HTC Diamond is a piece of ****!

[bibowski]

Why oh why did I agree to a 3 year contract with Telus for this godawful phone????

I know I only have myself to blame for buying this phone, but my only other option is a lineup of mediocre Blackberry models. What am I supposed to do?

There HAS to be someone else in the same situation as me. I am easily over my 30 day return window, and whenever I speak to the inept (but thankfully Canadian) customer service reps, they simply say "If there's a problem with the phone, please speak with technical support". There's not A problem with the phone, the phone is just a terribly buggy piece of crap.

I'm so very tempted to cancel my contract and just get an iPhone or BB Bold on Rogers. Is that a crazy thing to do?

[superbundance]

Why oh why did I agree to a 3 year contract with Telus for this godawful phone????

I know I only have myself to blame for buying this phone, but my only other option is a lineup of mediocre Blackberry models. What am I supposed to do?

There HAS to be someone else in the same situation as me. I am easily over my 30 day return window, and whenever I speak to the inept (but thankfully Canadian) customer service reps, they simply say "If there's a problem with the phone, please speak with technical support". There's not A problem with the phone, the phone is just a terribly buggy piece of crap.

I'm so very tempted to cancel my contract and just get an iPhone or BB Bold on Rogers. Is that a crazy thing to do?


2 friends of mine got new phones at the same time. One got the iphone and the other HTC touch, and the guy with the HTC touch HATES his phone so much and wants to get an iphone so so so bad.

But he is stuck and so are you unless you want to spend crazy $$$.

[syn3rgetic]

man i used to have an HTC touch...got rid of it after it broke. Rogers replaced it with a BNIB one, and I, sold it BNIB.

got $350 for that junk.

[bibowski]

These 2 responses so far really aren't making me want to keep my Diamond very much :-P

[bl1985]

Its probably the windows os that you hate. I have a phone with windows mobile and its slightly laggy and sometimes buggy. I find it bearable, but when my contract is over I'm going to look at a phone with another operating system.

[bibowski]

I really just want a phone that does these things well :

- good reception
- good calendar
- good "notes" system (with alerts)
- web browser
- good keyboard

From everything that I've seen, the iphone seems to be best suited to these. I don't need a fantastic camera, I have a 7MP Sony camera for that. I also don't need to be able to open Word or Excel documents. An MP3 player and bluetooth connectivity would be nice in the future, which the iPhone has both of!

[Kwirky]

Maybe try to dump your contract: http://ca.cellswapper.com/ & go to another carrier with the device you want.

[brunes]

May I ask what do you hate about the phone so much?

I don't have a diamond, but I have a normal Touch that is flashed with the diamond software. I think it is awesome - it hands down tramps the iPhone (which is much larger and has a whole bunch of mediocre half-working software, and no enterprise applications) that's for sure.

I have never tried a blackberry in a few years so I can't compare to those.

EDIT: Read one of your other posts and I think your problem is you don't have the right software installed.

None of the below software cost anything.

- Install Opera Mobile. Best web browser around, better than the Iphone one.
http://www.opera.com/mobile/download/

- Switch your keyboard to the touch diamond keypad one, the one that has two letters on each key. It is awesome, has great word completion, and very large keys. I can type with it almost as fast as my PC keyboard.

- I don't know what to tell you about the calender. How can you complain about the Outlook Mobile calender? It is integrated into every part of the OS. Is it because you don't have outlook on your PC to sync it with or something? If that is the case there are lots of freeware apps to sync your windows mobile calender with Google calender or Yahoo - just do some searching.

[felixmo]

agreed:mad: the diamond is pretty slow, and is a fingerprint magnet which lessens the grip i have on the phone

tip: disable touchflo

i have the htc diamond from rogers, i was going to return it but while i was using it i dropped it once and it very, very slightly damaged the back cover.
the guy at the store almost took it back, because he though the dent was a piece of lint. he found out it was a dent when he tried to wipe it out.

unfortunately, i have had trouble getting finding another rogers-branded back cover, so i am stuck with this phone for 1 year, till i can upgrade.


advice from my experience:

always, always setup the phone at the store to make sure everything works and to make sure that the phone is right for you

[al3x89]

May I ask what do you hate about the phone so much?

