Oh dear, Diamond - Touch Diamond, MDA Compact IV General

I am going to have a little bit of a rant here...
The hardware is good and its nice to look at.. but thats about as far as it goes with a standard build.
Opera Mobile is worse than useless and the touchscreen is variable to say the least. The underlying system is actually *less* useful than the version of it that I used in a mitac 1600A mini-laptop circa 10 years ago. I could adjust my memory settings on that - I cant on this. The phone handling side of things is atrocious.
If you add the fact that the unit could stave off frostbite halfway up everest because its running at over 40 degrees centigrade whenever you try and use it for anything more challenging than SMS texts.
In peoples opinion is something that limited really worth £500?
Jemma

despite the fact i didnt pay as much as £500, i really like the diamond though all of it's teething problems. those are (i mean all of those htc devices and alikes) such multi-functional "high-tech" devices, i'm glad they offer such seemingly 'endless' possibilities, although this fact comes hand in hand with some obstacles in useability.
i wouldn't call it limited, i'd rather call it unfocused.

I agree on the "un-focused" part
In general, I like the phone. mind you, I have the Telus Diamond AKA HTC Victor, but I hear the internals are pretty much the same. No complaints, and it runs blazing fast with PointUI's Home2.
Home2Pro + Fennec browser (whenever the beta is released) is the winning app set.

Related

Is there any point in...

With all the reported problems with the htc kaiser is there any point in pre-ordering the Htc Touch cruise?
Since it's similar to the kaiser (specification wise).
Thanks
i'd say 90% of the whining and "problems" with the kaiser are people are whining morons. things like "OMG ON MY BLACKBERRY WHEN I PUSHED THE PHONE BUTTON IT WOULD LOAD THE BROWSER AND IT DOESNT ON THIS PHONE THEREFORE THIS PHONE SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!111111oneone"
Honestly, this phone is the fastest WM phone and best reception for a cell phone that I've ever owned.
I must agree, the Kaiser is the best piece of kit I have ever owned and I've had a few.
Forget all the Symbian's I've had and Blackberry's from work.
Gone thru JasJar, K-Jam, JasJam and then actually to a REAL HTC the TyTnII
Did everything I wanted it too out of the box and gets better every day with this Forum.
Agreed, it's the most stable unit so far, Been using it from the day they hit the streets and no need to hard reset yet. I've hard SPL'd it but haven't even flashed a rom yet cause it's just about perfect already with the tweaks and add-on's from here. On the road I'm navigating and BT talking to people all day with minimal issues.
My only beef is the BT audio level during phone use only (with Jawbone) and perhaps real video hardware support drivers although my TCPMP and Slingbox performance is fine.
It's one excellent device, I like everything about it.
No hang ups with the qualcomm processor?
I just got my Tilt and I LOVE this phone!
It is much more responsive and has less issues then my Hermes, and I've yet to add a de-bloated ROM. It also feels much more siolid and sleek. IT slightly smaller footprint , though minimal, from the Hermes does make a difference.
The Kaiser alot of thiings, and does them well. Add to that this forum and it is a hell of a machine (camera album, WorldCard mobile, TomTom 6 and on and on).
The Touch Cruise look very cool, but I think I'd hate typing on it.
finesse said:
No hang ups with the qualcomm processor?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah. there's no overclocker for it.......yet
You've looked around, I'm sure. It depends what your expectations are. Over 2000 users so far expected it to be fast and were disappointed. Quite a lot of "whining morons" apparently. If you don't have any intention of using it for entertainment, you might as well get it. If you DO want it for entertainment, it's going to be just as slow and frustrating as the Kaiser.
Blowfish64 said:
You've looked around, I'm sure. It depends what your expectations are. Over 2000 users so far expected it to be fast and were disappointed. Quite a lot of "whining morons" apparently. If you don't have any intention of using it for entertainment, you might as well get it. If you DO want it for entertainment, it's going to be just as slow and frustrating as the Kaiser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely. If you want multimedia, then, either get a non-Qualcomm-based (read: older) WinMo phone or, if Windows Mobile isn't a must, the Nokia N95(-1). With the latets, v20 firmware, it just flies and is WAAAY better than the Kaiser when it comes to multimedia (video / audio playback & recording (see camera quality))
I want hardware 3d support so I can developing! grr! apart from that and coupled with this place it totally rocks!
Thanks for your replies.
Would it not have been great to have an Intel processor eh. Shame

Thinking About Getting An Iphone

call me stupid or something a lot worse but i really fancy getting an iphone but i dont know how good they really are. what software or cooking can be done? i have today just played with one and it feels and works nice. i think i will not get rid of my keiser tho it is a fantastic phone. has anyone got one and what are your thoughts
How dare you....ha ha, just kidding!
I do not have an iPhone....nor do I play one on TV. That being said this is what I know (or think I know):
1. Love the form factor
2. Love the smooth graphics
3. You can "hack" the iPhone so that you can install programs (in fact, I saw someone put the coolest game ever on one called iPhysics). I am really hoping someone here on xda-dev can port that one to WinMo.
4. It is NOWHERE NEAR as customizable as the WinMo platform. If you like tweaking, changing, messing with your phone settings...then stick with WinMo.
5. If only the two could be merged into one device.....
My 2 cents. Others may challenge my observations. Good luck.
As much as I would like one, there still are many shortcomings that make me stick with my tilt, with the primary one being that I cannot sync to my exchange server at work yet. Additionally, the lack of 3rd party software. I have been a Windows Mobile user for about 8 years now and I've built up a rather large list of frequently used applications and games to get me through the day. I'm also holding off for increased storage as my music collection alone is over 30 gb and adding videos on top of that, 8 gb just doesn't cut it.
