17 replies to this topic

[shadragon]

I have been saving for a new phone and for the last few months I have had my eye on a new Android phone from HTC. I waited patiently while the price dropped under my budget and it arrived yesterday.

Got to say, compared to my old Blackberry this 2.3.3 Android HTC Incredible S is a dream. Yes, the name has resulted in a lot of ribbing from my friends here for obvious reasons, but It was made for me. It has built in GPS for locating dive sites, WiFi for cutting down on data bills, decent 8MB video / still camera with additional forward facing camera for video conferences. It can handle my 6 email accounts brilliantly along with SMS and various apps. Oh yes and three types of Angry Birds installed. Plus, I was able to remote control a computer at work using the 4" screen and fix a work issue from the dive shop. As it came unlocked I dropped my BB SIM card in there and was rocking in minutes after uploading 12GB of music.

There are faster, newer and "better" phones out there, but none in my budget and tablets are too unwieldy for me to carry. Plus, where I live only just got 3G working so 4G is still a LONG way away.

I used this site here to find it. Was able to eliminate a number of bad candidates as a result.

[drifter]

Simon,
Are they paying you a commission for this? Seriously, great review! I've been debating an upgrade from my Palm Treo Pro (yeah, I started out with Windows Mobile...ugh). I'd like to start working with app development, and while you can do that in a simulator, actually having a device in hand would be better. You may have convinced me that it's time to upgrade (again). Thanks (I think?) !!

Scott

[WreckWench]

Who is the carrier for this phone? Or can you buy one and register it with any carrier?

I am currently using the Android slider and its a piece of crap. A month ago it failed so totally NOTHING could be retrieved from the memory chip so I lost all my contants...this amounted to 10 years or contacts...GONE.

My new phone was replaced under warranty and I was slowly rebuilding the contacts and last week it decided to arbitrarily wipe the entire contacts and call log off the phone. And yes you are supposed to be able to upload your contacts to the carrier's server BUT you have to be able to get your email downloaded first and I can't do that.

So I pay a lot of money for a web enabled phone that I can't check email on and can't load the marketplace so I can download the new celphone ap that Scott loaded so I can use our site more easily.

[peterbj7]

A while back I bought a Huawei Ideos Android 2.2. I had never heard of Huawei, but now I realise that they make phones for most of the really big names. It's GSM 3G, way smaller than most offerings out there (a far more important point than most people realise), and performs really well. It is of course open and unlocked, so it'll work with any GSM network. I got it from http://www.expansys-...nlocked-208015/ .

To use most of its features you need access to a data service, which here in Belize is prohibitively expensive. As I don't need those features I don't subscribe to such a service and don't have them, so the phone is to me just a phone, and a really good-sounding music machine with 32gb storage. But what I really wanted, which was a replacement for my HE330 organiser, it doesn't come close to delivering so I'm selling it to a friend. If I were in the States or UK I'd keep it, but here it's rather pointless, as are most smart phones.

If anyone knows of a smart phone which genuinely gives Palm3-type organiser capabilities, please tell me.

Edited by peterbj7, 04 July 2011 - 09:54 AM.

[shadragon]

Nope, no compensation Scott. I researched long and hard what I needed and grabbed it. HTC makes dozens of phones (Windows 7 and Android based) and I made sure it was the best for me. Basically it is a "World" phone that will operate on any GSM network globally. A lady I work with wanted a new phone a few months ago and I got her an HTC Wildfire which started my own search after using it for a few days to set it up. It is a smaller / cheaper option with a little less functionality. I got the Android over Windows for solid reasons. Better selection of apps, no draconian limits or forced contracts. Plus, the Windows phones for the most part only work in the US where I do not live.

The real benefit of HTC is HTC Sense which is a built in interface that runs on top of Android for a really intuitive feel. If you don't like where an icon is (or isn't) you can add, move or delete it.

