Database Users

Xda Excalibur vs Hermes comparison

Just let you know my comparison of the two units after 5 days with the Xda Cosmo after having the Trion for the last 4 months. My Girlfriend brought me the Excalibur as a pre Christmas gift 8)
After 4 months my Trion main speaker stopped working and I have currently sent it back to get it replaced. All in all I was quite happy with the Trion except for a few quirks.
1. Media Player was buggy with the storage card
2. Never got WM5orage working properly (either had to stopo all my programs running on the storage card which included removing items from the Today screen).
3. Screen alignment problem.
I got the Hermes originally as it looked like a device which I didn't have to use the stylus much to access most of the functionality and in 90% of cases I got by with just using the jog wheel and a couple of presses with my thumb (I had the very first xda device and was turned off by the need to use the stylus to do simple things such as dialing and looking up contacts )
I had noticed due to the operating system PPC vs smartphone the PPC needed much more processing power and hence battery life was preety much limited due to the power from the CPU 400mhz vs 200mhz ( maybe of the extra functionality needed for the touchscreen ).
Differences in the devices
1. Xda Excalibur is more responsive even with the slower CPU. Contacts work instantly on typing on the keyboard. On the hermes there is always a delay in searching for contacts.
2. Excalibur supports multiple languages in its rom and therefore there no need to reflash the rom with the rom with your appropriate language.
3. A2DP works flawlessly on Excalibur being aku 3.2. No need to install cab files to get it working and no sound quality issues and no need to get somone to write a bt stack driver to get around the microsoft one.
4. Programs in general for smartphone seem to be running better than on Pocket PC. Tomtom 6 Navigator doesn't run on the Cosmo but Tomtom 5 work just fine and performance actually seems better on the smartphone even with the lower CPU. Same is notice with other PPC vs Smartphone progams I have eg Skype and Fizz Traveller
5. Cosmo has 128 MB flash ram which is really useful as I was always trying to install everything on the SD card with the Trion to get as much memory possible for standard stuff such as emails, ringtones etc. Yes I know you can tweak the Hermes to get ringtones from the SD card but it just a hassle changing the registry settings.
6. For some reason Windows Live Beta works on the Cosmo. It stopped working on the Hermes about a month ago and never worked since. The smartphone version looks really nice as well and functions much better as I have noticed with all smartphone vs ppc programs.
7. WLAN works much better on the Cosmo compared to the Hermes eg handling of connection settings when WLAN is turned on. On the Hermes I always had to go through the process of changing my connection settings every time I switched by WLAN on an off.
8. Battery life on cosmo is much better. 3.5-4 days use compared to 1.5-2 days use on Trion. Probably because of CPU (I also changed the Hermes to GPRS only to try and save battery life due to UMTS draining the battery)
9. Not to sing all praises for the Excalibur. The only drawback I have found so far for my purposes is the Microsoft Office editing functionality is not possible on the smartphone.
10. 2MP camera vs 1.3 MP camera but I really cannot see much advantage in the quality as the 2MP wasnt that great to start with. Yes the Hermes has a led light but I doesn't really help with indoor photos. The 1.3 MP camera seems to be better quality than other 1.3 MP cameras before and for emails, web photos and MMS quality seems fine for my purposes as I wont ever print out photos from a camera handy.
11. Lack to UMTS/HSDPA on Excalibur. Loose the speed but you'll gain heaps on battery life.
12. Microsoft Media Player works with the SD card. No disappearing songs 8)
13. Price. The excalibur is less than 1/6 the price of the Trion on contract. My Girlfriend brought the Cosmo on contact for 60 Euro. I got the Trion for 320 Euro on the same contact.
14. and I think this is the killer. The excalibur have looks to die for. The Hermes is thick and although many people would say it is solidly built after using the Excalibur it makes the Hermes look like a oversized flimsy machine. The Excalibur is thin and compact with a large screen. Fits in your shirt pocket or even slide it into your jeans!!! HTC have outdone themselves with the build quality I haven't seen any phone build as solid including the razr. I fells like the device is made out of titanium or magnesium with a soft feel rubber all along the back of the device and for the keys as well, ( I cat't stop touching the device it feels sooo.. good ). My Girlfriend who is really fashion concious absolutely loves the look of the device. Photos on the net do not do it justice you have to see it in real to appreciate it's looks for me one look and it was love at first sight. (I first got a look at it from a female collegue who got the phone)
It took me a day to get used to the smaller keyboard and maybe bigger thumbs might have some problems but with rubber keys feel beautiful and make each key feel distinct during typing. The excalibur really is a one hand device even with the d pad and keys only. The touch slider is just a added bonus with flexibility.
After writing this I have noticed that this is more of a sales pitch for the excalibur than a comparison of the two devices but I have found my perfect device which does everything I need without any problems ( performance, bugs and quirks ). If you dont need the UMTS speed I must say Excalibur is the way to go. If you really need UMTS and 2MP camera then wait for the Calivier ( the UMTS /2 MP / 300Mhz version of the excalibur, rumoured to release in Spring next year ).
For me the excalibur seems to have a quite launch compared to the expectations of the Hermes maybe because on paper the Hermes looks better in terms of specifications but for usability it's excalibur all the way.
Now what to do with my Trion when it gets back?

excalibur is a smartphone right ?

