeping" is impeccable Once in a while I clear Caches and Data and I run with about 23Mb free.
I do not have the latest updates installed from You Tube, Maps and Adobe Flash. They are massive files and you tube and maps work just fine without them. As for Adobe, my web browsing doesn't seem to be ruined or impared running Dolphin HD.
I don't have any games installed as I found the screen too small to really enjoy anything interesting, Angry Birds held me for a while but that soon went. Most of the other games are awkward at best to play because your finger/thumb is covering the screen lol

Most of the buttons on the phone are now needing to be pressed either quite hard or multiple times. This is becoming the main reason to change the phone, also the USB port is also becoming loose with care being needed when placing the phone down when on charge to ensure that a connection is maintained.

As a workhorse though, I find it difficult to critisize. It handled admin duties very well, running both my work email account and gmail account without fault and the sync with Google to cover Docs and Calender were not a problem.

The only noticeable thing I can really complain about is that with age, the phone has become laggy as more and more crap ends up in various directories. It could do with a factory reset I suspect but I can't be arsed to set up the limited personal touches that I have again. Things like customised Folder Icons via Folder Organiser and the like

Overall, an outstanding piece of kit but the game has moved on and my next device will need a bigger screen. I might even be tempted away from HTC But not Android

Hope this helped someone lol

 

[Sak01]

Any issues you encountered?
Did you eventually root?
Do you feel you shouldn't of had to?
Will you upgrade or go sim only because your Desire is still a sexy machine.
.

Was forced to root because of memory issues which HTC definitely should have sorted out, however, I'm glad I did and will root future phones.

Camera and speaker are lame. Otherwise, it is excellent and once rooted and rommed can easily keep up with the big boys.

I actually got hold of an Xperia Arc S recently and debated long and hard about which to sell. In the end, I decided to sell the Arc for the extra money as the Desire is good enough for all my current needs.

 

[NorthernNoel]

I rooted mainly because of the memory issue but it felt like having a new phone once I installed an AOSP rom. My contract ran out in October so got myself a giffgaff sim and kept the phone. There's some nice phones about but no amazing features to make me want to upgrade. The only thing that could tempt me is the support for sdxc on some newer phones as i'd like to get rid of my ipod.

 

[WinstonSmith]

Absolutly superb device, when it comes time to upgrade in May I honestly feel that I will stick with the Desire and haggle a sim only deal. Decided to root as was fed up with the memory problems that we all know and hate, played around with a couple of sense roms but then went with dGB and fell in love with the phone all over again

 

[adskankster]

I think my upgrade is early next year. At the moment I'm seriously thinking I might "upgrade" to a "rugged" phone to use when on holiday and walking (this phone's got a scratched screen from millstone grit, and has been dropped into a peat bog), and keep this one for everyday use as now. The only thing that may change that is if any of the buttons start to get unusable between now and then.

 

[muzzman]

I fiddled around for ages and it was the memory issue that eventually pushed me to root.

What a revelation! I now have around 100mb free, apps are automatically pushed to the SD card, the battery lasts longer, I can customise whatever I want, I can run apps that are not available on stock, sound quality is better, transitions are quicker and I now have a beautiful, fast and efficient phone which I love. I am running Cyanogenmod7 and Cyanogenmod9 (ice-cream) is already being rolled out but not for Desire just yet.

I use the phone mainly for business and although there are more bells and whistles available when rooted it is more the ability to have a fast and effective business phone that has everything I want.

Ok, the rooting takes some time, mainly in understanding what you are doing, but there are great instructions out there and if there is a gliche there is superb help on the rooting thread.

Desire on its own is good..but rooted is great IMHO.

 

[Jon_LTD]

Just read the title and the word "Final" stuck out!

I have no intention of getting rid of this phone any time soon. I'm pretty sure I've just scratched the surface with the modding capabilities and the community shows no slowing down (granted I wasn't here from the start). I think when it comes to my upgrade I'll either cancel or sell my new handset and subsidise the cost of my contract.

It's quite sad that I know that this sub-forum will eventually die as the Desire becomes laughable as far as technology and modding are concerned. Ah well, onwards and upwards. Android is only going to get bigger. And bigger means more opportunities.

 

[JohnnyBravo1000]

I've really enjoyed owning the HTC Desire. I've only encountered two issues since owning it.

1) The lack of storage space - which was easily solved by rooting and flashing a custom ROM.

2) I suffered from the dreaded reboot problem causes by a motherboard problem. I sent my phone off via T-Mobile and it was returned to me as good as new.

I'm pretty sure I will upgrade to another Android device and I would have no qualms with another Android device manufactured by HTC.

 

[Sheshnag]

I have not rooted my HTC desire yet, though I have rooted my San Fran, purely cus HTC has made it too difficult to root for technically not gifted ppl like me. I have to say my rooted San Fran is about 10 x better that the Desire and it was about 10 x cheaper. Problems:
1. MEMORY
2. Slow gps connection
3. Slow internet
4. I find camera worse than my wife's iPhone 3gs
5. problem handling flash
6. loads of Orange crapware I can not get rid of.

 

[Rastaman-FB]

its easier to root a desire than it is a sanfran.
ive rooted both. ive done many sanfrans and its a 3-4 step process.
desire is 1


never had slow internet
never had slow gps
problems handling flash? its android mate its no different
you could have flashed an unbranded rom

 

[Sheshnag]

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.

 

[cexcells]

Once rooted it changed from being very good to brilliant. Upgraded the SD card to 8GB and pre partitioned it to go ext when ics is stable and fully featured. A design classic!