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OK..so we are all excited about the Kaiser and some of the lucky ones have it already. We all know the specs and we hear about the fun those lucky ones are having with the devices. Needless to say, with new devices, problems sometimes follow. I know there have been a few minor complaints but, let's use this thread to compile the issues (and hopefully the fixes).
I am thinking of jumping ship from my rather good plan in order to get a Kaiser and hearing both sides of the spectrum can help myself and others make a more educated decision.
I am interested in Kaiser also. One of the most issue that i hope being fix in Kaiser was the screen auto-on issue while changing song when listen MP3 with BT stereo handsfree which happened in D810 and P3600i.
Well, I've had my kaiser since the 7th and I have put it through most of it's paces so far.
The only complaint I can think of is the already known problem where storing pocket IE's cache on the storage card causes it to freeze up. I'm fully confident that someone here will figure it out.
That said it's a really nice upgrade from the Tytn I've been using for over a year. If you consider a different browser, like Opera mini it performs extremely well.
I've had one about a month. Overall very pleased with the purchase. Here are my top nits:
1. Audio clicks or audio cut-out when playing long audio files (>5min). click will happen every 5 min, which might suggest it's reading the file into memory in chunks and having trouble at the transition. I'm hoping a new, faster micro-sd card will fix this.
2. screen doesn't turn off by default, just dims to lowest level. Not that the phone doesn't go into standby when it should, it's just that when you are using it you expect the previous TyTN behavior where the screen goes off after a certain period. Annoying only in certain circumstances; for instance, when you play long audio files at night to go to sleep the screen stays on. Solution is easy: just push the power button. Audio keeps playing. Not a big negative per se, just a new behavior to get used to.
3. Hard to select multiple items (e.g. email) with finger. Used to be you could finger one item and then "drag" down the list, selecting multiple items. Now that causes the email list to scroll. Again not a negative, just a new way of behaving.
4. The camera. Takes forever to actually take the shot. Unless you set it on a stable surface or take long shots in good light, the images are blurry. It's a phone so I don't really care that much...
5. Lack of dedicated button for Comm Manager. You can have a soft button, but whatever... Also I haven't found a way to remap the otherwise useless PTT button.
6. Nobody has uploaded the 'cool' HTC rom. I have to install the HTCHome and Comm Mgr app cabs from the Hermes group. The AT&T roms look boring and are bloated with crapware like Ms PacMan eval version (including the frickin' .cab file) and MP3 files.
7. After hanging up a voice call, d-pad in email stops working. That is, I can use the screen to do actions like select and open an email, but the d-pad and center button don't work. Once the mail is open, I can use the d-pad. Seems like this doesn't happen every time, but it's annoying when it does. I'm sure a software update will fix this.
None of these things would prevent me from buying the product again. I personally find the browser perf about the same as the TyTN - downloading full HTML pages takes a while, but it's a phone so it doesn't bother me like it would if it were a laptop.
M
So how do they handle your #3 issue with the semi-touch flow now? How do you go about selecting multiple items?
I hadn't really thought of it until I wrote this... After some investigation I find that if I hold down my finger on the first selected item, wait, then drag it, it works.
how's the in-call voice quality & signal strength from the kaiser's qualcomm chip, compared to previous htc phones (fo example, ones which featured the TI omap chip)?
and also how's the gps? is it really that much worse than a sirfstar to the point where it would become unusable in a city with many tall buildings?
Here is my very small list of gripes..
1. There is no default hardware button that allows you to change the Sound Volume at any time...like when/if you're somewhere quiet and the phone rings loudly or a reminder pops up loudly. Many devices have Vol Up & Down buttons on the side of the device that will let you do this but with the TyTN II you'll have to either use the default Volume control icon at the top of the screen (which is tough to get to using a finger) or use the HTC Touch panel - assuming you have it enabled in the Task Panel settings. You can however adjust the volume during a call using the thumb wheel--which is nice.
2. For some reason, We can't redirect IE cache, cookies and history to the microSD card. I know there's been discussion about this. When you make the registry change, IE freezes when pulling up sites. When you put it back to the default folder or any folder in main storage memory, all sites work fine. Everything else--email attachments, apps, games, GPS maps, etc. seem to do fine when accessed from the card.
3. No HTC TouchFLO 3D Cube
For some reason, the TyTN II has TouchFLO but without the Cube. I would love to get this iPhone Killer app" working on the TyTN II. I know you guys are working on it!
TEC
I live in the US, and this is the reason why im waiting for the AT&T tilt, i want them to fix all the bugs. When the TyTN came out, the 8525 had less bugs, including the screen alignment thing.
Funny, I had just dumped the VERY unstable GPS enabled HP hw6945 in favor of the then new 8525. I was just about to return the 8525 because it was also pretty buggy and prone to hangs. Then I found XDA, applied the tweaks and eventually new roms and now the 8525 is just about perfect.
