[Closed] Suggest alternatives to i phones!

htc desire = amazing

HTC desire is the obvious one. Does everything a me-phone does, without being as restrictive. Plus you can hold it in whatever hand you like...

HTC Desires are difficult to get hold of at the moment.

I got a Galaxy S instead and having used both actually prefer it now. The screen is better, and it has Swype built in (although I think this can be added to the desire via a download).

Excuse my ignorance but what is Swype?? thinking I might look at the HTC desire ....

Went to a stag do this weekend - an allnighter (more or less) - by 11pm just about everyone with an i-phone had no battery left. Mine lasted until the early hours then when it did almost run out, I swapped my battery over.

Come the morning, every i-phoner was rushing around looking for somewhere to charge their phones. I still had over a days charge left. You can't change the battery on an i-phone.

This alone is enough for me to get a Desire over an i-phone.

Another vote for the Desire here - love mine

You carry a spare battery around?

Nokia X6
Big memory, ace AGPS, good camera, use it for everything !
Battery lasts for days, even when using it loads.

Better pocket shape then an iphone too

yeah ourkidsam, in his utility belt phone case 😉

You carry a spare battery around?

If I know I'll be out all night (or all day on business) then yes - the battery can easily fit in a pocket/wallet.

A day doesn't sound like very long for the battery to last... unless you're [i]rinsing[/i] it

Unfortunately a day's about average for "smart" phones. When you consider their size and the amount they can do it's still impressive but frustrating.

edit: ....waits for the "I've got a xxxxxx and it lasts 3 weeks without a charge" 😉

The battery life of smartphones is an absolute pain in the neck. Think less than a day if you use it heavily.

I don't mind having to recharge it regularly if I use it I guess it's just convenience! Looking like the HTC Desire is a winner. So where's the best contract? Cheapest but with most minutes/internet etc, or where have you had good service? I'm binning Carphone Warehouse as they have been appalling and getting a new contract elsewhere.
What's the HTC Wildfire? Not heard of it before .. doesn't look much different to the Desire?

my mate has the Galaxy S, tis very nice and feels lighter than the iPhone.

Not sure about the i-phone 4 but the 3GS has a pathetic 1200mAh battery.

Standard Desire battery is 1400 but you can get a spare "better" one for a small outlay. With the i-phone that it - battery is integrated.

I've still vaped my battery in under a day on a recent trip to London (on the train, used it a lot) - best tip is when out and about, switch off all auto synching - pretty much doubles the battery life.

Got mine direct from Orange but it's on a business plan. Paid £100 up front, pay about £35 a month with a big wad of free MBs chucked in. Not a great deal but okay for me.

Got my unbranded HTC desire from mobiles.co.uk for £20 all the price plans you could ever need on there!

Paid £129 for an HTC Desire from T-Mobile.
£15/month gets me 300 mins/300 texts/unlimited internet & a flexible booster thing that I've currently got set at 60 mins to Europe & Australasia (to call a mate in Perth).

Not sure if they are still doing that exact deal, but they were by far the cheapest. Not had any issues with mobile coverage yet.

The battery life of smart phones isn't great, but when you consider all the things the little battery is having to power, it's hardly suprising.

I don't own a smartphone, but I will say anyone with access to the net can change an i phone battery.

Sony erricson X10

I will say anyone with access to the net can change an i phone battery.

Not exactly something you'd do if it just ran out on the train would you. Or carry a spare round ready to swap it.

tails - Member
I don't own a smartphone, but I will say anyone with access to the net can change an i phone battery.

But isn't it a 'tools' job that you'd do if your battery wasn't holding charge etc. rather than something you'd do if your battery became flat through use?
I think surf-mat is alluding to the fact that with a Desire (and other phones) you can just slide the back off, take old battery out, put a fresh one in assuming you have a spare and off you go. With an iPhone this isn't possible.

mobile fun have started selling a mahoosive battery for the desire (I think it's 2200mAh) and a larger back cover to go with it. That should last plenty of time and might be a decent purchase for weekends away etc. I don't think this is the kind of thing that the iPhone's integrated approach will allow.

we my judasphone4 runs for in excess of 24hrs thats being used to make and receive calls, play music, surf the net and take both photos & videos. I've not experienced a single dropped call due to "the grip of death" and more often than not use the phone left handed. I'm an apple hater but I didn't allow my dislike of apple and bitter experience of weeks of infuriatingly poor customer service dissuade me from purchasing what, in the real world, is the best piece of kit (and app store) available.