Wenchie - The phone came unlocked and I can use whatever carrier I want. If I travel I pull out the local SIM card and buy a pre-paid SIM card for the place I am going. Much cheaper. There is an app I grabbed today called Lookout, that A) Scans your phone for malicious software once a week and when you install new software. B) Backs up (and restores) your data at https://www.mylookout.com/ C) If the phone is lost / stolen you can track it on the same website using the built in GPS to find it. All of my Gmail contacts came over fine and I will never lose those so added redundancy there.

Peter - Android phones are "chatty" and use a lot of bandwidth. I pay $45 for unlimited data a month so it is no issue for me, but the nice thing is I have wireless at work and home so when in either place it does not cost me anything for data. I make sure if I am downloading files (music, pics, vids. I upped 12GB of files onto the phone in the first 4 hours.) or upgrading that I am on wireless first. It really helps. You can also plug it into a PC for file transfers. Nice thing is you can turn off any data connection you do not want to use. Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, even the phone network. I can turn the phone into a Wireless hub as well and use my laptop wirelessly on the phone unlimited data plan. Slow, but workable. As for Palm level organization, I am sure you can find an app to do what you want. If not, talk to Scott and he can design the next killer app. hahaha

The only downside of moving from Blackberry was the loss of Blackberry Messenger, but I am told RIM is working on Android and iOS versions of BBM and it will come out this year. Until then, I will use SMS and email.

Here is a Twenty minute YouTube review on the phone I got. Bit long winded but shows off the phone nicely. As a note he does not show off a lot of the features and only covers about half of what it can do.

[shadragon]

I should mention that before you actually go out and buy a new phone make sure it will work within your current area. Many frequencies and protocols are not supported in certain areas and getting a phone with the wrong frequency bands will result in a poor experience.

The specifications page of any phone manufacturer web site will tell you exactly what it can or cannot do.

S

[WreckWench]

Thank you Simon. Do you think your phone was unlocked because of where you live? Or do all of them come unlocked? This could be a helpful solution to my quest to get a satellite phone or i may be able to go this route...just not sure how how it is to get a local SIM card.

Either way I am interested.

The Motorola Android phone which is only a month old NOW will not slide to unlock so I can take a call.

Does this phone by change have a manual phone answer feature? If so I'm sold immediately. I do not like having to slide a phone to unlock it so I can answer a call.

[georoc01]

As far as getting local SIM cards go, I'd ask your local property as you are going to have to get one for each place you go. In Roatan it was $15 for the week and came from the local grocer next door to the dive shop. Their service provider is TIGO. But I'm guessing it would be unique at each location you go to.

Edited by georoc01, 30 June 2011 - 01:52 PM.

[WreckWench]

As far as getting local SIM cards go, I'd ask your local property as you are going to have to get one for each place you go. In Roatan it was $15 for the week and came from the local grocer next door to the dive shop. Their service provider is TIGO. But I'm guessing it would be unique at each location you go to.

Thank you George!

[shadragon]

Thank you Simon. Do you think your phone was unlocked because of where you live? Or do all of them come unlocked?

I bought this unlocked. It says so in the description. Will send you the web site I bought it from in a PM.

Does this phone by change have a manual phone answer feature? If so I'm sold immediately. I do not like having to slide a phone to unlock it so I can answer a call.

I can set my lock to be on or off with text password or a pattern you draw on the screen (I use the pattern). You see who is calling and swipe up the screen to answer or swipe down to ignore. Flip the phone over before you answer and the ring mutes. Flip it over after you answer and speaker-phone comes on automatically.

[WreckWench]

Thank you Simon. Do you think your phone was unlocked because of where you live? Or do all of them come unlocked?

I bought this unlocked. It says so in the description. Will send you the web site I bought it from in a PM.

Does this phone by change have a manual phone answer feature? If so I'm sold immediately. I do not like having to slide a phone to unlock it so I can answer a call.

I can set my lock to be on or off with text password or a pattern you draw on the screen (I use the pattern). You see who is calling and swipe up the screen to answer or swipe down to ignore. Flip the phone over before you answer and the ring mutes. Flip it over after you answer and speaker-phone comes on automatically.

