Be Fair to The Diamond!

[zaki67]

I have been reading in this forum ,and many other sites about the Diamond and one would think that this is the worst device ever created.I have one and have been using it for about a week ,I got it as a replacement to the Kaiser and I think that it is a worthy replacement.It can do everything the Kaiser did ,I got used to the keyboard.No device is perfect but I think that all the minor problems are being overblown.
i am using 3dTF without any tweaking and it is working well.
My only comment would be maybe that the battery life is not so great.

[Dark Fire]

I think the Touch Diamond is better than any other device currently available, and it will be for the forseeable future. I suppose people just have different opinions. However, if they don't like the way HTC is going, it makes you wonder why they're using these forums...

[rorydaredkign]

But for the £450/$900 you've probably paid out, wouldn't you expect no problems? Or maybe not no problems, but the battery is pretty poor from what I hear, and thats a pretty major concern to me.
But fair enough if you can deal with it, as you say, it's a personal thing.
Rory

[someone1234]

I think the niggling problems will be fixed in rom updates anyway.. especially once its released on loads of operators, i think we'll see alot of rom versions around.

Its actually the first phone i can see myself keeping for more than a year.

[Dark Fire]

But for the £450/$900 you've probably paid out, wouldn't you expect no problems? Or maybe not no problems, but the battery is pretty poor from what I hear, and thats a pretty major concern to me.
Rory

The thing is that all of the problems that people talk about are problems that I've never lived without or that I can easily cope with. Poor battery? I've always charged overnight anyway. Laggy interface? TouchFLO was laggy too. Random things happening? I'd bet that my Sendo M550 did more random things more often.

Don't forget that, until a year ago, I was still using my Sendo M550 on a daily basis. :)

[adesonic]

Must say that after 2 days of owning my diamond I am hugely impressed - it does everything I want and more - sure, if you are a heavy user and you are going to be away from an electricity supply for more than 12 hours you will have a problem, beyond that I don't see any issues!

[SolusCado]

I am absolutely ecstatic with my Diamond. I've had it for a couple weeks now and it is by far the best phone I've ever had. Honestly, I think some people just like to bitch. A lot of the real complainers have never even used one, and for those that have - I don't know what the hell they've BEEN using that they expect such perfection out of the Diamond.

I think also that a lot of people just don't even understand the concept of mass appeal. If the phone doesn't work exactly the way THEY want it to work then the phone must SUCK.

It's particularly interesting to me because I see the same attitudes in the anti-PC/pro-MAC crowd. I think a lot of people just don't understand the value in a flexible, customizable device. The things that I love about WinMo are the very things others complain about. I like that I can tweak the registry to adjust the touch sensitivity to my preference. Or the flow of animations, etc.

Others expect it to work precisely the way that is best for them out of the gate and don't want to have to tweak it, but they don't seem to consider the reality of the fact that they aren't the only person in the world, and manufacturers have to design products that work for the greates number of users out there...

[KukurikU]

you can also can read this (sorry for self promoting;)) but is good to read something good about diamond:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=2315506#post2315506

[czbird]

How can I be positive about the device which sucks my battery within 8 hours (as if the GPS was still on) or where I cannot simply remap stupid Home button to Start Menu which I am deeply used to without any weird 3rd party tools like AE Button Plus etc etc... so far this is my first and last htc unless the major issues are fixed. TF3D? Removed, not impressed... I got this for work and not for fancy show-outs in a pub :/

Edit - also forgot about the cathastrophical speaker quality (not the one used in a call, the "loud" one) - my grandma's phone rings better...

[adesonic]

czbird - you are clearly unhappy with your purchase - why don't you return it/ sell it and look for something that will be more suitable for your needs?

[SolusCado]

How can I be positive about the device which sucks my battery within 8 hours (as if the GPS was still on) or where I cannot simply remap stupid Home button to Start Menu which I am deeply used to without any weird 3rd party tools like AE Button Plus etc etc... so far this is my first and last htc unless the major issues are fixed. TF3D? Removed, not impressed... I got this for work and not for fancy show-outs in a pub :/

Edit - also forgot about the cathastrophical speaker quality (not the one used in a call, the "loud" one) - my grandma's phone rings better...
The power in phones like this are precisely that you CAN do what you want via 3rd party tools. If you want everything to work the way that is best for you (and who really cares about the rest of the buyers, right?), just start your own phone company.

[czbird]

OK, taken into extreme - how'd you like to have to install some crappy freeware to scroll through your contacts? Some features are simply supposed to be built-in :rolleyes:
This ain't my first PDA, no need for teaching.

[SolusCado]

OK, taken into extreme - how'd you like to have to install some crappy freeware to scroll through your contacts? Some features are simply supposed to be built-in :rolleyes:
This ain't my first PDA, no need for teaching.
:) Well... I recall going through quite a few freeware apps, and even some trial versions of purchase software, to scroll through my contacts in the way I wanted to scroll through them (i.e. with my finger w/ kinetic scrolling instead of the tap tap tap of my stylus). It's not like your Home button doesn't work - it doesn't work the way YOU want it to. And that's what 3rd party apps are for.

