[Q] Did you buy HTC Surround?

msalmank · Nov 9, 2010

Hi All,

Did anyone here purchase the HTC Surround? I'm seriously considering this phone over the HD7 due to its obvious better display... plus, i'm a huge sucker for good sound and granted that the phone doesn't have that much of a high standard output, but its reported to be better than most out there still...

So how do you think does it turn out? Is it worth it?

The main thing that i hate about this is the back cover... is it plastic? Easy to break? The other thing obviously is it not having in-ear headphones.

Regards.
Salman Khalid.

teoami · Nov 9, 2010

I bought mine yesterday.

The back cover is actually nice imo. It is a soft rubberized feel. Overall the phone feels really sturdy. That is something I look for in phones. If I have to throw it at someone, I want it to hurt and not break

.

As for the sound quality, don't expect huge desktop speaker sound from it, it won't happen. But they are much better than any other phone out there.

And the surround does come with earbuds with an inline remote and mic.

msalmank · Nov 9, 2010

teoami said:
If I have to throw it at someone, I want it to hurt and not break .

LMAO! Thanks for the response... i think i'm going to do eenie meenie miney mo on the HD7 and Surround and pick one of them!

XeNoMoRpH1030 · Nov 9, 2010

I bought one Monday and it was shipped out today apparently from TX. I'm tired of the emulator and I'm ready for the real deal!

msalmank · Nov 10, 2010

XeNoMoRpH1030 said:
I bought one Monday and it was shipped out today apparently from TX. I'm tired of the emulator and I'm ready for the real deal!

Good luck with that... i went ahead and ordered the HD7 today and expect to have if by next week... Super excited right now!

Decided to go with that 'coz i wanted more of a business-use phone - not that Surround isn't one either, but HD7 just seemed to make more sense... So i guess... best of luck to all of us!

XeNoMoRpH1030 · Nov 10, 2010

When it comes to business-use, I would think a full keyboard would be best, so the LG, Dell Venue, or the HTC that will eventually be on Sprint.

Aturayd · Nov 10, 2010

I bought the surround yesterday surprisingly. I was planning on the venue pro after the surround received less than stellar reviews, though it was actually going into the store and playing with one that made me decide to get it. The store also had a working focus, though the beautiful screen wasn't enough to pull me away from the better look and feel of the surround. Fortunately the screen doesn't easily slide. If there is one thing I will complain about on the surround is its viewing angle of the screen: if you look at it from 45* or so the colors look washed out but straight on it is fine. I'll have to see if that's enough to eventually turn me off of it, but ultimately it was the surprisingly good feel and the better coverage of at&t in my area that made the decision.

76flip · Nov 11, 2010

Just ordered mine on Amazon for $99, coming from a Hero. played with the surround and the focus and didnt like how cheap the focus felt, plus even though the screen is nice and bright, it didnt look as smooth as the display on the surround. cant wait to start modding this phone.

msalmank · Nov 11, 2010

Canceled my order of the HD7... Found the Mozart at a shop today and totally fell in love with it! Ended up buying it... It's been a really good day!

d.cortez · Nov 11, 2010

msalmank said:
Canceled my order of the HD7... Found the Mozart at a shop today and totally fell in love with it! Ended up buying it... It's been a really good day!

is it a 3G Mozart? i can get one from Aussie with 3G 850 band, but it's about 800 bucks... i'm currently trying the Surround and - to my surprise - it's a pleasant surprise. i know that was a redundant statement. i will give it 2 weeks to see if it can displace my HTC Desire as a daily driver. i like having options and Windows Phone 7 is a viable option depending on your needs.. i know, that was a redundant statement as well.

fillmanw1 · Nov 12, 2010

Big Disapiontment!

Bought my Surround on monday on it's release. Will return it tommorow. Very disapointed. I was sure hoping for more out of Microsoft. The lack of a file system to work with, no external memmory, unable to sync outlook...I hated the IPhone because of ITunes. The Zune software might even be worse.....

