Related
I think so and I will tell you why. I have been following this phone since it was announced long ago. I to have been a proud HTC device owner but these days I am not so proud anymore.
I am a Windows Mobile fan. Currently I am using my old trusty or not so trusty these days HTC Kaiser/TYTN2. I became a big fan of the tilt feature. I am a tmobile user so back when the Kaiser was released not having 3g bands was not an issue because tmobile did not have 3g. I bought the Euro version and paid top dollar.
Since then its been hacked and modded to reduce glitches and increase speed but lets face it. The keyboard is worn and almost all keys require a super hard press due to wear and tear. Also the screen is tiny by todays standards. I didnt buy the Euro version of the TP2 because I live in the US and 3g is now an issue. So I waited for the tmobile release now confirmed for aug 12th. Right around the corner!
Those of you who didn't wait seem to be reporting endless bugs and glitches not to mention hardware problems. It is driving me nuts to the point that I am shying away from the TP2 hype. I have been following all the TP2 threads here and its bads news after bad news. Very different from when you all 1st got it.
Please someone speak some positive stuff otherwise I may end up holding onto my Kaiser for another year. Final rant.....the specs could be better. Damn Iphoney has an 800mhz processor and HTC just holds back!
I absolutely love it. I have not one problem with it, except for the battery door. I had to modify it a little but know its fine. Out of the 4 HTC phones I have owned, I think this is the best by far. Good luck with your findings.
Although I won't argue with you, the touch pro2 is a great phone for what it's intended for which is business users. It is lacking a bit hardware wise for multimedia and gaming, since it pretty much has the same processor and memory as its predecessor. It is for this reason that I am still trying to decide between the TP2 and samsung omnia II since it has the faster processor and beautiful AMOLED screen. So if you are shying away from the TP2 I would recommend the omnia II or the omnia pro (has hardware keyboard). Even though it annoyingly lacks a built in stylus (but thats just me).
The Great Malaki said:
The keyboard is worn and almost all keys require a super hard press due to wear and tear.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its probably not wear and tear. Its the same thing that happens with TV remotes. Over time, the oils from your fingers seep through the buttons and interfere with the contacts. If you were to take the keyboard appart and wipe down the contacts, no garauntee, but I bet it would work like new.
i think most of the problems people have (including myself) on their TP2 is 3rd party softwares imcompatable to the new UI on TP2. hope HTC will offer an update for TP2 sooner than September.
if you turn away from it for Samsung OmniaHD, make sure buy it from a local Samsung stores or from your mobile operator. i've been in a deep problem trying to get my Omnia i900 fixed. i bought my i900 from an idiot ebay seller named Cutrategoods70. when my i900 bricked from a firmware update, i tried to contact that idiot, never get a reply. i emailed SS service center in UK (coz SS US & Canada never heard of this model), thay told me to send to them. 5 weeks later they sent it back & said they not support "foreign unit". emailed SS Singapore & Malaysia, they said the same thing. Becareful when you buy a Samsung on ebay or internet stores
good luck for you finding the right device
I think is totally normal to see so many posts about defects / bugs. Usually, peoples who post threads here need help with something. If everyone posted a thread about "Everything's fine with my TP2" when their TP2 is working flawlessly ... well... it would be pretty useless to do that.
Think about it : it's normal to find broken cars in a car dealer's garage. It doesn't mean the car model is crap.
I second that. You will normally see threads asking how to improve things or how to fix things.
Most of the posts here are when people need something, find something that they think could help others, and that's about it. The closest thing you can find to general chat would be the speculation on future support or release dates.
In forums for my last phone you saw threads on how to fix things, and for new software made for it (as a closed platform it had to be hacked and forums where the few places you could get software for the OS, unlike Winmo).
If you'll notice many of the threads are duplicates, and some of the complaints are somewhat invalid as the phone was never designed to do X thing (a prime example are the complaints that the Euro version doesn't support North American 3G bands.
Every phone will have defects and problems unless it's a very well built dumb phone. The question is, just how many people are having said problems, and out of how many satisfied customers without those problems?
Like vakbrain said, you're not going to find a new thread singing the praises of the phone from every person who is happy with it. It'd be extremely tedious, boring, and space consuming.
I love my TP2. I bought it SIM-free so it was quite an investment of cash, but I think it was worth every penny. It has the odd glitch here and there, but then so does any piece of complex modern equipment. I'd fully recommend it without any hesitation at all.
I think my TP2 is great! Ive alerady installed some handy apps to it. Havent had any issues with the device itself really, more like things relating to it. Finding a Good belt clip case for it seems to be a challenge, and Finnic isnt finished yet, so it runs like crap. I would have liked to have a 3.5mm jack on it, but im dealing with the adapter. I do wish TouchFlo had its own Slide to Unlock on it, but meh. i have s2u2 for the moment.
Lyian said:
I think my TP2 is great! Ive alerady installed some handy apps to it. Havent had any issues with the device itself really, more like things relating to it. Finding a Good belt clip case for it seems to be a challenge, and Finnic isnt finished yet, so it runs like crap. I would have liked to have a 3.5mm jack on it, but im dealing with the adapter. I do wish TouchFlo had its own Slide to Unlock on it, but meh. i have s2u2 for the moment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi Lyian, could you please tell me does s2u2 work ok on yours?
i installed the WQVGA v2.04, it doesn't look right to me since everything so small & sticking together. VGA version look normal on my screen. other thing is when i set On Battery Power>Blank Screen on Talk, it works once, try the 2nd time the screen off then back on again. any idea to config it right?
thanks
I am using S2U2 on mine and it works fine. I am using the VGA version and it's flawless.
I love my Pro2!! no problems at all!!
One big difference
Hi all
Thought I'd add a comment.
