New HTC Desire - where to start?

pollypocket10

After much deliberation I finally ordered myself a HTC desire (probably should have waited for the HD one at this stage). So it arrived this morning and is currently charging.

I have an exciting evening of playing with my new toy ahead of me so as a complete android virgin I wanted to know what I should do first.

Do I need to root or something before I go setting things up? Also I want to set it to only use the data allowance when I want it to (i.e not constantly updating etc).

Any other useful recommendations from people.

I use my phone as my alarm clock so I suppose I will need to download an app for that?

Any help or advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks

Sniipe

The alarm clock in it is decent enough. It can do mon -fri 8am clocks if you want it to. I recommend getting a nice cover for the phone. Currently I have a hard plastic cover which is no where near good. Is your phone android 2.2 ?

Dacelonid

Get the barcode scanner app. It is so useful for downloading apps. If a site has an app you like, and has a QR code, you can just turn on the barcode scanner app, point the camera at the screen and download the app to your phone.
Had so much fun with this when I found out about it. Also makes searching for apps easier as the search on the market is crap

Abelloid

Use it for an hour or two, than ask questions.

Dustaz

i have 2 questions

Is there a better browser than the one included (one that features tabs - or maybe im just not seeing them)

and is there any way to edit the default widgets, i find the clock widgets either too big and all singing/all dancing, or too small and boring.

Random

Is there a better browser than the one included (one that features tabs - or maybe im just not seeing them)

i like the included one but you can download others such as opera on the market.

and is there any way to edit the default widgets, i find the clock widgets either too big and all singing/all dancing, or too small and boring.

you can download in the market.

budgemook

get a snes emulator

so is the desire back in stock? have been trying to get one for ages. what's this you say about a HD one?

jimmycrackcorm

Get opera for browsing. The standard browser has tabs but it is listed as windows from the menu button. Not as good as opera though. I use a mix of browsers. Stock for live updates of boards for example but opera fire news sites as it is much quicker to go back to the parent page and select the next link

bluefirefly

Welcome to the Desire family!! *clap clap
be a dear to browse through other posts that others have asked.

One thing i would like to ask you is. Is your's an SLCD screen? SLCD screens doesn't go completely black, theres a white glow at the back of the black. AMOLED's black background is completely black. I know Hong Kong and Taiwan are now selling the SLCD ones.

budgemook

another thing is you should get advanced task killer for killing the apps to save your battery

Abelloid

budgemook wrote: »

another thing is you should get advanced task killer for killing the apps to save your battery

I wouldn't, they aren't necessary and can create problems themselves.

TrueBlue90

I've been considering buying one myself - is yours prepay or bill pay, and what network did you get it on? I've been looking at a prepay one on o2, but I might see what happens with the HD... Either way, do you reckon it's worth the money?

_Kaiser_

TrueBlue90 wrote: »

I've been considering buying one myself - is yours prepay or bill pay, and what network did you get it on? I've been looking at a prepay one on o2, but I might see what happens with the HD... Either way, do you reckon it's worth the money?

I can confidently say that the Desire is the best phone I've owned so far (and I traditionally get a new phone every 6 months or so as I get bored of them).

I suppose the question is whether or not to hold out for the HD version but that's up to you - personally I'm happy enough with the one I have .. if I want to watch movies or whatever, that's why I have a laptop with a HDMI port

Anyway, few things I'd suggest...

- Root it. It's become very simple now (updating or changing ROMs is only a few clicks) and unlocks the full abilities of the phone. You'll be able to download anything from the market (free or paid) and I've noticed things like significantly increased battery life and responsiveness since I put on a Custom ROM.

- Definitely get a decent cover. It's a sturdy enough phone and the screen is very scratch resistant, but you'll want to get something to protect the casing anyway. Me I went for a silicone gel case that was recommended on here and have had no complaints. I didn't bother with screen protectors (I tried but couldnt get it to apply neatly) and 4 months later there's still not a mark on it.

