Database Develop

Is there a better PDA phone than this?

I've had an O2 XDAIIi version of this PDA phone since it was released, and very nice it is too. However, it's starting to get a bit tatty, but I believe this model is no longer available. My question is; what's the best replacement for it?
Basically, I'd want something that does exactly the same, but with WM5, VGA and a better camera. I don't want the bulk of a keyword, so I'm not interested in the O2 Exec.
Is there anything out there that meets this criteria? The stumbling block seems to be VGA, as not many devices seem to use this.
Anyone know of such a beast?
Lee

you may struggle there mate, least I haven't seen one yet. if you want a practically sized phone then you may have to opt for a lower-resolution screen (particularly since the exec is the only vga wm5 handset I know of) this it was exactly the choice I made when I sold my exec to get a vario II. As it happens I don't really notice the difference any more: as with any phone you have to weigh up its pros and cons.
Ask yourself what you actually use your phone for, and how important having a vga screen really is for your needs. You may end up just sticking with what you've got!
You could also look on ebay - you MAY find and xda ii in mint condition there.
The stumbling block isn't just the VGA screen either Lee - unfortunately cameras on xdas ALL suck! the 2mp camera on my vario 2 is equally as rubbish as the 1.3 mp cam on my exec, my vario 1 and my mda compact. they're just no good. I wish I could take the camera out of a sonyericsson and whack it in the case of my vario!
The day a perfect phone comes out I'm sure we'll all rush out and buy it, other than that the only alternative would be to get one of the new sonyericssons - they have better screens and the latest ones have stunning cameras....but they use (ahem) symbian.
Hope this is of some use.

you may struggle there mate, least I haven't seen one yet. if you want a practically sized phone then you may have to opt for a lower-resolution screen (particularly since the exec is the only vga wm5 handset I know of) this it was exactly the choice I made when I sold my exec to get a vario II. As it happens I don't really notice the difference any more: as with any phone you have to weigh up its pros and cons.
Ask yourself what you actually use your phone for, and how important having a vga screen really is for your needs. You may end up just sticking with what you've got!
You could also look on ebay - you MAY find and xda ii in mint condition there.
The stumbling block isn't just the VGA screen either Lee - unfortunately cameras on xdas ALL suck! the 2mp camera on my vario 2 is equally as rubbish as the 1.3 mp cam on my exec, my vario 1 and my mda compact. they're just no good. I wish I could take the camera out of a sonyericsson and whack it in the case of my vario!
The day a perfect phone comes out I'm sure we'll all rush out and buy it, other than that the only alternative would be to get one of the new sonyericssons - they have better screens and the latest ones have stunning cameras....but they use (ahem) symbian.
Hope this is of some use.

Thanks...
Thanks the the feedback, that was kinda what I expected. It seems that HTC keep bringing out new models with various permutations of features, but never all the features that you want in one machine!
VGA would be nice for web-browsing, which is very frustrating at 320x240. Oh well, jusy have to wait until someone releases that dream machine!
Lee.

just further to the previous point I made, I thought I ought to point out that I have found web browsing on the vario II to be absolutely superb - I do all of my posts on xda developers using it, its nippy, connects phenominally quick, and the scroll-wheel is an absolute joy to use. it might seem a simple thing, but it makes browsing so much more comfy - I hardly need to get the stylus out!
I'm sat on a train right now from birmingham to derby and I haven't lost my signal once - on my exec I was constantly losing signal; and despite the exec having a better screen it is far easier to flick through web pages with the varios scroller, and pages even load up quicker.
Despite its smaller screen I would HIGHLY recommend it.
(sadly the camera is still poo, so it's not all good news!)

I'm happy with my Vario 2 (Hermes) as it does 3G (which is brill ) and has a hardware keyboard (yesssssss), but compared to my Alpine the screen is a lot smaller. That's a disappointment, but I knew it was going to be smaller. The fact that it runs WM5 kinda makes up for it though, and the fact that my Alpine can't actually connect to my Alcatel Speedtouch DSL router is ridiculous! (It's not the first time that problem's happened, seems to be a real problem with either the radio hardware or the firmware... I dunno. The Hermes connects fine to everything).
As it stands, I'm gonna keep my Alpine and use it for GPS navigation (when I get a new car, thanks to the woman who drove into me and wrote my car off I don't have one at the moment), and I might just end up using it as my day-to-day PDA, especially as my Hermes at the moment refuses to ActiveSync with my PC. Windows reinstall coming this weekend, we'll see how that goes.
The camera on my Hermes is WAYYYYY better than on my Alpine though (it's not as good as on the K750i/K800i/Cybershot models by SonyEricsson, those cameras blow everything else out of the water!) but I've taken a few pics and put them on my moblog (http://moblog.christopherwoods.co.uk if you want to compare image quality, I think they're just fine considering the camera size), and combined with the 3G (and unlimited 3G / GPRS access on my T-Mobile tariff) it's great for moblogging and websurfing to kill time / procrastinate, but my Alpine is slimmer and has a larger screen... The Alpine was allllllllmost perfect, I was almost ready to keep it as my phone for another year, but there were just enough things not quite up to par with it to make me go out and get a new device.
I do love the extra hardware buttons on the Hermes, and the scroll wheel is pretty cool. Don't use it as much as I should do, the same with the soft keys - I always end up tapping the screen when I can just push the button! Force of habit, can't teach an old dog new tricks.

