Is the desire a good smartphone? Pros n cons wanted - Desire General

I have a friend looking at phones...is this a decent phone? Are there any problems with it as far as hardware goes? Reliable, etc... im not new to xda just have an incredible
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

People says that the desire's ambient light sensor has a problem which I have yet to encounter. Also, the desire has very small internal memory which could be a problem in the future date.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

cons: battery life, small internal app space
pros: pretty much everything else

OpusX11 said:
cons: battery life, small internal app space
pros: pretty much everything else
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I think the battery life is rather normal just like other smartphones and shouldn't be quoted as a con.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

OpusX11 said:
cons: battery life, small internal app space
pros: pretty much everything else
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Click to collapse
To some extend (almost entirely) I agree with OpusX11. However:
1. Unless the very latest models are different, all (each and every single) smartphone are provided with "short" batteries. Personally, I can go one full day without recharging (push enabled, several phone calls, some internet, some wifi, some GPS).
2. Small is so relative... Again, only very few smartphones are provided with more that half a Gb memory for programs. Do we want more? Yes!, but as of today, this is among the biggest ROM available in the market. You can overcome this limitation with several very nice cooked ROMs available here at XDA (I'm very happy with the RCMixHD ROM I'm using)

rafaelegomezb said:
To some extend (almost entirely) I agree with OpusX11. However:
1. Unless the very latest models are different, all (each and every single) smartphone are provided with "short" batteries. Personally, I can go one full day without recharging (push enabled, several phone calls, some internet, some wifi, some GPS).
2. Small is so relative... Again, only very few smartphones are provided with more that half a Gb memory for programs. Do we want more? Yes!, but as of today, this is among the biggest ROM available in the market. You can overcome this limitation with several very nice cooked ROMs available here at XDA (I'm very happy with the RCMixHD ROM I'm using)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't that technically negates off the cons? Leaving the desire flawless? Lol.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

Internal space is limited, can be overcome with apps2sd as mentioned above.
Power button is annoying, the slightest touch will turn your phone on, annoying when your trying to save the last 10 minutes battery for an important phone call.
I've dropped mine a dozen times on concrete from hand height with no protector and its still working fine.
There is massive developer support here if your into that sort of thing, you will arguably get more/higher quality hacks, mods and rom's than on less popular devices.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

Coming from an old Nokia 5140i the Desire is extremely good.
I am running stock HTC 2.2 and haven't had any problems with neither battery nor storage (admittedly I don't install very many apps).
I go from 100% battery to between 50 and 10% during a days usage. And that often includes Wi-Fi on almost all day, about 30-40 SMS, some web browsing and between 30 to 60 minutes of games on the bus.
I have dropped my phone without protection once on a gravel road from hip height and the only damage were some small scratches in the plastic on the top.
As written above the power button is a bit sensitive, but not something that's overly annoying.
I have a SLCD screen and it is very nice, both regarding colours, brightness and touch sensitivity.
It's very nice to have actual buttons for the home/menu/back/search buttons, and not touch ones, as it's less risk of accidentally pushing them.
All in all it is a very solid phone (for me at least) and one I would very much recommend.

I agree- a top phone all in all;
cons- battery (lasts about 2 days max for me), low internal memory, (no htcsense.com could be a downside too?)
pros- nice design, quick phone, with android!

Lothaen said:
I agree- a top phone all in all;
cons- battery (lasts about 2 days max for me), low internal memory, (no htcsense.com could be a downside too?)
pros- nice design, quick phone, with android!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Htcsense.com will come to desire when(or if) it upgrades to sense 2.0
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

Old phone already, I doubt that even gingerbread will be availabe as an OTA update, not even mentioning sense 2.0 because of the low internal memory.
So,
Cons: old device, probably no more support from htc, probably no ginger and most likely no sense 2.0 and custom ROMs with it will never be smooth
Pros: overall a decent phone, satisfied with it but very pissed on the HTC support
The battery is not an issue, you can easily get 2 days out of it if used with knowledge and tweaked with some custom ROMs.

lvnatic said:
Old phone already, I doubt that even gingerbread will be availabe as an OTA update, not even mentioning sense 2.0 because of the low internal memory.
So,
Cons: old device, probably no more support from htc, probably no ginger and most likely no sense 2.0 and custom ROMs with it will never be smooth
Pros: overall a decent phone, satisfied with it but very pissed on the HTC support
The battery is not an issue, you can easily get 2 days out of it if used with knowledge and tweaked with some custom ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There might be sense 2.0. However due to the small internal memory, HTC might limit it (less features installed on phone etc.) And gingerbread should come out before they stop support.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

I listed battery life as a con because friends with samsung android phones can get more life from their battery. I do agree that all smartphones suffer from short battery life, but i think the HTC sense-based phones are a bit worse than others in this space.
I'm not sure HTCSense.com is a big deal. Apps like WaveSecure or Lookout can do do online backup of data anyway, right? Are there other features of HTCSense.com that are note-worthy?

lvnatic said:
...
So,
Cons: old device, probably no more support from htc, probably no ginger and most likely no sense 2.0 and custom ROMs with it will never be smooth
Pros: overall a decent phone, satisfied with it but very pissed on the HTC support
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true - i use coolexe HD v5 ROM (sense 2) which fits as a whole in the internal memory. This ROM - to me - is as fast and snappy as the original ROM. Couldn't believe it by myself when i tried it first...
And HTC is the best company when it comes to supporting it's devices. See Sony and Motorola fiasko... Shure, they won't support it forever, but community is great and if you are willing to "play" with it, it will last even longer.
Only thing i would complain about Desire is, that it doesn't have a "real" multitouch display - though pinch to zoom is working flawless. For me, it's a near perfect device - more than any other device - even until now.

Thanks guys i appreciate all the comments. Im fairly sure my friends will be getting this phone. It sounds very very similar to my incredible
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hudl said:
Not true - i use coolexe HD v5 ROM (sense 2) which fits as a whole in the internal memory. This ROM - to me - is as fast and snappy as the original ROM. Couldn't believe it by myself when i tried it first...
And HTC is the best company when it comes to supporting it's devices. See Sony and Motorola fiasko... Shure, they won't support it forever, but community is great and if you are willing to "play" with it, it will last even longer.
Only thing i would complain about Desire is, that it doesn't have a "real" multitouch display - though pinch to zoom is working flawless. For me, it's a near perfect device - more than any other device - even until now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Belive me, I have tried all of the Desire HD/Z ports available, even since november when they started to show up. I have tried all kinds of tweaks, some of them that you haven't even heard of probably. Ext2 which is supposed to be faster, ext4 without journal, ext partition alignment, ownhere's data2ext version (2ext partitions), patched sqlite, overclock, undervolted kernel + overclock, I even bought a class 6 card especially for this. I always rolled back to leedroid. Belive me, I have tried them all, they are still ports not optimized for desire and never will run smoothly.
I really have hopes for gingerbread, but for sense 2.0, no chance.

I have my Desire for just over a week now and i must say i really love it!
But then again i came from the LG Arena (KM900) which is just an awfull phone, so my opion might not be the most objective.. i never had another Android phone before..
I did some research before getting mine at the beginning of 2011, and the Desire being almost a year old, even then alot of sites still rate the original Desire in their top 5, most sites (in europe) compare it with the iPhone4, Samsung Galaxy S, and HTC's own Desire HD. i really liked the 3.7" screen size, the 4" on the HD & Galaxy S (with the same resolution as the 3,7") are just too big for me..
and actually the Desire being almost a year old was actually a great selling point for me. Last time i had to choose a new phone i wanted the top notch, and that was right before LG came out with the Arena, they made it look as the perfect and best phone ever.. (the other options at that time being phones with WM6.5 or iPhone..) but man was i disappointed. So this time around i did some better research , and a phone being almost a year old but still being rated that high couldn't be a misser! Also with such a big community behind it i knew there would be lots of 'of road' stuff to try with it... (but that could be true for most android phones..)
Then there was the rumour of HTC new line up coming soon, but hey new phones come out all the time, and you can't wait forever.. anyway my contract with vodafone would end pretty soon and i had to act fast..
but like i said before, i'm really happy with it. I'm a linux fan and pretty well educated in IT so started messing with it the second day i got it , rooted it, installed several different mods just to try them out.. i'm still amazed what's possible with it.. (today i tried the 'PicMe' app for the first time, which let you view and control the device through any browser.. amazing)
anyway very happy it and i'm sure you're friend would be too...
/edit:
and to react on all the cons noted above:
battery live is what i expected from talking to friends owning android phones (and iPhones for that matter..), i just hook it up to the recharger every night anyway... but mostly end up with 30-40% left and the end of the day , and im using it pretty intense atm, just trying out new stuff all day long
and mods not being smooth : I'm running CM7 now, with data2sd mod and its running perfectly smooth for me (with the stock SD).. but might get a faster (&bigger) SD one day, but no complaints from me at all..

