HTC Desire bang for buck

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jahc

92 posts

Master Geek

#64554 17-Jul-2010 22:01

For the price the HTC Desire is currently selling for, does it have the best bang for buck in comparision to other Android phones in that price range?

I dont like physical keyboards on a phone, pure touchscreen is how I like it.. And I'm a little concerned at reports that the AMOLED screen looks hard to read in direct sunlight (so I'm kinda holding off for the SLCD version thats coming "soon"). The Droid X was released recently, and seems a little cheaper, while having a better camera, and bigger screen. Should I wait until thats available in Aussie, then buy an unlocked version from there? I'm coming from an iPhone 3g which is doing the job fine.. but I'm wanting to develop some Android apps in the future when Google adds New Zealand to the list of countrys thats allowed to sell on the Android marketplace.

heavenlywild

5063 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#352824 17-Jul-2010 22:25

The HTC Desire is pretty popular and is popular for good reason. It sets the benchmark in terms of smartphones at the moment (according to most tech sites).

z2k

320 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#352842 17-Jul-2010 23:16

You can get the Samsung Galaxy S for about $860 from mobicity.co.nz which is the best bang for buck at the moment. It also has a super AMOLED screen which fares much better than the AMOLED screen the desire has.

jahc

92 posts

Master Geek

#352909 18-Jul-2010 10:48

Super AMOLED! sounds very interesting.

(pasting from a review I found)

"The displays of both phones are key selling points for each. The Samsung
Galaxy S possesses a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, which Samsung claims
is 20% brighter than a regular AMOLED display, consumes 20% less power,
and is 80% easier to see in direct sunlight. In addition, Samsung states
that the Super AMOLED manages to integrate the touchscreen directly
into the display instead of laying it over the top as in conventional
LCD and AMOLED displays, which allows for a slimmer display, and thus a
slimmer device."
Source: http://alienbabeltech.com/main/?p=17125

This link shows a youtube video demonstrating the Galaxy S's super multitouch capabilitys:
http://blog.gsmarena.com/video-pits-the-samsung-galaxy-s-screen-against-the-htc-desire-one-in-multi-finger-tracking/

Galaxy S is also getting Android 2.2 in the future too.. It's a bit offputting when the latest smartphones dont have the latest Android.

How does the 1GHz cpu in the Galaxy S compare to the 1GHz cpu in the Desire?

vinnieg

2260 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#352921 18-Jul-2010 11:42

jahc: Super AMOLED! sounds very interesting.

(pasting from a review I found)

"The displays of both phones are key selling points for each. The Samsung
Galaxy S possesses a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, which Samsung claims
is 20% brighter than a regular AMOLED display, consumes 20% less power,
and is 80% easier to see in direct sunlight. In addition, Samsung states
that the Super AMOLED manages to integrate the touchscreen directly
into the display instead of laying it over the top as in conventional
LCD and AMOLED displays, which allows for a slimmer display, and thus a
slimmer device."
Source: http://alienbabeltech.com/main/?p=17125

This link shows a youtube video demonstrating the Galaxy S's super multitouch capabilitys:
http://blog.gsmarena.com/video-pits-the-samsung-galaxy-s-screen-against-the-htc-desire-one-in-multi-finger-tracking/

Galaxy S is also getting Android 2.2 in the future too.. It's a bit offputting when the latest smartphones dont have the latest Android.

How does the 1GHz cpu in the Galaxy S compare to the 1GHz cpu in the Desire?

I had and used both + the Nexus one and a Spica i5700

Have to say the CPU/GPU combo in the Galaxy S blows all the others away!!!
Full 720P MKVs play with ease, games in full 3d are excelletn

The screen is gorgeous. Think it's the best Android smart phone out at the moment, although that is debatable(Droid X, Evo 4G) . The tracking is good and the touchscreen is so light it feels silky compared to the other screens...very responsive. The Audio quality too is probably the best thing you'd get other than going for a standalone audio processor, totally blew me away when I ran my first few songs through it, plus even with a 4" screen it's still slimmer than the Desire and iPhone 4, and way way slimmer than the i5700 galaxy lite...almost half as thin!!

Video player is great, has the most amount of codecs in any Android phone.

Reception - great, never had any issues and don't need a case!

GPS - takes a little while longer to lock onto sats than my other phones and not as strong, but still managable(8 sats as opposed to 9) in the same locations

Touchwiz - alright, you can change the applications back to List view so they don't look like the old Palm style menus(the ones iPhone copied and claimed as their own!!!!)

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9000_galaxy_s-review-478p6.php

Perfect audio quality

Like many other things about this handset, the audio output of the Samsung I9000 Galaxy S is downright impressive. The handset was reasonably loud and scored excellently on each and every reading in our test.

The signal-to-noise ratio is impressive and so are the flawless dynamic range and frequency response.

The distortion levels are also top-notch and generally there is nothing about the Galaxy S audio quality that we can frown at. And here go the results so you can see for yourselves.

In the end though, you need to have a look at both phones, maybe try find a few mates or goto DigiPara imports/Parallel Imported if they have any on display and test them both out. You might find the feel of one phone to be better than the other

Benchmark here vs Desire/Nexus One

I have moved across the ditch. Now residing in Melbourne as a VOIP/Video Technical Trainer/Engineer.

jahc

92 posts

Master Geek

#352941 18-Jul-2010 12:22

the extra gpu speed, bigger and better screen, and improved multitouch capabilities have me sold. One last question: will this work okay on 2degrees?

vinnieg

2260 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#352948 18-Jul-2010 12:28

jahc: the extra gpu speed, bigger and better screen, and improved multitouch capabilities have me sold. One last question: will this work okay on 2degrees?

Yup :), I'm on Slingshot, but the wife is on 2Degrees, setup her APNs the other day and it shows an E+ so I'm guessing Edge network for Data, but depending on where you are, 2Degrees are testing 3g in a few areas and you might sometimes see the H Up/Down icon indicating High speed 3g :)

Just head over to the i9000 thread when you get it and we can sort you out:
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=97&topicid=62267

I have moved across the ditch. Now residing in Melbourne as a VOIP/Video Technical Trainer/Engineer.

jahc

92 posts

Master Geek

#352950 18-Jul-2010 12:34

Cool, I've ordered it now. Thanks heaps for the advice guys. I didnt know the mulitouch on the Desire had problems, and I didnt realise the Samsung Galaxy S existed.. time to retire the iPhone 3g. :)

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ryan1019

122 posts

Master Geek

#353208 19-Jul-2010 07:37

With the latest iPhone 4 news about Antenna issues,where on the HTC Desire is the Antenna located exactly?