I got fed up with not being able to swap the battery on my 3GS so i have just sold it and I was going to get a Desire. Then I saw the Dell Streak and instantly knew it was right for me. 90% of what I do on my phone is browsing and the 5 inch screen is brilliant to me.

musta been a riviting stag doo if you were able to wear out your battery by 11pm ....

for an mtb friendly phone look at the nokia e73 - got an e71 and its withstood incredible abuse over last 18months

no touch screen to kill with muddy greasy fingers when riding and doesnt die at first sign of moisture 😀

I'm just getting to grips with a Desire that I bought here. Seems great but the biggest issue for me so far is not getting full BBC Iplayer functionality. This will be a pain as I used to listen to a few of the late night weekend radio shows on my Ipod touch through a dock at home.

Worth bearing in mind as an IPhone will do this.

I've got a Nokia N900, does pretty much anything you can think of but you probably need to be a bit of a computer geek to really appreciate it.

A good tip on all smart phones to increase battery life is to switch to GSM only mode when you're not actively using the internet. Just staying hooked up to 3G seems to use a load more juice than 2G mode, even if you're not browsing etc.

Trasil rat - Have you heard of an activity called "taking lots of photos?"

20 old mates beered up on a remote beach by a huge fire - best stag do I've been to in fact.

N900 user here, works for me but is heavy on battery - 24 hrs usually. Tend to just charge overnight as a routine.

I agree with tenuous that it helps to be a bit of a geek to get the most from it, but I'm not a geek and prefer the keyboard to screen typing etc. Doesn't help with spellings etc though!

20 old mates beered up on a remote beach by a huge fire - best stag do I've been to in fact.

Weren't the strippers a bit parky?

Munqe-chick - Member
Excuse my ignorance but what is Swype?? thinking I might look at the HTC desire ....

Swype is a way of entering text by dragging your finger over the letters you want. It is so much quicker than using a 'normal' phone keypad or the one of the iPhone/Desire that those phones seem very clunky. I don't know how anybody could stand to type out an email using the on screen keyboard on one of those.

The other thing that the Galaxy S has over the Desire is the screen. It really is marvelous, much better than that currently shipping with the Desire [b][url= http://androidcommunity.com/htc-forced-to-switch-to-super-tft-lcd-from-amoled-due-to-shortages-20100625/ ](Galaxy S has Super Amoled, Desire now has TFT)[/url][/b]

The only down side is that the screen is larger than the Desire (by half an inch or so)

just picked up a galaxy S and the screen really is the bollocks. I had been waiting for the iphone 4 but then seen the galaxy S and it looked interesting, hadn't used android until i went to the shop. I played with both right next to each other in the shop for half an hour yesterday and after spending even a small bit of time on the galaxy the iphone screen looked very cramped. The iphone one is very slightly sharper. So far very impressed came out the shop and logged into gmail and facebook and there you go, contacts and calender all synced right there, might be able to do this with the iphone but i was impressed.

I'm just getting to grips with a Desire that I bought here. Seems great but the biggest issue for me so far is not getting full BBC Iplayer functionality. This will be a pain as I used to listen to a few of the late night weekend radio shows on my Ipod touch through a dock at home.

It can use the normal iplayer flash website if you have the latest software update, with proper flash. Works fine on mine.