Yes it is a smartphone but I think that is why it is much more responsive. Microsoft has done something right with wm5 for smartphone. Theres not much a smartphone cant do now compared to the pocket pc now. except for the microsoft office editing capabilities. I tried skype today and for some reason it was much more clearer than the pocket pc version.

it depends what you use it for..
if youre like me who has to do Office work, watch movies and play tradewinds then the touch screen is VITAL.. personally i dont have any issues with my hermes as the ones youve mentioned above..
and ofcourse there is the touch screen

I just got myself a smartphone (samsung i607) after having the wizard for a year. I was thinkign the same thing you are about smartphone functionality. i was wrong though. There is an extreme lack of third party programs for smartphone. In particular, there aren't any good web browsers whatsoever for wm5smartphone. not a single one. You also cannot customize the homescreen without downloading predefined ones online. I never found one i liked. I like to use data instant messaging programs. and there is a flaw in all of them for smartphone. They don't have homescreen plugins and there is absolutely no onscreen display that you have received a message when the program is in the forgroud. In fact, i hated the lack of flexibility on the smartphone so much that 24 hours after buying the i607, i bought the hermes. I'm still waiting for it to come, and cant wait to start doing everything i used to do with the wizard only faster.

k2snowboards88 said:
I just got myself a smartphone (samsung i607) after having the wizard for a year. I was thinkign the same thing you are about smartphone functionality. i was wrong though. There is an extreme lack of third party programs for smartphone. In particular, there aren't any good web browsers whatsoever for wm5smartphone. not a single one. You also cannot customize the homescreen without downloading predefined ones online. I never found one i liked. I like to use data instant messaging programs. and there is a flaw in all of them for smartphone. They don't have homescreen plugins and there is absolutely no onscreen display that you have received a message when the program is in the forgroud. In fact, i hated the lack of flexibility on the smartphone so much that 24 hours after buying the i607, i bought the hermes. I'm still waiting for it to come, and cant wait to start doing everything i used to do with the wizard only faster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I Have both, S620 to work and TyTn for play, and I had Wizard.
Try opera mini... better than IE and I use it also on HERMES
I've found a LOT of home screens (motorola Q has many of it) but also I like to play with XML, using just notepad and I have now my PERFECT , tre pages (scrolling), Home screen!
Office problems? try the new DATAWIZ suite, much better than office embedded in TyTN
Great as navigator and fits in my jeans pocket (the BACK pocket) and in my shirt pocket!
I 've sold the wizard believing the HERMES was the empowered Wizard. It Is the STUPID WIZARD'S BIG BROTHER believe me!

I've tried opera mini, and i dont particularly like it. I consider it to be a step down from the standard PIE with the reg edit to make PIE identify itself as a desktop computer. I guess i just miss the adaptability of my wizard. My hermes will be here soon though. I'll never make the mistake of selling my old phone before getting a new one again. If i dont like the hermes, i'll still have my blackjack. After a week, i'll decide which one to keep.

Uni/XDA Exec vs. TyTnII/Tilt

Im about to pick up a XDA Exec and I'm coming from a Tilt.
Am I making a good choice? I've been reading the Wiki and such and not really sure I want to use a cooked ROM. My Exec will be coming with WM6..but I'm not sure if its stock or cooked yet cause I dont have it in my hands.
I also noticed the huge memory difference between the 2 devices, any suggestions to improve or make more memory for the Exec?\
The things that I want to install on my Exec and hoping there is enough internal memory to handle it all:
HTC Home Plugin
HTC Home Plugin Customizer
Google Maps
Yahoo Go
icontact OR PCM
Sclpf's Cube
SRS Sound
Pocket Commander
Advanced ConFig (if there is one for the Uni??)
BT Toggle
KeySwop
ClearTemp
Thoughts?
Thanks gang

