editor
hiraethified
But that's not a good thing: it leads to some hideously inconsistent interfaces, clunky operation and several ways to do the same thing, none of which are as good as the iPhone or even Palm.
What's the best phone/pda, then?
- Thread starter Kizmet
- Start date
But surely that's ideal.. because then it allows you to tailor the device to work in the way you wish.. it doesn't really matter if it's different to everyone else.. in fact that's the point.
I think my ipaq was customised perfectly.. everything was a maximum of a few clicks away and made a huge amount of logical sense to me. I had apps that emulated what I wanted from the iphone/palm and others that introduced functions that were missing.
ChrisFilter
Like a boss.
It's the same size as the iPod (a little wider, actually) but looks a bit smaller and quite a lot sexier.
Review from an iPhone owner:
Default New UK HD Owner Views (from an iPhone owner
LONG MESSAGEI have had my 3G iphone for about 6-7 months now, and have in that time tried several new phones, namely Nokia E71, Diamond (horrible), X1 (lasted less than 1 day!) and I also own a Trinity.
Anyway, the HD arrived via www.devicewire.co.uk in the UK (doh) on Thursday last week, and I powered it up right away. It was £522 delivered.
I think in the UK, people are better off ordering online, since you have the 7 day DSR (Distance Sellings Regs) to fall back on in the event of dislike, dead pixels etc.
With the HD, I am surprised how much I like it..........put it this way, it came Thursday, and Friday it was a case of "yes, this is good, but nothing much better than the iPhone, so I can not justify the cost, so back it goes".....read on for what happened next
I even have the return code from devicewire (very good aftersales, even when you are returning stuff!!)
I can not say the HD screen blew me away, since the screen on the iPhone is a truly, truly lovely screen anyway, and I had been using this everyday for the aforemention 6-7 months.....but, for anyone who has not been using an iPhone, the screen is gonna make you do a double take. It is clear, big, bright and the fonts look amazing.
First thing I did was switch off the ambient sensor (yes, it does have one!), and put brightness up to full, I love contrast as my eyesight is not so good these days.
Now, this is why the iPhone has been so good for me, (although I guess most of you lot here will be younger with perfect vision), I find it has good large fonts, and great contrast.
Compare this to the default text size on the Diamond, or indeed the latest Sony X1, its tiny, and yes, I do know you can altertext size, but on a small screen, it just means you get less on a sreen and have to be scrolling all the time.
The HD is just perfect for me, nice big fonts, so smooth, and perfectly usable with either a finger, (even with a glove on, something that is not possible on iPhone), or a stylus, which as it turns the HD on, is handy to have.
So, the screen is as good as the iPhone, with better resolution, and as I just read in the Slashgear review, the actual touching of the two screens is very close indeed. Even coming from several hours use of the iPhone eveyday, I do feel that I will get on with the HD screen very nicely.
But hang on, I am not keeping this am I, I already have the return code and devicewire are expecting it back......well, I doubt it now.......I had put it all away very carefully on Friday, but it sat there looking at me, and I kept reading about it on here........it was all too much, got up this morning and thought "lets take it to work, Sunday is quiet usually, I can have a play".
Well, the breakthrough for me was to turn off Touchflo and install PocketPlus, a great piece of software I have used on many devices. Oh, that and TomTom 6 running in landscape on the trip to work
As for GPS lag, it is only about 10 miles to my workplace, but there is little or no lag present in TomTom 6.
TomTom is a big deal for me, I find nothing touches it, and it is a great disapointment that there is still no TomTom (or anything else!) for the iPhone, when you recall the stories that TomTom already had it running back at the 3G launch, it must be Apple who are blocking its release.....
I think Touchflo is just too "black" for me, not sure if it will run with a brighter skin or not, but I like the way PocketPlus makes a device look, much brighter.
