Related
ok, at 3.6" and 320x240, O2 Exec/JasJar is one of top contenders.
Nokia 9300 is about 4", 640x200 but non-square.
Any others? Budget is of no concern.
If 3-4" of screen is not big enough for you as a phone, you may be interested in FlyBook: 8.9" 16x9 screen (Tri-Band too)
http://www.flybook.biz/en/?section=generic&page=specs
mpman2k said:
If 3-4" of screen is not big enough for you as a phone, you may be interested in FlyBook: 8.9" 16x9 screen (Tri-Band too)
http://www.flybook.biz/en/?section=generic&page=specs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*Bwahahahahahaha ...*
Sorry ... just had this mental image of holding up a 1.2kg 'mini-laptop' to the side of my head in order to make a phone call. 8)
agree,... i have Dell Notebook LCD Size 15" and connected to GSM... i wont bring it to a public place just to make a phone call. is it same right? kidding, smile...
I love my PPC
Well I was in Paris having a beer when I saw this guy holding his 15" laptop to his ear and talking. He must have been on wifi and with sype.
So I would thing that a laptop with gsm and a 100" External display would be it.
http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/08/lg-philips-unveils-100-inch-lcd-display/
actually u guys have the right idea.
there are PC Card (PCMCIA) based GPRS/GSM modules.
Pop it into a mini tablet PC, and voila!
I'll see what Tablets are out there in 6-8" size...
My guess is that this is probably a leading candidate -- it's a 19-inch Zenith with Space Phone (a wired speakerphone built into the TV, activated via the remote).
3waygeek said:
My guess is that this is probably a leading candidate -- it's a 19-inch Zenith with Space Phone (a wired speakerphone built into the TV, activated via the remote).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:!: *phwhooaaarrrrr!* :!:
I absolutely *NEED* one of those babies!
---
But seriously ... I'd strongly recommend a VGA size screen (if you're buying new), as I find that there is nothing better than having more pixels - physical size notwithstanding. Although, I've got very good eyesight, so fine detail and small display features is not an issue for me. Personally I need two monitors for my work / software development, and I use two 1600x1200 20" LCD monitors for this.
If a 3.x" screen isn't large enough, then whatever you purchase really can't be classed as a phone anymore. Holding anything larger up to your ear and/or trying to carry something heavy around is a real problem. I'd probably be quite happy with a 2.x" screen, but at some phenominal resolution. Portability in a phone is absolutely required, but it still needs to have enough information available to be useful.
Choose carefully, and choose wisely. It's more how you use it, and what you use it for which is important. The BA with it's keyboard, built-in WiFi, BT, WM5, etc., etc., etc., pretty much encompassses everything I need. What it's missing ... I'm adding. 8)
well, i'm looking to utilize "pocket pc" aspect more thoroughly
but, it's irritating to deal with content that's desktop oriented. For example, i cant see at once more than like 4 columns in spreadsheet. Same for some PDFs that are not reflow-able...endless scrolling back and forth
starik said:
well, i'm looking to utilize "pocket pc" aspect more thoroughly
but, it's irritating to deal with content that's desktop oriented. For example, i cant see at once more than like 4 columns in spreadsheet. Same for some PDFs that are not reflow-able...endless scrolling back and forth
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can very much empathize with this problem. And I hate this as well. There are zoom functions, but those only 'mask' the pixel problem.
The only way I can think of solving it is to have some ridiculous resolution, in a very small area. A 3.x" screen running at 480x640 is a start ... but something running at 960x1200 would be ROCKIN'! Mind you - the pixels would be too tiny for most text or for real 'usability' for a lot of people. But ClearType would just look awesome. ;-)
Then again ... maybe something like this would be a good solution. I can see this becoming VERY useful ... especially if battery life can be 'good' from something like this ...
Iljin Display Develops Coin-Sized Laser Projector Module
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/cellphon...s-coinsized-laser-projector-module-167323.php
The future is looking VERY cool ...
Bigger screen than the Exec:
http://www.windowsfordevices.com/news/NS3737841146.html
raymondu999 said:
Bigger screen than the Exec:
http://www.windowsfordevices.com/news/NS3737841146.html
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Click to collapse
looks very nice!
but, wtf they put WSIM in there
Well, i was here from the beginning. I didn't start the petition, but i posted it and asked for a sticky. I was one of the first few that posted about the lack of 3D. I'm very angry about my slow crappy Kaiser. But...
