Just got my HTC Touch HD...

what about the htc hero or whitestone? got an older htc brick but quite tied to the pop out keyboard...would lurve to replace

http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/167279-htc_hero_slide_01_slide.jpg

does look like wheels should pop out and morph it into a skateboard

ahhh anyone using spb mobile shell? and got a seriel number can they pm it.

has anybody downloaded any alternative landscape qwerty keyboards with larger keys that they can recommend? on a youtube review the demonstrator showed a couple he had but i didnt keep the video link sadly.

also is it possible to upload your own ringtones and if so how to you add them to the list of tones and assign people to groups that have different ring tones?

that looks so sexy, i wish i could afford it

I regert renewing my contract with Tmobile and getting a Nokia 5800. Tha phone has a mind of its own.

Was gunna get a HTC but decided that one :/

my favourite handsets on the market today are the HTC Magic and HTC Hero.

I like iPhones but I don't like Apple's artificial restrictions on them.
I don't like Windows Mobile (haven't seen 6.5 in action yet though so can't comment on it)
I like BlackBerry but the Storm was an abortion. The Bold is excellent, and I'm using a Curve 8900 at the moment which is lovely but lacks 3G - ie it's great as a work phone.
i am a fan of Nokia but S60 is looking a bit ropey at the moment. I'm using an N97 this week and am struggling to understand how they allowed it out of the factory. It's the buggiest, slowest and least intuitive handset i've used since the Samsung Omnia, which is saying a bit. Pretty embarrassing for Nokia, actually.
Some of Samsung's new handsets have stunning hardware (the AMOLED screens they use on the Omnia HD, Jet, Omnia 2 and Galaxy are fucking insanely cool) but I'm not a huge fan of Samsung's TouchWiz UI (and they use it on WinMo and proprietary OS phones - ie the Jet). Speaking of the Jet, it totally cranks because it uses the same 800MHz chipset as the Omnia 2 but runs a proprietary non-smartphone OS, so it runs much lighter, but it still has most of the features that people want in smartphones. Nice.

The HTC Magic would be perfect for me if it had a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Hero has a 3.5mm jack (yay!!) but the HTC Sense UI they've added slows the responsiveness of the handset a bit. It is a fucking amazing UI (better than iPhone UI in my opinion) but it needs beefier hardware. I am a big wrap for Android though, I think it's the duck's pajamas.

That is my opinion but everyone has different needs from their phone.

@badtmy - have you seen this?

YouTube - Samsung Omnia i8910 HD vs. Nokia N97 benchmark

Nokia's hardware strategy looks like a major error of judgement.

my favourite handsets on the market today are the HTC Magic and HTC Hero.

I like iPhones but I don't like Apple's artificial restrictions on them.
I don't like Windows Mobile (haven't seen 6.5 in action yet though so can't comment on it)
I like BlackBerry but the Storm was an abortion. The Bold is excellent, and I'm using a Curve 8900 at the moment which is lovely but lacks 3G - ie it's great as a work phone.
i am a fan of Nokia but S60 is looking a bit ropey at the moment. I'm using an N97 this week and am struggling to understand how they allowed it out of the factory. It's the buggiest, slowest and least intuitive handset i've used since the Samsung Omnia, which is saying a bit. Pretty embarrassing for Nokia, actually.
Some of Samsung's new handsets have stunning hardware (the AMOLED screens they use on the Omnia HD, Jet, Omnia 2 and Galaxy are fucking insanely cool) but I'm not a huge fan of Samsung's TouchWiz UI (and they use it on WinMo and proprietary OS phones - ie the Jet). Speaking of the Jet, it totally cranks because it uses the same 800MHz chipset as the Omnia 2 but runs a proprietary non-smartphone OS, so it runs much lighter, but it still has most of the features that people want in smartphones. Nice.

The HTC Magic would be perfect for me if it had a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Hero has a 3.5mm jack (yay!!) but the HTC Sense UI they've added slows the responsiveness of the handset a bit. It is a fucking amazing UI (better than iPhone UI in my opinion) but it needs beefier hardware. I am a big wrap for Android though, I think it's the duck's pajamas.

That is my opinion but everyone has different needs from their phone.

Your views exactly mirror mine.

Except I would've included mention of SE's venture into Symbian smart phones which I tried for a while. Good for the time (3 or 4 years ago) but dire now.

Android and most likely the Hero will be my next phone.

Nokia have failed with everything they've done since the 6210.

Sony took over but now their handsets are getting clunkier.. I want to upgrade my K810i.