I'll have my Kaiser in 2 days and am looking forward to what the XDA wizzards will do with it in the comming months.
But a first release from AT&T is bound to be lacking, and probably bloated with less than usefull widgets.
The good you already know so I wont go into all of that, but after all the hype I'm actually dissapointed with this device.
I am a long time treo user (my last machine being a very stable, but dull treo 680).
Last month I bought the HTC Touch (a FANTASTIC machine, especially with HTC Home). But after the Treo, I still need a keyboard as its basically hard work to enter long messages, even with the SIP keyboard (plus TYTN II has 3G and GPS).
So I got my TYTN II 2 days ago and im not enjoying the exeperience, especially when compared to the Touch which was flawless for me. I find that the machine hangs, isnt that responsive, the sound level is much lower than the Touch (both ear and speaker) and while its supposed to be 2x as fast, it really isnt much faster than the Touch. It does have a better screen than the Touch and many other advantages, but none of these are critical for me. Plus I dont know anyone who uses video calling so I have noone to call with it!!!
But the worst part of the TYTN II is that its a MONSTER in both size and weight. Its like walking around with a brick in my pocket! For example, holding the phone while on a long call is very uncomfortable. I just dont like the form factor (actually I miss my Treos front facing keyboard).
So if you own a Touch, have a BT GPS device, can get by with wifi, and can get the hang of the on-board keyboard then I suggest you upgrade the ROM on the Touch and stick with it. Im sorry i didnt.
That said, now I own this device Im going to try to make it work for me and get used to it, or sell it!
About the size and weight, it should be subjective.
For me, it is perfect, not small, but not too big either.
The thickness is good, less than TyTn but more than Touch.
I have no problem handling and carrying it or making phone, etc.
The device is quite responsive, I dont have problem with it. The built-in keyboard is working fine except that I am not used to it yet, so sometimes I missed the key But, I am working on it (to get used to).
The thing that I dont like:
1. Takes a long time to fully charge from 10% to 100% ! More than 4 hours using USB connection.
2. Need more hardware button to map application I want to be able to switch application by using a hardware button. Well, I can replace one of the button, but ...
3. Camera and video recording sucks on indoor situation (low light), but very good on outdoor.
ekerbuddy said:
The good you already know so I wont go into all of that, but after all the hype I'm actually dissapointed with this device.
I am a long time treo user (my last machine being a very stable, but dull treo 680).
Last month I bought the HTC Touch (a FANTASTIC machine, especially with HTC Home). But after the Treo, I still need a keyboard as its basically hard work to enter long messages, even with the SIP keyboard (plus TYTN II has 3G and GPS).
So I got my TYTN II 2 days ago and im not enjoying the exeperience, especially when compared to the Touch which was flawless for me. I find that the machine hangs, isnt that responsive, the sound level is much lower than the Touch (both ear and speaker) and while its supposed to be 2x as fast, it really isnt much faster than the Touch. It does have a better screen than the Touch and many other advantages, but none of these are critical for me. Plus I dont know anyone who uses video calling so I have noone to call with it!!!
But the worst part of the TYTN II is that its a MONSTER in both size and weight. Its like walking around with a brick in my pocket! For example, holding the phone while on a long call is very uncomfortable. I just dont like the form factor (actually I miss my Treos front facing keyboard).
So if you own a Touch, have a BT GPS device, can get by with wifi, and can get the hang of the on-board keyboard then I suggest you upgrade the ROM on the Touch and stick with it. Im sorry i didnt.
That said, now I own this device Im going to try to make it work for me and get used to it, or sell it!
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gogol said:
The thing that I dont like:
1. Takes a long time to fully charge from 10% to 100% ! More than 4 hours using USB connection.
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Click to collapse
You mean USB cable connected to computer - it always was like that. Hermes was not different. If you use wall charger, it will get job done quicker.
3. Camera and video recording sucks on indoor situation (low light), but very good on outdoor.
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Click to collapse
Well.. what else can you expect? This is a phone, not real camera, it would always suck in low light. But camera is still pretty good, as for phone - while in good light conditions, of course.
demione said:
how's the in-call voice quality & signal strength from the kaiser's qualcomm chip, compared to previous htc phones (fo example, ones which featured the TI omap chip)?
and also how's the gps? is it really that much worse than a sirfstar to the point where it would become unusable in a city with many tall buildings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both are really good. I was impressed by call quality, really. In terms of GPS, IMHO there is also nothing to complain about...
hardware audio control
technillion said:
1. There is no default hardware button that allows you to change the Sound Volume at any time...like when/if you're somewhere quiet and the phone rings loudly or a reminder pops up loudly. Many devices have Vol Up & Down buttons on the side of the device that will let you do this but with the TyTN II you'll have to either use the default Volume control icon at the top of the screen (which is tough to get to using a finger) or use the HTC Touch panel - assuming you have it enabled in the Task Panel settings. You can however adjust the volume during a call using the thumb wheel--which is nice.