lvnatic said:
Belive me, I have tried all of the Desire HD/Z ports available, even since november when they started to show up. I have tried all kinds of tweaks, some of them that you haven't even heard of probably. Ext2 which is supposed to be faster, ext4 without journal, ext partition alignment, ownhere's data2ext version (2ext partitions), patched sqlite, overclock, undervolted kernel + overclock, I even bought a class 6 card especially for this. I always rolled back to leedroid. Belive me, I have tried them all, they are still ports not optimized for desire and never will run smoothly.
I really have hopes for gingerbread, but for sense 2.0, no chance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, i believe you of course. And, really, i don't know why the same phone reacts so different for different people. But for me, i found my winner - and it's sense 2!
I have no lags after unlocking the screen, scrolling in long lists, switching the tasks or whatsoever. I have no cause to go back to sense 1. Leedroid wasn't stable for me as wasn't RCMixHD. I think everyone has to test it by him/herself what's the best ROM - but hey, that's why we are on Android and not iOS, right?

lvnatic said:
Old phone already, I doubt that even gingerbread will be availabe as an OTA update, not even mentioning sense 2.0 because of the low internal memory.
So,
Cons: old device, probably no more support from htc, probably no ginger and most likely no sense 2.0 and custom ROMs with it will never be...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC confirmed the GB update & Sense 2 for it. ATM using sense 2 with a custom ROM, and if you know-how, a custom ROM can be faster&smother than the stock. At least in my case is.
Sent from my customized HTC Desire using TTP

My Pro & Cons views on HTC Desire
Pros: Decent screen size, LED flash, variety of ROMs after flashing making it rather silly not to flash , Flashing solves quite a number of problems. My 'light' usage normally drops to 30-40% near the end of the day but flashing a good kernel manage to keep it up to 60s . Decent speakers.
Cons:
a)Low int memory (Solvable by flashing- you need to know the difference. )
b)Low batt life (This is such a cheap comment I don't even consider it as a con and neither should you, I don't get why some losers keep trolling about practically ALL the smartphones just because they weren't designed to last that long or maybe they didn't put such a big battery for a reason. Pregnant smartphones...)
c)Hot when using phone while charging. (Not sure if it is a general issue)
d)Difficult back cover. (If no protection, the plastic lens is sitting on table and supposably it's a bad thing. More exposed to scratches and can ruin shots)
Hard to open as well if no nails (mine has scratches lol I got no nails)
e) Proprietary micro usb charger is not covered. Glhf with dust if you work in a dirty area (with lotta dust)
f) Power button extremely easy to press. Over-sensitive. (Solvable by reducing screen off timer by 15s or so, if you use a good rom, it lets you go lower for lock-screens )
g) Wifi reception is weak. (Tested with a friend's N8, has 2 bar while I got none, has full bar while I have 2-3 -_-, I changed a lot of radios, difference never really hit more than over a bar)
h) Idk why they put speakers at the back, srsly. Lol.
i) tbc

