Posted by erazer007
Here are the unboxing pictures of the HTC HD2. These pictures are taken with an Apple iPhone 3GS by our good friend Centrinos.
View all pictures here
http://www.fonearena.com/blog[....]d2-unboxing-photo-gallery.html
[ This Message was edited by: masseur on 2009-11-27 12:27 ]
Posted by masseur
strange that we don't have a dedicate HD2 topic but anyway... I was deciding between the TG01 and the Hero and even put out a wanted ad for the Hero but today I started reading up some more on the HD2.
I loved the look of the original HD but as I was new to the iPhone I didn't feel justified in getting the HD, especially has it held its value well for quite a while, and even now still sells for around £300.
It was really the resistive screen of the TG01 that put me off but the HD2 has a capacitive screen with multi touch and it also has a 480 x 800 resolution in 4.3".
today I also read that the HTC HD2 will be officially upgradeable to Windows Mobile 7 and if that story is to be believed, it makes the HD2 a unit with a fairly good life span, and so I have now ordered one
can't wait!
Posted by Caspa
Ahh, Big M...
Thought you was gonna be a part of the Hero crew as I am soon to be... (new year that is)...
Was looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it to be honest!
Well congrats on the order, hope you like... Looks a bit too big for me...
Posted by masseur
it was a close thing, but perhaps I'll wait for the X10 now
the HD2 reminds me very much of the iPaq hx4700 which had a 4" screen and was ahead of its time but really, at 121 x 67 x 11mm compared with iPhone 116 x 62 x 12mm, the HD2 is not really that much bigger but everything I read and view about it suggests its the closest to iPhone so far.
all I need to do is find a good iTunes compatible sync utility for music, videos and podcasts and I'll be even happier with it
Posted by Caspa
Oh the iPaq days, I remember them!
Yeah, not too much difference in size really when you compare them directly... Well with that processor is should be pretty snappy and HTC do seem to be on to something with this Sense UI, the more I see of it the more I want a device with it!
Posted by londonlad123
Even though htc have done an excellent job, now that I've ordered it, my memory of previous winmo phones has come flooding back! I don't like the idea of messing around with cab files and having to fix things gone wrong. That said I haven't had a winmo since 2006 but I doubt much has changed there.
I've opted for this since it's got a complete spec and a useful lockscreen that shows you your appointments, which is handy to me. Though I haven't found out how many appointments it shows? Todays only, next 48 hours or next 3 appointments?
I probably would have preffered an iPhone 3gs but it's just too expensive and I would have to give up any well earned upgrade discount. Here's hoping winmo 6.5 is good enough. Not too keen on the new winmo Homescreen, doesn't show enough info.
I'm sure winmo 7 will work on this and htc will even provide the update but next summer seems far away.
Didn't use email on my last winmo, it does support HTML email?
Posted by londonlad123
My hd2 has arrived. Build Quality is excellent. Feels like your holding a piece of metal. UI is speedy and to answer my own question the lockscreen only shows your next appointment.
Posted by masseur
mine arrives tomorrow
Its not been that long since I had WM but I do recall that being configurable, possibly in the today screen settings, or maybe its was due to SPB plus or one of the other extensions I use.
I'll learn it all again tomorrow!
Posted by londonlad123
I can change the homescreen to show upcoming events but not the lockscreen which is the one new in 6.5 with the sliders that move left or right at the top and the time at the bottom.
As for the keyboard, if you get on with the iphone the keyboard's not bad at all.
Posted by masseur
My wife decided to step out for 10 minutes yesterday, and they were the 10 minutes the phone was trying to be delivered!
got it today though and so far I'm well impressed. By far the best WM I have used, and the screen is to die for!
one problem so far is that I can get it to login to my youtube account, it keeps saying "there was a connection error while attempting to log on", although I know my credentials are correct. Thats with wifi or 3g
Posted by londonlad123
Don't have a YouTube account so not tried it. Though I get similar error when trying to set 'my location' for the weather. You cant seem to manually set your own location and through gps it fails. Gps elsewhere works.