The one big difference between my Touch Pro2 and every other HTC phone is that the TP2 works extremely well out of the box and while some people are annoyed with all the bundled software (i.e. M3D and it's incalculable extensions) I actually think that this makes is a better device and would rather have more of this than less.
The point is: It does everything I want it to almost out of the box. This has not been the case with any other HTC device I have owned/used.
Best wishes
andrew-in-woking
vakbrain said:
I think is totally normal to see so many posts about defects / bugs. Usually, peoples who post threads here need help with something. If everyone posted a thread about "Everything's fine with my TP2" when their TP2 is working flawlessly ... well... it would be pretty useless to do that.
Think about it : it's normal to find broken cars in a car dealer's garage. It doesn't mean the car model is crap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. I'm waiting for it to come out (couple weeks near me). Can't wait, watched plenty of unboxing videos and walkthroughs. *fist pump* Im ready lol.
sakshaug007 said:
Although I won't argue with you, the touch pro2 is a great phone for what it's intended for which is business users. It is lacking a bit hardware wise for multimedia and gaming, since it pretty much has the same processor and memory as its predecessor. It is for this reason that I am still trying to decide between the TP2 and samsung omnia II since it has the faster processor and beautiful AMOLED screen. So if you are shying away from the TP2 I would recommend the omnia II or the omnia pro (has hardware keyboard). Even though it annoyingly lacks a built in stylus (but thats just me).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't recommend the OMNIA II or PRO because they have only 137MB of RAM. That's hardly enough to run any software. I was really looking forward to the new OMNIA phones but it's a big disappointment with the lack of ram. I do admit other specs on the phone looks great but without the right amount of ram, the phone is very limited.
No Fail
Had my TP2 for just over a week now, so still getting used to it but I've had absolutely NO issues with it, so far it has surpassed my expectations. It seems fast, responsive and I like the functionality.
The guys who point out that people write in to forums with problems are absolutely correct. People don't just write in to say "I love it" most people here seem to be advanced users, happy to tweak and hack their phones to get that extra 10% out of them.
I'm a business user, I don't anticipate playing many games (that's what the DS/PSP etc. are for) and as a business user I think this phone rocks!
My anti-fail 2c!
No problems at all with mine. Very impressed, kicks my TP's ass in every department except LED flash.
Brilliant phone, top marks to TF3d too.
Well, I haven't gotten a TP2 yet - still waiting for AT&T to release theirs - in the meantime I'm living with my 2.5 year old Virgin Mobile USA prepaid phone, but ready to make the leap to a contract.
What I can say is that the phenomenon where everyone writes in to a forum (especially a big one like XDA) about their issues makes the problems seem much worse than they actually are. For every person posting here about a problem there are at least 2 more that have had NO problem and wouldn't even think of coming to an online forum to solve issues with their phone.
For example, I bought an Asus EeePC last fall, and went to the premier EeePC forum at the time to see what others were saying - it sounded depressing too! Everyone with issues. Then I realized that A) people wouldn't go to a forum to solve a problem if they didn't love the device and wanted to keep it, they'd just get rid of it if they didn't like it, and B) the people who come to forums are device tweakers who must have things just so (I'm one of them too) and thus are looking for feedback regarding their particular pet peeve or issue caused by the one program they just MUST use. People complained about cracks in the hardware, or messed up keyboards, or whatever, but I've thrown my EeePC 1000H in and out of airports plenty of months and it has yet to be less than 100% satisfying, other than the $150 drop in price over when I bought it 10 months ago!
So, what I'm saying is, this is a phenomenon unique to the interwebz and electronics junkies in general, so don't be discouraged by all the negatives around here, in the end we're all just questing to make an amazing device even closer to perfect.
andrew-in-woking said:
Hi all
Thought I'd add a comment.
The one big difference between my Touch Pro2 and every other HTC phone is that the TP2 works extremely well out of the box and while some people are annoyed with all the bundled software (i.e. M3D and it's incalculable extensions) I actually think that this makes is a better device and would rather have more of this than less.
The point is: It does everything I want it to almost out of the box. This has not been the case with any other HTC device I have owned/used.
Best wishes
andrew-in-woking
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I must agree with Andrew. I own about 15 HTC phones, starting with the Wallaby, back in 2002. When I unboxed my TP2, I immediately thought 'what do I have to modify now?'. But it worked perfectly out of the box and i havent modified anything. I only installed my connection and Coreplayer... Simply good.
One flaw however is the resolution, which is incompatible with some of my software. But those titles are not vital for me.
So, now I am waiting for the next big hit... HTC SUPERSTAR...where are you??????
henh said:
hi Lyian, could you please tell me does s2u2 work ok on yours?
i installed the WQVGA v2.04, it doesn't look right to me since everything so small & sticking together. VGA version look normal on my screen. other thing is when i set On Battery Power>Blank Screen on Talk, it works once, try the 2nd time the screen off then back on again. any idea to config it right?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The WQVGA is the wrong version for the TP2, you want the VGA version (WQVGA is for smaller resolution phones like the Tilt)
I would say it does work 'ok' on mine. I do have an issue with it here and there that i wont go into here, but for the most part, it doest what i want it to, which is, to keep me from accidentally calling people lol.
OP needs to stop worrying, TP2 is a fantastic device and also get off the apple hype bs, iPhone doesn't have an 800mhz processor lol, more like around 600 for the 3GS, even less for the 3G.
