stay with android?

subway

i've had my hero for around 6 months, tried lots of different roms and so on.
its slow and freezes when doing anything at all. (despte what people said about it speeding up after a few days use)
theres no official update coming (promised for months on end) and even if it does it will probably be worse.

what i want to know is this, is there an android phone out there that runs as quickly as a nokia 3310 for texting and is as slick as the iphone for browsing.

i am going to chuck this hero at some point and will either go back to a basic nokia or switch to an iphone as i cant take the slowdown and 15 taps to open a window

EPM

HTC Desire should keep you happy

Abelloid

Legend and Desire both have more memory, I have no such complaints with my Desire.

subway

thanks lads, desire seems to be the one to go for.
will have a look around for the cheapest one.

meteor say im not allowed upgrade yet (at any price) and also mentioned that a better phone will be launched by them soon.
not sure if the second part is true, but i guess i'll get a sim free one online somwhere

EPM

sim free might be your only option unl;ess you buy a meteor pay as you go.

i dont know if the desire is available payg though

Inquitus

I own a HTC Desire, great phone, but the iPhone 4 is out perhaps in the next 30 days or so, and looks to be a very good upgrade on the 3GS.

Android is crap for media playback, especially for video, but it is noticeably behind for MP3 playback aswell, if you want to use your phone for on the go media then the iphone is the natural fit.

I would rate Android as 85% as good as iPhone OS at the moment, but some of that gap is made up by the freedom Android affords you compared to the restrictive nature of the iPhone.

If you are happy carrying an iPod touch for media needs, and a Desire for phone / internet / social media needs like I am then go for it, if however you want a one stop solution, iPhone wins hands down.

Inq

Goodshape

iPhone essentially has an iPod built in, so I'd agree it's probably the right choice if media is the utmost importance to you.

But I've found media on the Desire to be perfectly capable. Not as good, but perfectly capable. I like some music on the go and (very occasionally) watching a video from YouTube or something. Really wouldn't feel the need to bring an iPod/iTouch with me if Desire is in my pocket.

And getting media onto the device is so much easier with Desire. Not restricted to "syncing" with iTunes or iMovies or iBooks or iOwnAllYourMedia.

Inquitus

Goodshape wrote: »

iPhone essentially has an iPod built in, so I'd agree it's probably the right choice if media is the utmost importance to you.

But I've found media on the Desire to be perfectly capable. Not as good, but perfectly capable. I like some music on the go and (very occasionally) watching a video from YouTube or something. Really wouldn't feel the need to bring an iPod/iTouch with me if Desire is in my pocket.

I would tend to watch an episode of a downloaded TV Series (MP4) on the way to work and the way home, for that the ipod touch despite the lower resolution and non AMOLED screen is infinitely superior.

Breezer

Inquitus wrote: »

Android is crap for media playback, especially for video, but it is noticeably behind for MP3 playback aswell, if you want to use your phone for on the go media then the iphone is the natural fit.

I've never really understood this view. I used to own an iPod 5G, have used an iPod Touch and iPhone, and currently own a Hero. The Hero's slowness bugs me, but I really can't see how it lags behind the iPhone in terms of media.

The only things that would annoy me about it are the fact that the photo gallery takes a while to load, which never seems to be mentioned, and the fact that it doesn't sync with iTunes, which everybody else constantly touts as an advantage!

Just curious as to what the big problem is?

Goodshape

Inquitus wrote: »

I would tend to watch an episode of a downloaded TV Series (MP4) on the way to work and the way home, for that the ipod touch despite the lower resolution and non AMOLED screen is infinitely superior.

Superior how? Honestly just curious to know. Software or hardware (slowness, etc.) do you think?

I use the Meridian player and the few times I've wanted to watch a video, I've had no problems at all.

Inquitus

Goodshape wrote: »

Superior how? Honestly just curious to know. Software or hardware (slowness, etc.) do you think?

I use the Meridian player and the few times I've wanted to watch a video, I've had no problems at all.

Horrific banding, sound often out of sync despite being in sync on both PC and ipod, washed out blacks, pretty hideous to watch tbh. If you watch the odd video now and then, it's really not a big issue, if you watch a fair bit on a commute or whatever, then its both very noticeable and very irritating. Using the Desires native media player.