A BIG BUT:
- The "drivers" would NOT solve the slow video we see in TCPMP, since TCPMP decompresses in software. And any release of CorePlayer has the same performance. Maybe one released after the "drivers" are installed would be better.
- The "drivers" would NOT score higher in SPB benchmark.
We don't actually need "drivers". We need a build of WM6 (WM6.1) which is using a better SDK (libraries) from Qualcomm.
This is what i think needs fixing:
- Accurate VSync - so we don't get tearing anymore - this may also solve some slow programs.
- Better implemented sound library - i can't believe nobody complained about the sound - which is the worst, ever, in the whole world, in the universe. It sound like an old radio. A broken old radio. A broken old radio in a Faraday cage tuned to the wrong frequency...
BTW: the 4.3k score on graphics that the Kaiser got, and any other graphic benchmark is VERY VERY FAKE - they say 40+ FPS in some test, but i see 5 FPS on my screen (trust me, i know, i'm a render programmer in the game industry, i have an eye for these). What is actually happening is that the program says: draw this on the screen, and the hardware says "done" about 400 times a second, and it actually didn't render anything - this is what i mean by a good VSync.
I say this again - if we had 100% working drivers on our Kaiser right now, and you try them with TCPMP -> no difference, trust me. If you run Quake for PPC -> no difference, again. You would probably never know you had HW acceleration. The 2D HW part would be noticed in the Windows GUI (maybe) and in some programs (very few - those that use DirectDraw, and use it correctly)
Maybe we should try asking for what i said - no tearing, better sound, and maybe we'd get it.
Please, please don't post if you don't understand what i'm saying. This is for the big boys
agreed many of the ports of old 3d games like duke3d, doom1-2 quake1-3 .....
would most likely never benefit from a real driver as they are old games which
dident even benefit from 3d cards in pcs
so thinking that a driver will make anything faster is likely to cause tears
plus the ati powers of the kaiser and others is really not much of a 3d powerhouse like the geforce counterpart it does add some 2d speed up but thats about it
which is prob why a money aware company like qualcomm would bother to pay ati
the pretty small fee for their license
but at the end of the day htc are cheapskates
I understand your points and believe that everything you said is true. (Specially about the video drivers not solving the slow video problem).
However I don't see any problems with the audio on the Kaiser (at least on mine).
But yes, I also say that we need a better OS implementation for the Qualcomm chip.
Should we start a new (and proven ineffective) petition to HTC?
Cheers!
RayanMX
what borthers me is that htc seem to be happy enough to be the biggest wm device maker rather then really making an efford to compeat with iphone they seem to sleep on the bed of roses that iphone not being that available outside of us and not being 3g or having sd interface
kinda sad imho :S
Oh, and the funny part is that if they would have fixed the tearing and the DirectDraw bug before releasing it, nobody would have cared about the 3D HW not being used. Well, maybe me, omikr0n, and ten other guys would have cared, but it would have been forgotten in a few weeks.
The 2D DirectDraw was noticed only because TCPMP and CorePlayer have the option to use DDraw. And it could have been fixed - CorePlayer devs found a way around it.
In the end this is just a rushed device, using a cheap (and slow) platform - 400Mhz means nothing, it behaves like a 300Mhz Intel or 240Mhz TI OMAP - not a fact, just an analogy.
Just have one comment about the sound...
did you try the sound using any stereo speakers other than the mono speaker on the device itself? it is actually one of the finest and cleanest audio output i've heard for a while, i compared to ipod and tilt's sound was MUCH better
RPG0 said:
This is what i think needs fixing:
- Accurate VSync - so we don't get tearing anymore - this may also solve some slow programs.
- Better implemented sound library - i can't believe nobody complained about the sound - which is the worst, ever, in the whole world, in the universe. It sound like an old radio. A broken old radio. A broken old radio in a Faraday cage tuned to the wrong frequency...
BTW: the 4.3k score on graphics that the Kaiser got, and any other graphic benchmark is VERY VERY FAKE - they say 40+ FPS in some test, but i see 5 FPS on my screen (trust me, i know, i'm a render programmer in the game industry, i have an eye for these). What is actually happening is that the program says: draw this on the screen, and the hardware says "done" about 400 times a second, and it actually didn't render anything - this is what i mean by a good VSync.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Being a developer for such a long time, I feel you.