I’ve defected from Windows Mobile and the Rhodium over to Android and the HTC Desire Z (code name Vision). About a million years ago (late December, actually) Jackos asked that I write a review/comparison of the device, for which I am happy to oblige. Unfortunately, a newborn baby, holiday travel, and work travel have conspired to delay me from writing such a review. But I’m finally taking the time to fulfill the promise. Jackos thought such a review would be useful for those that are looking to upgrade from the Rhodium, so hopefully that is still relevant. Based on a recent thread, I would think so! http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=949121
The move to a different OS was certainly something that I’ve been debating for some time. But as we all know (and possibly unwilling to admit), Windows Mobile is outdated and nearing the end of its useful life. Windows Phone 7 so far is a big disappointment to me. The OS seems very limited in many of the same ways the iPhone is, with reviews at various websites and comments by users verifying this notion. One article I read about WP7 was that the OS is not a good choice for power users. Android was looking more and more attractive to me. To me, it carries on the spirit of Windows Mobile in terms of customization. Things are not accessed quite the same way as Windows Mobile (there is no registry), but there is still tons of customizations, mods, and hacks available.
Being the owner of the Tilt (Kaiser) and Tilt2 (Touch Pro 2, Rhodium), I’ve become a big HTC fan, and wanted something similar, with a hardware keyboard. The Desire Z has a very similar form factor to the Rhodium, with a hardware keyboard, nearly the same screen size, and similar dimensions. I found out that Bell Canada released the HTC Desire Z in November, with 3G bands compatible with ATT's network. I decided to take the plunge. Not an easy pill to swallow, as an unlocked, unsubsidized device like this goes for a premium price of around $600 (and obviously not for everyone). But what the heck, its a been a good year, and I decided to get myself a Christmas gift. Of course, if you are in Canada, Europe, or on T-Mobile, you have access to specific versions for those locations and carriers at a much better price.
Let me tell you guys, this device is amazing. The build quality is excellent, the phone feels very high end, with most of the body being a gorgeous brushed aluminum, accented with some slightly grippy/rubbery “soft touch” plastic (also nice looking, and does not cheapen the appearance). The feel of the phone is much nicer, and seems more sturdy then the Rhodium.
The camera is 5MP with a LED flash, and yields somewhat better photos than the Rhodium. The screen is gorgeous. While the iPhone “Retina” and Samsung AMOLED displays get all the hype, the super LCD screen on the Desire Z is still very nice. Direct comparisons I have read rate it only slightly below the quality of the iPhone or Galaxy S displays. Touch response is excellent, and registers multi-touch very well.
Much has been said about this phone’s unique “Z Hinge”. See the Engadget review, if you aren't familiar with the Z-hinge: http://mobile.engadget.com/2010/11/25/htc-desire-z-review/
Some have complained about the phone not staying firmly enough in the keyboard open or closed position, or have expressed concerns of the durability of the hinge. Personally, I like the hinge and how it is designed to open easily with the flick of your thumb. But if you’re in doubt, you might want to play around with it in person before committing to buying the phone.
The keyboard itself is very good. But strangely, not quite as nice as the one on the Touch Pro 2. The the keys are slightly smaller (and one less row of keys), and do not have quite as much “travel” when pressing the keys. It feels like a slight step backward from the Rhodium, but still one of the best keyboards around. Having come from the ATT version of the Rhodium (which replaced the row of numbers with random symbols and punctuations), the missing 4th row of keys is not a big deal. But owners of other Rhodium variants will no doubt miss the number-dedicated row of keys.
Another piece of hardware that is strangely not as good as the Rhodium is the speaker. The speaker on the Desire Z is not quite a loud as on the Rhodium, but the difference is fairly minor, and most people will probably overlook this. The 3.5mm headphone jack is a welcome addition, and good riddance to adapters and special headphones that were needed on the Rhodium (at least the GSM version).
At the time of the phone’s release, this was one of the fastest Android phones available (although there is a new generation of dual core Snapdragons coming soon). Don’t be fooled by the fact that the CPU is clocked at 800 MHz. This is a newer generation of Snapdragon than the 1 GHz ones found on phones such as Nexus One and the EVO, with a different fab process and faster GPU also. The Desire Z benchmarks faster than those phones, as well as the Galaxy S, Droid X, and others. The CPU can also be easily overclocked to 1 GHz without over-volting and affecting battery lift; and much higher than that with over-volting.
Battery life seems somewhat shorter on the Desire Z compared to the Rhodium. I was often able to get 2-3 days on a change on my old Tilt2. On the Desire Z, I usually have to charge every night. I can maybe get through a day and a half; but at least a day with all but the heaviest usage. And to be honest, I’m using the phone much more than I did my old Rhodium, so that is a factor as well.
I've played around with Project Android on my trusty old Tilt2, so Android is not completely new to me. It took me a bit getting accustomed to where some things are located, but that is true with switching to any new phone OS. The OS is overall pretty user friendly. It just takes a little while to dedicate to memory where some settings and other things are located. And there is certainly a learning curve once you are ready for customizing/modifying. There is lots of new terminology, process, and tools to learn if you want to “root” (gain super user rights to access system files) and flash a custom ROM, or do other system modifications.
Knocks on Android for not being as "smooth" as the iPhone seem largely unfounded to me. The Desire Z is super smooth, and of course has tons of customization and functionality that the iPhone will never have. And if you coming from Windows Mobile, you are going to be blown away by the smoothness and stability of the OS. The only real performance weakness I’ve seen so far is switching from portrait to landscape on the homescreen, particularly when you have lots of widgets loaded.
Using the phone is a pleasure. Browser rendering is fast, with the stock browser working very well, and Flash enabled. I’ve been previously in denial that capacity touchscreens are a good thing, but multi-touch pinch-to-zoom really does make browsing a joy. Text selection (such as for cut/paste) is aided by a zoom feature that activates with a long touch on text, and also by the optical trackpad (which allows moving the cursor by single characters).