TEC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually the jog dial on the side defaults to volume control when you are in a call or running (foreground) an app that has volume aspects, like Media Player or HTC Audio Manager. Agreed that there's no general audio control tho. You can install 3rd party apps to give you one-touch scheme changes - check the Hermes forum for apps like O2+ (DiStefano's cab collection is nice).
Problem after phone calls
There seems to be a problem with the Kaiser. After finishing a phone call on the Kaiser the backlight goes off and stays off and I cannot access the Start menu. I can access all other functions but backlight stays off and one still cant get into the Start menu from anywhere on the screen. I have to press the power off button quickly once and then wait a second, press it again to be able to access the start button or the light to come on. This is definitely a bug in the tytn II and I hope HTC is doing something about this.
Reload63 said:
There seems to be a problem with the Kaiser. After finishing a phone call on the Kaiser the backlight goes off and stays off and I cannot access the Start menu. I can access all other functions but backlight stays off and one still cant get into the Start menu from anywhere on the screen. I have to press the power off button quickly once and then wait a second, press it again to be able to access the start button or the light to come on. This is definitely a bug in the tytn II and I hope HTC is doing something about this.
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Click to collapse
No such problems with my Kaiser. Maybe some specific application is causing such behavior? Try uninstalling some of them, and check - but the best test would be hard reset and check on 'clean' ROM. If problem still persists - get the warranty replacement.
Hi
No such problems with my Kaiser. Maybe some specific application is causing such behavior? Try uninstalling some of them, and check - but the best test would be hard reset and check on 'clean' ROM. If problem still persists - get the warranty replacement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has already been reported and confirmed by a few people and happens when you have a password word set on the device. If no device password is set it works okay and you will not be affected. Workaround at the moment is not to set a password or press the power button again after a call to get the device back on.
Regards
Phil
strange, I have a password and do not experience this problem (thru 3 different AT&T roms). I'm happy to test it out on whichever rom exhibits the problem tho.
The problem only seems to exist on the official HTC ROM.
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.
These are the first impressions of a power user after a week with the Diamond - I hope they might help others to decide whether to get one.
EDIT: Things have moved on since this post, you might want to look at post #39 too (page 4)
Background
I'm a power user but also a heavy day-to-day user as well. I use my phone for calling people, basic PDA functions, OTA google sync, web access, IMAP mail, GPS and also .NET software development. (I'm the author of 'Touch Settings') I used to have an HTC Touch. Before that, an HTC Prophet. Before that, an HTC MDA Compact.. ..you get the idea. I like HTC devices. I've stuck with them all, put up with their frustrations and watched them steadily improve. But this phone felt like the most exciting release yet. A massive leap forward in terms of specs. I was calling up Orange for about a month to find out the ETA. I actually RAN to the Orange Shop in Oxford Street and managed to get their last one in stock at the weekend!
So, one week in, here we go...
Great things
THE SCREEN
My favourite thing is the VGA screen. I cannot believe the difference it makes to the look of the phone, seriously. I could never go back to QVGA again now, this is a major improvement. Just reading the operator name in a slim, Arial-Narrow type font at the top of the screen and not being able to see the individual pixels, this is a true step forward. Everything, repeat, EVERYTHING looks better.
THE CAMERA
The auto-focus camera is nothing short of brilliant. Still rubbish in low-light levels, still no flash, but this is light-years ahead of the last one! I still get a little smirk of delight on my face when I hear it whirring as it focuses ahead of taking a picture!
A FASTER PROCESSOR
Hooray! FINALLY!... 528MHz ...4 times faster than my HTC Touch!...in theory. See below.
THE NEW ADD-ONS
Having GPS, FM radio, a tilt switch, a light sensor and more is fantastic. Teeter, the game, is awesome and will impress every person you know at a party.
THE SIZE
The Diamond is slightly smaller than the HTC Touch as well - easier to fit in a pocket. And it really does look gorgeous. Well done HTC.
Enough praise. Because then there's all this:
The Not-so-great things:
THE SPEED
Pop Quiz. Take your Windows Mobile phone. Tap the start button. Then tap 'Programs'. Does the window flash onto your screen immediately? No. There's a delay, isn't there? And sometimes you can even see it drawing every individual icon, top-to-bottom. On my HTC Touch, after a day of use, this took about 2 seconds.
On the Diamond, with TouchFlo 3D running, it's worse.
Skip this paragraph if you don't want a rant. Seriously, when are Windows Mobile phones actually going to get responsive enough to be useable? Delays when you press buttons, delays when you bring up menus, switch applications, etc, etc. What the hell is this operating system DOING with those 537 mega cycles per second??? Having patiently waited through my last THREE sloooow devices, I was thrilled at the thought of a phone that actually whizzed along... ...but it's a bit like going from XP on a slow computer to Vista on a fast computer - no noticable increase in speed at all. Such a crushing disappointment. My old Nokia could re-draw a screen faster 3 years ago. In this day and age, and with a processor doing a belting 500+ MHz, this should NOT be happening. Things should appear INSTANTLY and react the VERY MOMENT you touch them. I am running out of patience. The iPhone is looking more attactive every day.
