Motorola Milestone vs Sony Ericsson X10

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zombiewan

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#63632 1-Jul-2010 09:37

Damn, two android handsets I want to own released in the same week.

So the question being, which do you think I should purchase?

Each seems to have its good and bad points, The Milestone only has a 5mp camera whereas the X10 is stuck on Android 1.6. I've been reading that both of these units have been succesfully rooted which (if I understand correctly) should allow me to update the X10 to Froyo. Would be interested to know if anybody has successfully rooted the phone and also your opinions on which model I should purchase.

Thanks!

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#346884 1-Jul-2010 09:43

I've heard the SE doesn't have as impressive a camera as its megapixels would lead you to believe (which is really surprising for the former top dog in mobile photography), so the 5MP camera on the Moto might be less of a handbrake for you than you think.

Have you played with both and checked the UI and feature sets for yourself?

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zombiewan

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#346892 1-Jul-2010 09:54

Yeah, got to play with both models at a presentation last week. Still undecided as to which I want. They are both sweet phones, however I'm starting to think the Sony might be the way to go if only for the faster processor. However, I've read that the UI is slow and resource hogging.

freitasm

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#346896 1-Jul-2010 10:08

The X10 is a HUGE phone, and stuck in 1.6 land... I wouldn't go there, not even for a quick visit.

zombiewan

44 posts

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#346917 1-Jul-2010 10:37

but the processor! How much difference do you think it will make to the actual phone?

Also, with the ability to root the device, I should be able to update to 2.1 correct?

acsonline

181 posts

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#346973 1-Jul-2010 13:17

Ive used the milestone for a bit - it just feels very fast. Everything starts up in a snap.
Not a big fan of custom GUIs..

oxnsox

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#346977 1-Jul-2010 13:25

I thought an update (to 2.1???)for the x10 was going to be released late in the year......

michaelmurfy

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#346993 1-Jul-2010 14:08

The HTC Desire is coming out soon to Vodafone at a price of $999. It has a 1GHz Snapdragon, 5mp Camera, 512mb of Ram and a rather nice high resolution screen. I would recommend waiting for that. Quite a few Geekzone users have one and really like it.

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vinnieg

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#346998 1-Jul-2010 14:18

oxnsox: I thought an update (to 2.1???)for the x10 was going to be released late in the year......

It is Sept 2010 :)

Even if it's rooted, you can't just updated to Froyo straight away, you need someone to make a custom ROM for it, in terms of processor, the X10 should feel faster once they release the 2.2 upgrade and the X10 also should support Android 3.0, which the milestone due to it's low RAM, CPU speed and screen won't support. As to when it's released, the source is apparently coming out in October this year, then sometime after for 3.0

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#346999 1-Jul-2010 14:19

michaelmurfy: The HTC Desire is coming out soon to Vodafone at a price of $999. It has a 1GHz Snapdragon, 5mp Camera, 512mb of Ram and a rather nice high resolution screen. I would recommend waiting for that. Quite a few Geekzone users have one and really like it.

+1 for this!!! would be a better choice, think the Galaxy S might be out in a few months too, depends if Voda are testing it as well

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vinnieg

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#347000 1-Jul-2010 14:20

zombiewan: but the processor! How much difference do you think it will make to the actual phone?

Also, with the ability to root the device, I should be able to update to 2.1 correct?

Not quite, you'll need to either wait for someone to inject their own drivers into 2.1 source code, or wait for Sony to release the 2.1(Sept 2010), putting an image on from another phone will likely lead to the phone being an expensive paperweight

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zombiewan

44 posts

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#347001 1-Jul-2010 14:21

oxnsox: I thought an update (to 2.1???)for the x10 was going to be released late in the year......

Correct, they [sony ericsson] have stated that they will release a 2.1 update sometime in the forth quarter, however, they've successfully rooted the phone now so (afaik) you should be able to load a custom ROM.

The desire is not in my flavour sadly so this won't really be an option. I think I'm going to go for the Motorola, its available sooner and doesn't come with the mediascape bloatware. plus, the NZ release is meant to come with a carkit and 3 months navigation licence.

timbosan

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#347004 1-Jul-2010 14:33

As mentioned a few times in the above posts, rooting does not equal custom ROM's, it just allows custom ROM's to be flashed to the device. However there is more to Android than just the freely available source, the drivers for all the devices (screen, camera, touch screen etc) are all custom to the device and the source is closed and not available to the public. It is this process of building a ROM that takes time.

When I was reading xda-developers the other day, they have only just posted instructions on how to root the X10, and no custom ROM's where available.

As for the difference in processor speed the Milestone has been rooted long enough that apps exist that allow you to overclock the device, making it far faster (by reports). After all, this is a phone, how fast do you need it to be? I had a MyTouch (HTC Magic) and that was fast enough to run a custom 2.1 ROM, play games, surf the web etc).

Personally I am going the Milestone road - I am a long time QWERTY user, and prefer a real keyboard over an onscreen one anytime. Plus I prefer my Android OS 'bare' and not full of all the crap that SE seem to think we need (don't forget the 2.1 upgrade they are releasing is already .1 of a version behind and will STILL have all their crapwhere on it), then I can add whatever customisations I want (or why my own widgets!). If you want to see what can be look, google the Mario animated wallpaper ( http://mashable.com/2010/06/29/make-super-mario-bros-your-android-wallpaper-video )

And another thing to note - 2.2 on the Milestone with it's JIT (just-in-time) engine will run ALL apps far faster than 2.1.

Or you could wait for the Droid 2 (the US CDMA version of the Milestone) to come out this month (I think) and see if they do a GSM version.....

Or be greedy and by both! Then you can post pics and comments on here for all of us to read!

oxnsox

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#347038 1-Jul-2010 17:10

@Timboson
I understand your qwerty keypad preference but have you tried swype on your HTC. For me it instantly made my Magic keyboard functionally useful (It does for touch screens what T9 did for numeric keypads)

Zombiewan...you should go down to the store and try them both. One of the UI's will be more you than the other. Then the choice is easy.

timbosan

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#347080 1-Jul-2010 19:38

oxnsox: @Timboson
I understand your qwerty keypad preference but have you tried swype on your HTC. For me it instantly made my Magic keyboard functionally useful (It does for touch screens what T9 did for numeric keypads)

Zombiewan...you should go down to the store and try them both. One of the UI's will be more you than the other. Then the choice is easy.

Never tried it but I have seen a few videos of it, it took me a couple of times to understand, but what a cool concept! Does it work in real life as well as it does on the videos?

acsonline

181 posts

Master Geek

#347090 1-Jul-2010 20:20

Swype works awesome on the Milestone - Ive been using the beta for a few weeks now.
Takes a bit of getting used to (I mean 2-3 minutes) then you'll never want to go back to a physical keyboard.

I really wish swype was available on the iPhone - one thing I miss from my Windows Mobile days.

give it a shot - the beta is open for a limited time.. http://www.swypeinc.com/myswype.html

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