30 replies to this topic

[MMasia]

Phill Tucker, on Jun 1 2008, 15:09, said:

It's appearence looks better than the iphone too. I get the over all impression you appreciate it better than the Iphone - is there a huge difference or is it just slightly better?

In general usage I still think the iphone is probably better, ie internet browsing, making calls, navigating contacts, texting. But it's the other stuff I like better with the diamond, it just does more than an iphone. .... and it looks so much more stylish, as a macbook air owner I often appreciate style over substance in devices.

The more I play with the diamond the more it keeps impressing me, it is unlike any windows mobile device I have ever used in that it just does things. It doesn't sit and wait around or lock up or crash (so far). I think you could show someone technophobic and it would look cool to them, not like some over-complicated nerd toy.

Had time to play with the opera browser more today on my travels around hong kong on the underground, it's really quite good. Can actually read the bbc news pages when zoomed out in landscape mode.... did i mention that even the tilt sensor works well, not like the iphone in that it only works in certain apps, but works good. The teeter game is a great example of this working.


Stu

[MMasia]

siksik6, on Jun 1 2008, 15:42, said:

I'm warming considerable to the diamond, but I think i'm going to wait for the alleged iPhone announcement on the 9th before I vote with my wallet!

That was my plan as well, but had a play in the shop with it and i worked out it is what i wanted. I moved from the iphone to the touch dual because I couldn't cope being back on 2G. I loved the better speed and more software options in the touch dual but the slow OS and crashes really pissed me off. So when I played with the diamond it struck me as being the perfect device. Sure I might be a bit down hearted if the new iphone has 3g, gps, smaller size, better camera but I doubt it will have any of these apart from the 3g, and I actually think this phone is, for the time being, the best available. On top of that the iphone is not officially available in hong kong until maybe xmas time, its a bit of a ball ache having to worry about unlocking and using different standard sim cards and stuff if i have an imported US one again.

[braddybrad]

The main reason I would choose the htc diamond over the iphone 3G is the size.
My phone is always in my pocket (sometimes even shirt pocket) and the iphone is just too big for that:
htc diamond: 4.0 inches 102 mm x 2.0 inches 51 mm x 0.45 inch 11.35 mm
Iphone:        4.5 inches 115 mm x 2.4 inches 61 mm x 0.46 inch 11.6 mm

I understand the iphone 3g will  have the same screen as 2G so I doubt it will be smaller.

Cheers,
Brad

[xzces]

Thanks for the info. The pricing is good as well, compared to the uk and other internet prices. It sells in the Netherlands for 475 euros or HKD 5780. I'm really anxcious to order it but I guess I'll wait until more info arrives of the Raphael (because of the ram, keyboard & tv-out). T-mobile will release that phone by sept/oct.

Great to hear that the initial user impressions are good though! I don't really rely on press releases etc because they usually tend to hype new devices and not talk about their flaws.

[peterock]

xzces, on Jun 2 2008, 17:41, said:

Thanks for the info. The pricing is good as well, compared to the uk and other internet prices. It sells in the Netherlands for 475 euros or HKD 5780. I'm really anxcious to order it but I guess I'll wait until more info arrives of the Raphael (because of the ram, keyboard & tv-out). T-mobile will release that phone by sept/oct.

Great to hear that the initial user impressions are good though! I don't really rely on press releases etc because they usually tend to hype new devices and not talk about their flaws.

What is the warranty on these phones? as I am in HK in july so maybe picking one up.

[vocian]

MMasia, on Jun 1 2008, 19:10, said:

It has 192MB ram split 113 to programs and 82 to storage by default. Only has 41MB free in program memory with nothing extra running.

That is totaly wrong!
Program memory is way diffrent to storage memory!! there is no way to split ram into program and storage memory
Ram means Program memory and rom Means Storage memory.

But It makes sense that 192 meg memory minus page pool and some direct ram access sectors reduced to 113

could you possibly Go to programs> settings> system> about and tell us the version of windows mobile (you will find something like this : CE OS 5.2.1622(Build 18128.0.4.4) ) and adso memory
and if possible go also to system information and tell us hardware part(only flash size and ram size

I'm very pleased to use a screen capture program to capture the information(including memory tab)

Also about benchmarking you can instal sktools. you can try it for free.

I'm looking forward for your information.

Thank you verry much

[Mike1002]

Don't spose you could tell us a little about the supplied head/ear phones?

Cheers, Mike.

