Database Develop

Diamond versus iPhone 3G - Anyone give a balanced opinion?

I am very shortly out of contract and am undecided which phone I want next.
I am definitely a big fan of windows mobile PPC phones and for the last 5 years have had nothing but. It is interesting to see that some friends at work who would have always opted for the latest Nokia gadget (N95 etc.) to start choosing Windows Mobile instead (HTC Touch - ELF) - this is undoubtedly due to the work of HTC making them popular with the Touch-Flo and now the 3D version on the diamond.
This time however it seems that at the same time as the Diamond is being released, the new 3G iPhone is due to be released and I'm stuck which one I want.
I don't use a Mac at all, and never have, although I appreciate how pretty they look - same with the iPhone - it looks great in my opinion.
I like the huge screen of the iPhone and look of it. I definitely like the unlimited data package that comes as part of the deal -although not particularly the 18month contract, but could live with it. BUT - No GPS software such as TomTom for iPhone? 2MP camera?
The touch diamond seems to win hands down on some fronts... loads of free / commercial software for it, including several different GPS sat nav softwares - not just google maps. It also looks great. BUT - battery life? why? it seems to me that this awesome device has one hand tied behind it's back due to a poor battery life.
Anyway....
Does anyone here have both devices and can offer a balanced opinion on how they compare?
Any thoughts on your new Diamond - do you wish you got the iPhone instead? Are you pleased with your new Diamond and wouldn't swap it for anything?

Just got my Diamond 2 days ago.
It is a wow piece !
Ergonomy wise , I have to say that it is much more elegant than the
Iphone. Of course this is a taste thing... I did like the diamond better.
now functionality wise... since my background is programming ,
I must say that with microsoft (windows) , U are in for a lot of pain...
but U have so many options...
Iphone ? Mac OS ????? U have to search and search ..and many times
not find !!!!!
My only pb with my Diamond ?
I havent yet digested that I did "waste" a thousand us dollars on a cell phone !!
good luck on your choice !
my 2cents

forgot to mention about the battery life...
I know it's been 2 days I have my diamond.. but I am sure that the battery is not very good...
out of my experience... u can't have a nice ppc and a good battery...doesnt exist... especially if u want it stylish....
so my advice ? get a good car charger and every 9 months or so change the battery... it is around 40usd.
Forget the battery...it is not that big of an issue..
I use my phone over 5h per day (only calls !! ) so for me whatever phone I get ... I need a car charger !!!

Apple vs Diamond
I recently bought a edge version jail broker apple iphone for my wife and htc diamond for myself.
Interface - I think touchflo 3d interface is superb.But sometimes its a bit lagging.But, I am sure in future there would be some roms from xda that will iron some issues in touchflo 3d.But I do think the interface is very good in Daimond.Where as with apple iphone, the interface is very simple , where you turn the pages, but because of its simplicity , you cant go wrong with it.
Touch Screen(Hardware - touch feel) - I think apple iphone has got really good touch screen.It just easy for anyone to handle it straightaway.Where as touchdiamond you sometimes need to press your finger against the screen a little harder.Or you need to do a lot of registry tweaks to make it smoother.But with apple , its just the best touchscreen currently where it understands ur hand gestures accordingly.
Browsing - Apple wins here in a big way.If i quickly have to check the xda site, I take the apple rather than diamond. In the begining although I was impressed with diamond, somehow after sometime it really hard to undertand the way the opera is trying to do too many things at the same time and you get confused exactly how to zoom in.No, disrepct to either of the mobiles, but apple browser is simple and it really works well. And also , I dont know the reason why but diamond opera browser is really slow than IE in diamond.(Again, I am sure future roms will fix these.See with apple sometimes out of the box you get everything fixed)
Features - I think features wise, you can do quite a lot with diamond.You can install lof of applications you like.And you can do word editing , cut and paste anywhere in explorer , sending mms files, playing any multimedia files and watching tv, gps of ur own choice etc etc ,etc.But with apple you cant do all these things.You can only watch MP4 files , you cant cut and paste.And if you want to install anything , then you have to make sure , you purchase from apple.And for any other application , you have to puchase it from apple.(Apple - Note, in future apple might get all the applications via app store, but you still have to pay for any other applications.)
Physical Dimensions- Dimaond looks really stunning and small in your hands, but where as iphone looks like a brick.Diamond is the first WM Device with accelerometer and the screen is absolutely superb on diamond.Apple screen also looks really really good, but its a bit big size.
Other things- To be frank with you both have pros and cons for both, and even I am confused a little.One thing I hate about apple iphone is , you have to buy games and every other application in apple itunes, but not so much with diamond.There is a lot of support for WM devices especially XDA- Kudos to XDA.I think Microsoft should sponsor XDA guys.
Vj

The main thing is you cannot run more than one application at once on an Iphone so if you were to have Navi running and you wanted to switch to the web for a moment you would lose everything that was going on with the Navi. i.e. GPS position etc. (This is just an example, but messenger I can see being a big problem)

mac iphone & winMobile devices cannot compare... this is only my opinion. but if u looking for good look.. so may be it helps. but functions & applications have to say 4get it.

iPhone can't multitask?? really?? does this apply to the 2.0 firmware too? I suppose since 'churchwa' above referred to GPS positioning it must apply to the 2.0 firmware too??
btw, what Bluetooth profile does the 2.0 firmware offer?
The Diamond offers a HUGE selection of Bluetooth profiles.
If battery life is an issue, an extended battery for the Diamond will be out soon. At least the battery can be changed w/o having to heck the case open like the iPhone.
The reason why it's harder to go gestures on the Diamond is because it uses a resistive touchscreen as opposed to capacitive on the iPhone. On a resistive screen you need to apply pressure, on capacitive you need to touch.
We can't compare the Diamond to the iPhone in terms of software. The Diamond is a powerhouse developer/hacker poweruser phone and the iPhone is a very simplistic user friendly and intuitive phone.
In terms of hardware we find a few similiarities especially the presence of GPS and HSDPA on both devices.
Btw, what's the max HSDPA speed on the iPhone? is it 7.2Mbps as well?
Cheers.

