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Reading, swimming in the wave of complains (most of them not justified) posted here i felt the urge to write something positive about my\our new Diamond.
Some of the complains are amusing me because are the direct result of a totally unfamiliarity with the WM, a "jumping to conclusions" approach or because very high expectations.
I hate the complains written by ppl that don't owe a Diamond and are feeding us with useless and incorrect information they "heard from a friend". After an ironic answer to one of this kind of posters i even got a PM from a newbie who complained about my luck of patience and overdose of sarcasm.
I do think that in the next 2-3 month we are going to see the prices go down and the quality of the Diamonds go up. We are the pioneers, we have the $ to pay the high prices and the curiosity/balls to buy the first maybe not completely debugged ones that were sold.
Let's not forget also that HTC are constrained by the narrow mind programmers of Microsoft. Now to the subject:
1. I like direct acces from the today screen to the Phone History. It saves a click or two.
2. I like having more than 7 favorites programs at a click\flip of a finger. Now we have the old "7 items only" menu and the programs from Today Screen.\
3. Do i have to tell you how much i like sliding from one application to another in the today screen from the bottom menu bar OR from the top title bar OR from the middle of the screen?
4. I like having larger Storage Memory and Larger Program Memory than my old, faithful Trinity. I like even more the 4 G Internal Memory replacing the 2 G SD. Will i ever fill them up?!
5. I like pressing in the upper task bar to get a full screen with big buttons to check my memory, 3G state, Battery and so on..."System Status"
6. I like the Task Button that really can be finger touched because the screen is no more recessed.
7. I like flipping my favorites' pics. Again we have the option for more favorites contacts. We have 9 or more on speed dial and as many as we like on the contact's pics on the today screen.
8. I like the quality of sound (here a few ppl are going: woooooooo) but i like it.
9. I like using my BT headphones with the impeccable A2DP. No tweaks needed.
10. I like the option to retract the phone dial pad to see more contacts when i am using the smart dialing.
11. I like the 3.2 mp camera with auto focus and the quality of the pics/flics i get.
12. I like the VGA screen and the clarity and size of what is written on the screen.
13. I like the graphics.
14. I like (no, i have to correct myself) I LOVE the way it fits to my shirt pocket.
I am looking forward to:
- The first xda-dev made ROM.
- The extended battery Pack.
- OS Android or WM 7.
In conclusion: give it a chance, you'll might like it
What more I can say ... totally agree *thumbs up*
if you like it buy it, if you don`t like sell it and go elsewhere, if you don`t have it shut up
Adding to that list....
I have to admit that i am impressed with mine as well...
I have "tweaked" the touchflo a bit to mke it more responsive, and i love the fact that i can "scroll" through recieved texts and emails...
I am actually having fun with the diamond, especially as i made the transition directly from a Universal. its amusing to type with t9, i rarely have to grab the stylus. I have to agree that the headset for calls is stunning, and music is clear, both on BT headset and wired.
I still need to work out how to use the damn headset buttons though!
I like the fact that my Wizard's miniUSB charger fits this extUSB of the Diamond as well! Same goes for my car charger! It even works with standard USB -> miniUSB cables to connect to the computer.
Now only for an audio link in the car... maybe I could setup a nice bluetooth thingy with my car radio
Well, I've been using WM devices for quite a while now, and i'll state the point that makes the Diamond stand out based on my experience with WM devices:
1) VGA screen - I can't even see a darn pixel on screen. It's so friggin sharp (my first VGA device )
2) The G-sensor is sweet. The game teeter gives a good user experience. I wish there are more apps for the sensor
3) SIZE! I thought the original Touch was small.. and now this!!
4) I'm a sucker for graphic animation (still not going with iPxxne) So I like TouchFlo3D. Got everything there I need
Well.. thats pretty much makes the device stand out. ANd yea.. the device isnt half as bad as what others complained abt. It's not a decent device.. its an awesome one!
I almost like eveything about the diamond,except the memory issues,its a real RAM hog. especially with touchflo3d turned on because its leaks alot of memory.also program memory is lower that the kaiser,only 86mb total and almost 50mb in use already! same for RAM; total 113mb but already 60mb in use! thats not funny. hope the touch pro doesnt have these problems.
but the rest i love about the phone,the size of it, the graphics of the vga screen, the g-sensor apps, the gps thats super quick, touchflo3d for its user friendly simplicity and stunning graphics especially the weather i like very much, i like opera cuz its better than IE.maybe more to come as i use it more
overall: great phone,but needs better ROM thats more memory-efficiant, but a great one add to the collection
KukurikU said:
Reading, swimming in the wave of complains (most of them not justified) posted here i felt the urge to write something positive about my\our new Diamond.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said my friend. By the way, I used to live in Rehovot
Hello,
I love mine very much too...My main issue the the impossibility to install IGO 8 on this device...May be one day,
Philippe
I think you forgot about the GPS. Its simply amazing. Locks within 10 seconds cold or otherwise. When compared to my clunky TYTN II of which I never used the keyboard the GPS is fantastic. On my old TYTN II it could take about 2-3 minutes to get a lock. Of course there are still some application bugs for the IGO users but my Garmin Mobile XT flies.