[czbird]

Still misunderstood - I was used to assign special functions to the buttons only by tweaking the scan code settings in the registry, now the problem with the Diamond is, that it ignores whatever I try to set up the key to, as there are some htc handlers which deal with these keys. Now these have to be overriden by another keyboard handlers which will finally give me the possibility to change the key behavior. This way is quite complicated, annoying to set up, and the extra software also unnecessarily eats device resources...

[Dark Fire]

I got this for work and not for fancy show-outs in a pub :/


The Touch Pro is the business-equivalent of the Diamond. You've got the PPC world's equivalent of a Ferrari, and you're trying to use it like a tractor. The Diamond was designed with the pub in mind...:p

[SolusCado]

:) Well put Dark Fire.

[rorydaredkign]

Surely its primary use is as a business phone, if you want a phone to pull out in the pub, you get one everyone knows is amazing like the N96 (when released), or stupidly the iPhone.
Nobody knows what the Diamond is, unless you know about PPC's.
Rory

[KukurikU]

hate all this futile winning! if you bought it and u are not happy with it send it back! stop complaining! yes, it's not perfect but i don't dare to think how would you react after buying an iPhone.
i don't get it. ppl come here to ask (sometimes stupid) questions BEFORE they buy a diamond. i can't stand that they came back after buying it and keep complaining.
look at all the ppl here that are learning one from each other, look and read about the already new ROM and all the tweaks. try some. take yr balls in you hand, accept the risk of bricking it and flash it!! than come back and tell us how you made it or why you didn't. be useful! nobody is interested in yr complains.
i begin to think that three are only 2 ways with diamond: love it or hate it!

[Dark Fire]

Surely its primary use is as a business phone, if you want a phone to pull out in the pub, you get one everyone knows is amazing like the N96 (when released), or stupidly the iPhone.
Nobody knows what the Diamond is, unless you know about PPC's.
Rory

More of the people that I know, know about the Touch Diamond than the N96 (probably my fault). TBH, the only reason I know about the N96 is because one of my friends has the N95. And as I've said before, most people I know think that people with an iPhone are retards.

The HTC Touch Diamond is perfectly designed for the pub - it's amazing, and rare, so you can show it off to satisfy people's curiosity instead of just showing it off to look cool (which makes you look sad). Also, as the Touch Diamond is not well known, it's less likely to be stolen (wouldn't you rather go for an iPhone than a random phone you've never heard of, with unknown specs?). Also, the Touch Diamond has a distinctive design, so your mates at the pub will be more likely remember the device and associate you with it.

Also, as it has been shown before, business people generally like keyboards and the general public generally hate keyboards. Therefore the Touch Diamond is not a business device. Business people also prefer complex UIs, which can show all of their calendar events (or fulfil any other random but important business requirements) - simplified stylish UIs are just not normally suitable for business...but they can still be appreciated after several pints of Magners. :)

[rorydaredkign]

Normal users dont use the calendar on their phone. They dont use the web browser, then done have tasks, all they use it for is calls, texts and entertainment.
And, saying its been proved that normal users don't like keyboards is total crap, we have however proved that almost every phone ever released has a keyboard of some type, so theyre used to it.
Plus, I bet the Diamond as its network branded variants will be in the Business type section of all the stores and brochures, much like the Touch, Dual and Cruise were.

[P996]

I own tons of other phones, incl. the iPhone and the Nokia E90 and N95 8GB. I also own the HTC TyTN II and other WM phones like the Samsung i780 or i-mate 9502.

So far, my "top list" includes the Nokia E90, Nokia N95 8GB, iPhone and the new SonyEricsson C902(small, very flat and a marvelous easy to use and fast 5MP camera).
The Touch Diamond leaves mixed feelings. I like Windows Mobile a lot, actually more than Symbian but Symbian is more usable on a daily basis. It is difficult to describe.
The new Touchflo3D GUI for the Touch Diamond is beautiful and in my opinion much nicer than the also fabulous iPhone GUI. Problem with the Touch Diamond: the Touchflo3D GUI doesn't work even close to the way the iPhone GUI works.
HTC started something new, very likekly forced into it by the iPhone hype in the US.
Unfortunately the first Touch was as crappy as can be compared to the iPhone, the touch functionality almost unusable(compared to the iPhone, keep that in mind).

Yes, the Touch Diamond is a beautiful phone and in my opinion better looking than the iPhone. I also like the GUI design of the Touch Diamond much more than the one on the iPhone. Unfortunately this is everything I can say about the Touch Diamond, used on a daily basis and compared to the usability of the iPhone, the Touch Diamond sucks big time, sorry to say that. Yes, I could remove Touchflo3D and the device would be a bit faster(trust me, not by much, I already tried). Where's the point though? I like Touchflo3D...but not how it works(it works crappy, not even close to iPhone touch perfection), I like how it looks(icons, fonts, etc.).