I already keep my contacts, email, and calendar on Google. So the Google integration is awesome for me. I just entered my Google login and password, and it synched all that stuff in a couple minutes. If you are not a Google user, things might be slightly annoying, as the OS will try to steer you toward creating a Google login. Google Navigation is built-in, and will give you point-to -point directions, with audio cues, and first person perspective. It works better than the tools on Windows Mobile such as Google Maps and Bing. It works so well, in fact, that I've often been using Google Nav instead of my Garmin Nuvi GPS unit in the car.
I knew moving to Android would open up a lot of software options, and in this I was not disappointed. There are tons of useful applications and games on the Android Market, and the list is constantly growing. Software developers have embraced Android, which is a refreshing change coming from Windows Mobile. Yes, there is a ton of fluff and junk in the Android Market. But most of the major applications you can think of have a quality Android version.
I’m not a developer. So I can’t comments on the development potential of this device and Android versus Windows Mobile. But so far there is pretty good developer support on the Desire Z. And many have claimed that developers will support this phone for a long time, as they seem to favor devices with a hardware keyboard. There are several stable custom Froyo (Android 2.2) ROMs available, including Sense and non-Sense options, as well as CyanogenMod (a popular and highly customized Android ROM). Gingerbread (Android 2.3, the latest version, just released) ROMs are in the works, with alpha/beta versions already available for testing. Personally, the stock ROM has been so stable and usable for me, I haven’t really been that tempted to flash a custom ROM yet, versus a Windows Phone, where a custom ROM is virtually a necessity.
I’ve babbled on for much too long. In short, if you are looking to upgrade from the Rhodium to something with a similar form factor, the Desire Z is highly recommended. Here’s a quick summary of the Desire Z versus my old Rhodium:
Pros
OS is light years ahead of Windows Mobile (smooth, stable, fast)
Awesome build quality, with a sturdy feel
Better display
3.5 mm headphone jack
Great selection of quality applications
Slightly better camera (5MP) with LED flash
Cons
Keyboard not quite as good
Speaker not quite as good (minor)
Shorter battery life
Z Hinge durability may be an issue
P.S.: If you like the review, please click the "Thanks" button below!
I really appreciated reading this review. I'm a Tilt 2 user, that hasn't found anything new out there to make me want to give up my Rhodium and I have the same feelings regarding Windows 7, so I'm very hesitant to give it a try. Android is completely new to me, but from what I've read, it seems like the natural progression for those of us on Windows Mobile.
I'm on AT&T, so I will keep a watch on this phone if AT&T decides to release their version down the road (but I won't hold my breath ). I've never used unlocked devices either so, unless they come down in price, I won't be experimenting with this model for a while.
Thanks again for posting this. I look forward to reading more about your experiences with this device.
Have fun!
Debbie
Thanks for the review. I enjoyed reading it. Well done, sir!
For a conclusion: Was it worth the money if upgrading from Rhodium?
DebbieNY13 said:
I'm on AT&T, so I will keep a watch on this phone if AT&T decides to release their version down the road (but I won't hold my breath ). I've never used unlocked devices either so, unless they come down in price, I won't be experimenting with this model for a while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having finally lost iPhone exclusivity, AT&T seems to be starting to release some decent Android devices, such as the HTC Inspire (Desire HD variant). I'm skeptical they would release the Desire Z, but maybe they will release a future HTC device with a QWERTY keyboard. One can only hope.
If the keyboard is not an absolute requirement, the Inspire looks like a very nice phone. Larger display than the Desire Z, 1GHz processor (faster then the Z), and a slightly better camera. I've actually been finding myself using Swype more and more, and the keyboard less and less. So that has me rethinking the whole QWERTY keyboard thing, a little bit. Although I still use it from time to time for longer texts and emails.
BTW, if you like the review, please click the "Thank you" button!
Jackos said:
Thanks for the review. I enjoyed reading it. Well done, sir!
For a conclusion: Was it worth the money if upgrading from Rhodium?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're very welcome.
For me, spending the money was worth it. It was a lot of money to spend on a phone, but I absolutely love it. I tried to stick with WM as long as I could. But everything just works so much better on the Desire Z. I knew it would be a big improvement, but all my expectations were exceeded.
If you are in a market where your carrier offers this phone for a subsidized price, its a no-brainer.
Very nicely written
I have a TP2 now, also considering the Desire Z since it has a (rare these days) hardware keyboard.
Seeing how the DZ performs (especially when overclocked, wow!) does make me feel quite confident it's somewhat future-proof performance wise.
I do love the tilting screen of the TP2 very much, especially when I'm at the computer and using the TP2 for MSN or FB chat or something like that. Like having a miniature laptop
Have you ever missed the tilting screen of the TP2?
When my contract expires next month I can get a free DZ if I extend my contract.
I'll go to the T-Mobile store tomorrow and see if I can play around with one
ericino said:
Very nicely written
I do love the tilting screen of the TP2 very much, especially when I'm at the computer and using the TP2 for MSN or FB chat or something like that. Like having a miniature laptop
Have you ever missed the tilting screen of the TP2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally, I was finding myself using the tilt feature on the TP2 less and less. Lots of times, I found it easier to just slide the phone open, write a quick text, then close it quickly, without having to mess with tilting the screen up and down. But of course, this is a personal preference.
The only times I've been missing the tilt screen is while watching video. With the TP2, I could tilt the screen up, then place the phone down on a table to watch. HTC should have added a kickstand, like on the Desire HD. It would have been a very easy to add, and super useful.
Perfect review!
I'm also considdering the DZ, and the review almost answered all my question.
But I still have one question: What do you do if you want to navigate without being online?
So if you're abroad and don't want the rediculous roaming costs, how do you navigate?
I now use TomTom really a lot, and I don't know what to use when I switch to the DZ.
TomTom has all the maps on the memory card, is there a good replacement for Android? With regular updates?
ronh said:
Perfect review!
I'm also considdering the DZ, and the review almost answered all my question.