Opps time to change my signature. Still says TYTN II
VGA, GPS, G-Sensor, Complete Flush screen, 3.2 MP, Small Size, NO External Keyboard....Opera 9.5 as default browser, Love my Diamond.
Just one word: Amazing!
j0bro said:
I like the fact that my Wizard's miniUSB charger fits this extUSB of the Diamond as well! Same goes for my car charger! It even works with standard USB -> miniUSB cables to connect to the computer.
Now only for an audio link in the car... maybe I could setup a nice bluetooth thingy with my car radio
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how are you doing this? i plugged in my diamond with the standard usb cable, and it is charging. but my computer does not recognize it as a phone. and i cannot activesync.
it might be the cable......
pauljohn54 said:
I think you forgot about the GPS. Its simply amazing. Locks within 10 seconds cold or otherwise. When compared to my clunky TYTN II of which I never used the keyboard the GPS is fantastic. On my old TYTN II it could take about 2-3 minutes to get a lock. Of course there are still some application bugs for the IGO users but my Garmin Mobile XT flies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
with tomtom v6 it takes a couple of minutes. 2 or 3!!
so i do not like tomtom, but i love the diamond.!!!
i also like the free screen protector
I just got it today. What I like most is the size and the screen.
Compared to my "old" Touch Cruise, where I actually never liked the design, I have the feeling that it's only have the size and weight. No comparison to the sceen too. BtW Diamond is 16,7 Mio colors, isnt' it ?
This device could become the best smartphone I ever owned. Let the testing begin.
I owned a wizard, touch, touch xl, touch dual, but none of these pleased me more than the diamond!
my diamond is the best device ever made! let me point out why:
1. formfactor is outstanding, its small, strong, beautiful.
2. the design is outstanding!
3. the performance of the touchflo3d is very good, the stories about lag are just bullocks. the only lag I felt was during a2dp, wifi, teeter, and many apps opened.
4. speaking of a2dp, the bluetooth radio is the best there ever was on a device, 15 meters from diamond and still listening music
5. opera browser rules
6. teeter is a killer game.
7. g sensor rocks and works great
8. gps has a quick fix
9. camera makes beautiful pics(when a lot of licht is around)
10. love the way scrolling through my music albums with album art(love the non static feeling to it)
11. same with pics and videos
12. youtube player works very well with 3g and wifi(sometimes with gprs)
13. typed this text with opera and xt9 on my diamond so the keyboard works well.
14. my first vga screen an I must say, qvga sucks!
15. the build in light sensor is amazing
this device blows every other phone to pieces, I believe htc finally got it!
what I dislike:
- sometimes the dpad doesn't do what I like, but I think I can train myself with that.
- windows mobile sometimes gives a popup:
xxx.exe is not responding. but the device keeps working...
gr bram
The fact that its not a brick or door stop. and its so sexy looking
just because is so typical and ...funny. read it till the end. why FM radio sucks
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=401119
Excellent thread!!
Thanks all for sharing your positive feedback about your 'Diamonds'.
After having read this thread I've decided to return to HTC!! Now that is saying something.lol.
I was uhming and arrhing about the resticted 4GB storage as opposed to the current 12GB and soon to be 32GB cards, but if I am to be honest, yeah...I can use all that space up, but would never really need more than 3GB at any given time. The upcoming Pro version of the Diamond seems to have it all for me, but I just never use the tiny slide-out keyboard (just a novelty on such a small device IMHO), so Diamond...here I come.
All said and done though, you will unlikely ever get the solid type of after sales support that one gets from this forum.
XDA-developers rule!!
P.S. I've read that Open GLES works great with Call of Duty II...don't need my Ultimate i-mate with that Geforce chip anymore .
Looks like I'll be sticking to the Diamond until the new Nvidia APX 2500 enabled devices make it into HTC devices.
Thanks again for this thread and your comments....it has helped me greatly.
Hi,
I consider myself as a hardcore PPC user. I use my PPC for almost everything and if I ever lost my PPC, I have nothing... well.. but of course I have backup on my laptop.
Battery Life
I use a bluetooth earphone during work, meaning that the bluetooth is turned on on my PPC from 8am to 5pm (discovery off). Before going to work, I spend about 5 to 20 minutes reading internet news via WiFi. Normally when I reached home from work, I have about 10% power left. Without WiFi in the morning, I have about 20% to 25% power left. Well, this is when I was using O2 Xda II mini (HTC Magician) and O2 Atom Life. Believe it or not, when I gave my O2 Xda II mini to my wife, she only need to recharge it after 3 to 4 days of usage, and the same thing happen when I gave her my O2 Atom Life.
Getting my hand on HTC Diamond, well it is the same. It lasted as long as my previous 2 PPCs, except that the battery is smaller, meaning, it actually is better. Since it has built-in GPS, if it is used, of course the battery will die faster, but from my usage, the built-in GPS does not consume more power than the WiFi.
To make it short, the battery life on PPC is based on how long you turned it on (usage time, not standby mode). If it is stated in the specification as 3 hours talk-time, then it will last for 3 hours of usage. That is what people are forgetting. When using other handphone (which are not PPC), people only use it to talk, sms or some gaming. When they switch to PPC, there are so many things that you can do with it and people actually spend more time using it not awaring of the total time used (not standby mode). There is a good software, AE Button Plus, which can measure the uptime for us. It shows the usage time as well.
