I have been using the HTC Desire for about 4 months now. I was able to get a good deal now that the Desire Z and HD are out.<br><br>Hacking it has not been on my priority list, but otherwise I would say I am very happy with it. It is very fast and smoothly switches between applications. The screen is large enough to do email/sms/browsing, and even watching a film (if you're really desperate).<br>
<br>With modest usage, I can make the battery last 2 days (but no longer), which I think is pretty good for a smartphone.<br><br>If this is your 1st smartphone and you haven't used a USB dongle, beware that there are quite a few no-3G spots. Browsing the internet then is virtually impossible. Obviously, your mileage will vary because it very much depends on your location/network.<br>
<br>The phone works a treat over wi-fi though.<br><br>My wife has recently got a Nexus S. The screen is a little larger, and is very good. But the phone has a plasticky feeling to it. The user interface is pretty similar (obviously) but I prefer HTC's Sense UI. In my opinion it's slicker that that of the Nexus.<br>
<br>You may find this site useful:<br><a href="http://www.mobile-phones-uk.org.uk/">http://www.mobile-phones-uk.org.uk/</a><br><br>TM<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On 14 April 2011 12:00, <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:gllug-request@gllug.org.uk">gllug-request@gllug.org.uk</a>></span> wrote:<br>
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<br>Today's Topics:<br>
<br>
1. OT smartphone advice (Dylan)<br>
2. Re: OT smartphone advice (Christopher Hunter)<br>
3. Re: OT smartphone advice (Steve Parker)<br>
4. Re: OT smartphone advice (James Holland)<br>
<br><br>---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: Dylan <<a href="mailto:dylan@dylan.me.uk">dylan@dylan.me.uk</a>><br>To: <a href="mailto:gllug@gllug.org.uk">gllug@gllug.org.uk</a><br>Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:28:43 +0100<br>
Subject: [Gllug] OT smartphone advice<br>Hi All,<br>
<br>
Anyone fancy sharing advice or opinions on the current crop of smartphones?<br>
<br>
What's the word on Android vs. whatever else is out there (NOT iphone - don't<br>
want anything from Apple)?<br>
How is the internet service from the various providers?<br>
<br>
Cheers<br>
<br>
Dylan<br>
<br>
--<br>
" '... but there is so much else behind what I say. It makes itself known to<br>
me so slowly, so incompletely! ...' "<br>
<br>
<br><br>---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: Christopher Hunter <<a href="mailto:cehunter@gb-x.org">cehunter@gb-x.org</a>><br>To: Greater London Linux User Group <<a href="mailto:gllug@gllug.org.uk">gllug@gllug.org.uk</a>><br>
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2011 19:20:05 +0100<br>Subject: Re: [Gllug] OT smartphone advice<br>On Wed, 2011-04-13 at 16:28 +0100, Dylan wrote:<br>
> Hi All,<br>
><br>
> Anyone fancy sharing advice or opinions on the current crop of smartphones?<br>
><br>
> What's the word on Android vs. whatever else is out there (NOT iphone - don't<br>
> want anything from Apple)?<br>
> How is the internet service from the various providers?<br>
><br>
> Cheers<br>
><br>
> Dylan<br>
><br>
<br>
Mrs H and I both use Samsung Galaxy S' on Orange. Superb results,<br>
pretty fast web browsing when mobile, and sensible charges. They also<br>
can now use the T-Mobile network (since their recent amalgamation), so<br>
their coverage is fantastic.<br>
<br>
The SGS is far and away the best phone I've seen so far, and it's well<br>
worth playing around with the OS - it's pretty much entirely open. I<br>
flash upgraded from Android 2.1 to 2.2, and have briefly flirted with a<br>
pre-release version of 2.3 (that was a bit rough around the edges).<br>
It's an interesting platform to experiment with!<br>
<br>
Other friends use (and swear by) the HTC Desire and the latest Google<br>
offering. Both seem very good, but the HTC is a bit bigger than the SGS<br>
and I haven't really played with the Google one yet.<br>
<br>
So - my vote is for Samsung Galaxy S on Orange.<br>
<br>
Chris<br>
<br>
<br>
<br><br>---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: Steve Parker <<a href="mailto:steve@steve-parker.org">steve@steve-parker.org</a>><br>To: <a href="mailto:gllug@gllug.org.uk">gllug@gllug.org.uk</a><br>Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:56:11 +0100<br>
Subject: Re: [Gllug] OT smartphone advice<br>
<div bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
On 13/04/11 16:28, Dylan wrote:
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre>Hi All,
Anyone fancy sharing advice or opinions on the current crop of smartphones?