Aturayd · Nov 12, 2010

fillmanw1 said:
Bought my Surround on monday on it's release. Will return it tommorow. Very disapointed. I was sure hoping for more out of Microsoft. The lack of a file system to work with, no external memmory, unable to sync outlook...I hated the IPhone because of ITunes. The Zune software might even be worse.....

So you bought this device on day 1 of its release and had NO idea it didnt have an accessible file system or external memory? WHY do you need access to the file system? Ive had WM devices since WM2003 and using the file system was just a necessary evil since there were no other integrated solutions to accessing the stuff you needed. Maybe you should return it because it doesnt come with a stylus too.

emjee87 · Nov 12, 2010

I am also interested in how people are feeling about their new phones? I'm (stuck) on AT&T and was deciding between this and the Focus. I previously owned an iPhone 4 and a Samsung captivate so I had grown used to the slim form factor and beautiful SAMOLED screen on the Galaxy-S line. Also, after reading some reviews on the Surround regarding the screen quality and viewing angles (poor black levels and contrast, poor viewing angles). However, I often find I disagree with reviews, such as in the case of my Focus where I particularly like the lightweight body and find the plastic body to look and feel classy and sleek, not cheap.

So TLDR; How are you are liking your Surrounds?

frost0044 · Nov 13, 2010

I'm pretty satisfied with the Surround overall the battery life sucks but it's to be expected. But I might have to go against the grain on the Focus vs Surround (screen wise). While I thought the brightness and viewing angles on the Focus was great the sharpness really bothered me. The AT&T store had the two of them side by side and once I noticed the pixel/grid effect on the Focus it bugged me to no end. I was just comparing the tiles on the home screen like the XBOX on both units and I could see a noticeable difference. Am I the only one that noticed it?

76flip · Nov 13, 2010

frost0044 said:
I'm pretty satisfied with the Surround overall the battery life sucks but it's to be expected. But I might have to go against the grain on the Focus vs Surround (screen wise). While I thought the brightness and viewing angles on the Focus was great the sharpness really bothered me. The AT&T store had the two of them side by side and once I noticed the pixel/grid effect on the Focus it bugged me to no end. I was just comparing the tiles on the home screen like the XBOX on both units and I could see a noticeable difference. Am I the only one that noticed it?

I went to the ATT store and only had a chance to play with the surround, and then decided on that because ive always thought HTC made the best phones and have always thought samsungs were cheap construction. I then read a bunch of reviews saying how great the focus was so i went back the next day and did the same side to side. When the sales associate came up and asked me if I had any questions I told her I was trying to decide between the phones and I was VERY picky, and I didnt like the screen of the focus. she said " REALLY?!?!" and I was pointed out how you could see pixels on the focus between the tiles and i drove me nuts. I also felt like the focus could be snapped in half, and actually like the weight and size of the surround.

I ordered the Surround when i got home.

d.cortez · Nov 13, 2010

i've been using the Surround for 3 days and here are my personal, unscientific observations:

the good....
- responsive
- simple, straight-forward OS
- nice, clear, easy to read screen
- outlook integration; simple email setup with Outlook 03 or 07
- good calendar app
- good call quality and volume
- loud ringtones
- great keyboard!
- 16 GB of onboard space

the not-so-good or, things i've gotten accustomed to with other phones that i'd miss with WP7
- no conversation view in email, no integrated inbox
- no contact lookup via phone dialpad
- limited customization (e.g., cannot use your own ringtones)
- no text reflow; zoom in/out increases the font size but you have to move the screen to read text in web pages and email (a biggie for me)
- small fonts in txt msg app
- no shuffle for play lists; it's only available when playing "all music/songs"
- surround is heavy relative to my HTC Desire
- 5 minutes max on screen timeout and screen lock
- no tethering app
- external speaker is wasted space; give me a keyboard or reduce the size of device
- no copy & paste
- *sigh* battery life; for me it was not good. i had 3.25 hours in calls on day 2 and it simply killed my battery.

now despite all the not-so-good stuff, i'm still planning to go with WP7, but it won't be with the Surround and i'll wait a few months before stepping back into the Windows Phone world. my ideal WP7 phone is the HTC Mozart; similar specs to the Surround (except for storage) but in a HTC Desire/Nexus One package. i'm not diggin the extra girth and size of the Surround.