The TyTN II is newer than the Universal, but Universal has higher CPU speed (520MHz, overclocked to 624MHz in my case) than the TyTN II's 400MHz. The RAM on the Universal doesn't bother me much as the most programs I run at any one time would be outlook, media player, Internet explorer and windows live, which all run smoothly at once.
The sliding mechanism is quicker to open than the Universal, with the added advantage of being usable in the closed position. I find opening the device to check the time quite annoying, and changing between tablet and laptop styles is a bit inconvenient.
As for the VGA screen, it makes a MASSIVE difference to nothing but text reading and Internet exploerer.
However, if your vision isn't too good you might not be able to take advantage of these features. My father couldn't read any text on normal text size when using VGA (even with reading glasses on), let alone very small (which I use to increase viewable area).
Since the Universal won't run 640 X 480 Video (I tried a wmv at 25 FPS and it played at about 4 FPS), the only noticeable advantage is in internet explorer.
While on WM5 with no add-ons (so it was running in 320 X 240 mode), it was hardly possible to see the whole Google logo when using Google classic, and scrolling from side to side to see forums etc was annoying in desktop view mode, or scrolling through excessively long pages in fit to screen was annoying. However after upgrading to a WM6.1 PRO cooked ROM from here on xda-developers, which had a pre-configured VGA mode, Internet explorer is as easy to use on my Uni as on my desktop.
Storage is far cheaper on the Universal. I recently bought a 16GB SDHC card on ebay for $79AUD after shipping. A 4GB micro SD would cost similar to that.
The internal memory has plently of room for my most used applications (windows live/google maps (which runs perfectly)/all my today pluggins/skype/web viewer/media player (TCPMP).
The HTC home pluggin I have (version 1.0 from www.freewarepocketpc.net) doesn't display icons correctly, with half of the home icon's icons (like messaging, sms, and missed calls) cut off half way, and the media player controller shows only half of each row of text for song info. This is probably due to the method of getting VGA resolution, but I'm no expert. The version 1.2 of the pluggin would install, and I could check the box to appear in today screen, but it wouldn't appear there.

Blufires said:
Since the Universal won't run 640 X 480 Video (I tried a wmv at 25 FPS and it played at about 4 FPS), the only noticeable advantage is in internet explorer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I play standard Divx on my uni.
TyTnII is better for received call without headset.
I love VGA, QVGA is too small for me.

I have two side-by-side here
I'm deliberating selling a Universal I've acquired as it is new condition: the problem I have is that there's something about it I like, which stops me wanting to.
Side by side and for general usage i can give my opinion here.
The cameras on the Uni and Tytn 2/Tilt are both awful. Tytn 2 has autofocus and more megapixels but seems slower for it.
Multimedia playback using Coreplayer seems better on the Uni, perhaps because of its more powerful processor.
Uni has no GPS but TyTn 2 GPS is too unreliable to use for me.
Screen is sharp and beautiful on the Uni, however colours are somewhat less saturated and the overall look is somewhat milkier than the TyTn 2. Despite its Quarter Vga resolution the screen on the TyTn 2 is NOTICEABLY brighter than that of the Uni and colours look much more vibrant.
Uni takes SD cards and will therefore work with ANY SD-derived card you might have lying about - for example a mini or micro sd. On the whole SDHC cards are cheaper than micro SDHC.
Overall feel and responsiveness of the Uni is much better in my opinion than the TyTn 2. scrolling with touchflo seems smoother, though this might have something to do with the higher resolution.
Uni battery life is poor. A good browsing session will likely flatten the battery within three hours; Tytn 2 holds out much longer.
Browsing is good on either device since Opera Mobile 9.5 hit these forums. The Tytn 2 is given a new lease of life as a browsing device with this software, which makes Internet Explorer look positively archaic. Browsing is however more enjoyable still on the Uni owing to the sharper fonts, particularly on overview mode.
The TyTn 2 is faster overall though as it offers HSDPA and HSUPA, whilst the UNI has only 3g (which seems a little sluggish at times).
Keyboard on the Uni is the best ever made for me, though suffers from the need to flip open and spin round when in PDA mode. The keyboard on the Tytn 2 is ABSOLUTELY AWFUL, with softkeys too close to both the screen bezel and the 'r', 't', 'i' and 'o' keys. It also regularly misses out letters and spaces resultingi n veryannoying typosw hen yout hought you'dpr essed all the right buttons!
Overall I will lament getting rid of the Uni, but hell it's 5p listing day and I won't need to deliberate once the touch diamond comes out....

