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Hey,
Im moving on from my trusty MDA and came apon a few decently priced At&t Tilts. Ive read over the driver issues and just wanted the opinions of some current and/or previous owners.
Just so you know, I have owned a Wing, MDA and currently a Blackjack2 and had flashed/upgraded the HTCs several times. Thats why I want to come back to an HTC device.
Thanks in advance.
go for it dude
fhaines said:
Hey,
Im moving on from my trusty MDA and came apon a few decently priced At&t Tilts. Ive read over the driver issues and just wanted the opinions of some current and/or previous owners.
Just so you know, I have owned a Wing, MDA and currently a Blackjack2 and had flashed/upgraded the HTCs several times. Thats why I want to come back to an HTC device.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally, I think it is a great phone.
I agree. Fully functional 3D drivers or not, this is still the most amazing phone on the market for price point. The only thing I would personally get above this phone is the touch pro....and that wont be for some time to come
I've had a tilt since oct 07. Wouldn't give it up for anything. Does it play 3d perfectly, no...but I didn't buy it to play movies & mp3 files. Does it have as quality camera as my old SE W810i? No, but with patience, it does pretty darn well. I got the tilt because it allowed me to replace a phone & PDA with one device. I use mobile office around 10-15 times a day, 20-30 text messages a day, the camera maybe once or twice a week, and it is without a doubt the best
device I've owned. it has it's quirks, but what device doesn't?
here hear, awesomest phone i have ever owned. I was looking for a phone i could replace my phone and pda with. it rocksas far as features. sure the graphics suck. but they get the job done in a pinch. weee it's the most technologicaly advanced phone that att has right now. I dont have to synch eight devices. i just got rid of my laptop. I use this for most everything. i have school comp labs for everything else. i thought about taking it back and waiting fr something better to come out. but. when the touch pro comes out it will cost 450 dollars with a new 2 year agreement. school stsrts before then anyways. HEY thanks you guysfor making this the coolest phone it can be with what is available. is there any feature that another phone has that this one does not. in america anyways. it is a business phone. it does just that. it will play most regular phone games out there. damn it doesnt play crysis at maximum detail. boo hoo. it is a freakin miracle these slow resricted devices can do what they do. having said that. im sure my opinion would be changed with a good foreign phone. hey and htc come on. what other company out there encourages hacking their phones by putting xda developers in their wiki. i have dropped this thing onto concrete hard twice and to my knowledge it hasnt phased it. oh and btw. i dont have a data plan for my phone. i am typing this on my tilt at panera bread on my hardware giant qwerty keyboard. this has taken me fifteen mins to write. do that iphone. do that old style 12 key phones. i just got the thing and i am typing fast on it. if you want a gaming phone this is not for you. if you want relatively long battery life when you surf the net using wifi get this phone. i am comparing the batt life to my sony clie which had first generation pda wifi in it. i have gone over an hour today surfing the web. i still have 20 pecent left and i started with like 60. my clie could only go for like 45 mins with a brand new battery with a slower processor. well panera bread is cosing and i should probably get home. but it isnt becase my pda ran outof juice. i have the oem batt btw. good night all. i hope this helps you in your quest fora new phone.
i have owned the tilt since Nov 2007 and it has been a excellent pocket pc/phone. what i really like about the phone is having the ability to flash the rom that chefs have to offer. it's nice to have options and incredible free applications out there offered by the programmer's.
i have been through four previous pocket pc phones and it's nice for once that there is everything packaged into one device. I use gps, wifi, watch movies, listen to mp3s, outlook/exchange, bluetooth etc.. i take the phone to the limits and it meets expectations.
despite the video driver problem, its not a big deal if you are really into eye candy.
if you have other questions, you can email me..
tvos
Nooo. Don't get it. I personally plan on selling my Tilt and shelling out some cash to get the AT&T Fuze (Touch Pro). It's much better. The retail pricing is only about $100-200 more then the Tilt's. So it'll retail for about $550/$650 w/o contract. =) This is a great deal compared to $1k. It's going to come out before year's end and AT&T data managers are currently testing the Fuze. It'll be out before 08 ends I can swear on it. It has a different color TF3D as we've seen. It has no front camera and an extra button for PTT. That's about it.
Guess how I got this info =)
Kraize92 said:
Nooo. Don't get it. I personally plan on selling my Tilt and shelling out some cash to get the AT&T Fuze (Touch Pro). It's much better. The retail pricing is only about $100-200 more then the Tilt's. So it'll retail for about $550/$650 w/o contract. =) This is a great deal compared to $1k. It's going to come out before year's end and AT&T data managers are currently testing the Fuze. It'll be out before 08 ends I can swear on it. It has a different color TF3D as we've seen. It has no front camera and an extra button for PTT. That's about it.
Guess how I got this info =)
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Click to collapse
you don't know what your talking about...
get the tilt..... worse and try it out for 30 days.. if you don't like it, return it... this probably the best to offer... at least at&t give you this option.
tvos
tvos said:
you don't know what your talking about...
get the tilt..... worse and try it out for 30 days.. if you don't like it, return it... this probably the best to offer... at least at&t give you this option.
tvos
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rofl. I know exactly what I'm talking about
I dont want to sound negative
but your posting on a Kaiser forum and asking people who own a Tilt if they advise you to get it... haha i got a feeling your gonna get around 90% yes...
the real test is to ask some guys who have a htc touch diamond or some of the other smart phones out there what they think of the Kaiser...
oh and my answer is yes... get it... with the right tweaks and a few apps to your liking, it will be the best phone you have owned (well atleast it is the best phone i have had)
I had mine since March. Pretty good phone. A tad on the heavy side. And depends on how you like to hold it, the little corner of the USB port may dig into your pinky. The AT&T bloatware are garbage but nothing you can't fix on your own. There are enough people that like it to get a constant supply of goodies.