Related

G1 and Kaiser, comparative review

Ok, so I got myself a G1.
For those considering getting one of these I must post a few words.
It's really really not that much different regarding speed and stability from my nand flashed Kaiser (kais130), running a stable Eclair build, seriously, I kid you not, and I'm not talking raw processor speed here ( dammit it's nearly the same processor, top speed using setcpu is 576, really not much difference there), feels much the same, looks much the same. ( ok perhaps a little sharper, but that's a user-relative thing), all the same apps perform much the same.
The big shock was battery, it's quite frankly terrible compared to my Kaiser, ok so this may be the old 'battery calibration' thing, but I was shocked at it hitting 8% by lunchtime, my kaiser takes 2 days to reach that level, and yes, I did use a bit more data and gps than usual, but not enough to account for that high a drain. And it does get a little warmer, reminds me of the old days, (january-feb 2010), when we were first using Android on kaiser, hot phones and fast drain.
Flashing is scary, I mean Scary!, all sorts of warnings about bricking your phone, and it's not the nice gentle 'this may brick your phone' this is big red letters, DangerSPL is just that, accidentally flash an older radio with that and it's instabrick, and a visit to men in white coats who understand what JTAG is and have huge wallets.
So am I happy with my G1? Well yeah, I've got the only thing that gives it the edge over my kaiser, Google Sky Map, the Scotsman in me reminds me that £79 is a lot of money, the Uber-Nerd in me opens Sky Map and tells the Scotsman to shut up and look at spica, or the southern cross...........
Oh and with a load of 2 year contracts finishing in the next few months, Ebay is probably going to be seeing quite a few of these.
Why a G1 anyway? The keyboard, and Android, My Kaiser left me hooked on both, and really, there isn't much out there that offers both, so be kind to your Kaiser, it's a great little bit of kit, sure it's old now, but really, it's just as good as a G1, yes I can use Sky Map, but I gotta put it on charge afterward........
You mean the G1 I forgot to bid on lol
Nice write up !
i planned to buy G1, feel so good now
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wyxpark said:
i planned to buy G1, feel so good now
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this thread will make a lot of people smile, including me!! I too have been looking at G1's but I love my kaiser and it works so i've always resisted the temptations. Don't know how i'll resist if HTC bring out a new android phone with a keyboard though!!!
What do think about that rolly ball d-pad thing?
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G using XDA App
Ya I had considered the G1 too.
The screen is a 'little' bigger.
Doesn't it run a old version of Android, are there 'official' updates for it? will it run 2.2?
Personally I was thinking along the lines of getting a Milestone.
I have had my Stellar now for 2 years, (and that was 2nd hand too!) so why would I replace it with a phone that is just as old
I do like the Hero, my friend has one of those, but I miss the keyboard, I struggle to use the onscreen one since I can't 'feel' the keys, I need a hardware keyboard, so that limits the phones I can choose.
Guess I'll be sticking with my Stellar for a while yet, though you notice just how small a 2.8" screen is now, when everyone else has at least 4"!
leona said:
you notice just how small a 2.8" screen is now, when everyone else has at least 4"!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And you ladies have us believe size doesn't matter
Ok, day 2, battery life seems a little better, but that's with a 2300mah battery instead of the standard one, still say it's heavier on the battery than my kais though, it is a better handwarmer for certain, theres a discernible warmth to the lower part of the back right side after a call or using gps for a bit.
The trackball actually functions quite nicely, I have heard that some people don't like it, but I find it as useful as the scroll wheel on the kaiser, in other words, I don't use it that often, but when I do, it does what it needs to, no fuss, no messing about.
As far as customisation goes, it usually ships with 1.6 these days, but after rooting it'll go all the way to CM 6 ( Cyanogen Mod 6 = 2.2 ), although I went the CM5 ( 2.1), route myself, ( still requires DangerSPL).
With the stock 1.6 it does feel nice and fast, and has a decent amount of free space for apps, more than comparable donut builds on kaiser, but with Eclair it starts to get a little tight in there, in fact with a careful bit of tweaking I can get more free space on my kais than I can on the G1. ( at the moment both have nearly the same apps installed, G1 after taskiller = 31Mb, kais after taskiller 36Mb ).
No I am not saying the Kaiser is better than the G1, nor am I saying the G1 is better than the Kaiser, what I am saying is that I am finding they are very similar.
Can I recommend the G1 over a Kaiser with nand flashed Android, yes, but only just. The G1 has everything working after all, wifi, bt, gps, camera, video, etc etc, and so they should, the OS is designed for the hardware after all.
If you absolutely need a fully functional android phone with hardware keyboard, the G1 is a good choice, and you get what you pay for.
If you don't really need all the bells and whistles, such as video, autofocus and such, well why not stick with your kaiser, suitably nand flashed with a good stable build, it really is a lovely little machine, yes it is still work in progress, but I'm not ready to chuck mine out, I fully intend to keep it, and now I'm able to do some of the things I couldn't when it was my main phone, such as messing about with builds etc.
I had them both (2 kaisers and one G1): now only one G1.
It's slow if you use it to it's full potential (using lot's of widget's to display everything I need).
It had 1.6installed when I got it, but never used it, straight to CM 5.0.7 test3.
DangerSPL isn't really needed and isn't dangerous at all. MTD is very nice
I use fastboot all the time (is needed for CM6 too; fastboot erase system -x).
There are some nice apps like droidexplorer,... that son't work for the kaiser.
gps fix is really fast (copilot) and most gps offline programs work on hvga compared to the kaiser
The screen (much better for direct sunlight, sharper, multitouch, and finger friendly (not like kaiser!).
I'm on CM 5.0.8 (apps2froyo doesn't work good with tons off apps), waiting for CM 6.1 (but it's not really needed anyway).
Camera is actually very good compared to the windows mobile camera.
Don't use a taskiller (>1.6), use swap instead (swapper, 32-64 or 96MB swap, swappiness 40-60)!
I can multitask 6 GPS programs, read my mails,surf and go back without reloading.
Sound is actually very good compared to kaiser.
getting a Milestone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's expensive compared to G1 (around 100€-80dollar) and the bootloader is a motorola, it's encrypted (no custom updates ).
I bought an unlocked telus milestone a few weeks ago, it came with 2.1 update. I paid close to $500 us. For what i do with my phone, the kaiser nand flashed to mynswarmdonut works fine.Not nearly as flashy. I gave my son the milestone, I'll keep the kaiser for now. I bet my old kaiser will last as long as the new motorola.
Hi zenity, so how are things with the G1 now you have had time to use it a bit more?
You don't mention that the G1 has a digial Compass and the motion sensors that the Kaiser doesn't have, do you use / notice them?
Been reading some of the threads on the G1 forums, they seem really active too, seems like 2.2 has been ported and working. Also see that over clocking the G1 seems common, did I see they had it up to 700Mhz! that must kill the battery and be really unstable. But its stock is 528Mhz whereas the Kaiser is 400Mhz that is quite a bit of difference.
I think I will keep my eye on Ebay and see if I can pick up a cheap one.
I would just like to try one to see how a 'proper' android phone works.
FlanFlinger said:
And you ladies have us believe size doesn't matter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you not remember the old Renault Advert, "Size Matters" !
If Anyone is interested, here is a comparison of the specifications from the HTC website
Kaiser/Dream G1
Processor Qualcomm® MSM7200TM, 400MHz / Qualcomm® MSM7201A™, 528 MHz
Memory ROM: 256MB / ROM: 256 MB
RAM: 128MB SDRAM / RAM: 192 MB
Display 2.8", 240 X 320 QVGA TFT-LCD / 3.2" 320 x 480 HVGA TFT-LCD
Size LxWxD: 112mm X 59mm X 19mm / 117.7 mm x 55.7 mm x 17.1 mm
Battery Type:Li-polymer / Type: Lithium-ion
Capacity:1350 mAh / Capacity: 1150 mAh
After making my head spin looking at milestones, Desire's and X10's I had a mad moment and have gone for a Galaxy S, this caused much muttering from the wife along the lines of "€100 for a phone!", then I just pointed out that it equated to about 5 pairs of shoes (she's a cheap date ) or one shiny chrome thing to bolt on her Harley (that I have to polish for her coincidently).
It should be arriving tomorrow, so if anyone is interested in an almost spotless Kaiser for €80 then let me know
leona said:
Hi zenity, so how are things with the G1 now you have had time to use it a bit more?
You don't mention that the G1 has a digial Compass and the motion sensors that the Kaiser doesn't have, do you use / notice them?
Been reading some of the threads on the G1 forums, they seem really active too, seems like 2.2 has been ported and working. Also see that over clocking the G1 seems common, did I see they had it up to 700Mhz! that must kill the battery and be really unstable. But its stock is 528Mhz whereas the Kaiser is 400Mhz that is quite a bit of difference.
I think I will keep my eye on Ebay and see if I can pick up a cheap one.
I would just like to try one to see how a 'proper' android phone works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After a little while to settle in, I'm still of the opinion that it is not really noticeably faster in use, 400/528Mhz is not really a huge difference, nor is the extra 64Mb of RAM a huge advantage either, in fact as I said before it seems to run out of RAM faster than my kaiser.
I do love it on a decent Eclair build however, it does perform much smoother than my kaiser, perhaps CM6 is not quite as optimal on G1.
Battery life has stabilised a little, but in my opinion is worse than kaiser, however that may have something to do with the relative capacities of the standard batteries, that said, I have a charger at work, and I need it on occasion, and thats with the extended battery, ( my G1 is now about the same size as my kaiser, lol.
I do agree about the screen, it is larger, and more useable in bright light, the image is clear and crisp, and the surface feels nice and firm, unlike resistive touchscreens, which have a tendency to feel a little spongy.
Things I love? As I said before, google sky is to die for if you are a astronomy nerd like myself, and that uses the sensors to the maximum, just the idea of using a phone like a viewport to the stars amazes me, and it works, point it at your feet and it appears to look right through the earth.
GPS is faster to lock, but that may be due to cell tower assistance, however my favourite GPS app, (trekbuddy), has been ported to android, so I'm a happy bunny over that.