Go to a shop and hold both of them in your hands.
I had an iphone 8GB and liked it a lot for its design and ui. It is a functional phone and the ui is great. But the bad thing for me was that there's not a lot of 3rd party software to download. With win mobile there are a lot of possibilities to download 3rd party software.
Another thing to consider is the size of both phones. As I already wrote: hold both devices in your hand. Also hold them at you ear. You will notice that the iphone is bulky and heavy while the diamond is light and very compact.
At first with rom version 1.35 I wish I hadn't sold my iphone, but with the new 1.37 europe rom I am very happy. Scrolling through touchflow 3d is about as fast as iphone's ui.
BTW: battery life with the new 1.37 rom is much better. It should last for at least 2 days of normal use (some emailing, few calls, using opera for about 20 minutes).
It is also possible to adjust screen sensitivity. A light touch of your finger will do the job.

Seriously, it depends on what you want from your device.
WM offers massive amounts of customisation, 3rd party software, no media restrictions, multi-tasking and in general a huge community.
iPhone offers ease of use at the cost of everything else pretty much. I will say this though, the browsing experience on iPhone is leagues ahead of anything else in the mobile market. They really nailed that on the head. Other mobile browsers dont come close. The key thing with the iPhone is that it's not trying to do or be too much. It's a phone, it plays video and music (only in particualar formats though) and it has the ability to browse the web. Even with the 3G iPhone, it's still not trying to be too much, yes it has GPS but at it's core it's still only doing about 4 or 5 things.
1. make calls/sms etc
2. play music
3. play videos
4. browse the web
5. use gps for google maps etc
That's it. Even with the app store, if you cant run background apps, plugins (like WM today screen etc) it becomes kinda limited.
A WM device is a whole different world. Yeah its a real pain in the ass at times and you ahve to tweak it etc to get it working 100%, things are never quite right out of the box. But after you fight through those birthing pains, you will have device that works (mostly) as you want.
The real question is what do you want. Simplicity or limitless possibilty?

Syphon Filter said:
I will say this though, the browsing experience on iPhone is leagues ahead of anything else in the mobile market. They really nailed that on the head. Other mobile browsers dont come close.
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I really dont know where this is coming from. I compared the iPhone/iPod Touch Browser with the newest Opera 9.5 and Opera Mini and each of them has there strenghts and weaknesses. Im quite happy with using Opera 9.5 on WM and dont see a reason changing to the iPhone for better webbrowsing.
The only big advantage i see, is the big screen. Its really nice, but makes the phone big too. Another thing is the finger-only usage of the screen, which isnt that desirable if you ask me. Working with a stylus is sometimes easier and faster - especially when writing notes.
Well, all other things were already mentioned in this thread. I personally will stick with Windows Mobile since I am really fast getting tired of using the same skin for too long.

The definitive breakdown
Its a hard decision to make, i had to choose between the two (i could have waited for the 3G if i wanted) but ended up getting the Diamond. this is the frank breakdown:
lets start with the obvious! The iPhone has a larger screen and it is a lovely one BUT the screen on the Diamond is actually a higher Rez... I dont watch moves on my phone so i would rather have the higher REZ so i can fit more stuff on a page, and the screen on the diamond i have to say is fantastic. But some ppl may prefer that larger screen. It is also good to note this (something that a LOT of ppl dont understand/know) the touch sensitive screen on the iPhone is capacitance based, the one on the Diamond is resistive based. Whats the difference? well with the iPhone you dont need and finger pressure, just a light touch with you finger. the flaw in this system is that you cant use a stylus, or use it with gloves on, with the diamond you do need to put a bit of pressure BUT you can use it with gloves/a styles or anything and it is better for handwriting recognition
Then, the big thing about the iPhone 3G was the fast download speeds, BUT it uses an an old HSDPA of only 3.5mbps max, the diamond however can go up to HSDPA speeds of 7.3 Mbps! so faster loading web pages and watching youtube videos.
Now the iPhone does win when it comes to interface, the TF3D on the Diamond is very good, in fact its the best on any windows mobile device. BUT the iPhone does have a smoother and slicker interface. For me however with the latest ROM the Diamond is pretty close usability wise, and has some very nice animations etc.
Storage, your limited to 4GB on the diamond, but can have 8-16gb on the iphone, so thats a big plus for the iPhone
One big deciding factor for me... the camera, its just crap on the iPhone, and rather good on the Diamond (auto focus 3.2mp)...end of that
SIZE! i actually think the iPhone is too big! it is too long and too wide, the size of the diamond is fantastic IMO so small yet with more tech, again this comes back to if you want that big screen on the iphone or not...
Battery life... the iPhone takes it here again, BUT w8 because the diamond will soon be getting quite a few extend life batteries and that will make it more competitive in this front. also with the latest ROM the diamond lasts over a day no problem (unlike b4)
now this is the biggey, even with the iPhones new apps store, windows mobile is still gonna have a tonne more 3rd party apps that any iphone owner could ever hope to see... the interface, storage size, and scree size on the iphone are its redeeming features... the Diamond has a higher rez screen, an internet browser that it just as good as the iPhones, a much better camera, smaller size, forward facing camera for vid calls, faster HSDPA, better call sound qulaty you can put TomTom on it for gps, and many more 3rd party apps
i prefer the Diamond, what to you prefer... ooo i forgot to mention PRICE big difference, the iPhone 3G will be a lot cheaper.