We should release our own benchmark program that we know won't get nop'ed out by some other timing code if we can't get to the vsync register.
The WM default midi soundbank is still crap as well as playback. My SE T610, and all my Palm Pilots playback midi with much more clarity. I know it's not the hardware because the alternative GSPlayer+ MIDI player plays the same samples just fine.
What can be learnt from the Apple II days is to just vote with the wallet. Fighting the hardware maker is wasted time and effort. Only complaint that gets their attention is a walking wallet.
edit: you know, we used to rawbuffer most of our graphics on the same resolution screen (320x240) on a vastly inferior CPU. No reason we can't try to do the same on the Kaiser with a super ARMv6 asm optimized library. We just need to shut up the OS from stealing so many cycles.
Of course I'm only thinking of 2D gaming without video decoding, and only MIDI music since those are the least CPU intensive.
ahussam said:
Just have one comment about the sound...
did you try the sound using any stereo speakers other than the mono speaker on the device itself? it is actually one of the finest and cleanest audio output i've heard for a while, i compared to ipod and tilt's sound was MUCH better
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
I forgot I had an iPod since I got my Tilt. With an 8gb SD who needs one?
How do you come to the conclusion that drivers wouldn't help DDraw applications like CorePlayer and such?
Devices with proper drivers seem to work just fine with DirectDraw and they are able to create a proper HW overlay etc.
Granted it would not solve decoding of video, that's given. But it could/would/should surely speed up the actual rendering.
Writing to the dedicated video RAM instead of creating a framebuffer in normal system RAM should be faster. Hardware overlay should be faster than just using the standard rendering paths etc.
As for games: of course they won't be sped up unless the actual game supports D3D or OGL. Most games don't (even "fancy" 3d ones) but some do, such as COD.
Also, a proper DDI driver can and will speed up 2D rendering in general. Doing simple stuff like rendering just a menu is WAY too slow right now and that's unrelated to vsync. (There's certainly a world of difference between lacking the smootheness and tearing "freeness" of proper vsync and just performance in general, it shouldn't take a full second to draw a simple screen in WM if no other operations are active.)
As for sound I did have those problems but as of the latest 1.65.14.06 radio my audio is pretty much top notch. Sounds just as good as my ipod or my creative zen players and a whole lot better than the integrated soundcard of my laptop (realtek hd audio).
That's both during calls but especially when listening to music.
Of course with the bundled headphones or even with HTCs "high end" headphones it all sounds like crap. With a proper set of of in ear plugs (I've a "cheap" Shure set and a more expensive Sony one and they both sound simply awesome.)
Actually I really like using it as an audio player as it supports WMA Lossless (undocumented feature of Windows Mobile 6), few devices.
For whatever reason though poorly compressed songs sound much worse on this device compared to MP3-players in general.
If it's because the codec is poor or if it's so great that it makes smaller variances noticable is hard to say (I'd go for poor codec) but it's certainly not due to "poor sound".
Thats my $0.2
RPG0 said:
- The "drivers" would NOT solve the slow video we see in TCPMP, since TCPMP decompresses in software. And any release of CorePlayer has the same performance. Maybe one released after the "drivers" are installed would be better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to disagree here...
The current routines being used for DirectDraw are slow and inefficient. Probably using very slow CPU calls. It's for sure a software CPU routine drawing the pixels.
Anyone who has done raw hardware video programming can attest if you popped an interrupt to draw one pixel on the screen vs using DMA access the difference is night and day. The interrupt method chews up CPU cycles drawing the pixels ont he screen vs the DMA method which doesn't waste CPU cycles and is far more efficient.
Pointing directdraw to use hooks into the GPU and or DMA access to a hardware frame buffer would improve things significantly (night and day). You can easily see this by playing a video on an old PPC6700 which has proper direct draw routine implemented. The difference is HUGE factor of 10 I'd say.