I love the new DSP additions to CM6, finally an android with real equalisation, and effects, for playing my favourite music, big bass and large room reverb has to be heard to be believed, can't wait until someone ports that to CM5, so I can have it on eclair too
My Kaiser isn't being neglected however, I am trying to keep up to date on the latest stuff, and the latest builds, however my secondary Kaiser may be getting a makeover, if I get the time it's gonna be a KaiserBot ( hint: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIQ8VtDU3W8 ).
All in all, I'm lucky not to have to decide which to keep, because it would be a hard decision, both are about equal overall, the only major difference being the completeness of the android experience, g1 wins there I'm afraid, but then, it is the original Google Android Phone.
Can I recommend getting a G1? Hell yeah, If you are aware of it's potential problems it's a good replacement for a kaiser, if you demand a hardware keyboard, if you are not afraid to mess with it getting it rooted and flashable, if you know it really needs an extended battery and are prepared to put up with the added bulk, it's worth it, ( but try not to spend over £90, that'd be about my limit on it ).
Anyway, got to go flash back to my favoured eclair build, CM6 is being a memory hog again, so it's gotta go
Nice write-up Zenity, thank you for taking the time to follow this up, I will defiantly been checking ebay, but I'm even tighter then you, £50 tops ! (yes I do have lots of shoes and clothes, but I only buy in the sales and never pay over the ods).
I have been browsing the G1 Threads already, getting some information and getting a feel as to what can be done, I read what you said about reflashing the rom and came across this thread and wondered if you had seen it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=627518
If I understand this correctly this means you don't need to install DangerSPL or anything to get a rom, if its 'shunk' down enough.
Reading though the G1 threads I wondered if there are things they are doing that could be useful for our Kiasers, aka shrinking Rom's using CACHE directory's, SWAP partitions and EXT3 (I know its not supported at the moment, but could it be?).
Is Android development done in isolation, or do devs look through different forums and use ideas from one to another? (if compatible?)
As far as DangerSPL is concerned, it is not needed if you can keep the system partition to less than 67Mb, however this pretty much restricts things, since theres only so much you can cut down before things get silly, that means on G1, Donut and maybe if you are really trimming out stuff, Eclair, forget Froyo, that's already over 90Mb, can't see how I would cut 23Mb out of that without really crippling something.
However DangerSPL is only dangerous if you go anywhere near radio, and as far as i have noticed, the minimum radio version for DangerSPL is fine anyway.
There is a certain amount of 'cross-pollination' between the devs, most tends to come our way, rather than us inspiring the 'main' android branches, however sometimes we add stuff too
As the main branch of Android customisation moves forward, so do we, just at a slightly slower pace, since in many cases it's not just as simple as copying a few files over, we have more restrictions, so we have to work harder, and smarter
Honestly, I gotta say.. the OP is right. I just recently traded my Kaiser and Rhodium for an Openmoko Neo Freerunner and a Rogers branded 911 patched HTC Dream, and the dream performs similarly to my old Kaiser....
.....until I rooted it and flashed Froyo with a kernel that allows for more that the 57some Mhz clock speed, enabled compcache and swap, and popped in an extended life battery, which incidentally makes the G1 more comfortable in my hands anyway. So now, that G1 out-performs even the Rhodium, and I just flashed the Freerunner with Froyo as well, and that's running rather smoothly too. So, all-in-all, I might have traded two awesome phones for (well, in my opinion two equally awesome phones, because I'm an OSS fanatic) two less-awesome phones, but after sinking a couple bucks and some time into them, I feel like I got a great deal.
agentfusion said:
Honestly, I gotta say.. the OP is right. I just recently traded my Kaiser and Rhodium for an Openmoko Neo Freerunner and a Rogers branded 911 patched HTC Dream, and the dream performs similarly to my old Kaiser....
.....until I rooted it and flashed Froyo with a kernel that allows for more that the 57some Mhz clock speed, enabled compcache and swap, and popped in an extended life battery, which incidentally makes the G1 more comfortable in my hands anyway. So now, that G1 out-performs even the Rhodium, and I just flashed the Freerunner with Froyo as well, and that's running rather smoothly too. So, all-in-all, I might have traded two awesome phones for (well, in my opinion two equally awesome phones, because I'm an OSS fanatic) two less-awesome phones, but after sinking a couple bucks and some time into them, I feel like I got a great deal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, as stock the G1 is clocked at 300Mhz or so, mainly due to the whole heat issue, (anyone who has a G1 knows what I mean, and anyone who ran early versions of android on Kaiser also knows what I mean ).
Tried various 2.2 builds, and have not really found any that compare in speed and smoothness to 2.1 builds, but as always the tradeoff is features, lower versions get less love for newer features, such as DSP.
The extended battery should be standard on G1, it really does perform badly on the standard one, I have to have 2 chargers, one at home, and one at work, and even on extended battery I find myself topping up in the afternoon.
No doubts, it is a damn good bit of kit, and as the first Android mobile it is still special, but all in all, it really isn't a great deal better than my beloved kaiser, it is better in some areas, mostly things that our kaisers either don't have, accelerometer, compass, capacitive touchscreen. And it has everything working, unless you play with less developed builds, ( Sense UI comes to mind).
I am pretty much settled with the G1 being my main phone, my Kaiser is getting used and slightly abused for experimental stuff, my secondary kais is out on loan, sold my Diamond, and the iffy HD,( it has a really weird sound issue, speaker works fine, but after boot it thinks the headset is plugged in, suspect a hardware fault), is lying on my workbench shelf.
Kaiser was my first love as far as android goes, always will be, the G1 is just a phone
zenity said:
Actually, as stock the G1 is clocked at 300Mhz or so, mainly due to the whole heat issue, (anyone who has a G1 knows what I mean, and anyone who ran early versions of android on Kaiser also knows what I mean ).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know that. What I meant was that with the stock kernel the maximum you can set the clock speed to is around 576Mhz with SetCPU. What I have is an overclocking kernel that allows for over 800Mhz, but that's when it gets REALLY hot and battery drains super fast. I wouldn't suggest anything above 617Mhz though if you want it to be stable or usable.
As far as running android on Kaiser, I used that as an -almost- viable alternative to having an actual android phone. I was running android on my Kaiser from the very start of android-on-Kaiser because I'm a huge linux nerd and at&t didn't have any android phones until recently (I was just laid off from at&t in march from my middle-management position) so I definitely remember the extreme heat issues with early builds. Hell, that damn thing had such nasty heat issues that even when I was running winmo for tethering I had to take the backing off and stick thermal paste on the battery and apply a heatsink just to keep it from overheating to the point where it would stop charging completely, then discharge inside of 30 minutes from tethering on 3g.
zenity said:
Tried various 2.2 builds, and have not really found any that compare in speed and smoothness to 2.1 builds, but as always the tradeoff is features, lower versions get less love for newer features, such as DSP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want a froyo build that's fast and smooth, try the Froyo Redux builds. They run better than any other build I've tried. Of course, I'm sticking with 2.1 at the moment for themes and absolute stability. Really, all that 2.2 has over 2.1 is native Apps2SD, and more multi-touch, but since I already have Apps2SD installed and 2.1 has MT capabilities if you force-enable it (find a version of the app you want to use MT with that someone has already patched MT into.. Brut Google Maps is a good example). As far as DSP, Meh. My Dream is a phone, not a stereo system. I applied the audio hack for louder volume and that's good enough for me.
zenity said:
The extended battery should be standard on G1, it really does perform badly on the standard one, I have to have 2 chargers, one at home, and one at work, and even on extended battery I find myself topping up in the afternoon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Undoubtedly true. I have a 2200mAh battery, 2x 1400mAh, and a 1200mAh battery, and on days of heavy blogging and lots of photography, I find myself actually burning through all of them. I sometimes feel like I should be carrying a camera bag and be like the professional photographers but instead of changing rolls of film, I'm changing batteries.
zenity said:
No doubts, it is a damn good bit of kit, and as the first Android mobile it is still special, but all in all, it really isn't a great deal better than my beloved kaiser, it is better in some areas, mostly things that our kaisers either don't have, accelerometer, compass, capacitive touchscreen. And it has everything working, unless you play with less developed builds, ( Sense UI comes to mind).
I am pretty much settled with the G1 being my main phone, my Kaiser is getting used and slightly abused for experimental stuff, my secondary kais is out on loan, sold my Diamond, and the iffy HD,( it has a really weird sound issue, speaker works fine, but after boot it thinks the headset is plugged in, suspect a hardware fault), is lying on my workbench shelf.
Kaiser was my first love as far as android goes, always will be, the G1 is just a phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm honestly more amped up about my Dream than I ever was about my Kaiser, except maybe the first time I successfully booted android via Haret. To me, the larger screen, it being capacitive, the accelerometers, and the compass are a big deal. I can actually -use- the screen for typing if I don't feel like opening the keyboard, and I can get a landscaped keyboard just by turning it sideways, and with the capacitive screen, typing is a lot more accurate and feels nicer. Standard resistive touchscreens feel kinda 'gummy' to me, and I don't like 'em. And the compass is great for photography. When you're wandering in the woods for the perfect shot, and can't remember which way is which, it can literally be a big lifesaver.
All-in-all, Once you overclock a Dream/G1 to 617Mhz or beyond and get a bigger battery (or several) it becomes a superbeast, and it's like apples and oranges when comparing it to the Kaiser. Hardware wise, it's closer to a Rhodium than a Kaiser when you get down to it. The Rhodium clock is 528Mhz, and I run my Dream well beyond that all the time.