No doubt, the HTC Touch Diamond is an eye catcher and at the first glance, it works very well. The first impression is very wrong however, it isn't much fun to use Touchflo3D on this unit and whoever used an iPhone before, knows what I'm talking about.
Yes, I know that the Touch Diamond display uses a different technology than the one used for the iPhone, allowing the usage of a stylus. Still: if HTC wants to give people an iPhone-like touch usage experience(and from what I can tell, I think they really do), they need to find better solutions.

I paid around 530 EUR for the HTC Touch Diamond. Is it worth it the price tag? Right now, I doubt it. Yes, it looks perfectly built and it is probably the highest quality piece of WM hardware HTC ever built in the past. Everything else, especially the usability is only average and apparently the Touch Diamond doesn't even have Quadband GSM, very strange if i look at the network band settings in my device which even seems to allow to choose UMTS 1700(T-Mobile USA). Maybe HTC just forgot to tweak the OS but it is a pitty that the Touch Diamond doesn't seem to be capable to switch through all those frequency bands.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to bash the Touch Diamond, god forbid.
I bought it though more for my personal amusement(cooked ROMs) than for real daily work.
Many people don't seem to like Touchflo3D and I think they're wrong. This is how the Windows Mobile GUI should look in the first place, we're living in the 21th century for god's sake. I have hopes regarding WM7, lets just hope that hardware manufacturers like Qualcomm or Marvel come up with more powerful solutions at less energy consumption.

[zaki67]

I own tons of other phones, incl. the iPhone and the Nokia E90 and N95 8GB. I also own the HTC TyTN II and other WM phones like the Samsung i780 or i-mate 9502.

So far, my "top list" includes the Nokia E90, Nokia N95 8GB, iPhone and the new SonyEricsson C902(small, very flat and a marvelous easy to use and fast 5MP camera).
The Touch Diamond leaves mixed feelings. I like Windows Mobile a lot, actually more than Symbian but Symbian is more usable on a daily basis. It is difficult to describe.
The new Touchflo3D GUI for the Touch Diamond is beautiful and in my opinion much nicer than the also fabulous iPhone GUI. Problem with the Touch Diamond: the Touchflo3D GUI doesn't work even close to the way the iPhone GUI works.
HTC started something new, very likekly forced into it by the iPhone hype in the US.
Unfortunately the first Touch was as crappy as can be compared to the iPhone, the touch functionality almost unusable(compared to the iPhone, keep that in mind).

Yes, the Touch Diamond is a beautiful phone and in my opinion better looking than the iPhone. I also like the GUI design of the Touch Diamond much more than the one on the iPhone. Unfortunately this is everything I can say about the Touch Diamond, used on a daily basis and compared to the usability of the iPhone, the Touch Diamond sucks big time, sorry to say that. Yes, I could remove Touchflo3D and the device would be a bit faster(trust me, not by much, I already tried). Where's the point though? I like Touchflo3D...but not how it works(it works crappy, not even close to iPhone touch perfection), I like how it looks(icons, fonts, etc.).

No doubt, the HTC Touch Diamond is an eye catcher and at the first glance, it works very well. The first impression is very wrong however, it isn't much fun to use Touchflo3D on this unit and whoever used an iPhone before, knows what I'm talking about.
Yes, I know that the Touch Diamond display uses a different technology than the one used for the iPhone, allowing the usage of a stylus. Still: if HTC wants to give people an iPhone-like touch usage experience(and from what I can tell, I think they really do), they need to find better solutions.

I paid around 530 EUR for the HTC Touch Diamond. Is it worth it the price tag? Right now, I doubt it. Yes, it looks perfectly built and it is probably the highest quality piece of WM hardware HTC ever built in the past. Everything else, especially the usability is only average and apparently the Touch Diamond doesn't even have Quadband GSM, very strange if i look at the network band settings in my device which even seems to allow to choose UMTS 1700(T-Mobile USA). Maybe HTC just forgot to tweak the OS but it is a pitty that the Touch Diamond doesn't seem to be capable to switch through all those frequency bands.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to bash the Touch Diamond, god forbid.
I bought it though more for my personal amusement(cooked ROMs) than for real daily work.
Many people don't seem to like Touchflo3D and I think they're wrong. This is how the Windows Mobile GUI should look in the first place, we're living in the 21th century for god's sake. I have hopes regarding WM7, lets just hope that hardware manufacturers like Qualcomm or Marvel come up with more powerful solutions at less energy consumption.

I agree that the TF3D is not prefect,I think that there should be a program to disable it during woking hours so that one can get all the calender and other things on the home screen.I think that the problem with it is that it takes the whole home page while most people who use WM love it because of all the customization ,the 3D interface leaves nothing for the user to play with.BUT at least one has a choice to completly remove the 3D and put any other program (SPB Shell,Plus, ...endless possibilites)and that is WM for me I can do what ever I like and customize almost everything in the device,I have used the iphone and nice as it may be I usually get bored and change the whole experience on my WM which is not doable on an iphone it is more of a take it or leave product.

[HandySpanner]

I am a Computer Scientist
Wow! What constitutes being a Computer Scientist? What sorts of research do you do?