Also not support yet for divx etc. and no really decent multi format video player on an open platform is very annoying, but I can't cite the ipod as being better in that area as its locked down to MP4s. If Coreplayer were to arrive on android tomorrow, or indeed HTCs rumoured divx support, this situation could change overnight, but for now media on the Desire is distinctly naff.

kesey

Inquitus wrote: »

I would tend to watch an episode of a downloaded TV Series (MP4) on the way to work and the way home, for that the ipod touch despite the lower resolution and non AMOLED screen is infinitely superior.

infinitely? Not 5 times, not 10 times, not 50 times, not 1 billion times? Yeah right: infinitely makes sense.

I find the Desire leaves the ipod Touch for dead when reading e.g. websites with lots of text. The text word-wraps on the Desire automatically. I have not found a way to make that happen on the Touch.

The Touch is brilliant for running iPeng on the Squeezebox, that's for sure. No doubt however pippin will get around to Android one of these days.

Inquitus

kesey wrote: »

infinitely? Not 5 times, not 10 times, not 50 times, not 1 billion times? Yeah right: infinitely makes sense.

I find the Desire leaves the ipod Touch for dead when reading e.g. websites with lots of text. The text word-wraps on the Desire automatically. I have not found a way to make that happen on the Touch.

The Touch is brilliant for running iPeng on the Squeezebox, that's for sure. No doubt however pippin will get around to Android one of these days.

I cited specifically video for which the Desire, and android in general is pretty crap. I said its great for mobile web, phone use, messaging, social networking. helps if you read someones post before commenting I guess......

Abelloid

The HTC phones do have the advantage of freedom from itunes (or HTC sync etc.), you can use any PC, anywhere, to transfer files or update contacts.

This was a big factor in deciding to go for the Desire over the 3GS for me.

Mr Bloat

I've recently switched from a 3GS to a Desire and while the video and audio capabilities of the Desire mightn't be as polished as the iPhone, saying the video playback "pretty crap" is a bit of hyperbole, to be fair. It's not quite as good as an iPhone but it is still very good. Add the other advantages that the Desire has over an iPhone and it's easy to overlook the slight disadvantage that the Desire has in media playback.

Inquitus

Mr Bloat wrote: »

I've recently switched from a 3GS to a Desire and while the video and audio capabilities of the Desire mightn't be as polished as the iPhone, saying the video playback "pretty crap" is a bit of hyperbole, to be fair. It's not quite as good as an iPhone but it is still very good. Add the other advantages that the Desire has over an iPhone and it's easy to overlook the slight disadvantage that the Desire has in media playback.

Its not hyperbole at all, the Desire is awful at video playback. If you don't watch much video then its fine, if you plow through a series a week on the train then it's simply unacceptable. The Desire has the hardware to play any format up to 720p flawlessly, its a criminal shame that the SDK/NDK for Android is so crap in this area that people like coreplayer wont go near it for now.

Media playback, and lack of paid apps in Ireland, are the only 2 remaining gaping holes in Android.

Goodshape

Yeah, video playback really not an issue for me. Just don't use it enough. Desire seems fine for the once-a-month I might load up a 3 minute clip.

What does get me down on occasion, and isn't often mentioned as far as I can see, is that Android doesn't do gapless MP3 playback. There's an extra half-second or so gap between tracks which really interrupts a live album or something like the second half of Abbey Road.

mickoneill30

Inquitus wrote: »

Its not hyperbole at all, the Desire is awful at video playback. If you don't watch much video then its fine, if you plow through a series a week on the train then it's simply unacceptable.

I do that. I've been using the Desire for a week now and have watched a few episodes during downtime. I convert to iPod format using OjoSoft Total Video Convert (Handbrake would probably do similar) and on the phone I use an app called "Video Player" (obviously spent a lot of time on thinking up that name) and I've had no problems at all. I don't use an iPhone so I can't say if the Desire is better but to me the video on the Desire is perfectly watchable and has no issues.

Edit: I just installed EStrongs File Manager last night. Just looking at it now that has a video player built in too. I played an episode (not all of it) but it looks OK.