Ergonomically the diamond wins because its much smaller!
The old metal look of the 2g iphone is replaced with a plastic back on the 3g one, so its not as elegant as it used to be.
User experiance i would say the iphone wins hands down. There's no having to cope with lags and ill thought out menu systems. You can get what you want down really quickly, and not have to worry about screen sensativity problems and some behind the scenes WM6 window poping up.
You'll find some hard core WM users arguing WM is better, but trust me its not. Its still laggy and dated, and needs a serious overhaul.
Software... now this is where the decision for WM usually gets made. Let me clarify some things here.
iPhone CAN multitask, but doesnt have a task manager as such. It just closes programs when memory is low, or if they specifically don't request to be left open in the background. iPhone essentially runs linux and you can use BSD tools on it like top, ps, etc so under the hood it is a fully multi threaded multi tasking OS. There's very little bloat, like on windows, and you can get low level access to the hardware without having to go through multiple api's like in windows. This make programs alot faster, and screen updates as fast as the hardware can handle.
With the iphone, the phone is 'jailed'. That means you can't access the OS partitions. Software must be signed (by apple) for it to run. On WM you can run unsigned stuff out of the box (you might have seen the popup, this application is from an unknown publisher). Essentially what this means is that anyone can make an app for WM and distribute it, whereas for iphone you have to ask apple to sign it first, or your phone wont accept it.
Apple have said that they will sign free apps, but comercial apps they take 20%. All apps will be hosted on the apple app store and you buy/download through itunes.
With the 2g iphone, people found a way to jailbreak the phone. This allowed you full root access to the phone. They then made an iphone toolchain using the old arm linux toolchain. This contained api's to contructs apple style menus etc. ALOT of free software was written for iphone.
With version 2.0 all the api's changed. The beta is all over the internet, so developers have been looking at it. Alot of the old developers can't be bothered to change to the new API's and update their software. But at the same time alot of new developers have emerged and are using the iphone SDK. Despite what people say here, you can expect ALOT of iphone software in the future.
The main problem is that you will never have total control of the phone like in WM. You will be stuck with what apple aprove. That means fun, maybe not so politicaly correct software (eg dope wars!) may not get aproved.
Its possible and probably the new iphone will be jailbroken too, but apple have a bunch of live connections to the developer site which will probably cause problems. You can expect a ping pong game between apple and hackers every software revision.
.....
Some other notes.. the iphone has unbeleivable talk time. On 3G it can do 5 hours! Now thats ALOT.
iPhone doesnt have copy and paste (yeah go figure).

JanDaMan said:
it uses an an old HSDPA of only 3.5mbps max, the diamond however can go up to HSDPA speeds of 7.3 Mbps! so faster loading web pages and watching youtube videos.
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Keep in mind for web pages you won't see a huge difference between 3.5mbps and 7.3mbps. The longest part of the page load there is typically connection to the network and dns lookup.
You'll see a difference with youtube obviously, but 3.5mbps is obviously fast enough to load the video faster than you can watch it anyway.
Another note, 3G speed decreases significantly with distance from the tower. HSDPA is only usefull close to the tower. So 7.3mbps is only really acheivable very very close to towers. And network coverage for HSDPA is already patchy, if there at all.

^^^Lets not forget that the iphone still doesnt support MMS capability...biggest deal breaker for me as i was considering to get one but not going to bother anymore. You would think that a phone such as the iphone would support mms out of the box but no it doesnt...you need to install a 3rd party app like swirlymms and frankly thats rubbish.
You mentioned the price issue??...£400 for the diamond is pretty damn good if you ask me...i was looking at spending a max of £500 for Diamond as thats what i thought it would fetch...well over at Expansys the grey imports were going for £500+...unlucky for the first buyers as its now come down in price. The iphone 2 sim free ie not on a network is going to be around £400 from what i have been hearing. Think i read somewhere that O2 will be charging that much for the PAYG unit...with a contract the iphone may very well be cheaper but you get tied into an 18 mth contract at £35..so 35x18 works out to about...£630 or thereabouts....so in the long run you end up shelling out more for the iphone....but most people wont really care about that.
One thing i do like about the iphone is the touchscreen...i love my ipod touch...if anything i do prefer the ipod touch screen to the Diamond but im slowly getting used to the Diamond now....awesome piece of kit.

On O2 prepay its going to be £400. On contract it varies from £99 for 18 month £35 contract to free for 18 month £45 contract or above.
For the 16gb its a bit more.
I don't think it'll be sold sim free here. In france its a legal requirement, so you could always get one from there. But expect it to be 500 to 600 pounds!

iPhone 3G only supports 3.6Mbps HSDPA? lol
Btw, to be fair only Vodafone UK provides 7.2Mbps and even so only in a few areas but still it's nice to have the capability on hand... especially since they are selling 7.2Mbps USB dongle modems... it's nice knowing that you won't need one because your Diamond achieves the same speed.

someone1234 said:
Keep in mind for web pages you won't see a huge difference between 3.5mbps and 7.3mbps. The longest part of the page load there is typically connection to the network and dns lookup.
You'll see a difference with youtube obviously, but 3.5mbps is obviously fast enough to load the video faster than you can watch it anyway.
Another note, 3G speed decreases significantly with distance from the tower. HSDPA is only usefull close to the tower. So 7.3mbps is only really acheivable very very close to towers. And network coverage for HSDPA is already patchy, if there at all.
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Well (in london / newcastle in the UK) i get very good HSDPA coverage, but on orange they are still upgrading to the 7.3 mbps standard probably to get ready for mobile TV etc... so i still maintain faster is always better fair pont on the connection to network and dns lookup time but on graphically intensive pages, i feel there will be a noticeable difference between the two HSDPA standards.

To be honest, 7.2 is very very fast for a mobile phone and its processor. I doubt the processor on the phone will be able to receive and render graphics on a web page faster with a faster connection because the bottleneck will be the processing time locally on the phone.
The improvement will be seen when the phone's used as a modem and you download huge files from your laptop.

happyguy82 said:
To be honest, 7.2 is very very fast for a mobile phone and its processor. I doubt the processor on the phone will be able to receive and render graphics on a web page faster with a faster connection because the bottleneck will be the processing time locally on the phone.
The improvement will be seen when the phone's used as a modem and you download huge files from your laptop.
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yeah can it process at 7.2, not sure, but it can process faster than 3.6 and thats the issue, good point with the modem thing too...

chalid said:
I really dont know where this is coming from. I compared the iPhone/iPod Touch Browser with the newest Opera 9.5 and Opera Mini and each of them has there strenghts and weaknesses. Im quite happy with using Opera 9.5 on WM and dont see a reason changing to the iPhone for better webbrowsing.
The only big advantage i see, is the big screen. Its really nice, but makes the phone big too. Another thing is the finger-only usage of the screen, which isnt that desirable if you ask me. Working with a stylus is sometimes easier and faster - especially when writing notes.
Well, all other things were already mentioned in this thread. I personally will stick with Windows Mobile since I am really fast getting tired of using the same skin for too long.
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Hrm, well my opinion on the browser is based on software rather than the hardware aspects of the iPhone.
The manner in which the pages are rendered and the ability to zoom etc is really great (i know that slightly contradicts my first line as the zooming is hardware related).
Don't get me wrong, I'll be getting a Touch Pro most likely (I wouldnt dream of getting an iPhone, it's far too locked down for my liking!).
I just think the browsing experience (bar the speed, or lack thereof) is really good on an iPhone.
EDIT:
With regards to iPhone multi-tasking, I thought it was explicitly stated in the T&C's or the SDK that no program would be allowed to run in the bcakground at all? Could someone clarify?