I think the screen size is definitely important, but from experience i would NEVER buy another phone with a VGA screen - at least not until they start making much better batteries.
The biggest killer of batteries is those big pretty screens, and if a handset is gonna cut it as a phone and a practical browsing device/organiser it needs to hold out in the power department, since we're not always next to a power point, and we haven't always got our mains adaptor with us!
I don't really notice the screen difference on my Vario II now, and the battery lasts ages.
Be nice if i could get a spare battery with a cradle on ebay though, always good to have backup, however i haven't seen one yet.

Roll on charge-via-GPRS (use the power in the radio waves and convert it into electrical energy.... mmm... batteryless devices... drool)

Is it worth trading Hermes up for Kaiser?

I'm currently using Hermes (8525) and thinking about getting Kaiser. If you have had Hermes before I'd like to hear your word of wisdom from whomever have had both devices for practical usage. Unfortunately I don't have the luxury to keep both.
What I love about the Hermes that's not found in Kaiser are flash light, IrDa, and comm manager button. On the other hand Hermes is missing GPS, bigger memory, the "possibility" of having hardware accelerated graphics, supposedly better camera, tilting hinges, and in my particular case front camera (I'm using 8525 and there's no _practical_ solution to put the front camera in and if I were to get Kaiser it better be NOT AT&T tilt that has no front camera as well).
I'm afraid I'll be missing Hermes exclusive features if I switch to Kaiser, even though I don't use those features too often. It is however very tempting especially the built in GPS feature (yes I have followed the hidden GPS thread and struck down by the bad news that we can't practically revive the chip in Hermes).
A word of advice or two from you guys would be very appreciated.
PS: I posted this in Hermes forum a while ago and I'm also interested to hear Kaiser owners' opinion about this too.

cyberblue said:
I'm currently using Hermes (8525) and thinking about getting Kaiser. If you have had Hermes before I'd like to hear your word of wisdom from whomever have had both devices for practical usage. Unfortunately I don't have the luxury to keep both.
What I love about the Hermes that's not found in Kaiser are flash light, IrDa, and comm manager button. On the other hand Hermes is missing GPS, bigger memory, the "possibility" of having hardware accelerated graphics, supposedly better camera, tilting hinges, and in my particular case front camera (I'm using 8525 and there's no _practical_ solution to put the front camera in and if I were to get Kaiser it better be NOT AT&T tilt that has no front camera as well).
I'm afraid I'll be missing Hermes exclusive features if I switch to Kaiser, even though I don't use those features too often. It is however very tempting especially the built in GPS feature (yes I have followed the hidden GPS thread and struck down by the bad news that we can't practically revive the chip in Hermes).
A word of advice or two from you guys would be very appreciated.
PS: I posted this in Hermes forum a while ago and I'm also interested to hear Kaiser owners' opinion about this too.
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This is kind of like going onto the Corvette Club of America forum and saying " I'm thinking of trading my Chevy Malibu for a Corvette, what do you think?" My Tilt is Great. I personally have never experience any of the quirks others have complained about. If you like the new features and upgrade possibilites better. Then do it.

Out of everything that I read, I decided that it was NOT worth the upgrade. Then my Hermes started acting up BADLY with white screens and buttons that stopped working. So I reluctantly upgraded sooner than I intended.
I have loved my Kaiser. The 400mhz vs 400mhz CPU doesnt explain much why my Kaiser is so much faster than my Hermes. And I love the GPS .... and the battery life is better.
Also I never could find a radio where I could leave on 3G inside my condo and not drop calls. I tried and tried and tried. I leave 3G on my Kaiser with NO dropped calls even inside exactly where my Hermes would drop calls - and the 3G is not sucking the battery like on the Hermes.

I was the same way. I think it depends on the price that you will have to pay. I was able to get the Kaiser (Tilt) when it first came it on AT&T and I just couldn't pass it up. Now having had it for over a year, and knowing the differences, I would have paid more if I had to. I know that I may have been reluctant to pay more at the time, but it's one of those things where, "Now looking back, I would do it all over again" (but with more money ) if that makes any sense...