Volume
All of my PPC has decend volume level, which O2 Atom Life is the lowest. Not sure why because it has 2 speakers (stereo). It should be louder right? But Diamond actually is loader than it. But there seems to be a solution here. In O2 Atom Life, I used the Equalizer to increase the volume. There is none on Diamond but I believe you can find one in this forum.
GPS
I love the GPS, except sometimes the GPS software cannot seem to turn the GPS on (1 out of 10). Need to close the software and reopen. Previously I was using Garmin Mobile 10 (via bluetooth) and comparing with the built-in GPS, the lock-time is very very fast.
With Garmin Mobile 10, I turn it on, get in my car, start the car, then wait from 1 minutes to 3 minutes before it can get a lock. With Diamond's built-in GPS, I open the GPS software, get in my car, start the car and I already has a lock.
The problem now is the slow screen refresh (the time taken to redraw the screen). With my O2 Atom Life, the screen redraw is fast (when I make a turn or the map zoom in or out). With Diamond, when I make a turn, I can see the roads being redraw one by one. If I turn the auto-zoom on (Garmin Mobile XT), it will go black for 1 to 3 seconds before the screen reappear when it tries to zoom in or zoom out.
I believe this has something to do with the display resolution of Diamond, 640x480 compared to 320x240 (on my Atom Life). The higher the resolution, the lower the framerate. Further more Atom Life processor is faster. But comparing to Xda II mini, Xda II mini is a little bit faster (redrawing rate).
Please remember that Diamond has a built-in graphic processor (correct me if I'm wrong). When software make use of this graphic processor, I believe we would not have this problem anymore. Instead, we might get real 3D display.
Overall
Overall, I'm satisfied with my new Diamond but of course I always wanted a longer usage time... so I think I better start looking for HTC Touch Pro.
programatix said:
Hi,
Overall
Overall, I'm satisfied with my new Diamond but of course I always wanted a longer usage time... so I think I better start looking for HTC Touch Pro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...or get yourself the HTC Diamond extended battery BP E270. It has 1350 mAh instead of 900 and it adds only 4 mm thickness => Diamond + BP E270 = still slimmer and lighter than Pro. Unless of course, you want the keyboard.
programatix said:
There is a good software, AE Button Plus, which can measure the uptime for us. It shows the usage time as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's off topic, but can you explain that more please ?
My opinion...
I currently have two major issues with the Diamond. They aren't helped by the horrendous T-Mobile branding job! (Surely the execs that rubber-stamped those colours should be made to wear that horrible T-Mobile pink every day to work for a year to see how it feels).
In light of the above, I've obviously had to apply the original Diamond Black on top. Problem is, it eats Main Memory space for breakfast, lunch and dinner! I'm always struggling with space! Really annoying!
The second issue is probably because I'm a tad impatient and may be considered a power user by some. The thing is, when I'm doing things on my phone, I expect it to react, if not instantaneously, then at least in a split second. Often the Diamond lags considerably, which can be very frustrating and lead to incorrect actions. The most common of these is when ending a call. When I press the end call key, I expect the call to be ended now - not in 3 seconds' time!
OK, end of *****.
The CDMA (telus) phone already comes with the HTC Diamond extended battery BP E270!
.....But, still. There's always room for more. There's a 1800mAh battery floating around but apparently has a hideous replacement backing that just takes away from what the Diamond is all about - it's slim low profile.
Yodajr said:
It's off topic, but can you explain that more please ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually it's a software which allows you to set 4 actions for a hardware button on a PPC. You can find it here (http://ae.inc.ru/aebplus.php).
It also comes with extra functions like displaying the uptime statistic, task manager, bluetooth toggle, wifi toggle and more.
belovedra said:
Problem is, it eats Main Memory space for breakfast, lunch and dinner! I'm always struggling with space! Really annoying!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe it depends on what software you are running and believe me, most PPC users are struggling with that. Imagine with 64mb of main memory which only 24mb available on start up. With diamond, it's about 52mb free main memory on start up, right? Further more, most handphone (not PPC) has about only 64mb of main memory, for example, N95-1
belovedra said:
The second issue is probably because I'm a tad impatient and may be considered a power user by some. The thing is, when I'm doing things on my phone, I expect it to react, if not instantaneously, then at least in a split second. Often the Diamond lags considerably, which can be very frustrating and lead to incorrect actions. The most common of these is when ending a call. When I press the end call key, I expect the call to be ended now - not in 3 seconds' time!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, this is an issue not only with Diamond. It exists in all PPC since PPC is able to multitask, sometimes it becomes slow because of the tasks running in background.
Another problem is related to some task managers which close running application when you tap 'X'. The next time you want to call that application up, the PPC need to reload the application which is slow. In another word, don't close the program when you tap 'X'. Comparing to normal handphone (other than PPC), you have limited software running which actually does not allow you to mod the phone. So, most critical applications stay in main memory, it is fast to call up the unclosed applications (like calender, phone and contacts).