I don't like the slow response of the HTC Touch HD screeen.
It's a fucking phone - I shouldn't have to wait for it!

I've tried the W995 and it's ok but they've gone megapixel mental but ditched the lens cover and downgraded the flash..

I like the iphone UI and I'm close to buying one but I really want a better camera so I don't need to carry a compact camera AND phone while on the bike.

Any suggestions, phone geeks?

Megapixel mental, but still with a miniature lens that is going to let a poor amount of light through. Basic photography is just "get as much light as possible".

It won't be for a while, but for camera phones to stand a chance at seriously replacing cameras even for casual shots that need to be kept, the lens need to be bigger and optical zoom needs to appear.

No-one in their right mind will ditch their camera on vacation for example.

@andyp we were doing exactly that comparison at work on Wednesday. The Omnia HD makes the N97 look umm.... well let's just say that Nokia has some serious work to do.

someone asked me last night which phone I would buy (if i ever bought a phone). I honestly don't know what I'd buy, because there is nothing on the market that meets all of my needs, and you have to compromise somewhere.

I would buy something like a HTC Touch Pro2 running Android and the Sense UI, if they actually made it and put in a faster chipset.

I think the phone I enjoyed the most both in functionality and camera wise was the LG viewty.

I am looking forward to the Sony Ericsson Xperia X3 (running Android with SE customisations) but it's a little while off and SE don't have a great recent track record at living up to expectations.

Hippy the Samsung Pixxon 12 has a mental camera. Still, as VB says the sensors are so small and the lenses are so cheap and crap that it's not really worth ditching a proper camera.

Megapixel mental, but still with a miniature lens that is going to let a poor amount of light through. Basic photography is just "get as much light as possible".

It won't be for a while, but for camera phones to stand a chance at seriously replacing cameras even for casual shots that need to be kept, the lens need to be bigger and optical zoom needs to appear.

No-one in their right mind will ditch their camera on vacation for example.

I'm not "of sound mind" though, I think we could agree. I have (had) a DSLR and collection of lenses and liked spending some time taking 'proper' photos. Now, I don't give a shit. If I could get Canon Ixus type shots from my phone I'd be happy. I can't, so I make do with the best I can get.. which is the Sony I have at the moment. It works ok in daylight and has a proper flash for drunken club pics. It's not the best but I refuse to carry a camera AND phone when cycling and often now when going on short trips too. It's Mal's Ixus so I don't always take it and my 10D is unused.
If thy made a K995, ie. camera-focused version of the current best sony then I'd probably get that. But they've made the camera shittier than mine (forgetting the MPs for a bit - you just get more pixels of shit).

I am looking forward to the Sony Ericsson Xperia X3 (running Android with SE customisations) but it's a little while off and SE don't have a great recent track record at living up to expectations.

Hippy the Samsung Pixxon 12 has a mental camera. Still, as VB says the sensors are so small and the lenses are so cheap and crap that it's not really worth ditching a proper camera.

Looks like an iPhone..

I don't like Samsung phones.. they've always been shit.

It's always worth ditching a proper camera. It gives me the excuse I need for shit pics :) Seriously though, a Canon Ixus doesn't do what I want so why bother carrying it? It's DSLR or nothing and I'd prefer the light weight cameraphone option.

Nokia have failed with everything they've done since the 6210.

True Dat - 6210 was the king of phones, since then i feel that while handsets can do more, their actual primary use as a phone, and ease and quality of use for that purpose has been on the slide - i have an iPhone and a Bold, both great devices, but as mobile phones a 20 quid pay as you go nokia shits on them.

badtmy, have you used the HTC Hero? How does it compare with the HTC Magic?

Do you need a long-term second opinion on either of them? :)

The Hero represents a valiant effort from HTC -- though unfortunately, the company appears to have bitten off more than its last-generation hardware can chew. If this build of Android were to be loaded atop the guts of a 3GS or Pre, the performance would likely be astounding, but fused with the two-year old architecture of previous devices, it's mostly disappointing. We're not saying this isn't the best build of Android on the market -- we think it is. What we [I]are saying is that this build is a bit too much for a device like the Hero to handle, and that makes for an uneven, sometimes frustrating experience. Going into the review, we desperately wanted to love this phone, but given the combination of a few poor hardware choices and an OS which outclasses the device it runs on, we can only recommend that you enter at your own risk. HTC has an explosive entry in the smartphone category with what its done on the software side... now it just needs the hardware to match.[/I]
http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/htc-hero-review/

Sounds like it'll pay to wait for the next one.