[Q] Need advice on Nook Color purchasing

My G/F's mother works for B&N so I'm going to see if she can get a good discount on a new or refurbished unit but before I do I wanted to ask a few questions. I was thinking of getting the SGT 10.1 inch or the Moto Xoom in Wifi only flavors.
I basically want to know how the Nook color performs for games such as Angry Birds, Ninja Jump without OC'ing. I basically will use this tablet for Evernote, Pandora, Browsing, Facebook, XDA, Organizing Pictures, etc.
What do you guys think the life cycle of this device will be? If a newer update for HC comes out do you think that the current hardware may support possible feature adds (example: video editor that google built for HC).
I asked the rep in the store about the internal memory and he said it had 5GB internal and supports up to 32GB. I googled the specs and it says the Nook has 8GB. Which one is it?
Thanks.

NC has 8GB internal but only 5GB are free OOB. non-OC plays games great.

If you can get a discount on a refurb, what do you think you'll be paying? Maybe $150ish? Maybe a bit more? Let's put things in perspective and keep in mind that, though the NC is overdesigned and overpowered as a reader, it's not being sold as an alternative to the Galaxy or (most definitely) the Xoom.
Performance-wise, it holds up well against the Galaxy. The screen is better. It boots a heck of a lot faster. It's likely not going to fare as well against the Xoom. But it's a fraction of the price.
For the price and for the joy of tinkering and pushing the limits, the NC is, far and away, the best value you can get *now* -- it's even better if you can get a substantial discount. Just know that it will be outperformed by several other tablets in the coming months. I doubt there will be anything competitive, at this price level, any time soon.
Make the jump now. Come on in, the water's fine.

Yeah I'm not too worried about it competing against dual core and camera equipped tablets. I have an Evo 4G so I don't need to have those features. I just want to know the possibility to get HC running efficiently.
I think a refurbished unit should run me below $200 so it isn't too bad. Just wanted to know what you guys think of the dev community on this Nook being that so many others are coming out.

I was in a similar boat and dove right into the Nook. It's only been a few days and I'm happy I did it.
Xoom is $550 more since you don't want a contract. I debated on going with a larger tablet such as the iPad or a 10.1 inch android. Ultimately, I found that they were too large and heavy for real, everyday use. I like being able to use the Nook with one hand.
FYI, I'm using mine to take handwritten notes (using a stylus), reading pdfs, websurfing and the occasional game.

I'm in a similar boat and had 2 quick questions:
1) Hows video playback with your typical 700mb avi file with apps like vplayer or rockplayer? Has froyo or cm7 improved things?
2) What app were people using to take notes with a stylus and how well does it work?
Cheers

1) I haven't avi files - I've been using m4v files with 1300 video bitrate and 128 bit audio on Act 1. It's been a great success so far.
2) I've been using HandMemoWritter. It's free and other programs have problems losing data when you change orientation (genial writing and apMemo). HMW is a bit basic, but it works well.

Thanks Wile E Coyote.
I think I may pull the trigger on this. I have to check out the dev section for HC to see how far they have progressed.
The good thing is that the GPU is the same one they use in the Droid X.

Briefly tried vPlayer and Rockplayer and wasn't satisfied with performance. Stock video player plays H.264 encoded MP4's well as long as they conform to the resolution specs of the device (854 pixel width). I've setup a default profile for my Nook Color in Handbrake and my bluray rips to 854 pixel width H.264 videos are amazing on the nook.
I don't have much experience with android devices yet, have had the nook for 3 weeks now, but IMO for video playback nothing beats VLC on a jailbroken iOS device for the shear ability to drag and drop things onto the device and play them back with nearly complete disregard for the format they're in.
3 weeks ago I was still hoping for news on iPad 2, and wishing for a Motorola Xoom. Xoom pricing was leaked and I jumped ship for a Nook Color instead. No regrets, as at this price point I could easily give this thing away to my wife or son and get a better tablet down the road without worrying about the price I paid for it.
It's fun to drop bootable images to micro SD cards and try out different operating systems too. Once all the kinks are worked out for Froyo or HC i'll surely change the primary boot system on mine. Developers working on nook color mods are fantastic, huge props to them!

iPad2 is supposed to be announced on March 3, according to All Things Digital.
I feel so dirty.

Honestly I don't see the iPad 2 as being anything special. They'll most likely add a FFC and Rear camera and more ram.
The price is going to go up if they add a retina display.

the nook color rooted and such will be the casual mans tablet. For mobile use as a notepad its great. Lightweight easy to hold and use. Also for it being the size it is you can hold in two hands and type with out over-reaching(i am a big guy so YMMV but my long fingers...)
for gaming it works pretty well. I did get my copy of nova over on it and it works pretty well. but some games will not work not sure if its the screen size but some just fc

The video playback is pretty good for me. I run Slingplayer and PlayOn for Netflix/Hulu stuff and it is good enough. The CM7 build as it is today doesn't have hardware video support yet, so the Nookie Froyo (currently at 0.6.8) is a better option for video support. The stock nook 1.0.1 or 1.1 rooted also works pretty smoothly with video. So in short, Nooted or Nookie Froyo are the best daily driver options today, although I'm sure CM7 will be the next great thing when it gets to a more robust version.