Knowing what I know now, would I get it again? Probably.
fhaines said:
Hey,
Im moving on from my trusty MDA and came apon a few decently priced At&t Tilts. Ive read over the driver issues and just wanted the opinions of some current and/or previous owners.
Just so you know, I have owned a Wing, MDA and currently a Blackjack2 and had flashed/upgraded the HTCs several times. Thats why I want to come back to an HTC device.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I look for speed and stability in a PPC, and I'm sorry to say that once again I have not found it in a HTC phone. I previously had the S710. Compared to that, the TYTN-II is fast as lightning. But compared to previous Sony Ericsson and Palm phones, the TYTN-II is sloppy. Admittedly it has GPS and WI-FI, which the others did not. The stability is below what I think is reasonable to expect for a smartphone in 2008. The touchscreen and buttons are occasionally unresponsive, and normal operation is often replaced by random "irregularities". I soft reset the device some 1-3 times a week, because unexpected stuff just happens: ranging from missed calls, broken activesync, unable to connect to EDGE network, software crashes, buttons not working.
Yet I hold on to it. It sports a nice set of features, and the software for it is plentyfull. The stability and performance can be improved by careful configuration (involving a lot of trial-and-error), but be prepared to spend a lot of hours on it. If you are a "point-and-shoot" type of person, who just want a phone that works out of the box, you may be disappointed with this one.
At least this is my personoal experience with the phone. Your milage may vary!
If you're prepared to put up with what can at times be an annoyingly slow user interface, then I don't see why not. The feature-set is excellent, the build quality is excellent and the tilting display shows no sign of flimsy construction. It has a nice weight to it and feels comfortable to hold and use.
But the dsmn lack of drivers *REALLY* grates at me after a while, especially when switching between portrait/landscape modes. The more time goes on, the more you notice how slow it is. There are tweaks that help, for example if you set the X button to close instead of hide apps the effect of this is minimised somewhat, but that shouldn't be necessary.
Unless you have patience for a UI with an average speed of "slow" I would go for one of HTCs other offerings which actually uses the hardware it contains, although if the custom drivers that are underway reach completion, perhaps the Kaiser will be a serious contender. So if you DO buy one, you may think of it as an investment for the future
Quality and Function comparisons
CrArc said:
. . . The feature-set is excellent, the build quality is excellent and the tilting display shows no sign of flimsy construction. It has a nice weight to it and feels comfortable to hold and use. . .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a Wizard (8125) and a Kaiser (Tilt) and just got a Hermes (8525) for another family member - the Kaiser obviously has the best feature set, but the build quality of the other two is better, IMO. The 8125 is clunky looking, but solid, and the spacing of the keys makes it much easier not to miss-key. The 8525 is super-solid, has the best battery cover, and I think is the best looking.
That said, I will keep using the Kaiser. I have also tried i-mate 8502 and HP iPaq 910c, and returned to the Kaiser. The chrome is wearing down on the buttons, and some of HTC's software design on it is annoying (e.g. fast backlight shutoff - fixable of course). In the inevitable comparison to iPhone 3G, the iPhone does some things amazingly well (threaded SMS, internet browsing) but still doesn't have a spreadsheet for crying out loud! I depend on Excel, use it constantly in eyecare clinic.
So despite its flaws, the Kaiser is the best thing for me - until Touch Pro for AT&T 3G is available - then I will get that - the 5 row keyboard and the VGA screen are the big pluses there, and you can never have too much memory.
You know I researched a lot before buying my tilt, knowing I would need to unlock and flash it to get the functionality I wanted. I could not be happier with my purchase. Things I know I can not do with an Iphone easily or at all at no additional cost include excel & word editing, connect to Citrix, RDP, tether my laptop by either USB or BT. As for the d3d drivers, while they would be nice I don't see them as mandatory since this is first a phone and a PDA not a iPod. That said, I have no issue other than bandwidth when I comes to streaming media through ORB to my TILT and playback is more than acceptable for me.
Just do it since your no stranger to flashing,
z
First off, I guess its obvious a lot of the users who browse this board would recommend the X1. My hope is that I can get some honest opinions on whether or not you guys would still invest in a X1 if you didn't have it currently.
I'm in Canada and I'm looking for a phone from my local retailer (in this case Rogers). Since I'm not just buying any unlocked phone, I don't have that many options. Its the X1, HTC Diamond of iPhone. iPhone's functions are great but I just dislike the look very much. The X1 is looking good in both appearance and cost for me.
I'm also a bit intimidated about all the customization for the X1. It's great that there are so many options but I don't know where to start. If someone can point me off in the right direction (in terms of what to install, what are must have ROMs / apps) that would be great. Especially all this WM6.1/6.5/6.5.1 I hear buzzing around.
Any help would be great appreciated.
the x1 is cool and all but its 1 year old now. You can find better phones out there. Are you interested in the updated x2? its the same just bigger screen and an accelerometer. Are you going to be at&t only? If not you should check out the Droid phone for verizon
if you can get it really cheap then go for it or get the tp2 for the bigger screen. both are pretty much one year old tech but will hold their own with the new current phones being offered.
I'm from the igloos up North so the Canadian providers are mainly Rogers and Telus and I'm with Rogers.