Not quite sure how this thread fits in the Kaiser upgrade section though.
Price and customizations
Pros and cons over a Kaiser
Pros
1) Sleeeeeeeeeek
2) Really Nice browsing and multimedia experience(though it might not support some formats)
3) Like Borat says it has p.. magnet installed.
4) Works well with Mac and PC(iTunes)
5) 8GB Memory
6) Absolutely no worry about which radio or OS build to use.No sleepless nights burning new builds.Peach of mind.
Cons
1) Price (I got my tilt for 150$ in ATT premier)
2) No GPS hardware
3) If you have an unlock one, it will be a brick when you update a new firmware.
4) No outlook server sync
5) If your are with ATT then you have to have the Data Connection even if you don't need it(extra $)
6) Remember you will never see the beautiful tricolor screen ever.. ever in your life.
7) No 3G
For me the cost to feature and can't customize factors are deal breakers
crispyj said:
As much as I would like one, there still are many shortcomings that make me stick with my tilt, with the primary one being that I cannot sync to my exchange server at work yet. Additionally, the lack of 3rd party software. I have been a Windows Mobile user for about 8 years now and I've built up a rather large list of frequently used applications and games to get me through the day. I'm also holding off for increased storage as my music collection alone is over 30 gb and adding videos on top of that, 8 gb just doesn't cut it.
Not quite sure how this thread fits in the Kaiser upgrade section though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just hate Apple!
Not to take anything away from their products....they do make some nice stuff.
I too, have alot of programs that I use, all my movies and music are ready to go....just drag and drop on my sd card. I don't need my whole library with me. I barely listen or watch the stuff that I do carry around. I walk around with 8 albums and 2 movies...that's more than enough.
I've seen alot of people lose their music going from one computer to the next or upgrading devices. Dealing with .mp3's & .avi's, I don't have this issue.
Eventhough the iPhone is straight forward, to me it seems more complicated. Dealing with flashing ROMs or Radios and white screen and bootup screens to me is easy. I know what to expect, I know how to fix and it gives me an escape from the wife.
Hope you enjoyed my story....I will not get an iPhone.
I'll let my wife be the guinea pig
I got both initially. Returned the iPhone and was embarrassed I'd ever wondered which to get. While sleek, it's far slower (data speed) and has far fewer functional capabilities. I have faith it will eventually be an amazing device (version 2 or 3), but I thought of it as a Paris Hilton type girlfriend. It will be fun to look at and play with for about a month. When you really have to start interacting with it long-term you'll find out it's mostly style and not much substance. Perfect phone for teenagers and people with no responsibilities.
BTW - I've had for more girls chat me up over my Kaiser than I did with the iPhone...mostly because iPhones are relatively widespread here now.
spotlessdragon said:
call me stupid or something a lot worse but i really fancy getting an iphone but i dont know how good they really are. what software or cooking can be done? i have today just played with one and it feels and works nice. i think i will not get rid of my keiser tho it is a fantastic phone. has anyone got one and what are your thoughts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And this has got what to do with Kaiser upgrade?????????????????
sherpa said:
And this has got what to do with Kaiser upgrade?????????????????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess he is wondering whether the iPhone might be an upgrade over the Kaiser?
I would suggesting waiting until around the middle of the year and get the 3G iphone, i had a iphone and i took it back just based on the fact the data was too slow but other than that it was perfect.
just my 5 cents...
I was seriously considering replacing my vario III with N95 8gigs ... but thank You Lord!! I found my common sense once more... symbian.. never more.
iphone?
as someone wise once said... are You watching movies all day? do You really need to put more than one of Yer greasy fingers on Yer screen at a time to feel better? ....... any other pros?
look pal... I don't want to convince You that tytn II is the best toy ever, but all I can say is, that You certainly won't find better swiss army knife of pocket computing. period.
I won't point out the features. we all know them... guess what? the list is getting bigger. each day.......
welcome to xda-developers forum
br
bro
[edit]
oh yeah... btw. I'll stick with it till better winmo device will come out. hopefully they won't be holding back wm7 for too long..
unixdeveloper said:
Pros and cons over a Kaiser
Pros
1) Sleeeeeeeeeek
2) Really Nice browsing and multimedia experience(though it might not support some formats)
3) Like Borat says it has p.. magnet installed.
4) Works well with Mac and PC(iTunes)
5) 8GB Memory
6) Absolutely no worry about which radio or OS build to use.No sleepless nights burning new builds.Peach of mind.
Cons
1) Price (I got my tilt for 150$ in ATT premier)
2) No GPS hardware
3) If you have an unlock one, it will be a brick when you update a new firmware.
4) No outlook server sync
5) If your are with ATT then you have to have the Data Connection even if you don't need it(extra $)
6) Remember you will never see the beautiful tricolor screen ever.. ever in your life.
7) No 3G
For me the cost to feature and can't customize factors are deal breakers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
# 3 is wrong. If you unlock your phone all you need to do is virginize it BEFORE updating your firmware.
# 4 WRONG! You can sync with outlook and do so wirelessly!
# 5 is wrong. I have my plan based on my Tilt and switch SIMs regularly. You lose visual voicemail but gain the ability to use MMS with the Swirly MMS 3rd party app.
# 7 is why the iPhone has 3x's the battery life of my Tilt.
My pros and cons based on using both daily:
iPhone Pros:
1) Sleek design. Better for me during the summer to take than have a brick on my hip.
2) Safari is the best browser out. End of discussion on browsers.