- There's lot of good apps out there but my most frequently used would be Handcent (sms messaging replacement), Dolphin HD (browser), eBuddy (all-in one app for MSN, Yahoo, Facebook chat etc), AppBrain (easier way to browse the market), RadioTime (you have to pay for it - but gives you almost every radio station in the country as far as I can see) and RoboDefence (such an addictive game!)

I can definitely say that I made the right decision (and up to this I'd mostly had Nokias, with a brief disasterous detour to Sony Ericcson for about 2 weeks!)

Enjoy!

budgemook

Can someone tell me about the "HD Version". It's not the HTC HD2 phone I hope? That's a phone with sh!tty Windows Mobile on it. Is there a Desire HD coming out soon?

Also, Is Dublin still sold out of Desires?

Abelloid

budgemook wrote: »

Can someone tell me about the "HD Version". It's not the HTC HD2 phone I hope? That's a phone with sh!tty Windows Mobile on it. Is there a Desire HD coming out soon?

Also, Is Dublin still sold out of Desires?

There is a 'Desire HD' on the way, possibly Sept. 15th UK launch.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055998740

budgemook

JustinOval wrote: »

There is a 'Desire HD' on the way, possibly Sept. 15th UK launch.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055998740

Awesome, guess I'll be waiting for that

mickoneill30

JustinOval wrote: »

I wouldn't, they aren't necessary and can create problems themselves.

I've been using Automatic Task Killer since I got my Desire a couple of months ago. I configured the apps I wanted to stay open and it hasn't caused me any problems (that I know of). My phone is pretty stable, actually it hasn't crashed in ages and maybe it's crashed about twice since I got it but I do install every app going so some of that is my fault
I also get two days battery out of it normally.

But after reading your post I thought I'd try disabling the Task Killer. Before I had on average 140Mb free (checked using EStrongs Task Manager).

After working a day with the Task Killer killed I've 89Mb free and a pile of apps left over in my task list that I don't need running.

To be fair if a program had a proper exit or close button I've been using that rather than just the back out arrow (which might leave it running). Also 89Mb free does seem OK to me and the phone is still running fine but I'm guessing those running tasks must be consuming processor cycles and battery. I haven't been testing long enough to see if I get less time out of the battery and I'm not going to. I prefer having those tasks killed when I'm not using them.

On topic for the OP try Dolphin HD browser. I prefer it to Opera and the stock app.

Also there are widgets in the Settings category for Wi-Fi / GPS / Mobile which gives you a handy one click button to turn those items off and on. Under Widgets there's an option to get more HTC widgets. Profile is a handy one. It lets you flick between Silent / Normal / Vibrate very quickly.

Another essential app is RockPlayer (just copy your AVIs straight to the phone), no messing about converting them before playing.

Poncherello

Im looking for a How to Root my Legend/desire thread for someone who is not very techy - can u point me in right direction
Thx

budgemook

Poncherello wrote: »

Im looking for a How to Root my Legend/desire thread for someone who is not very techy - can u point me in right direction
Thx

http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=how+to+root+htc+desire

Abelloid

Poncherello wrote: »

Im looking for a How to Root my Legend/desire thread for someone who is not very techy - can u point me in right direction
Thx

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055969546

budgemook

budgemook wrote: »

Can someone tell me about the "HD Version". It's not the HTC HD2 phone I hope? That's a phone with sh!tty Windows Mobile on it. Is there a Desire HD coming out soon?

Also, Is Dublin still sold out of Desires?

We can't get Desires at all through vodafone in work. They tell us there are production issues. Probably related to the shortage of AMOLED screens.

The HD2 is pretty crap due to win-mobile however it's the bees' knees when you hack it and put froyo on

mickoneill30

mickoneill30 wrote: »

I've been using Automatic Task Killer since I got my Desire a couple of months ago. I configured the apps I wanted to stay open and it hasn't caused me any problems (that I know of). My phone is pretty stable, actually it hasn't crashed in ages and maybe it's crashed about twice since I got it but I do install every app going so some of that is my fault
I also get two days battery out of it normally.