Regarding ending call, the problem you mentioned also exists in other PPC, like my O2 Atom Life and O2 Xda II mini. Actually, when you press or tap the End Call button, it actually ended it but the screen refresh seems slow, so we tend to keep on tapping the end button, which sometimes end up in calling the person again.
losdrivare said:
...or get yourself the HTC Diamond extended battery BP E270. It has 1350 mAh instead of 900 and it adds only 4 mm thickness => Diamond + BP E270 = still slimmer and lighter than Pro. Unless of course, you want the keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a great news. Since I'm living in Malaysia, it's hard to find one. HTC Touch Pro has not been released yet here. But actually I wanted Touch Pro because of the size of the main memory. I've been living with 64MB (normally about 24MB available for user) of main memory for too long and I always wanted to load more applications at once (greedy eh?).
Further more, since my Atom Life has 1GB of ROM (795MB available for use), living with only 256MB of ROM (only 82MB available for use) on Diamond leaves me starving for more.
Regarding the keyboard... I don't think I'll be using it, but who knows? If I can type faster using it than TouchPal, I'll definately be using it.
programatix said:
Ok, this is an issue not only with Diamond. It exists in all PPC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aha! So, once again it's the big beast M$ that's to blame. Makes sense. They seem to be behind a lot of trouble I see in Windows software... One of the reasons why I changed to Mac OSX.
Thanks programatix! I thought perhaps it was just the Diamond, or even the HTC range.
belovedra said:
When I press the end call key, I expect the call to be ended now - not in 3 seconds' time!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try downloading the Advanced Config software for the Diamond, and check the Phone->End call delay. Change that to 0. Problem solved.
There are many solutions for many of the problems you mention, even for performance issues. Apart from Advanced Config, try also getting Diamond Tweak.
Battery issue is a common problem of PPC. Just imagine you are using a PC which is an your palm size. Of course it is designed to be energy efficient, but it will not last you for long days. That's why car charger and USB cable exist for you to charge your gadget often
programatix said:
Overall, I'm satisfied with my new Diamond but of course I always wanted a longer usage time... so I think I better start looking for HTC Touch Pro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have ActiveSync with Exchange server, you can save battery by setting the update to manual.
How long have you had your Diamond for and do you wish you had opted for something else? I'm just trying to gauge opinions of people who have owned the phone for a few months. Thanks.
I've owned mine for just 3 days so I'm still getting used to it....I think it's a terrible 'out of the box' product but it seems to improve with various add-ons. So far I've downloaded Diamond Tweak and IContacts.
My latest problem with it is that I'm encountering the notorious TomTom 'no maps found' error (Grrrr....this was never an issue on my old HTC device)
The Diamond is my first HTC or WinMo phone, I've owned it for 7 months and I don't regret it.
It's pretty slow at doing things and the battery life if terrible if you actually use the device, rather than leaving it in suspend mode with 3G coverage switched off. However, charge it at least once daily and it's livable with.
TF3D is crap too, get rid of that and it gets much better!
I have just sold my Diamond. I used it for about 6 months and could never get used to it's very slow speeds. Especially out of the box it was a huge dissapointment, although with a custom rom things did improve.
But still, the thing is just too slow in my opinion. Probably all due to the lovely Qualcomm chipset that's inside it. When you look at the specs (memory, mhz etc) it should fly, be awesome. But it just isn't.
I always compare to my old mda compact (qtek s100). When I used to run TomTom on that one it was smooth with good fps. Even on a device like the Diamond, years later, it runs like crap. And that is a bit dissapointing ofcourse.
Don't get me wrong, you get a lot in return. Nicer UI, VGA screen, much better touchscreen and a much much better looking phone. But in the speed department all of my HTC phones have been dissapointing.
(Yet still I buy them, they are too much fun. qtek s100, qtek s200, htc touch, touch cruise, diamond).
But for now, HTC will have to do without me .
I love my Fuze, I hate my Fuze
This article sums my feelings up very well:
http://www.mytodayscreen.com/i-hate-my-fuze-i-love-my-fuze/
I've never had so much fun hacking a device before, but at one and the same time I resent having to hack it into a proper phone in the first place.
I'm not getting rid of my Fuze any time soon, but with anyone shopping for a new phone I steer them away from it. I'm completely up front with them, and admit to them I've spent dozens of hours scouring message boards and web sites for hacks to get the phone to behave in a way in which I'm happy with.
Users should not have to hack a registry to change ANY of the settings I've wanted to tweak!!!
That felt good to get off my chest.
I love my Diamond and the small sleek form factor more htan the Toch HD I had for a week or so.
I do not go anywhere without my trusty diamond in my pocket, I have tried so many other phones/PDA's and this is the best, the smallest for what it can do.
Its also perfect for a walking GPS device with memory map.
Its a running GPS log, my music device, organiser, camera for meetings and quick memories, reading book, comic book, games, even acts as a spirit level, does practically everything I need, oh yes and its a phone too.
Choose the right ROM and the thing is so quick and responsive.
TF3D is brilliant, I am so used to it now I can't get on with anything else.
Simple answer no it just keeps getting better and better.
I regret not!
But it seems like software is always ahead of the hardware. Before I had my branded Diamond I had the GloFiish X500+, so in comparison to that I'm very happy with my MDAIV.
