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View Full Version : Rants about the Touch Dual? comments pls.


ReDeViL
02-03-2008, 02:24 PM
Hi guys, considering getting a Touch Dual as my next phone, currently using a HP6300 series :o

would like to gather some feedback on some of the complaints i have seen on other forums on this model. this is impt as i feel that when getting a device, i need to like both the features and also be able to accept the faults as well :)



1. Battery life - with 3G turned on my Dual can't get through a day of normal busines use without charging. With 3G turned off I have to charge it every night to get through the next day. The M600 used to survive the weekend at least (if I turned the radio off at night).

2. Signal strength - the M600 managed to hold on to its signal for most of my daily train journey to work (up the main line from Basingstoke to London). I could expect to hold onto a call for a few minutes most of the time. Unfortunately the Dual doesn't cope. In 3G mode it barely holds signal long enough to dial a call. In GSM mode, it usually drops the call before I can introduce myself. It also seems to take forever to retrain to a new cell. This drives me (and my customers) mad when someone else is happily continuing their call a few feet away at the same time.

3. Keyboard - I echo all of the points Gears made. I was pretty quick with the stylus on the M600 and hoped the keys would speed things up as the Dual has a smaller screen so is more fiddly to use with a pen. That the keyboard driver isn't clever enough to switch context sensibly just makes me laugh - insanely. That it can't display the letters as fast as I can (sensibly) type them on the keyboard is pathetic.

4. Speed and crashing - it's a joke that the software can't cope with displaying numbers on the screen as you dial them the keyboard. It's painful that often the SMS application locks up so you can't read the messages. It's ridiculous that the memory management doesn't clean up properly after you force quit these applications in an attempt to resolve these issues and you've got to reboot the phone.

I'd love to love the Dual. At first glance it's good looking and slim and light and for all its faults I'm trying to continue to use it but my blood pressure won't stand it for long. I don't want to say that there is nothing good about the Dual - WM technology has come a long way for sure - it just drives me mad that HTC, Microsoft and Orange combined can't or won't put in a little extra effort to make it do the basic things properly. I don't need a flashy media player, I need to read my emails; I don't need to make video calls over 3G, I need to make voice calls reliably; I don't need GPS but I'd love a battery which lasts better than my first GSM mobile in 1994. At the moment the Dual doesn't do it. And I'm sad about that because I don't think this specific product needs to be as frustrating as it is to use every day.


the above is a rant from coolsmartphone forumer.....
based on the above...the Touch Dual sounds almost unusable!!...:confused:

anyone care to comment on the above?? would really appreciate it :)

ohyeahar
02-03-2008, 02:45 PM
Please see following link for some of my comments on this device: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=370336

Regarding the comments about the battery, signal strength, and keyboard, I really haven't encountered any of those problems. I happen to find all these things quite alright.
The stability thing is a little true. But if you look around this forum, ppl have found various tweaks to fix most of the problems and make the device a joy to use. The comment about the phone not being able to handle numbers as you dial is quite ignorant. There is a little lag, but that's because as you dial, the phone searches through all your contacts in real time to select and display those contacts who's number and/or name matches what you are dialing. I find this feature to be extremely useful.

ReDeViL
02-03-2008, 04:44 PM
Please see following link for some of my comments on this device: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=370336

Regarding the comments about the battery, signal strength, and keyboard, I really haven't encountered any of those problems. I happen to find all these things quite alright.
The stability thing is a little true. But if you look around this forum, ppl have found various tweaks to fix most of the problems and make the device a joy to use. The comment about the phone not being able to handle numbers as you dial is quite ignorant. There is a little lag, but that's because as you dial, the phone searches through all your contacts in real time to select and display those contacts who's number and/or name matches what you are dialing. I find this feature to be extremely useful.

yup been searching around, read several "mini" reviews including views in this f0rum....but this rant seems to be the worst lol..just wanted to know if those complaints were really that bad...

although i knoe this will be a big leap from my 6300 LOL...just want to make sure i can accept its flaws...:)

1.is the ringing volume really as soft as mentioned above? my 6300 is really soft..can it get any worse than that lol

2. stability of course is of utmost importance...as long as there are tweaks to improve this...i'm cool :)

vbap
05-03-2008, 04:30 AM
generally happy with the stability. Especially after latest ROM update, have not had any impromptu phone restarts.

Tend to agree with signal strength - I have been getting drop-outs that never happened when I had a nokia E65 (also a slider).

Battery life is fine for me (ie same as all phones these days - expect to charge every night), I do not use bluetooth very often though.

I will say, though, the most annoying design is the USB port. It's exposed, and has long, thin pins. The pins in mine have gotten bent (easy to do if you put USB cable in upside down, or your child thinks it's a good place to jam the stylus), and although I can straighten with some fiddling, it's gotten pretty bad, and I will have to return to get it repaired properly.

hellogts
05-03-2008, 01:09 PM
I admit that the out-of-the-box touch dual is far from perfect. I have been using it for 6 months and I am still trying to 'tame' it. I think I have made so progress now so here it is:
1) Flash to a wm6.1 rom for the latest drivers
2) Use pocket plus instead of the HTC X-button. You have to uncheck everything in the X-button, reset, then install pocket plus
3) I use spb mobile shell 2.0 and spb diary on today only. No HTC home.
4) Disable cube --> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=368269&highlight=biotouch
After I have disabled the not-used cube, not only do I have about 7megs of memory more, but I seem to notice a significant improvement to the battery life. With spb mobile shell you absolutely don't need cube. Recommended.

hellogts
05-03-2008, 01:13 PM
Please delete

ReDeViL
05-03-2008, 02:48 PM
I admit that the out-of-the-box touch dual is far from perfect. I have been using it for 6 months and I am still trying to 'tame' it. I think I have made so progress now so here it is:
1) Flash to a wm6.1 rom for the latest drivers
2) Use pocket plus instead of the HTC X-button. You have to uncheck everything in the X-button, reset, then install pocket plus
3) I use spb mobile shell 2.0 and spb diary on today only. No HTC home.
4) Disable cube --> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=368269&highlight=biotouch
After I have disabled the not-used cube, not only do I have about 7megs of memory more, but I seem to notice a significant improvement to the battery life. With spb mobile shell you absolutely don't need cube. Recommended.

wow that sounds pretty extreme........lol
can spb mobile shell really fully replace the cube n htc home?? especially in terms of functionality and customization possibillities?

hmm...pocket plus....what about wisbar advance?
comments appreciated!! :)

eyecrispy
06-03-2008, 05:56 PM
wow that sounds pretty extreme........lol
can spb mobile shell really fully replace the cube n htc home?? especially in terms of functionality and customization possibillities?

hmm...pocket plus....what about wisbar advance?
comments appreciated!! :)

This is personal preference. I don't like pocket plus.
But I use Ultimate Launch, Mobile Shell 2, Wisbar Advance 3, BatteryStatus and PhoneAlarm to accomplish what I need.

Somewhere along the line, my volume button stopped working (it now locks up my phone) and I am too lazy to hard reset and figure out why but will do it soon.

But I'm with everyone else - while the niki is not perfect, fiddle with it a little and you'll get what you want. It's a great phone.