I've said this before elsewhere, but here goes again...
I broke my Hermes. If I had not broken it, I would not have upgraded to the Kaiser.
Now, I have a Kaiser and I don't consider it to be vastly better than the Hermes. Perhaps it was the way I use my phone that makes this the case, or perhaps it is that the O2 ROM was the limiting factor. Either way, I don't think it would tempt me to upgrade or renew my contract, so will be onto a rolling 1-month contract until a more exciting handset (am thinking Raphael) turns up.

denco7 said:
This is kind of like going onto the Corvette Club of America forum and saying " I'm thinking of trading my Chevy Malibu for a Corvette, what do you think?" My Tilt is Great. I personally have never experience any of the quirks others have complained about. If you like the new features and upgrade possibilites better. Then do it.
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malibu vs vette is too much of a stretch and you didn't give perspective on both sides as to comparing one to the other.
to answer cyberblue's question:
I have used hermes before though never owned one. to me built in gps is a must and i chose tilt solely because of that. if i were willing to tote a bluetooth gps device, i wouldn't have bothered getting a tilt.
if you can wait a little longer, see if the new upcoming htc devices has all that you like. mind you that infra red is probably not going to be present in newer devices.

KaiserVideoDriver said:
malibu vs vette is too much of a stretch and you didn't give perspective on both sides as to comparing one to the other.
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Seriously ?

I agree with KVD, no offence, but it really isnt much like what you said.

bubbleking2 said:
I agree with KVD, no offence, but it really isnt much like what you said.
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You both totally missed my point, I was not comparing cars. What my point was, was that much like the Corvette Club of America, everyone there has one, everyone is an enthusiast or they would be part of the club and you probably will not get an unbiased opinion if that is what he was looking for?
If he was interested in unbiased reviews he should check the review sites
Again seriously?

Kaiser VS Touch Pro

Is it really worth the upgrade?
The only plus i see on the Touch pro is the Manilla interface with real 3D.
But i do hope with time, the 3D Drivers get ported on our Kaiser, and therefore we can get the same UI than on the touch Diamond/Pro.
Of course the Touch Pro has a slick design and faster processor, but i dont really care about those .
What do you guys think about it ? Is it worth the 650E ?

I would hold out for a while
I am interested in getting it for the tv out. I would hold out until it gets some impartial reviews on here. I don't think T-Mo is gonna get it in the US but if it gets good reviews, I might get it from someone who gets in over their head with a phone where they don't need this many features.

guigui42 said:
Is it really worth the upgrade?
The only plus i see on the Touch pro is the Manilla interface with real 3D.
But i do hope with time, the 3D Drivers get ported on our Kaiser, and therefore we can get the same UI than on the touch Diamond/Pro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't hold your breath on the video drivers, sure the guys have already done sterling work so far and I thank them for the effort they have put in but in reality, I think that as more and more people move onto the diamond/touch pro then people will fail to care about the kaiser users any more and they will be forgotten. No doubt the devs will have plenty on their hands fixing HTC's latest cockups with their new handsets as I'm sure there will be many.
Personally I'd like nothing more than for those drivers to be polished off and for all of the kaiser users to stick it to HTC by keeping their kaisers and not filling HTC's pockets with cash by upgrading to the latest handset

foobar1977 said:
I wouldn't hold your breath on the video drivers, sure the guys have already done sterling work so far and I thank them for the effort they have put in but in reality, I think that as more and more people move onto the diamond/touch pro then people will fail to care about the kaiser users any more and they will be forgotten. No doubt the devs will have plenty on their hands fixing HTC's latest cockups with their new handsets as I'm sure there will be many.
Personally I'd like nothing more than for those drivers to be polished off and for all of the kaiser users to stick it to HTC by keeping their kaisers and not filling HTC's pockets with cash by upgrading to the latest handset
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
interesting point but how many people will do that? not many when lots of people have little patience for things to be fixed,upgraded,moded and ported.1 of the biggest things is touchflo 3d will obviously be the 1 of the best selling features about the touch pro. if any kaiser user would switch then they would prefer touch pro over the diamond in a heartbeat. i would.

How can you say that?
guigui42 said:
Is it really worth the upgrade? The only plus i see on the Touch pro is the Manilla interface with real 3D...QUOTE]
What about?
1. Faster processor
2. Bigger ROM
3. More RAM
4. 480x640 VGA
5. Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
6. LED light/flash
7. FM radio
...not to mention the Accelerometer and a 5 row keyboard.
It has EVERYTHING the TyTn II/Kaiser has PLUS all of this...why NOT upgrade?
T
E
C
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Click to collapse

technillion said:
guigui42 said:
Is it really worth the upgrade? The only plus i see on the Touch pro is the Manilla interface with real 3D...QUOTE]
What about?
1. Faster processor
2. Bigger ROM
3. More RAM
4. 480x640 VGA
5. Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
6. LED light/flash
7. FM radio
...not to mention the Accelerometer and a 5 row keyboard.
It has EVERYTHING the TyTn II/Kaiser has PLUS all of this...why NOT upgrade?
T
E
C
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quite right - the only thing it does not have is a tilting screen, which I would miss a bit. Overall, there would be no overwhelming reason not to upgrade to Touch Pro if it weren't for the the Xperia X1 with WVGA screen, slightly tilted screen & probably nicer build quality (loved the high end Clie's!).
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DavidMc0 said:
technillion said:
Quite right - the only thing it does not have is a tilting screen, which I would miss a bit.
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I would say the tilted screen is perhaps one feature that I would miss THE MOST!!
hehehe, Imagine...you are in your office, school, etc, and you are having lunch on your own, and feel like watching a movie clip to go with your lunch...
Place your TyTN II on your desk, flip the screen and tilt it, and voila you have your own mini portable tv with the right angle...
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Click to collapse

meckah said:
Place your TyTN II on your desk, flip the screen and tilt it, and voila you have your own mini portable tv with the right angle...
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Click to collapse
Yep, I do this nearly every day at work. (And not necessarily only on lunch).

jpope said:
Yep, I do this nearly every day at work. (And not necessarily only on lunch).
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Click to collapse
Tsk Tsk, Please come to my office first thing tomorrow.

Personally, I think many are putting too much into touch flow 3-d. I, personally, think it would suck. Finger prints and sluggish performance are hardly the fate I forsee my expensive handset espousing.
Just my opinion, and I assume others have different ones.

pinetreehater said:
Personally, I think many are putting too much into touch flow 3-d. I, personally, think it would suck. Finger prints and sluggish performance are hardly the fate I forsee my expensive handset espousing.
Just my opinion, and I assume others have different ones.
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Click to collapse
The point of having a touch screen is to be able to use your finger on it, not only stylus (else i would just get a Palm ).
And you have to admit, WM6 UI is not finger friendly. Luckily, we have iContacts, S2U etc... You talk about finger prings ? just have to wash your hands often and clean your screen once in a while.
I use my Kaiser 90% of time with my thumb, no stylus (only for non finger friendly apps).
So, in MY case, the touch Diamond / Pro UI is a must !
@technillion
I dont really care about the extra speed (as long as we have the proper drivers the kaiser is powerful enough) or extra space (gotta love the SDHC cards ), or even care less about the FM radio (who actually listen to FM radio nowdays ? its the internet era ).
But you are right, the VGA screen does seem pretty nice.
Also as mentioned above, i think the tilted screen will surely be missed.
Finally, i think i will wait for the next generation HTC to come out (September 2009 i suppose ?). Its a long wait, but if i must spend 650E, i prefer it to be for something that adds a really value compared to my Kaiser.

Just noticed your reply and wanted to comment. I agree with "finger friendly." However, using your finger to rub the screen (aka swipe) is different (read more smudgies) than using your finger to make a peck (or your finger nail as I do).
But I guess my point is really moot. After I talk on my phone, the screen is always covered in facial oil (I live in the S. Georgia, so I tend to sweat a lot). So, I guess finger smudges are really of little concern.

pinetreehater said:
Just noticed your reply and wanted to comment. I agree with "finger friendly." However, using your finger to rub the screen (aka swipe) is different (read more smudgies) than using your finger to make a peck (or your finger nail as I do).
But I guess my point is really moot. After I talk on my phone, the screen is always covered in facial oil (I live in the S. Georgia, so I tend to sweat a lot). So, I guess finger smudges are really of little concern.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With my ExpertShields screen protector smudgies are not really a problem. Can't really see them unless I hold the phone just so so the reflection revels them. The ExertShild is also very smooth, you finger and stylus just gliudes across the screen.
I'll be eligable for an up grade in Febuary, and I plan to get one.

No 2D drivers, but 3D drivers is like saying.... you can play Crisis 3D realtime, but ur computer is not XP capable... :-/... Thats whats stopping me from getting it... I was really into HTC until I bought the AT&T Tilt... I just dont trust HTC with anything even though I feel like HTC Dream might actually be a good phone... I'd now rather just move to Nokia or Sony (because Sony doesnt release products until it matches quality... and if it doesnt, they WILL recall it ... )...

Tilt Screen
DavidMc0 said:
technillion said:
Quite right - the only thing it does not have is a tilting screen, which I would miss a bit. Overall, there would be no overwhelming reason not to upgrade to Touch Pro if it weren't for the the Xperia X1 with WVGA screen, slightly tilted screen & probably nicer build quality (loved the high end Clie's!).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If they put in a "Tilt Screen" they will not have enough things to put in the HTC Touch Pro Extreme next Generation. The Tilt will be in next Junes upgrade.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

why not wait for xmas when nvidia releases their chip and companies make phones with 1080p out put that can play for 10hrs straight. that would be so much more apealing then any other device.