But WinMo does helps to keep me using PPC's, it's a great platform to work with.
no!
and a comparative with old devices is like ... ach no need any words.
dont forgett, the devices are all at first a phone. all other functions wasnt the premiere function. something was good something cant be good.
i.e. old device open a webside with more speed than a new device.
but how you go to internet? by cable or by gms ($).
and if you are finished with scrolling left-to-right and back you have to scroll up and down. the new device uses wlan to go internet or umts and your scroll-action is minimizing by overview the complete internet-side.
but asking other people for feeling if buy or not buy ... hmmm, be carefull, that are only feelings and oppinnions.
i can say, that all devices (htc, nokia, apple) have good and not-good thinks. my buddy have apple. with standars he have no problems, after installation some progs the apple will be slowly and he do resets his devicxe many time like me. YOUR GUT FEELING IS NEEDED!!!
No regrets at all. Like stated above with the right custom rom, tweaks and apps this is everything I need in a phone/ppc.
And whats fun about getting a phone right out of the box that does everything you want? Heck, modding it to your likings is most the fun.
after 2 years of using WinMob my diamond is the first one that people is asking "What is this?". I mean that has the greatest software (WinMob) and the best design.
What do you want more?
Hate it, but use it!
I have had a Diamond for about 6 months now, and only use it because of the size.
I prefer my TyTN II but it is just too bulky
I hate a touch screen keyboard and prefer the slide out of the TyTN II.
I also find the Diamond's volume very soft as compared to the TyTN II
But in any case this will be my last M$ Windows based device, until M$ issues a decent OS.
PS: The motherboard has already been replaced.
i just love my Diamond....
Hi !
I bot love and hate it equally... After six happy months, new ROMs etc... I am forced to send it back, since from the start, when I stay in H or 3G (I am 30 meters away from a big antenna), I don't get any call... One bar of H or 3G in my home... The phone displays bars, one or two, but is totally disconnected from network, and I miss ALL my phonecalls. Sometimes, two days after, I get messages notifications: twenty voicemails, 50 SMS... all sent two days ago but not received by the phone...
If you have any suggestion... I have tried everything, but I'm forced to leave it on "G" only (GSM/GPRS) which is a serious drawback as I'm always using it to surf the web, mail, TV on phone etc... with my all inclusive plan (French network SFR).
When I go to downtown (one km from my home, so I am downtown!) I have none of the issues stated above.
This phone is probably the worst receiver in the history of mobile phones... All y previous phones gave me five constant bars of H or 3G, this one only one or less... All my friends with cheaper devices have five bars in my place...
I really love my Diamond. Being my first WinMo phone I have to say sites like this here really help improve the phone. Coming from the iPhone I miss the multi-touch and easy surfing on Safari (but I found that Iris is an awesome browser.)
I love the size of my phone, that is what I did not like about the iPhone (too big for me)
In case you are wondering I have had it since it first launched in Canada (Dec 4, 2008)
i wont say that i regret buying my diamond but i am for sure going to buy the new touch pro2 as soon as it comes to denmark. the diamond is good but it aint the best... ive always have a lot of problem with the speed of the diamiond jsut like everyone else but after getting rid of tf3d it has improved a bit. but all in all im not disappointed with the phone.
Cornwall are you sure its because of the device? i dont know anyone who ever had that problem. it might not be the phone but the provider of the net. if that isnt the problem i sure would go to the place i bought the phone and demand to get a new one cause it might be that single phone that is screwed up.
I like the Diamond especially for its size. I have a clip-on pouch that is designed especially for Diamond. I don't like the ROM that came with my operator Telstra but I have since then upgraded to CT6.4 HD Lite ROM. It is fast, lite and stable and good battery. I also like the onscreen keyboard where I can hold the key and it types numbers instead of letters. Very handy.
One feature I wish it had was the TV-OUT capability, like that in Touch Pro.
Anyway, for the keyboardless phone, Diamond is the best for me so far. For phone with keyboard, I think Touch Pro 2 is the one to beat.
My Diamond is now 8 months old and the more I use it, the more I love it. But, I surely have plans to upgrade to TOUCH HD. Reason? I want a bigger screen to actually use those pixels. Cramming VGA display into a 2.8" does not bring any huge practical advantage as only Opera Mobile uses those pixels effectively.
Touch Diamond-2 has bigger screen, but it is 3.2" and crams WVGA resolution. Scene won't change much for me. I do not want a hardware keyboard and that rules out TP-2
I've just bought a Nokia E51 to replace my Diamond. The Diamond was my second HTC phone, the Touch was my first. I thought that the diamond would be a massive step up and for the first six months it was. The screen is much better, the touch sensitivity was better and it was loads quicker. However, once the honeymoon period is over the overall usability of the phone starts to show and for me it wasn't good.
The main negative is the battery life. You have to consciously manage the Diamond to make the battery last. Why cant I just put it in my pocket and have one less worry on life! After normal usage I could unplug the Diamond from the wall charger at 07:30 and by 18:00 it was showing critical battery level warnings. By comparison, with the same usage I unplugged my Nokia E51 over 24 hours ago and the battery is still almost full. One less worry!