Xperia X1 to Touch HD - My thoughts and experiences

First off, this device is by far the best windows mobile device that I have used. I only considered WM devices when choosing this because I am dependent on expensive WM applications that I have bought for work.
I recently upgraded from an XDA touch cruise (Polaris) to an Xperia X1. That phone was great, really very fun to use. The screen was very sharp and the optical device made navigation excellent and kept screen touches to a minimum. I was initially disappointed with the keyboard and thought I would get used to it but I never did. I began to question whether I actually needed a hard keyboard. Also the bluetooth issue really bothered me and I really wanted more screen real estate more than any other feature. As a side note I thought the panels were a useless gimmic, I personally found them slow and without any real use.
After two weeks I got upgrade fever again and sold the X1 on ebay in order to buy a simfree Touch HD. This upgrade was effectively cost neutral and I waited patiently for my Touch HD. Here are my pros and cons
PROS
1 - The screen. It is glorious. The resolution and size are unparalled on a handheld device in this country. It is so user friendly and very sharp. Skyscape ebooks display beautifully. Viewing websites on Opera is also far superior to the X1 as despite similar resolution - the size makes all the diffence. It compares very well beside my new ipod touch (2nd gen) - the brightness on full is about 80% of the ipods brightness but it is still sufficient to render excellent contrast ratios. Where this screen smashes the ipod is in resolution - text on websites is very sharp when on full screen compared to the apples soft blurry rendering which suffers as it does not have as many pixels per inch.
2 - User friendly and it just works. Seemless connection via bluetooth activesync, connects beautifully without problem to my Parrot CK3200 car kit with full phonebook synchronisation (inc battery/signal strength bars). Mapped some of the buttons using aebplus and that increases the useability further. You quickly get used to not having a dpad and it becomes enjoyable interacting with the device without a stylus - I havent had to use mine yet.
3 - Haptic feedback is a nice touch
4 - Very fast GPS tracking when you turn on TomTom7
5 - Jetcet wireless printing is a useful bonus add on - however I cannot get it set up correctly with my ML1510 laser printer connected to an airport express.
6 - Accelerometer paired with Gyrator 2 is wonderful!
CONS -
1 - Its been said before but the lack of proper calendar implementation including tasks into TF3D is very disappointing. I currently have only one appointment on the display depsite having a full weeks schedule. If I add another appointment for today then it will display on the home screen but not tomorrow Like many others, I have missed birthdays and appointments because of this omission. I dont personally want to get rid of it and use SPB shell because it helps define the device itself! I would be willing to pay to get this properly implemented.
2 - GPS does lag by 1-2 seconds on TomTom which despite my heavy GPS use does not really affect me however if it bothers you it is worth considering. The lag is the same as the Polaris. On the X1 the lag was only 0.5-1 second
3 - I cannot map the home button or long press end key yet - I will continue to plug away at this.
So in summary the best phone and handheld device I have used. I am keeping this phone and really enjoying using it! Hope this helps people who may be unsure what they are looking for.

Thanks for the comparison The_Flyer
I was in the X1 vs. Touch HD dilemma but have since opted for the Touch HD.... it would be nice if it arrived though.
The killer point for me was the large touchscreen. I am fine using my finger and a stylus for writing so I didn't really need the hardware keyboard.

SingaporeAirlines said:
Thanks for the comparison The_Flyer
I was in the X1 vs. Touch HD dilemma but have since opted for the Touch HD.... it would be nice if it arrived though.
The killer point for me was the large touchscreen. I am fine using my finger and a stylus for writing so I didn't really need the hardware keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was wondering between the two myself, and then i asked myself do I need a hardware keyboard?
Turns out i don't need it.

I actually went into the Voda shop, with a bunch of dosh in my hand, ready to walk out with an X1.
They had a demo one, which I played with - and was reasonably impressed with.
Got ready to do the deal - quoted the Voda web site prices - "oh no, we're not allowed to match them"...
At the time I was gutted (and I certainly wasn't prepared to pay an extra £10 per month for the same deal), so wanderred across to phones4u.
Came out of there with my head swimming with options, and decided I'd best do some more research - things had obviously moved on a bit in the 3 months LOL
long story short (ish) - HD arrives tomorrow
(though it should have been today )
nice write up the_flyer

the_flyer said:
CONS -
1 - Its been said before but the lack of proper calendar implementation including tasks into TF3D is very disappointing. I currently have only one appointment on the display depsite having a full weeks schedule. If I add another appointment for today then it will display on the home screen but not tomorrow Like many others, I have missed birthdays and appointments because of this omission. I dont personally want to get rid of it and use SPB shell because it helps define the device itself! I would be willing to pay to get this properly implemented.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you had a look at Pocket Informant with its touch features. Maybe this will help. Can't say as I don't have the HD yet, but using an eten x500 at the moment.

Thanks - I am currently using pocket informant and it works great as a today plug in however it does not integrate within TF3D and hence the love TF3D has to be deactivated for it to work. Function v aesthetics

is everyone happy with touch hd?