[Q] Should I switch from Galaxy S to DHD ? Why ?

Hello there XDA,
I have been using a Galaxy S for a while now..I am pretty much satisfied but I hate the fact that am running custom roms, and everytime there is a new update, I have to go through the whole backup and restoring process..Anyways, thats not huge issue..
So am planning to switch to DHD..Should I or should i not.. ??
Things that are making me not switch is what Am hearing from everyone..They all say that battery life is really gay..is it really that bad compared to SGS.. ? because SGS aint got good battery life it self..
Other thing thats kinda bothering me is the LCD screen...I am currently on super amoled, but in order to save battery life and not ache my eyes, My phones brightness is always low...So my question..is LCD that bad compared to super amoled.. ? or its just oki.. ??
Please give me some serious advice if possible..Things like sound quality of the speaker and sh!t dont really matter to me..I want good hardware, and less issues and bothering
This is all opinion so please nobody flame me for having a different opinion to you.
Well there's pros and cons really. You would be moving sideways, making some gains, and paying a price in other regards. Having said that I could have swapped my DHD for a Galaxy S plus a few $$$ thanks to a recent offer but I would rather have the DHD.
Htc seem to be better with software updates than the ever tardy Samsung, but they don't seem to like us to have root so you gotta be careful about weather or not you accept those updates or wait for the xda devs.
While the battery life is worse, from what I've been able to learn about the SGS it isn't that much worse.
The screen is no better or worse than AMOLED, just different. Depending on what you are looking at it may look better on one screen or the other. My eyes seem to think text is a little sharper and easier to read on the DHD, while pictures look a little more vibrant on the SGS.
Our camera is better and we have a flash.
The DHD feels much more solid in the hand thanks to the aluminium body. The SGS feels kinda like its going to blow away in the wind after having the DHD for a while.
There. Thats my take on it. Hope it helped.
I switch from galaxy s to dhd... faster n consume lesser batt... just have to get use to the screen quality difference...
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
cosmoboi said:
I switch from galaxy s to dhd... faster n consume lesser batt... just have to get use to the screen quality difference...
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly how I feel. I owned a Galaxy S for 5 months and switched to DHD. It is a breath of fresh air. Browsing is smooth and the 4.3" screen is really great but still behind iPhone on smoothness under pinching action. I reserve my comment until now so that I have about 1 month of DHD experience. This is to make sure I can be sure I can compare with similar usage habbit.
The lagfix gave me a false sense of speed but too often the TouchWiz would still lag.
In addition, I have also experienced better battery usage than my Galaxy S but that may not be a good comparison as I am running with a rooted Galaxy S.
Overall, I must concede that I miss the vivid color and blackness of SAMOLED display. Again, you get use to it fairly quickly.
Good luck.
Ive got both phone,s. The battery for me is better on the SGS than the DHD. Compare both of them is really hard. As both got there pro and cons. Ive always been a HTC owner and i have got a love hate relationship with the UI for me thats the big issue as i love the ui but on the other had i dont. Just wish that take away the main screen graphic like the menu bar and replace it with like the gingerbread luncher but keep the htc widgets. So think overall for smothnes and all arounder still the DHD
HTC HERO - HTC HD2 - NOW HTC DESIRE HD & SAMSUNG GALAXY S Bring on the modding.
i had both phone for a while and today i sold the galaxy,the battery life is better in the DHD,because i always had the SGS with custom firmwares which included other kernels like voodo or supercurios...the RFS file sistem is really a crap,the firmwares of SGS weren't decent until JPU 2.2.1 froyo,instead the DHD just like comes out of the box its quick and smooth,the SCLD for me its only a micro-step behind the Superamoled,and thats because of the black color,you'll never see a black like that ,because the pixel its complety off,in the SLCD you watch it like a watermark of real black,but out of this its really bright and it didn't have nothing in common with normal desire/nexus SLCD...
and a thing that no ones mention in the post ,its the impressive **** that is the SGS GPS,with an accurancy comparable with a nuclear weapon killing cockroach...i was even thinking on taking legal actions to samsung because of the petrol wasted each time i take the car..
Can anyone tell me more about the GPS in DHD.. ?? SGS Gps is almost gay.. I never use it..i prefer using my N97 gps over the SGS one
How about the Roms guys.. ?? Do i have go thru the process of trying custom roms and see which one is best ? or HTC has done a good job, which means i wouldnt be bothered to try out custom ROMS
Well, if the SLCD ain that bad, and if am getting LED flash lights, so i guess the only thing I'll be losing if i switch is internal memory..1.5gb in DHD (( have to buy memory cards :////
About the battery life of DHD - I'm actually quite statisfied now.
At first, when I hadn't tweaked anything yet, it was terrible.
It would die within 6 hours with my usage rate. But now I'm on OTA 1.72 (instead of the old 1.32) WITH root preserved, and I think 1.72 is a huge improvement concerning the batterylife.
With 1.72 combined, I got running: SetCPU, Autokiller, Advanced Task Killer, JuiceDefender+UltimateJuice and my batterylife is only down to 56% right now (thats 14 hours and counting! Unplugged it at 8.30, its 22.30 here now).
Using these apps correctly really makes a huge difference!
And as far as I know (I'm not that much into ROMS atm) HTC did a good job. Sense is beautiful, I love it. Only reason to take another rom would be boosting/braking the performance
I am very happy with the interface and the speed of the stock rom of my DHD, so I dont intend to try another one. The gps also works fine. I have bought SGS for my girlfriend, but the interface is very crappy compared to the DHD, also feels like a toy in my hand, didn't try her gps. The colors are a little better on the SGS.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
The gps is fine. Works as expected, the included locations software is also very good although there is am additional fee to pay for voice guided navigation.
You don't really need custom roms, unless you want to ditch sense and get an aosp experience. Myself I use the rcmixhd rom because I want a stable rom which is close to a stock rom with only the addition of the ability to theme my phone.
I've had (minor) problems with some of the other sense based roms, although the new leedroid 1.3a is also very good.
But yeah the short answer is that dhd is a very nice software experience even without any kind of hacks.
Sent from my performance enhanced Desire HD
Thanks everyone for the replies..
I kinda of got my answer..but I would still appreciate further comparison
Sorry if my opinion has been posted by other people before me, but this is my opinion.
My mum has an SGS, and wow, it is a brilliant phone. I have recently got the DHD and have been using it for a couple of days now.
Khaledrm said:
Hello there XDA,
Things that are making me not switch is what Am hearing from everyone..They all say that battery life is really gay..is it really that bad compared to SGS.. ? because SGS aint got good battery life it self..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From a hardware perspective, the DHD has roughly 250mAh less battery capacity than the SGS. However, on my FIRST charge yesterday, it lasted me from 7am - 4.30pm battery. I was being careful, e.g turning off wifi and things when I don't need it, but you have to do that with all smartphones. I used the music player at a loud volume for most of that time, and used the flash, lots of games, mobile data etc. Screen was on lowest setting according to my Power Dock Widget from HTC, and that was easily bright enough! (By the way, the battery would of most likely lasted longer, but at about 3pm, I tried to drain the battery quickly so I could charge from a flat battery, before I started, the battery was half full.
Other thing thats kinda bothering me is the LCD screen...I am currently on super amoled, but in order to save battery life and not ache my eyes, My phones brightness is always low...So my question..is LCD that bad compared to super amoled.. ? or its just oki.. ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The super amoled screen is amazing, however the DHD is still a great screen. Maybe not as good as the SGS, but it isn't bad, it is very good, maybe it just might seem worse compared to the amazing screen of the SGS.
However, it looks great on a low setting, and I wouldn't be worried about this, I was worried by it and I got a pleasant surprise!
Please give me some serious advice if possible..Things like sound quality of the speaker and sh!t dont really matter to me..I want good hardware, and less issues and bothering
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The camera is good, perhaps a bit grainy but it does have flash unlike the SGS. There are also quite advanced options, and the graininess can be ruduced.
The camcorder compared to the SGS isnt that good, but it still records good 720p video, but you can find there is a bit of motion blur when moving the camera too much. Once again, it does have the flash though.
The HTC Sense interface is amazing, so intuitive, really makes the Android software something else! The gaming on it is great, and so far I have had no major problems or faults with it, and if you ever do, at least you know where you can go for help
ok you need to look at it this way, i have been using smartphones for ages, starting with Ericsson r380, moving to IPAQ then Imate PDA2K, HTC Cruse, HTC diamond, HTC HD. the only reason i didn't get HD2 is the battery life as I heard it is not good and windows 6.5 is kind a crappy OS, so I waited and I say DHD. It is android phone and I have no experience in android but here is what I like:
1- It has a good big screen so you can read easily. <emails, word, excel, internet and whatever you need like PDF and others>.
2- Good storage 1.5 G and Good RAM 768.
3- GPS on it is great.
4- HTCsence.com, controlling your phone over website <which it is not working for me ): ….>
5- Phone performance, I like its speed and response.
6- The look and feel of the phone. <it is big, expensive and look nice>.
7- Nice aluminum body. Still hate having to doors on the back. <still not a big deal to me>.
8- Great CAM. No front one ):
9- Good application installed. Specially the HTS sense
As I said the big screen was the most I like in the phone. Hope those give you a help.
P.S. …. If you sold your SGS and got DHD plz don’t blame me if you didn’t like
R.