3) Once jailbroken your phone can have MMS, VoIP, Video Record, and a TON of awesome apps you wont see on WM6.*
4) Graphically better looking and easy to mod
5) Faster UI. Apps run a lot faster starting. NO soft resets needed UNLESS a new app fresh out has some bugs..just like ANY beta.
iPhone Cons:
1) No ability to receive MMS yet, though the developer of Swirly MMS is working to fix this
2) No GPS, but someone has already made a GPS device that plugs into the iPhone and does work! Not ready to be released yet.
3) Video Record has no sound. Sh!tty app release IMO.
4) No QWERTY.
The iPhone is an awesome phone, just incomplete IMO. That's why I use both. Situation dictates device for me.
For me, the iPhone is missing too much - 3G, Bluetooth stereo, Exchange sync, video recording, voice dialing and (perhaps most importantly) the ability to tweak and customize to my heart's content.
However, I got one for my wife for Christmas, and for her it's the perfect device - something that "just works" and doesn't require daily maintenance, hacks and 3d-party replacement programs just to make it useable. I tried several times in the past to get her to use Palm/WM devices, and they always ended up in a drawer after a couple of weeks. The iPhone, on the other hand, is her constant companion.
If they eventually implement most or all of the missing features I listed above, I'll seriously consider getting one. It really is an amazing device with great hardware and a GUI that's leagues ahead of anything else on the market.
i just like my Universal and Blueangel. I have already burnt mah fingers twice by choosing imac.
Check out iphone and you will forget your WM bricks, i bet
Saaduk said:
Check out iphone and you will forget your WM bricks, i bet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, ok then. All the detailed arguments didn't sway me, but since you called my phone a brick I'm convinced.
After the launch of SDK, iPhone will be a totally different device.. Imagine a WM with no 3rd Party Software/mods installed.
All of my previous WM devies had new kind of problems. Some had touch screen alignment problem, random muting, even these 400mhz processors are hell slow.
Im not saying that iPhones are perfect devices but alteast are better than these PPCs.
I own a Kaiser and an iPhone.
I'm a cooker, and you will see in my signature my work. I like to tweak, mod etc... I also own an unlimited internet HSDPA connection.
Therefore I prefer the iPhone.
It don't own a GPS, but I don't use it eveyday! (for this, I use the Kaiser or my Asus 620BT)
-The display drivers are crap on the Kaiser (everybody knows), they are wonderfull on the iPhone, you seems to have 3x more power.
-The camera is a little better on the iPhone (I can send same photos at the same time I took with the devices to compare)
-The screen is better on the iPhone (16/9 half-vga) and the colors are better (every photos or videos are improved on this device), iphone can play H264. if I put the same video on the Kaiser with TCPMP or CORE PLayer, I only see a slideshow
-the Multitouch is really good to slide/resize your photos.
-The touch is better on the iPhone (no need to push on the screen) this is a technology patented by Apple.
-Safari (the web brower) is better than any other brower on WinMo (better than Opera Mini wich is for me the best). Even Maps wich display better than googleMaps ans all other app (dialer, sms, calendar with wheel etc).
-The antenna Wifi is better on the iPhone too.
Well (for me) everything is better on the iPhone, the only regret is the speed while I surf the internet (HSDPA is better than Edge) I can reach 1MB/S on the Kaiser.
For the Visio on the Kaiser: nobody can hear me clearly (when I am in a quiet environment), I need to shout on the mic, so the person can not see my face anymore. so it's unusable for me. I don't know if this issue is on all Kaiser (I own the french Vodafone SFR rom).
the MP3 player is better on the iPhone (I use Shure E2C (99$ headset) on both devices), the quality is far better. and I prefer to navigate using the iPhone.
I like to share the internet connexion on the Kaiser but I can do it on the iPhone too, but as I said it's faster on the Kaiser...
Someone put the price of the iPhone as "CON" but the Kaiser come with 128MB and the iPhone with 8GB...
In fact, I think it depend of what you need, you will prefer the kaiser or the iPhone. I read someone hates Apple,ok, but I hate HTC for not doing a better 3D display driver like the other 8000+ persons who have signed the petition.
At least Apple provided good drivers and a fast device
agreed with gibs.. U just explained it better
I'd get a fake iphone from china, apparently some have "windows mobile" on them
and then u will have a fake device with a buggy OS.. 2 in 1

If you think youre Diamond is perfect, post here!

Having discussed the Diamond with my mate Mark, (he got his from inkino on Friday) I realised that theres no thread by/for people who think its perfect, so I has gotten the impression that it was not that good from all the bad threads (wifi is crap, no gps connection, sms problems etc.).
So, if you think the Diamond is great, please post here, so all us guys without them can get a balanced opinion. And say if youre using a cooked rom, or have applied tweaks or something.
Rory
I got it on Thursday, not Friday.
I just haven't experienced any of the problems that others are reporting apart from the battery heating up when charging off a computer. The battery life is fine (I haven't got below 71%, despite taking it on several day-long adventures), the GPS is good, and TouchFLO 3D is at least twice as fast as TouchFLO. The screen is also more responsive and the detail on it is simply amazing. Wifi seems fine, the accelerometer is really handy, and I have far more RAM and storage space than I need.
There are other great hidden extras too, like the good startup speed. Nobody seems to mention that.
I was worried like you as well because of all the threads .
Battery
Took off charger this morning at 8am its now 20:37 and Im at 60% .. Have had several calls and text messages , have used wifi and GPS with TomTom without charger -- short journey.. Pretty much your average day really.
This is the 3rd charge and each time there is in an improvement.
The size is excellent , not too small and not to big. The screen is second to non . Excellent in and outdoors.
