Wow, I just found about the T- Mobile MDA Compact IV

[Guest Roman5]

I want this phone! It looks gorgeous. I currently use the MDA Compact lll which I'm extremely happy with, even more so now that I found why my battery was draining and is now giving me loads of battery life.

But this MDA Compact 4, how much do you recommend it by comparison?

It has wi-fi, that's good.

4GB of internal storage?? ;)

Stylus, yes? I've gotta have the stylus.

How about the wheel, I can't tell from the pictures what it does, but it looks different. Does it have anything as useful and cool as the rollerball and wheel on the compact 3?

Overall, is it much better than the compact 3 or are there things about the compact 3 which are better? Battery life, reliability, etc? I've read about crashes but is this any worse than the standard faults that come with the compact 3? My upgrade comes up mid november and before seeing this phone I was going buy a second compact 3.

[Guest vii_voo]

I want this phone! It looks gorgeous. I currently use the MDA Compact lll which I'm extremely happy with, even more so now that I found why my battery was draining and is now giving me loads of battery life.

But this MDA Compact 4, how much do you recommend it by comparison?

It has wi-fi, that's good.

4GB of internal storage?? ;)

Stylus, yes? I've gotta have the stylus.

How about the wheel, I can't tell from the pictures what it does, but it looks different. Does it have anything as useful and cool as the rollerball and wheel on the compact 3?

Overall, is it much better than the compact 3 or are there things about the compact 3 which are better? Battery life, reliability, etc? I've read about crashes but is this any worse than the standard faults that come with the compact 3? My upgrade comes up mid november and before seeing this phone I was going buy a second compact 3.

I really liked the phone, didn't want to return it but had no choice due to poor battery life (battery is 900mAh). I had to charge it every night. Also, I don't think 4Gb is enough these days. T-Mobile claim to have solved the overheating issue that was affecting battery life, hope so. I personally would expect a phone to last at least 2 days on moderate usage, which is what my current Vario II does (battery is 1350mAh). You could buy the extended battery from expansys but then it loses it's slimness. There are some OEM batteries rated at 1000mAh. Heard rumours of an OEM 1100mAh battery in the pipeline.

[Guest SSR]

How about the wheel, I can't tell from the pictures what it does, but it looks different. Does it have anything as useful and cool as the rollerball and wheel on the compact 3?

Not sure what the Compact 3 has, but the Diamond doesn't have a wheel as such. It has something akin to a D-pad, but you can then use a circular motion on it within certain applications e.g. to zoom in and out in Opera.

Overall, is it much better than the compact 3 or are there things about the compact 3 which are better? Battery life, reliability, etc? I've read about crashes but is this any worse than the standard faults that come with the compact 3? My upgrade comes up mid november and before seeing this phone I was going buy a second compact 3.

Unfortunately I've not owned a Compact 3, I came from a TyTN, and an SPV 500 before that. Personally I love the phone, but as you can see already it's not for people who want a phone with even reasonable battery life.

I just want a phone that's as small and as convenient as possible, and running Windows Mobile. This is packed full of features, and I haven't looked back since buying it.

The only thing that would tempt me away would be an 80GB iPhone!

[Guest Roman5]

Thanks for the fast replies guys. The battery in my MDA Compact lll is 1200mAh, holds pretty well. Yeah, I'd imagine the 900mAh to be rubbish. Maybe my battery would fit the Compact lV? I must say, I'd be happy with 4GB of storage. I currently have a 2GB sandisc card in mine and nowhere near full.

Also, I noticed that there is an HTC Diamond and an HTC Sprint Diamond. The sprint is not as thin and has a smooth back, not the bevelled back. The T Mobile pictures show the same as the sprint, so it looks like the Compact lV is the Sprint Diamond. Do you know if there's any significant functional differences?

Edited September 15, 2008 by Roman5

[Guest RobertCeuppens]

Most of the carriers seem to replace the back with a smooth one for some reason. The Sprint one isn't exactly the same as the buttons are different - the Compact IV has the home and back buttons on the bottom row. Looks like Sprint have put a much bigger battery in though! The battery life on the Compact IV doesn't worry me too much as I charge it every night and it gets charged as I drive around too but I've had the problem when using TomTom when it gets too hot and stops charging until it goes flat - dunno if a fix is going to come for this.

Cheers

Rob.

[Guest Roman5]

Most of the carriers seem to replace the back with a smooth one for some reason. The Sprint one isn't exactly the same as the buttons are different - the Compact IV has the home and back buttons on the bottom row. Looks like Sprint have put a much bigger battery in though! The battery life on the Compact IV doesn't worry me too much as I charge it every night and it gets charged as I drive around too but I've had the problem when using TomTom when it gets too hot and stops charging until it goes flat - dunno if a fix is going to come for this.

Cheers

Rob.