Not to mention honeycomb
Sent from one of those missing Droids

gqstatus0685 said:
My G/F's mother works for B&N so I'm going to see if she can get a good discount on a new or refurbished unit but before I do I wanted to ask a few questions. I was thinking of getting the SGT 10.1 inch or the Moto Xoom in Wifi only flavors.
I basically want to know how the Nook color performs for games such as Angry Birds, Ninja Jump without OC'ing. I basically will use this tablet for Evernote, Pandora, Browsing, Facebook, XDA, Organizing Pictures, etc.
What do you guys think the life cycle of this device will be? If a newer update for HC comes out do you think that the current hardware may support possible feature adds (example: video editor that google built for HC).
I asked the rep in the store about the internal memory and he said it had 5GB internal and supports up to 32GB. I googled the specs and it says the Nook has 8GB. Which one is it?
Thanks.
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well right at this very moment if you want a semi stable hack to make your nook a HC tablet i suggest you get a nook but if you want something thats 100% stable and something that will work out of the box with no hackery involved i suggest you get a moto xoom
i own a nook color and i have no regrets about buying it, and i feel it has been the best thing i bought this year but it does require some work to make it a tablet(not much but its extra work none the less)

Watched an avi of "Saving Private Ryan" on the NC and ran beautifully. Earphone to listen but all in all it ran well.

skeeterpro said:
Watched an avi of "Saving Private Ryan" on the NC and ran beautifully. Earphone to listen but all in all it ran well.
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Can I ask what size and resolution the movie was formatted in, what app you were using and which ROM you're on?
Just that there are contrasting reports regarding video playback.
This is the only thing stopping me from getting one at the moment, as the Archos 101 is awesome in terms of movie playback (including live live streaming over your Wifi network from my PC).
Would love to hear people's feedback.

[Q] Is anyone able to compare the ipad1 to the nook?

If anyone has both or had both, would you be able to answer a few questions?
I got a brand new ipad 1 for $280 and ended up selling it a few weeks ago because it really didnt meet my expectations for performance. I like Android OS better because of user customization ability and the widgets, which I use all the time. I dont like choosing between a million apps. I was very disappointed with the browser experience of the ipad 1. It was good for viewin 2-3 pages but after that, it would checker-board and also because of the limited ram (256mb) it would constantly refresh. Browsng on the ipad 1, was very minimal browsing, nothing that I can replace a netbook with. I think the Nook has 512mb ram which is the same as the ipad2....Also the ipad1 lacked multitasking (Even simple ones like chatting with someone on gchat and going back to my browser page) and notifications.
1) How does the browsing experience for the Nook compare to the ipad1?
2) With the new mods and tweaks, what about responsiveness?
I plan to use the tablet for watching movies, netflix when it comes out, browsing, gchat and multi-tasking all around with email and stuff. The ipad severely underperformed in that aspect and in the notification aspect. Basically, if it can do everything my stock mytouch4g phone can do (1ghz, 786mb ram), I will be happy.
3) Is the nook a legitimate replacement for an android tablet like the xoom? I mean considering the price + mods and tweaks, to someone who doesnt have one, it LOOKS good on youtube. BUt you never know how itll work out until soemone who used it tells you the truth.

kettlecorn said:
1) How does the browsing experience for the Nook compare to the ipad1?
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The biggest problem I have run into browsing involves sites automatically redirecting to the mobile versions although the NC is generally better off, at least in my opinion, with full versions. That is easily fixed with a few tweaks however. I have many times had 5-6 tabs open in Opera while listening to Pandora or an audio book in Mort Player and notice no slowdown.
kettlecorn said:
2) With the new mods and tweaks, what about responsiveness?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everything short of Dungeon Defenders runs with no apparent slowdown after proper setup, and it is only going to get faster as Dalingrin and others continue working on it. I can whip back and forth between all my pages of apps without seeing any hesitation or stuttering with 5 widgets on my main page and 10+ apps on every page.
kettlecorn said:
3) Is the nook a legitimate replacement for an android tablet like the xoom? I mean considering the price + mods and tweaks, to someone who doesnt have one, it LOOKS good on youtube. BUt you never know how itll work out until soemone who used it tells you the truth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To me, it definitely is. I frequently use my Nook for a few main tasks, all of which it handles perfectly in my experience.
1) RDP (I use Remote Desktop Client by Xtralogic)
2) Streaming video (UPNPlay + RockPlayer)
3) Audio books (Mort Player)
4) Web Browsing (Opera)
5) Remote control of media on my PC (MPC-HC Remote/VLC Remote)
6) Playing games (Angry Bird+Seasons+Rio, Stupid Zombies, Fruit Ninja, Words With Friends, Speed 3D FX, NES/SNES/GBA/GameGear/Genesis/PSX emulators)
7) lulz (FML, Cheezeburger, joke apps)
On an important note though, lacking 4G and GPS really annoys me, but I am planning on getting a Bionic whenever they finally release which tethering to should cover me for both of those.

I never had that many problems with the internet on the ipad. But I do not have a lot installed. I use the apps that came with it for most all my stuff. When I try to use other apps to copy files to it that’s when the problems started. after removing the files every thing is good. I have Angry Birds and other games running with no issues. The battery life is the same as the NC running CM7 off sdcard. All in all the nook color is very impressive for the price.

Awesome, thanks for the reply. It looks like with the overclock and some mods itll run just fine. I'm also looking into the archos tablets but I don't think they are as good as the nook in terms of support or getting honeycomb.

In all honesty I am a fan of android, and not a fanboy of apple...that being said...
I enjoy using my girlfriend's iPad, and if they weren't $500+ I would have bought one. After spending alittle over $250 on my nook color, I am VERY pleased with it.
I think my girlfriend is a little jealous too, especially when she sees me playing flash off the internet. I think the screen size is just perfect, and with the progress the developers have made on CM7 so far, it is working great. I think the main benefit of Android over apple is that you have more choices on which software to run on the device.
There are some very lightweight and fast web browsers out for Android, and I think you will find one to suit your needs.
Very pleased with my nook color and I recommend them to many friends.