I don't have a diamond, but I have a normal Touch that is flashed with the diamond software. I think it is awesome - it hands down tramps the iPhone (which is much larger and has a whole bunch of mediocre half-working software, and no enterprise applications) that's for sure.

I have never tried a blackberry in a few years so I can't compare to those.

EDIT: Read one of your other posts and I think your problem is you don't have the right software installed.

None of the below software cost anything.

- Install Opera Mobile. Best web browser around, better than the Iphone one.
http://www.opera.com/mobile/download/

- Switch your keyboard to the touch diamond keypad one, the one that has two letters on each key. It is awesome, has great word completion, and very large keys. I can type with it almost as fast as my PC keyboard.

- I don't know what to tell you about the calender. How can you complain about the Outlook Mobile calender? It is integrated into every part of the OS. Is it because you don't have outlook on your PC to sync it with or something? If that is the case there are lots of freeware apps to sync your windows mobile calender with Google calender or Yahoo - just do some searching.

Care to explain half working software?

And yeah, Safari on the iPhone is not the greatest.

[felixmo]

the htc diamond only beats the iphone in one area, in my opinion

the user's abillty to customize the phone

there are hundreds of tweaks, mods, roms, software, games, and more for the windows mobile platform

on the iphone, apple controls what you get to put on the phone and what you can do with it (tethering)

even if you jailbreak it, that does not improve the functionally of the iphone a whole lot

you still have the use the built in pim (contacts, calendar, etc)
you still cannot save attachments from email
you still have to use itunes for syncing
and you get the point

[brunes]

Care to explain half working software?

And yeah, Safari on the iPhone is not the greatest.

In addition to safari, the inability to take a picture of something and send it to my wife (MMS message) is pretty lame. Lack of ability to use any kind of push email is another flaw.

And finally the above posters point, the fact that the only apps that can be installed on it have to be "apple approved" artificially restricts the whole platform. For example there was an awesome music manager iPhone app that was out but Apple pulled it because it competes with theirs. Total BS. You can replace each and every part of a Windows Mobile or Android phone, because the user of the phone has full control over what they put on it.

For what is supposed to be a "smart phone", the iPhone is anything but. The iPhone is just another apple product that is all flash and no function.

EDIT: And am I the only person in the whole world who finds the lack of any buttons AT ALL very annoying? Try to whip out your iPhone and take a picture of something with one hand. I do this all the time with my Touch, because there is a button for the camera. Good luck with the iphone, you can't hold the camera sideways AND take the photo with your thumb, at least not very easily. You have to use two hands. Quite lame. Good luck trying to take a pic over top of a crowd of people like that.

[al3x89]

the htc diamond only beats the iphone in one area, in my opinion

the user's abillty to customize the phone

there are hundreds of tweaks, mods, roms, software, games, and more for the windows mobile platform

on the iphone, apple controls what you get to put on the phone and what you can do with it (tethering)

even if you jailbreak it, that does not improve the functionally of the iphone a whole lot

you still have the use the built in pim (contacts, calendar, etc)
you still cannot save attachments from email
you still have to use itunes for syncing
and you get the point

Seeing as how I'm a Mac user, the iPhone is perfect for me cause it syncs with my library, my calendar and my address book.

As for your other point of themes and stuff, I fully support Apple on this. I personally don't care about modding my iPhone in any way. When I had the 1st generation, I had to have it jailbroken. I saw all the things that you could add to the phone via jailbreak but I always said.. "why??" It takes away everything from the phone.

Have you seen some of the themes that people release for Windows Mobile? They are AWFUL and make the phone look disgusting. Same thing goes for the iPhone and it's springboard. If you go on MMI, you can see all these ugly themes posted in the themes forum. Apple is all about simplicity so therefore they don't allow you to do some ugly modifications to your phone.