It's a good phone apart from a few niggles in usability. Much faster to react than my iPhone 2g. And yeah the screen is great!
The web browser doesn't display pages as well as safari on the iPhone. Especially when it comes to a line of buttons across the screen. I would also like to be able to turn reflow off.
Two major improvements that make it usuable at all. The keyboards as good as the iPhones for me and I've not struggled to use the finger to select anything like previous winmo stylus devices.
Ps, the iPhone headset works for music at least play/stop does.
Where's the best place for apps on the net?
Masseur, would you say it's faster than the 3gs?
Posted by masseur
I'd say its as fast as the 3gs, and I can see HTC is trying very hard to match the iPhone but it definitly doesn't do it quite as easily or eloquently as the iphone does itself.
that said, its by far the best WM device I have ever used, and there is alot of added value in the default sim free unit (I gather youtube is missing from the tmob version, for example).
Its easy to be taken in by the beautiful screen but actually, if the iphone has this 4.3" beast, it would complete it for me. The screen is very responsive to the touch and unlike the iphone works with the full finger as well as the finitite touch of a finger nail.
I'm into the 15 day trial of the CoPilot, and its not a bad solution, but I'll be trying to see if the Garmin I have will work on this screen resolution.
I actually think IE in 6.5 does a fair job compared to Safari and I also like the way you can download and install the Java google maps and your don't have to run it from some Java environment like we used to have to. In fact google maps looks excellent on this screen but I'm not sure if its just the extra reolution that makes it look so great.
I really had just about given up on WM after the X1 but now this has brought freshness to my mobile perspective and I do feel now that iPhone has to push ahead more than it has previously with the challenge of the HD2
Posted by masseur
oh dear, I'm very much liking this HD2. So much so that after using it all morning, and then getting my iPhone out, the iPhone styling suddenly feels quite old fashioned! still can't get youtube to login to my account and HTC support just want me to do a hard reset, so maybe I'll do that over the weekend. The Microsoft app store (Marketplace) doesn't have alot to offer and does appear to be more costly than iPhone apps.
anyway, a few days ago Plemix created an HD2 unboxing topic but as we already had one I removed it and asked him to repost here. He hasn't done so yet and so I will do the honours....
---------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Plemix
The first time laid my eyes on HTC HD2, I am amazed by its ostentatiously huge and amazingly slim. The cinematic 4.3” display makes me totally fall for it. Actually, it is the latest version of the Touch HD which was the undisputed leader on the Windows Mobile smartphone market in 2008. After a year, the new comer has been improved a lot. Featuring killer spec of gigantic capacitive screen, 1GHz Snapdragon Processor and 448MB RAM, 5MP auto-focus camera with dual LED flash…Let’s take a closer look at it.
What’s inside the box? The HTC HD2 phone, battery, USB sync cable, AC adapter, Power plug, 3.5mm stereo headset, Pouch and the Quick start Guide.
With the 4.3” display, HD2 looks big in size. It can’t be used with just single hand, but quite thin. A screen that big should has its consequence, right? It weight 157 grams which is understandable as the screen is covered by glass and the battery cover is all metal.
The hardware controls on the HD2 has been increased over its predecessor: all together five hardware keys below the display. The Menu key is the new comer which appears on the WinMo 6.5 device such as Touch2.
The left side of the phone hosts only a volume rocker.
The bottom part of the phone hosts the 3.5mm standard audio jack, the microUSB port and the microphone pinhole.
Turn to the back, you’ll see the 5MP camera lens and the dual LED flash is just next to it.
Removing the steel back cover, you’ll find the reset pinhole along with the microSD card slot which can handle full 16GB microSD card with problem-free.
The HD2 with the stylish carrying pouch. We are impressed by the pouch as it looks very grand.
PocketPC regulars are certainly familiar with the TouchFLO interface. However, HD2 has upgraded but still cool TouchFLO 3D plus the features found in the Sense UI pioneered on the HTC Hero. It becomes more content and full of eye-candy. As of runs on Windows Mobile 6.5, the Start menu comes in a honeycomb pattern, which makes touch control even more comfortable.