I have both iPad and a CM7 nook. This is my take:
- iPad is huge! It does not fit any pocket. In fact is so big, that you have to carry a bag if you want to take it along (and if you take a bag, you might as well take a notebook). This is a magor plus for the nook. 7" seems to be just fine for me.
- iPad has a very low resolution screen. The screen density on the iPad is much lower then any phone's. This is relay frustrating for me. The nook has much better screen density.
- 4:3 vs. 16:10. I prefer the widescreen. 4:3 is probably better for magazines, but when it comes to video a lot of the 4:3 screen is wasted.
- when it comes to performance - the nook is much faster (using CM7 with the OC kernel), unfortunately battery life on the nook is not that great.
So, I guess it's more of a choice of form factor. For me, 10" 4:3 screen is not a good choice at all. I can't comfortably hold it in one hand. The plus is that the iPad has a bit of a WOW-factor over here (in Bulgaria).

I actually own both. Here's my take:
iPad:
- More responsive screen (huge perk for me)
- Appstore is so superior to Market. It's not even a contest.
- Bigger screen = more enjoyable browsing from the couch.
Nook Color (Phiremod 5.3 @ 1.1ghz):
- More portable
- More enjoyable reading ebooks (which is my primary use for it atm)
- more "fun" with the moding community and openness of Android
- Much easier to sideload apps and books. Huge plus.
All in all, I have an iPhone 4 and the iPad is a glorified iPhone. So I bought the iPad for the fiance and she absolutely loves the simplicity of it as she can relate to it because she has an iPhone as well.
I bought the Nook initially and learning Android was not as intuitive as learning iOS was for her. So the nook simply frustrates her.
Each has it's purpose. It's really all about what you're going to do with each device.
EDIT: Also, I paid $200 for my Nook (new) and $300 for her iPad (new). At these price points, if I could have just ONE device, I'd choose the iPad (jailbroken) over the Nook Color (CM7). If it were between the NC and the iPad2 @ $500, NC, no question. But that's just me.

Got both.
Ipad has netflix. NC will never get netflix, ever. Netflix requires qualcom chip DRM.
That is a big plus for ipad/phone, a single killer app.
Flash support if you ROM the nook.
I feel flash beats netflix, or at least ballances the scale.
Form factor of NC is ideal, 7 inch will win the tablet form factor wars for obvious reasons.
Ipad is wifi only, so not much diff there.
Ipad apps, seems like most I ever used (read: free) were upscaled iphone apps. Pixel doubling fail. Suppose android has same issue to a much lesser extent, and somwhoe it never bothers. Could be a bias, but really the ios apps seem to have more profound issue with native tablet apps or making apps scale to larger screen.
Multitasking. Ipad came out around the time of mutitasking ios apps, but seems to not share the feature with iphone.
I love the nook color over ipad. Ipad is dead in the eyes of apple.
Deliver by Epic 4G xda app

snives said:
The biggest problem I have run into browsing involves sites automatically redirecting to the mobile versions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can easily change your userAgent with dolphin... sorry if its been mentioned in the thread, I didnt look

kettlecorn said:
If anyone has both or had both, would you be able to answer a few questions?
I got a brand new ipad 1 for $280 and ended up selling it a few weeks ago because it really didnt meet my expectations for performance. I like Android OS better because of user customization ability and the widgets, which I use all the time. I dont like choosing between a million apps. I was very disappointed with the browser experience of the ipad 1. It was good for viewin 2-3 pages but after that, it would checker-board and also because of the limited ram (256mb) it would constantly refresh. Browsng on the ipad 1, was very minimal browsing, nothing that I can replace a netbook with. I think the Nook has 512mb ram which is the same as the ipad2....Also the ipad1 lacked multitasking (Even simple ones like chatting with someone on gchat and going back to my browser page) and notifications.
1) How does the browsing experience for the Nook compare to the ipad1?
2) With the new mods and tweaks, what about responsiveness?
I plan to use the tablet for watching movies, netflix when it comes out, browsing, gchat and multi-tasking all around with email and stuff. The ipad severely underperformed in that aspect and in the notification aspect. Basically, if it can do everything my stock mytouch4g phone can do (1ghz, 786mb ram), I will be happy.
3) Is the nook a legitimate replacement for an android tablet like the xoom? I mean considering the price + mods and tweaks, to someone who doesnt have one, it LOOKS good on youtube. BUt you never know how itll work out until soemone who used it tells you the truth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My experience with the ipad 1 mimics yours, though I will say for one or two page browsing the ipad is superior. However, I can open 7 or 8 tabs at once in DolphinHD (whatever the maximum number it lets you open) on the NC without any slowdown when scrolling through pages which makes it vastly superior for me as I always have at least 3 or 4 tabs open when browsing. If you want to do anything like drawing or note taking, the screen is more sensitive on the ipad to allow that, though you can also do it on the NC, just not as well.
In terms of tablet useability, it is as usable if not more so than my Fascinate. You can easily multitask and it performs well. Mail, gchat etc. all run at the same time without issue. Movie watching is high quality if you convert the movies or use VLC convert and stream to encode on the fly to the proper format. I prefer the form factor as it's more portable and you can use it one-handed which is not really possible with the ipad. It absolutely can be used as an everyday tablet.

Probably no sense in repeating everything everyone has said so I'll say that I pick the NC up more often than the iPad because having Flash is important to me and the size is so much nicer, especially when reading. The iPad is just overly huge.

parasense said:
Got both.
Ipad has netflix. NC will never get netflix, ever. Netflix requires qualcom chip DRM.
That is a big plus for ipad/phone, a single killer app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll make a lier out of you yet
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=995759
It was working for some time, but they caught on to us. It's close to coming out, though...

What about the NC screen brightness, contrast, viewing angles, color reproduction, flickering?
I've used an Ipad 1 in a bright store and it suffers a lot from glare, even at highest brightness setting.
Couldn't find a Nook Color in my country to try it out.