Seems to me that we usually get the shortest end of the stick; by the time I can pick a phone up from my local store it seems to be outdated and at the moment it seems to be my only choice. This is my first smart phone so I'm finally getting some data and I don't want to spend a whole lot.
Regardless, the X2 does look pretty awesome and I'm definitely interested. However, I don't know when or if Rogers will offer it. Is there any conformation on information like so? I think the X2 was released in Europe a few weeks ago if my research proves correct.
grantran said:
First off, I guess its obvious a lot of the users who browse this board would recommend the X1. My hope is that I can get some honest opinions on whether or not you guys would still invest in a X1 if you didn't have it currently.
I'm in Canada and I'm looking for a phone from my local retailer (in this case Rogers). Since I'm not just buying any unlocked phone, I don't have that many options. Its the X1, HTC Diamond of iPhone. iPhone's functions are great but I just dislike the look very much. The X1 is looking good in both appearance and cost for me.
I'm also a bit intimidated about all the customization for the X1. It's great that there are so many options but I don't know where to start. If someone can point me off in the right direction (in terms of what to install, what are must have ROMs / apps) that would be great. Especially all this WM6.1/6.5/6.5.1 I hear buzzing around.
Any help would be great appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love my X1, but it has old software by default. If you are into ROM flashing that isn't a problem, but if you aren't, you'll likely be happier with a Touch Pro 2.
How much are they selling it for? If it is at the same price of the iPhone 3GS, then get the iPhone, sell it as new on ebay and have enough money to buy 2 X1s.
before You'll get one read sticky about cracking. this device have a serious issue with plastic elements of housing cracking and chipping without any real reason. don't let any fool convince You, that it's a problem of only some units. most units are/will be affected. x2 however might be better, as it was built by foxconn, rather than htc.
if you can get new one less than 300$ then go for it
hi im new to all smartphones in general (live in poland and we have third world providers here )
got dilema since my contract is soon to be expired and got proposals for cheap but long contract extension (kinda normal here) phones.
Ill write what i can get :
-omnia
-xperia x1
-htc touch dual
-htc magic
-htc diamond
here is my dilema - x1 or magic
x1 comes with 4 gig sd (magic with nothing)
x1 is kinda older but when i look at hardware of lets say x2 its almost identical hence i hope for updates for x1
for magic speaks android (but new droid phones will have 1gig procesors wich worries me about its updates)
please speak from expirience.
Ill not use internet heavely (costs in orange network are radiculous) more like for IM's besides i can download apps via pc - ill be into flashing roms and stuff since i love to customize my phones.
so please be honest and no i cant afford any other phone since it would mean around 500$ and im poor bastard
cheers
If those are your options the xperia is by far the best! Okay the Omnia might not be a bad option, but I wouldn't consider the rest as in the same category.
EDIT: Magic would actually be a better choice in my opinion than Omnia, but I am still more favorable to WinMo... For now. If you don't have an affinity to Windows Mobile then the Magic might be a good choice. I prefer X1 for high res screen too. Makes for awesome Web browsing.
based on the choices you have, the x1 seems to be the better option. The new roms here make the x1 a much much better phone than out of the box so dont worry about it's initial performance once you get it. I mean after flashing a good rom, it's like having a new fone again...
Also, the x1 seems to be the only one with the keyboard amongst your other choices and for me that's a huge advantage!! I guess i'm just not made for full touch screen usage, i make too many errors typing...the next advantage would be the wvga resolution, awesome for watching movies (of course those formatted for wvga, there's a tool here to format)...
I just got my X1 last week, unlocked for $300 AUD, and after flashing a few roms its easy to find a happy place. I think its a pretty sweet device, and it can still fight it out with the newer phones.
Of the rest I've had a go at the Omnia, magic and also a touch HD, although the touch HD is pretty much the same except with no keyboard etc. I don't really like the Omnia's screen, so I would go for the Magic, the cloud concept seems pretty appealing, and its pretty slick.
sorry double post
ok so here is essential question :
Do i NEED to unlock x1 to be able to flash it etc?
Coz im long time orange user and dont plant to change it any time soon so its not nessesary for me.
as for android it has an app that blocks gprs and stuff is there simmilar thing for x1?
as for all these choices i only considered magic (for android) and experia for overall keyboard and screen that makes me horny also the camera soft on SE is allways better.
Tbh its like rollercoaster lol 1 day i want x1 more next day want magic lol
besides 1 more important thing is for it to be able to withstand 3 year contract
No you don't need to unlock it from a network to flash it, as far as I know.
I actually think, IMO, Magic has the better still camera, but I've never tried them both in same conditions. Video on X1 is much better though, even more so if you get a X1i. Also camera without a dedicated button (the Magic is missing one) can be a bit irritating.
As for apps, I think you can be covered for anything.
X1 is getting old, so 3 years might be a stretch, how much would you pay for the phone through a plan? Might be better to just buy it outright?
Also, X1 has the 3.5mm jack, and the usb port is in much better position for typing. I think (correct me if I'm wrong) the Magic has a non-mini-b port, and I have loads of those laying around, so more convenient
well you see the thing is i would get it for a 1pln lol (about 1/3 of a usd ) just becose im long withthem and its a long plan. i have no cash at all
with magic it would be the same.
so You see my point its the first time in history lol when they allow me to have PDA like phone and i dont want to get stuck on something that will be tottal crap in 1 year
FYI, the Sony XPeria X1 is only $99 from Rogers on a 3 year term. This is a fantastic price, since it was $299 on a 3 year term last week. I'm thinking of getting the X1 now, especially since I've heard that the Motorola Droid won't be coming to Rogers.
reassor said:
well you see the thing is i would get it for a 1pln lol (about 1/3 of a usd ) just becose im long withthem and its a long plan. i have no cash at all
with magic it would be the same.
so You see my point its the first time in history lol when they allow me to have PDA like phone and i dont want to get stuck on something that will be tottal crap in 1 year
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The X1 is a much higher end looking device, and will at least look good for quite a long time . The Magic on the other hand already looks old. OS wise, Android is ahead of MS in terms of GUI.