Travelling abroad quite a lot I use Skype often, with the diamond I had to ensure I carried my handsfree kit with me so I could make a private call and not through the speaker phone. On top of that I had to keep pressing a button on the phone to stop it going into standby so the wifi doesn't go to sleep - A pain in the ass at best. With the E51 I can access the same wifi hotspot, load up fring and instantly use skype (or MSN) to phone home with the luxury of holding the handset to my ear - what a novelty! also knowing that the battery can cope.
Another big thing was the bluetooth integration to my car stereo. I have a Kenwood stereo and granted I could get into my car and turn the stereo on and that was it, I was connected to the handsfree. However it took 3 minutes or so do download the address book and when I finished a call it would disconnect forcing me to turn off the stereo and turn it back on again to initiate a handshake. The E51 establishes automatically, downloads the phone book in about 15 seconds and never disconnects, pretty much everything you would expect (oh, also it connects the audio automatically so I can play music from the phone through the car with no further faffing about)!
I've come to realise that the Diamond and Windows Mobile is a complete pain in the ass taking up far to much of my time to do things that should just happen. I cant believe how good the nokia E51 is in comparison. It does everything better according to my usual usage of a mobile phone.
It's going to be a few years before I go back to windows mobile, probably after WM 7 has been well established. Untill then I've got my Diamond in a draw as my spare phone.
I have owned my Diamond since June 2008.
The greatest thing about it is it's small size. I like my phones small, and would never consider a phone with a 3.5 inch screen.
I leave the Diamond in 2G mode, and only switch to 3G when I want to use data. My battery life easily lasts more than one day - usually 2 days, although I tend to recharge it every day anyway, so that I don't have to worry about the battery life.
I still use the stock ROM. Best thing you can do, is disable TouchFlo 3D and install the finger friendly SPB Mobile Shell. It is just so much faster, and above all, so much more practical to use, than TouchFlo 3D. I have introduced 3 colleagues with Diamonds to Mobile Shell, and each have promptly switched to Mobile Shell and haven't looked back.
No regrets about getting the Diamond. It was (and still is) really special when it first came out. Now however, I would recommend waiting for the Diamond 2 rather than the Diamond. The microSD card slot will come in handy. It is slightly larger than the Diamond, but not too big, with a bigger screen.
Hi all,
I've been a very happy camper with my htc Touch (ELFin) running dsixda's Onyx ROM. Though not especially powerful, the ELFin has been a great package doing most of the stuffs I expect from a smartphone, but I couldn't be happier with it.
But then, as I'm sure most of you know, there comes the itch for a new toy, and the fact ELFin only has a QVGA screen and not VGA/WVGA seems to get on my nerve, and the fact it doesn't have built-in GPS also gets pretty annoying.
So I've been thinking of an upgrade, and right now the Diamond and Diamond 2 are on top of my list.
I am looking for a smartphone phone that does email, lite web surfing, the usual PDA, GPS device (I use tomtom right now on the ELFin) ... I also read plenty of ebook on my smartphone.
What I'm NOT looking for, is a multi-media player. I rarely listen to music off my phone, and almost never watch video's on it.
The Diamond and Diamond 2 both seem to fit the bill. I've been satisfied with the 201Mhz processor on the ELFin, so I don't think I'll have a problem with either phone's power.
I like the D2, because it has a longer screen, which I presume is better for web surfing and ebook reading. And the screen seems to be the biggest difference between the 2 phones.
The D2 does cost quite a bit more than the Diamond though ... I can get Diamond for about half the price of a D2 (~CDN$300 vs $600)
I also heard D2 that I can get my hands on are from overseas and somehow 3G doesn't work on them with my service provider (Rogers). I can easily get a Rogers branded Diamond though and get 3G.
What's your 2 cents? Have any of you used both the Diamond and D2? How do you compare them?
Thanks!
You may find the screen on the D1 a little small for comfortable ebook reading (depending on how good your eyesight is). I guess it comes down to price and 3G availability, I would probably wait for a 3G version of the D2 suitable for your region to be released and go for that.
If you want hardware arrows choose D1 and if you will use mostly like a phone.
If you want internet or read documents take the D2.
I recently made the same choice when I upgraded from an Artemis, and I went for the D2.
There were two main things put me off the Diamond - fixed 4GB of memory with no SD slot, and a lower capacity battery that lots of people complain about (though there are extended versions available).
I use Mobipocket reader a lot for e-books and one thing that is a pain on the D2 is the lack of a D Pad which means you can't change the autoscroll speed (at least I can't work out how to do it).
Another nigle is that the only programmable key is a long press of the "Call" key. I have that programmed to toggle autoscroll, but on my Artemis, I had another key programmed to switch to full screen. If I want full screen on the D2 I have to go through the menu, so I don't usually bother. The screen is much better than the Artemis (QVGA) anyway.
Other ebook readers might be better, but I haven't had much of a chance to look around yet.
Thanks for your 2 cents.
I am concerned about paying the premium and then finding out my 3G phone is limited to EDGE because it's not a carrier-branded phone ... that would REALLY suck. I have to confirm on that before I make the jump.
I also agree - lack of d-pad and hardware buttons may become a problem. Right now, on the Touch, I use AE Buttons to customize more functions to the hard buttons on the phone so that might help a bit. Still, I see your point slateblue.