The speed is great . The lag on the menu system I personally think is ment to be there as it fades your last screen out but its like 1 second !! I can live with that
memory is a bit disapointing but I have installed all my apps on the HDD and all run very quickly etc.
Battery does get warm under charge but then most batteries do as they peak ..
Hmm not sure what else to right so will leave it there
batery life is really su*. i thought atom life shuld be a worst. but great diamond got 1st place.
What's up with your battery? I've never used more than 29% of mine, despite subjecting the device to reasonable use for an entire day between each charge. Maybe your battery is dodgy.
Mine's Great
Battery life - came off charge at 04:00 a.m. - taken/ made about 20 mins of calls,
Calls are crisp and clear both ends
Speaker is a bit tinny but passable on something this small
Camera is passable
push email on all day,
Took 3 contact photos
about 1 hour of wifi (50/50 you tube and browsing net, note that I had wifi on the best performance setting).
TF3D is responsive and easy to use
GPS (I only use google earth) is quick and accurate
Device is incredibly light and thin considering what is packed inside it
Only slight negative is some memory leakage (about 10Mb over 24 hrs after which it seems to stabilise) although I should stress that this has never resulted in any noticeable slow down.
I have ROM 1.35 no tweaks
The last phone that impresed me this much was my very first WM device - the imate Jam
IMHO - nothing comes close to the Diamond -
but then, one man's meat............
Oops forgot to mention
ref previous post, battery on 40% at 09:29 p.m 17 hours after last charge
only got it for about a week.
Development of ROMS seems to be going fast like hell
1.37 rom is great
tflo3d very fast, no hangs, no bugs, fantastic usage of phone
gmailaccount in mail nice downloading every 15 min
work:
synching exchange via vpn twice a day
oggsyncing google calendar with device calendar twice a day, so all calenders are synched. Contacts are in exchange too, usefull.
GPS works like a charm, opera rocks, I really like the 'zoom' function.
Phonekeyboard goes perfect when smssing.
Battery is quite perfect, holds on more than a day with 1 hour of calltime, 20 min of gps and fiddling around a lot.
And well, like I had with all WM phones, they work great with my Parrot.
In fact, I got everything that I need in this device.
And, as mentioned at first: development is going way fast, so it can only get BETTER
rorydaredkign said:
Having discussed the Diamond with my mate Mark, (he got his from inkino on Friday) I realised that theres no thread by/for people who think its perfect, so I has gotten the impression that it was not that good from all the bad threads (wifi is crap, no gps connection, sms problems etc.).
So, if you think the Diamond is great, please post here, so all us guys without them can get a balanced opinion. And say if youre using a cooked rom, or have applied tweaks or something.
Rory
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must be kidding, right? The HTC Touch Diamond ist very likely the best WM6.1 device made by HTC so far BUT it is by far away from being perfect, not even close to it.
Yes, I like using it (ROM 1.37.707.1) but Touchflo3D sucks performance-wise(or is it the crappy touchdisplay implementation compared to the iPhone) but it looks very very nice, so does the Touch Diamond itself.
Reception isn't too good too, pretty weak in fact, especially HSDPA reception.
Call reception(voice on the other end) is very good though.
I have very mixed feelings about the Touch Diamond. While it may be one(if not THE) best WM device on the market(the Samsung i780 is more powerful), it is NOT the best (smart)phone on the market. It looks beautiful, nicer than an iPhone for example and it is well built but again, this isn't everything which is important for a good phone.
So if you want to run a thread with glorifying the Touch Diamond, do so. Don't expect however people like me who are using a good dozend of new phones at the same time to agree with your opinion(proposal).
The Touch Diamond is a nice phone, no doubt about it. Perfect? NO WAY, not even close, sorry to disappoint you.
P996 said:
You must be kidding, right? The HTC Touch Diamond ist very likely the best WM6.1 device made by HTC so far BUT it is by far away from being perfect, not even close to it.
Yes, I like using it (ROM 1.37.707.1) but Touchflo3D sucks performance-wise(or is it the crappy touchdisplay implementation compared to the iPhone) but it looks very very nice, so does the Touch Diamond itself.
Reception isn't too good too, pretty weak in fact, especially HSDPA reception.
Call reception(voice on the other end) is very good though.
I have very mixed feelings about the Touch Diamond. While it may be one(if not THE) best WM device on the market(the Samsung i780 is more powerful), it is NOT the best (smart)phone on the market. It looks beautiful, nicer than an iPhone for example and it is well built but again, this isn't everything which is important for a good phone.
So if you want to run a thread with glorifying the Touch Diamond, do so. Don't expect however people like me who are using a good dozend of new phones at the same time to agree with your opinion(proposal).
The Touch Diamond is a nice phone, no doubt about it. Perfect? NO WAY, not even close, sorry to disappoint you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ofcourse is not perfect (yet, i might add) but i am also fed up with post bearing the title "this" or "that" sucks! look here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=2315506#post2315506
and here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=401182
as i said it before, less than a week ago:
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
now, we allready have 7-8 ROMs to choose from.
its just a phone, dont take it to heart.
nothing is perfect!
jasjamming said:
its just a phone, dont take it to heart.
nothing is perfect!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
true, but for me it´s the best phone available as of today.
Hamudi2000 said:
true, but for me it´s the best phone available as of today.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best Windows Mobile phone? Maybe. Best phone? I highly doubt it.
Best 4 Me
I have tried Iphone, Nokia N95 Sony Ericcson, LG KU990. For me, none of them are a patch on the WM phones and of those, the Diamond is the best I have had so far. It comes down to a matter of personal preference at the end of the day.