HD2 comes with the latest Opera browser which is extensively touch-optimized and supports multi-touch. On the big capacitive screen along with the powerful hardware, the web browsing experience on the HD2 is excellent. Pages look great and the pinch zoom is very smooth and fast with no visible lag.
The details of the HD2 hardware: 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 448 MB RAM…It got a bundle of groundbreaking hardware.
Surprisingly, we found the unexpected features on HD2: the ringer volume level that immediately scales down when the phone detects that you have picked it up and the display that automatically adjusts to the light level in your surroundings and turns off to prevent false screen touches during a call. With groundbreaking features, high performance and elegant design, however, comes with a relatively high price tag. Or you can check on its opponents, Toshiba TG01 and Acer neoTouch also with giant screen and fast CPU, both of them are at lower price but features less UI customizations, resistive touchscreens and less RAM.
Posted by Bonovox
There is a side by side compared review of the 3GS and HTC on Phone Arena
Posted by masseur
its always nice to post a link
here is that comparison
wasn't fussed with their conclusion which seems to be a whole lot of nothingreally!
anyway, has anyone else grabbed one of these? I can't put the thing down and that reminds me of my first days with the iPhone. As I got into podcasting with the iPhone, I never used it on WM before so I'm trying to find the best app to manage the downloads etc in the same way that itunes does for me. There's a few other "catch-up" type apps I'm after too, but I'm in no hurry and I'll take my time.
A hard reset didn't fix the you tube account login issue so I'll buzz HTC again as I dont find any other solution on the next, though a few people have reported the same problem.
Posted by londonlad123
That's exactly what it is, it's a top phone but not as eloquent as the iPhone. That eloquence is the subtle features the iPhone has like different defualt apps working together, like pressing a YouTube link in safari will take you to the YouTube player. Hd2 takes you to the website that has no flash player installed which is pointless in opera. Not liking the basic-ness and no pinch to zoom in IE. I can think of a load of little things like that.
For apps, I guess my mindset was that there were plenty of good apps based on the past but that's no longer the case. Especially since now apps are having to be redesigned for finger friendliness.
The weather problem I was having was solved by allow google to collect location info.
Loving the music and fm radio sound quality, a lot more 'warmer' than the iPhones.
I'm curious to find out more about wimno 7. Though htc themselves could do enough to makes it as easy to use as iPhone.
Posted by masseur
agree with your points though they don't totally detract too much from my experience.
wm7 is possibly going to be announced at WMC on 15 Feb in Barcelona, so its not too far away, and if the link I posted earlier in this topic is to believed, HTC will make it available for download for the HD2 soon after.
Posted by Bonovox
Sorry have 2 habit of forgetting links
Posted by londonlad123
masseur, not tried it but you might not need any other software because the rss reader looks like it has support for podcast download.
As for me wanting more calendar notes on the lock screen, xda have said to others it's not possible because that's the way Microsoft have set it up. I guess I can make do.
hmmm, the iPhone user interface is starting to feel old now.
Windows mobile 7 is due to be announced in feb and released in the summer. Though this phone does deserve it a little earlier for being one of the key phones to keep some interest in winmo going.So could be true.
Posted by masseur
yep, you're right. The RSS app can handle the download of podcasts though its still a bit more clumsy than itunes, and I think its that which will always be a stumbling block for any competitor
a single cilck of the refresh in itunes followed by a single click of the syn button and my iphone is fully up to date each morning with my daily podcasst needs
Posted by masseur
I'm not sure why more people are not excited about this device but it truly is a great effort by HTC.
WM has always been easily customisable with various registry hacks and I've already added a few myself including enabling 802.11n support and a battery meter that shows more granularity.
But now it seems, a Multitouch API for HTC HD2 Windows Mobile phone has been discovered! so we can look forward to some more exciting new apps as this is developed
Posted by SE-Naz
@ masseur
How do you find the size of the HD2 compared to the iPhone...?
