Desire Z

Pacifico

Anyone know when Meteor will have this phone?

Bluefoam

Next Friday apparently. Emobile have it today

Cunning Alias

Just picked mine up in the Meteor shop in Dun Laoghaire.

I rang the major stores first and they said they were not going to get it till Tuesday, so there are mixed messages everywhere.

When I left they still had 2 more but only for new customers.

They didnt get any HD's in case anyone was wondering.

The guys said they were getting loads of stick from people who read the hd was out today yet the stores have feck all. Pretty rubbish communication imo.

The desire z is alot less chunky than I expected, not too heavy and the flip out keyboard is savage. Doesnt feel flimsy at all.

Abelloid

Cunning Alias wrote: »

Just picked mine up in the Meteor shop in Dun Laoghaire.

I rang the major stores first and they said they were not going to get it till Tuesday, so there are mixed messages everywhere.

When I left they still had 2 more but only for new customers.

They didnt get any HD's in case anyone was wondering.

The guys said they were getting loads of stick from people who read the hd was out today yet the stores have feck all. Pretty rubbish communication imo.

The desire z is alot less chunky than I expected, not too heavy and the flip out keyboard is savage. Doesnt feel flimsy at all.

Cool. What's the pricing like?

Cunning Alias

200 on bill pay smart 35.

Wanted to go for a better package but didnt want to go for an 18 month plan

C.D.

Picked mine up a few hours ago. Keyboards is very smooth. Did you get a bluetooth headset in yours Cunning Alias? HTCSense.com does not work at all, pity as it was the big feature I'm interested in. Hope they get it working in due course!

Pacifico

Got one too. Very impressed so far!

Yeah couldn't get HTC Sense to work at all. I also got a bluetooth headset in the box (which is now up on adverts )

Cunning Alias

Yep. Got the same.

I was able to make an account for htcsense on the phone, but there is no option for ireland yet on the site

C.D.

I put UK in. Got it to ring (once! and not again) and got my contacts up. Completely useless atm imo! Very nice to use. The software keyboard has come a long way since the Hero.. almost makes me wonder should I have gotten a regular Desire or Desire HD instead. The Jero keyboard drove me nuts with all its lag.

artvandulet

Nice one lads, going to pick a Z up on Monday if I find somewhere with stock. So question is, Meteor or eMobile?

chrislad

Got mine today. I don't see the issues with HTCSense.com though.

It's backing up my messages, setting my phone to ring, showing me my missed calls, pinpointing me on a map, and I can remotely send apps to my phone from the site (well, the link to download the map). Contacts are also working fine. I created the account from within the phone, and chose Ireland as my network. On the site on my computer, I picked UK. I did have to go to Settings, Accounts, HTC Sense and enable Sync HTC Hub to get it to work, but it's flawless so far, and is, in fact, faster to pick up your phone and make it ring than Apples MobileMe service (which I have used since launch)

Cunning Alias

Got it working. Was messing up the password.

That call phone feature is savage.

Bluefoam

The build quality is incredible, puts Samsung galaxy to shame.

tap28

Is there any emobile/ meteor branding?

Is the Z on PAYG?

If so how much?

Is it locked to one provider?

Thanks

Tap

Cunning Alias

Pretty sure the Z and HD are only on bill pay for now.

No meteor branding that I have seen.

Typewriter

Is it €200 exactly? I was gonna get the regular desire but when I heard about the Z I knew it was the one for me.

What colour handsets are available on meteor? I hope its black.

chrislad

It's the dark greyish/silver colour.

Great news! I'll be calling to see if my local store has them. What's with the new customers restriction though?

C.D.

Got up today and all the HTCSense.com features are working.. except only on WiFi! I'll just make to only lose my phone at home so..

Abelloid

C.D. wrote: »

Got up today and all the HTCSense.com features are working.. except only on WiFi! I'll just make to only lose my phone at home so..

Are you on Meteor?

C.D.

JustinOval wrote: »

Are you on Meteor?

Yup. And signed a 12 month contract so won't be leaving anytime soon. I have alifetime subscription to WaveSecure so from a remote erase/lock/restore POV I'm fine. Would be nice to have the other features working.

Do the other Z owners here have the same problem?

Abelloid

If HTCsense is blocked Meteor will have to get their finger out and deal with these issues.

No stock in Tallaght or Liffey Valley. They both asked me whether I was a new or existing customer before saying they had none though.

kenon

The Desire Z is on meteor's online store now.

I Dropped My Yop

Agh, I dont know which to get, this or the HD.

Comparing them, obviously the HD has higher specs all round but will you notice the difference between the processors and RAM (1Ghzvs800Mhz/768MBvs512MB)?
Screen size isnt hugely important as the Z is quite large anyway and same with camera size.