Never & ever be the case, I guess.
I just got touch hd last week and personally I am not that happy with it.
Previously I used Axim x51v for some years for navigation with external bluetooth based gps reveiver.
#1. I miss the hard key to turn on/off the bluetooth/wifi
#2. I miss the led indicator of the wireless status
#3. for touch camera, I also miss the hard key to trigger it.
Maybe I am old fashioned. For touch screen, I should use the on screen button. But I do feel a bit inconvenient.
#4. The touch screen doesn't respond to touch. You must press with some strength. It is even worse than Axim 51v.
#5. difficult to plug in/out sd card
#6. I soft reset axim once/twice a week to get best performance. But to access soft reset button is not convenient.
#7. I miss the D-pad.
Apart from that, I got a bad pitch on the upper left screen.
My axim x51v doesn't have any bad pitch after years of heavy use.
Should I keep it or return it?

im playing with it for about 7weeks and hmm...
1. Useless
2. ye i miss it too but hm.. i wasnt look at it anyway.
3. yup its a very bad. to aim focus and shoot. but it a pda not camera.
4. no, no, no I didn't have x51 but thd screen is I think very good with response.
5. dont tell me you changeing card every 5 mins
6. this is becouse you dont need to reset it. (htc thoughts) IMO is not so hard to get to it.
7. hmm in first week I miss it too then i realise its not nessesery.
i think you can keep it one more week and then ask yourself. shoud i sell it or not.

Most of your issues are things that you should have known about before you bought it. If they bother you then why did you buy it?
As for the soft reset button being hard to access - you don't need to use the soft reset button to do a soft reset. Just press and hold the power button for a few seconds. Easy!

It depends on how you see it.. Compared to my other touchscreens telephones the Blackstone rulez!
But then the downparts..
1. Its slow and laggy
2. Its buggy and unstable but I guess and hopes that this is the windows version and that some cooked roms makes it more stable..
3. Crappy sound quality with the 3.5 headphone output
4. Got damn I will NEVER EVER have a phone without a REAL hardware keyboard!
5. Did I mention that typing on the screen SUX?
And yes I still have the default ROM, since Im running Windows 7 Beta 1 I havent been able to hax0r the phone so I can try other ROMs..

henrik.dk said:
Never & ever be the case, I guess.
I just got touch hd last week and personally I am not that happy with it.
Previously I used Axim x51v for some years for navigation with external bluetooth based gps reveiver.
#1. I miss the hard key to turn on/off the bluetooth/wifi
#2. I miss the led indicator of the wireless status
#3. for touch camera, I also miss the hard key to trigger it.
Maybe I am old fashioned. For touch screen, I should use the on screen button. But I do feel a bit inconvenient.
#4. The touch screen doesn't respond to touch. You must press with some strength. It is even worse than Axim 51v.
#5. difficult to plug in/out sd card
#6. I soft reset axim once/twice a week to get best performance. But to access soft reset button is not convenient.
#7. I miss the D-pad.
Apart from that, I got a bad pitch on the upper left screen.
My axim x51v doesn't have any bad pitch after years of heavy use.
Should I keep it or return it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too was disappointed slightly with the HD when I first bought. But I stuck with it, tweaked it and I'm now a lot happier than I was.
#1. I miss the hard key to turn on/off the bluetooth/wifi. To navigate to Comm Manager and use on/off function is very straight forward. Takes 3 buttons presses at most.
#2. I miss the led indicator of the wireless status. You can download different task bar icons, countless available if you search whoch have better wireless status indicators
#3. for touch camera, I also miss the hard key to trigger it. You can use apps like HD Tweak or AEB Plus and remap soft keys so camera is one click away
#4. The touch screen doesn't respond to touch. You must press with some strength. It is even worse than Axim 51v. Again use HD Tweak and change sensitivity of touch press
#5. difficult to plug in/out sd card. Gonna have to live with this one. Not as bad as you think compared to some other phones
#6. I soft reset axim once/twice a week to get best performance. But to access soft reset button is not convenient. Try using Touch Off. Easy app for soft reset/trun off etc
#7. I miss the D-pad. Use 3rd party apps. Can be found in Themes, Applications and Software forum
To improve performance I'd recommend reading up on the wiki for some tips. HD Tweak & Advanced Config shoould also help. Also, there our countless cooked roms out there which have been tweaked for performance. All you need to do is search!!

my X1 is better...