Some will love a given device, others will find it "so-so" others will hate it. Take the iphone for example: I have a friend who swears by his, myself who thinks it is OK but prefers WM and another friend who sent hers back after a week because she couldn't get on with it (problem with fingernails not working on the touch screen!)
dude....
quote of the day.....
We come to love not by finding a perfect pda, but by learning to see an imperfect pda perfectly
crash74 said:
dude....
quote of the day.....
We come to love not by finding a perfect pda, but by learning to see an imperfect pda perfectly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bro.....that is so true
Right heres my opinion on the Diamond...
Ive had mine since Sat...didnt have much of a chance to play around with it thanks to the battery dying out...my fault really as i didnt charge it fully but nevermind and i also blame my gf who was desperate to see me so i left the usb cable at home...so the battery drained and i couldnt use it till yesterday when i got home and put it on charge.
Anyways my first impressions were that its a bloody nice phone, small and thin...in fact even my bro was impressed with it. But i wasnt that impressed with the performance Touchflo3d was slow and laggy...remember ive got the official uk diamond which runs 1.37 rom stock. So i wasnt that impressed with the performance etc but after doing some of the tweaks in the tweak thread...OMG!!!! this device really started to shine...it was much more snappier and responsive, well alot more than without the tweaks...still wouldnt say its perfect though but given time im pretty sure the guys in here can sort out alot of the minor issues.
I like the phone, the more i use it the more i fall in love with it so originally i was thinking of sending it back today for a refund but to be honest??...nope im keeping it...its a brilliant device if you can live with the niggles/quirks it has. Im coming from a symbian phone, nokia n95 8gb and this phone is as good as that one although ill be honest...there are a few things that i miss from that phone but the way i see it is that its a learning curve for me.
The only major issue i have with the phone is the battery, it far too weak for this sort of device...god only knows why HTC didnt pack a higher capacity battery...yes yes i know there will be soon extended batts for the Diamond but really it should have come with a higher capacity battery. The thing is that this device is quite powerful so HTC really dont have an excuse other than to make more money.
Really other than that im liking the phone alot...i think it has alot to offer..its just a case of HTC tweaking their roms or the devs in here doing their thing with the roms available. I never thought id be saying all that above about a WM device...i did have a WM5 device a few yrs ago but god almighty that was just simply rubbish...at least WM6.1 has come a long way since 5 in my opinion.
Hi all,
This is my first post on xda-developers. I've also come from an S60 background and in fact have modded/helped build the community at n95users<dot>com for over a year. This is my first WM device since the IPAQ 5550, back when we only dreamed of our PDA's being able to make phone calls, even when HP put that little SIM card slot that did not work in the back of the 5550 - as if it were a taste of things to come. But anyway, enough nostalgia - Symbian is behind me now, at least for a while. Here is what I think about the diamond.
For those that might be considering the purchase, I don't think you will be disappointed. This device does pack a pretty serious punch, but it also lacks in a few areas. Let's not try and flog a dead horse, but yes the battery is sub-par and not suitable for this device. After owning an N95 I feel as if I can't get the device I want without having to compromise on the damn battery. That aside the Diamond does indeed shine and probably sparkles in the right light. The screen is nothing short of blowing me away every time I look at it, the GPS is super sensitive (I'm locking on to 12 satellites in about 15-20 seconds, and TomTom 7 runs amazingly), and the touchFLO 3D interface is nice but is also functional. It can be jerky at times but unless I'm mistakened, I do believe this can be fixed with some software optimisations and some registry tweaks I'm going to try once I finish writing this. I start a new job shortly and we'll be using Exchange (bye bye Lotus Notes ) so I'm looking forward to testing push email functionality and other productivity features. The web browsing experience is GREAT, and the readability of web pages on the 640x480 screen seriously blows me away. In fact I'd have to say so far I guess the screen has impressed me most - I don't think I will ever get tired of looking at it, and I will NEVER own anything from here on in that has anything less in that department. There really is no going back. Running a remote desktop session at 640x480 in my hand is a real treat!! If only it would support the accelerometer and let me flip it to landscape mode... The YouTube client is great (bit slow though? - or is that the memory leak I wonder) and the scrolling little menus and being able to do most things with the swipe of my thumb is something that is growing on me very fast. All in all I wouldn't hesitate recommending this device to anyone who uses it in a similar fashion to me, and I'm doing new things with it everyday!
Here are some things I would have liked to sweeten the deal:
- A flash for the camera.
- 3.5mm headphone jack, or at least an adapter in the box!
- More powerful battery...
Unless any of the above is a deal breaker for you, and all but the flash can be worked around, or fixed, then I would not hesitate in getting the diamond if you are that close to a decision, but don't expect it to be perfect, because nothing is!!!!
Thanks for recommending, I've order mine geting it tommorow.
Am coming from N95 8GIG. For my next smartphone i just couldn't be bother with N96 with same old QVGA.
Looking forward to my new toy.
salada2k said:
Hi all,
This is my first post on xda-developers. I've also come from an S60 background and in fact have modded/helped build the community at n95users<dot>com for over a year. This is my first WM device since the IPAQ 5550, back when we only dreamed of our PDA's being able to make phone calls, even when HP put that little SIM card slot that did not work in the back of the 5550 - as if it were a taste of things to come.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahhhh, that brings back memories! I remember selling my h3970 and paying an arm and a leg for the h5550. It sure was a glimpse of things to come.

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 .....
Click to expand...
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...

my confession...