With all that being said, if you have a lot of time on your hands to tinke you'll like the X1, it is like a mini computer. The magic imo has less upgrade-ability due to its low ROM size. Eitherway, you'll likely be happy as this is your first smartphone and you have nothing to compare it too.
Lots of good info in this thread. I've almost exclusively used Symbian/S60/UIQ up until this point and have been thinking of getting a nice and relatively cheap WinMo device to get me up to speed in the WinMo world and help me tide over until the X10 hits the scene in 2 months.
There are a couple of <6 month old X1s available around where I live for a shade over US$200. Do you think that's the correct price to pay? Frankly, I'm surprised at the amount of depreciation over the past 12 months. Other phones that used to cost about $800 (TouchHD etc) have held on to their value while the X1's has just plummeted.
Anyways, the X1s that I played with were in pristine condition but I'm concerned about the cracks problem. What do you reckon would be a good approximation for a baseline production date from where the cracks problem was resolved? I tried searching through the sticky thread on the problem but couldn't really find anything specific since most people haven't posted the production dates of their X1s.
Just to tell you, the X10 is an android phone
I'd forget the X1... sure you might get an 09 batch with no case cracking issues but another common problem is that the keyboard gets sticky and soon your space bar becomes very unresponsive.
Better of getting a full touch screen phone.
X1 for me was one big bad purchase and yes I do flash the latest ROMS.
I bought mine on May last year, and boy was it a mistake. I can't believe I bought ANOTHER Windows Mobile phone, while it is a dying OS...
Too bad I didn't wait for the HTC Desire...
So yeah, Microsoft screwed me with their crappy OS.
Don't regret
I didn't regret the choice I had made. I will love Touch Diamond2 forever.
我作了这个选择并不后悔。我会永远爱我的钻石2代。
yup, i regret it. BUT I can't cry over spilled milk. i make the best of what i have and with enough tweaking and playing around with it, even a Topaz can be...half decent. my ONLY complaint? it's slightly slow. faster than stock roms...but slow in comparison to the nexus one or the desire. oh well, ill enjoy it for another year maybe and then try and get an Android device (Droid 3 then?)
cheers.
Sometimes I regret getting the TD2 especially when entering Text Messages which is unbareable slow and the occassional unresponses to Powering-on.
BTW sent an e-mail last week to HTC about said problems and they came back with "Try a hard reset" - Not at all impressed by HTC.
how do you end up questioning yourself something like that?
do not want to be involved into an endless discussion but I could not help myself not to reply with my thoughts: why is willing anybody to throu on a forum ideas like a dying OS and comparing 2 completely different devices? if you look ofr a shoulder to cry, go out and play with the friends! if you look for some oppinions do not by the judge! to not throuw sentances in vain!
by the moment you plan to change your device the "desire" will be a brik, so your choice made one year ago can prove to be perfect!
for not being misunderstood, I am not in favor or against topaz but this thrad is not bringing anything good to the forum, but only in time, make the search or other maintenance of the forum working slow. posts as love my device also do not help! maybe a betetr idea, si to open a new thread named: why will you choose topaz and why not, and there place pertinent reasons for complaints!
personally, I will never buy a device significantly bigger than topaz! I had diamnond 1 and now, because of useless hardware buttons on that model and because of bigger resolution and available memory I moved to topaz (pure). I will always prefer the dying OS as you named instead of banging my had on the wall finding a reliable navi for Android (of course, depend on the date of posing and the maps you need). the rest, like slow response, I can live with it! I mostly use the device for remote desktop and few calls and messaging. browsing for market information or just info is aslo a must and working pretty well!
hope I have made my point clear!
cheers!
I only regret not buying the touch pro2, and besides the lack of keyboard, I'm pretty happy with it.
No regrets here. It will hold me over for some time until the next "latest and greatest" device is released. It does everything I need it to do.
Granted, if I was stuck on the stock ROM, I probbaly would be sorely disappointed.
I really like the device. It's sad, that Microsoft doesn't fill up the marketplace. They seem to wait for their 7. My girlfriend just bought a Desire and I think I will stay with HTC but change to Android. She already has a lot of apps I miss on my phone.
I will use the diamond another 12 month from now, so Microsoft has a chance to convince me of Windows Phone 7. Else Android is my alternative.
at firts i regreted i had bought a TD2 not waited 3months and bought a HD2, but then i just didn't care.
now i regret i bought 2x4gb microSD cards 1 for my htc 1 for my (nokia)n81, because now i fixed audio problems and i hate carrying 2 phones around all the time(1 for music,1 for gps and web surfing and a few cool apps).
so i'm guesing tomorrow i'll regret i tried to make a sorta RC/3.5mm connector out of my htc headset
the lousy build is definitely a neg point for me
i have sweaty palms and the paintwork is all ruined
still prefer the old original diamond
managed to keep it in pristine condition despite being a yr old
wm platform is really slow though; getting online etc...
got a iphone for web surfing and email purposes instead
the only reason i'm retaining a wmm phone is for the intelligent call function(that is extremely important due to work and call volume) not available on other mobile platforms; correct me if i'm wrong...