How you finding the sound quality for music and battery life...
Cheer
ENJOY
Posted by masseur
size-wise, its only a few mm wider and taller and its no thicker but the huge screen more than makes up for that
the screen itself is just about as good as the iphone in terms of touch responsiveness though the virtual keyboard is not as accurate as the iphone
sound quality if very good actually, but as might be expected from the 1ghz processor, battery is not as good as the iphone but so far it has not let me down for a days usage... and as anyone that follows me knows, I charge my devices every night because I sync them every night and so I am never looking for endless days of longevity.. and at least the battery is replaceable and at not great expense, so I will probably be getting a spare for my trips back to oz
Posted by SE-Naz
Thanks masseur for the info
Cheers
ENJOY
Posted by erazer007
Some high definition live pics
http://www.fonearena.com/blog[....]-definition-photo-gallery.html
Posted by masseur
pocketnow have a specific sectoin for HD2 and there's a fair bit of news today with a 3D driver patch being available, new of o2 unlocking their HD2 for customers of good standing and a registry change to remove the button protection while in a call.
I have this site bookmarked now and its been quite informative looking back through previous HD2 articles
Posted by masseur
spent some more time with the HD2 tonight and still very happy with this, but...
My office uses WPA2 Enterprise for wifi security and though the iPhone supports it quite easily I can't quite figure it out on the HD2. Googling suggests that earlier WM versions had a simple registry tweak to make it work, but that fix doesn't seem to work with WM6.5
has anyone managed to get a WPA2 Enterprise connection working on the HD2?
Posted by masseur
ok, moving on (he said talking to himself!)
The HD2 has an official ROM update coming soon, but if you can't wait, you can get it from here
Posted by londonlad123
ha ha, yeah that's part of being a winmo user, not many people know enough to help! Thanks for the links. I guess the update is only fixing issues and nothing new. Is there a list of what's fixed? Typing an Esato post in landscape mode in Opera is infuriated. The cursor jumps all over the place and so does the view. Also in opera auto capitalisation and auto full stop is not there.
Posted by masseur
I haven't seen a full list of fixes yet but yeah, nothing new as such. Some have said that it fixes some purple tinging in the camera, but I haven't seen that issue myself so can't comment
I have found that the typing experience is a good deal better, and more accurate and smoother and also virtual button presses seem more accurate now too.
I can now log into my youtube account though it doesn't seem to do what I thought it would do, i.e. show me my favourites and other personalisations withing the you tube app, so I've now got to figure out what logging in actually does for me!
btw, in the same way that the new opera mini 5 beta 2 is available, so too it Opera mobile 10 beta 2 available for WM and I do prefer that over the built in Opera 9.
Posted by anonymuser
I'm sure this is probably a great phone in many ways, but I think it's going to get forgotten (for now) purely because of WM6.5. With WM7 just around the corner, it feels a bit crazy (to me anyway) to be investing in this - not just the money, but all the time and effort to learn the interface, make things work the way you want, find and tweak all the apps you need - when the whole kit and kaboodle is going to be ditched soon anyway. Developers know all this too, which is why really good, UI optimised apps for phones like the HD2 aren't going to appear in any number until WM7 is out the gate.
Sure, the HD2 may eventually get a free update to WM7. But whenever that is, it's likely to be a long and frustrating wait - and again, just as soon as that new ROM is loaded up, everything you've been messing about with in the meantime is history. Why put yourself through it?
I think HTC's current approach to Winmo is a bit misguided. Sure, with the HD2 (as with previous phones) they've vastly improved the interface of standard Windows Mobile. But at the same time they've made it that bit more difficult for anyone interested in developing for the platform, by creating a phone that's essentially not running either 6.5 or 7 but something of their own concoction. Come WM7, will users still want that level of customisation? Will the WM7 ROM for the HD2 actually ditch some or all of HTC's own interface, or will they still keep that and hide away all the new improvements MS make? Who knows..
Posted by masseur
I disagree. This is the best WM device on the market and actually, you'd hardly know it was WM if you had never seen WM before as HTC have redevloped so much of the UI.
