HTC/Meteor models help

Rasmus

Hi,
I'm looking at upgrading tomorrow with Meteor (Carphone Warehouse recommended this) and I am enticed by the HTC mobiles. Please excuse my ignorance in regard to android phones, but I am trying to compare the Legend to the Hero (Legend seems better operating system maybe). Basically my question is whether anyone would recommend one over the other, and is the 'Legend' the same phone as the 'Incredible' which is being marketed in the U.S. with the verizon network?
Thanks for lending any expertise!

partyatmygaff

Rasmus wrote: »

Hi,
I'm looking at upgrading tomorrow with Meteor (Carphone Warehouse recommended this) and I am enticed by the HTC mobiles. Please excuse my ignorance in regard to android phones, but I am trying to compare the Legend to the Hero (Legend seems better operating system maybe). Basically my question is whether anyone would recommend one over the other, and is the 'Legend' the same phone as the 'Incredible' which is being marketed in the U.S. with the verizon network?
Thanks for lending any expertise!

At the moment here would be the top phones on HTC phones that run Android

1. HTC EVO 4G (Not available in Ireland and will not work in Ireland because it runs on 4G networks only)
2. HTC Droid Incredible (Not available in Ireland, I believe this MAY work in Ireland but don't quote me on that)
3. HTC Desire (Best HTC phone available at the moment in Ireland/UK/Europe. Runs Android 2.1 and will be getting an update to the newest version of 2.2 and will be able to run Flash 10.1.
4. HTC Legend (Not as powerful as Desire and lower specced but admittedly looks much more stylish, won't be supporting Flash 10.1 and may or may not be getting an update to Flash 10.1)
5. HTC Hero (A bit outdated nowadays despite being released only 6 months ago, will be getting an update to 2.1 in June [Maybe :rolleyes:] and will not support Flash 10.1, lower specced than the Desire)

So that leaves you to the HTC Legend or the HTC Desire.

If you want a super powered phone that is pretty much the exact same as the Nexus One (Google's flagship Android phone) then choose the HTC Desire. If you don't care too much for a powerful phone than the HTC Legend is a very good phone aswell.

Just don't get the HTC Hero! It's a great phone but 6 months is a long time for Mobile phones.

Rasmus

Wow thanks for that... I wasn't offered the desire in the store, I didn't even see it. I will see what Meteor offers me tmrw, unless anyone knows what network supports the Desire the best (or is this relevant?). Appreciate the advice, Partyatmygaff!

partyatmygaff

Rasmus wrote: »

Wow thanks for that... I wasn't offered the desire in the store, I didn't even see it. I will see what Meteor offers me tmrw, unless anyone knows what network supports the Desire the best (or is this relevant?). Appreciate the advice, Partyatmygaff!

No problem.

At the moment Meteor are the only network selling either the Hero, Legend or the Desire.

Vodafone was getting the Desire but now they are going to be stocking only the Legend. O2 are also getting in the Desire but no release date as of yet.

Meteor have all of the phones released already and their price plans are much better value than O2/Vodafone imo.

Rasmus

Ok that info makes it easier. Super, thanks. The Legend is calling me I think. As I am replacing the Motorola Razr I won't know myself with the new phone!

partyatmygaff

Rasmus wrote: »

Ok that info makes it easier. Super, thanks. The Legend is calling me I think. As I am replacing the Motorola Razr I won't know myself with the new phone!

You're going to be shocked at the difference!

I went from a N95 8GB to the Desire and the difference was phenomenal.

Rasmus

I read something along the lines of the HTC mobiles not syncing well with Meteor, or that the reception with HTC with Meteor as a provider was not fantastic. Do you think there is any truth to that or maybe I misinterpreted it?
CHEERS

partyatmygaff

Rasmus wrote: »

I read something along the lines of the HTC mobiles not syncing well with Meteor, or that the reception with HTC with Meteor as a provider was not fantastic. Do you think there is any truth to that or maybe I misinterpreted it?
CHEERS

There was a problem as far as I know with the Hero losing signal whenever there was a 2G/3G changeover. That isn't the fault of Meteor's network (Atleast not directly) but it's a fault of the Android OS and how it handles changeovers between 2G and 3G. Thankfully the problem doesn't occur on the HTC Desire. It happens to some people on the HTC Legend (Much rarer than the Hero and far less often). To be quite honest, if you want a Legend just go for it and see how it goes. If you are having reception problems e.t.c. you can return it within 14 days and get a Desire.

Personally, I haven't had a single issue with reception.

Rasmus

Ok thanks, I will. And that's a good tip about getting it and exchanging if it's giving me problems. It's another thing I did not realize I could do!