hi all,
this is my first full post here on xda... i have been a member for a few years now and thought i should write something the community may agree/dispute/love/hate
and so...
here it is...
i have titled this my confession as basically it is a confession... its something i have put off for quite some time now...
i am a major windows mobile fan... from way back when with my o2 xda to my hd2... i love it and everything about it... its a faithful, hardworking, do it all mobile os... i had touchscreen phones and pda's long before the touchscreen hype came in... back when my friends still had the nokia hype, with changable cases and envious battery life... anything they could do, i could do better... just for the 6 or so hours my battery gave me... then devices evolved (slowly at first) o2 xda ii then some more...mda vario... htc elf (touch) then a blackberry (never again!!!!) had that for a very short time... then got myself a tytn ii... windows mobile with real power... filled it with spb software... had android running from sd... was my first real do it all phone...
then time and age became an issue... my hardware was restricting me... software can only go so far... so the time came for an upgrade... in steps the amazing 4.3" multi touch, capacative, 1ghz powerhouse that is the hd2... running the latest and greatest version of windows mobile with a sexy sense ui draped over the top...
soon as it was released here in england i was at my local phone shop and signing up to an 18 month contract...
soon after this, a nice hspl came along which meant 1 thing to me, and 1 thing only... custom rom goodness... oh, i went through every rom imaginable... (i believe the term for this is ord or obsessive rom-flashing disorder)
i finally settled on energy roms... loved the speed, looks and the sheer number of different flavours nrgz28 offered...
then shock horror... i dropped my hd2 and smashed the digitizer... a job i would usually do myself but after the cost of the screen (£100) and what a local phone shop quoted me (£120) i decided to let them deal with the annoying job...
BIG MISTAKE!!!! basically ruined the ribbon for my volume keys and lost the glass that makes the proximity and light sensors work... they had it for about 2months... and so after a big row with them i had half my money refunded and my fone returned with a new screen but still a little sick... broken hd2 of ebay was the answer as during this time the first windows phone software was ready and waiting for my approval... so phone fixed, wp7 flashed the end....
or not... after a few minutes with wp7 i noticed simple features were missing... like copy/paste... i was unable to download any media onto my device... a big disappointment... what ever happened to microsoft??? took a beautiful thing and just destroyed it... why try and be like the iphone when waht u had was so much better...
tutt tutt...
now... down to the confession... after this utter shock from windows i decided to try android out... had it running from sd for quite some time, but thought its time to try nand and reap the benefits... so away i go... first a galaxy s rom... pretty impressive, but still lacking that spark... then a few newer builds and versions surfaced... had the desire hd rom... was nice... then i got a whiff of gingerbread goodness... started really liking the leaps and bounds the still young os was offering... then on... 2.3... 2.3.3... 2.3.5... ect... each time getting a little better... the finally ics...
ics hit the hd2 like an ice cream hitting a sensative tooth... bang! on it went and wow... im really impressed... feels like this is what wp7 should have been...
it stank of winmo customizability... ate up everything i did to it and seemed like this is how its meant to be...
android on my hd2 felt so right but also so wrong... whats going on?? im singing the praises of a winmo competitor... whats happened to me?? am i sick?? have i hit my head?? i really cant place my finger on it...
so my confession is this secret love affair i have had with android... cheating on winmo for so long... so i have decided to come clean... cant keep this cherade up any longer...
sorry winmo, i do, and always will love u... we had many brilliant times together... ones i will always remember... its not you, its me... i have met someone else and she makes me happy now... so im going to admit this now and confirm its over between us... im so so so truly very sorry...
i hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me and we can still be friends... u have influenced me and made me who i am today and 4 that i thank you
so... heres the start of not having to hide my new love... 1 i hope will last forever...
....So i bet your thinking "why did i just sit and read this crap??" its coz maybe secretly u have the same love affair? or u were actually hoping to find out some real murderers confession? or your just bored? whatever the reason, u now know where my heart lies...
maybe its time for u all to think where exactly ur heart lies...
food for thought...
thanks for reading
luke (android lover)
I've only been an Android guy. Today I went and played with some WinMo 8 devices and was impressed by the general UI and the screen clarity. That was about it though... the OS was hard to navigate and I got lost in it a few times... didn't like the Carl Zeiss on the Lumia 900 either...
So, I will be getting either the next Nexus or the Galaxy Nexus, depending on if the new one is out... And as you said ICS is a beautiful thing!!!
I want to rip the camera sensor off of the Pureview 808 (runs Belle) and slap it on Android.
GMIUInfuse
imheroldman said:
I've only been an Android guy. Today I went and played with some WinMo 8 devices and was impressed by the general UI and the screen clarity. That was about it though... the OS was hard to navigate and I got lost in it a few times... didn't like the Carl Zeiss on the Lumia 900 either...
So, I will be getting either the next Nexus or the Galaxy Nexus, depending on if the new one is out... And as you said ICS is a beautiful thing!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's no winmo 8 or even windows phone 8 yet.
As a whole, ICS feels like the same stuttery unintuitive mess I got from all other android builds, but I guess if winmo was your bag you grow accustomed to sacrificing performance and usability for a more feature enriched ecosystem.
Sent from my Lumia 800 using Board Express
z33dev33l said:
As a whole, ICS feels like the same stuttery unintuitive mess I got from all other android builds, but I guess if winmo was your bag you grow accustomed to sacrificing performance and usability for a more feature enriched ecosystem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well if all android builds are stuttery unintuitive mess's then u maybe need to try another device... my hd2 runs android like a dream... if i didnt know better, it could be the native os...
im unaware of what performance and usability im sacrificing... as my phone performs just as quick if not quicker than winmo ever did... even with energyroms... boot time is quicker... battery life is better... its a more finger friendly os than winmo...
i see ur a windows fan still... each to their own... as a whole, iv never rated nokia as a manufacturer of high end devices, but their deal with microsoft was the best thing they could have ever done... meego, symbian and the other crap they used to ship their devices with was a joke...
imheroldman said:
I've only been an Android guy. Today I went and played with some WinMo 8 devices and was impressed by the general UI and the screen clarity. That was about it though... the OS was hard to navigate and I got lost in it a few times... didn't like the Carl Zeiss on the Lumia 900 either...