Thanks Rob. Well that's interesting that they replace the back, it makes it less slim. But it's not a biggie. It's a shame though that the sprint battery life is apparently longer (bigger battery as you mentioned), apparently has more RAM/ROM, and the Touch Flo works much more smoothly apparently. With any luck, my artemis battery 1200mAh which lasts a long time, might fit the diamond ( probably not but I'll check it when I buy one of these phones) :wacko:

I have to say though, I complained to T-Mobile about a year ago about my phone losing battery life, the battery was draining so quick it was dead in less than 24 hours. They replaced the battery for free. As it happens, there wasn't a battery problem, it was to do with some files on my device which I've now ( just a few days ago) sorted out. So I think that anyone with a rubbish battery should call T-Mobile and they really should and probably will, replace it with a better battery.

Getting too hot when using tomtom is a worry. I don't get that problem with tomtom navigator 6 and 7 on my MDA lll.

I just rang T-Mobile to check what kind of price I can buy the Compact lV, but their recorded message service said I can't discuss it until november 15th when my upgrade will be due. Doh. ;)

[Guest Neil5459]

You can't directly compare the Sprint Diamond and the Touch Diamond; the Sprint and Verizon models are the newer HTC P3100 model which works on the CDMA networks, rather than the Eu/UK GSM networks; presumably we will see an updated GSM version soon with the increased battery and RAM ;) The P3100 is 3mm thicker though, to accommodate the bigger battery.

You also can't directly compare the standard 900mAh battery to the bigger batteries of older models, as the Diamond uses a new lower power Qualcomm CPU, which should use less battery power.

My own experience, after 10 weeks with the Diamond, is that the battery life is no worse than anything else I've ever had, especially considering it includes 3G as well. I have mine on from 6am to 10pm, with Exchange Sync active, only a few texts and phone calls and a bit of web browsing, and the batteyr is good for about 36 hours. The battery definitely improves with use, and the newer Radio ROMs (.05 onwards) make a big difference for the better.

[Guest Roman5]

Excellent, thanks for the info Neil. ;)

[Guest Roman5]

Oh, apparently the Compact IV is not a Diamond, but an HTC Victor. An HTC Victor is essentially an HTC Diamond, so I've been told. And O2 in the UK are apparently the only ones to sell the Diamond with a flat back but which ISN'T the Victor. Confusing! ;)

If the Victor is essentially the Diamond, what does that mean? Is there any difference?

Edited September 16, 2008 by Roman5

[Guest Neil5459]

Oh, apparently the Compact IV is not a Diamond, but an HTC Victor. An HTC Victor is essentially an HTC Diamond, so I've been told. And O2 in the UK are apparently the only ones to sell the Diamond with a flat back but which ISN'T the Victor. Confusing! ;)

If the Victor is essentially the Diamond, what does that mean? Is there any difference?

You are quite right :wacko: For some reason, the marketing men at HTC want to keep the Diamond name for the devices that have the faceted back panel and square shape.

The model with the rounded corners adn flat back is called Victor, but is exactly the same as the Diamond internally. T-Mo use the Victor as supplied but O2 wanted a flat back, but teh square shape, so specified a flat back panel for the Touch Diamond. Confusing, yeah :(

[Guest Roman5]

You are quite right ;) For some reason, the marketing men at HTC want to keep the Diamond name for the devices that have the faceted back panel and square shape.

The model with the rounded corners adn flat back is called Victor, but is exactly the same as the Diamond internally. T-Mo use the Victor as supplied but O2 wanted a flat back, but teh square shape, so specified a flat back panel for the Touch Diamond. Confusing, yeah :wacko:

Ah, ok, it's all about the corners. That's fine by me, although I can understand O2 wanting it with straight edges, it's a very clean design. I found out that the O2 one is called the XDA Ignito. Looking at the picture on the T-Mobile site, it looks like they've had it painted in metallic grey, which is the same colour as my Compact III. Nice colour it is. http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobile-phon...ct-iv/overview/

Can't wait for my upgrade date to come around. :(

[Guest stunno]

Ah, ok, it's all about the corners. That's fine by me, although I can understand O2 wanting it with straight edges, it's a very clean design. I found out that the O2 one is called the XDA Ignito. Looking at the picture on the T-Mobile site, it looks like they've had it painted in metallic grey, which is the same colour as my Compact III. Nice colour it is. http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobile-phon...ct-iv/overview/

Can't wait for my upgrade date to come around. ;)

It isn't as light a colour as it looks on the website and it isn't the same colour as the Compact 3, I have one.

I had a play with the mdsc4 in the local tmobile shop and it is a dark grey, almost black. Very small and VERY light

and I still can't decide between it or the Raphael

[Guest Roman5]

It isn't as light a colour as it looks on the website and it isn't the same colour as the Compact 3, I have one.

I had a play with the mdsc4 in the local tmobile shop and it is a dark grey, almost black. Very small and VERY light

and I still can't decide between it or the Raphael

I saw a picture of the Raphael earlier on the xda developers website, looks very nice, just like the diamond but with a real keyboard I think.

I found this picture of the MDA C4 on the german T-Mobile site. You're right, it's more black, and that is even better! ;) I actually prefer it in that colour as I already have the grey. http://www.t-mobile.de/shop/handy/0,4855,2...1-0-1-0,00.html

O/T : Interestingly, I notice german T-Mobile have the iphone on their books

Edited September 17, 2008 by Roman5