Joe

So where would you get a Desire from? looking on line there are loads of really cheap websites but I'm not sure abotu them whether it is easier to walk into a shop and say "right I've had this offer on the internet can you match it?" and see what they say? any suggestions or advice on where is now best? I'm looking at spending around £25 a month.
Also what would 500MG get me? I want to surf the internet, read e-mail, FB etc I would not watch TV or you tube or download masses of music or videos (I'd do this on PC at home). Is 500MG ample or do I need more?

not getting full BBC Iplayer functionality

myplayer. Free on the market, combined with rockplayer for video files. Lets you stream or download for later consumption* all the iplayer content.

*try that on an iOS device, heh.

OMG I have just ordered myself a HTC Desire! Getting sent DHL tomororw but I won't be in to get it boooo and they wouldn't send it to a work place! Please see my classifieds ad for some brand new unboxed i phone accessories 😉

Cool!

Now get on here with those inevitable noob questions we've all had! A great phone but needs some "training."

I blew some slightly "wow man" mates away on a stag do on Friday (on the beach) with the Google Star tracker app that's free. Loads of other amazing stuff too.

Surf-Mat e-mail in profile .. .do tell me more about what I should get (especially the free stuff!) and how to use it!!! can't wait although probably won't get it as I won't be in to sign for it from DHL!!

re. batteries - laptop power is a better comparison than non-smartphones.

munge,

list of good apps

myplayer - BBC iplayer
OS Atlas free - over the air OS mapping
Viewranger - as above not free but maps on phone.
aldiko book reader - lots of free books
Kindle - as above but you need to pay for the books
Astro file manager - file explorer thingy
RunGPS - good bike computer and training program
Opera mini - fast browser
Google Sky Map - tells you the stars names n stuff
Weather Bug - tells you if it will rain

Use all of the above nonsense on my Desire.

I have a couple of the extended batteries. They are okay but they don't give quite as much as their ratings suggest. Using RunGPS with the screen on full brightness I can get about 3 hours of ride before the original battery dies. The extended one gets about an hour and a half more.

Top phone, you won't be disappointed.

Regards

Oh my my HTC Desire has arrived and I have NO clue how to use it! I think the noob questions may be coming already! Where is the instruction booklet too? or is it just all on the internet??

I've recently bought a Galaxy.
It feels good & is easy to use etc, but a bit bulky.
Had it about two months now, but not had to charge the battery yet.
Screen is huge, & very clear.
Wife loves it but I'm not that keen.
I prefer the Mondeo.

Where is the instruction booklet too?

It's pre-installed on the SD card that came with the phone.

Head to the Marketplace, search for 'Astro' and install.
Then you can browse the contents of the SD card and read the PDF.

That's my only complaint so far - no file browser built in and that first step wasn't obvious.

Another option - connect the phone via USB, from the phone, set it as a drvive, browse it and find the PDF and read it on a big screen so you can play with the phone as you go.

Regarding batteries: these Kensington battery packs are [u]really[/u] useful when you are away from power for a while:

[img] [/img]

1800mAh; power gauge; charged using mini-USB and the supplied charger comes with plugs for different countries; outputs power via normal USB so ideal for powering/recharging an iPhone/HTC/smartphone, bluetooth headset, mp3 player, some cameras etc

£15 off Amazon, including charger, travel adaptors, leads and a bag.

So it has automatically set it up to link to my FB account which I don't want! when I click "remove" it takes me to the contact list which has been taken off FB (as of yet I don't have any other contacts on there) how do I get rid of this! ARGH! should've got some bottom of the range Nokia 😉

the new nokia n8. 12mp camera and hd video. Should be getting mine in a week or two!

Munqe - I got a bit frustrated at first. Bear with it and get used to it then you'll be back here saying how cool it is...!

I really don't get why people harp on about the iPhone being "restrictive." I too thought it an issue and stuck with HTC (Tytn II, Hero and HD2) for 3 years until suddenly opting for an iPhone 4.

Have to say it is by far the most functional device I've owned (or used). The restrictive side of things is hardly an issue in real-world terms - and I say this having customised all my previous HTC's.

IMO, the iPhone works admirably as a phone and music player, plus the app store gives virtually functionality for minimal effort/cost.

To summarise, I'd say HTC HD2 and Desire are great VFM all round, but the iPhone is a better device if you can justify the additional spend.

