Breaking News: No 20 key Touch Dual coming to the UK

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

This is breaking news and I have very little additional info at this stage, but I have been informed that the 20 key Touch Dual will NOT be launching in the UK!

This is a real blow to those who (like me) have been waiting for this version. :(

The 20 key version does seem to have disappeared from the online retailers here, which correlates with what my source has told me. It looks like importing a 20 key version is the only option!

More on this as we get more info...

P

[Guest Monolithix]

:( What a shame. I wonder what drives descisions like that? Trying to keep the brand less diluted? Unable to gauge the demand for it? Oddness...

[Guest nuttyphilt]

I sent an email to Clove asking about it and apparently the 16 key version is the UK version and the 20 key version is the EU version.

Weird decision.

[Guest HerpezP]

Second weird decision regarding Touch Dual :( <_<

As I'm not in the UK, though, this doesn't mean much to me personally.

[Guest xorangefirex]

Any idea if this phone will ever be made available as a quad band phone. I see that recently Sprint has picked up the original touch, although they do not run on a quad band network so I dont know what hope, if any, that brings those of us who wish to use the touch dual as their secondary phone.

[Guest madferret]

I notice that a couple of online retailers are selling the 'EU version'. Apart from the keypad, what differences will there be from the 16 key UK version? Is English a valid language option?

[Guest Pandemonium]

This is breaking news and I have very little additional info at this stage, but I have been informed that the 20 key Touch Dual will NOT be launching in the UK!

This is a real blow to those who (like me) have been waiting for this version. :(

The 20 key version does seem to have disappeared from the online retailers here, which correlates with what my source has told me. It looks like importing a 20 key version is the only option!

More on this as we get more info...

P

I asked DeviceWire (apparently the official HTC distributor here) about the 20-key Touch at the "Best of Stuff" show a few weeks ago in Hammersmith. The guy I spoke to said that it was a prototype that was sent out for review by mistake and would be unlikely to be launched. He referred to it as the Touch Slide, and he had a unit there that I had a play with.

On another note, I managed to totally freeze up a Touch Dual after a few minutes of playing around with it.

[Guest Rob.P]

Poo! :(

[Guest martinsa]

Good News... I’ve just received a Touch Dual from handtec.co.uk and it is the 20 key version! :(

[Guest madds]

I'm from portugal and i have a 20keys touch dual.

I think the keypad works ok but needs a bit of practice...

Personally i would rather have the regular cellphone-like keys, but it's a exclusive handset for TMN until february...

Greetings

[Guest Rob_eXp]

20-key still available on expansys?

http://www.expansys.com/p.aspx?partner=modaco&i=160163

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

No stock, I guess they are EU imports.

P

[Guest martinsa]

No stock, I guess they are EU imports.

P

My one was UK... Came with a UK plug, Only English Manual, and English on the box... just ordered this... http://www.handtec.co.uk/product.php/795/htc-touch-ii--dual- which didn't' say if it was 16 or 20!!!

I'm starting to get use to the 20Key set up now... having come from an old MDA Vario, I was use to a (not so great) full keyboard... so I had got out of practice on a keypad anyway! Now I have the choice of the hardware 20 key setup.. or the soft 16Key Keypad... both work very well... :-)

[Guest bb79]

I'm thinking of selling on my Kaiser and getting one of these fellas. I've come to the Kaiser from a smartphone and although I'm glad I made the jump to a PPC and all that brings, I'm finding the Kaiser just too heavy and bulky. But I really like whizzing out my texts and (short) emails on the qwerty keyboard and couldn't go back to a normal phone keypad again, hence my interest in the 20 key dual.

So apologies for the newb-ish/vague-ish question, but am I likely to run into problems buying a phone that not many people will have? I mean, I'm not one to do things like put a new ROM on my phone which is where I imagine the 16 key Dual vs. 20 key Dual issue may come in i.e. people will make ROMS for the 16 not the 20. But I do like tweaking things in the registry, carefully following instructions from forums like this and XDADev, and installing extras and stuff. I have on my Kaiser amongst other things stuff like Paul's Debrand and Tweak packs, Creative Ware's Kaiser SIM fix to stop SIM contacts being shown, and Philip Lee's Kaiser Notification to change the colour of the LEDs for various alerts, and as I don't understand how these things work I don't know if the equivalents/similar types of things for the Dual will be affected by the differences in the Duals if that makes any sense?

So basically what I'm trying to say is will 'stuff' for the 16 key Dual work on the 20 key Dual, whatever that 'stuff' may be?! Sorry to be so meh, it's been a long week and my brain has turned to mush!

bb79

[Guest mattie01]

hi just checked out

http://www.handtec.co.uk/search.php?xSearch=htc+dual

and it does list both the 20 and 16 key versions..

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

Expansys are offering the 20 key version too, but it IS the EU version as opposed to the UK version. Not sure of the implications of that...

P

[Guest nuttyphilt]

I got my 20 key EU version from Handtec yesterday. Very nice it is too!

The only implication I can see is that it came with a European 2 pin style charger so I'll need to get an adaptor at some point. Not sure if I'll even bother because I'll just keep using my M3100 charger.

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

I've ordered a 20 key version too, from Hong Kong for 300 quid inc.

P

[Guest martinsa]

Odd... my 20 Key version from Handtech had a 3 pin Plug! :(

[Guest spookydownunder]

Guys. A little confused. What is the physical difference of 16 to 20 key. Can anyone post pics? Are the keys smaller to fit in same keyboard area? I assume the phone body is exactly the same.

If there are more, smaller keys, does this present problems with big fingers?

[Guest spookydownunder]

ok. so with further looking, i realise buttons are the same size, just the side ones are split into extra keys.

So I guess, the big question is, does having the qwerty keyboard make the dual 2 better? I don't really use the email etc too much, although in the future i might, so will i really gain anything by using 20 keys? I phone, text, sync, maybe use the net, and might like to expand to use more features.

I really thionk I want another HTC, I just want to buy the right one. Was almost convinced of the touch, until i held the dual, which although thicker, actually seems more sleek. So now if I get the dual, I want to know wether to spend the extra on the 20 keys. Opinions?