Now, a lot has been written about WM 6.1 being hard to use without D-Pad? The only issue (apart from games which I confess is of zero concern to me) is for selecting little drop down (roll out) menus, and that is sorted with AEBPlus http://ae.inc.ru/aebplus.php which allows you to assign the volume up and down keys to act as Arrow Up and Arrow Down, and this sorts it and works well.
I can confirm the UK HD comes with the little soft case (its quite nice actually), but a word of warning, do NOT assume all iPhone cases will work, my one, and nice Marware slip case is too tight, and the HD is a smidgen wider that the iPhone. Anyway, I like the softcase. It was also nice to get the 8gb Micro SD card. I have not installed the screen protector yet, can never really get on with those anyway.
Keyboard use on the iPhone is pretty good, and I was very doubtful that HTC could get anywhere near it, but they have basically cracked it IMV. The buttons are the same size as iPhone and easy to use. I am making less mistakes in a few hours than I do after 6 months on iPhone.
Web browsing is not in my opinion as good as the iPhone, well, let me qualify that. If you just use fingers, the iPhone wins, but if you use fingers and the stylus, I think the HD then just shades it.
One very welcome side effect of returning to WM is the multitasking, this is one massive issue for us geeks on the iPhone, combined with the lack of cut n paste, it really shows the two devices quite far apart in usability.
Email is very good on the iPhone, and if you only have the one account (gmail for example) it takes some beating for simplicity. However, the HD also does a great job, and with a little wireless keyboard (impossible on iPhone), I think it will make a good laptop replacement)
RSS is OK on the iPhone, but much easier on the HD, with the built in RSS Hub program, which downloads all feeds, including video feeds. I like to watch Cali Lewis on Geekbrief www.geekbrief.tv everyday, and you have to jailbreak the iPhone to be able to do that (yes, I do know its coming in 2.2 software, but with a limit of 10mb over cellular, which renders it useless for video podcasts, and anyway, its a pain in the arse to upgrade iPhone and then have to jailbreak each time.
We are good at making our decisions fit the case, so the iPhone user is always going to say "oh, I don't really miss cut n paste", when in fact, you quickly forget how often it is useful.
I think for me, it comes down to this, the HTC Touch HD can do everything the iPhone can do and lots more, but the the iPhone can not do several things the HD can do. Does that make sense?
I hope this view (not a review IMHO), helps some of you, and just like the chap in the other thread, please feel free to ask any specific questions about useabilty, although please don't ask me to run x test on y video, using xx program while standing in a bucket of water, as I probably can not be bothered
A couple of program I will miss if I sell the iPhone are TV Plus, a great APP which gives a 7 day EPG and more inportantly, links to Sky Plus (UK only) and lets you setup recordings.
I will also greatly miss Remote, an Apple APP which controls iTunes on my main desktop PC, although I should be getting up off my butt to change charge anyway.
ChrisFilter
Like a boss.
I think I am going the same way as you, tbh. I like HTC's brand of techno-enthusiasm.
Have you seen the new max4g, though?
Yeah, seems to be the Touch HD with wimax.. very cool. Is there much wimax round London yet?
ChrisFilter
Like a boss.
Right, my summary for anyone else in the market!
HTC Touch HD - The winner! Just a lovely phone that, like the iPhone, largely solves the problems associated with a lack of hardware keyboard. I'd urge anyone to try it in a shop, just lovely. And the TouchFlo 3D works really nicely, once you've worked it out. Super nippy as well, which solves my previous gripes with WM6.
HTC Touch Pro - A very close second. Same OS, same specs other than screen size. By far and away the best hardware keyboard I've tried. In the end I couldn't resist the screen on the HD.
iPhone - Probably comes in at third. Nice, but too flawed for me at this stage. Typing wasn't great. I found when typing in a url that I'd made a couple of errors, and trying to get back where I made the error fucked me off to the point of giving up. No arrow keys on the virtual keyboard, and my finger was too big to precisely line the cursor up to where I'd made the errors. Didn't have this problem with the Touch HD. Ultimately this is what put me off the iPhone. Not exactly a proper road test, and I'm sure I'd get better with time, but in a head to head it lost. Also, I'm not a fan of the look or the lack of tinkering potential but the 'slickness' of the iPod features were a big draw. For all TouchFlow 3Ds niceness, I imagine it still falls short of the iPhones interface.