The slow video rendering has nothing to do with the CPU doing the video decompression. It has to do with the directdraw routines not being implemented efficiently and the CPU wasting it's cycles drawing pixels on the screen. You can see "tearing" because you can SEE the video refreshing the screen out of the vsync due to the slow directdraw routines that exist. The the CPU should be concentrating on decoding video not wasting cycles drawing the video. The directdraw routine should be writing to a framebuffer using DMA or some similar method.
This is what's going on (high level lame explantion). Pretend the below are mappings.
Method #1
DirectDraw -> IntXX (video interrupt)
or
Method #2
DirectDraw -> DMA (direct memory to the video card)
Using method #1 it will cost you CPU cycles just to draw the pixels. So not only does your device need to concentrate on decoding the video it also needs to waste CPU cycles drawing pixels on the screen one by one. And the larger the screen area your painting, the more CPU it costs you. You can even experience this on a device like the Mogul (6800); you can get faster frame rates when you draw less pixels.
Using method #2 drawing video costs your CPU basically no overhead and it can spend it cycles decoding the video. It will use DMA to write to a video frame buffer instead of making CPU calls to do it.
These are just examples, but this how it's broken from my hardware programming experience.
The post above mine is also a good reference.
I stand by my statement, that having a good DDraw implementation will not help. In theory, you're right, but on other devices (Htc Prophet aka Qtek S200 and HTC Touch) there was no difference between Raw framebuffer or GDI and DDraw. So real-life scenarios tend to prove me right.
The only reason things could speed up is the hardware conversion between YUV and RGB, but for a 320x240 frame, that takes very little time to do in software, and for some codecs, the conversion is not necessary. I can explain what YUV means, and why it's used in video/image compression if anyone is interested, but you can google youself.
About the sound part, maybe i have an old radio ROM, maybe i have a defective device or maybe it's just my configuration.
EDIT: Don't forget that even when using HW overlay, you STILL have to fill the surface with pixels (the pixels you just decoded), so you have to write 320x240 somewhere (with DDraw you write in the memory area you get with Lock(), in Raw framebuffer you write directly in an area that is drawn afterwards). If you ignore the YUV->RGB conversion, you gain NOTHING with DDraw.
As i said, i'm a game render programmer, and i did some image/video compression/decompression in my time, so you can get technical, I'll understand.
so !!
hi fpgo,so how are sony/ericsson getting round video prob on X1 xperia ? I guess their not going to market with a half crippled device, unlike htc,from what I can make out x1 is only a tweaked kaiser,so could we not just back engineer their solution ?
greatly disapointed with kaiser all round.if id known se version was due,id have waited to upgrade,still prefer my p910i,just no 3g.
tleaf100 said:
hi fpgo,so how are sony/ericsson getting round video prob on X1 xperia ? I guess their not going to market with a half crippled device, unlike htc,from what I can make out x1 is only a tweaked kaiser,so could we not just back engineer their solution ?
greatly disapointed with kaiser all round.if id known se version was due,id have waited to upgrade,still prefer my p910i,just no 3g.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you watch the CNET video from Bonnie Cha on the X1, you'll see it's actually pretty slow in the rendering as well, so forget that.
Now back to the experts.
X1
sorry,not seen video,will go and have a look.
was only an idea...
will leave to you "experts" ....
RPG0 said:
I stand by my statement, that having a good DDraw implementation will not help. In theory, you're right, but on other devices (Htc Prophet aka Qtek S200 and HTC Touch) there was no difference between Raw framebuffer or GDI and DDraw. So real-life scenarios tend to prove me right.
The only reason things could speed up is the hardware conversion between YUV and RGB, but for a 320x240 frame, that takes very little time to do in software, and for some codecs, the conversion is not necessary. I can explain what YUV means, and why it's used in video/image compression if anyone is interested, but you can google youself.
About the sound part, maybe i have an old radio ROM, maybe i have a defective device or maybe it's just my configuration.
EDIT: Don't forget that even when using HW overlay, you STILL have to fill the surface with pixels (the pixels you just decoded), so you have to write 320x240 somewhere (with DDraw you write in the memory area you get with Lock(), in Raw framebuffer you write directly in an area that is drawn afterwards). If you ignore the YUV->RGB conversion, you gain NOTHING with DDraw.