Should I buy a Desire?

Hi guys,
I've got a htc wildfire and I'd like to upgrade it to something better. Desire fits my price range but I have some doubts.
A lot of htc phones share a common grounding problem. When you put your phone in a car cradle/holder or on a soft surface like sofa or pillow screen does not respond as it should. Please check the videos;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s30h7Uh6-CI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbIrdQ3ejDI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss81Y124GeY#t=50s
(if you use 2 fingers it won't be a problem as your second finger will be completing the ground circuit. but it is quite dangerous to use your both hands to click on a battery warning box while riding a motorbike)
I use my phone as a satnav a lot. So it would be a major issue for me if you guys phones suffer the same issue.
Could you guys just try it on a pillow/cushion for me please?
Cheers
Never had that issue, that's some b0rked handsets dude, maybe they were dry or whatever.
Well about buying Desire, if you will Root it then it's surely worth it.
in my opinion, desire it's really outdated now
if you can, better go for the desire s, it is going to replace the desire "original"
i never saw that issues on my desire..
I cant replicate that bug, as suggested above that phone must me broken.
Desire is a bit old now but still a good device with lots of dev support here, many roms to choose from.
Downsides...battery will last a day if your lucky, limited internal memory, no multitouch (dual touch only).
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
I can only confirm that the grounding bug is not a common issue. My old (AMOLED) desire does not have it. Since the whole back of desire is made from removable soft-plastic cover, I see no reason why this can be (other than liquid damage).
About buying a Desire today, its worth it IF you can find original AMOLED version. If you get SLCD version, then its better to go with either Incredible S or Desire S. Avoid Desire HD since the screen on that one is very poor quality (color and contrasts are very weak).
Never heard of such issue on the original Desire. Not sure about S, but other HTC phones have that issue, yes. Desire is a good phone, very good actually, by be prepared to learn about a2sd+ or CM7 hboot if you want to install more than a handful of apps. If you don't want to root, then go for desire s.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App
calyxim said:
Hi guys,
I've got a htc wildfire and I'd like to upgrade it to something better.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Going from Wildfire -> Desire (even SLCD) is going to be a HUGE improvement. So if price of Desire S/Incredible S is way more, then go for it. Desire should be a good improvement.
Main downside with Desire:
Battery will be weaker compared to wildfire.
GPU performance is not on par with current phones (Desire S etc are much faster). But still better than wildfire!
All other issues can be solved with root/custom ROM.
asestar said:
Main downside with Desire:
Battery will be weaker compared to wildfire.
GPU performance is not on par with current phones (Desire S etc are much faster). But still better than wildfire!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can u compare battery life of Desire and Wildfire?
Wildfire: 3,2" screen with 240x320 res, 384mb RAM, cpu 528mhz
Desire: 3,7" screen 480x800, 576mb RAM, cpu 1GHZ
It's obvious that wildfire might have better battery life since it's **** phone, lol.
And tbh 1 day of heavy use with smartphone is not a bad result, those phones are made for it. If you want 1 week battery life buy Nokia 3310.
Compared to Wildfire Desire's memory is huge
I can overcome battery issue by buying 3 spare chinese batteries for peanuts as I did before for my wildfire. (touch wood they are still strong after 5 months)
There is only one amoled Desire on ebay which is a bit overpriced. (200 pounds)
Thanks for the heads up guys. I'll keep digging...
k3lcior said:
How can u compare battery life of Desire and Wildfire?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simply by how many hours you can use a phone while staying away from a cable
I know they have vastly different hardware, but come on. If you are used to 2-3 days on 1 charge, having to charge every night is gonna be something you will need to get used to.
I remember having around 2 days battery life with my Desire last year when 2.2 upgrade came (some time in september/october). So battery age can also be an issue.
calyxim said:
Compared to Wildfire Desire's memory is huge
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im not sure about that, because the free memory available is only 140 mb to install apps (the rest of the memory is occupied by the rom itself)
But that is solved by root and app2sd/data2sd rom. I got 78mb free + 350mb on ext3 SD, making me never worry about space.
Sent from my HTC Desire using xda premium
I have the Desire and my other half has the Wildfire. I'm sure if you went from the Wildfire to the Desire you would be happy. As others have said, the Desire might not be bleeding edge now (but it is far from "outdated"). There are plenty of ROM's to choose from if you don't get on with the standard. I also have not experienced any touch screen weirdness - I have even used my desire on my motorbike in that past without problem.
You certainly could do worse.
Nice option!
With all the support this device is getting from devs?thats more than enough for you to consider.
But sorry, i dont have a bike.lol
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Desire.....Its rather hot when its working, and the poor battery life... wait for some better options.
I have my Desire for 2 years almost and I am very happy with it. The memory issue is easy to bypass with some custom ROM.
But TODAY I would not buy the Desire as it is a little outdated. Yes I would stick to HTC any day and go for the Desire S or the Sensation. But then again, it is your choice and you budget
Oh yes. Desire is a great phone, really powerful, and in late 2011, it's a much cheaper choice than a Sensation for example (which seems to be the top), I suggest you to buy a second hand Desire, root it and use custom roms, I haven't done it yet, but I used my friends Desire for a day, which had a custom rom with Gingerbread, and it was smooth as silk.
so, I wouldn't call it outdated yet. less powerful than the new ones? true.
I would suggest Desire as
1.its much cheaper than Sensation
2.it would take time for the dual core phones to reach to their full potential
3.only few games require dual core
4.you can run sense 3.0 and 3.5 sense roms which run very smoothly
5.it is widely supported by devs
I believe Desire will never be outdated
Go for it, desire has a great dev community too
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
I'm sorry for jacking the thread, but the noob video said to do that right ?
I'm in the same boat as the OP, current HTC wildfire owner, and sick to death of it. My main problem is the slowness and cr*p screen.
So anyway, I've been looking for an update, and i'm strongly leaning towards the desire. I can get it for 300 eur, and maybe I can sell my wildfire for 50-100 to some poor sod cruel. The desire S is 399, which is a tad high but *might* be considered if it's really deemed that much faster.
I just want a cellphone with a good screen and better text input (the wildfire's screen is way too small for texting efficiently), which is a reason why i'm leaning towards the desire Z (with keyboard). I know it's not as powerful as the other desire models, but still.
Custom rome are a requirement. Maybe not right away, but if i find something I don't like i'd like to be able to change it.
I can go on for a while like this, so i'll KISS, phone requirements:
- good screen (big enough, resolution)
- GPS (doesn't have to be state of the art, it just has to have a radio)
- Bluetooth
- Good input method (implies a larger screen or, preferably a hard press keyboard)
- I prefer hard buttons on the bottom instead of touch ones; i won't press them by accident (= annoying on wildfire)
- Responsive
- Not too expensive
I don't care about anything else, so the GPU makes no real difference to me i think, unless it really helps with anything besides games. Are any of the desire series a good match or would I be better off sticking with the wildfire until i can get something high budget ?