I have both an ipad 1 and the nc. In the past I have had a Cruz tablet, gtab, and Augen tablet. There are three things I have to have in a tablet: speed, portability, and a good screen. Out of all those tablets only one meets all those criteria and its the nc.
The screen is superb. Its has great viewing angles, and it's bright and crisp. The speed once rooted and overclocked is good, there are faster tablets but not at this price point. Finally, this is truly a portable device. You can't just toss an ipad or grab in your pocket. Plus have you ever tried to hold those larger tablets in one hand for any period of time?
I would say for now if you want a nice, zippy, portable tablet this is the clear cut winner.

parasense said:
Ipad has netflix. NC will never get netflix, ever. Netflix requires qualcom chip DRM.
That is a big plus for ipad/phone, a single killer app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm... ever? To quote Marge Gunderson, "Not so sure about your detective work there, Lou"
"Ever" is a mighty strong statement.

playon lets you access netflix via your home PC - so while technically I don't have direct access, i can access netflix from anywhere using my nook color using playon
Jgrimoldy said:
Hmmm... ever? To quote Marge Gunderson, "Not so sure about your detective work there, Lou"
"Ever" is a mighty strong statement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

[Q] Buying HD7?

Dear HTC HD7 users,
I'm on the verge of buying another phone. I'm currently owning a Samsung Captivate. I've had this telephone for 9 months, but it is getting on my nerves. I have to reset my phone every 2 weeks and sometimes even each week. My power button is broken and my speaker doesn't work well. I'm getting sick of Android's lags and force closes on this phone.
I was very pleased to see WP 7.5 Mango and it's smoothness. I have some questions:
- Is WP7.5 really that stable and smooth on the HD7?
- How is the HD7 itself?
- Have you encountered any problems regarding the phone?
- Was WP7.5 much of an improvement compared to WP7.0?
- Is the HD7 S better than the HD7?
- People who own this phone 9+ months, are you still happy with it and haven't you experienced any issues so far?
- Finally: Could you please tell me why I should buy this phone instead of buying another Android phone?
Thanks for reading!

JigsterNL said:
Dear HTC HD7 users,
I'm on the verge of buying another phone. I'm currently owning a Samsung Captivate. I've had this telephone for 9 months, but it is getting on my nerves. I have to reset my phone every 2 weeks and sometimes even each week. My power button is broken and my speaker doesn't work well. I'm getting sick of Android's lags and force closes on this phone.
I was very pleased to see WP 7.5 Mango and it's smoothness. I have some questions:
- Is WP7.5 really that stable and smooth on the HD7?
- How is the HD7 itself?
- Have you encountered any problems regarding the phone?
- Was WP7.5 much of an improvement compared to WP7.0?
- Is the HD7 S better than the HD7?
- People who own this phone 9+ months, are you still happy with it and haven't you experienced any issues so far?
- Finally: Could you please tell me why I should buy this phone instead of buying another Android phone?
Thanks for reading!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Yes stable and smooth, even faster after installing Mango (7.5)
2. HD7 looks nice and slim, though the hardware buttons can be improved (a bit flushed, not easy to press). Camera is just ok and not the best
3. No problems so far
4. Yes, WP7.5 is so much better, features and functionality wise (>500!).
5. I believe HD7s has better screen (SLCD vs LCD)
6. Yup, still very happy with the phone, esp now that it was updated to Mango.
7. Smooth, radical UI, live tiles, not laggy (unless u buy the latest high end droids), People hub (all contacts info taken from FB, LinkedIn and Windows Live and see updates per contact or everyone's social updates that u can switch between Twitter and FB feeds), Messaging (U can quickly switch between FB Chat, Windows Live and Texting for each contact on one conversation), Music Hub, X box live, 25Gig free SkyDrive, and not app-centric (as mentioned, mostly integrated so you dont need to open seperate apps to view diff contents). Cheap as well since this is a 1st gen model.
I suggest looking at HTC Titan in case you have more budget: better screen (competitive with super amoled+), has FFC, faster processor, slimmer and better build.

I've swapped over temporarily from the gs2 to see how windows phone 7 feels. Before that, I owned an iphone 4. (I'm trying to familiarize myself with the different phone platforms) The GS2 and IP4 were a true joy to use. I personally preferred the Gs2 for its "openess". One example that comes to mind is when I was looking for an ereader that could read my ebooks to me. On the IP4, this was only accomplished by turning on the accessibility option for blind users. Unfortunately, this also removed all the ease of use associated with IOS. The voice was also very robotic and was unbearable to listen to. On my android device I simply installed an ereader that used the built in tts service. It allowed me to control voice reading right from inside the app. Lastly i could just go to the market and find a replacement voice for the text to speech service. I really missed the high res screen from the iphone 4 though .
ANYWAY back on topic, I really, really, really like windows phone 7 operating system . The layout, dialer, keyboard, and apps just shine. Everything is easy to access and looks great too. However (and this is a BIG however), the os lacks apps. Its got a few gems but no where near as many as you might be used to. If you are looking for a phone that is a true joy to use for calling, texting, surfing the web, connecting on social sites, and maybe playing a few games then I think this is the OS for you.
But, I can't in good conscience recommend the HD7. Keep in mind that the 2nd generation windows phones are just around the corner. The HD7, I've found, has sub-par battery life and a poor camera. To give you an idea of battery life, your captivate supports up to 10 hours of talk time while this phone does 6.
Hopefully, this aids you in your decision making process.

Thanks for the replies, this has definitely gotten more interesting. I know the 2nd generation WP7.5 are around the corner,but I really want a HTC and I saw on phonearena that the hd7 was very high rated. The Titan looks amazing, but this would be my first time trying a Windows Phone and I if I don't like it, I would've paid too much money. Ive bought my captivate in March and it would be over the top to buy 2 new phones in a year, as in spending that much money on just a phone.
My captivate's battery life is horrible I even switched batteries and still I have to charge my phone twice a day,it is a real pain. I really don't care that much about a camera. I know the WP Marketplace hasn't got many apps yet,but I'm not a person who needs 100 apps on his phone. I know WP is a new kind of OS and I have patience with it.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

I love my HD7, had it for a year now and have no gripes at all about it.
Just wish it was a 4G phone and not limited to 3G.