Thank you for all these information.
The capability to adjust touch sensitivity is really super. I will definitely try it.
Do you have any recommendation of wireless tools also?
Regarding D-pad, I really cannot image it can be implemented by 3rd applications.
But your response had made me think that I should keep it ....
Fallen Spartan said:
I too was disappointed slightly with the HD when I first bought. But I stuck with it, tweaked it and I'm now a lot happier than I was.
#1. I miss the hard key to turn on/off the bluetooth/wifi. To navigate to Comm Manager and use on/off function is very straight forward. Takes 3 buttons presses at most.
#2. I miss the led indicator of the wireless status. You can download different task bar icons, countless available if you search whoch have better wireless status indicators
#3. for touch camera, I also miss the hard key to trigger it. You can use apps like HD Tweak or AEB Plus and remap soft keys so camera is one click away
#4. The touch screen doesn't respond to touch. You must press with some strength. It is even worse than Axim 51v. Again use HD Tweak and change sensitivity of touch press
#5. difficult to plug in/out sd card. Gonna have to live with this one. Not as bad as you think compared to some other phones
#6. I soft reset axim once/twice a week to get best performance. But to access soft reset button is not convenient. Try using Touch Off. Easy app for soft reset/trun off etc
#7. I miss the D-pad. Use 3rd party apps. Can be found in Themes, Applications and Software forum
To improve performance I'd recommend reading up on the wiki for some tips. HD Tweak & Advanced Config shoould also help. Also, there our countless cooked roms out there which have been tweaked for performance. All you need to do is search!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

complain - as it worth to complain.
I really cannot live with phone+axim+gps when I go outdoors.
Moandal said:
Most of your issues are things that you should have known about before you bought it. If they bother you then why did you buy it?
As for the soft reset button being hard to access - you don't need to use the soft reset button to do a soft reset. Just press and hold the power button for a few seconds. Easy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

i came from X1 I LOVE THE HD

I bought mine in Dec 08, and so far ive been real disappointed.
* constant lag
* battery sucks
* non standard USB port
* Flaky paint work
but the biggest critism is the lack of structured apps compared to the iphone and android phones. I'll gladly pay for apps that are easy to download and install, hell even nokia have their own store.
Seems to me HTC just rushed through these phones without thinking of after sales products.
Ive always disliked Apple but im seriously going to have a look at the new iphone this summer....anyone wanna buy my HD

henrik.dk said:
Thank you for all these information.
The capability to adjust touch sensitivity is really super. I will definitely try it.
Do you have any recommendation of wireless tools also?
Regarding D-pad, I really cannot image it can be implemented by 3rd applications.
But your response had made me think that I should keep it ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to themes, Applications and software and type in D-Pad and see whats going on. They're is currently threads on this where some have acheived a simple D-pad and others are still trying to implement more advanced ones. Also search under mortscript and a game pad similar to the nintendo gameboy has been created for your gaming needs.
For every fault which the HD has, someone in this excellent community has either fixed it or is trying to fix it. You just have to know where to search mate.
Only things which can't be fixed are hardware ones like increasing camera quality or flashlight. Otherwise, happy searching!!

sthapa said:
......but the biggest critism is the lack of structured apps compared to the iphone and android phones. I'll gladly pay for apps that are easy to download and install, hell even nokia have their own store.
Seems to me HTC just rushed through these phones without thinking of after sales products.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
iphone approve every game which appears on their device. Because the HD is WM they cannot approve every game as anyone can basically create games for windows. This is the main reason my HTC do not provide one web site for all apps & games.
Typical websites for apps and games would be:
www.handango.com
www.pocketgear.com
http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/?en

henrik.dk said:
Do you have any recommendation of wireless tools also?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could try these 2 amongst others

but spartan, why do HTC need permission to sell games/app that run on WM ?

Sometimes people just complain for the sake of complaining
sthapa said:
I bought mine in Dec 08, and so far ive been real disappointed.
* constant lag
* battery sucks
* non standard USB port
* Flaky paint work
but the biggest critism is the lack of structured apps compared to the iphone and android phones. I'll gladly pay for apps that are easy to download and install, hell even nokia have their own store.
Seems to me HTC just rushed through these phones without thinking of after sales products.
Ive always disliked Apple but im seriously going to have a look at the new iphone this summer....anyone wanna buy my HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Constant lag? Mine is as fast as I need, and that's quick.
Battery sucks? I have no problem going a full day using virtually everything, and talking a few hours on the phone. After that, I recharge it through my USB port and up-date everything via ActiveSync. Perfect!
Non-standard USB port? Oh, please. The standard USB port fits perfectly. I use a standard USB port to connect my computer to the HD.
Flaky paint work? I haven't had a single flake of paint since I bought it four months ago. Perhaps you have a bad batch.
Don't paint every HD with the same brush. Your complaints are irrelevant to me because they simply are not true when you apply them to my HD.
Peter

sthapa said:
but spartan, why do HTC need permission to sell games/app that run on WM ?
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I think you may need to re-read his post

sthapa said:
but spartan, why do HTC need permission to sell games/app that run on WM ?
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I think what spartan was referring to is the fact that the iphone is locked (unless you JB it) They control what you can and can't have whereas WM you are free to have anything you like.
There are millions of apps/games/etc for WM phones so all you need do is search on forums like this and on the net to get what you want. HTC don't need get any permission because ultimately they don't control the phone. It's up to you to install what you want. HTC are in the business of providing phones not the 3rd party programs you run on them.
As regards the thread: I'm very happy with my HD. I'm not a camera user so this aspect of the phone has never bothered me, I just look at it as an extremely handy extra feature.
Soft reset - just install a program as has been said
SD card - Not needed to swap the 8Gb card as yet and can't see any real instances where I'd be constantly needing to swap it with any frequency.
Dpad - never used it on my trinity so not missed it on the HD
Battery life is amazing - I have watched all 3 Pirates of the Caribbean films on 1 charged battery (that was one hell of a long day waiting round for people i can tell you!)
After about 2 months of constant (reasonably heavy) use there are no visible marks or scratches on the phone and people are constantly amazed at it's looks.
So all in all I'm happy but perhaps I'm less fussy than most people here.