TFL3D - INTERFACE
Fantastic to look at, but surprisngly sluggish to use. The more days that pass, the more it's becoming apparent that this interface is more about form and less about function. It's also often lacking in visual feedback; sometimes a button will move when you drag it (main nav bar at the bottom), sometimes not! You just have to swipe and see! Visual feedback is a very important part of user interface design.
COMMON ACTIONS, E.G. CALLING PEOPLE
I feel that, action-wise, some things have (incredibly) got HARDER since my HTC Touch. For example, I used to be able to call my favourite contacts with a swipe and a tap.. ..now it's a swipe, a complicated side-swipey thing, a painstaking wait for the piccies to flip around, and finally a tap. Er, hello? This is the MAIN THING I USE THE PHONE FOR - CALLING PEOPLE! I can't even position my favourite contacts in memorable places; again, a big factor in user interface design, hence why you remember where your icons are on your PC's desktop.
HOME SCREEN (TFL3D again really)
I can't add any custom home screen items! What the hell happened to being able to view my list of things to do? (tasks) Seriously, this is a shockingly bad step back. I know there are some apps to work around this, but I'm doing a review of the stock phone and software here.
THE JOYPAD
This should be renamed the joy-less pad. It's virtually impossible to click the Left and Right buttons without frequently mis-tapping and hitting the 'Back' or 'Hang Up' keys instead. There are no markings, you just sort of have to 'guess' where abouts on the flat screen to tap. The actual target area isn't big enough and I'm getting sick of quitting out of screens when I just want to move right or left. I've got fairly big hands but I'm no elephant.
The ipod-style 'whiz-around' wheel seems promising but when you try it, it's under-responsive and jerky in its movements. I would suggest that's why they've limited the applications that support it by default.
NO MINI SD CARD SLOT
Another step back - from 8Gb storage on my HTC Touch (with a mini SD card) to a paltry 4Gb now. Not enough to put all my music on the phone plus nav software, and no slot for more storage.
GROSS GREASINESS
As other forum users have pointed out, all that swiping on this shiny black device - it looks like the back of a transit van after a minute or so of use.
CONCLUSION
Owning an HTC Diamond is without doubt a step forward from an HTC Touch, but it's a smaller step than you might think. Be prepared for a mixed bag of emotions. Joy at the look of the thing, disappointment when you realise it's slower than you hoped, shouts of happiness when you first play 'Teeter', cries of frustration when the screen turns off randomly during calls or you miss-hit the joypad button or you can't swipe the tiny bit of the screen you're meant to.
After all that, I might surprise you by saying this. I would still say this phone is the best option on the market for the day-to-day user who wants an ultra-portable device that packs enough power to do that bit more than just making calls.
Just 24 hours into owning the phone I did my first ROM flash, from 1.37...1 to 1.37...3 - and this helped the speed somewhat and fixed a memory leak. I also tweaked the registry as much as I could. This has helped too, but the above problems are all still too evident, nothing has really improved enough to make me retract any of them. Keep watching these forums, though, because future ROM updates have the power to make this device much, much better.
That's about it, I hope these comments have helped, or given you something to debate in the space below. I'm going to stick with the Diamond for now. But I wouldn't mind betting I'll have completely disabled TouchFlo 3D before the week is out...
Carlos
I too wonder how long I will last with TF3D. However, the joypad is no problem. Simply use the centre button as a reference point. If you rest part of your thumb in there and press any side of it, then it is easy to navigate. At least I find it easy anyway. Hope that might help you.
carlosp_uk said:
I was calling up Orange for about a month to find out the ETA. I actually RAN to the Orange Shop in Oxford Street and managed to get their last one in stock at the weekend!
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If you were really a fan you would have made sure you were the first, and didn't have to run
mcwtrekkie said:
If you were really a fan you would have made sure you were the first, and didn't have to run
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I think I may well have been Orange's first online order! Could not wait.
evilskanker said:
I think I may well have been Orange's first online order! Could not wait.
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That's the spirit!
Has anyone managed to add a UK city to the weather forecast page ? I found it almost impossible to scroll down to the last page, it keeps selecting wrong countries, the only way I see - scroll one-by-one using hardware buttons ....
Yes, I added 3. Scroll with finger, well, more of a flick.
evilskanker said:
Yes, I added 3. Scroll with finger, well, more of a flick.
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I think I've tried about 20 different ways of scrolling with a finger, always end up with a list of south american cities ... (
Comparing to my old Orbit, I would say I have to press harder for screen to react ..
hertc said:
I think I've tried about 20 different ways of scrolling with a finger, always end up with a list of south american cities ... (
Comparing to my old Orbit, I would say I have to press harder for screen to react ..