In addition to safari, the inability to take a picture of something and send it to my wife (MMS message) is pretty lame. Lack of ability to use any kind of push email is another flaw.

And finally the above posters point, the fact that the only apps that can be installed on it have to be "apple approved" artificially restricts the whole platform. For example there was an awesome music manager iPhone app that was out but Apple pulled it because it competes with theirs. Total BS. You can replace each and every part of a Windows Mobile or Android phone, because the user of the phone has full control over what they put on it.

For what is supposed to be a "smart phone", the iPhone is anything but. The iPhone is just another apple product that is all flash and no function.

EDIT: And am I the only person in the whole world who finds the lack of any buttons AT ALL very annoying? Try to whip out your iPhone and take a picture of something with one hand. I do this all the time with my Touch, because there is a button for the camera. Good luck with the iphone, you can't hold the camera sideways AND take the photo with your thumb, at least not very easily. You have to use two hands. Quite lame. Good luck trying to take a pic over top of a crowd of people like that.

Lacking MMS is not a big deal to me but I can see why people are upset. It's like taking away SMS.

One of the reason's I chose the iPhone over my Blackberry Bold was the media UI. The Bold's isn't bad, but I just prefer the iPhone's, plus I can sync my iTunes library with my iPhone that's a huge plus for me (I know I can sync my BB library too, but I had to pay fu*king $40 for the app and it didn't even sync my album art and some songs it didn't name properly). (Can you send me a link to this app that was released but then pulled? Or give me the name).

The button for the camera isn't a huge deal but I can see where your coming from. Maybe in the future they'll do it so you have to press the volume buttons to take a picture.

[ramaslamma]

Why oh why did I agree to a 3 year contract with Telus for this godawful phone????

I know I only have myself to blame for buying this phone, but my only other option is a lineup of mediocre Blackberry models. What am I supposed to do?

There HAS to be someone else in the same situation as me. I am easily over my 30 day return window, and whenever I speak to the inept (but thankfully Canadian) customer service reps, they simply say "If there's a problem with the phone, please speak with technical support". There's not A problem with the phone, the phone is just a terribly buggy piece of crap.

I'm so very tempted to cancel my contract and just get an iPhone or BB Bold on Rogers. Is that a crazy thing to do?


Blackberry would have been a better choice i.e. Storm.

Rest are junk.

[felixmo]

Seeing as how I'm a Mac user, the iPhone is perfect for me cause it syncs with my library, my calendar and my address book.

As for your other point of themes and stuff, I fully support Apple on this. I personally don't care about modding my iPhone in any way. When I had the 1st generation, I had to have it jailbroken. I saw all the things that you could add to the phone via jailbreak but I always said.. "why??" It takes away everything from the phone.

Have you seen some of the themes that people release for Windows Mobile? They are AWFUL and make the phone look disgusting. Same thing goes for the iPhone and it's springboard. If you go on MMI, you can see all these ugly themes posted in the themes forum. Apple is all about simplicity so therefore they don't allow you to do some ugly modifications to your phone.

i agree with you, personally i hate windows mobile, i loved palm os. just wish palm developers were more active at developing apps for it, and palm would modernize the os and come out with more devices.

[pennywize]

What don't you like about the phone?

Check out the ppcgeeks.com forums and flash a custom ROM onto your Diamond. I'm using the HTC Diamond as well and after flashing, the performance is night and day.

I'm currently using JUICY 4.3 ROM, 1.04 Telus Radio, and the BELL User Interface.

- Battery life has improved a lot, I would say 100% better
- Phone doesn't get as hot after long durations
- GPS is quicker locking onto satellites
- Opera browser performs a lot faster, pages render faster
- Reception has greatly improved
- Touchflow3D is smoother & faster
- Ability to listen to radio is great
- Ability to upload pictures directly to facebook is handy
- YouTube streams faster

[felixmo]

okay, i just flashed dutty's diamond rom
the phone is a lot more usable now and significantly faster and stable:D

[Maedhros]

GEEZ! Threads like these make me HATE people who are compleate IDIOTS and can not research about phones BEFOR they buy them.

