HTC Desire and Android experience

[mepm]

the desire is basically out of date anyway compared to their overseas models
not by much (8mp camera, future 4g support)
but still im sure it wont be long until it gets replaced

[rec]

The only advantages of the Evo 4G are indeed the 8mp cam, although the actual picture quality is bad, a font cam for video calls, and 4G network support.

Everything else is the same or worse than the Desire. Like no 16 million colour screen.

Plus it's only available with Sprint in the USA (network exclusive).

[mepm]

was more referring to the incredible...

seems to be some confusion over how much ram the galaxy s has
samsung dont list it

[rec]

The Incredible is basically the Evo 4G, without the 4G support.

[ResLo]

There will always be a better specced piece of kit round the corner, its the nature of the beast.

Desire HD is already rumoured but for now the Desire is king and will remain a serviceable phone for a good while (over a year?) especially when Froyo gets released.

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

[grandinferno]

From my experience with this phone it's just awesome for keeping in touch. Which is kinda what these thing are for. The selection of apps is poor compared to the iPhone... but this phone multitasks like a motherfucker and is BLAZING fast. Being able to flick between IM, tabbed browsing and whatever else you're doing without waiting for shit is amazing. This is by far the best piece of tech I've ever owned. From a usability perspective it makes desktops and laptops seem medieval.

The ONLY thing that I'm not happy with is the screen resolution... but I was spoilt with my last phone. It still has a fantastic screen though.

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

[rec]

Just spent the last hour playing with it in Pacific Fair... Barmp. iPhone 4 it is. Sorry Android advocates, perhaps I'll join you this time next year.

[Aegis]

the speed android seems to be updating lately, i dont think it'll be that long rec

[rec]

It will be for me, as I'll be keeping the iPhone 4 for a year at least.

[ResLo]

Really? What didn't you like?

[rec]

It's all the little things, and its hard to quantify in words. It's reason I love the iPhone, and the reason I get a laugh out of the "but X phone has better specs, why do you want the iPhone" parodies. The iPhone 3G was the first time I'd even taken a leap of faith and made a decision not based on hardware specs, and Android as it stands is a great example of why hardware isn't everything, and looking at paper specs often isn't justice.

But, to try and explain, essentially my feeling is that it's a second-best interaction experience. It's still great, but the interaction process just isn't as intuitive as iOS, and the user interface is quite unrefined. There's a "jutter" when sliding through the apps menu for example, and aesthetically it reminded me of the smartphones of yesteryear, such as Symbian Series 60. It sorta felt like a PC that was in desperate need of a format. You know when you head around to your Mum's place and fire up Windows XP, things are stuttering, they have 40 apps start up into the taskbar and there are 500 shortcuts on the desktop? It felt busy and cluttered, even though in actuality it wasn't. Of course, this is all compared to my experience with iOS. If I didn't have an iPhone I'm not sure I'd have anything to complain about, but my iPhone 3GS is quicker, smoother, cleaner and easier.

App wise, the Foxtel Guide app wouldn't even launch, and there's a lack apps that I consider critical, that make my day-to-day just that tad more convenient, like my Westpac banking app. The weather apps I saw weren't nearly as full featured as the one I'm using (despite being prettier), and the Facebook app was second-rate to the iPhone's.

The bottom line is that there was nothing that 'wowed' me, because I've already got all the things that make Android impressive. All of the reasons you guys love Android right now are the same reasons iPhone users have been enjoying their phones for 2+ years in most instances. In terms of feature sets and functionality, they're so closely matched now that you have to base it purely on the experience of using the handset. So at the end of the day, it comes down comfortability and confidence in OS, and Android just isn't polished enough - comparatively, it feels flakey. In my industry there's a running joke: "that website looks like it was designed by coders". And this is how I feel about Android right now. Funnily enough, it actually feels like one big web app, like those web based interfaces that are designed to try and look like Windows, for example.

They've caught Apple on most fronts, except the one that matters most; usability.

[ResLo]

I know what your talking about. While I don't have an iphone I have been using my ipod Touch quite a lot since I got it some 6 months ago so I know exactly what your on about with respect to the differences between the OS's.

I was a bit disappointed with the Desire when I first got it to be honest. I had a play with the interface and thought to myself "have I made a bad decision?". It didn't click for me until I started to load up some apps and delve deeper into the settings of the phone. I started to customise the phone they way I wanted it and within 24 hours I had reached the state of nirvana I thought I should have had when I opened the box. Most of the things that I have found really good with the phone were only possible when I actually had my SIM in it. Things like google account integration etc etc came alive. You can't demo that in store.

Coming from an iphone it will be hard for some like you who rely on certain apps to make/justify the move until those apps get developed. Lets face it, it's not like you are going to be lagging behind with an iPhone4 in your pocket.

[rec]

Yeah exactly - hardware wise the iPhone 4 is as good as any phone right now anyway, so it won't be a bad decision in that regard.

I'll re-evaluate things again next July.

[ResLo]

Revision 3 of the TelstraMod2 is out.

TelstraMod2 r3 Update (2.2, Sense, 720p) - HTC - Android - Whirlpool Forums

Edit - I found this link for Swype too > http://www.gamestrikes.com/swype-1-4...desire-480x800

[grandinferno]

The ability to fully customize the layout from the ground up and the ability to truly multitask fast and effectively won me. There's nothing about iOS that could trump that for me. Swipe once and I've got my music player right there on my "desktop". I can quickly change tracks and then go back to whatever I was doing. I see the content of new msgs (sms, talk, Facebook, whatever) at a glance as they come in and I can quickly check them without really interrupting the flow of what I'm already doing. I can switch from a loading web page and go do something else while it's loading. Click on the icon and it's instantly back. I just haven't witnessed that true multitasking on an iPhone. I guess I value an effective and efficient experience as opposed to the sunshine and rainbows of the iPhone. The apps for android are still weak as piss... but this phone is fantastic.

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk