Database Develop

Is it really this bad ?

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/209376/htc-touch-diamond.html
I was thinking of buying one of these, now i am put off .....

colonel said:
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/209376/htc-touch-diamond.html
I was thinking of buying one of these, now i am put off .....
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Click to collapse
NO IT'S NOT (that bad)!!!
It's a beautiful device, FTouchFlo3D looks wonderful, it's small, it's thin, it has many many small details...
True, the first ROM was slow and laggie (is that a word?). But now already after a few weeks there are many new ROMs including the newly cooked ones that make the device much snappier, stabile and sometimes really fast.
There still are some points like memory leaking and short batterylife but I'm sure these things will be solved in the near future.
I LOVE IT!!!!!

it depends ... and besides that do you believe everything you read ? I can find you you as much reviews about how is Diamond great as about how is Diamond bad ... if you really want to know buy it and try it if it fits your needs

I believe everything I read ;->
but seriously, I didn't want to upset anyone.
I am a big user of HTC devices. Its just this one seems a bit overhyped and you do worry about this type of review as this magazine is reasonably respected. good to hear that newer ROMs are better. Are the official ROMs better ?

Any piece of **** review that mentions the Apple iPhone in the first two paragraphs is probably written by an Apple fanboy and.. well, you know where the review is heading...
Ignore this trash.

There are alot of reviews floating around the net... I personally followed the coolsmartphone take on the Diamond http://www.coolsmartphone.com/article775.html
He had the phone and posted video reviews every day for a week. This was a great way of doing things as it helped people get a feel for the phone and what it was capable of.
I agree that the signal strength isnt the highest ive had (fixable in a ROM update with new RADIO im sure) but other than that ive not installed any Custom Rom on my diamond and ive not even used any of the Registry Tweaks that this site talks about and im very happy with my Diamond.
I would say pop into a store when they are released and get a feel for one first if your that concerned but all ive gotta say is ive finally got a device that does it all and improves on the Windows Mobile Interface.
Im not going to slate the iPhone as to be honest its prob due to the iPhone coming out, giving all Phone Manuafacturers a well needed kick up the arse to start thinking about what people what.
The Diamond is the bees knees and the mutts nuts! Im chuffed with mine and have no intention of getting rid of it.
I loved my Touch Dual, but this is now on eBay. It would take alot for me to put that up for sale, and the Diamond managed to do that straight away!

I tend to agree with those that dismiss this review as overly negative. In fact, at the end of the review, they say that HTC may make some tweaks that make it a half decent phone. Many of those tweaks have appeared already in the new production version of the ROM (1.37).
My view in a nutshell:
Windows 6.1 is a feature rich and customisable platform which allows you to do some great things with your phone. However, the user interface of raw windows is pretty ugly.
HTC's Touchflow3D is a flawed masterpiece. What it does and how it looks is great, but it's just not quite quick enough - and still doesn't hide away all of the ugly aspects of windows. NEvertheless, it is pretty damn good - and much better than the first touchflow versions (IMHO).
Diamond is available now, with 3g, GPS, etc - I'm sure HTC and Apple will leapfrog each other with their releases from here.
HTC's new form factor has finally delivered Chic. I've always thought they pack a lot into their little boxes - but this is a phone that doesn't screak "geek" when you look at it (even though all the geeky capabilities are there!).
The responsiveness of the screen is a differentiator - given the extra functionality of the HTC, you will at times want to use the stylus. This has forced them into using resistive technology which is a bit less responsive than the iPhone. However, the benefit is that you can do things that the iPhone simply cant do!
Oh, I should say that the activesync of Diamond with outlook works like a dream .
If I had one major criticism of the Diamond, it's the memory. I don't need an SD slot, but I do wish they could have squeezed in 8 or 16gigs.
Ultimately, the choice between Apple and HTC is about whether you want a locked down feature-set which hangs together margianlly better, or something which is infinitely improvable, but lacks the out-of-the-box slickness of the iPhone. Personally, for the money I'll go for HTC every time.
Best bet: try and get your hands on one, and see how it feels - a bit like compact cameras, there's a lot of personal preference of how it feels in the hand, which can matter more to the user than pure specifications. I think the Diamond will win you over - particularly if you're looking at a newer ROM version!

And to think he got paid to write that...
He praises Opera 9.5, while I think although useful at times, this browser still needs a lot of work before I move from IE mobile permanently.
Conclusion - Opinions are like a-holes - everyone has one.... he is...

What about video drivers

I was just about to buy Kaiser when I came accros this issue with video drivers. Was this sorted out or shoud I start looking for alternative pda?

I think we all love it but for some of its pains. You could get a touch pro; very good by the looks of things.

or an xperia

There's been some improvement with www.HTCClassaction.org. It's nice, but doesn't fix it all.

My recommendation has always been to go into the Cell Providers Store and use the Kaiser. Get a feel for it. If you like it buy it. If not put it down and pick up another phone to try.
I'm actually surprised how much the video drivers or lack there of has been a prolbem for me.

JimmyMcGee said:
My recommendation has always been to go into the Cell Providers Store and use the Kaiser. Get a feel for it. If you like it buy it. If not put it down and pick up another phone to try.
I'm actually surprised how much the video drivers or lack there of has been a prolbem for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know if the store experience is really what you should use to rate the phone, because you would only see it in stock ROM.... I think custom rom is much better and faster, inorder to experience that, you need to buy it... Can't you buy it, try it out for couple of days, and return it if you don't like it?

tak.japan said:
I don't know if the store experience is really what you should use to rate the phone, because you would only see it in stock ROM.... I think custom rom is much better and faster, inorder to experience that, you need to buy it... Can't you buy it, try it out for couple of days, and return it if you don't like it?
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Click to collapse
Yes I bet you could try it thgat way. I'm simply talking about holding it in your hands and getting a tactile feel for the device. You don't buy a baseball mitt that doesn't feel right in your hands do you. And also with stock ROMs you can get a feel for the workings. I guess I should have clarified that point.
Realize that by trying it out in the store you are running a Stock ROM, cooked ROMs and exponentially better in performance. (Wow this is the first time I got to use the word "exponentially" since I learned it in High School.)

All i can say is stay away from anything with a qualcomm process, later this year and next year there will be many devices released with different processors other than qualcomm.

newb here but, what does the video drivers do exactly, ive used my friends original, non upgraded htc tytn2 and it didnt seem that bad. what would the drivers improve, just the speed or somethig?

andrewcjduong said:
newb here but, what does the video drivers do exactly, ive used my friends original, non upgraded htc tytn2 and it didnt seem that bad. what would the drivers improve, just the speed or somethig?
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Click to collapse
That's exactly my point!
Apparently it makes Doom run slow.... But I don't care to play games on a 2.8" screen.

I have to agree with Jimmy. I use for my tilt for mainly messing around on the net when I'm bored or playing some small time games, no emulators or nothing. I thoroughly enjoy my device especially with all the help and fixes from here on XDA. I do feel that the drivers issues need to be fixed because a majority of users were misled... However depending on what you use it for the lack of drivers isnt that big a deal. Hell I like mine so much Ive pretty much kept it stock(no flashing of ROMS)

If you are getting it at a provider discount, go for it. Can't go wrong at that price point for AT&T for example. It's still an amazing high end phone, especially if you do Custom ROM.

Should I buy it ?

Hi everyone.
I`m new here, and I am very sorry that I don`t read trough the whole forum, I know that answers to my questions are already posted, but here it goes :
I have the possibility to buy the Diamond tomorrow morning, but I need to give the seller an answer tonight.
I never had a WM device before, the most were Symbian phones from Nokia, and I am a little unsecure.
My needs are wi-fi, large screen, nice design, music&video playback, and fluid e-mail. As I know, the Diamond meets these requirements.
Considering all it has been said and done about this device, would you still buy it ?
Thanks, and sorry again for not reading the forum, but I lack the time until I need to give the answer.

I can only give you this: if you want to buy a touchscreen phone, buy one where you won't need a stylus.. I'm starting to get annoyed with this. But maybe cuz I have played around with the Iphone, which works alot better.
Some people still like the stylus, but I don't anymore..
As for WM goes.. I'm tired of the choppy animations.
GPS software and multimedia playback are nice though.. which are the greatest advantages..

It is absolutely necessary to use the stylus ? Isn`t the finger enough ?

I'd say, that u should go for it, if you don't mind the weak battery.
On the other hand there will be the HTC Touch HD coming shortly, so you might want to wait for that one. (To get that one or to get the Diamond cheaper).
Allthough I really don't like the weak battery and it's also quite some work to adapt the diamond to your needs, I still wouldn't like to exchange it against anything else available so far.

You can use your finger with the TouchFlo interface, but the rest not so much. Also typing is not that great. If you use the keyboard, u will have to use stylus. If you use the more finger friendly keyboard, you won't see half of the screen. I just gets irritating after a while. But beside that it is a nice phone (ok, they could do ALOT better with the battery). Good camera, good GPS, good sound when calling. It's complete..
Edit: I just remembered, like when ur going through ur contacts, it is very hard to flip or scroll. I think that's just WM, because Resco File Explorer works nice..

Thank you for your answers.
So for usual tasks ( looking for contacts, making calls, ) the finger is enough, right ? Texting and other stuff, with stylus.
Also, are there apps for reading e-books ? Like mobipocket on symbian ?
Does the phone freeze sometimes ? Or acts erratically ?
Considering that I actually like to "play" with and tweak devices, maybe I will give it a try.
If anyone wants to give other advices, please feel free.

Lots of tweaks and playing around with it.. Especially thanks to these forums! It is possible to use ur finger for usual tasks, so go for it.. texting is possible with finger, but because of the screensize and the big size of the keyboard, it is much better to use a smaller keyboard and use stylus..

monty99 said:
Hi everyone.
I`m new here, and I am very sorry that I don`t read trough the whole forum, I know that answers to my questions are already posted, but here it goes :
I have the possibility to buy the Diamond tomorrow morning, but I need to give the seller an answer tonight.
I never had a WM device before, the most were Symbian phones from Nokia, and I am a little unsecure.
My needs are wi-fi, large screen, nice design, music&video playback, and fluid e-mail. As I know, the Diamond meets these requirements.
Considering all it has been said and done about this device, would you still buy it ?
Thanks, and sorry again for not reading the forum, but I lack the time until I need to give the answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
come and think of it
diamond
1-weak battery life
2-using GPS the battrey only last 2 to 2:30 hour and the device goes hot
3-using wifi also the device goes hot
so you can say the weak point on diamond is the battery and need radio upgrade
im saying you a nokia fan im shore you now how to use Symbian phones SO
how about baying n96 or N95 8GB it has everything you want
N96
1-big screen
2-wifi
3-16 GB internal memory and micro SD slot
4-a lot of game and apps
5-and of cours your favorites OS
so the best choice for you is n96
hope i help you out
im a Windows moblie os fan
and sorry for my english

As I live in the UK the concept of actually buying a mobile phone is quite alien to me as you can get pretty much any phone for free with any monthy contract above £20 per month!! I certainly wouldn't pay the prices that the TD is sold for £400+.
Having said that, smartphones are far more flexible and usable than the 'dumb' phones from the likes of se, Nokia, Motorla etc. From my experience Symbian and WM are both showing their age and are a little unstable but WM easily beats Symbian and with the TD Touchflo 3D interface it looks good too.
The only real problems with the TD are the camera (good resolution but very poor in low light conditions) and the battery life (great for low usage but will drain really quick if used for music, web etc.
The phone is far smaller than a N95/N96 and the majority of other smartphones so when you consider this the battery life is actually not bad.
If you do get the TD make sure you upgrade the ROM. Lots of XDA members will recommend using a cooked (custom) ROM, but for a beginner using the official 1.93 version will result in a fantastic user experience and you can always use a cooked ROM when you become more experienced.
Forgot to mention that ROM 1.93 also resolves the issue of excessive heat coming from the battery compartment.

I`m not really a Nokia or Symbian fan, but those are the ones I had in the last couple of years As long as it works ok, I don`t really care if it`s WM, Symbian, or something else.
The N95 or the N96 are not in my taste, as far as design goes.
Yes levellerbob, in a lot of countries, there is a very nice policy regarding cost of cell phones on contract from operators, but as I`m not that lucky, I need to know a lot of things before I pay Still, thanks for all the advices.
If I decide on the Diamond, I`ll be on this forum all day everyday

monty99 said:
I`m not really a Nokia or Symbian fan, but those are the ones I had in the last couple of years As long as it works ok, I don`t really care if it`s WM, Symbian, or something else.
The N95 or the N96 are not in my taste, as far as design goes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if that so go for the diamond
ah and dont forget to see the diamond pro maybe you will like it

Love, Hate Relationship with this Diamond

Ok, the first thing that caught my eye, was how sexy it was, I was so in love. Wanted it, got it. If that could only work on all the women I love at first sight.
Anyhow, after getting to know the Diamond I found small issues, but no one is perfect so I looked past them. Plus when I take my Diamond out, all eyes are on us. I upgraded her (thanks to Dutty), freed her (unlocked),and even tweaked her (double meaning to keep this theme going).
So why do I still wanna get rid of her, all my ex(s) were Sony Ericssons....and they were all so simple, but not as sexy. My Diamond is the total opposite from what I'm use to, but that' not the problem, the Diamond is getting to complex for my simple brain. There's only so many tweaks I can do to the thing, I have to just realize that maybe this relationship just isn't working out.
Can I get a witness?

Where did you get your charging cradle?

word up... from 3 sonys to diamond and i can't find enough tweaks to get it to work half as good as any of my old sonys

I think one has to have a love hate relationship with most gadgets....if its simple to use, its not customizable enough and if its customizable, you are never quite happy with its current state

Zoolake is totally right.. I customize mine all the time.. Atleast one ROM-update a week.. This ROM doesn't have what I'm looking for, that ROMs perfect, but doesn't have that.. This phone is just uber amazing, extremely satisfying, but somehow.. Yet somehow it's just missing it's simplicity..
I also moved up from an Ericsson.. Damn, that thing was good.. But she's way better, my Diamond.. but somehow.. I don't know.. You know what I'm talkin' about, right?

I'm glad I'm not alone here, thought it was me. Only question is where the hell do I go from here? Xperia? Are all Window 6.1 phones as allergic to simplicity?

Great post!
I've said the same thing about my Diamond since I got it over a month ago.. "Love/Hate relationship". I posted a rant about the Diamond on this forum and others after I got it, and I wanted to throw it away. I went back to my old trusty HTC Touch for a few weeks, but then returned to the Diamond after the New Year. Now I've gotten used to the Diamond and its little issues, and have learned to live with it.
The only problems I still have are -
Sometimes I push the wrong button accidentally when I want to press Left or Right direction ... but I get it right 95% of the time now
TFLO3D is slow and choppy when sliding through tabs (TFLO2D on my Touch was way smoother and faster).. but this is not a big deal
Battery drains like crazy, can't get through an entire day of moderate use. But can be solved by turning off 3G and using Edge instead; and also I'm receiving the official HTC extended battery soon.
Scroll feature (e.g. for zooming in Opera Mobile) doesn't work all the time.. On the same program it sometimes works, and sometimes it stops working.
Form factor (too tall) - Still trying to get used to it, especially for typing, because my original HTC Touch was perfect size!
The biggest pluses for me are:
VGA screen - great for viewing webpages and spreadsheets
Built-in GPS - wasn't working with iGuidance until I ran GpsGate first.. and also disabled Data (I later created a Mortscript that runs/closes GpsGate with iGuidance automatically for me now)
FM Radio!
I think after a while you will get used to it. The Diamond packs so many features into a tiny size, which is the great thing about it.

Ditto on all this stuff. You guys are not alone. I actually loved and hated my Diamond so much that I sold it and then bought another one about 3 weeks later because I missed it too much!!
I basically tolerate its shortcomings for all the stuff I love about it. Ideally, give me the Diamond's specs in the Touch's body and I'd be mega happy.

There's got to be another phone better, do any of the newer HTCs perform any better?

Tbh I felt like this as well from my old Elfin (with Dsixda's ROM ).
BUT, just flash udK's Beta 8 which is super smooth TF3D, battery life WITH 3G lasted me a day easily (approx. 18 hours) with 20% battery left.
If that isn't enough then flash the radio in my sig, ending with .08.
Everything is perfect. Now all I want is WM6.5, hehe.

Dutty's v3.6b is pretty good, speakerphone still sucks, for example is ROM: udK Syrius HD R0 Beta 8 better???? Let the drama begin.

surely this overcomplicated feature (and i agree with you) is down to owning a winmo, and not anything to do with the diamond.
Yes, the phones complicated, if you want it to be. Use it as a phone only (ie just touchflo) and its absoutely fine ! its a normal phone (apart from the standby/lock issue).
Its only when you tinker with windows and apps that suddenly it becomes complicated, but thats the nature of the best. TBH its WHY i bought a smartphone, but yes, i now find it a minefield of tweaks and apps. But, i love it !! i 've never used a phone so much for so long after i bought it. Normally, it'd just sit on my desk. This one i find myself picking it up at least once an hour to mess about with it.
For the last ten years i've just owned a phone. Now, i own something else.

dneknw said:
Dutty's v3.6b is pretty good, speakerphone still sucks, for example is ROM: udK Syrius HD R0 Beta 8 better???? Let the drama begin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try it. I've tried around 15-20 ROMs and this leads by example. I think it's using the ROM base from Iolite, which seems better to me than even the latest 2.03 base, since the battery life with this is just amazing, while TF3D couldn't be smoother.

hey Dsi nice to see you in diamond forum i loved your rom for elf i still run it and its perfect thanks again for it, so one question can u post a short how-to to fix that gps isue wich moust of us have ? thanks a lot

..

Hey i read dsixda's rant when he had posted it and being that i trust his comments i stayed away from the diamond until the very day my elfin got upset and fumbled out of my hand into a puddle, just as i was walkin into the rogers plus store to pay my bill. needed a phone so picked up the diamond...hated her for a bit but molded her into my own perfect device...i still dont think she's better than my elfin but she's a damn good rebound lol

So in the end......we ended up breaking up. No more Diamond....I have mixed emotions about it, but you can be damn sure my next baby is going to be hot as hell. Maybe the SE Xperia, or Asus P835. Really hope that all Window Mobile 6.1 devices are not as complex as my last.

i use 6 months before i decided to change from SE K810i to diamond. well, k810i served me good especially the cybershot as i'm quite picture snappy and take a lot of picture. not to mention all java games i've downloaded. heck, until now i havent try all games i have.
i've been using 2 pda before, iPaq rx1700 and after that dell axim x50v and i must say that bringing 2 gadget is quite unfriendly most of the time.
i'm sacrificing the camera for functionality when i went to diamond.
sometimes when i want to take picture, k810i is way much better. you just slide down the camera cover and then snap. when with diamond, you need to on, go to camera and the wait to load.... damn...
still missing my k810i though....

I might be getting a Diamond

Well basically I may be getting a HTC diamond, but would like to know some things from people who actually own them.
My mum has the HTC and has got it replaced so now its a brand new phone. She has offered to switch for my Nokia N95 but Im unsure. I am trying it this weekend to get better used to it and see if I want to switch.
All I hear from people that don't own WM is WM sucks I hate it blah blah blah. Which I pretty much know is complete bollocks.
I just really want to know how easy it is to live with day to day.
I am only 15 and do text a lot and am quite concerned about the screen size and no physical keys.
And what sort of customization is there?
Haha sorry for being all over the place but answers are appreciated!
Thanks, Ben.

there are software keyboards like phonepad which does t9
if I were you I would try it out and see if I liked it

thanks, I will give that a try.
I have a few more questions though:
Where can I get a 3.5mm jack for it? (UK) I bought a cheap one off ebay that failed.
Also, Whats all the ROM thing about? Is there an Easy F.A.Q about it all?
Thanks, Ben

for a 15yo who texts a lot, I'd recommend getting the touch pro or something else with a physical keyboard. I don't think the Diamond is for casual users because it's very finnicky and a lot of customization is needed if you really want to enjoy the phone. This is not a knock on the Diamond at all because I LOVE mine, but I'm giving you advice that you might not be enjoying it as much because at 15yo, I wouldnt like flashing ROMs or installing cabs anyway. But hey, who knows, it might be different in your case =)

Well I do love technology so learning is all good for me when flashing ROM's I'm always interested in that kind of thing.
As for custumisation I love that sort of things and can spend hours and hours just fiddling with tech.
Its just really the SMS which Im worried about. But I suppose when I break it down I only send 20/30 texts a day so maybe I could live.
Ahh I dont know. I guess living with it this weekend will help. The device is insured anyway so even if I brick it a new one will be sent right away
what is WinMo 6.5 all about? Its not even released yet? Is it worth upgrading or not?

khsbenny said:
Well basically I may be getting a HTC diamond, but would like to know some things from people who actually own them.
My mum has the HTC and has got it replaced so now its a brand new phone. She has offered to switch for my Nokia N95 but Im unsure. I am trying it this weekend to get better used to it and see if I want to switch.
All I hear from people that don't own WM is WM sucks I hate it blah blah blah. Which I pretty much know is complete bollocks.
I just really want to know how easy it is to live with day to day.
I am only 15 and do text a lot and am quite concerned about the screen size and no physical keys.
And what sort of customization is there?
Haha sorry for being all over the place but answers are appreciated!
Thanks, Ben.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, i'm a "new" windows mobile user (3 months), before that i had a n95, so here's what i think: The diamond screen is bigger and has double the definition than the n95 one. The Diamond screen keyboard (EzInput) is incredible, at first you feel strange, but after about a week you get used and is really easy to type (even with my fat fingers ), since it's a "full keyboard".
The factory Rom for the diamond is a little slower than the symbiam (n95 OS), but with some modifications from this forum it becomes much faster, but still crashes one or other time, and you have to turn it off/on (about once a week, when i'm doing too much stuff at the same time and there's no more free memory. nothing to worry about).
The N95 is much better for music (with the stereo speakers and dedicated keys) and photos (flash, higher resolution), but for all the other things you can't even compare it. On the diamond, the web navigation and the GPS are much better, using to edit documents on the office is really easier with the touch screen, seeing your e-mails is faster and the "phone" functions are really simple.
Now the best thing about WinMo are the apps you can download. You have great programs to do quite about anything. Like a PC remote controller, a torrent downloader, a podcast and RSS reader, and games like a emulator of Snes and Playstation 1, quake 3 arena, Call of Duty 2, etc.
As for customisation, it's praticcaly infinite. you can use and write different today plugins and screens, and make it look like anything, from your Pc desktop to an Iphone, just take a look at some posts here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=428463 and here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=508429
Just for you to be sure i don't work for microsoft , don't be fooled: out of factory the diamond is slow, doesn't has so many good Apps and has an unstable system. The cutomization and tweaks are the things that make all the difference! Good luck with your choice.
Oh, and i'm 22 and i don't work with my mobile or with computers, so i just use Winmo cause it's a lot of fun.

Well day 1 and Im loving it. Looks like I'll be keeping this

.
just look arround on this forum and you will find allot of interresting programs and addons for your phone
all things makes live a little easyer

I switched from a Samsung Jack ("Blackjack II" in the states) to this phone because the Samsung wasn't compatible with a lot of the WM apps I wanted to use. The Diamond does a hell of a lot more and does it a lot better. I will say, though, that texting is much more of a pain when compared to a phone with a full hardware keyboard. I mess up a lot unless I'm using a stylus. Maybe it's just me.