I got an HTC Pure as a "complimentary" upgrade from AT&T, after my Incite got bit by the Netfront "trialware" fiasco. I am quite pleased with the Pure. It's screen is fantastic. I had to laugh when my buddy handed my phone to his wife to play with and then said, "she had a bad experience with her first touch screen phone. It had one of 'those' resistive screens." I think the only thing I don't like is the lack of a standard (3.5) headphone jack. It's also hard because a lot of new software is being targeted for the HD2 with it's faster processor. The larger screen would also be nice, but it's not any better resolution, and it would be (slightly) less pocketable. So, all in all I'm pleased with my device, and am very leary of WM7.
I like my PURE, and (fingers crossed) have not had to Hard Reset since I got it. WimMo6.5 has been stable, device has been basically flawless. I replaced two Tilts with this device. I am back on "shipped" ROM, just work around bloatware and load everything on my microSD card. I was concerned about not having the slideout key board, but am doing just fine without it.
I dont like lack of 3,5mm jack, flash, poooooor battery life, sluggish operation, WinMo abnormalities, direct sunlight readability... (nice form factor, resolution, gps performance, good camera...but in my case barely usable device)
Regarding move to E52/E72
Of course you regret it. In a year the technoligy is better and the new devices are better to. But for me it was the best device on that moment.
Overhere in Holland you just don't buy a phone. You sign a contract for a year or two and usually you'll get the phone for free. Now these day you have to pay up to €100 cause the devices are getting more expensive like a iPhone.
So waiting is not a option or you will lose your phone number. Or worse you forget to stop your contract in time, the phone company will extend your contract for another year or two.
Plus
Good service from HTC, they respond in your own language and really trying to help you. Just say you've done a couple of hard resets, they will sort it out for you. They've also kicked Vodafone Holland for me so that I can update my weather at location again.
Stock ROM's are working well
Nice design of the device
XDA-forum that brings me a lot of new futures. Just think about S2U2, CHT, TD2 tools. And I'm not even talking about flashing to costum ROM's
Multi tasking but that's also the minus. Everything is running on the back. Use CleanRAM
A 5mp camera
Min
Sluggish
Low battery life
WM is not that stable
My usb cable is crap, I can see the wires sticking out after 6 months of usage.
I hate my TD2 soooo much... Bought it on a 24 month contract in June last year, and within a month I was sick of the slowness and the plasticky design.
A few months later the camera stopped working completely and so HTC had to replace pretty much everything (as stated on the slip they provided).
Since then the digitizer has cracked on numerous occasions, with just a few minor impacts. I have been forced to buy and fit my own replacements since I have a good year left with this phone!
So, yes, I regret buying this handset more than any other I have ever owned.
As for Windows Mobile... What a crock of ****. A bare and dysfunctional 'app store', a slow and awkward interface and even with Sense over the top it still feels horrible.
I like HTC as a company, but the fact that within a few months they have discontinued and forgotten about your handset is not nice. If we could have got Android fully working on the TD2 it might have been bareable!
There is literally nothing about my TD2 which I like (battery life and soft keyboard are also rubbish); the initial selling points for me (design, screen, processor) have all been massively superceded.
Some of you may disagree with the points I've made, but the original post was asking for opinions and so these are mine!
I can use just about any ol' device for a phone. What I like about the Pure (and the two other WM devices I've owned) is that it's become a hobby of sorts. I like to flash it and rearrange it and play with different apps. At least until the recent court ruling that makes unlocking legal, I've always felt sorry for the poor folks who use an iPhone (my wife and daughter included) because they're just no fun. I feel like a slave to Steve Jobs when I pick one up. They're just so rigid and unlovable.
Oh, one thing I particularly like about WM is the ability to tether. I wouldn't own a phone that couldn't do that.
My Opinion
Imho, I think the topaz/pure was a great purchase for me. I ran out the day AT&T had them and got one because I was somewhat fed up with the tediousness of my raphael/fuze. Apart from a few minor issues, I think it's a great device... the 5 megapixel camera can be a halfways decent substitute to my normal cybershot when it has to, and the screen is indeed large and bright. The unfortunate part about it is that for the most part, you can't use it for serious video playing without downconverting almost anything you put on there. But that's what everyone's got their ipods for, right? XDXD
I don't regret getting it, and I am still satisfied with it, but if I was stuck with stock ROM, and did not re customize it from time to time, I am pretty sure that I would regret. It is wonderful phone and in my opinion the still best looking. That said I am switching soon to Desire.
I went thru a lot of HTC devices over the years and I did not regret a singly buy!
Of course after 1/2 year there are newer better faster devices out, but I was never disappointed by any HTC device I bought.
The only device I regret to buy was an Acer Dual Sim device that was cranky, slow, and did not work in Japan.
I dont regret getting any phone due to the research and testing before I buy them. One thing I can say is txting on resistive screens is painfull at best with my sausage fingers! saying that I had issues with my Hero aswell! the only one i didnt mind typing txt on was the iPhone!!
Most phones in the market had one or the other reason for me to eliminate them (be it cost or feature).
I have shortlisted SE Xperia X1 and SE Hazel. The cost difference between these 2 models is about $50.
Which one should I choose? One a 2 year old smartphone and the other non-smartphone. Does it make sense to go for the X1 over the Hazel?
I have NOT used any smartphone till date and I normally keep my phone for more than 2 years.
drsk said:
I have shortlisted SE Xperia X1 and SE Hazel. The cost difference between these 2 models is about $50.
Which one should I choose? One a 2 year old smartphone and the other non-smartphone. Does it make sense to go for the X1 over the Hazel?