With WM7 (and HTC commitment for a free upgrade) many months away, people will get alot of use from this device. Its fast with a great screen. There's also more apps available for WM and so far none of my usual apps have failed to work on WM6.5.
Indeed last night I installed the Garmin software and it looks fantastic on the huge screen. In fact the screen size is the same as my dedicated Garmin so I'd have no issue using this in the car.
After the X1 experience I didnt' expect to revisit WM but this HD2 has certainly changed my mind. Its a bit like the iPhone initial experience actually. I had alot of hesitation before getting my first iPhone but after a very short while I couldn't put it down, and that feeling remains. Now I find I can't put the HD2 down and if only it had the content centralisation that iTunes brings I actually wonder what my choice would be moving into the future. Ok, so I'm sure the iphone would still win over but its that close... really!
Posted by masseur
Christmas on your HD2!
Posted by masseur
Official HTC camera patch
This update for HTC HD2 delivers clear digital picture quality like never before. Living up to the name of “HD” this phone and its twin LED flash will take beautiful pictures for you to cherish your memories. Displayed in brilliant vibrant colors on its 4.3 inch screen, HTC HD2 camera will delight you.
Posted by anonymuser
Masseur wrote:
I disagree. This is the best WM device on the market and actually, you'd hardly know it was WM if you had never seen WM before as HTC have redevloped so much of the UI.
I disagree. This is the best WM device on the market and actually, you'd hardly know it was WM if you had never seen WM before as HTC have redevloped so much of the UI.
But that doesn't really alter my point - in fact it kind of is my point. I'm sure HTC have done a bang up job on the UI, I'm sure it's a really nice phone to use. In the long run though, with a phone like this, it becomes less about the UI and more about what you can do with it, and what apps are available, and what support it has generally - and in the case of the HD2, that's all going to be pretty scant. Because this isn't quite a 6.5 phone, it's not yet a WM7 phone (and nobody knows quite what it'll be like as a WM7 phone anyway) - it's just a nice phone that's fallen between two stools and gone off in a jolly but ultimately unrewarding direction of its own.
You have to admit, this doesn't bode well for it's long term future - http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/11/vodafone_hd2/
Vodafone has stopped selling HTC's flagship, the HD2, citing problems with reliability and stock. Plus the forthcoming iPhone makes the HD2 redundant.
If I'd just had one off Vodafone on a 2 year contract or something, I'd be seriously wondering what kind of dead end, blind alley I'd been led up.
Posted by masseur
lol, well I guess we'll disagree on the HD2's position, but it is a shame that WM7 is now not due to late in the year
as for Voda, I've been following XDA developers carefully and while a few people do have a few little niggly issues, I've not seen anything that would cause it to be called unreliable. I've certainly had no issues myself other than the known camera issue which has been rectified by the hotfix I posted earlier
I started seeing stories about voda dropping the HD2 because the iphone is coming soon, and only now am I seeing stories about this unreliability. Even googling now shows most stories attributing the coming of the iphone as the "official" reason
it does seem that stock levels are another issue and I even had to pay the full £499 to get mine sim free as only a couple of places had them available when I wanted it
Posted by londonlad123
The hd2 is an excellent device as it is right now so anyone buying this phone now will be thinking that right now. As for winmo 7 yeah it's a great shame that it's coming at the end of 2010. I will go as far as saying it won't be anything more than a thorough facelift but by then winmo will be less popular than now because the competition is moving forward at a great pace, especially android. I personally don't believe ms winmo team will get it right even when it arrives late but would like to see otherwise. Htc on the otherhand do a great job but what can they do if two core apps like a web browser and YouTube or google maps don't speak to each other which affects usuability because they're made by three different companies because ms couldn't deliver. As for the hd2 it still manages to be a great phone.
Posted by voda_jon
got one of these couple of days ago from O2 as was going to disconnect and they offered it for free on an 18mthr so happy.
Love the device... screen is amazin and only every now and then do i go head to head with winmo 6.5... everythin else is handled lovely by HTC Sense!