But I still have one question: What do you do if you want to navigate without being online?
So if you're abroad and don't want the rediculous roaming costs, how do you navigate?
I now use TomTom really a lot, and I don't know what to use when I switch to the DZ.
TomTom has all the maps on the memory card, is there a good replacement for Android? With regular updates?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a paid Android app called Copilot, which is supposed to be pretty good, and does what you want. But I haven't personally used it. There are others, as well.
Also, the Euro version of the Desire Z has a feature of the "new" Sense called HTC Locations, which has a 30-day free trial, than once you pay the monthly fee or buy a lifetime license, you can navigate using maps downloaded to the SD card. Unfortunately, Locations and the Car Panel were removed in the Bell Canada version of the DZ. Likewise, the T-Mobile G2 does not have it, as it is Sense-free. But the feature can be obtained by flashing the stock Euro ROM to either the Bell DZ or the G2. I haven't done this, and I have no idea how well Locations works in the US. But comments by DZ users in the UK and Europe indicate they seem to like it.
i too miss my tilt 2, especially the tilts sliding kb. thats why i come back to these boards every now and again.
i got an evo back in august. i never thought id get another smart phone without a keyboard since i have had the 8125 8525 8925 and tilt2. its been a much easier transition than i thought moving to a phone with a giant screen let alone switching to a different os
almost anything i could do with wm i cant do with android only better. android is way more reliable and the tilt2 was a touch underpowered.
as soon as someone comes out with a 4.3inch lcd with a sliding kb that will be my next phone
off topic, don't believe the hype about the evo battery being weak, i get 24-40 hrs per charge, average is probably around 30 hrs and that's with 2 weather apps, face book, 4 emails accounts and Google searches off and on all day with gps location and blue tooth on. i also have a stock rom, although its rooted.
btw tc excellent read.
oh and as far as gps, i too was curious about the navigation, google nav is the best gps nav app i have ever used, but it does rely on a cell phone data connection, i think it gets enough of the info cached ahead incase you loose signal but if it needs to reroute and you dont have signal you are dead in the water. so i went on to try a few stand alone gps apps and i ended up going with aura, it looks pretty and it works but i dont like it, but its a good backup to have incase i dont pay my bill, lol, or loose signal.
Redpoint i hate to rain on your parade, but i went and seen that you have quite a few threads some of which are here in the Pro Tilt 2 forums regarding this new phone you are in love with, why not go to the forum for that phone ?
here make it easier for you...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=594
Sorry the tilt is a great phone although it is getting dated, but that is no reason for what you are doing ....
F2504x4 said:
Redpoint i hate to rain on your parade, but i went and seen that you have quite a few threads some of which are here in the Pro Tilt 2 forums regarding this new phone you are in love with, why not go to the forum for that phone ?
here make it easier for you...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=594
Sorry the tilt is a great phone although it is getting dated, but that is no reason for what you are doing ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was specifically asked for a comparison between the Touch Pro 2 and the Desire Z; for TP2 owners who may be interested in upgrading. If it was a straight up review of the DZ only, and no mention of the TP2, I would agree with you. But as you can see from reading my review, I make ample comparisons and references to the TP2, so I believe its appropriate here. The DZ is also a very logical upgrade from the TP2 versus just about every other phone on the market, due to its very similar form factor and same manufacturer.
You said I "have quite a few threads" about the DZ. But this is the only thread I started. I posted a reference to this review on 2 other threads started by others. Those threads were started by users looking for an upgrade similar to the TP2, so that actually reinforces my decision that this forum is the correct location for the review/comparison.
I did debate it for a while (of where to post), and your comment is not unreasonable. But I didn't see the Desire Z the best place to post it. The huge majority of the users on the Desire Z/Vision forum already own the phone, and they don't need to see a review for it. If the moderators don't agree with my judgment call, they can move the thread.
And you linked to the forum for the Desire, not the Desire Z. They are completely different phones.
Considering what HTC 7 Pro has become, looks like the Desire Z is the only one phone coming from HTC to replace the TP2. What a pity!
I'll wait until something new comes out to replace my PPC. TP2 still does a great job for me.
Thanks again for the review.
potna said:
i got an evo back in august. i never thought id get another smart phone without a keyboard since i have had the 8125 8525 8925 and tilt2. its been a much easier transition than i thought moving to a phone with a giant screen let alone switching to a different os
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It true, with Swype, I actually find myself using the screen keyboard much more than I would have thought. In fact, for my next phone I may seriously consider one without a hardware keyboard . . . maybe. But I personally can't stand typing on-screen without Swype.
potna said:
oh and as far as gps, i too was curious about the navigation, google nav is the best gps nav app i have ever used, but it does rely on a cell phone data connection, i think it gets enough of the info cached ahead incase you loose signal but if it needs to reroute and you dont have signal you are dead in the water. so i went on to try a few stand alone gps apps and i ended up going with aura, it looks pretty and it works but i dont like it, but its a good backup to have incase i dont pay my bill, lol, or loose signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had that same thought about having a nav program that doesn't need a data connection, so I have a backup in case I am in an area with dodgy coverage, or for foreign use. I might check out something like Copilot, which is only $5 for the US maps (and interestingly $80 for Europe!).
I would like to thank you also for the comparison and ask you about what I haven't read elsewhere.
Is there ability for teleconferencing inDesire Z?
Besides the mentioned problem with the DZ's speaker there were a few times that the feature was (even more than welcome) life-saving while using my rhodium. That, and the Excel files editing.
Also, (a "pro-" feature, not mentioned elsewhere) what about video out?
Am I asking for too much?
Redpoint:
I too have made the upgrade, from TP2 to G2 (Desire Z). Your findings mirror mine almost exactly.
Just in case any one is curious, I'll add my 2 pence.