[xzces]

vocian, on Jun 3 2008, 17:00, said:

That is totaly wrong!
Program memory is way diffrent to storage memory!! there is no way to split ram into program and storage memory
Ram means Program memory and rom Means Storage memory.

But It makes sense that 192 meg memory minus page pool and some direct ram access sectors reduced to 113

could you possibly Go to programs> settings> system> about and tell us the version of windows mobile (you will find something like this : CE OS 5.2.1622(Build 18128.0.4.4) ) and adso memory
and if possible go also to system information and tell us hardware part(only flash size and ram size

I'm very pleased to use a screen capture program to capture the information(including memory tab)

Also about benchmarking you can instal sktools. you can try it for free.

I'm looking forward for your information.

Thank you verry much

The HTC site states: 192 ROM, 256 RAM and then the onboard 4GB storage. Maybe they used some of the storage or program mem for extended rom info or sth like that. I surely do hope the full 192 is available. I think the TFLO 3d will consume a great lot of it. The Raphael or Touch Pro has 288/512MB

In the end I still ordered the diamond because of the size. The dimensions are excellent for my needs! I should receive it by the end of next week. Will post some further info if it's still needed.

[Mikeyb50]

awarner (MVP), on May 31 2008, 22:45, said:

Not a bad price at all, good £80 cheaper than the UK.

I've had my Touch Diamond now for 3 days bought from expansys £494.95. couldn't wait any longer & had too have as director or my own company charged it to business. I am very impressed with the devices look & feel. I have a Tytn II and was a bit reluctant to have a phone without a keyboard but after a few days I am warming to it. Pair it with Jawbone 2 which has diamond effect and it's a winning combo.

[xzces]

It does have only 113.08mb for program mem, of which mine uses about 60-65mb. For storage it states 85.94mb. Don't know about htc's 256/192mb ROM/RAM, I guess you can lose a bit in the ext. rom etc. but it does raise some questions. We'll just have to wait for some custom roms ey

[xzces]

Been using the diamond for almost a week now. I guess you've all read about the goodies of the device and yes, it handles perfectly and smooth imho, the touchscreen is fantastic, the VGA screen is the best I've ever seen on any consumer device (for it's size). Also the touchflo 3d compliments the VGA screen as well with outstanding graphical detail and functionality (opinions may differ with some users prevering Spb, but I think that's just a matter of choice and what you're used to).

From the outside you can feel the metal frame (where the words htc innovation are printed) and you can feel that it gives the diamond a quit sturdy and strong feel. The plastic backpanel is painted with a high gloss paint which is a real fingerprint magnet, but I can't say it really bothers me except when you're flashing your phone in bright sunlight. What does bothers me is that the backpanel doesn't securely attaches to the device. It unlocks quit easily and mine makes a annoying squeaky sound when pushed a bit right under the innovation text on the side of the phone.

About the battery life, I can make it through the day on a single charge. Did tweak it a bit using schaps advanced config, enabled a bigger file cache, enabled all power saving features but in all I think I get about 14 hrs with 3G/HSDPA on all the time, checking mail from time to time and about 1 hr of call time. So overall I think that's quit decent.

My main concerns are the speaker/ring volume which I think is to low at max, and a bit to loud when you slide the slider just above vibrate. The hw buttons aren't touch sensitive and sometimes the 2 buttons on the left and right (resp call/home and end call/back button) conflict with the directional buttons in the center of the panel. This could be because the frontplate is a single piece of material. It can be quit annoying when you want to push right, but instead press the end key which brings you back to the homescreen.

Also I think opera is a great improvement compared to ie mobile. You just never want to go back to ie again! But there are still some issues. Some pages (esp. those with multiple frames) aren't displayed properly when you double tap to zoom in. Also it's quit difficult to select links on pages. Even if you select the desired link it sometimes just highlights it but doesn't activate the link.

Furthermore there's the memory issue. As stated before you only have about 113mb RAM available of which mine uses at least 70%. Most apps won't have problems running because there is still about 40mb left, but apps like opera etc do use a lot of memory and other future apps might consume even more. So if you plan on using multiple apps intensively it might be wiser to wait a bit for the Touch Pro. Personally I hope there will be a rom update (from HTC or self cooked) available which allows for more free RAM, if it's only to let the touch run a little smoother.

I don't have time for a complete in dept review, but if you have questions feel free to ask.

Edited by xzces, 17 June 2008 - 12:57 PM.