technillion said:
guigui42 said:
Is it really worth the upgrade? The only plus i see on the Touch pro is the Manilla interface with real 3D...QUOTE]
What about?
1. Faster processor
2. Bigger ROM
3. More RAM
4. 480x640 VGA
5. Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
6. LED light/flash
7. FM radio
...not to mention the Accelerometer and a 5 row keyboard.
It has EVERYTHING the TyTn II/Kaiser has PLUS all of this...why NOT upgrade?
T
E
C
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some things are missing on the diamond pro compared to the Kaiser :
- the tilting screen : everyone knows this one ...
- the hardware buttons : the diamond has a very small amount of buttons. For me it is an important point as this is the fastest way to launch applications. It is also very important if you are a gamer.
- the scroll wheel : also very usefull for me.
- the power consomption is higher than the Kaiser. VGA screens are very power consuming screens.
- software compatibility problems : some applications just do not work (Tomtom 7 for exemple), some others do not work properly. It is mostly related to the VGA screen.
I also saw on the diamond threads that the speed is still an issue with this device. Some actual owners of the diamond reported to me that coming from the Kaiser (they had one before) it does not seem to be really worth the upgrade as the use of the phone in an "everyday activity" is not faster than the Kaiser. For exemle, using it as a phone sometimes take seconds for just closing a call ...
Just check, on the XDA forum, the Diamond threads and you will see that it may really not be worth the upgrade, at least this is my conclusion !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I also consider how much I would get from my Kaiser selling it now. Changing phones once a year can actually be very close (not the same, but almost) on the money spend as changing once every 2 yrs.

ssjgoku24 said:
why not wait for xmas when nvidia releases their chip and companies make phones with 1080p out put that can play for 10hrs straight. that would be so much more apealing then any other device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i would like to see this first.. will probably be vaporware

ssjgoku24 said:
why not wait for xmas when nvidia releases their chip and companies make phones with 1080p out put that can play for 10hrs straight. that would be so much more apealing then any other device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do u have some closer info about phones with nvidia chips? I would like to know some info about that.

Can the Diamond really be recommended?

I cant help, but I am "slowly" getting more and more convinced not to buy a Diamond because of the apparent issues I continue to find.
First I found out about the display issue which is (also officially) said to happen only with too much pressure (what exactly is too much), although some reported them as well and stated to have taken care. Now it seems there is yet one more issue with the backlighting respectively the hardware itself.
Would you say I am exaggerating and those issues are normal ones which happen to some extent on all phones or is my upcoming impression right that the Diamond might be a true beta product - it's not that those issues are exactly minor ones?
Please let me know your true and objective (please no fanboyism in either way ) opinion.

all I can say is these forums get a lot more of
"I have a problem"
then
"my diamond is working fine and i would not change a thing"
happy users
1 never come here
2 try to help others

If you come to a forum where people are seeking help with their phone then unsuprisingly you are gonna find alot of people with phone problems they would like help with.
This is true for all devices from phones to cars, and will always give the impression that the device has many flaws. In the bigger picture far more people are happy with their diamond than reading here will have you think.

i believe that the diamond really is a great smartphone, (no fanboyism) and that it really delivers a great bunch of possibilities, especially when paired with xda developers it migth tend to be a little slow sometimes though. and sometimes even slower... but the first problem you described, ive never heard of before, and i do not believe you will experience this without trying to do it, or if you by accident throws a rock at the display (accident???) the second problem sounded like a flash of a custom rom gone wrong, which doesnt really have anything to do with the phone, but more with the person behind the phone
these 2 problems that you talk about seems like some that only happens if you doesnt take a little care of your phone, and i do not believe that these should make you worry about getting a diamond. but you might want to consider buying a diamond2 instead, since its about to get released

.
Thanks for all your responses so far, of course the argument of complainers being louder is valid, but I suppose I am particularly worried here because the two mentioned issues seem to be quite common - among the complainers at least - and seem to be rather major issues and not like a minor one such as a buggy software.
Hojlind said:
but the first problem you described, ive never heard of before, and i do not believe you will experience this without trying to do it, or if you by accident throws a rock at the display (accident???)
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Usually I am not using rocks , but there are also quite a few in the mentioned thread who have stated to never have mistreated the display. Of course its not easy to verify this claim but I have to admit it makes me worry.
Hojlind said:
the second problem sounded like a flash of a custom rom gone wrong, which doesnt really have anything to do with the phone, but more with the person behind the phone
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Click to collapse
I'd have assumed that too, however it doesnt seem to have taken place immediately after flashing but a few days later and a few even mentioned it happened without any flashing at all.
Hojlind said:
these 2 problems that you talk about seems like some that only happens if you doesnt take a little care of your phone, and i do not believe that these should make you worry about getting a diamond. but you might want to consider buying a diamond2 instead, since its about to get released
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Click to collapse
What attracts me particularly to the Diamond is its size. It is one of the smallest Windows Mobile phones available. The Diamond 2 is already noticeable larger and so I'd then opt for the HD right away.