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It's at times like these that it would be good to be able to use the wheel for scrolling down.
evilskanker said:
It's at times like these that it would be good to be able to use the wheel for scrolling down.
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Agree, still remember Sony J7 I had long time ago, all these things were so easy with a wheel ..
hertc said:
Comparing to my old Orbit, I would say I have to press harder for screen to react ..
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Click to collapse
Apparently the Diamond is the first PocketPC device to have a tempered glass screen to make it extra tough. This makes it require a little more pressure than other devices.
But much more resilient to damage, and also nicer on the eye.
wasn't to amazed with the stock rom,
but after some days of usage and flashing the first cooked rom,
i am getting more and more into my new mobile..
Totally agree, using my Diamond for a week after three years on I-mate's.
carlosp_uk said:
CALLING PEOPLE
I feel that, action-wise, some things have (incredibly) got HARDER since my HTC Touch. For example, I used to be able to call my favourite contacts with a swipe and a tap.. ..now it's a swipe, a complicated side-swipey thing, a painstaking wait for the piccies to flip around, and finally a tap. Er, hello? This is the MAIN THING I USE THE PHONE FOR - CALLING PEOPLE! I can't even position my favourite contacts in memorable places;
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Click to collapse
Just a suggestion -
Speed Dialing.
you can place at least SOME off your favorites in the positions you want.. and then it will just be one long press.. and it will dial.
Phone - menu - Speed Dial.
and of course.. there is always voice dialing.
Turn off TF3D. Ive heard is does HUGE things for the interface speed, and you'll get your tasks back (first thing Im going to do when I get a sprint diamond on this side of the pond)
I agree on almost every point
Not having used touch before, I really can't say anything bad about the navigation. To me it's a revolution, but it's not quite there yet.
The biggest flaw is the biggest asset. Let me explain.
The biggest asset to this device is the screen. I have never liked the screen on any of the QVGA devices I have used (Wizard and Hermes). The VGA screen on the Diamond is fantastic! Crisp and easy to read, even in direct sunlight. The words by HTC "Not too big, not too small" really sums up my feelings about it. However. Screen size is relative to what you display on it. I'm sure a lot of research, testing and effort went in to decide the size of the elements on the TF3D interface. Personally I would have designed it differently.
The main professional reason I choose to use a WiMo is Active Sync OTA (Over-The-Air). Having direct push of Mail, Calendar and Contacts to my device is critical in my profession. This HAS to work, it has to be easy to use, and easy to read. On the Diamond it works fantastically. Lots better than on the Hermes. It takes some getting used to, when you have never used touchflo before.
The touch interface has to be finger friendly, demanding finger sized icons and buttons. Having a small screen required HTC to use the entire screen. That makes you wish for a larger screen, yet a larger screen would require a larger device and I dont want that. Dilemma.
Like you said, the TF3D interface lacks in visual feedback. This could be replaced by tactile feedback. The same technology used in the game TEETER could be used to give me feedback on my actions.
Being a WiMo certified pro I know that the main obstacle for HTC is WiMo itself, or rather the Windows CE it is built upon. Win CE 5 is nowhere near a realtime OS and the switch to Win CE 6 (afaik it will be the foundation for WiMo 7) will be a major leap. CE6 is not a RTOS either, but it has the means to enable truly great applications. I look forward to what Developers will create for WiMo7.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Embedded_CE_6.0)
The only thing I really dislike on my Diamond is the scrollwheel. I clearly does not work like you would expect it to. Unintuitive. And the Up/Down/Left/Right navigation around it is near unusable. Using the touch screen works though so it is not a showstopper for me.
Speed of the interface is good once you have used the cache size tweaks. Not great but good.
I fully agree on the speed comment, 527mhz... but it seems it's different mhz compared to my HTC Herald (P4350).
On my Herald I also have WM6.1, a 200mhz cpu (o'ced to 240 mhz) and everything starts faster!
I've got the 1.37.xxx.3 rom on my Diamond, TF3D disabled and still it's slower.
Very strange indeed.
guys i suggest you all to flash duttythroy's diamond project v2 rom. it increased the usability amazingly.
guys i suggest you all to flash duttythroy's diamond project v2 rom. it increased the usability amazingly. and c'mon guys, our shiny precioussssssss is out some weeks. look what they've done with the kaiser within one year... stay patient and keep being excited for that genius piece of hardware.
carlosp_uk said:
These are the first impressions of a power user after a week with the Diamond - I hope they might help others to decide whether to get one.
Background
I'm a power user but also a heavy day-to-day user as well. I use my phone for calling people, basic PDA functions, OTA google sync, web access, IMAP mail, GPS and also .NET software development. (I'm the author of 'Touch Settings') I used to have an HTC Touch. Before that, an HTC Prophet. Before that, an HTC MDA Compact.. ..you get the idea. I like HTC devices. I've stuck with them all, put up with their frustrations and watched them steadily improve. But this phone felt like the most exciting release yet. A massive leap forward in terms of specs. I was calling up Orange for about a month to find out the ETA. I actually RAN to the Orange Shop in Oxford Street and managed to get their last one in stock at the weekend!