[Q] Need help with choosing OS

Hello
Im a proud owner of DesireZ, got it from my provider for free, and I could not possibly think of a better phone than this. On stock clock - it runs high graphic games, and it runs smooth. I really cant imagine what would someone do with announced Exynos 2Ghz on SGS3, apart from resolution requirements. But than again, everything above ~250ppi is just retarded, by my standards. This HTC phone is perfect for me.
so, my question is -
1. need to replace stock rom with something good
2. need fully working phone (camera also, so no ICS for me, I guess )
3. need info on Sense version that doesnt cause bugs and problems, cause I have read lots of topics with people complaining. (lagging after couple of hours, need restart and so on)
4. CM, or ICS, or some pre-tunned Gingerbread .. ?
As I have done this before with some similar devices, please link the following to me:
1. root instructions
2. backup instructions
3. best OS by my requirements (smoothness, no bugs, and pre-installed OC software are priority)
and that's it
Im sorry in advance, cause there will surely be someone that says - use search, but Im making it like this cause regular visitors of site can find that with much more ease than I could. Appreciate help in advance.
Welcome to the DZ/G2 forums!
The procedure of using gfree to root and carrier unlock your DZ is in my signature. Depending on your current installed version of ROM, you may or may not have to downgrade your phone.
The most stable versions of ROMs that I have personally tried are the following.
Virtuous Sense: The closest stock DZ ROM you can get with optimizations and tweaks. It's been debloated of carrier crap and has an OC kernel up to 1.5GHz if I am not mistaken. The best GB Sense experience you can get IMO.
Virtuous G-Lite: The closest stock G2 ROM you can get with optimizations and tweaks. Debloated of T-Mobile's carrier crap and also OC-able to about 1.5GHz. Very light weight and able to go out 2-3 days on the stock battery on a single charge depending on usage. I would, however, recommend ditching LauncherPRO in favor of GOLauncherEX though.
Thanks man!
It is not carrier locked, cause supply stock of Serbian Telekom was only few and they didnt bother, it is a plain simple out-of-the-factory Desire Z.
If I choose G-lite, can I flash my regular DesireZ, are there limitations between G2/DZ .. ?
Does OC-ing to, lets say - 1.2Ghz shorten battery life ?
I like this G-lite, as I am aware of the fact that Android generally drains much more than other OSes, as I had HTC Blackstone. 4 days on WM6.5, 1 day on Android.
If you want a Sense 3.5 ROM, but a bit refreshed, I've been using Android Revolution for a few days and it's amazingly smooth compared to the other 3.5 ones.
I would HIGHLY recommend G2 Slim. It's the latest t-mobile release of gingerbread for the G2, but it has nearly everything unnecessary removed and it has the best battery life out of ALL the ROMs on our devices.
It's a very smooth ROM with all features working, it is a bit basic but there's nothing you can't really fix with apps from the market. It's very very fast, has ridiculous amounts of free RAM, it's great with multitasking and it's even very quick when it comes to app performance.
Virtuous G-Lite is basically the same as G2 Slim, except it's much faster. It seems like the extra speed of G-Lite comes at the cost of battery life though. That said, the battery life on both of those ROMs is amazing, so you can't go wrong with either of them.
Otherwise, if you're looking for something different and a little bit fun, try out the latest gingerbread release of MIUI . You will fall in love with the theming abilities of that ROM.
Get miui, looks good, and just works. ... MIUI Android (GB)
I would highly recommend AOSP, be it G2Slim or EliteMod.
Sense and MIUI can be fun to play with, but they're just toys IMO and like to eat your RAM and battery life. They do each offer some pretty kickin' features that AOSP doesn't but I still prefer the base experience as it offers the most stability, battery-life, and overall smoothness.
Happy to hear you like the phone, I'm going on a year and a month now and I still love it! I have nothing but praises for this thing, the flash even almost survived me! But alas I have to replace it after one too many accidental hits of the Torch quick setting.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA Premium HD via my tethered HTC Vision
buxtahuda said:
I would highly recommend AOSP, be it G2Slim or EliteMod.
Sense and MIUI can be fun to play with, but they're just toys IMO and like to eat your RAM and battery life. They do each offer some pretty kickin' features that AOSP doesn't but I still prefer the base experience as it offers the most stability, battery-life, and overall smoothness.
Happy to hear you like the phone, I'm going on a year and a month now and I still love it! I have nothing but praises for this thing, the flash even almost survived me! But alas I have to replace it after one too many accidental hits of the Torch quick setting.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA Premium HD via my tethered HTC Vision
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with this, G2 Slim and Virtuous G-lite are both fantastic AOSP ROMs that you should try out.
I like how you all automatically assume that I know the "AOSP" abreviation, but google helped me on that one
played last night with all OS-es you recommended, and in the process I made a routine with flashing so now I know what im doing, and this is hard - in terms of what to choose It is now that I actually see the potential of this phone. XDA support for this device is just awesome, one of the most supported devices generally.
@buxtahuda - had a lots of smartphones before this one, all lost due to failures:
HD2 - was crappy in terms of assemble, got loose and had really bad plastic. When I opened it it was clear that HTC assembly was not good at that time
iPhone 3g - after 6 months of usage without protection and pocket time, it looked like it had a fight with Optimus Prime.
SGS1 - fell from 2 feet and the scene looked like I dropped i light bulb - into 100 pieces. even Cornig Gorilla glass that has only one flaw - side pressure, managed to crack
DesireZ is on a whole another level. I actually managed to drop it 5th day of usage because I replaced bundle headphones (that's the only thing that sucks) and didnt have cable-control, and trying to change a song while running on high-cardio excercise (weight loss process). It fell down also having momentum cause of running and it tubmled for 4-5 meters:
still cant find where are the scratches. really, I placed it under a magnifying glass and I cant find where are the scratches from f'in concrete! awesome materials and assembly by HTC
Rooting your phone, getting S-OFF to install other Roms
Hello and have fun with your Desire Z!
Full instructions for HTC Desire Z and T-Mobile G2 Root and FULL S-OFF can be found on http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Vision#Rooting_the_G2
When you need support for getting S-OFF you can join the IRC channel #G2ROOT on freenode. Browser access on webchat.freenode.net . After joining the IRC webchat you can change to channel #G2ROOT using the command "/join #G2ROOT".
My favorite ROMs for the HTC Desire Z are:
* Virtuous Affinity 2.05: A little bit slow, but great experience
* Virtuous G-Lite 2.0.1: Very fast, some special software might have issues
* CyanogenMod 7.1: Great overall ROM, respectable speed and stable.
Try the ROMs and decide for yourself!
For backing up applications I recommend using Titanium Backup (Pro), for backing up your system you can use ClockworkRecovery and RomManager.
When you want to install more than one ROM on your phone at the same time then try BootManager (from Google Play). Might not work with all ROMs but is really good to try things!
Good Luck.
Congrats on your new phone! The Desire Z is starting to show its age, but considering the developer base and the fact that you got it for free, I'd say you got a pretty good deal.
Personally, I like MIUI and CyanogenMod 7. CM7 is a classic, and everyone loves it for the degree to which it preserves stock Android, while adding on a few improvements here and there. MIUI, on the other hand, gives you a complete re-imagining of the Android interface, and it can be great to use. I find myself alternating between the two every couple months, actually. That's the beauty of the Desire Z, though: the widespread developer support means you get that kind of flexibility!
I agree that Cyanogenmod 7 is fantastic but for me, i could NEVER eliminate the constant battery drain issues that i had with it no matter what. I'd still recommend it to newcomers but i think simpler ROMs like G-lite or G2 Slim are much better.
I generally like to have a clean and consistent looking UI on any ROM that i use and CM7's styling seemed to always take a way from the stock gingerbread feel that i was looking for. That's my opinion.
Right now, i'm using Virtuous G-lite and now i know what it's like to have a really really fast phone xD.
As far as Sense ROMs go, my experience showed me that Virtuous Affinity 2.05.0 was the fastest and most stable out of all the Sense 3.* ROMs.
After many tries, I decided to stay on G-lite mainly cause of the battery, but I would also like to give a chance to Virtuous Sense, cause it seemed (for a hour of usage) like a pretty decent ROM.
MIUI reppeled me with the iPhony look, that's sometnig I want to avoid in the future, even if it has only a fraction to do with rotten Apple.
The best option would be, if anyone ever creates it, ICS based system with the "strip-down" settings like G-lite. that I would like very much
Anyways, this phone is Awesome. I did not have a hype like this with any other phone, and as I stated, I had them all shortly after release (HD2, SGS1, iPhone 3G). The only thing that's bothering me is metal back-cover which I guess will be all bumpy in the future (I hate putting my phone in covers and skins) But I guess I could recreate it out of metal, since I am good with power tools and fine cutting of stuff, and like to do that kind of projects