I've had so many devices I can't remember how many, from pocket pc's to the diamond I've just been randomly given free, not on upgrade .. just a random gift.
First impressions - after having it for 6 hours:
Looks great, I like the candybar format, after the Vario III it's .. novel.
The screen is a vast improvement over the last generation of screens.
The camera produces usable images, the Vario III didn't. haven't tried video but the new drivers seem to be doing their job.
GPS lag has not been tested on the road but tomtom picked up a signal quickly enough.
I've not yet experienced the dropped call when answering because of the end call nonsense on the screen. If I do there is a workaround.
The Compact IV won't open a full 300mb Memory Map file, I've had to break the maps down into bite size chunks for it.
After using the vario III for a long time I've never used more than 3.5GB, despite having a 6GB card so I won't miss the lack of memory card.
I didn't use the keyboard of the other phones I used to the lack of it is welcome.
On balance, I would recommend this phone but a novice would quickly be frustrated and that's mostly down to interface quirks which you get used to after a while, and here's usually a workaround for most problems, except a duff driver.
Why the people at HTC and t-mobile don't just farm the ROM dev out to xda-dev is beyond me.
The developers here do a better job, quicker and cheaper than the bunch of talentless spods employed by the various co's who make the devices. Although, I might be being too harsh on the spods, they probably do a great job but get stymied by the suits.
Could I recommend the Diamond ? Yes.

Diamond is the best WM device I've ever used...
Mine's been bumping around in my pocket for the last 10 months, dropped a couple of times, lives in a (padded) bumbag when I'm trail riding my pushbike and generally been used rather a lot - but never abused.
In my previous job role I managed 1500 WM devices for an SME (sig...) and I can say with the absolute certainty of someone who has been there for a living that the kind of hardware failures that get reported here are almost unheard of in any WM devices that haven't been physically mistreated or had roms flashed in a hamfisted way.
Sitting down a couple of times with a touchscreen phone in the front pocket of a tight pair of trousers will always flex the device just enough for the display to fail somewhere down the line - usually long after the offender has left our employ and the device has been passed on to the next user...
Mind you I'll probably pick up a Touch Pro 2 when my contract is up for renewal...

I had one for a few months and didnt like it.
I am not remotely clued up on the technical side of things so this is very much a laymans report:
It had lots of features I liked but on the whole the phone was too much hassle and its cons outweighed its pro's. (the poor camera, the "black screen" when on the phone thing, the poor on/off button on the top, the poor lock/unlock system. But i loved the interface of the phone.
Swapped it for a LG Renoir and miss the Diamond, but they both have things the other doesnt. So I am no better off.
When will someone make the perfect phone? lol

The Diamond is excellent if you can handle it meaning you have really get into tweaking. Out of the box I would not recommend it but if you are willing improve it on your own by using the helpful programs of this forum than it's an excellent choice.

I have had several PDA phones: Sansung i700, i730, i760, HTC Mogul. Of those I loved the i760 with it's number keypad (granted it had it's issues also). Hated the Mogul (low memory issue and slow). The Diamond I consider an outstanding phone. My biggest issue is the lack of responsiveness of the screen. Takes some getting use to. I did the registry changes but didn't notice a real difference. Compared to the other PDA phones I mentioned I love the display quality, size, look, feel, and $10 internet with Sprint. Perfect phone for me. The battery life I can deal with. I have a cradle with a spare battery, a car charger and spare charger at work so I'm always prepared. By the way the battery life seems to have gotten better with the latest ROM update. I could recomend it but I always let people know of the battery issue, screen responsiveness and still having problems with time issue here in Arizona (changes by an hour every once in a while for some reason).

eurofan said:
The Diamond is excellent if you can handle it meaning you have really get into tweaking. Out of the box I would not recommend it but if you are willing improve it on your own by using the helpful programs of this forum than it's an excellent choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second that!!!
It wasn't great out of the box. But now.... I love tweaking/flashing and would recommend it to anyone.
Although, if your thinking of purchasing a diamond, personally, I would wait till the 'Touch Diamond 2' is released.

I agree with alot of the comments
Basically the HTC Diamond, or it many variants, is an excellent device (and I have had many many many devices).
What it has going for it:
1. Size
2. Weight
3. Fantastic screen
4. Looks nice and cute/good form factor
5. Well made
Issues:
6. Battery should have been bigger - not really an issue for me as I have a charger at work and home. I tend to charge every two days unless I have been using it intensly and then top up on the day (normally I top up if on 2 bars).
7. Shipped firmwares in the UK are mostly pants!
8. No card slot. Now I want to be clear about this, if you are just installing programs and/or data the 4GB storage is absolutely fine, more then enough in fact. It also is good for a small set of videos or music. However, if you want to store large amounts of music or videos then this device is not for you!
Basically, if you upgrade the Diamond after purchase to one of the more excellent ROMs on this site, it will have a beautiful display and quick response.
Also, note that, unlike something like the HTC Touch, this is a premium device. Which means it has nice touches like the stylus is held in magnetically and also, when you pull the stylus out it automatically switches the display on.
In terms of the Diamond 2 issue, that is obviously a better device, but the price will reflect it, and the HTC Diamond is now looking very good value. Personally, I like buying phones at the end of their run, as the firmware and price are the best.
Lastly, the HTC Diamond is a bit of a cult device. Why is this important ? Because it means that the support on xda-developers is much better then the less popular devices. As the HTC Diamond's price goes down, this will just increase.
best rgds