As i said, i'm a game render programmer, and i did some image/video compression/decompression in my time, so you can get technical, I'll understand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, YUV overlay support would be very nice, but I doubt we will see it working on kaiser (does Imageon even supports it?). But.. Working DDraw accel. would still help - for example when doing soft yuv->rgb conversion and double buffering result - you would definitively get better results if Kaiser have had hw accelerated bitblt (or at least less tearing).
*** Massive Brain Overload*** "Apparently these people are speaking a strange dialect I've never heard before" -Harold & Kumar Escape from Montanamo Bay
RPG0 said:
...
- Better implemented sound library - i can't believe nobody complained about the sound - which is the worst, ever, in the whole world, in the universe. It sound like an old radio. A broken old radio. A broken old radio in a Faraday cage tuned to the wrong frequency...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL! And that will be the funniest thing I hear all day. And I just woke up.
Oh, and since HTC said they are releasing a new ROM which fixes the speed of the device, but does not bring HW accel (drivers), i think my problems will be over.
new rom
ahh,and when is this magical fix for kaiser meant to be released to public ?
my kaiser has become 3g /hsdpa usb modem,and gone back to p910i for everyday use,kaiser too fussy/slow/clunky for busy gardener,keeping fingers crossed about s/e "paris".
Just a shameless bump
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.
just interested to see what people would choose.
sdhc slot.
have a longer battery life
Faster processor!
In htc album etc, the phone is a bit laggy. Iphone you can flick through photo's very fast, but diamond is much slower....
longer battery...
better speakers...like my old Nokia N95.
there isnt lag because of cpu the software isnt great(wm 6.1 is really slow)
I voted "longer battery life", but besides that, I have a bunch of things that would make my Diamond close to perfect for me:
- AWS-band 3G support for T-Mobile USA (this would easily be #1)
- slightly-rounded edge on the back battery cover and a flat back
- Easier-to-use buttons on the front panel. The panel is capacitive, why not take advantage of it?
- micro SD slot
well, voted for a bigger batery life. and #2 would be a microSD slot. then it would have been my ideal phone.
all things considered, after tweaking this device so much, you grow on it. but on second thought, if you have to do the tweaking first before you actually enjoy using it, then you may end up a bit dissapointed.
Tri-band UMTS.
SDHC slot.
jentech said:
longer battery...
better speakers...like my old Nokia N95.
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Click to collapse
Oh yeah, how did you guys forget that speaker? It;s honestly the worst thing I have heard in years (specially loudspeaker through calls) - and I'm not exaggerating one bit
If they built the perfect phone - who would need to buy another one?
Theres loads of things I would change but I still love it.
I had to use my Kaiser the other day and it felt like I was using a BBC Micro!
Although I wonder what I will be saying when I get my hands on an HD
I wish it were as solid as the Touch. Battery cover comes off too easily.
better speaker is missing in the vote options
Have screen that says on during calls.
Vector-SS said:
Oh yeah, how did you guys forget that speaker? It;s honestly the worst thing I have heard in years (specially loudspeaker through calls) - and I'm not exaggerating one bit
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Click to collapse
really? i dont think its too bad - just a little to loud, when im in a call you can hear it in the room if its quiet :s. otherwise everyone thats used my phone has commented on my good call quality and most of my mates own blackberrys or nokia n-series handsets :s
i guess its official - battery life is the biggest thing to change loll
Id trade the dpad for a wide(tall)screen, and add another pair of buttons (matching the volume pair) on the other side for apps or shortcuts.
Mines a sprint, so battery life hasnt been an issue. Silly europeans and their super skinny paperweight once the battery runs out.
mSD slot would be nice, and better speaker(s) would be as well, but the screen size would be nicer.
- Music player sucks. When I add or delete new albums or songs it does not update itself.
- Some times TF3D does not respond.
- Birthdays doesn't appear on home screen.
- After 00:00 if I wake up the device it takes 10 seconds to display the time, because of the flipping effects.
- People (Quick dial) is stylish but is not really quick. Programs like quick dial would be much more usefull.
- E-Mail tab is useless.
- There is no CTRL key at the full QWERTY keyboard.
- I have to press add to add a word to my custom dictionary. With most of the PDA's it was automatic.
- I can't record phone calls.
- No built in answering machine.
wow someones really upset with there diamond loll
get rid of call history and calender tabs on home screen under the clock in tf3d cuz its nonsense
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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Click to collapse
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