So, one week in, here we go...
Great things
THE SCREEN
My favourite thing is the VGA screen. I cannot believe the difference it makes to the look of the phone, seriously. I could never go back to QVGA again now, this is a major improvement. Just reading the operator name in a slim, Arial-Narrow type font at the top of the screen and not being able to see the individual pixels, this is a true step forward. Everything, repeat, EVERYTHING looks better.
THE CAMERA
The auto-focus camera is nothing short of brilliant. Still rubbish in low-light levels, still no flash, but this is light-years ahead of the last one! I still get a little smirk of delight on my face when I hear it whirring as it focuses ahead of taking a picture!
A FASTER PROCESSOR
Hooray! FINALLY!... 528MHz ...4 times faster than my HTC Touch!...in theory. See below.
THE NEW ADD-ONS
Having GPS, FM radio, a tilt switch, a light sensor and more is fantastic. Teeter, the game, is awesome and will impress every person you know at a party.
THE SIZE
The Diamond is slightly smaller than the HTC Touch as well - easier to fit in a pocket. And it really does look gorgeous. Well done HTC.
Enough praise. Because then there's all this:
The Not-so-great things:
THE SPEED
Pop Quiz. Take your Windows Mobile phone. Tap the start button. Then tap 'Programs'. Does the window flash onto your screen immediately? No. There's a delay, isn't there? And sometimes you can even see it drawing every individual icon, top-to-bottom. On my HTC Touch, after a day of use, this took about 2 seconds.
On the Diamond, with TouchFlo 3D running, it's worse.
Skip this paragraph if you don't want a rant. Seriously, when are Windows Mobile phones actually going to get responsive enough to be useable? Delays when you press buttons, delays when you bring up menus, switch applications, etc, etc. What the hell is this operating system DOING with those 537 mega cycles per second??? Having patiently waited through my last THREE sloooow devices, I was thrilled at the thought of a phone that actually whizzed along... ...but it's a bit like going from XP on a slow computer to Vista on a fast computer - no noticable increase in speed at all. Such a crushing disappointment. My old Nokia could re-draw a screen faster 3 years ago. In this day and age, and with a processor doing a belting 500+ MHz, this should NOT be happening. Things should appear INSTANTLY and react the VERY MOMENT you touch them. I am running out of patience. The iPhone is looking more attactive every day.
TFL3D - INTERFACE
Fantastic to look at, but surprisngly sluggish to use. The more days that pass, the more it's becoming apparent that this interface is more about form and less about function. It's also often lacking in visual feedback; sometimes a button will move when you drag it (main nav bar at the bottom), sometimes not! You just have to swipe and see! Visual feedback is a very important part of user interface design.
COMMON ACTIONS, E.G. CALLING PEOPLE
I feel that, action-wise, some things have (incredibly) got HARDER since my HTC Touch. For example, I used to be able to call my favourite contacts with a swipe and a tap.. ..now it's a swipe, a complicated side-swipey thing, a painstaking wait for the piccies to flip around, and finally a tap. Er, hello? This is the MAIN THING I USE THE PHONE FOR - CALLING PEOPLE! I can't even position my favourite contacts in memorable places; again, a big factor in user interface design, hence why you remember where your icons are on your PC's desktop.
HOME SCREEN (TFL3D again really)
I can't add any custom home screen items! What the hell happened to being able to view my list of things to do? (tasks) Seriously, this is a shockingly bad step back. I know there are some apps to work around this, but I'm doing a review of the stock phone and software here.
THE JOYPAD
This should be renamed the joy-less pad. It's virtually impossible to click the Left and Right buttons without frequently mis-tapping and hitting the 'Back' or 'Hang Up' keys instead. There are no markings, you just sort of have to 'guess' where abouts on the flat screen to tap. The actual target area isn't big enough and I'm getting sick of quitting out of screens when I just want to move right or left. I've got fairly big hands but I'm no elephant.
The ipod-style 'whiz-around' wheel seems promising but when you try it, it's under-responsive and jerky in its movements. I would suggest that's why they've limited the applications that support it by default.
NO MINI SD CARD SLOT
Another step back - from 8Gb storage on my HTC Touch (with a mini SD card) to a paltry 4Gb now. Not enough to put all my music on the phone plus nav software, and no slot for more storage.
GROSS GREASINESS
As other forum users have pointed out, all that swiping on this shiny black device - it looks like the back of a transit van after a minute or so of use.
CONCLUSION
Owning an HTC Diamond is without doubt a step forward from an HTC Touch, but it's a smaller step than you might think. Be prepared for a mixed bag of emotions. Joy at the look of the thing, disappointment when you realise it's slower than you hoped, shouts of happiness when you first play 'Teeter', cries of frustration when the screen turns off randomly during calls or you miss-hit the joypad button or you can't swipe the tiny bit of the screen you're meant to.