The phone Rulez. Period
Sure, a D-pad would be nice and it would be even better if you could attach the car battery to it (consumes like a bloody ($*T%(#$*^). Yes, for a plain phone it is both big-ish and a bit heavy
Nonetheless a) It is not merely a phone b) Rulez (see above)
If you want to compare crappy WM devices, just have a try at LG KS20

@sthapa - Think both dao & Aaronc1978 answered you query efficiently

I tried the hd tweak and the sensitivity adjustment is just for touchflo
but not for the touch screen itself. I used phatpad a lot for note taking in axim. But for HD touch, it is almost imposssible to draw a continuous line
since the strengh required to press the stylus is way too bigger.
Anyone tried to use phatpad in HD?
Fallen Spartan said:
Go to themes, Applications and software and type in D-Pad and see whats going on. They're is currently threads on this where some have acheived a simple D-pad and others are still trying to implement more advanced ones. Also search under mortscript and a game pad similar to the nintendo gameboy has been created for your gaming needs.
For every fault which the HD has, someone in this excellent community has either fixed it or is trying to fix it. You just have to know where to search mate.
Only things which can't be fixed are hardware ones like increasing camera quality or flashlight. Otherwise, happy searching!!
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Initial Comments - Got Mine

Wow! It is fast....
I know others have said this but I must reinforce that. I have been running WM6.5 on my (old!) HD for a while and with the new manilla 2.5 (sense) UI it is clearly struggling a bit. I am sure that Dutty and co will improve on that but the HD2 is clearly much more able to handle this impressive UI.
Just got mine from T-Mobile UK so here is my initial feedback to those still drooling over the videos and pictures:
Appearance - Looks great, actually feels slimer than the HD - I know it is but you will see what I mean when you handle one. The curved back (like i-phone) makes it even slimmer at the edges than the 11mm measurement would make you think. The screen looks great - you can see the dots across the screen in certain light reflections (directly across the screen) but I have not noticed any at all in use - just with bright light at shallow angle across the screen. The screen is noticeably bigger than the HD, same brightness. The screen edges are also (as reported) closer to the edge which adds to the impact of screen real-estate on offer.
Only adverse comment on design is the sharpness of the edges to the camera lens surround - the lens edging is sharp enough to damage furniture so beware. HTC need to fix this one. It is minor on the scale of things but completely at odds with the rest of the device which oozes quality.
Branding. T-mobile have put their mark on the phone - nothing externally but the boot-up and shut down splash have T-mobile branding. There is a T-mobile (Web & Walk) spalsh screen that pops up when you start Opera (otherwise completely standard) and there is a T-Mobile IM tool that has failed to work so far.
Unboxing - my box (standard green HTC box just like the videos) had no pouch (leather case). I called T-Mobile and they will be sending one but according to their list they have no mention of either the pouch (that is what HTC call it) or the (miserly) 2Gb miro SD card. There is no (micro) CD like you see in some videos and apart from standard HTC stuff there is a T-Mobile folded sheet about something - was far too busy plying with my new toy to read the paperwork...
Software - all the usual stuff is there. Notes is in 'Outlook' and there is no Co-pilot software to test for 15 days (unless its on the micro SD card (not checked), just ordered and downloaded Co-pilot 8 because it looks great on the HD2.
Camera - the pictures are great and it takes photos immediately - it really has no lag at all on almost anything. The flash is actually quite bright.
Performance - did I say it was fast? Vista sync with PC was faultless, everything just happens immediately - this is also enhanced because apps are never actually closed. There is, as reported, no HTC 'X' task manager to close apps so they are just minimised. So when you start them up again in fact all you are doing is lttbbing back to the app that may already be open. The result is near instant response and when you select, for instnce, Google Map, it is not only already loaded but has maps present too (albeit the last maps). Opera is much faster than on the HD. IE is still very poor by comparison (BTW - Opera is called 'Web & Walk' in the start menu on this T-Mobile phone). The "My location" function just works - on GPRS, HSDPA, WiFi ann PC sync. Weather looks really neat!
Initial Software Loading and trials - just had to hard reset! I installed Monocube Safemode and could not then start-up the handset in other than safe mode!!! Not impressed - wonder if that is something to do with the capacitive screen.
Resco Explorer 2008 - great
Coreplayer - installed OK but noticed that 700Mb DivX film had audio sync problem. This film and this coreplayer version on HD seemd to have no problem.
more to come when I have re-loaded the software and re-synced - don't use Monocube Safe Mode.
I cannot rule out something else having cause the need to hard-reset but it only occured after my first power-up after installing the sotfware. I will report this to Monocude (who make it) and report back if I get anything.
Love the phone - very happy.