TO ALL PEOPLE CONSIDERING BUYING A PHONE:

IF YOU ARE A F'ING IDIOT WHO DOSENT KNOW SH(T About phones get the IPHONE

If you know something about phones, get something else.

/End rant

[brunes]

i agree with you, personally i hate windows mobile, i loved palm os. just wish palm developers were more active at developing apps for it, and palm would modernize the os and come out with more devices.

The thing is, the HTC Diamond is hardly windows mobile at all. HTC has customized the home screen and their own apps so much that it is basically a different OS. T

[felixmo]

The thing is, the HTC Diamond is hardly windows mobile at all. HTC has customized the home screen and their own apps so much that it is basically a different OS. T

the problem is that the htc interface runs on the bloated windows mobile core, which makes it slow. i have to turn it off because it uses too much of the phone's ram.

suggesstion to anyone using this phone:
flash a custom rom (huge improvement in performance),
google "omnia d3d drivers" and install it (those are the graphics drivers from the samsung omnia, installing them on the htc diamond gives it a slight boost in performance),
and also google "htc diamond performance tweaks".

to make the scrolling in touchflo more fluid, use tweaks for this post form another forum

http://www.htcforums.com/touch-cruise-polaris-p3650-f18/touch-cruise-performance-tweaks-t401.html

[br0pbr0p]

People need to stop judging a phone while running it on restricted softwares. Until you flash it (i.e. get rid of your Telus/Rogers firmware), you won't be able to see what the phone can really do. This is why I always flash whatever phone I get from Rogers, except for the iPhone because I see no benefit in it.

People that I know, who bought the HTC Diamond, (non-Rogers, non-Telus) have no complain about it. Also, the Telus one looks so ugly at the back, it ruined the phone's look.

[kai]

Well, I have owned many and many WM devices.
The way I see it is a lot of users' issues have to do with not understanding how Windows Mobile phones work. On one side, the OS provides endless possibilities of functionalities; that is, if you know how to make best use of it. On the other side, WM is not user-friendly (sadly) and buggy at times (hence a custom ROM comes in handy and might be an alternative to choose).

Have you ever seen the Android running on an century-old HTC Touch (not to mention a more sophisticated and advanced HTC Touch Diamond)? I was amazed by how smooth and promising the Touch can do!

Anyway, my point is you have to give some time to learn about Windows Mobile devices. If that's not something you want to do, and an iPhone happens to be in your flavor you can contact me (I have one BNIB locked to Fido that I want to get rid of).

PS.
Just out of curiosity... Is it just me or is there anyone who thinks RIM really gotta hire some good product engineers/designers, to me most (not sure about all) BB devices look like a stack of bricks (I mean it in a very modest way!)?!!

[bibowski]

Blackberry would have been a better choice i.e. Storm.

Rest are junk.

I've heard the Storm is one of the worst phones released in recent memory. I can't imagine it being much worse than the Diamond though..

[bibowski]

GEEZ! Threads like these make me HATE people who are compleate IDIOTS and can not research about phones BEFOR they buy them.

TO ALL PEOPLE CONSIDERING BUYING A PHONE:

IF YOU ARE A F'ING IDIOT WHO DOSENT KNOW SH(T About phones get the IPHONE

If you know something about phones, get something else.

/End rant

Thanks for your constructive comment. The fact the phone had not even been released made things slightly difficult for me to test it out. The only other version of the phone existed as a GSM phone in other countries, receiving glowing reviews. How exactly was I supposed to know that Canada and its severely dated CDMA technology would help destroy the features and speed of the phone?

[bibowski]

Well, I unlocked my phone, downloaded a new ROM and.... it's like owning a new phone!!!!!

Thanks everyone for the help!