I have NOT used any smartphone till date and I normally keep my phone for more than 2 years.
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Click to collapse
It all comes down to your preference. If all you want is simple and stable and just a simply "phone" to call others, pick the Hazel.
If you don't mind the pain for the learning curve and have to do a lot reading here (especially you are new to smartphone), X1 is still a powerful workhorse for your MP3/video, GPS, personal data organizer.
I'd recommend it if you can get it for a good price - dont pay like £300 for it - but it is a good device but theres lots to learn and much to tweak to get it good. if you got time to do that then go frit!
jackleung and comeradealexi - Thank you very much for your response.
You have helped me decide on the phone. I will go with X1. I am getting it for approx. £200.
I also recommend you the X1. You will get a powerful smartphone with the freedom of Windows Mobile. Use xda-developers as your source for software and you will realise sooner or later that there is a freeware solution for almost every need/ situation.
Don't buy X1 now. Go for an HTC Android phone. X1 is slow.
I would chose an Android device over the X1. The 800x480 pixel resolution is too much for xperia processor so it will be slow in multiple situations. Look for an Android device in the same price range, and you will be happier (or at least this is what I'll do if I was in your situation; Xperia is a great phone, I don't regret I payed for it).
Or look at a WM phone with better processor or lower screen resolution.
Cheers!
short answer: no, don't buy it. it's old...
longer answer:
it's hw is outdated and the drivers provided by SE are inferior. SE did a real lousy job on this. the official rom comes with winmo 6.1, the panels just suck. we all use 6.5-roms, but since there's no official 6.5-rom as a base, it's always a bit of a workaround on the x1.
go android. or have a look at windows phone 7. if it has to be windows mobile (it's all but dead now!), get the hd2 (touch pro 2 may be cheaper, if you can get one). everything else you wouldn't really enjoy.
(btw, the resolution isn't too much for the hw - it's the drivers. if you ever had a go with htc's touch pro 2, you'd know. same hw, better drivers, way better performance)
Don't buy from Sony Ericsson.
I've been a big SE fanboy in the past and I still use several of my old SE phones but they've been releasing crap/crippled phones at an alarming rate recently.
I don't regret that i own an x1, but i bought it almost 2 years ago. Don't buy a X1. The X10 mini pro, or other Android phones, are also low priced, so there are no reasons to buy a x1 now. The X1 is out-of-the-box a bit slow and you have to do a lot of tweaking/flashing before it's pleasant to use.
I HAVE NO REGRET FOR GETTING MY X1 2 YEARS AGO!!
but for now, just go for android
If you can get it cheap, you like the freedom of Windows Mobile and you can deal with the disadvantages of Windows Mobile I recommend you buying the Xperia X1. It's still one of the best WM devices available (and it will be forever since WM isn't in development anymore). I love mine.
But if you want an operating system that is up to date and will be further developed you have to look somewhere else (Android, Iphone, WP 7).
Best WM device, not.
Nobody warned this guy about keyboard, screen display loss and cracking? Wow.
Ok, the X1 may be old but drsk said he didn't want to spend too much money. So people recommending an iphone or newer android devices will not help him because those are (more)expensive.
I think the X1 works quite well for its age. But i must say you have tweak it a lot to get it exactly to you likings but it is worth. I have a lot of friends with newer phones and I haven't often seen them do things the x1 can't. It only does it a little slower or has less eyecandy.
In fact there are still a lot of things you can do with an Xperia X1 that you cannot with Android and especially with the Iphone. And the best: You don't have to root, jailbreak or whatever to do whatever you please with your Xperia X1. So I stay with my recommendation. If you can get it for a good price don't hesitate.
Awassenaar said:
Ok, the X1 may be old but drsk said he didn't want to spend too much money. So people recommending an iphone or newer android devices will not help him because those are (more)expensive.
I think the X1 works quite well for its age. But i must say you have tweak it a lot to get it exactly to you likings but it is worth. I have a lot of friends with newer phones and I haven't often seen them do things the x1 can't. It only does it a little slower or has less eyecandy.
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Click to collapse
I am very sure there are cheaper phones, WM, android or symbian that can do a job as well as X1.
The reason of your friends not doing things that X1 can't is because they are not power users like you. They probably spend much less time getting the phone up to speed. The time spent flashing, restoring etc can be spend elsewhere, such as actually having fun.
altae said:
In fact there are still a lot of things you can do with an Xperia X1 that you cannot with Android and especially with the Iphone. And the best: You don't have to root, jailbreak or whatever to do whatever you please with your Xperia X1. So I stay with my recommendation. If you can get it for a good price don't hesitate.
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Click to collapse
A lot of things? Care to elaborate? I can't think of any. Jailbreaking and rooting is very easy and much more quicker than installing those tweaks just to have the X1 behave like it should. If someone is willing to mess with WM, I am sure he/she can equally have fun with Android and iPhone. Jailbreaking is a breeze compared to HardSPL-ing.
Anyway, I am surprised that X1 is still worth money in threadstarter's country. It is basically worthless over here. Also, who would he go for warranty if he is hit by the various hardware defects with the X1? SE will probably run out of replacement parts by now. And plus the repair fees probably gonna cost more money and time. Simply not worth it IMO. Just get a WM phone with a better track record.
superweijie said:
I am very sure there are cheaper phones, WM, android or symbian that can do a job as well as X1.
The reason of your friends not doing things that X1 can't is because they are not power users like you. They probably spend much less time getting the phone up to speed. The time spent flashing, restoring etc can be spend elsewhere, such as actually having fun.