Joint third probably goes to the G1. Nice, but felt very 1st-gen, and has too many flaws and average reviews for me to bite. Also, t-mobile aren't the best.
Fifth would be the Xperia X1. Poor keyboard and a lack of TouchFlo 3D to make WM6 bearable relegates it to the latter half of the league table.
A long way bottom would be the Blackberry Storm. I almost laughed at how bad I found it. Typing was annoying and stymied, the interface was slow and confusing. In fairness, it didn't have a SIM in, but I don't see why this would slow everything down so much. The click screen is a nice idea, but poorly implemented. Too much effort required to click I think.
HTC Touch HD - The winner! Just a lovely phone that, like the iPhone, largely solves the problems associated with a lack of hardware keyboard. I'd urge anyone to try it in a shop, just lovely. And the TouchFlo 3D works really nicely, once you've worked it out. Super nippy as well, which solves my previous gripes with WM6.
HTC Touch Pro - A very close second. Same OS, same specs other than screen size. By far and away the best hardware keyboard I've tried. In the end I couldn't resist the screen on the HD.
iPhone - Probably comes in at third. Nice, but too flawed for me at this stage. Typing wasn't great. I found when typing in a url that I'd made a couple of errors, and trying to get back where I made the error fucked me off to the point of giving up. No arrow keys on the virtual keyboard, and my finger was too big to precisely line the cursor up to where I'd made the errors. Didn't have this problem with the Touch HD. Ultimately this is what put me off the iPhone. Not exactly a proper road test, and I'm sure I'd get better with time, but in a head to head it lost. Also, I'm not a fan of the look or the lack of tinkering potential but the 'slickness' of the iPod features were a big draw. For all TouchFlow 3Ds niceness, I imagine it still falls short of the iPhones interface.
Joint third probably goes to the G1. Nice, but felt very 1st-gen, and has too many flaws and average reviews for me to bite. Also, t-mobile aren't the best.
Fifth would be the Xperia X1. Poor keyboard and a lack of TouchFlo 3D to make WM6 bearable relegates it to the latter half of the league table.
A long way bottom would be the Blackberry Storm. I almost laughed at how bad I found it. Typing was annoying and stymied, the interface was slow and confusing. In fairness, it didn't have a SIM in, but I don't see why this would slow everything down so much. The click screen is a nice idea, but poorly implemented. Too much effort required to click I think.
ChrisFilter
Like a boss.
ChrisFilter fails on the iPhone.
If you point you finger to the text field and hold it there, a magnifier appears where you can easily move the cursor about. Cursor keys
So it would be fair to say that the iPhone wasn't as intuitive as the WM6 phone then?
Sunray
Its sunny somewhere.
Intuitive does not mean you going to know how to work it straight away.
WM6 is a design guide on how not to write a mobile OS. You tried to use techniques you've learned on that or other shoddy OS's on something that looked past those failed ideas and expected them to work? Who is at fault, you or Apple?
Always a good exercise to read the manual, tho I figured it out straight away, so ner.
WM6 is a design guide on how not to write a mobile OS. You tried to use techniques you've learned on that or other shoddy OS's on something that looked past those failed ideas and expected them to work? Who is at fault, you or Apple?
Always a good exercise to read the manual, tho I figured it out straight away, so ner.
ChrisFilter
Like a boss.
Intuitive does not mean you going to know how to work it straight away.
WM6 is a design guide on how not to write a mobile OS. You tried to use techniques you've learned on that or other shoddy OS's on something that looked past those failed ideas and expected them to work? Who is at fault, you or Apple?
Always a good exercise to read the manual, tho I figured it out straight away, so ner.
I was only teasing, WM6 is a dog. TouchFlo does a very good job of avoiding a lot of it's failures though.