After all that, I might surprise you by saying this. I would still say this phone is the best option on the market for the day-to-day user who wants an ultra-portable device that packs enough power to do that bit more than just making calls.
Just 24 hours into owning the phone I did my first ROM flash, from 1.37...1 to 1.37...3 - and this helped the speed somewhat and fixed a memory leak. I also tweaked the registry as much as I could. This has helped too, but the above problems are all still too evident, nothing has really improved enough to make me retract any of them. Keep watching these forums, though, because future ROM updates have the power to make this device much, much better.
That's about it, I hope these comments have helped, or given you something to debate in the space below. I'm going to stick with the Diamond for now. But I wouldn't mind betting I'll have completely disabled TouchFlo 3D before the week is out...
Carlos
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what a crap...
THE SPEED
Put one of the new ROMs on it (Dutty, Walshieau), runs like hell. No delay here!
TFL3D - INTERFACE
Simply switch TF3D off if you don't like it.
And use an existing tool for your today (SPB Mobile Shell ect.).
COMMON ACTIONS, E.G. CALLING PEOPLE
Disable the Diamond dialer, you get your traditional dialer back.
HOME SCREEN (TFL3D again really)
Simply switch TF3D off.
Use an existing tool for today (SPB Mobile Shell ect.).
THE JOYPAD
Get used to it, it works perfect after a few weeks.
NO MINI SD CARD SLOT
Ok, maybe you got a point...
On the other hand: do you really need ALL your music all the time. A sync now and then for other music isn't that hard.
GROSS GREASINESS
Ok, the shiny cover gets greasy. But is't so beautiful,,,
Hello,
im a (happy) wizard user, but can get my hands on a cheap diamond. Main thing im interested is speed (diamond has a much faster cpu), but im unsure if the bloated ui isnt giving away this advantage.
I would be glad to hear some opinions from people who have experience with both wizard and diamond if its worth to make the switch.
Thanks a lot, DrDoomGod
I switched from the Wizard to the Diamond. I dont regret the change, but there are a few things i miss:
-The Keyboard. If you get uset to the keyboard and switch to the Diamond, writing will take 100 times longer.
-All the buttons. On the wizard, its ca 4 or 6 more buttons(minus the keyboard) than on the Diamond. Using NES emulators and other games become much harder/impossible because the "missing" keys.
-The Memory Card. Yeah the Diamond has 4GB of storage, but what if you need more?
Now when that's said, I'm gonna tell you why i'm not changing back.
-TF3D. Hate it or love it. Easy access to apps,music,pictures,radio,etc..
-The Radio. Great thing that the Wizard didn't have.
-The Speed. You can view movies without it lagging.
-The Simple access to Youtube. Just love it.
-The GPS.
-The G-Sensor. The G-sensor is used in many cool apps here on XDA.
For me, it was worth the change. I think it depends on what you use the phone for when it's not used as a phone
I also upgraded from wizard to diamond and like it very much
Personally I didnt use keyboard on wizard and hate to use stylus
With diamond i can do pretty much anything with my finger, and another great plus is build in gps (if u use navigation) and higher resolution, everthing looks a lot smoother now, its a lot thinner more like normal phone size, and onscreen keyboard is very usable with finger. Also internet and movies (youtube!) is a lot more useable because of higher res and better (opera) browser. even normal non .mobi pages are viewable now , altough not perfect in most cases.
for me it was definetly worth the (E 200,- minus 65,- for sold wizard=) E 135,-
but then again i like gadgets and wizard did also a good job but it gets kinda old and i know a lot of people who had failing wizards with corrupt flash or other aging problems
I changed from Wizard also and I am happy with Diamond, although I just got HD also.
I miss proper Dpad and keyboad since you could do pretty much all little stuff without touching the screen and faster.
Anyway, Touchflow 3D makes it easy and no need for dpad so much.
If you like keyboard really much I think you should go touch pro, but yeah when you learn onscreen keyboard it is pretty fast.
Wizard... Diamond...
I used to have a Wizard (many moons ago!)... the Diamond is in another century! If you really want the hardware keyboard, get the Diamond Pro. The format is exactly the same as the Wizard, only newer, slicker, faster, nicer, sexier, smoother.....
WOW, Before I start please don't flame me for maybe some stupid questions !!!
Having used my artemis for well over 2 yrs now , i've flashed, put apps on it , re-installed various ROM's & got it working to my likening.
Now I treated myself to the Diamond which I think is currently one of the best on the market as it stands,
Well here we go, WM6.5 - Does the Diamond take the OS safely ?? Like the format, but don't want to get rid of TouchFLO 3D coz it rocks !!
Is it a different app i need for customization of themes instead of Manilla 2D ??
