Hi guys, been thinking about the HTC Desire as a new phone (that or a Blackberry Bold 9700) but the more I read the less sure I am.

There seem to be a lot of issues, SD card issues seem common amongst many others on the Android forums. How have you guys that have them found them to be, great or problematic?

Also anyone got one on O2 yet, is it heavily branded or not?

Cheers.

Haven't had any problems with mine. Had it for a month or so with t mobile.

also have the same choice…interested to hear opinions

I've got one and love it. No real problems yet but the Vodafone imposed 500mb limit is very low considering how much you can use. At first I considered sending it back for this very reason but have since discovered the turn off mobile data setting which prevents auto updates etc eating your allowance.

Had mine since the 3rd day it came out & haven't had any problems.

I was a bit disappointed by the battery life at first but this improved loads after a few charges & once I worked out what download things to turn off etc.

If you have wi fi at home and work then 500mb will be fine. I think t mobiles fair use limit is 3gig. The phone does everything I need and more. Just need someone to make a dedicated mtb app despite mytracks being pretty good.

had mine for a month or so now. Much better than I thought it would be. It definitely the best smart-phone I have ever owned.

I am extreamly impressed with android 2.1 (flan) and Android 2.2 (froyo) is coming out pretty soon and is so far reporting huge speed increases. It will also solve a number of minor niggles for me. like installing applications to SD.

Not had any problems with my SD either. and the 3GB download limit on t-mobile not a problem and I'm a pretty heavy user.

so if you bought a desire runinng 2.1 would you be able to update to 2.2 when it comes out? is it easy/free?

No problems here, I love it!

I always wait 3 months before getting a new phone for the reasons that make it hell for some new owners with glitches.

No problems with mine, on t-mobile for the 3 gig download, though with WiFi at home I think I'm using about 250mb with hourly updates.

No branding on my phone, just a splash screen on startup.

My contract isn't up until July, so I guess 2.2 may even be out and updated for Sense by then, maybe 🙂

Just keeping an eye on coverage here in Cornwall before deciding to stick with O2 or move to Orange? Seems ok at the moment and O2 generally leave the phone OS alone.

Interested to hear if anyone has one on O2 yet to see if that still stands for the Desire.

Thinking the Desire is ahead of the Bold right now….

T-Mobile is also a contender I guess as they are merging with Orange anyway!!

Reading that you really need to ebrace googlemail as htc sync with outlook a bit pants?

Also problems using a Yahoo email account?

was also thinking about getting one but i hear the bluetooth audio is shonky and the apps can only be installed to the inbuilt 512mb memory? I've got 30gb of music on my n97 would I have to blow an additional £120 on a flash card?

Andy – I've got one on Orange. I use Yahoo as my main email provider and it synched fine (set it up properly – don't access it via the internet) BUT only seems to syn sent items sent from the phone, not from your computer. It logs all incoming mails. Again via internet, it won't open Office (or pdf) files but set it up properly and it's fine.

If it helps at all, we are in Cornwall and I'm on Orange and my wife is on O2 (to make sure one of us always has reception) – both are the best for coverage down here. Orange is slightly ahead overall.

Had mine over a month now and think it is excellent. Android as good as WM IMHO.

Did a two hour ride yesterday using RunGPS with the screen brightness at 100% and it used about 45% of the battery.

I think I installed an app that had a bug two days ago – screen wouldn't go into sleep mode and the battery drained in half a day – turned it off and on again and all is fine.
I also don't rate the speaker at high volume and the phonebook and calenders could do with more options (such as notes) but other than that, it's a cracking phone and I can't stop playing with it!

Also seems to have much better reception (wifi, GPS and mobile) than other mobiles I've had.

Andy, I have just got one on O2. Swapped it from a HTC HD2. Its quite intuitive and set up fine. Bluetooth with a car system is good. Audio is fine.. early days but happy here.

Rick

rick is it any better than the hd2 ? just im looking at both.

also ive a nokia bluetooth car kit will it just pick it up as a bluetooth device like my current nokia phone does ?

ta

Yeah – built in speaker is quite tinny, but I rarely used it on the old phone, so I don't really notice it.

I think from everything said on here that the next version of Android will allow you to store apps on the memory card.

Surf-Mat – how did you set-up Yahoo on it? Can't get it to work on mine…..
Also – I guess it has no additional things like 'notes' and stuff as you can download them as apps; would be nice to have some default ones though. I downloaded 'Note Everything' and it's pretty good.

do any of you have windows mail set up on the desire ?

I downloaded "AK notes" – also very good but should come as standard. Orange put their pathetic "try and make you buy stuff" bits on as usual but I just whipped them all off!

Can't remember exactly how I set up Yahoo – just went into email and entered my address and password under "other" (or something!)!

Surf-Mat – yeah that's what a mate of mine did with his phone (I think it's an HD2) and his worked.

WIth mine, I go to mail>other>enter e-mail & password and it always says authentification failed, verify your username & password. But I know it's the right one……! Weird.

I was pleasantly surprised by what a T-Mobile free zone my phone was from new. All the Voda phones i have previously had, were littered with Vodafone crap.

All sounds good, I was in Truro today and the nice chap I spoke to at Carphone Warehouse let me gave a go with the Desire, nothing at all on it, no sim card or connection but looks great, another month and I can upgrade, signal on O2 seems to be fine, no problems as yet.

Though Matt, tell me, is the Orange phone littered with 'Orange' stuff, is the free sat nav any good?

Andy – I trialled the Orange satnav (I think you have to pay for it?) on my old W995 and found it pretty average so I just use Google Maps which works very well. Having said that, the GPS reception was pretty poor on my old phone too. If it's free, I'll try again!

It does have a few orange bits – games, apps and music icons (all paid for AFAIK) but I ignore them – use Android apps and games and your own music! I have yet to pay for an app – all the ones I need are free. Best to download them via wifi to save on memory allowance costs.

We're just outside Truro – welcome to pop in for a trial any time if needed!

Mat,

Having had a play I'm pretty much sold, can't think of a good enough reason to change from O2 so I'll just upgrade next month, now just got to bide my time and not get all impatient!!

Just trying to get my fitness back up to a reasonable level after next to no time on the bike before the move, you get out on the bike much at the moment, and where do you go?

Also, O2 is unlimited data, as long as you don't take the proverbial! No Fair Use Policy applies, which is nice 😀

Andy – do a 12.5 miler three times a week (before work) – about 3/4 hilly roads/tracks, 1/4 proper off road then usually get out at the weekend. Also run 2-3 times a week. And surf. And do weights.

Some good local tris coming up if you fancy any? Also an MTB/orienteering thing at the Bike Barn on 6th June.

Aha so you're one of those fit people I read about!

Not quite there yet and never really fancied Tri as I despise running, may be interested in the 6th June, any more details, or links?

Will have to get out on the bike some more pretty quick!

I don't think the 6th June thing is a full on race really – details are here:

http://www.mudandsweat.com/events.html

The Bike Barn is on the way to Portreath – run by a really decent bunch of people.

Will check that out later, cheers.

It has to be better than a Symbian phone.

In fact I think a dog turd would have a good go a doing a better job at impersonating a Smartphone than my Nokia N97.