Now you've done it. Fetch the flame-retardant suits...

Once again I repeat my weekends experience - you cannot get a spare battery for an i-phone. They use power very quickly as with all smartphones.

A phone isn't very smart if it's dead - I just swapped my battery over by about midnight, my i-phone mates all ran out (it was an all night stag do) of charge and so didn't even have people's numbers to call, no camera to use, nothing.

That is a major i-phone killer - poor battery life and no chance to replace. This makes is hopeless for a long day out at meetings, long trips by MTB - basically anything where a socket isn't available. Not very "cool" then is it Apple marketeers?

Mat: I take it you realise the iPhone 4 has a 1420mAh battery (slightly bigger than the Desire) ...?

As I said above, external battery pack, battery cases, solar chargers etc are all available.

Graham - well that's MUCH bigger than my 1400mAh battery and my spare 1600mAH one...that cost me less than £20...

Yes you can charge an i-phone in a number of ways - or you can have a tiny spare battery with a Desire and easily swap it over. Me and someone with an old Nokia were the only ones out of a dozen of us with useable mobiles by the end of the night.

GrahamS - Member
Mat: I take it you realise the iPhone 4 has a 1420mAh battery (slightly bigger than the Desire) ...?

yep, that 20mAh (erm, or 1.4%) is gonna make all the difference. That is assuming I am right in thinking the Desire's is 1400mAh. Don't wanna really take the battery out just to check...

M-C - you can also find the manual by openind up the 'pdf viewer' from the apps menu.

Perhaps I should have said "ever so slightly bigger". My point is that Mat is rabitting on about batteries but ignoring the fact that the iPhone actually has a longer battery life (7hours talk on 3G versus 6.5hours on Desire) while still managing to power a much larger screen.

Also, woohoo you can change the battery. How many Desire owners actually carry around spare charged batteries and why is this soooo much better than the battery pack above or using a case with an extra battery in it?

Sorry one more dumb question, I guess I can get the PDF on the internet this evening? so I can look at it on my laptop and play with the phone at the same time so I can slowly learn. Rather than reading it off the phone and having to remember before I start playing. I can already feel it's going to be a wicked phone but I just need to learn a few bits before I even think about downloading apps from who knows where..... 😉 excited though. Glad Mr MC is out tonight as I imagine I won't be much company!!

MC: as gravity-slaves suggests, you can view the PDF that is on the phone on your computer by plugging it in via USB and browsing through the phone's files.

Or, if you need the manual to figure out how to do that then check the internet!

Graham - you can witter on until you are blue in the face. The fact is, I carried a tiny spare battery knowing I'd need my phone working for a long time. I-phone users didn't and couldn't and all had no phones to use when they needed them. I've also needed the spare battery on very long days of meetings. A dead phone is a useless phone whether it claims to have 10 minutes extra battery life or not. Having a "smartphone" that eats batteries that can't be changed but needs charging without replacement options is utterly useless. As demonstrated at the weekend.
And yes, two with i-phone 4s were also having reception issues. I wasn't.

Munge - the pdf is embedded into the SD card - you might need to transfer it to the laptop. I found it okay reading it on the screen.

why is this soooo much better than the battery pack above or using a case with an extra battery in it?

It's way more efficient - I had a 1600ma battery pack, and it only charged my N95's 900ma battery to full one time per charge. Whereas if I have a spare battery charged up, I know that is exactly one full charge. Spare batteries are also much smaller than the external battery packs, and much cheaper.

Joe

The fact is, I carried a tiny spare
battery knowing I'd need my phone working for a long time. I-phone users didn't and couldn't and all had no phones to use when they needed them

Right, so you had the foresight to take an extra charged battery, but none of your mates with iphones thought to do this (despite there being plenty of options they could have used) - therefore iPhones are rubbish? 🙄

I've also needed the spare battery on very long days of meetings

I don't play with my phone much in meetings, but then most of my meetings are in rooms with plugs, use a laptop with power, or involving driving somewhere, so there are ample opportunities to charge it anyway.