I'll look for the PM...cool!

Those are nice features. I must have some weird electro-chemical reaction to the "touch" feature of my phone as it quits responding to "touch" which as you know means you can't do anything on 99% of today's modern phones.

[georoc01]

Thank you Simon. Do you think your phone was unlocked because of where you live? Or do all of them come unlocked? This could be a helpful solution to my quest to get a satellite phone or i may be able to go this route...just not sure how how it is to get a local SIM card.

Either way I am interested.

The Motorola Android phone which is only a month old NOW will not slide to unlock so I can take a call.

Does this phone by change have a manual phone answer feature? If so I'm sold immediately. I do not like having to slide a phone to unlock it so I can answer a call.

this is off topic but the sliding thing is exactly what pushed me off the iPhone. I can't even check for email without at least sliding the bar which just bounces most of the time so I end up sliding it three times before it unlocks. Most people have to put in a PIN number AND slide but I turned that off since it was WAY too intrusive. Sorry, I gotta say it... that ain't a good user interface. I replaced mine with a traditional 3G flip top cellphone this week and will never look back. Way easier to use on all levels, for me at least.

Your experience may, and probably will, differ. Like I said... off topic but I just HAD to say it.

As far as the pin goes..that was made mandatory by my corporate security office. Such is life when your company pays the bill every month. It keeps me from pocket dialing, so I don't have a problem with it.

[peterbj7]

this is off topic but the sliding thing is exactly what pushed me off the iPhone. I can't even check for email without at least sliding the bar which just bounces most of the time so I end up sliding it three times before it unlocks. Most people have to put in a PIN number AND slide but I turned that off since it was WAY too intrusive. Sorry, I gotta say it... that ain't a good user interface. I replaced mine with a traditional 3G flip top cellphone this week and will never look back. Way easier to use on all levels, for me at least.

Your experience may, and probably will, differ. Like I said... off topic but I just HAD to say it.

EXACTLY my attitude. It may look very cool having a touch-sensitive phone, but it can be a pain in the *** to use. What happens when it's cold and you're wearing gloves? I bought one of these things and as they go it's a very good one, but I can't get on with it and have agreed to sell it. I use both a GSM and a CDMA phone, and I recently bought a new CDMA phone, a Samsung flip phone. Tiny, does everything I want, has a good loud and distinctive ring, as it's flip the screen and keyboard are automatically protected, and the battery life is extraordinary. I've run it for two weeks without recharging. I had thought my Sony Eriksson GSM phone was good on the battery, but with that I "only" get around six days. And that's not flip so the screen and keyboard are now badly scratched, and I have to unlock it to make a call.

A friend here bought the current favoured ITC GSM phone (can't remember what it's called) which has quite a large form factor. It lasted a week in his pocket before he leaned against something and broke the screen. Exactly what happened to my brother with his first iPhone. At least my Huawei is small and very tough - I can't imagine ever breaking the screen short of doing so deliberately.

I'm very happy never to have one of these things. UNLESS someone comes up with one that also makes a powerful and flexible (and safe) organiser, and AFAIK that hasn't happened yet.

[Cajun Diver]

There is an app I grabbed today called Lookout, that A) Scans your phone for malicious software once a week and when you install new software. B) Backs up (and restores) your data at https://www.mylookout.com/ C) If the phone is lost / stolen you can track it on the same website using the built in GPS to find it.

I've been using this since I got my Android phone and I highly recommend it. The premium version (ie paid) even lets you remotely lock and wipe it. I think the non-premium version is still free for personal use (free is always better especially something this good). I am tempted to upgrade to get the lock/wipe capability.

Note that some carriers will claim that it causes problems with the phone - I had this problem when the first droid x I had was restarting / going to the boot loader screen and always happened when it got warm (right before the Truk/Palau trip) and the person checking the phone wouldn't listen to what I was saying. I left it uninstalled and the phone continued to do the same and finally wouldn't come on at all - of course several hours to late for me to get a replacement in time for the trip...