J.
Posted by londonlad123
I'm starting to get into this phone, possibly enough to replace the iphone? Almost. Opera 10 beta 2u is excellent, all it's missing is pinch to zoom. The weather feature on the homescreen just doesn't seem to get old. It feels new everytime.
I've only added a few apps so far, the torch app, bsb tweaks and opera 10. All I need now is more appointments on the lockscreen. With bsb tweaks i've changed the 5 mpix camera to 8 mpix, still need to try it.
Posted by masseur
agreed. it does come close and if the marketplace could compete with the app store it would be even closer. Unfortunately the market place seems to be fairly stagnant in the weeks I have had it and I have hardly seen anything new at all, and what there is, is priced way above app store prices
the tweaks available already are incredible... I assume you guys have seen this topic at XDA developers?
initially I was spending alot of time with the HD2 but I'm mostly back on the iPhone again but each time I pick up the HD2 the screen still amazes me.. I still say Apple should stick a bigger screen like this on the iPhone
Posted by londonlad123
According to the rumors Apple are going to add a bigger screen supposedly. There aren't many good apps but there are a lot great hacks and tricks. There's a new documents tab coming to the hd2 soon. Office might be good for editing but not too good for viewing. htc are doing a good job of providing regular updates.
Posted by masseur
HTC Confirms that HD2 Gets Windows Mobile 7 on Twitter
Posted by voda_jon
@masseur... yeh windows mobile 7 should be fun once it finally comes out...
I'm having loads of fun with the HD2, more so than i do with the iPhone... i'm loving playing PS1 games full screen and full speed with sound on my phone! And also all my SNES, NES and GB games as well... bought a BGS100 controller which works a treat especially with PS1 emulator.
And now have SPB Shell installed and its like having a new phone all over again lol.
Nothing better than pulling this giant out of my pocket and playing Final Fantasy VII on the bus home!
Which ROMS are u guys running? am using the 1.61 TUR WWE ROM and its great! Installed using the Goldcard method...
J.
Posted by masseur
well, by all accounts it might be 9 months away as they've gone back to the drawing board to ensure WM7 meets all current needs
I'm still using the latest official generic 1.48 ROM and haven't felt the need to update to the turkey/WWE 1.61 as its all running quite nicely.
I'm not much of a game player and must say that I had no idea such a wide range of emulators were available!
Posted by lukechris
Masseur and voda_jon.
This is my first WinMo phone and was just wandering if you could reccomend any good (free or even paid) applications,
Thanksss
Posted by adnansanni
Is display vivid like iPhone?
Posted by masseur
moreso I'd say, due to it being larger and higher resolution
Posted by adnansanni
@masseur: thanks.
I'm still confused to choose between HD2 and 3GS. @masseur could you point out some advantage and disadvantage of both phones? Cause you have both and have been using both.
Posted by voda_jon
@adnansanni...
Positives of HD2...
*Huge display, which is very responsive and as vivid and bright as the iPhone if not more so!
*Easy to customise in regards to ROM updates and themes etc.
*Great camera (once u install the hotfix)
*Sense Overlay is amazing in my opinion.
*Has the geeky 'WOW' factor!
*Has loads of emulators and has the worlds fastest mobile based PS1 Emulator!
*Snapdragon processor which allows for proper multitasking!
*Phone will be getting a Windows Mobile 7 update...
*If you install Skyfire internet browser u get full flash support so can watch tv etc on the phone.
Negatives of HD2...
*App store is not that great (there are ways round this though!)
*Once purchased u need to install some must haves first to get it to be as reliable as the iPhone.
*Battery life not that great, i get about 1 half days out of mine!
*Screen can be too responsive sometimes.
*Still some kinks in the messaging app but these will be sorted out soon!
*Not as easy to just pick up and play with like the iPhone.
These are the main + and - i can think about... but to be honest my iPhone 3G has now been in its box since getting the HD2... i LOVE it!
Posted by adnansanni
@voda_jon: thanks man, it was very helpful reply.