But after reading your post I thought I'd try disabling the Task Killer. Before I had on average 140Mb free (checked using EStrongs Task Manager).

After working a day with the Task Killer killed I've 89Mb free and a pile of apps left over in my task list that I don't need running.

Who cares if the memory is free? I'd rather see the memory being used.. Android takes care of the memory management. Also the app being in the task list doesn't mean it is running or consuming any resources.

mickoneill30

ronoc wrote: »

Who cares if the memory is free? I'd rather see the memory being used..

Youd rather that tasks are running and using memory when you don't need them?
I don't.
Some tasks are handy to run constantly. Some aren't.

ronoc wrote: »

Also the app being in the task list doesn't mean it is running or consuming any resources.

How do you work that out?

An app listed in the Estrongs Running Task List isn't using resources?
Like CPU cycles, memory (which I've shown was decreased even though you think it's not using resources) and battery.

Is it magic?

Look if you don't want to use a Task Killer then don't. Nobodys forcing you. It was just mentioned above and JustinOval said they can cause problems. Maybe they can. I just haven't seen any evidence of that on any Android device I've seen and a hell of a lot of people seem to get benefit from them. Your preference is for the memory to be used. That's why Android is great. You can do what you want with it.

mickoneill30

mickoneill30 wrote: »

Youd rather that tasks are running and using memory when you don't need them?
I don't.

Who cares if they are using memory, thats what it is there for. If the android system needs memory if will clear it and save the apps state to the storage.

mickoneill30 wrote: »

How do you work that out?

An app listed in the Estrongs Running Task List isn't using resources?
Like CPU cycles, memory (which I've shown was decreased even though you think it's not using resources) and battery.

Is it magic?

I was talking about the 'hold home button' task list. But you are right there are some applications that run services that consume CPU cycles in the background. If you are happy to kill these and loose what ever functionality they were providing go for it. But bear in mind you can leave those apps in an inconsistent state when you kill them with a task killer.

mickoneill30

ronoc wrote: »

Who cares if they are using memory, thats what it is there for. If the android system needs memory if will clear it and save the apps state to the storage.

What about battery? Since posting yesterday I forgot to turn my task killer back on. I haven't used the phone any more / less than usual. I took it off charge at about 12:30 today and now it's at 82% which is a lot less than 3 hours minimal usage would normally give me. I normally get from about 7AM on day one to bedtime on day two.
From charging yesterday at 7AM I got to this morning (well the battery wasn't empty but it was in the teens). That's a fair bit less than usual for me.

I don't know if it's the running tasks or just an anomaly and my testing is hardly scientific and I don't care. Typing on these posts has reminded me to turn it back on :P


I take your point about leaving an app in an inconsistent state. I don't know enough about them. I haven't noticed a problem with mine.

Edit: It's probably off topic enough. Maybe we should open a thread on the pros / cons of a task killer.

mickoneill30

mickoneill30 wrote: »

What about battery? Since posting yesterday I forgot to turn my task killer back on. I haven't used the phone any more / less than usual. I took it off charge at about 12:30 today and now it's at 82% which is a lot less than 3 hours minimal usage would normally give me. I normally get from about 7AM on day one to bedtime on day two.

I don't know if it's the running tasks or just an anomaly and I don't care. Typing on these posts has reminded me to turn it back on :P

I take your point about leaving an app in an inconsistent state. I don't know enough about them. I haven't noticed a problem with mine.

It all depends what apps you have installed and which tasks you have to kill to get the better battery performance. You could have lots of busy background apps for all I know.

Edit: It's probably off topic enough. Maybe we should open a thread on the pros / cons of a task killer.

Not a bad idea.

Craigels

anyone get the desire on meteor recently it was being said they were due in this week...

blastman

Out of stock at the moment on their website anyway......

evolutionqy7

and it will be till the new ones come in...i dont think their gonna manufacture the old ones together with the new ones...whats the point...though as report if it will have 4.2" screen i think alot of ppl will think its too big...

some ppl will ignore it and understand how handy that is