Currently, I have a Blackberry Curve 8530. I've had it for over a year now, but it has been acting really strangely lately (i.e. going through battery life like nothing, shutting down and restarting by itself, mass amounts of freezing, overheating, etc.) and I tried to take to someone about it, but they said I just needed to update it, which I did and nothing happened. So I'm thinking of switching to an Android phone (HTC Desire), but it's a lot of money with Telus. Besides the obvious differences like touch screen and no BBM, can Android users (preferably HTC Desire) state the pros and cons of this phone as compared to a Blackberry Curve?

look up phone reviews via google. you can find demonstrations on youtube as well. You'll find spec information and much more stuff than macinsiders, a forum for university students...

HTC generally makes good phones. The Desire is one of their most popular phones.

Originally Posted by Krusenik

look up phone reviews via google. you can find demonstrations on youtube as well. You'll find spec information and much more stuff than macinsiders, a forum for university students...

HTC generally makes good phones. The Desire is one of their most popular phones.

Yeah, I've been looking up the reviews, but I was just looking for a more "average" review, in the sense of every day users of each and less technical information.

Being someone who owns an iPhone, I can't give a very personal opinion but I think I can help a little bit based on what I've seen/heard/read about:

1) Decide what you like better: keyboard or touchscreen. If either of these seems much more appealing than the other, then go with it. You won't like a phone if you hate the main method of input. If you aren't leaning any particular way in this category then, and only then, should you look at the rest of the features.

2) Androids seem to (I say seem to because I can't vouch for it personally) be extremely customizable and if you are the type to tinker around with stuff like that, then that's definitely a great benefit because then it can go from being a phone to being able to do almost everything a computer can. However, if you don't plan on doing stuff like that, then it's just going to be a paper weight because out of the box, no phone is really that great.

Sorry I can't be of more help. When you inevitably decide to get an iPhone I'll be able to offer more assistance.

Don't waste your time with these phones, get an iPhone















// yes I'm joking people, relax

I'm assuming you're talking about the HTC Desire (original) and not the HTC Desire Z or HTC Desire HD, correct? (well, even if you are, they're all pretty similar, safe software, just diff hardware)

It's a pretty solid phone, i've been using it for a year, no major difficulties.

Pros: Extremely customizable. Honestly if you're never used Android before, you're going to orgasm when you see what you can do. Theres honestly an app for EVERYTHING. You don't like the clock? Change it. You don't like the UI? Change it. You don't like the FIRMWARE. Change it. You can even assign your hard keys to do different commands. For example i changed my useless "Search" hardkey to open up a blank text message.

The screen is very responsive and is akin to an Iphone as opposed to pressure sensitive LG phones

You can DL any game you want for free.

1GHz processor - the same an Iphone has. So any apple fan claiming an Iphone 4 is faster is wrong. The processor is the same lol...

Cons: Battery life. Honestly, its pretty crummy. You need to DL special apps to help you out here, but if you do its moderate. I have to charge mine daily. If i skip a day, it can usually lug through another day, but after that, its dead.

HTC - big con. HTC is notorious for releasing dozens of phones, then forgetting about them. The android platform is an OS. It needs updates and it needs bug fixes. HTC puts out new versions VERY VERY LATE. For example mine is running android 2.2. Well guess what. 2.3 came out in the first quarter of LAST YEAR. And there is not a single word when we'll get 2.3. Hopefully since you're buying a newer model you might get 2.3, i wouldn't count on it though.

Signal - it has the same signal issue as the iphone. There is a sensitive side of the phone that if you squeeze too hard, you drop a bar or two.


Conclusion: It's a wonderful phone. Truly. Again, if you're talking about the original HTC Desire, it has a rubber backing which makes it very grippy and protects it. I've dropped it several times and it still looks as good as new. However, if you're talking about the HTC Desire Z, i believe that one has a flipout keyboard? That is very very delicate, and if you're prone to dropping phones... yikes. Only thing you'll miss is BBM. Welcome to the darkside.

Protip: Look for the $40 student data plan deal. I don't know if they still offer it since i got that plan last summer, but this is what it entailed. 100mbs data, my10, unlimited texting, free calling after 6 and weekends, and 100 (or 150... cant remember) minutes. Thats your best bang for your buck. And no, 100mb is perfectly liveable. Download an app called 3GWatchdog and you can track your data usage and it'll give you projections if youre going to go over and you can toggle your mobile internet off.

The Desire Z has a sliding keyboard, not a flip one.

And I haven't handled a Desire so I can't say anything on the speed comparison to an iPhone, but I'm just going to mention that the CPU clockspeed isn't the only determining factor in how responsive a phone feels. If you want to know how fast and responsive a phone feels, go play with one. Looking at CPU clockspeeds can only tell you so much.

Clock speed does not determine how fast a phone/processor is (MIPS!)

I Have a desire, for a year now, and it's awesome. HTC released a statement saying they are developing Android 2.3+sense for desire, so it should be out soon. The phone is solid, has a strong screen, and overall is extremely top-of-the-line.

Get a desire, it pwns.

Originally Posted by Andrew A

The Desire Z has a sliding keyboard, not a flip one.

And I haven't handled a Desire so I can't say anything on the speed comparison to an iPhone, but I'm just going to mention that the CPU clockspeed isn't the only determining factor in how responsive a phone feels. If you want to know how fast and responsive a phone feels, go play with one. Looking at CPU clockspeeds can only tell you so much.

So the Desire Z also has a keyboard on top of the touchscreen? Does anyone know if it runs the same as the original Desire? All I've been reading is great things. Thanks everyone.

Originally Posted by J. Dorey

So the Desire Z also has a keyboard on top of the touchscreen? Does anyone know if it runs the same as the original Desire? All I've been reading is great things. Thanks everyone.

Yep, the Z is like a normal touchscreen Android, but it has a sliding keyboard. The Droid 1 and 2 (not X) have that too, although those just slide straight out.