I still kind of miss the resistive touch screen (think gloves or stylus for precision), but the cap screen is über responsive, and as you said, multi touch is pretty sweet.
I do not miss the complete lack of development of applications for WM. At least at any corporate or popular apps level.
I do miss the great MS Office and Outlook integration. Android does play nice with Exchange, though.
FWIW: Tmo G2's do have a Office compatible suite that should work for docs and xls, but I didn't get a chance to use it. I flashed to a new ROM too fast
I still have the TP2, and will likely futz with it some more, but the G2/DZ is a worthy successor.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
calrification on pro2 vs DZ
Sir/s,
i would like to know if DZ has the following functionalities:
1. exchange sync of email, calendar and contacts.
2. when you download exchange email, is it in html format?
3. can DZ record 2 way voice call? (not via speakerphone)
Above are the features that im frequently using on pro2.
So I've been a big fan of physical keyboard phones since around 2006~ish. The only smart phones I've ever had, have had a physical keyboard. Now that I'm close to my handset upgrade I want to find something worth to replace my trusty G2/Vision. I am a T-Mobile customer and have been one for quite some time. I don't plan on switching anytime soon. I am somewhat bothered to see that there are less and less high-end physical keyboard phones being released. In my opinion, it is a must have feature and with the new quad-core and x86 based phones right around the corner, what will happen to the users that are torn between the latest/greatest, and the desire of a physical keyboard?
I know how you feel. My first phone, HTC s720, had a physical keyboard on it. Loved it. Upgrade time game and I opted for the HTC Hero. No keyboard, small screen and laggy OS (Android 1.5). Couldn't handle it so I bought the DZ and love it to death to this day.
I'm afraid though, most high end phones won't have a keyboard. This saddens me because having physical buttons, while it adds bulk to the phone, is more accurate than any on screen keyboard. Knowing this, I think my next phone is most likely the HTC One X, unless HTC releases another variant with a physical keyboard. Never going to any other brand either. HTC = quality stuff.
I've got my eye on the HTC One X as well. It's rumored that the t-mo version will be stock android. I've had a physical keyboard since the G1, so it's not easy to consider a phone without one. However, the stock onscreen keyboard (and speech recognition) has gotten better. Perhaps I'll zip tie my G2 shut to see if I could survive without the physical keyboard...
I hope they will release something like the mytouch 4g this year with quad also for Europe
Sent from my Vision
virtualflyer said:
I hope they will release something like the mytouch 4g this year with quad also for Europe
Sent from my Vision
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huawei is making the MyTouch now lol! Unless, HTC pulls out a surprise with a G3 by the end of the year... I'd say the qwerty is almost extinct
sino8r said:
Huawei is making the MyTouch now lol! Unless, HTC pulls out a surprise with a G3 by the end of the year... I'd say the qwerty is almost extinct
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thinking I changed my N1 with a Desire Z just to have the qwerty... I'll change it (if I don't drop it in water before... ) in mid 2013 so I hope the milestone 4 (or 5 more probably) will be released this winter, maybe with a quad so that I can buy it for 250-300€ in june...
Damn it, I was hoping that at least one manufacturer would stick out and present a nice hardware QWERTY during the CES.
Though I understand that a lot of people do not need a physical keyboard, there could be at least one alternative for power users.
The Motorola Droid 4 looked like a step in the right direction at least. But with a non-removable battery and a locked bootloader I'm less sad, that it likely won't come to Europe.
So I'll have to keep hoping....
I've been laboring away with the amazing XDAndroid devs have put together while waiting for HTC to release a true successor to the TP2 (pro 7 doesn't count, sorry). That will, apparently, never happen.
htc abadons keyboards
Claude Zellweger, this company's creative director, said at a press event "As a company, the QWERTY keyboard we're moving away from in general. We feel that putting too much effort into that would take away from our devices."
Instead, HTC is going to work to improve the haptic feedback that is included with the on-screen keyboards it will use in future handsets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No one ever made a better landscape slider, and perhaps now, no one ever will.
Say it ain't so!
I was still hoping for a TP2 replacement as well... Ugh. I guess w/o a kb, the phones are a lot cheaper to build, and there's a lot less crap to break.
Still sucks...
Maybe once their billion dollar exclusive is up Nokia will get rid of the trojan Elop MS planted behind their walls, they can support multiple OSs and innovate again. They used to have some really impressive form factors, including two tilting sliders.
Why HTC? Why?
One of the main things keeping me from upgrading is this amazing and very useful keyboard.
Anyway lets hope they change their minds.
even if something like swype or slideit isn't a satisfactory replacement for a hardware keyboard, imo they definitely improve the usability of a software keyboard. by no means am I against a hardware keyboard (i really like my tp2) but eliminating it from a phone does allow for a much more compact device.
Oh no...
I am really a fan of physical keyboard too, and it must be those with a separate row with number-keys, just like our TP2. Without keyboard I will be sure go for a phone with 4.7" screen. But still, it's just not the same good feeling on a keyboard.
but however thanks for posting this "news", at least I know from now I shall not wait from HTC. Maybe Nokia one day??
I actually use a flip phone now, my TP2 is more of a PDA. I'm considering never buying another serious smartphone and just having a dumbish phone and a tablet.
5 lines, offset with comfortable spacing and good feedback was what finally got me to converge. I didn't care about the tilt until I used it, now I don't want to be without that either. If I can't have it, well, maybe I'll deconverge. Better bang for the buck in tablets anyway.
Hello everyone!
I'm looking for a new phone since my Epic 4G is finally biting the dust. Of course I'd like to stick with a QWERTY keyboard phone so the Captivate Glide may be my next choice! I did have a few questions though:
Ideally I am looking for an unlocked Captivate Glide to use on a monthly AT&T or T-Mobile plan. I hate contracts and I'm looking to travel internationally in the next few years so having a GSM phone will help in that aspect. Is anyone on either of those networks?