Atomic Pineapple

partyatmygaff wrote: »

HTC EVO 4G (Not available in Ireland and will not work in Ireland because it runs on 4G networks only)

The Evo is not 4G only it also runs on 3G and will work on any 3G enabled network out of the box

partyatmygaff wrote: »

That isn't the fault of Meteor's network (Atleast not directly) but it's a fault of the Android OS and how it handles changeovers between 2G and 3G.

The Android OS handles the switchover fine, the issue is to do with HTC introducing bugs in Android with sense ui and Meteors crappy network combined

More so to do with Meteor I'd say as even the Mobile Broadband they offer drops connections all over the place

Rasmus

Hi Daff, what is sense ui? And should Meteor's crappy network be enough to stop me going for the combo? (as they seem to be the best value). When I go to the Meteor store they will obviously tell me that their reception is fab so I should be objective. The girl in Carphone Warehouse said that between the networks, it's much of a muchness and Meteor have 95% coverage.. would like at least 98% but I guess I shouldn't be too picky.

partyatmygaff

draffodx wrote: »

The Evo is not 4G only it also runs on 3G and will work on any 3G enabled network out of the box

Yes it will but only on CDMA networks. Afaik no operator in Ireland supports or even runs on CDMA.

The Android OS handles the switchover fine, the issue is to do with HTC introducing bugs in Android with sense ui and Meteors crappy network combined

It is the radio/baseband that handles cellular connections, how could a custom UI affect the radio?

More so to do with Meteor I'd say as even the Mobile Broadband they offer drops connections all over the place

Odd, I get full 3G coverage 90% of the time on my phone.

partyatmygaff

Rasmus wrote: »

Hi Daff, what is sense ui? And should Meteor's crappy network be enough to stop me going for the combo? (as they seem to be the best value). When I go to the Meteor store they will obviously tell me that their reception is fab so I should be objective. The girl in Carphone Warehouse said that between the networks, it's much of a muchness and Meteor have 95% coverage.. would like at least 98% but I guess I shouldn't be too picky.

Sense UI is the front end on HTC's android phones. It's basically a very tightly integrated skin for Android OS that adds a lot of functionality to the phone.

Since you're living in Wicklow you shouldn't have too much of an issue with coverage. Best bet is to check their coverage map and see what coverage is like around your area.

Rasmus

Yeah I rarely leave Leinster so I've been told that coverage should not be an issue...

partyatmygaff

Rasmus wrote: »

Yeah I rarely leave Leinster so I've been told that coverage should not be an issue...

Then you should be fine.
HSDPA coverage is fairly patchy though outside of Dublin.

http://www.meteor.ie/plans/coverage/

Have a look at the coverage map. Leinster is well covered.

Rasmus

Yes looks like I should be grand.

Atomic Pineapple

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Yes it will but only on CDMA networks. Afaik no operator in Ireland supports or even runs on CDMA.


It is the radio/baseband that handles cellular connections, how could a custom UI affect the radio?


Odd, I get full 3G coverage 90% of the time on my phone.

Yes America uses CDMA while Europe uses GSM, I'd be very suprised if a GSM version is not released.

Sense is not just a UI, its a rebuild of Android with the UI on top, HTC have even managed to break some of the stable API'S in Android, for example on some builds the operating system doesn't send the proper notifications to my app, I have contacted HTC and they have admitted there are bugs around telephony.

Vanilla Android has never caused a problem for me in any guise.

Same with me 3G on my phones are fine with meteor even the Hero (although its build number is one of the non buggy ones) but there wireless broadband on the dongle constantly drops :mad:

partyatmygaff

draffodx wrote: »

Yes America uses CDMA while Europe uses GSM, I'd be very suprised if a GSM version is not released.

Me too but until now it's only speculation and you can't really base a decision on speculation.

Besides that, she wants to upgrade tommorrow so waiting for a GSM version of the EVO to be released is out of the question.

Atomic Pineapple

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Me too but until now it's only speculation and you can't really base a decision on speculation.

Besides that, she wants to upgrade tommorrow so waiting for a GSM version of the EVO to be released is out of the question.

I know I was just saying in case anyone else saw this and was waiting for it, like me

If I was buying today I'd definitely pick the desire over the Legend

partyatmygaff

draffodx wrote: »

I know I was just saying in case anyone else saw this and was waiting for it, like me

If I was buying today I'd definitely pick the desire over the Legend

It's definitley more popular alright. It's going to have much more Developer support too since it shares a lot with the Nexus one.