This is my first HTC and to be frank, I LOVE IT. Maybe because it replaced my SEX1?
Playing music is a delight, the speaker is amazing. Had to reduce the sound to 50% as it was too loud.
Picture taking, could be better, but as I'm used to SEX1, I can say its impressive.
Fast? Fast? It's lightning fast. This device changed my opinion towards WM. I was appalled, but now I'm extremely happy.
Only one annoying thing, when there is no data connection I get this pop up every time I turn on the phone, which is quite annoying.
Overall, I give it a 8/10. It could very easily be improved with ROM updates.
But why did they make sms notification so small?

I got mine yesterday. (Donated by a certain someone, you know who you are . )
Gotta say it truly is one of THE most amazing pieces of mobile tech I've seen in all my years as a technician. For the 1st time I can finally say winmo users finally have something that knocks the socks of the (in my opinion) now defunct iPhone and indeed any others available to date The speed of everything on this is just amazing, never did I think winmo could achieve this. Of course HTC did an amazing job covering over winmo you really never see it for anything.
I've been reading reviews online and in papers (ya I know, paper, im so old-fashioned sometimes lol ) and all the reviews say the HD2 still couldn't beat the iPhone etc so I was holding off buying it. But don't listen to the reviewers they're just too critical, this phone really is the biz, go get it.
Also, as this phone has no Hardware Keyboard it can be a bit tricky at first. I used to refuse to own a phone without a physical one but replacing the default HTC softKB with Fingerboard and everything is perfect Some minor tweaks and videos, battery etc are all working above and beyond any media smartphone I've used (and Ive even used the iphone for 5 weeks).
Anyways enough of my wild ravings about the phone. If anyone wants to know anything about the HD2 gimme a shout, happy to answer anyone

Just got mine today from.... Vodafone!!! Can you believe for once they've got it out with everyone else????
It's every bit as good as I'd hoped (not surprising as I'm stepping up from an early Tytn).
As tony wheeler found though, you can be too clever.... I originally had an XDA 2 with TomTom Nav 5, forced my Tytn to load it years ago and long before TomTom supported it (in fact I'm not sure they ever did). Tried to force it on the HD2 and all I got was a corrupt screen and it froze. Only needed a soft reset to get it going again, but a bottled out at that point.
I noticed that my favourite game (Bubblet) is missing (I'm a simple soul) and so far I cn't get .tsk skins to load properly, but hey - it's only day one.... plenty of time yet.
Update: sorted Bubble using hints and tips at the top of this forum, thanks TB!! Also, got my skin working by pasting it into the windows folder. It then appears in the advanced Today edit screen.

Lag in messaging
Guys,
people have been complaining about the messaging application being laggy especially for contacts which have long message trail...is this correct? Are you experiencing it?

anshkhanna said:
Guys,
people have been complaining about the messaging application being laggy especially for contacts which have long message trail...is this correct? Are you experiencing it?
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Eh, not really.

Ive already got 113 messages (+25 on my SIM) on mine and not noticed any slow down or lagg. Also have loads of emails and no slow down on the email tab either.

Mine arrives tomorrow via DHL, looking forward to it.
Moving back to WM from iPhone, been playing with iPhone for the last six months. I have always been a WM believer, but I always look and test the competition in the real world. Then I have a opinion based on first hand experience.
While the iPhone has many nice features, when it comes to business it isn't as flexible or useful as a WM device.
That's not to say WM doesn't have issues, it does. That's for another thread though.

iphone switch
I will be interested to hear your honest opinion of the HD2 compared with iphone.
The IP screen and nav functions are very fluid, but I think the HD2 is equal or better.
The HTC Shell makes a huge difference.
Without it I would have bought an iphone myself, and that is saying something!
Nighthawk said:
Mine arrives tomorrow via DHL, looking forward to it.
Moving back to WM from iPhone, been playing with iPhone for the last six months. I have always been a WM believer, but I always look and test the competition in the real world. Then I have a opinion based on first hand experience.
While the iPhone has many nice features, when it comes to business it isn't as flexible or useful as a WM device.
That's not to say WM doesn't have issues, it does. That's for another thread though.
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