i've been majorly spoiled by my HTC Desire, Nexus One, Android and the wealth of options that are available with that platform. so, in summary, kudos to MS for delivering a good foundation OS. at this point, i'm not ready for WP7.

hope this feedback is helpful...

aiko1968 · Nov 15, 2010

re: cortez.i 's post

I've only had it a few days but noticed so many differences from that and my Tilt 2. You mentioned " outlook integration; simple email setup with Outlook 03 or 07"
I'm trying my best to sync my Outlook contacts and calendar and have no idea what to do. I use it for work so I've become accustomed to the Outlook built in on WM 6.5, now it's gone on WM7. I like the phone but am fairly certain if I can't get fixes to sync my work mail and calendar I'm going to have to wait for a new ROM from the genius here before I use it as my #1 phone.

panflute · Nov 15, 2010

htc surround

All in all i have no complaints about the phone. There are some software bugz MS needs to work out, and they will. I had several bugz -Marketplace stopped working, my email quit working, I couldn't fix or update anything. So I hard reset the phone and connected to the computer and to my surprise the Zune software reinstalled all of my apps (in the background without my knowledge) and everything now works fine. All I had to do was reset my email and other personal settings.

Aturayd · Nov 15, 2010

cortez.i said:
i've been using the Surround for 3 days and here are my personal, unscientific observations:

the good....
- responsive
- simple, straight-forward OS
- nice, clear, easy to read screen
- outlook integration; simple email setup with Outlook 03 or 07
- good calendar app
- good call quality and volume
- loud ringtones
- great keyboard!
- 16 GB of onboard space

the not-so-good or, things i've gotten accustomed to with other phones that i'd miss with WP7
- no conversation view in email, no integrated inbox
- no contact lookup via phone dialpad
- limited customization (e.g., cannot use your own ringtones)
- no text reflow; zoom in/out increases the font size but you have to move the screen to read text in web pages and email (a biggie for me)
- small fonts in txt msg app
- no shuffle for play lists; it's only available when playing "all music/songs"
- surround is heavy relative to my HTC Desire
- 5 minutes max on screen timeout and screen lock
- no tethering app
- external speaker is wasted space; give me a keyboard or reduce the size of device
- no copy & paste
- *sigh* battery life; for me it was not good. i had 3.25 hours in calls on day 2 and it simply killed my battery.

now despite all the not-so-good stuff, i'm still planning to go with WP7, but it won't be with the Surround and i'll wait a few months before stepping back into the Windows Phone world. my ideal WP7 phone is the HTC Mozart; similar specs to the Surround (except for storage) but in a HTC Desire/Nexus One package. i'm not diggin the extra girth and size of the Surround.

i've been majorly spoiled by my HTC Desire, Nexus One, Android and the wealth of options that are available with that platform. so, in summary, kudos to MS for delivering a good foundation OS. at this point, i'm not ready for WP7. hope this feedback is helpful...

the Surround is only 1mm thicker than its twin the Trophy and 1mm taller. I wouldn't call that extra girth.

Dan.308 · Nov 15, 2010

I don't post much but I've been a member for quite a while.

My wife surprised me with a new HTC Surround on 11-12. After a Hermes, Tilt and Tilt2 I was on the fence nut I have to say I'm pretty happy so far in light of its few restrictions so far. Hopefully the expected OS update in January will resolve that. If not, I'm sure someone on XDA will come up with the fixes.

At first I missed the file system till I realized I didn't need it. I too was a little upset with needing a Hotmail account to sync my contacts and calendar but I'm hopeful Windows Mobile Device Center will be updated shortly to accomodate the WP7 phones once the USB connectivity is fixed. Right now USB connectivity is limited to Zune. The January release is supposed to address USB tethering, maybe data syncing will be fixed with that as well.

I would like to see a proper youtube player like the Noonski version and a WiFi Router app.

All in all though, I'm very happy with how Microsoft has been careful to make this a smooth, reliable, and modern OS.

[Q] Did you buy HTC Surround?

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