i just seriously love my diamond..the price on ebay is going down at a rapid pace n yeah..i love it bcoz of all the tweakin u can do on it..
man oh man..on which other device can u get a "not yet working" android os as well as some iphone like stuff for unlockin, music etc..n u can just about change everything thats on the phone..
tht may be coz its my first ever windows mobile phone n i was suprised by the remote desktop..use it to play poker on facebook now!! wanna view tv for uefa cup late at night..no problemo..n the autofocus camera with a beautiful vga screen adds as the biggest pro as i snap pics of my college assignments that are readable on its vga screen
i am a little disappointed with the touch screen though..cos when in remote desktop full screen, u cannot reach to the minimize, maximize n close buttons.. though u can use another software but its the touchscreen fault as the 4 corners of the screen are difficult to tap..
but overall im very satisfied n recommend it to all

The diamond rules!!! Buy one!! Buy one now :d

I just bought one cheap,don't like the diamond 2,it has no d-pad and looks a fair bit bigger.
The screen quality (colours and contrast)from what I've seen on youtube against the likes of the HD is what made me keen on it.
I have been using O2 flames for the last 2 years,so the battery life will be something I'm used to.
Hopefully it isn't like the atom life I bought and ended up selling within a week

gerryjoson said:
I just bought one cheap,don't like the diamond 2,it has no d-pad and looks a fair bit bigger.
The screen quality (colours and contrast)from what I've seen on youtube against the likes of the HD is what made me keen on it.
I have been using O2 flames for the last 2 years,so the battery life will be something I'm used to.
Hopefully it isn't like the atom life I bought and ended up selling within a week
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good luck! the quality of the diamond is much nicer then the atom.
start off on a good foot with a good rom

had a diamond sinve day 1 of orange uk launch
once flashed........a great phone.
does everything i want and more....so its gets a 10/10 from me...
if thats worth anything to you

^^^ Fanboy...
My opinion is that the Diamond is a nice attractive phone in a good size. Having said that, there are 3 major flaws:
1. Battery life
2. Speed
3. Software
The software one is the most solvable, with the number of tweaks, ROMs and free apps available here. I've supplemented that with a large amount of commercial software in order to get the best possible experience but this is of course very expensive to do properly.

Diamond is very good phone, i think you will never regret if you will buy one.
About problem on screen and presure ( i have that problem ), i think it comes because, when need to open back for sim card or for battery. To open back we need to press screen.

Had a diamond around 9 or 10 months now, considered buying an HD or a few other wannabees but any time I consider buying a new phone I just need to look @ my diamond & I remember why it's so damn good, It's looks haven't been matched or surpassed yet & the so called newer updated htc 1's/ other makes aren't that much better IMHO in performance etc... oh yeah & their all big fat bricks !!!
I'm sticking to my precious DIAMOND for a while yet thx
Oh & BTW that htc update has finally finally fixed it's biggest/ annoying bug, my diamond hasn't skipped an mp3 track since I installed it, I think I'll keep mine forever now hehehehe...

why did S/E avoid an Accelerometer in the X1??

Was that because the phone is fat?

I thing it's because they asked HTC to build the X1 for them. HTC made them believe it's better without g-sensor.

sms2000 said:
I thing it's because they asked HTC to build the X1 for them. HTC made them believe it's better without g-sensor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But why? HTC own phones have g-sensor?

Euroman28 said:
But why? HTC own phones have g-sensor?
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Click to collapse
becuz no one will buy htc phone anymore if X1 has g-sensor!!
The only advantage of htc phone now is only g-sensor

I think with the motherboards used in the HTC's and X1, there are only a certain number of ports available for add-ons such as acceleromenter. We got an optical mouse instead of the accelerometer.
They got TV-Out, we got stereo headphone jack.
I'm just speculating though.

We could have Optical Mouse and G-sensor switchable if so.
i thing it's a pure marketing decision for HTC to play this way. SonEr are in no more contacts with HTC. X2 is developed with someone else help...

sometimes they do it because of some technical limitations but if you ask me most of the times they do it on purpose for dirty political reasons.
most probably to leave some room for "improvement" of future models. why would people buy fthe x2 for $700-$800 if the x1 has everything
htc did that with tp2. they put some artificial limitations on the touch pro2 to make room tp3 next year. why else would they release it with a slow 528mhz cpu or flashless 3.2 camera and no 3.5mm jack or more
apple are even worse than htc with their ultra low resolution hvga screen, flashless 2mp camera (1 year after nokia released 5 MPexel cameras with flash ) and the many software limitations that will probably be activated in next year model
bottomline...if manufaturers think they will be able to sell a lot of devices, it makes sense to them to give it to you with as little features and hardware defecancies as possible. it makes too much scene as far as their current and future profit margins is concerned

in x1 case though. i think SE didnt include the the accelerometer because it was (x1) announced in feb08 and at the time, there was no windows phone that had or even announced that it would have accelerometer capability. the touch diamond and Omnia were the first devices to have it and both were released much later than feb 08. seems to me that it was an honest mistake or by se part

Because they want to milk us for more cash. If the x1 is perfect you will not have a reason to buy the X2.

if those pics are realy then noone is going to buy the X2 anyway
btw, i dont miss the G-sensor. had one in my n95 and disabled it cause the auto screenrotation roratet teh srcreens when i didnt want to. it was more anoying the usefull.
i'd rather have a compass so navigation turns more realtime.

