Review - HTC Desire

Review: HTC Desire

Ten years ago, computers were big, limited in Memory and not the fastest… If you wanted the best, you had to have the cash for it. Within years and now months, price has dropped considerably and computers become incredibly faster.

For a few year now (it’s safe to say about 2007-2008), smartphones appeared, then touchscreen (TS) and now, you can find the latest HTCs or Samsungs as powerfull or more than PCs from 10 years ago… And it’s going to go even further.

However, I’m not going to review the latest handsets but just one: the HTC Desire Bravo

This was my first TS phone and I have to say I’m pretty pleased.

The device looks good and is light enough. The screen has good proportions and the sensitivity is amazing compared to the Samsung F480 that I tried once upon a time.

So, here is a list cons and pros:

Cons

-       After a few month of usage, one main drawback has been revealed: lack of memory, more specifically the ROM. With 512Mb split between the system (250mb), the user cache (40mb) and the User data (147Mb), you have much for your apps. But where are 75Mb missing to get the total of 512Mb? Good question! I frankly don’t know and would need to investigate. I’ll keep you posted I found out!

Now, every time I download an app, I check straight after the app is installed if I can move it to the SD-Card. If not, I rethink twice before keeping it.

-       In relation to that point, I found very annoying that some build-in Google apps can’t be moved to SD-Card: GMAIL, Google Maps… When you know Google are built Android and they made available for developers the “Move to SD-Card” option, you wonder why they didn’t implement it on their own and very popular apps…

-       Battery life: one of the biggest problem for every HTC Desire user. I use WIFI a lot and if I don’t leave the phone plugged in all day, the battery would die several times… So, when I don’t use it, I deactivate! Same regarding the 3G/EDGE.

I am a big cyclist and I love the GPS system though it is also a source that drains the battery lifetime down… I managed to reach 8 hours while recording a track via RunKeeper App, display off most of the time, some offline map browsing via Maverick App and most importantly in “Flight Mode” (e.g. no network connection at all!).

-       Lack of a build-in SD-Card browsing app. I found one very light and nice looking but when most of the DATA are stored on SD-Card, you would prefer not to install another app…

-       Camera isn’t impressive. The lack of stabilisation is a shame…

Pros

-       Excellent UI from HTC!

o   The seven desktops represent plenty of space to put you widgets and app shortcuts. I personally use only 5 of them. I like the two-fingers drag down to get display all desktops like Spaces on MAC OS-X!

o   Like I said above, the Touch Sensitivity is pretty good. You don’t need to press like a mad person. The accuracy is good too, even with big fingers!

o   Build-in widgets from HTC are pretty handy, especially the power controls to manage Flight mode, GPS, Wi-Fi or 3G/EDGE. When you want to switch in a pinch between Wi-Fi and 3G, that’s the best!

-       Speed!

o   512Mb of RAM! That’s the stuff! Never blink, no system crash so far…

o   Gaming feels neat (ex: Angry Birds) and Asphalt 5 from Gameloft.

-       Audio: good speakers and sound pretty good.

-       Video in the dark with the LED light!

-       I like the messaging app. It feels very “chat-like”.

Regarding the application coverage, there’s plenty available for almost any needs. I personally use the following:

-       Chordbot: very useful app for songwriting experiments! The pro version is definitely worth it and you have much more choices of pianos, guitar, organs or synths.

-       Tuner – gString: really cool app to tune any musical instrument.

-       Mini file Manager: to browse inside the SD-Card.

-       SmartMonitor Lite: give essential system info.

-       Dropbox

-       Documents To Go 3.0: edit, create and view any .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx and pdf documents!

-       Gauge Battery Widget

-       Maverick: very nice offline map app with plenty source from Google Maps to OSM and Bing

-       Google Sky Map: locate stars, planets on your phone very easily!

I’ll give an indivual review for some of them. When done, just click to the App name to view it!

So overall, the HTC Desire is a really nice phone. If only the internal memory wasn’t that small, it would be one of the best!

Apple MacBook Pro (MBP): Review after a year of intensive use

Hello,

I have bought in September 2009 a MacBook Pro... My first Apple private computer ever. At the time, I was a pretty new at using Macintosh. At work, I was using a Mac Mini (2.1 model) for 6 months and I have grown very happy to use this tool even though I couldn't do all my daily tasks with it (.NET programming).

So, coming back to the MBP: it has been great so far. Never had a problem with it, no system crash, very quick to start and even faster to shut down, very intuitive UI that I love (Windows are far behind even with Windows 7), performance are very good, especially with 8GB of ram and a 2.66GHZ dual-core processor.
I don't play so I can't really tell about the graphic ship performance but I have carried on some 3D landscapes development and rendering time is pretty good.

One hardware piece that I really love on my MBP is the trackpad. It is like nothing I have ever experienced before! The working area is huge (almost 4 times bigger than my PC's) and the multi-touch combinaisons are very intuitive once you know them: right-click with two-fingers tap (much better than the bottom-righ-corner click), three-fingers swipes left or right for browsing navigation and simple Finder navigation and four-fingers swipe up to clear the screen of any application windows or down to activate Exposé...

Since I have upgraded the MBP to Snow Leopard, I can tell that it's a bit better but like all articles you'll read about the 10.6 version of MAC OS, the changes on the UI weren't the main ones. Still, Spaces & Exposé features were improved and I really like using them.

I will write a review about the operating system MAC OS 10.6 that I use every day as it's going to be a long one.

And if, when you look at the prices of Apple computers and say to yourself "no way! too expensive!", I would rethink that if I were you. In fact, I have been using a PC for 4 years now I had to reinstall Windows several times (at least once a year). It's cost me €1500 which exactly the same price as I paid for the MBP. The last didn't slow down a bit and I expect that it'll last for a very long time.... After all, I know someone owning a Mac Mini G4 for more than 6 years and never had a system and hardware failure.

So, have a look on Apple.com/your_country and go in the refurbished section. I bought mine there!

Eligible to Full upgrade of your MAC OFFICE 2008? Be careful!

Hello!

As a first, I am going to start with the MAC OFFICE 2011 free upgrade that is available for any person who buys a copy of the MAC OFFICE 2008 between Aug. 1, 2010, and Nov. 30, 2010, at Microsoft or an authorized reseller.

So if you are looking to buy it, make sure the reseller authorized! I did not check that and I’m screwed now with a 2008 pack…

Here are all the conditions to be eligible: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2010/aug10/08-02msmacofficepr.mspx

Good luck!