I have also heard about the battery issue on the D1 ... friend of mine uses the D1 and he said he does have to charge his phone everyday with moderate use. How's the battery life on the D2?
slateblue said:
I recently made the same choice when I upgraded from an Artemis, and I went for the D2.
There were two main things put me off the Diamond - fixed 4GB of memory with no SD slot, and a lower capacity battery that lots of people complain about (though there are extended versions available).
I use Mobipocket reader a lot for e-books and one thing that is a pain on the D2 is the lack of a D Pad which means you can't change the autoscroll speed (at least I can't work out how to do it).
Another nigle is that the only programmable key is a long press of the "Call" key. I have that programmed to toggle autoscroll, but on my Artemis, I had another key programmed to switch to full screen. If I want full screen on the D2 I have to go through the menu, so I don't usually bother. The screen is much better than the Artemis (QVGA) anyway.
Other ebook readers might be better, but I haven't had much of a chance to look around yet.
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I use a fantastic program called AE Button Plus whic lets you reconfigure most of your topaz buttons. You can assign buttons to launch programs etc and have options of hold down, one press, two presses and three presses.
I use mobipocket reader by pressing the volume down to next page and volume up to go to previous page. I have assigned the volume keys as up down direction keys and to change volume by holding down for a long press. It's a great program, which is not freeware but I would be lost without it to be honest.
number16 said:
How's the battery life on the D2?
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Worse than my Artemis. I used to charge that every 2-3 days with light use.
I seem to be charging the TD2 every day, but I don't like to let it get below 50% so maybe I am just over-cautious. Not sure I'd trust it to last two full days.
The worst culprit seems to be the 3G radio. If I leave it overnight, the battery can drop 20-30%, but if I turn the radio off (airplane mode) it loses less than 10% in the same period.
Thanks both of you for the heads up on AEButton Plus. I've just downloaded the trial, and mapped volume to up and down arrows, and it makes a number of things easier. Not free as you say but pretty cheap at $8. Save me looking at alternative ebook software which is good as I really like Mobipocket.
I do want to ask about the 3G connection.
I heard all D2's in North America are designed for Europe / Asian markets, and their 3G antenna doesn't work with North American service providers, so you are limited to EDGE and cannot get 3G.
Is that a hardware thing? Or is it a firmware / software thing that can be fixed via ROM flash?
slateblue, you mentioned you can get 3G connection to your D2 ... how did you do that?
If a ROM flash fixes it I don't mind, but otherwise if 3G doesn't work on this phone in North America, it's a deal breaker.
Sorry, don't know to much about 3G. I'm in the UK and my TD2 supports 900/2100 MHz HSDPA/WCDMA according to the box. Not sure what frequencies are used elsewhere in the world. I'd have thought that it would need different hardware in much the same way as North American/European GSM phones used to to be different (and incompatible) until quad band handsets became common.
Hi, i am thinking of switching to diamond 2, however may i know is there any problems encountered with diamond 2? Like the parts spoils easily or software lag? Reviews from anyone here? Thank You.
i moved to d2 from polaris,
its huge upgrade specially the screen quality and it can run 3d apps and its faster + gsensor & light sensor are cool, but after the first week of excitement and getting used to new features, overall its pretty much the same...
i mean still the same windows, same games, same apps in much prettier package.
on the other hand when i hold it next to my polaris the polaris looks like a dinosaur i would never go back to that crappy qvga screen
the only disadvantage of d2 is the lack of d-pad its kinda missing cause not all apps & games made for only touch use.
An amazing device.
Last HTC phone I had was a Himalaya about 4 years ago, bought from eBay for a bargain price. That's still going, so I've no doubt that this device will keep me going for a good long while yet!
The only real benefits it has over other HTC devices are the camera (5MP with autofocus) and the general aesthetics... It's a very professional, very good looking phone. All of the other features are on all HTC WinMob devices, including the operating system. Ports are happening for the interface to adapt to different hardware across the range, but it's not big trouble.
In all, a very capable phone. Find one at a price you like and you will not be disappointed.
The current phone i had is Dream, however i met with keyboard problems. Thus no slider phone anymore for me, candybar is the obvious choice.
In the market i feel that TD2 is the most beautiful phone currently, but i am hoping i would never need to send it in to repair. Thank you for your reviews.
TD2
I agreed with BNM, the buttons & D-pad are essential to operate most games and programme mapping to. I also found that pocket player don't work very well with TD2. Going to try Pocket Music next.
where do you stand?
It all depends on your luck and what you want to do with your TD 2. For the former, it is all about receiving a version which doesn't present problems (I have this device for a month and going and still haven't had problems with it. Read here a lot about hardware failure, not charging to the maximum, lag in menu and so on); as for the latter, you must consider if your phone is a phone or is a testing device (a lot of problems arise when users try to make "fried eggs" with a phone - some of the users here are doing/did to their TD 2 some things just to test the device. I myself avoid changing the windows reg as it is how it is for a reason. Also I found it very dangerous to use programs to boost audio (consider that the levels are how they are because maybe, just maybe, that is the maximum of the speakers and more will fry them)). So you must decide where you stand
google g1 to d2
i just changed my g1 after using it for 6 months and bought d2.
what htc has done to windows is simply AMAZING.
i have never ever been so happy with a windows device.
i hardly feel im using the crappy windows interface but am able to enjoy all the usefulness of windows at the same time with a slick interface.
the only gripe i have is that htc should have put in a capactiive display.
the battery is cool...
wifi, 3g... everything is great
cheers HTC
I'm as happy now as when I purchased it 2+ months ago. Perhaps I've been lucky in not suffering some of the problems (screen and charging) some have.