NachoNut said:
I love my HD7, had it for a year now and have no gripes at all about it.
Just wish it was a 4G phone and not limited to 3G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But it is able to use 3.5g/HSDPA,right?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

It is a Good phone if you just wanna try out WP7
Other wise the main problem you will find is the battery life which wont last even 12 hours if you are a heavy user and its a heavy phone which you will notice if you use it for long periods
If you have used android you will love Wp7 as you can do almost all things faster in Wp7 then you did on android.
WP7 is the best for email and social apps
The good thing is that WP7 comes with almost most of your social apps (facebook twitter etc built in) and you will find most apps u need in market place (although its still a long way from android or IOS marketplace)
I kinda hover between the SGS2 and HD7 but use more SGS2 cause the battery dont last on the HD7 and I find google products more useful (maps, google plus, translate etc) then bing then WP7 offerings.
Probably might go for a Nokia WP7 next year as Dual core is touted for Wp7 next year and I really need a good camera phone like the SGS2.

JigsterNL said:
But it is able to use 3.5g/HSDPA,right?
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not that I know of... Haven't seen anything other than 3G on mine
I ran a few bandwidth tests.. Getting on average 1.5ish Mbps (which is about 187.5 KB/s). Does that sound like i'm getting better than 3G?

NachoNut said:
Not that I know of... Haven't seen anything other than 3G on mine
I ran a few bandwidth tests.. Getting on average 1.5ish Mbps (which is about 187.5 KB/s). Does that sound like i'm getting better than 3G?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no
10char

Speed test on T-Mobile 3G using my HD7, tethered to my laptop via USB, on speedtest.net. Location was Seattle, WA, indoors but with 5 (max) bars. Multiple locations within about 200 miles were tested, each a few times:
Average download: ~5.0 Mbps (+/- 0.3 Mbps).
Average upload: 2.1 Mbps (+/- 0.2 Mbs).
It's not 4G, but it's a quite solid 3G. I can easily stream Zune Pass music or watch 480p (resolution of the phone, no point going higher) YouTube videos. In a pinch, it works fine for tethering too (slower download but actually faster upload than my home DSL).

GoodDayToDie said:
YouTube videos. In a pinch, it works fine for tethering too (slower download but actually faster upload than my home DSL).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some of the HD videos look phenomenal on this phone.

I sent my Samsung Captivate for repair to the USA, after I received it, I'm going to buy the HD7 (I can get money for my captivate at Vodafone ) or the HTC Titan if I can find it cheap(not going to happen I think....)

Some points-
1. I had the hd7 for a year and I dont have a single complaint.(I was a Windows Mobile user, X1) and that says a lot about the OS.
2. Everything U did on Android, now will be 3x as fast.
3. like someone mentioned, the mails and office work happens in a blink
4. Music UI is mind blowing. It couldn't get better
5. Battery life, yes. This area needs a little work. But again, hey, its a smartphone and it's worth it. Charging it twice a day will be a ritual.
6. Don't even want to mention the camera. Its mediocre... :[
7. Social networking is beautifully integrated.
8. Screen resolution, yes, can't compare it with SAMOLEDs and AMOLEDs...u will be disappointed.
9. Live tiles rock. Buti have started to miss having the wallpapers in the background.
10. Dual cores, quad cores etc is all a myth. WP7 so smoothly without them, I don't know what will happen when we get 1
Currently, I am eyeing the Droid Razr...the Droid imagery is far too powerful for me to ignore it...but that doesn't mean I will ditch my WP7...
Now its upto U...wait foe the Nokia WP7...its amazing...front facing camera is a miss in HD7...

2 times a day battery life? On my battery thing it says
"last charge 1 day ago,"
"Time left on batter 1 day 3 hrs."
How is the battery so bad? Also I agree at first I didn't like it because of how closed it was but after playing with it for a while it does everything pretty easily and smoothly. I also like how slacker is able to be paused/skip through the lockscreen ...although ban/like and the artist picture would have been a nice addition.

So the resolution isn't that good ?

I just got mine today, second hand via Marktplaats.nl (dutch ebay), and i think the resolution is very good! its an upgrade from an htc wizard with a qvga screen, so yeah, but i like it. you can come take a look at it, depending on where you live

I bought my HD7 the first month it was available. This summer I picked up a Sensation 4g. Both are on TMOUS. I rooted and flashed dozens of custom roms to my Sensation.
My wife now uses my Sensation and I am happy to be using my HD7. I have flashed a custom rom onto it, but that wasn't necessary. I just like doing it. The phone runs super fast. I don't even miss my 4g. All that did was help me hit my soft data cap faster so I would be throttled.
If you're worried about battery life, pick up an Ankor 1350mah replacement. It bumped my battery life between 25-50%. The stock battery from HTC is crap.

xpPhone 2

Not Android related by any means, but just perusing the net I stumbled upon an article about a phone called the xpPhone 2 running Win 7 & 8.
The thing that caught my eye though was its combined storage capacity of 112gb. & 18.5 hours of talk time and the ability to upgrade the ram, all within a 4.3" screen.
Currently it's only available in China.
http://en.xpphone.com/news/kuaibao/114.html

I spoke to them
I already spoke to them and it seems like a very interesting toy/weapon. Being a road warrior this would really lighten the load. Will follow how it develops closely!

1 inch thick Phone with extra battery and packing a Netbook processor.
Sounds severely underpowered for Windows but an Intel Atom would smoke any mobile processor lol.

I doubt it. At 1.6 single core. Thing blows. My phone is faster than my netbook.

CBowley said:
I doubt it. At 1.6 single core. Thing blows. My phone is faster than my netbook.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cores & GHz don't mean anything. x86 is a very fast, and faster than ARM. Arm just is better performance for power use. Plus you could install Androidx86.

Intel displayed something at ces that had a atom proc. If you watch mwc I bet they will have something about it too ...supposed to be bad ass
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Please dont believe that you will get a smartphone with this device.
Using xpphone1 showed me that it is a UMPC with a small phone-function. There is no automatic sync with outlook and no calendar with a reminder-function. The phone-software is very unstable and so you are not always reachable like using a "normal" handy. The camera for skype and photos is not in place, under the lens there is simply nothing. These are only examples out of the long list of problems. Questions to ITG (even if these problems are solved with xpphone2) are not answered. So if you need more than a technical gimmick any other smartphone will do a better job.