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Click to collapse
Ok, I get your point. But I just want to make this clear, the things you mention like flashing and stuff... I actually do those things for fun. It is not like I am sitting at home slaving over my phone while my friends are playing outside
Guys,
Thanks a lot for all the responses. I just started loving this forum. Am amazed with these responses even when I had not come here for sometime.
My criteria for a new phone was:
1. Should be < $450.
2. Should have good batt. backup.
3. Above average camera and audio (music) quality.
The reasons for not going for Android phones -
1. Good Android phones are expensive approx. $450+ which is not in my budget.
2. Most Android phones available today do not have Front Facing camera (except Galaxy S).
3G has just started entering the market and one of the main feature is video calling. Without FF camera, this feature will be useless. Now, I do know that I may (ok .. honestly "will") not use this feature in near future (say 6 months to a year). But, IF I desire to use that feature, then at that time I will have to buy a new phone just for this purpose. I normally do not change phones unless the current phone stops working or is too outdated. (My last phone Samsung D600 lasted 4 years before I lost it).
Also, Symbian phones had this peculiar feature of limiting the call history to 30 days! I just hated that limit. I can understand if they limit the number of history entries, but certainly NOT the time limit. Ofcourse, I could compromise on this if other criteria are met.
I had to leave out Samsung budget phones due to the reason that they give many features, but their quality is "middle of the road" (mainly camera and audio). The good ones were out of my budget.
After searching a lot I could narrow down to 2 choices SE Hazel (non-smartphone) and X1 (smartphone).
X1 attracted me based on the specifications - mainly the batt. backup which not many smart phones matched (atleast on paper - dunno the real life scenario) and is available in the range of $330.
it's your money...
seriously: don't get the x1. you'd have a lot of work before you to get it running. can't believe you missed all the threads about miserable build-quality (hw-keyboard, cracks, flex-cable). might i suggest htc's touch pro2? same hardware, has hw-keyboard, but you get official winmo 6.5 and an up-to-date system (htc sense, drivers), last firmware-update was about 4 months ago (x1: march 2009!). it has all you want (front-camera). only drawback is that it needs an adapter for headphones - believe me, it's worth it. price is $299,99 on amazon.com, so well inside your range.
edit:
while the x1-battery looks good on paper, it loses capacity rather quicky. and most custom-roms for x1 are high on consumption anyway (yes, you'll flash custom-roms. no, you won't be satisfied with stock-rom).
I do not regret buying my X1 but there are lots of other phones available now that far surpass X1 in computing power and features.
So you guys have had the HD7 for a while now. I know it has bugs at the moment. Its to be expected as the OS is still new.
But would you buy it if you knew what you knew now?
Yes, most certainly. Loving WP7 completely. In terms of hardware, the size of the screen is the deal maker for me. But a surprisingly nice addition is the kick stand, which is both effective, useful and invokes an 'oooh that's cool' from people I show the phone to.
I did buy it, then I returned it.
And got an Omnia 7.
May I ask why?
Absolutley I would, yes, there are are few niggles but this is version 1 of the software and a brand new device FFS. Apple are STILL having problems withe the iphone 4 even now (alarms cannot deal with move to GMT from BST for example). With WP7 you are buying into one of the most promising new mobile phone OS's of recent times IMHO, with the HD7 in particular, you are getting a cool big screen device from a company that has built up a good name for itself in the industry. I currently own the HTC Desire and the HTC HD7. I will be keeping the Desire only until the Kindle app and HTML5/ Flash land for WP7, then that will go on Ebay.
My only fear is that because MS decided to launch without one or two features (Flash/ CutnPaste and turn by turn Nav) it will get hammered by the critics in the tech press and be stillborn. This would be a tragedy - the more competition there is in the smartphone space the better for the consumer.
I also hope the handset manufacturers give it the attention it deserves, recent reports on build quality issues with the HTC Trophy do not bode well
That's a conclusive argument
I'm mainly after one as I'm a software developer and I'm interested in the app platform. Looks good. I will go get one today
Ive had mine a day and love it. Was running andoird on my HD2 previously and loved that. But I love the HD7 more. Ye the app market isnt as large as the other major two OS but I can live with that and times will change.
I had an iphone last year and once you get over the intiial hysteria of having millions of useless apps to download and amuse yourself with its not so important.
Ive not had any bugs with the HD7 yet. What issues have people come across.
My only gripe is that Im stuck with crappy Vodafone until 2012
StaticTony said:
May I ask why?
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Click to collapse
Sure, I loved it in the first 2 days but these 4 main reasons cropped up:
1. The phone would crash/lockup, it did this about 6 times in the week I had it.
2.The hard buttons (on/off, volume, camera) had NO click to them, they were completely soft, so I ended up pressing them all the time by accident, I launched the camera so many times when just holding the phone.
3.The case I was sold with it from the O2 store actually marked the back of it. ( a Leather one with a strap you pull to get it out, don't buy it)
4. I had huge doubts about the overall quality of the device, I really really don't think it would last for 18 months.
I understand 1 (possibly) and 3 were not the fault of the actual device but after issues 2 and 4 cropped up I just decided to return it and got a Omnia 7 instead.
So far for me the Omnia 7 is much better, seems much more higher build quality and its made from metal, the buttons have a nice satisfying click to them, and the screen is just gorgeous, aswell as it being much faster at loading apps and games.
The only reason I took the HD7 over the Omnia 7 in the first place was the double storage but that's not worth the trade off for me.
Oh Yes!!