How do you all find the battery life typically? On stock or custom?
This phone is looking to be a good replacement for my Epic and I'm interested to hear your feedback
My absolute honest opinion... for the money I paid this phone delivers, its got a dual core processor good screen lots of memory .. the keyboard, however, leaves much to be desired... now my opinion is based on having come from a blackberry bold, the keyboard was awesome. Because of the touch and the keys being so close together I was able to roll my fingers across the keyboard to complete words and rock it back and forth to complete other words.. IE: I'd roll my thumb from e to r to e again to complete spelling there etc.
With the captivate glide keyboard, not only does it take a bit to depress the keys but they are so far apart and I've found I've had a difficult time moving from key to key because of it. As well, once you have a hard case on, its difficult to get to the keys on the top row.
I find myself using the on screen keyboard and only flipping to the physical when I get frustrated with typos (as I was used to on my Galaxy Ace which has only a 3.5" screen .. it was murder trying to type).
Part of me wonders if I should have gotten a Galaxy SII for the interim... I really wanted to get an SIII but there were no free phone offers so I settled on the Glide.
Other negative part is it has a very small user base so the forums here are fairly quiet and only a couple of people are developing for this device. This means things like CyanogenMOD (CM10) and Jellybean, proper ICS builds are a lot slower to come by ... and it is possible that we may not ever see JB on our phones ... Dman appears to be the only person coding JB for our phones, TheGreaterGood has solidified a great ICS rom now (literom 0.8.4) so we have an ICS build improved upon by the most recently released ATT build.
Battery life is good, I get a full day and some out of it, come night time after about 14 hours I'm often at critical but understand I have 2 email accounts in push mode all day, wifi on all day cruising and connecting to various hot spots throughout my clients across the city and I'm in varied coverage areas. (A couple of my clients are in rural area's). This is with my GPS turned off.
My phone was purchased for Rogers network - I dumped them as a provider and switched to Virgin Mobile. I paid the $15 and unlocked my phone using the download util from FastGSM. My phone has NEVER come unlocked and I've flashed numerous roms in GingerBread ICS and JellyBean. There are threads explaining how to unlock for free but personally the 2 minute and guarantee that it would unlock my phone (I unlocked my galaxy ace as well) was worth my time savings
My advice - Find one, play with it. Type up a whole couple-3 paragraphs using the on screen keyboard and the slide out keyboard. I read that I should do that somewhere and I didnt.
I miss the feel of my Ace in one hand with a rubber sleeve on it. I could spin it around and feel it comfortable in my hand, wrap my fingers around it. This one, because of the slider, It feels like it may falll out of my hand easier and there doesn't seem to be an ability to fluently type with one hand (such a drag when driving )
Don't get me wrong, I'm still happy with my purchase but I would have spent far less hours playing with a Galaxy SII tweaking it and trying to get it customized because there is so much more support for it. Not to mention having Google NOW.
I also came from the Epic. It is a little bit different of a phone, but it is much faster, in my experience. It has a dual-core Tegra 2 and an 8 MP camera -- two nice selling points. It also can support a 64 microSDXC card -- I have one in mine and it's awesome.
However, a few drawbacks too -- the top row from the Epic on the keyboard (the numbers) are missing -- we only have a 4 row keyboard. You have to use the alt key to get numbers. Not a super big deal, but takes some getting used to. Also, there is no notification light to my knowledge, either. So don't expect a flashing light to tell you if you have a new email, etc. The final "frustration" is that it is hard to find decent cases for this. Dev's aren't entirely consistent on this device, like they are with the Epic -- We haven't had any "stable" releases of ICS/JB, aside from mods on the stock -- CM support isn't quite there yet. CWM doesn't support external SD's. I guess we were a bit spoiled in the Epic forums. I may be taking a stab at getting external SD support with CWM... and maybe then working on CM support... but we'll see -- have a lot on my plate and I'm not a Java developer by trade (but I am a programmer with over 20 years experience in other languages relevant).
It's a little slimmer and feels a bit sturdier/compact than the Epic, but more or less the exact same size (but different rounding on the corners).
You can pick one up BRAND NEW from NewEgg -- and then unlock it. I got mine for $200 with free shipping, etc, from NewEgg on a sale. Just watch out for it and make sure you're paying attention to the "sales" and coupons, so you know the true price of it -- mine was listed at $225 with a $25 instant rebate (shown right next to the title of it). It was supposedly unlocked (but it's not) -- so I had to buy an unlock code -- and it worked flawlessly. If you look in this forum, you should see a review I posted about it.
I think the phone has a lot of promise, but we need a bit better support. Some things that are important seem overlooked. That being said, it seems like the remaining tasks are pretty simple. Unlike the Epic, which received support for data as one of the last things on the phone -- the Glide got it as one of the first things -- but the physical keyboard isn't working perfectly. Weird nuances like that.
Again, we are lucky to have developers who spend their free time on this -- and anything they've already done can be appreciated. I just wish we had a few others in here who would take up some more of the work and try to fix it, when one of our dev's is working on a side-project, like we did with the Epic.
All-in-all, feels like a good phone to upgrade to. Pretty happy with it. I got an empire case off of Amazon for about $5 and it fits better than the Seidio I have on my Epic. Just ROM support seems a little weak at the moment compared to the Epic.
Wow, thank you both for such detailed responses. One of the things I look for as well is the community that supports the phone which you've both demonstrated is pretty damn good regardless of custom ROM support. Thanks!
