HTC Desire in USA?

tossknobber

Hi

Im due to travel to Chicago in a few weeks and im thinking about getting a HTC Desire phone. I could get one here, but was wondering if anyone knew whether I could get my hands on one over there for cheaper? Ideally, id like to be able to walk into a shop in Chicago and buy it network free.
Is this possible? If so, where?

Cheers

justsomebloke

Truthfully I'm not sure how big a footprint HTC actually have in the states so it mightn't be the easiest to come by especially sim free

Oafley Jones

It'll be incredibly hard to find in the states. It's still not released over there and in the unlikely event of you managing to find an unlocked model in a store you'll pay a heavy premium.

maggy_thatcher

The HTC Desire is not quad-band enabled for 3G, so a European model one won't work on 3G markets in the US, and chances are if/when it comes out in the North American market, it won't be able to use 3G in Europe. As such, you'd be pretty crazy to get one there.

partyatmygaff

Joe the Santa wrote: »

Truthfully I'm not sure how big a footprint HTC actually have in the states so it mightn't be the easiest to come by especially sim free

HTC are bigger in the states than over here IIRC. Anyway, the Desire is not going to be released over in the States. Over there they are getting the EVO 4G and the HTC Droid Incredible (Both better than the Desire in spec). Anyway, the Desire doesn't support US 3G bands so there is no chance that you'll find one over there for sale.

tossknobber

Fair enough. Ill have to get it the old fashioned way :-)
Thanks anyway

OctavarIan

The American HTC Desire equivalent is called the 'Incredible'. It's pretty much the same but comes with an 8mp camera instead of 5mp and has dual LED flash.


Not 100% sure if it comes network free but I'm actually off to Chicago tomorrow myself so I can check it out for you if I've time

maggy_thatcher

OctavarIan wrote: »

The American HTC Desire equivalent is called the 'Incredible'. It's pretty much the same but comes with an 8mp camera instead of 5mp and has dual LED flash.


Not 100% sure if it comes network free but I'm actually off to Chicago tomorrow myself so I can check it out for you if I've time

The HTC Incredible is a CDMA phone, *not* a GSM phone - it will not work in Ireland.

Knasher

You could get the nexus one instead, its pretty much the same spec as the desire, but with quadband and with slightly less ram and without the optical trackpad. Plus you get updates much quicker from google than from htc.

Previously you could only get it shipped online, but apparently they are stopping that so it might be possible to get retail. I don't know if this means that they are locked to a network now or not. AFAIK you need to get the ATT version as this has the most relevant range of wireless frequencies (although I think both versions worth in Europe), not 100% sure if ATT has prepaid phones either. Might be worth looking into in any case.

partyatmygaff

OctavarIan wrote: »

The American HTC Desire equivalent is called the 'Incredible'. It's pretty much the same but comes with an 8mp camera instead of 5mp and has dual LED flash.


Not 100% sure if it comes network free but I'm actually off to Chicago tomorrow myself so I can check it out for you if I've time

Don't get either the Incredible or the EVO 4G. Both will NOT work at all in Ireland. Neither regular voice nor data. Their frequencies are not supported over here or in Europe.

Knasher wrote: »

You could get the nexus one instead, its pretty much the same spec as the desire, but with quadband and with slightly less ram and without the optical trackpad. Plus you get updates much quicker from google than from htc.

Previously you could only get it shipped online, but apparently they are stopping that so it might be possible to get retail. I don't know if this means that they are locked to a network now or not. AFAIK you need to get the ATT version as this has the most relevant range of wireless frequencies (although I think both versions worth in Europe), not 100% sure if ATT has prepaid phones either. Might be worth looking into in any case.

Finding prepaid phones in America is fairly difficult =/

Sergeant

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Don't get either the Incredible or the EVO 4G. Both will NOT work at all in Ireland. Neither regular voice nor data. Their frequencies are not supported over here or in Europe.


Finding prepaid phones in America is fairly difficult =/

Hi folks,

I just upgraded my phone to a HTC Desire. I travel to Canada about once a year for a few weeks, and am wondering if it will work on the Rogers 3G network out there? Or am I limited to the EDGE network?

partyatmygaff

Sergeant wrote: »

Hi folks,

I just upgraded my phone to a HTC Desire. I travel to Canada about once a year for a few weeks, and am wondering if it will work on the Rogers 3G network out there? Or am I limited to the EDGE network?

You'll be limited to EDGE i'm afraid.

Sergeant

Hi Party,

Are you sure? The Rogers GSM network operates on the frequencies of 850/1900 MHz, which is supported by the Desire. This differs from the states, where CDMA is the dominent carrier method.

There just appears to be a lot of confusion regarding this. I presumed the phone was quad band when I bought it, didn't even bother checking!

maggy_thatcher

Sergeant wrote: »

Are you sure? The Rogers GSM network operates on the frequencies of 850/1900 MHz, which is supported by the Desire. This differs from the states, where CDMA is the dominent carrier method.

GSM/PCS (850/900/1800/1900MHz depending on location) gives you voice & EDGE data, not 3G. The 3G radio on the Desire only supports 900/2100MHz (see the UMTS Frequency bands). Rogers uses 850/1900 for UMTS data.

partyatmygaff

maggy_thatcher wrote: »

GSM/PCS (850/900/1800/1900MHz depending on location) gives you voice & EDGE data, not 3G. The 3G radio on the Desire only supports 900/2100MHz (see the UMTS Frequency bands). Rogers uses 850/1900 for UMTS data.

That's the reason why