I have no experience with smartphones whatsoever so I dont even know if I'd rather the qwerty keyboard on the Z which seems to be the only thing it has on the HD.

someone tell me what to do thanks

Bluefoam

I Dropped My Yop wrote: »

Agh, I dont know which to get, this or the HD.

Comparing them, obviously the HD has higher specs all round but will you notice the difference between the processors and RAM (1Ghzvs800Mhz/768MBvs512MB)?
Screen size isnt hugely important as the Z is quite large anyway and same with camera size.

I have no experience with smartphones whatsoever so I dont even know if I'd rather the qwerty keyboard on the Z which seems to be the only thing it has on the HD.

someone tell me what to do thanks

Both are great. If you don't value the extra screen size then the Z is a good choice, the keyboard is great, it has excellent build quality & is quite fast in its own right.

Oafley Jones

Bluefoam wrote: »

Both are great. If you don't value the extra screen size then the Z is a good choice, the keyboard is great, it has excellent build quality & is quite fast in its own right.

Tempted to buy this today. Only thing that concerns me is that a few reviews and a couple of members of xda have mentioned it having loose hinges as well as poor fitting back panels. What's meteor website like for returns if I get a dud. How is the external speaker, batterylife and weight bluefoam - two of those being deal breakers for me and the hd.

Bluefoam

Oafley Jones wrote: »

How is the external speaker, batterylife and weight bluefoam - two of those being deal breakers for me and the hd.

I don't actually have this phone, but have spent some time using it - I'm going for the HD, because I like the idea of a giant screen.

The Z is a little weighty, but it feels exactly right - the aluminium body is amazing.

I hear battery life is grand - typical of any smartphone - you'll get the day out of it...

I've watched some youtube clips on it & the sound was good - I wasn't particularly listening for audio quality but would have noticed if it was poor.

I did look out for poor fitting panels etc... as I had read reviews saying some were ill fitting, but I saw no sign of this - the phone feels great, its definitely a step up from any other phone in terms of build quality and feel.

Typewriter

kenon wrote: »

The Desire Z is on meteor's online store now.

Whoohoo! Just ordered mine and im chuffed that it comes in black!:D

(its just something I know would annoy me every time i looked at it.)

:):)

Bluefoam

Typewriter wrote: »

Whoohoo! Just ordered mine and im chuffed that it comes in black!:D

(its just something I know would annoy me every time i looked at it.)

:):)

I think you might find that it is a titanium/metallic colour. I know there is a black variation for the American market, but haven't heard of any for here...

Might try to get this at lunchtime tomorrow so! Has anybody who bought it used a normal desire? If so can you comment on the general speed of the device with day to day use?

chrislad

It literally goes from completely off to on in about 4 seconds. I kid you not.

In fact, I decided to use a stopwatch and time from when the HTC Logo first appears to when the lock screen appears. 2.285 seconds. Ridiculously fast.

Oafley Jones

chrislad wrote: »

It literally goes from completely off to on in about 4 seconds. I kid you not.

In fact, I decided to use a stopwatch and time from when the HTC Logo first appears to when the lock screen appears. 2.285 seconds. Ridiculously fast.

The reason it's so quick is because it's more of a hibernation than being switched off.

Cunning Alias

Iv had mine a few days now so I thought I would give some feedback.

The battery is much better than expected. I have the automatic task killer running and I watch what I have active (wi-fi etc) and the batter was only at 85% by about 8pm yesterday.

The whole this is running very fast and havn't had any problems with the features.

My only gripe about htcsense.com is that you can only use the location/ring phone/lock phone features when the phone is connected to wifi.

The keyboard is great and also works well with the emulators.

The only major issue I have noticed is the slight wobble of the screen when the keyboard is hidden. This was mentioned in one or two reviews so it seems to be a design issue. I don't notice it in general use though so as long as it doesn't get worse it will be fine. Edit: The wobble only happens when you touch some of the edges of the screen.

One other thing that annoys me is that the max volume is a bit low. This seems to be an ongoing thing with htc phones. I moved from a sony w995 which had great audio so maybe im being fussy. There seems to be a paid app to fix this though.

All in all im very happy. If that wobble problem gets any worse over the next few days, il be returning it, but aside from that it's great.

elderlemon

Guy in a meteor store today said it was heavy. Do you find it heavy or acceptable?

Cunning Alias wrote: »

Iv had mine a few days now so I thought I would give some feedback.

The battery is much better than expected. I have the automatic task killer running and I watch what I have active (wi-fi etc) and the batter was only at 85% by about 8pm yesterday.

The whole this is running very fast and havn't had any problems with the features.

My only gripe about htcsense.com is that you can only use the location/ring phone/lock phone features when the phone is connected to wifi.

The keyboard is great and also works well with the emulators.