So, I will be getting either the next Nexus or the Galaxy Nexus, depending on if the new one is out... And as you said ICS is a beautiful thing!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the ui (metro) can be downloaded from google play for free if u like the ui... screen clarity is down to the device really... wp7 is quick but really lacks any kind of spark for me... and coming from winmo, i really wanted to love wp7 but i just dont...
as for an upgrade id always suggest htc... kies for the samsung devices is the worst piece of software ever written... and theres just something about sony ericsson devices that feels cheap to me... if memory serves (which it probabily dont) the first nexus was made by htc... a few of them were made by samsung... dont hold me to that
You can't download the UI, you can download a cheap, laggy imitation that almost drove me from wp7 initially because I thought that was all it was. You don't sacrifice speed or stability from winmo to android because they're both stuttery and unstable. Winmo felt like a beta OS, android continued on that beta. Wp7 feels like something more solid and complete in comparison.
z33dev33l said:
You can't download the UI, you can download a cheap, laggy imitation that almost drove me from wp7 initially because I thought that was all it was.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
launcher 7's not laggy, lol. It is somewhat limited atm, but live tiles are coming very soon.
In comparison to the real deal, it's laggy. Android simply isn't built to be smooth. Honestly, winmo is better built, had they improved the UI, worked on the hardware, and built a viable marketplace, they'd have Android's spot. Unfortunately, Bill Gates wanted a mobile version of windows... He was the only one.
z33dev33l said:
In comparison to the real deal, it's laggy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like this water flowing over a leaf is laggier than that water flowing over a leaf, I'm sure.
No, android stutters due to a number of factors. Windows Phone takes measures to prevent such things. Launcher 7 is disappointing, it almost drove me from windows phone before I'd tried it because I installed it and thought, "So this is all WP7 is? Boring." Then I got a cheap HD7, even that tired old device blew away anything else on the market in terms of fluidity and speed.
z33dev33l said:
No, android stutters due to a number of factors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've noticed you keep trying to change your focus, from "Launcher 7" to "Android". Composition fallacy?
z33dev33l said:
Launcher 7 is disappointing, it almost drove me from windows phone before I'd tried it because I installed it and thought, "So this is all WP7 is? Boring."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WP is indeed more than what Launcher 7 is.. but not by much, and the gap gets smaller everyday.
Ok, I'll make a small confession too then, shall I?
To be honest WP7 looks like a very well designed and consistent OS to me, but as any other it has its own bugs. Sure it's quite stable, especially compared to Gingerbread, but it's no Swiss watch by any mean. For example, people criticise Android because of force closes, but honestly WP7 isn't very different: at times you tap on some app and you get kicked back to your home screen, and you can't fix it without rebooting the phone or even reinstalling the app from scratch, eventally losing all of your settings. Sure you don't get the "force close" message, but this actually IS a force close. Talking about lag, I can't really say that WP7 is as consistent as some tend to describe it. Sure I'm insanely fast at typing, but at times the input is delayed, and in many situations the ICS keyboard on my SGS2 was generally faster and more fluid.
This said, I like the idea of WP7 a LOT. I love the design of every single thing, everything has been made with very good taste and always keeping the focus on user experience. I've been using WP7 for about 5 months now, and honestly I wouldn't go back. I think that WP7 is really close to perfect as a PHONE OS (for my perosnal taste at least), because let's face it: first of all a phone should be something you use for keeping in touch, doing some light browsing/tweeting and enjoying some media content on the go. Some people say that Android has more features and is generally better for so called "power users". I used to think that too, but honestly, growing up a little and actually starting to have a real life and some sort of job I came to think that phones in general are not really meant for power users. Now I know I'm on XDA, right? Don't kill me please, just let me explain. A phone has some really annoying features: small battery, small screen (yes, they generally are small, and good luck carrying a Note without cargo pants, or either operate it with one hand), and last but not least, people can always call/text/mail you when your doing your ****s. For a REAL power user this should be annoying, right? For me the best solution would be carrying an Android tablet and a WP7 device, so you can have a good and reliable communication device, fast and easy to use, AND a tablet for doing the real business as a real laptop replacement, or even just for tinkering, trying ROMs, gaming and all that jazz. A tablet has a huge battery, a very enjoyable screen and when you're using it people can still reach you on your phone without bothering you too much.
This summer I'll be definitely getting a good 10" slate with ICS on board, but I guess I won't be using it anymore as a phone OS. WP7 is my ideal phone OS: it's reliable, good looking and easy to use, and it helps me keeping focused on what really matters in my life: work, sports, friends and girls. An Android PHONE is probably too much for me, I'm too easily distracted. Now this is my very personal story, and my very personal preferences. Everyone should be enjoying his phone (and his life of course), hating is pointless. Peace out
i bet my "tired old hd2" will out perform your young, perky NOKIA... and i reckon it wont just be the hardware that makes the difference... u must have had some really bad versions of android because iv not had 1 laggy, slow or memory hungry version... and i have NEVER owned an android phone...
android supports 3d which no other platform has... supports quad core... wp7 cant yet support dual core... windows has been around since the dinosaurs and STILL lacks a decent marketplace...
android over wp7 any day...
vnvman said:
Ok, I'll make a small confession too then, shall I?