Considering a switch from the GNexus

Heya guys,
I've got the ever present upgrade itch that everyone here must know about......
I'm really looking into a good phone camera that has decent battery life as well since I can't always bring me DSLR with me around all the time.
How development and everything for the One X? Battery life? I'm looking specifically at the international version.
Thanks
Development is great. Some solid roms for this device within the first month. Can't imagine what it will be like in half a year or when there's an s-off exploit found. Obviously the phone has some great attraction for some of the features it carries and the design.
On ARHD rom right now I get about 18-22 hours of battery life moderate usage, light usage a couple of days, and heavy usage about 10 hours. I'm very satisfied with this phone. Some other people can drop there comments and let you know; also, there's an official reviews thread you should probably check out.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
UnlockedNand said:
Development is great. Some solid roms for this device within the first month. Can't imagine what it will be like in half a year or when there's an s-off exploit found. Obviously the phone has some great attraction for some of the features it carries and the design.
On ARHD rom right now I get about 18-22 hours of battery life moderate usage, light usage a couple of days, and heavy usage about 10 hours. I'm very satisfied with this phone. Some other people can drop there comments and let you know; also, there's an official reviews thread you should probably check out.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
whats the screen time like when you use it heavily (as according to above 10hrs phone on but how long for screen?)
hmmm
any major bugs? I'd like to try sense out as the only HTC phone that I've used was my mum's Desire Z that I automatically flashed CM7 on back when she had it.
I've "heard" that there are some screen flickering issues and launcher reloading.....
any comments would be greatly appreciated
I've had my One X for 1.5 weeks now and zero problems whatsoever I get about 12-13hrs from the battery with 3-4h screentime
droid_does said:
Heya guys,
I've got the ever present upgrade itch that everyone here must know about......
I'm really looking into a good phone camera that has decent battery life as well since I can't always bring me DSLR with me around all the time.
How development and everything for the One X? Battery life? I'm looking specifically at the international version.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's some info on battery life. It's better than the GN. But the GN has the option of extended and replacable batteries which the One X doesn't.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=25725630&postcount=25
As for the camera, I don't think it's finished yet. There's been discussion about noise and compression. Some of the pics I've taken in iffy light haven't been that great. The h/w's there I think the s/w needs some tweaking. If you could live with the camera on the GN the One X will be a step up.
BarryH_GEG said:
Here's some info on battery life. It's better than the GN. But the GN has the option of extended and replacable batteries which the One X doesn't.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=25725630&postcount=25
As for the camera, I don't think it's finished yet. There's been discussion about noise and compression. Some of the pics I've taken in iffy light haven't been that great. The h/w's there I think the s/w needs some tweaking. If you could live with the camera on the GN the One X will be a step up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahhh thanks. But i guess i could circumnavigate the integrated battery by having an external portable battery pack....hmmmm
Tough choice. I'll wait for some more comments and opinions first
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
droid_does said:
Ahhh thanks. But i guess i could circumnavigate the integrated battery by having an external portable battery pack....hmmmm
Tough choice. I'll wait for some more comments and opinions first
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Watch reviews and videos about the s3 vs One x phones..then make your decision. I would say One X. Good phone solid great specs and if you are a gamer you will be happy with the Tegra 3 chip...Battery life is solid so far no complaints. Development i am sure it will pick up...So its down to you my friend
NoobTerminator said:
Watch reviews and videos about the s3 vs One x phones..then make your decision. I would say One X. Good phone solid great specs and if you are a gamer you will be happy with the Tegra 3 chip...Battery life is solid so far no complaints. Development i am sure it will pick up...So its down to you my friend
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm definitely let down by the S3....its seems so similar in many ways to the GNexus that I wouldn't consider it as an "upgrade". I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to people without smartphones though.
the HTCOX screams of something desirable to me.......still hesitant though right now
keep those comments flowing in please
droid_does said:
whats the screen time like when you use it heavily (as according to above 10hrs phone on but how long for screen?)
hmmm
any major bugs? I'd like to try sense out as the only HTC phone that I've used was my mum's Desire Z that I automatically flashed CM7 on back when she had it.
I've "heard" that there are some screen flickering issues and launcher reloading.....
any comments would be greatly appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 10 hours probably around 5-6 hours of continuous screen display running videos, games, and other tasks. No sense issues at all except for it uses a lot more battery than pure ics. The screen flickering is unconfirmed as to what is the underlying issue (software or hardware) related. HTC is looking into the screen flickering right now, and launcher reloading I've never had.
I'd say wait 1 month.
QC issues iron over time. S-OFF is not ready as yet. The lack of such 'freedom' will be shocking to a GN user.
Custom ROMs for this device are excellent both in quality and quantity. This is a very popular handset, thus community support is very high.
Battery life is really good. Depending on screen usage you can get 1.5 days usage easy. Heavy usage will obviously reduce that by a lot.
UnlockedNand said:
The 10 hours probably around 5-6 hours of continuous screen display running videos, games, and other tasks. No sense issues at all except for it uses a lot more battery than pure ics. The screen flickering is unconfirmed as to what is the underlying issue (software or hardware) related. HTC is looking into the screen flickering right now, and launcher reloading I've never had.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
junialum said:
I'd say wait 1 month.
QC issues iron over time. S-OFF is not ready as yet. The lack of such 'freedom' will be shocking to a GN user.
Custom ROMs for this device are excellent both in quality and quantity. This is a very popular handset, thus community support is very high.
Battery life is really good. Depending on screen usage you can get 1.5 days usage easy. Heavy usage will obviously reduce that by a lot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks guys! If anybody has anything else to add please do so
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
OK so I have a galaxy nexus and got it on launch back in november. I picked up a one x because I really liked the look of it, but so far I can't decide which phone to keep.
The One X is great because it’s lovely to hold, has a fantastic screen and a very decent camera. But the software lets it down – and that’s not some lazy complaint. I’ve owned the phone for two weeks. Whilst Sense 4.0 is a big improvement over previous versions, I still struggle to find any part of it where it’s better than stock ICS, except perhaps the lockscreen which allows multiple targets. But that functionality is common in custom ICS ROMs anyway.
Stock ICS is, I feel, about as good as Android could be at the moment. This makes having to put up with the unnecessary ‘embellishments’ and changes on the One X is frustrating. HTC’s launcher is also considerably laggier than the stock Android 4.0 launcher, and whilst installing Nova launcher helps, I’m not sure why HTC felt the need to use their own anyway.
I must say I totally agree with The Verge’s conclusion on the One X – with stock ICS, it could be the best Android phone ever. Until then… Im just not sure which phone to keep!
ref1ux said:
OK so I have a galaxy nexus and got it on launch back in november. I picked up a one x because I really liked the look of it, but so far I can't decide which phone to keep.
The One X is great because it’s lovely to hold, has a fantastic screen and a very decent camera. But the software lets it down – and that’s not some lazy complaint. I’ve owned the phone for two weeks. Whilst Sense 4.0 is a big improvement over previous versions, I still struggle to find any part of it where it’s better than stock ICS, except perhaps the lockscreen which allows multiple targets. But that functionality is common in custom ICS ROMs anyway.
Stock ICS is, I feel, about as good as Android could be at the moment. This makes having to put up with the unnecessary ‘embellishments’ and changes on the One X is frustrating. HTC’s launcher is also considerably laggier than the stock Android 4.0 launcher, and whilst installing Nova launcher helps, I’m not sure why HTC felt the need to use their own anyway.
I must say I totally agree with The Verge’s conclusion on the One X – with stock ICS, it could be the best Android phone ever. Until then… Im just not sure which phone to keep!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in the same position, I'm really not sure which one to keep either - I suspect I will still be saying the same in two months time though!
HTC should have gone out on a limb and developed a dual boot - let the users decide whether they want to run sense or stock.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
Bumping this up. Thanks for the replies so far
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
pnnorth said:
I'm in the same position, I'm really not sure which one to keep either - I suspect I will still be saying the same in two months time though!
HTC should have gone out on a limb and developed a dual boot - let the users decide whether they want to run sense or stock.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I've had the phone nearly a month and still can't decide! Argh
Someone's developing a CM9 port over at Modaco and it's getting close to finished (just a few bugs left to squash). So if it's good enough, I might just install it and sell the Nexus.
ref1ux said:
Yeah I've had the phone nearly a month and still can't decide! Argh
Someone's developing a CM9 port over at Modaco and it's getting close to finished (just a few bugs left to squash). So if it's good enough, I might just install it and sell the Nexus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks
any other comments? battery, camera, screen etc? usability?
I've only used an older version for a few minutes, but on the surface everything works fine. It's mostly just odd bugs they're sorting out now. I'd link the thread, but things are a bit iffy between XDA and the developer at Modaco.
Either way, back on my GNex now and it feels like an old friend. Love this phone.

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