The only major issue I have noticed is the slight wobble of the screen when the keyboard is hidden. This was mentioned in one or two reviews so it seems to be a design issue. I don't notice it in general use though so as long as it doesn't get worse it will be fine. Edit: The wobble only happens when you touch some of the edges of the screen.

One other thing that annoys me is that the max volume is a bit low. This seems to be an ongoing thing with htc phones. I moved from a sony w995 which had great audio so maybe im being fussy. There seems to be a paid app to fix this though.

All in all im very happy. If that wobble problem gets any worse over the next few days, il be returning it, but aside from that it's great.

Bluefoam

elderlemon wrote: »

Guy in a meteor store today said it was heavy. Do you find it heavy or acceptable?

I've used it a bit and it is a great quality phone - which is reflected in the weight - I felt that the weight was justified by the excellent build quality - it feels good in the hand and in the pocket.

However, if the Samsung Galaxy weighed as much I'd be pissed off as it is made from used crisp packets...

Cunning Alias

I wouldn't call it heavy. Mine spends most of the day in my pocket and I don't notice it.

I'm guessing its heavier when you compare it to other smart phones (eg desire).

chrislad

It's about 30% heavier than the Desire. You'll notice it the first time you pick it up, but after that, it's not heavy. The Desire feels a lot heavier than the Galaxy also though.

There is no problem with operating it one handed due to the weight.

I really am loving the phone. I always liked the Desire, but the added keyboard does it for me. I like being able to reply on forums without having half the screen taken up with a keyboard.

Tea_Bag

you mentioned audio, saying its not loud enough,
would you say the external speaker has/is good quality though?

i listen to alot of music...

chrislad

Quality is fine, volume isn't great. It's very crisp on headphones, even with the stock and I find the volume on calls is fine, but the external speaker isn't much to write home about.

There is, I believe, an app to increase the volume past the factory maximum, but I can't think of the name as I only read about it in passing.

Tea_Bag

thanks.

have you used a phone with a qwerty keyboard before? is so/not, how long does it take to get used to its keyboard?

really appreciate you answering these questions.
just trying to make a really informed decision, as i dont really have much money to throw around.

also, whats the camera like?

chrislad

Tea_Bag wrote: »

thanks.

have you used a phone with a qwerty keyboard before? is so/not, how long does it take to get used to its keyboard?

really appreciate you answering these questions.
just trying to make a really informed decision, as i dont really have much money to throw around.

also, whats the camera like?

I've used a lot of QWERTY phones - Nokia E63, E71, E72, Samsung Ping B3410, LG KS360. In my line of work, I have to!!

It doesn't take long. If you can type already, it's an added bonus. The only thing that will slow you down is looking for alternate characters like !@£;$% etc. Double tapping space will add a full stop, and capitalise your next letter as with most other smart phones now.

Camera is decent enough. It's not the best camera I've ever seen but the flash is decent, night photos are fine and the video recording is also quite good. I wouldn't be a massive camera user but it's perfectly suitable for my needs. Then again, if you are into pictures, you really shouldn't be using a phone anyways!

TakeTheVeil

Has anyone bought the Z from eMobile?

I'm thinking of buying it on Select 300 Bill Pay from them but theres no mention of the phone on their site yet.

Anyone know about its availability and how much it costs?

surf board

Meteor store in Dundrum have 1 left as of this moment.

Meteor Tallaght had a bunch of them on Wednesday evening. Very happy with the Z in the two days that I've been using it.

alhimself

Cunning Alias wrote: »

Iv had mine a few days now so I thought I would give some feedback.

The battery is much better than expected. I have the automatic task killer running and I watch what I have active (wi-fi etc) and the batter was only at 85% by about 8pm yesterday.

hey, got one myself the otehr day was wonderig about the auto task killer is it an app or a setting somewhere in the phone? great phone!

Colham

I just picked up this phone today too, excellent phone.

Except I'm having one problem. The phone isn't reading the micro SD card that came with the phone? this happen to anyone else? know how to fix it?

Breezer

Anybody know if the Meteor PAYG ones are unlocked and unbranded?

Unbranded they are but I'm not sure about unlocked. I can check for you later as the gf is on O2. They do come with a few apps on the rom that I have no interest in so I might look into getting rid of those.

chrislad

You can get rid of the stock apps fairly easily. One click root was released the other day. Here's a link

http://www.xda-developers.com/android/desire-z-permanent-root-and-flashing-guide/

I am using Titanium Backup to remove some stock apps, plus you can use Droid Wall to stop Angry Birds from connecting to the net (so ads won't show up!)

As always, rooting is at your own risk. If you're not 100% sure, then don't!

Cool, cheers. That's the thread I was looking at earlier so it's good to know I was on the right track. I rooted the Hero back in the day but it was a more involved process then! Droid Wall sounds very interesting too