To be honest WP7 looks like a very well designed and consistent OS to me, but as any other it has its own bugs. Sure it's quite stable, especially compared to Gingerbread, but it's no Swiss watch by any mean. For example, people criticise Android because of force closes, but honestly WP7 isn't very different: at times you tap on some app and you get kicked back to your home screen, and you can't fix it without rebooting the phone or even reinstalling the app from scratch, eventally losing all of your settings. Sure you don't get the "force close" message, but this actually IS a force close. Talking about lag, I can't really say that WP7 is as consistent as some tend to describe it. Sure I'm insanely fast at typing, but at times the input is delayed, and in many situations the ICS keyboard on my SGS2 was generally faster and more fluid.
This said, I like the idea of WP7 a LOT. I love the design of every single thing, everything has been made with very good taste and always keeping the focus on user experience. I've been using WP7 for about 5 months now, and honestly I wouldn't go back. I think that WP7 is really close to perfect as a PHONE OS (for my perosnal taste at least), because let's face it: first of all a phone should be something you use for keeping in touch, doing some light browsing/tweeting and enjoying some media content on the go. Some people say that Android has more features and is generally better for so called "power users". I used to think that too, but honestly, growing up a little and actually starting to have a real life and some sort of job I came to think that phones in general are not really meant for power users. Now I know I'm on XDA, right? Don't kill me please, just let me explain. A phone has some really annoying features: small battery, small screen (yes, they generally are small, and good luck carrying a Note without cargo pants, or either operate it with one hand), and last but not least, people can always call/text/mail you when your doing your ****s. For a REAL power user this should be annoying, right? For me the best solution would be carrying an Android tablet and a WP7 device, so you can have a good and reliable communication device, fast and easy to use, AND a tablet for doing the real business as a real laptop replacement, or even just for tinkering, trying ROMs, gaming and all that jazz. A tablet has a huge battery, a very enjoyable screen and when you're using it people can still reach you on your phone without bothering you too much.
This summer I'll be definitely getting a good 10" slate with ICS on board, but I guess I won't be using it anymore as a phone OS. WP7 is my ideal phone OS: it's reliable, good looking and easy to use, and it helps me keeping focused on what really matters in my life: work, sports, friends and girls. An Android PHONE is probably too much for me, I'm too easily distracted. Now this is my very personal story, and my very personal preferences. Everyone should be enjoying his phone (and his life of course), hating is pointless. Peace out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well said... and yes, its all down to preference... theres many (stupid) people that believe the i phony or crapberry is the way forward... not at all... i believe its android... i rarely have force closes... beyond that i have no problems at all with android on my WINDOWS MOBILE device...
TheDaddy187 said:
well said... and yes, its all down to preference... theres many (stupid) people that believe the i phony or crapberry is the way forward... not at all... i believe its android... i rarely have force closes... beyond that i have no problems at all with android on my WINDOWS MOBILE device...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android actually is a really good all around platform. I guess it's the best pick for many, if not most people these days: you can get it on any sort of device at any price. Also, not everybody can afford both a phone and a tablet, and Android is definitely the best all arounder. Also, the fact that it tends to look familiar to previous Symbian, iOS, BBOS and even WM users makes it appeal to many. Anyway I always hope that every single platform out there manages to survive and succeed at some extent, without some tough competitors Android would become stale in a few years like Symbian and BBOS. Actually the fact that it doesn't belong to a single OEM is a big boost for the platform as a whole already. Future still looks very bright for the green robot IMHO.
I didn't recognize android lag until I used something more stable either. Now it's painfully apparent. Jumping from winmo to android would have to feel like an improvement because winmo was just generally bad. I mean, in it's time it was ok at best. It had it's MMOs and stuff but never got past the point where you felt you needed a stylus in some places. It was always a PPC OS and never a smartphone OS. Android is a continuation on this, and while it's remedied most of the issues, lag and stability are not one of them. Perhaps I push my android phones harder with games like Dungeon Defenders and such, but I had to reset my gs2 daily for the week I had it. My Nokia Lumia 800 has been reset seven times total since last October. It's just more stable and more social.
Vnvman, what apps do you have such issues with? The only app that's caused me to have to reset is board express which is a poorly done app. At least it's not the built in apps though like with android.
Again, maybe I push my phone more. However, my measly 1.4 GHz processor runs circles around the gs2 I had long enough to ditch it. That would be the same GS2 that is said to be the first android phone that utilized a partially GPU accelerated UI.
The last app I had issues with was Carbon, just a week ago. It kinda surprised me because it always worked pretty good. I had to reinstall it in order to make it work again. Oh, and yesterday my gf had some issues on her 710, she had some stupid game like Shoot Bubble unable to launch, reinstalling it did the trick.
Honestly these things don't really bother me (it doesn't happen often), what actually made me wanna throw my phone off the window the other day was 3g connectivity, which wasn't working no matter what. After 24 hours it started working again, apparently without a reason. Funny thing is that my gf was having this issue at the same time, but none of my friends with the same carrier had it. Really weird.
Hmm, perhaps it pertained to your account with the phone company? A glitch in the system of sorts. I don't use carbon, not certain what it is, and stick mostly on the beaten path for games. Perhaps that's why I don't have that issue. The stock stuff covers most of what I need in a phone.
Carbon is a Twitter client, it's pretty good, you should try it if you haven't already. It's well designed and melts beautifully in the OS. I'm not a great fan of the integrated client we have, it's definitely usable but a little limited, and the official twitter app hurts my eye (and my battery) with all that stupid white...

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