The price is the main constriction on whatever phone I plan on purchasing. Next is GSM, then the speed, keyboard, SD card slot, etc. Starting with the price, the new phones are so goddamn expensive! I don't think I could justify spending $600 phone and I really don't want to be on a contract; I'm hoping to do a month to month on either T-Mobile or AT&T. The newer phones are all dropping some of the best features (IMO): keyboard and SD slots. The reason I'm considering this phone is because it's basically the Epic just beefed up!
There are a couple other phones I was comparing this to: Droid 3 and the Mytouch 4G Slide. To be honest, the Captivate Glide has CM9 and CM10 in beta which would be enough custom rom swapping for me. I really want a solid daily driver that isn't going to crash or give me many problems. Any thoughts?
benchwrmr22 said:
There are a couple other phones I was comparing this to: Droid 3 and the Mytouch 4G Slide.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was using a Droid 3 when Rogers offered me this phone for free to re-up on my plan. The heft and feel of the D3 was awesome. Lots of metal, it felt super solid. The keyboard was also great. I'm a big fan of the Droid line (my favourite phone still is the original Droid [I wish I could get another one with a bigger screen and updated insides]) because I love the look and the build quality was great. Also, the HDMI out was sometimes handy.
That being said, the screen on the Glide blows the D3 out of the water. I forget the specifics of the Droid 3 screen, but immediately after I got it home, I noticed that it had a distractingly pixelly screen. The glide also has a full gig of ram as opposed to 512mb and that was a nice upgrade. The battery on the Glide is ever so slightly bigger (1500mah on the D3, 1650mah on the Glide).
While the keyboard on the glide is not as good as the one on the D3, I have no problems touch typing while walking and glancing at my screen periodically. Having all 4 android buttons on the keyboard is also a nice touch. The Glide has a springy mechanism like old qwerty feature phones to pop out the keyboard, whereas the D3, you have to manually push it the whole way. I wouldn't say either is better... just different feel.
As much as the glide rom scene isn't as robust as some phones (don't get me wrong, the guys we have are absolutely awesome), the stagnant development scene for the Droid 3 is what made me switch. Two words: Locked Bootloader. ICS was kind of running on it when I left in July, minus a whole bunch of things (notably the camera). And I skimmed through that forum the other day when I was feeling like busting out the D3 for a couple of days for nostalgia; it doesn't look like a whole lot has changed. Flashing roms on the glide is the pinnacle of convenience. Flashing and running roms on the D3 involved crazy workarounds that slowed the boot time and restricted us to using a GB kernel with heavily modified ICS. Although, I hear there's been some luck in getting unsigned kernels to work, there's still a LOT of driver work that has to be done from scratch to get ICS fully working with the D3's just-good-enough internals.
That's about all I can say about these two phones. I'm no dev and by no means did I look incredibly far into the D3 situation so I could be way off base, but that's how it looked to me.
Well, here's the deal with that, then:
Yes, this phone is way better than the Droid 3/4, in my opinion. I like the keyboard on the Droid better, but this phone has WAY better support and chances for it.
If you want to go month-to-month, consider using StraightTalk -- I have StraightTalk using AT&T's network (since that is what is officially supported here -- since 1900 isn't being supported by T-Mobile yet). $45/month unlimited everything -- and here we don't have hidden data caps, it doesn't seem, so the negatives of the network aren't really there for StraightTalk.
I'm working with the guy who originally ported CWM for our phone (not Aquethys -- utkanos) to make a CWM that ACTUALLY works 100% (currently ours doesn't support external_sd, even though it lists it -- it always fails to see it). Once I have that done, I'll probably be playing around with building CM10 and trying to fix some of the bugs that Team Glide has yet to do. I have no experience with Android development -- but I do have a lot of experience with programming in general -- so hopefully I will be able to get something working. Only thing is that CM10 is a big, nasty compile -- and I'm just using a VM right now, which isn't as powerful as true dedicated hardware. I'll probably have to get a monster server to start real development, but my funds are low. So, depending on how painful and annoying VM development is, I may stop working on anything after the CWM. We'll see what happens!
My very non-dev take on this phone, after having it a year now: My previous phone was a Droid1, which was a pretty good device (very durable) but I definitely grew tired of its sluggish performance, even while running CM7 on it. I was never a fan of the Droid1 keyboard, and I think the Glide is a huge improvement between the 2. No question the keys are a bit flat and widely spaced, but I think they work well once you're used to them. The lack of a dedicated number row is annoying, but manageable.
My biggest annoyance after the Droid1 is the lack of a LED notification light on the Glide. But that just is what it is. Other small gripes are the lack of a good case option (as far as I've seen), since the all-plastic construction of the Glide is rather slippery in your hand. The back cover looks nice and stays on tight during normal operation, but a minor drop seems to make it fly off, causing the battery to fly out, and you're standing there gathering the pieces of your phone and re-assembling it like a buffoon. At least I've been there a few times.
The development support for this phone in the last few months has been great. I was really bummed for quite some time after getting it to see very little support. LiteROM has been a really solid variation of the stock Samsung/AT&T ROM, with version 0.8.4 seeming to be essentially flawless in the last few days I've had it running. I know CM10 is a huge project, but with LiteROM running so well, I really have no need for anything else.
I will likely hang onto this phone after my AT&T contract is up in a year, and also go to StraightTalk. Maybe T-mobile will get their frequencies straight and I'll have the option to give them a whirl next year. AT&T service works pretty well in my area, so at least I know I will continue to get that coverage.
The only other thing that bothers me about this phone is the low ppi of the screen. It looks rather pixelated at times until you zoom into things. Do yourself a favor and definitely don't even glance at a new iPhone screen before checking out the Glide. I think that's the only feature that will eventually convince me to replace the Glide, if someone (Samsung or Moto) comes out with a high-quality GSM slider with a high ppi screen. But it seems phones with physical keyboards get less and less attention, and the Glide might be one of the last good GSM offerings for a while.