Rasmus

To be honest, some of the terms used so far in this thread have escaped me, HSDPA (had to look it up) Sense UI (thanks for explaining it) to name but a few. So probably most of the bugs or features would either go un-noticed by me or cause me little hassle. I want at least a 5 pixel cam, big screen, good memory, good mp3 player and radio, good browsing facility, and to top it all off, good reception. Up until now all my crappy phone has been offering me is calls and texts, which I am ready to move up from at this point. Seems like the Legend can give me these things, but I do want to make a good choice. I thought Carphone Warehouse would point me in the best direction, but they directed me into the arms of a Meteor store. Never, ever tried them but have always heard bad things until today in the shop.
So why is the Desire more brilliant than the Legend? The Legend looks nicer, eh?

Atomic Pineapple

The desire has much better spec and its essentially a remodel of the Nexus One which is the current flagship Android device so everything will be aimed at the Nexus One/Desire for the next while including updates, the newest apps etc..

partyatmygaff

Rasmus wrote: »

To be honest, some of the terms used so far in this thread have escaped me, HSDPA (had to look it up) Sense UI (thanks for explaining it) to name but a few. So probably most of the bugs or features would either go un-noticed by me or cause me little hassle. I want at least a 5 pixel cam, big screen, good memory, good mp3 player and radio, good browsing facility, and to top it all off, good reception. Up until now all my crappy phone has been offering me is calls and texts, which I am ready to move up from at this point. Seems like the Legend can give me these things, but I do want to make a good choice. I thought Carphone Warehouse would point me in the best direction, but they directed me into the arms of a Meteor store. Never, ever tried them but have always heard bad things until today in the shop.
So why is the Desire more brilliant than the Legend? The Legend looks nicer, eh?

The Legend does look nicer but that is pretty much all that it has over the Desire.

HSDPA is basically the fastest form of 3G available at the moment. You probably won't notice most of the things we're talking about anyway as they're very specific and don't really affect that badly.


Anyway i'll give you a quick run down of the differences

Screen: The legend has a 3.2" screen running at 320x480, the Desire has a 3.7" screen running at 480x800.

Ram: The Desire has 576MB of ram and the Legend has only 386MB of ram meaning the Desire will perform much better running a lot of apps and widgets and won't slow down.

Storage: Both support up to 32GB but the Desire comes with a 4GB card and the Legend with 2GB (Afaik anyway)

CPU: The Desire runs a 1GHz Snapdragon and the Legend runs at 600MHz meaning the Desire is a good bit more powerful

Camera: Exact same at the moment, 5MP camera but apparently the Desire will be getting an update that will allow HD video recording. The Legend won't be.

Other: The Desire will support full flash support when it's released but the Legend will not because of the CPU. The Desire will probably have much more support from Developers when it comes to apps/games. The Desire will also be getting DivX playback but the Legend won't be.

Rasmus

Whoa, seems like there's a big diff there. Thanks for the breakdown. The desire seems vastly more appealing than the Legend. The Hero is so far behind now in my mind I wouldn't even entertain the idea of it! Do you both have a Desire then?

partyatmygaff

Rasmus wrote: »

Whoa, seems like there's a big diff there. Thanks for the breakdown. The desire seems vastly more appealing than the Legend. The Hero is so far behind now in my mind I wouldn't even entertain the idea of it! Do you both have a Desire then?

Well I do anyway. Dunno about draffodx though.

It's a great phone.

Rasmus

Do you think they will go down in price if I wait another 6 weeks?

partyatmygaff

Rasmus wrote: »

Do you think they will go down in price if I wait another 6 weeks?

Maybe but not by much. At most €10-€20 depending on plan.

Atomic Pineapple

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Well I do anyway. Dunno about draffodx though.

It's a great phone.

I have a Nexus One (same phone essentially)

also have a hero and a g1, the jump from the hero to the nexus is massive, the nexus really is one of those wow devices

Rasmus wrote: »

Do you think they will go down in price if I wait another 6 weeks?

Very unlikely

RDMH

partyatmygaff wrote: »

No problem.

At the moment Meteor are the only network selling either the Hero, Legend or the Desire.

Vodafone was getting the Desire but now they are going to be stocking only the Legend. O2 are also getting in the Desire but no release date as of yet.

Meteor have all of the phones released already and their price plans are much better value than O2/Vodafone imo.

Vodafone are getting the Desire, when?? Soon (whenever that is):D:D

partyatmygaff

RDMH wrote: »

Vodafone are getting the Desire, when?? Soon (whenever that is):D:D

Yeah apparently they are still on track for releasing it.

Release date is still "Coming soon". Tbh, I think they're waiting until the the end of May so they eat in to iPhone 3Gs sales.

Still though, I would much rather prefer Meteor. Vodafone's plans are terrible.

Rasmus

Thanks all for the advice. In the end I went for the Hero, the price was right and so far it's been more than enough to get my head around. The salesperson in the shop said that HTC has ironed out all the initial buggy problems that the Hero had. It seems great, and I have had an exhausting few hours with it!!