Another reason could be that, at the time, there just wasn't enough WM software available to take advantge of an accelerometer. So what would be the point of adding one?

WhyBe said:
Another reason could be that, at the time, there just wasn't enough WM software available to take advantge of an accelerometer. So what would be the point of adding one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They could have added it and activated it later through updates.

Euroman28 said:
Was that because the phone is fat?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now what I am about to say...I think a lot of people on this forum will disagree on me....the removed it because it's a smart choice that accelerometer is an annoying feature and it takes hardware space.
I hate hate hate hate hate turning on the accelerometer so much! I'd rather have a button on the side of a phone to decide when to rotate the screen... all manufactures are too stupid to add a fast CPU and a switch button to prove to mankind that my idea is better than accelerometer.

poetryrocksalot said:
Now what I am about to say...I think a lot of people on this forum will disagree on me....the removed it because it's a smart choice that accelerometer is an annoying feature and it takes hardware space.
I hate hate hate hate hate turning on the accelerometer so much! I'd rather have a button on the side of a phone to decide when to rotate the screen... all manufactures are too stupid to add a fast CPU and a switch button to prove to mankind that my idea is better than accelerometer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This I agree!
I'd turn it off on the day one..

It is good for games, but not much else lol.

Well, I would agree with the last three posts. I've never had a phone with accelerometer, but, that's been my thinking all along...what exactly is it good for beside games? As slow as WM is, I would be scared that my phone would lock up or crash if I turned it too many times.
If they manage to put one in the next X phone and have some software that really uses it to it's fullest potential, then I'm all for it.

The Diamond and Omnia had it so that the screen can rotate when the phone is held in landscape.
The X1 has a keyboard & senses when it's opened, so doesn't need an accelerometer for anything that important.
Suggesting they left it out so that they can sell more X2s is quite funny - honestly, who's going to buy an X2 just because it has an accelerometer?
Similar to all those complaining the Pro2 doesn't have a snapdragon (which no currently available phones have) + better camera + flash + 3.5mm socket + all the form factor benefits of the pro2, all for the same price as an HD. And apparently it's all a con so we can buy the pro3 next year!

THE GRIZZ said:
sometimes they do it because of some technical limitations but if you ask me most of the times they do it on purpose for dirty political reasons.
most probably to leave some room for "improvement" of future models. why would people buy fthe x2 for $700-$800 if the x1 has everything
htc did that with tp2. they put some artificial limitations on the touch pro2 to make room tp3 next year. why else would they release it with a slow 528mhz cpu or flashless 3.2 camera and no 3.5mm jack or more
apple are even worse than htc with their ultra low resolution hvga screen, flashless 2mp camera (1 year after nokia released 5 MPexel cameras with flash ) and the many software limitations that will probably be activated in next year model
bottomline...if manufaturers think they will be able to sell a lot of devices, it makes sense to them to give it to you with as little features and hardware defecancies as possible. it makes too much scene as far as their current and future profit margins is concerned
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I also thought, and it makes me so mad.....if only we could purchase customized phones the way we purchase customized computers/laptops or customize them ourselves, then we would totally get exactly what we want.
DavidMc0 said:
The Diamond and Omnia had it so that the screen can rotate when the phone is held in landscape.
The X1 has a keyboard & senses when it's opened, so doesn't need an accelerometer for anything that important.
Suggesting they left it out so that they can sell more X2s is quite funny - honestly, who's going to buy an X2 just because it has an accelerometer?
Similar to all those complaining the Pro2 doesn't have a snapdragon (which no currently available phones have) + better camera + flash + 3.5mm socket + all the form factor benefits of the pro2, all for the same price as an HD. And apparently it's all a con so we can buy the pro3 next year!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So if you were a marketing and economic advisor for your company, you'd tell the asking company that it would be a wiser choice to put everything in all at once? That's a waste. You have to understand that what you say is correct, but for an economic it is correct if in terms of services. Services typically strive to do better than other people who provide the same service, no matter what. Goods are a little bit different than service, in which as long as other companies set margins to what their device provide, then the company will also set margins as well. Now we aren't talking about eBay crap or haggling, so the end result is an expected increase in real profit.

DavidMc0 said:
Suggesting they left it out so that they can sell more X2s is quite funny - honestly, who's going to buy an X2 just because it has an accelerometer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You would be surprised.

doministry said:
This I agree!
I'd turn it off on the day one..
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Click to collapse
Can't I turn it off at day zero?!
Totally agree with you, tried a phone with accelerator and didn't like it... I just see no real use of it (apart from games)