|
Post by Alex on Dec 20, 2010 20:23:44 GMT
Maybe this is the wrong part, maybe I should be sent to the Dark Side section...But I just wrote a review of my phone on my Blog. I have a HTC Desire, and got it about 2 months ago. theramblingsofalex.blogspot.com/2010/12/definitive-review-of-htc-desire.htmlHave a spyball if you have the time, or are considering a new phone that isn't an iPhone. It has nothing on the iPhone, other than Angry Birds being free. ;D
|
|
|
Post by Alex on Dec 21, 2010 0:29:44 GMT
Weirdostomps, thanks for reading!
As for this, the is a way of syncing iCal to Calendar using Google Calendar. I tried it and did get my things off iCal and onto the phone, but it back-published everything into iCal, meaning all my stuff was doubled. I also couldn't add new items to iCal and have them sync with the phone, either over the internet or by USB. This is really annoying, actually. I would like to see Apple release an Android pack, although it would never happen. Also, the sync-software which came with the phone is Windows only, so if I need to plug in the USB I have to mount it as a disk drive, which looks dangerous because I don't really know what I'm doing.
|
|
|
Post by wierdostomps on Dec 21, 2010 8:36:52 GMT
Yeah, that's the sort of problem I had. I had a couple of Symbian phones and even a Windows Mobile one - Mark/Space's Missing Sync helps, but I still found that I had duplicates and/or (worse) missing data. This on its own would be enough to keep me with the iPhone. I can't afford to lose meetings!
|
|
|
Post by Forum Cat on Dec 21, 2010 10:48:30 GMT
Also, the sync-software which came with the phone is Windows only. My number one hate. That software on other devices is "Windows only" or works better on Windows. No wonder Apple have said in effect "F the lot of you we will make sure all our stuff works with all our other stuff. It will be sweet not to have to rely on you for hand outs and hand me downs." "It just works" works for me. (Even when sometimes it doesn't) M. le Chat
|
|
|
Post by Alan on Dec 21, 2010 12:09:17 GMT
I enjoyed reading your review, Alex. I'm certainly not tempted to move outside the Apple eco-system unless it's absolutely necessary (like syncing with work stuff).
I get the impression that life with an Android phone is unnecessarily fiddly anyway, even discounting the added complexity of coexistence with Apple stuff. The Android designers try to match or even improve over the Apple approach, but their attempts are somewhat superficial and there's a deep-rooted usability ethos and foundation that they just don't "get".
Alan.
|
|
|
Post by Alex on Dec 21, 2010 13:02:17 GMT
I enjoyed reading your review, Alex. I'm certainly not tempted to move outside the Apple eco-system unless it's absolutely necessary (like syncing with work stuff). I get the impression that life with an Android phone is unnecessarily fiddly anyway, even discounting the added complexity of coexistence with Apple stuff. The Android designers try to match or even improve over the Apple approach, but their attempts are somewhat superficial and there's a deep-rooted usability ethos and foundation that they just don't "get". Alan. This is true. As far as usability goes, the Android is pretty basic. The newest version, I have, is possibly on-par with the first iPhone OS. Between the two, there is a major difference: Android has a 'Home Screen', which I can then click into the 'App Drawer' iPhones don't have this, they only have the App Screen. BUT, iOS4 can organise the apps in the 'drawer' into folders of my choosing, e.g., 'Games', 'Work' etc. Android has zero capability of this. I would love to be able to uninstall the crappy HTC Apps, but after finding I couldn't, the best solution was to put them all into a folder where I couldn't see them. At least that way they weren't cluttering everything up. There isn't a way of doing this. I posted a question on the Android Forums and got a load of non-replies, and it appears that the only way to make folders is to root the phone, void the warranty and download my own version of the OS. There is an app I can get which can put apps into folders on the Home Screen, but that's mainly for apps that I access often, so I don't have to dig through the drawer to get to. www.google.com/support/forum/p/Android%20Market/thread?tid=26eaf4a6d9bd0213&hl=enThere's my question on the Forum. It seems to have picked it's own best answer. That didn't answer my original question.
|
|
|
Post by wierdostomps on Dec 22, 2010 8:30:43 GMT
Played with a Desire last night - while we were looking the Home Screen seemed to freeze. Apparently this happens regularly. Having advised the "have you tried switching it off and on again" option without success, the owner resorted to removing the SIM card! Other screens seemed still to respond, so it doesn't feel like a hardware issue, but the buttons on the home screen simply failed to respond. This was my first experience of Android. It still feels like a beta to me. - But then again, so does Windows!
|
|
|
Post by Alex on Dec 22, 2010 17:34:19 GMT
^Never happened to me. The only problem like that I've had is sometime the framerate drops when scrolling up/down the app list. Not such an issue though.
Actually, there is one thing I like more about the Desire than the iPhone: Buttons on the bottom. I'd rather have proper buttons than screen-buttons.
|
|
|
Post by PaulDixon on Jan 29, 2011 20:46:44 GMT
I joined the darkside a while ago - the Desire is my second Android Phone. My reasoning was that I already had an iPod Touch and an iPad and I wanted to try something a bit different. Pros -Some of the third-party widgets are great, for example being able to turn on Wifi, Bluetooth, 3g, gps directly from the home screen is really handy. Far more control over the look and feel, I've included an example of my current home screen below. The ability to swap out the battery and sd card. Physical buttons like back and menu come in handy - easier to take pictures with a physical button. Google Apps seem to be a bit better than their iPhone equivalents, for example Maps has a feature in terrain mode that lets you tilt the map for 3d looking buildings. A couple of other Google apps don't seem to be available for iPhone yet - for example Gesture Search let's you search by drawing letters with your finger. Voice integration seems to be better but to be honest it's not a feature I use very often. As much as I hate flash sites, it is sometimes useful being able to view them on your phone. Cons -Quite a lot of apps can only be stored on the internal memory which means you can quickly run out of space. Although I suspect the number of apps available could eventually overtake the iPhone many of them are very poor quality and don't look as good as your typical iPhone app. Not as user friendly. Not quite as responsive when sliding between screens etc but I suspect that will improve. Cheaper looking (and feeling) hardware. Fragmentation of hardware and allowing carriers to put their own stuff on top of Android means updates can be slower and not always guaranteed. A better Android phone seems to come out every few months so you always feel like you have an old model. Inferior battery life. Less secure. To do something as simple as taking a screen cap of your screen you have to download the Android SDK and connect the phone to your Mac/PC. My Desire Home Screen
|
|