I did find it easier to pick up the Touch HD and get working straight away than I did with the iPhone but this might just be 'cos I've played with the format more.
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
In that case Android pisses on them all from a great height. No manual in the box at all, just a pdf on a CD-ROM, and that hasn't seen the light of day yet
It's the single most user friendly gadget I've ever played with, which, in spite of its several faults, counts for a fuck of a lot in my opinion
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
ChrisFilter
Like a boss.
That's exactly what it means, surely
Yep.
So... I plumped for the touch hd. Spectacular! It looks a treat and it's fast. Opera has decent functionality and the touchflo interface is pretty decent. Some minor niggles but I think there are a couple of freebie apps that should sort them. First impression? Fabulous bit of kit!
Sunray
Its sunny somewhere.
In that case Android pisses on them all from a great height. No manual in the box at all, just a pdf on a CD-ROM, and that hasn't seen the light of day yet
It's the single most user friendly gadget I've ever played with, which, in spite of its several faults, counts for a fuck of a lot in my opinion
No manual included or even a disk with the iPhone. It wouldn't fit in the box.
I have a working copy of the Android platform on my desktop so I know it quite well. No matter how much better than the also-ran 'rest of the market' it is, the UI has some way to go to come close to the iPhone. Esp that browser with its zoom buttons.
ChrisFilter
Like a boss.
Good choice, my good man
Oh, and I'd recommend getting the SPB virtual keyboard - better than the standard full qwerty.
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
The "desktop" of Android is way better than the iphone (which gets cluttered as you install loads of apps), and the notification system is superb.
As for the browser, what's wrong with the zoom
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
.....and?
newbie
undisambiguated
Good choice, my good man
I think I'd agree. I've had a Touch Diamond for a while (since before the HD was available, dammit) and while it's not perfect it's among the most capable bits of technology I've ever owned. Although there are a few 'features' that irritate me they may well please other people.
and actually, during a slightly unsatisfactory discussion with bees earlier, it became apparent there's far, far more software available than for Android and it's far, far more available as well. But maybe that's just me being old-fashioned and expecting multiple offerings- free, shareware & commercial- from all over the web, not a limited choice from a single source.
editor
hiraethified
Check out my comparison of most of the current big hitters in the smartphone world here and give us yer feedback!
http://www.urban75.org/tech/smartphone-best-of-review.html
http://www.urban75.org/tech/smartphone-best-of-review.html
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
I still can't get my head around why T-Mobile offered you such a shit deal if you've been with them for 10 years. I'd been with them for less than 2 years when I got my free G1 with a reduced monthly bill.
Have you tried asking again?
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
The joke of it is you can leave them for a couple months then go get the deal they're offering everyone else (which I'm tempted to do to get the G1
)!
ChrisFilter
Like a boss.
The Storm is possibly the worst phone I've ever used. I was shocked at how bad it was.
Also, I'd rank the Xperia lower.
I'd also review the WM phones seperately. The size of the display makes WM w/ TouchFlo a vastly different proposition to the others.
editor
hiraethified
Well, it does some things better than other phones (e.g. corporate email) but the more I used it, the less I liked it.
I played with a HTC HD after I wrote the review and was more impressed, so I may update the piece when I get a chance (or review the phone properly if they ever get around to sending me one).,
editor
hiraethified
Interesting feature by feature comparison of all the main smartphones platforms here:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/19/mobile-os-shootout-iphone-os-3-0-enters-the-fray/
http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/19/mobile-os-shootout-iphone-os-3-0-enters-the-fray/
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Hmmm...not sure about the value of them until they're based on finished products, not beta releases and un released phones...
Sunray
Its sunny somewhere.
That's exactly what it means, surely
No not really.
If I were to show you a control panel for a chemical factory and ask how to change the reaction speed for the production of H2SO4, it might be blindingly obvious and totally intuitive to the operator but to you your going to be blank.
You need to be familiar with the concepts and workings.
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