Can i use the same IGO8 & TOM TOM that i've got or is that for QVGA only (basically will it work on the Diamond VGA ? )
Oh ! and anymore help would be appreciated
Many Thanks, D
Hey, I also just changed from the artemis after 2 years to the diamond. I've installed tomtom 6 onto the diamond which worked perfect on the artemis. I haven't been outside yet to see if it works, I guess it will. But even with no signal, there's usually a row of grey circles in the waiting for gps signal screen on the artemis, and mine is blank on the diamond. Tomtom7 might be better, dunno yet. Igo8 was slow as **** on the artemis, too memory intensive especially with those 3D maps so I binned it. Might be better on the diamond. Diamond has some great features, but you will probably, like me, be disappointed with a few things, such as:
Volume not as loud as artemis, particularly important when driving on noisy motorways and you want to hear the sat nav voice louder. There's a tweak on this forum for volume.
On/off button on top, much nicer on artemis on right side.
Soft reset button trickier to press as it's located inside the stylus housing. On artemis, as you know, it's on the left side.
Light goes off during phone calls after 4 seconds.
Using the stylus on the diamond screen is harder work than the artemis, you have to press more.The artemis is much better for that.
Gets very warm at the bottom of the device, artemis didn't.
Less physical buttons of course than the artemis, and the settings/buttons assignment tab is practically non existent, you'll need to get a 3rd party app.
No camera button like the one on the right side of the artemis.
Battery indicator shows blocks and no % numbers, no big deal I suppose.
Touch flow 3D is nice but makes things fiddly and a bit confusing till you get used to it. Sometimes I turn it off to get the same UI as the artemis, it makes getting around the device easier and looks less cluttered.
Screen is fractionally smaller I think.
Mr Roman5, do you think the Diamond is not as good as the artemis on spec alone maybe, or is it gonna take a bit of time to get used to the software ??
Cheers, D
Before i flash, any recommendations coz every ROM I've looked at looks TOP DOLLAR !!!
The diamond is better spec for sure, faster processor, better camera (3.2mp instead of 2.0) wifi, 3G, touch screen, etc. It's just that I miss certain features of the artemis that allowed me to go between applications incredibly easily. However, I definitely recommend the diamond. I've been adding tweaks that I found on here and that has improved things a lot already. It's definitely quite a fun phone.
Roman5 said:
The diamond is better spec for sure, faster processor, better camera (3.2mp instead of 2.0) wifi, 3G, touch screen, etc. It's just that I miss certain features of the artemis that allowed me to go between applications incredibly easily. However, I definitely recommend the diamond. I've been adding tweaks that I found on here and that has improved things a lot already. It's definitely quite a fun phone.
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Don't want to annoy you or bug you, but what about some of the questions i was asking earlier, WM6.5, Custimations, ETC, Sorry D.
droy68 said:
Don't want to annoy you or bug you, but what about some of the questions i was asking earlier, WM6.5, Custimations, ETC, Sorry D.
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Oh, not annoying me at all, I've been asking loads of questions myself as the diamond is a brand new toy for me.
I'm afraid I don't have the faintest clue about your other questions, but I reckon someone here will probably say that WM6.5 will work ok so you might be in luck. As far as themes, I don't know that either, and I would love to have one particular theme myself if someone knows. The blue one that the artemis has. That's the windows default one on artemis I think, and the one I've always used on that phone. Currently I've got guava bubbles theme on the diamond and without the TF3D on, the whole screen goes a really vibrant and warm sort of flameburst orange and red colour.
Roman5 said:
Oh, not annoying me at all, I've been asking loads of questions myself as the diamond is a brand new toy for me.
I'm afraid I don't have the faintest clue about your other questions, but I reckon someone here will probably say that WM6.5 will work ok so you might be in luck. As far as themes, I don't know that either, and I would love to have one particular theme myself if someone knows. The blue one that the artemis has. That's the windows default one on artemis I think, and the one I've always used on that phone. Currently I've got guava bubbles theme on the diamond and without the TF3D on, the whole screen goes a really vibrant and warm sort of flameburst orange and red colour.
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Click to collapse
Getting there slowly but surely, themes as in TF3D, i used the customization on the artemis but reading the forum there is one i might need to use for the Diamond, but surely i'll get there with some of the great members of this thread, Heh Heh
Hey, I mentioned the gps and tomtom. Well, it's way better than the artemis for a fix. I've just been outside and got a fix for both copilot and tomtom6 in a matter of seconds. That's in my car, in the phone holder, WITH the silicon case over it. Even after switching off the phone for a few minutes and rebooting, it got an instant fix. I'll test it further by leaving the phone off for an hour and see how fast it is then. But, at least it works!
EDIT: retested by switching phone back from cold 45 minutes later. Yes, instant gps fix, woohoo! Compared to 2 minutes or sometimes more on the artemis, this has to be the single best thing about the diamond. I hope it continues to find a fix quickly in different areas.