Good points: TF3D is great. You get a really nice interface whilst retaining the power of WM underneath, the best of both worlds. Superb screen. Good Bluetooth sound quality. Excellent camera for stills. Styling is cool (if you like retro 70's, which I do!)
Bad: Wifi is weak, 3G sensitivity only average, camera poor for movies. Screen might be fragile.
The good points outweigh the bad, for me.
Happy with my D2 after 2 months of usage. I have not changed Rom or radio yet, I'll probably wait for official 6.5 upgrade before playing with hardspl and custom rom, but overall, the stock device is very nice. Battery life is what I expected (not great, but I have 2 days of moderate usage or 1 day of heavy usage ... it is ok. And it seems to get better with radio upgrade, and an extended battery in the 1300 mAh range may become available while keeping the same size...)
Screen is amazing, the resolution is so high that everything is very very crisp and ebook reading is almost as nice as e-ink. Only difference is that it is a transmissive technology, not reflective, so nice in shadow or in your bed, not nice in direct sunlight. touch sensitivity is ok, not as good as capacitive but not by much...and you have the stylus for old-style interface...and for handwriting recognition...and old keyboard...and making drawings. Best of both worlds, in the end i prefer this to a capacitive screen...
And the D2 size is perfect for me: not too big i never feel it is more anoying than a normal dumb phone...But still big enough to have a usable screen where WVGA is not overkill (it is not, but just barely: people which can not focus on nearby objects should beware that WVGA will be a disadvantage).
Whatever the technical evolutions in the future HTC models, or competing smartphones, I think the D2 has hit the perfect size: I would not change it at all, keep the overall size of the D3 or whatever exactly the same (but make its screen 3.4 inches maybe ;-) )
So to summarize, the screen, overall size and style of the phone makes it a winner for me, there is currently no other smartphone I would have instead. I expect this will change in 2010, but for me the D2 is the best choice in 2009...As a bonus, I have found the GPS very sensitive (even indoor) and accurate. It is a battery draw and it lags (not too much, but sometimes annoying), but it is more sensitive than my previous bluetooth GPS-only device!
Now for the drawbacks:
-lowlight performance of camera. It is not only the absence of flash, the camera is not sensitive enough, or the auto-iso is not correctly programmed. Low-end nokia phone are much much better at nightshots, and iphone 3GS is better too. They have less pixel, but imho a highly sensitive sensor with less pixels is better for a phone, for high def pictures I have a dedicated camera, the phone is there for the unplanned shots, and lowlight performance is much more important for those kinds of shots than megapixels...I hope this can be corrected by OS upgrade, the lens opening seems no worse than the iphone and better than the nokia...but maybe 5 megapixels CMOS sensor are inherently less sensitive than 2MP or 3MP ones...
- poor wifi sensitivity, D2 have much more trouble than a laptop with weak wifi signals...and more trouble than other handheld device. I hope radio upgrade may improve things a little, but I al not too optimistic, it may be a poor antenna...
- some slowdown of TF3D sometimes, or of the phone in general, and poor playback of movies...but here I am almost certain that playing with custom roms and using something else than windowsplayer should improve things a lot.
With xda-developers, I expect to keep enjoying the D2 for at least 3 years before getting tired of tuning my phone and buying the latest and greatest as replacement.
Had Diamond 1 now have TD2, first thought: not a big update and seemed bigger! missed scroll wheel, but now im used to it (after 1 week) glad i got it, much faster and more ram! as for wifi ok for me? did you try and go to settings/wifi/advanced/power mode and change to best performance????????
Yes I tried it, it does not make much difference. No problem at all when the signal is strong, but D2 can not catch signals as weak as my laptop can (normal), or even some not so weak that my older PDA can catch too (not normal)...
gkai said:
Yes I tried it, it does not make much difference. No problem at all when the signal is strong, but D2 can not catch signals as weak as my laptop can (normal), or even some not so weak that my older PDA can catch too (not normal)...
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I am 3 meters away from my wireless access point and still struggle to connect with all settings correct that work with HTC Elf and Wizard with ease.
I still don't think we have reached the ease of use of an iPhone and I think the WVGA format may not be the best for phones (too skinny in portrait and too wide in landscape)
TouchFlo3D still isn't sufficiently clever or fully featured although it is gratifyingly pretty.
I come to the TD2 from an MDA touch (HTC Elf) and in a few ways it is a step backward:
- battery life is far better on the Touch
- WIFI is also far better
- rounded rubberised style is more solidly constructed and has a better feel
- TF2D home has quicker access to SMS, tasks, program launcher, weather, missed calls
- snooze control more varied (I think this is a WM6.0 thing)
- And very significantly the radio reception shows 4 bars pretty much all the time where the TD2 struggles to get even 2 bars.
In every other way the TD2 is better
Tony