BTW if your mates are using their batteries till they are completely flat then they will shorten the lifespan of the battery.

Joe: not my experience. That Kensington pack will happily refuel an iPhone and have enough power spare to do about half on another one - which pretty much fits with the figures.

You can download the user guide [url= http://www.htc.com/www/userguide.aspx?p_id=312 ]here[/url]

fbk - Member

....waits for the "I've got a xxxxxx and it lasts 3 weeks without a charge"

Sort of happy to oblige... 😕 I have a phone that does 10-12 days between charges. Unfortunately all it does is call and text, and its 'apps' are snake II and a silly little LED torch. Late adopter, me.

User manual for a PHONE ??? Whatever next?

(I also have the Kensington battery pack recommended by GrahamS. I used it on a camping trip recently to power my iPhone and also my wife's Nokia. One useful thing was that this allowed me to charge the battery pack in the campsite washroom, whereas I wouldn't leave a phone to charge unattended in a public place.)

LMAO @ Julian Wilson!
Oh I have so much fun ahead of me tonight. Surf Matt how much was your spare battery and from where? Slowly managed to fiddle with a few bits to conserve battery (brightness etc).

Munge - about £15 off teabay. Read a few reviews and went for a non HTC copy. So far so very good.

Turning off auto synching makes the biggest difference (settings > accounts and synch, remove two synch "ticks" at the top of the options list) to battery life - pretty much doubles it.

So a Smartphone typically needs to be charged everyday?

That won't do much for climate change. Just think of all that energy fuzz and radio buzz going round the world. Its why Bee's are dying.

Pieface: yeah, more than once a day.

It's not all doom and gloom tho: I happily surf on my phone rather than firing up my 600w worth of desktop PC, 24 inch monitor and speakers.

M-C. You can get the pdf from the HTC website for the manual, which is probably what the link a bit above is for.

I recommend plugging in the phone while you fiddle about setting it up. The battery dies pretty quick when you have the display on loads and are flitting between this and that.
You should notice that the battery will last longer after it's been charged a few times, the novelty has worn off & you've got your head around some power saving things.

I've turned syncing down to a minimum & that helped. I also set-up buttons on the screen (add>widget) for quickly turning off the data connection, wi-fi & gps. I generally use the phone with all of them off & turn them on as & when needed.
I don't really use my phone a great deal, and generally if I charge my phone one evening it will last the next day and the day after that too. If I look at a lot of stuff on the internet or use My Tracks (gps tracking), then it does tend to kill it quite quickly.

Android phones outsold Iphones last month!

Love my Sony Xperia X10 🙂

Android phones outsold Iphones last month!

Yep. No one wants iPhones any more because they are too popular... 😯

[img] ?w=575&h=515[/img]
-- http://gigaom.com/2010/08/02/android-sales-overtake-iphone-in-the-u-s/

you know i was gonna get a smartphone when my contract expired but graphs like the one above made me realise lifes too short to worry about stuff like that

so i just got vodafone to give me a half price contract deal instead of an upgrade and ordered a new hard drive for my nackered ipod off ebay for a few quid

ta da!

Useful short cut for you munqe chick...hold down the home button and your last 6 programs appear, really useful when swapping between browser, sat nav, texts etc 🙂

Is it worth downloading opera browser, any faster than the default one?

I use the Dolphin browser - it's pretty decent.

Wow spooky that's useful cheers!

I could of upgraded early today but I have decided to hang on until the new HTC Desire HD comes out late Sept/Oct time.

Blimey - I didn't realise people got soooo defensive over their choice of phone. Well I've got a Desire, and it's great, and everything else is crap, so ner !! 🙄

Nice graph by the way, aren't stats great 😉

flippinheckler - if you update the current Desire to Froyo (OS 2.2) you can get HD video now. I think the one you're talking about has a higher megapixel stills camera though - coming out later in the year I believe? HTH 🙂

Am still waiting until Orange "lets" me upgrade to 2.2 - HURRY UP ORANGE!!

Android phones outsold Iphones last month!