Having bought an iPhone when they first came out and then giving it to one of our engineers within a week (he thought all his birthdays had come at once!) as deemed useless for true functionality compared with WM6. And then enjoyed my Touch HD I was in eager anticipation of the HD7.
Absolutely love it
Good OS - and looking forward to the updates
Brilliant device - everybody that sees it drools over it and rushes to renew their contract
I have been using email on my mobiles for years and have to say that the HD7 is by far the most brilliant device for actually 'doing business' on the move - big & bright and cool to use
Edit: Forgot to mention - the Office Hub is a 'killer': Was at a presentation yesterday with 2min before I stood up and realised I needed info from a spreadsheet which I thought was on my HD7 (but wasn't) - it took me 30secs to get it! - try doing that with an Android or iPhone...
Regards
CD (UK)
The only issue I have so far is the battery life but I've only done a couple of charges so hopefully that will improve.
It's early days for me but at the moment I am happier than I thought I would be. I'm trying Zune pass at the moment and really liking it. Maybe I didn't need the 16GB after all.
I though about the Omnia 7 but didn't want another 18/24 month contract and the PAYG prices being thrown around were a lot more expensive. Plus, I couldn't actually find anyone selling it on PAYG!
Had it for a bit now, had a few bugs happen, but I would not change it for any other phone out there.
Omnia 7 is a 100% no go for me because of the 8gb memory, I only have about 500meg left on my HD7 and will be ugrading to 32gb asap.
Im still not convinced in AMOLED screens, the colours never look right to me and the edges arnt smooth (looking at my sisters and aunts desires) The look stunning, but they dont look real if that makes sence? I would have loved to have an SLCD in it though. But to be honest the HD7 screen looks fantastic because I have the backlight on 100% all the time.
Battery life isnt that bad, it could be better, but it IS better than my HD2's was.
Biggest niggle is bluetooth audio streaming of music doesnt seem to be as high as quality as my HD2s theres everso slight distortion on high notes. Not that noticable, but enough to niggle me.
Once the updates start to roll out its going to be an incredible device.
Im wondering if an update will be rolled out when the US launch happens? why else would it be delayed? or at least im hoping the promised 60 xbox live that were supposed to be available at launch will be availble at the american launch.
Overall best phone I have ever used, the user experiance is fantastic, its just so nice to use every day, and that completely overruls any niggles I have had, which no doubt will be sorted very soon.
Had mine unlocked for 24h now and just learning the OS but what i'm seeing is fantastic! I've come from a HD2 where as soon as i got it i flashed a custom rom then ran adroid on it for ages but now i could never go back even after 24h!!!
there are a few niggles, coming from android where you had settings for everything there does seem to be a real lack of options just the basics to to get you through, i also cant see how to add a picture to a contact who isnt on my facebook?????
i agree with whats been posted before, this OS has the potential to be the best one out there it just needs to grow.
I've had mine for 2 weeks now and love it! Yes some things are missing and there are a few bugs in the OS, but I'm willing to persiverre because what it does give it does really well.
I had an HD2 with Energy's custome roms for a year now and I am so over HTC Sense (I used earlier versions on my Diamond and Orbit too)and now the "new" HTC apps looks very dated amongst the WP7 Metro apps.
Email, something I could not really get working very well on my HD2, runs like a dream on WP7 and I'm turning into a sick email junkie (help!).
As for the screen, everyone keeps knocking this phone in favour of the Samsung, but in reality, the screen on the HD7 is better than the HD2 and can hold it's own. Might not look as good next to a Samsung, but who cares? Are you going to hold an HD7 and Samsung next to each other 24/7? No? Then you won't notice the difference.
Is the email better on the WP7 than Android. The email on Android drove me up the wall with its bugs and weird behaviour. I have seen a few people on this thread mention positively the email so I am hopeful.
Yes, without a doubt, sure it has a few bugs that Microsoft can fix, but these will not stop me loving this device, never going back to an iPhone again, I'll be sticking to Windows Phone or Android devices from here on in, I had the 3GS then the iPhone 4 and now it's on Ebay as I got bored with it
Super Chimp said:
Is the email better on the WP7 than Android.
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You can pinch and zoom with HTML email which is fantastically useful, and keeps the email as the sender intended. From my understanding (Neowin WP7 vs Android Communication Comparison) Android doesn't do this.
foaf said:
You can pinch and zoom with HTML email which is fantastically useful, and keeps the email as the sender intended. From my understanding (Neowin WP7 vs Android Communication Comparison) Android doesn't do this.
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Click to collapse
The main problems I had with Android was that I often had issues setting up POP email accounts on it. Also could behave oddly when picking up messages, I used to get phantom messages or it would not pick them up correctly or in some cases at all.
oh yes i would, though tbh i would of sold my fish tank and got it on payg and unlocked it as o2 contract prices are so steep and the coverage i not as good as tmobile (not sure if this is the same everywhere but around where i live its the case). I will be honest if it wasn't for the fact all other devices are only 8gb i would not have gone for the hd7 but rather the omnia but there is no way i can live with 8gb. The only annoying thing is that when i'm playing games i sometimes touch the search button esp if i have the phone plugged in at the time due to the way i then have to hold it, but if you press back it goes right back to where you left off.
in conclusion it was not my phone of choice but my hand was forced by the internal storage but i am glad it was, the omnia is no better and my second choice mozart seems cheap and to smiler to my old desire. I love the size of the phone i was worried when i first saw it but the shape is like nothing i have ever seen and make it slip into the pocket easier then my old desire and yet i get all that screen.
Quick question guys. Does the HD7 not have a flash? I thought it does.
Yes, the HD7 has a dual LED flash (at least mine does!)