What's the word on Android vs. whatever else is out there (NOT iphone - don't
want anything from Apple)?
How is the internet service from the various providers?
Cheers
Dylan
</pre>
</blockquote>
>From my trusty old Nokia 6230i, I upgraded to the Google Nexus S a
month or so ago. So far I'm very happy with it; it crashed a few times
in the first few days, but has been stable since.<br>
<br>
Opera Mini seemed very good at first, but regularly came up with just a
black screen whenever I clicked on a link. I've gone back to the native
browser which seems okay, if not quite as good.<br>
<br>
Vodafone's internet service is as good on this phone as on others; my
3G Vodafone connection from the phone is not always as good as the 3G
connection from Three that I have via a USB dongle for the laptop.<br>
<br>
Occasionally I find that with the on-screen keyboard, I press the
spacebar when I want to press the letter "c". You can spin the phone
around for a wider keyboard, but then it is too wide to be comfortable.<br>
<br>
The Nexus S seems to be fully hackable; I have not had the time to play
with that yet, <plug class="shameless" attr="see signature">I'm
writing a book at the moment</plug> which is taking all of my
time, but I am really looking forward to hacking it both within the
provided Android system and by replacing it with a custom Android
build. That level of openness doesn't seem to be at all available on
the iProduct.<br>
<br>
Steve<br>
<br>
<div>-- <br>
Steve Parker<br>
<a href="mailto:steve@steve-parker.org" target="_blank">steve@steve-parker.org</a><br>
Author of the <a href="http://steve-parker.org/recipes/" target="_blank">Shell
Scripting Recipes</a> book, due out August 2011<br>
<a href="http://steve-parker.org/" target="_blank">http://steve-parker.org/</a> /
+44(0) 789 777 2100 / <a href="mailto:steve@steve-parker.org" target="_blank">steve@steve-parker.org</a>
</div>
</div>
<br><br>---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: James Holland <<a href="mailto:holland.james@yahoo.co.uk">holland.james@yahoo.co.uk</a>><br>To: Greater London Linux User Group <<a href="mailto:gllug@gllug.org.uk">gllug@gllug.org.uk</a>><br>
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2011 11:54:59 +0100<br>Subject: Re: [Gllug] OT smartphone advice<br>On 14/04/11 00:56, Steve Parker wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
>From my trusty old Nokia 6230i, I upgraded to the Google Nexus S a<br>
month or so ago. So far I'm very happy with it; it crashed a few times<br>
in the first few days, but has been stable since.<br>
<br>
Opera Mini seemed very good at first, but regularly came up with just a<br>
black screen whenever I clicked on a link. I've gone back to the native<br>
browser which seems okay, if not quite as good.<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Dolphin seems to be the most popular browser. It seems better than the native one.<br>
<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Vodafone's internet service is as good on this phone as on others; my 3G<br>
Vodafone connection from the phone is not always as good as the 3G<br>
connection from Three that I have via a USB dongle for the laptop.<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
I bought a cheap sim free Android 2.2 phone off a Chinese website for £80 primary so I could play with Android. I'm really pleased with it as it has 2 sim slots so I can use my normal sim and a giffgaff sim for cheap data use. It even has analogue TV with an extendible aerial.<br>
<br>
Unfortunately it only does gprs but I use BTFon wireless which is faster than 3G in most places.<br>
<br>
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<br></blockquote></div><br>