HTC Dream for R100 pm

How does the Deam compare to the Nokia 5800 XM? Cant decide betwwen the two.
 
I just got my phone, at around 10:30 this morning. At least I got good service from MTN. I confirmed the order on Monday, got a call Tuesday to inform me that the contract was approved, and got delivery today. It's charging right now, and I'll be playing with my new toy soon. I'm sure I'll have to do a software upgrade.
 
N1sh said:
How does the Deam compare to the Nokia 5800 XM? Cant decide betwwen the two.
Click to expand...

I also considered the 5800, but went for the Dream, because I cant't do without a "real" QWERTY keyboard. I'm not sure how it compares to the 5800 because I haven't yet switched on the Dream. Will post my first impressions later today.
 
No time to post, too busy playing LOL. All I can say is that this phone is awesome, and so is the Android OS. For R100 a month it's well worth it and highly recommended. My phone came with v1.5 so it has the Android Market. There's plenty of stuff to download.

The phone is solid and the interface is cool and easy to use. I haven't made any calls on it as yet because my sim is not yet activated. I'm currently using my Vodacom sim with a data bundle. Beware, to really enjoy this phone, be prepared to spend a lot on data (or use wifi).
 
I also placed an order. they sent me the forms on Saturday. the silly fax number didn't work. so email them.

This special is not widely publicised. Wonder why?

Feel sorry for the guys who paid an arm and a leg for it 5 months ago :-)

Well worth it to take a second contract. Now to get rid of my Nokia 6120 Classic :P
 
Now for the bad news. The battery life is terrible. With heavy use, I managed to get around 6 hours on Friday and it got worse on Saturday. That was with bluetooth, wifi and gps switched off. But it was intensive: HSDPA on and watching Youtube videos, browsing, downloading apps from the Market etc. I was away for the weekend and didn't really use the phone much.

Yesterday afternoon I fully charged the phone and kept bluetooth, wifi and gps off. In addition to that I switched off the 3G, autosync, "enable always on mobile" and "allow background data" options and dimmed the screen slightly. I was driving so didn't use the phone at all. Guess what, after 5 hours of doing nothing, the battery was down to 28%! I also noticed that the battery was a bit warm. So the phone was definitely been "used" by some application.

Today: same set-up but I put in my prepaid sim, with no airtime to make sure the phone doesn't connect to the internet. I didn't make any calls or sms but just used the phone to listen to a couple of songs, read some pdf and office documents, play 1 or 2 games and just play around with the phone a bit. Now, after 8 hours I still have 46% battery left. I also noticed that the battery hardly got warm.

So it seems like the phone allows internet connectivity even when the setting to allow background data use is disabled. And that's what's chowing the battery. I'm going to do a hard reset tommorow and put in some airtime to see what happends. I'm not going to install any additional third party apps. I want to see if it's not maybe something that I downloaded from the Market that's causing this.

Will update this post tommorow. What are the experiences of other Dream users regarding battery life. Do you think the battery is faulty?

Other than that, the phone is amazing and a pleasure to use.
 
According to Gsmarena

Battery Standard battery, Li-Ion 1150 mAh
Stand-by Up to 406 h
Talk time Up to 5 h 20 min
 
seedat77 said:
Now for the bad news. The battery life is terrible. With heavy use, I managed to get around 6 hours on Friday and it got worse on Saturday. That was with bluetooth, wifi and gps switched off. But it was intensive: HSDPA on and watching Youtube videos, browsing, downloading apps from the Market etc. I was away for the weekend and didn't really use the phone much.

Yesterday afternoon I fully charged the phone and kept bluetooth, wifi and gps off. In addition to that I switched off the 3G, autosync, "enable always on mobile" and "allow background data" options and dimmed the screen slightly. I was driving so didn't use the phone at all. Guess what, after 5 hours of doing nothing, the battery was down to 28%! I also noticed that the battery was a bit warm. So the phone was definitely been "used" by some application.

Today: same set-up but I put in my prepaid sim, with no airtime to make sure the phone doesn't connect to the internet. I didn't make any calls or sms but just used the phone to listen to a couple of songs, read some pdf and office documents, play 1 or 2 games and just play around with the phone a bit. Now, after 8 hours I still have 46% battery left. I also noticed that the battery hardly got warm.

So it seems like the phone allows internet connectivity even when the setting to allow background data use is disabled. And that's what's chowing the battery. I'm going to do a hard reset tommorow and put in some airtime to see what happends. I'm not going to install any additional third party apps. I want to see if it's not maybe something that I downloaded from the Market that's causing this.

Will update this post tommorow. What are the experiences of other Dream users regarding battery life. Do you think the battery is faulty?

Other than that, the phone is amazing and a pleasure to use.
Click to expand...

I am using the Dream with a custom firmware (CyanogenMod 4.1.1) and run PowerManager (from the paid market) and get with frequent Wifi and APN usage probably about 2 days of battery out of it.
 
MagicDude4Eva said:
I am using the Dream with a custom firmware (CyanogenMod 4.1.1) and run PowerManager (from the paid market) and get with frequent Wifi and APN usage probably about 2 days of battery out of it.
Click to expand...

Does the firmware affect the battery life that much, or is it something else?
I read a lot of the reviews on the net, and the one complaint they all have is the pathetic battery life.

I did a hard reset and am using the phone as I normally would. A couple of calls and sms's, checking email and a bit of browsing. I only downloaded one application, and on-screen keyboard. The results are okay, after about 8 hours use I still have 40% battery power left. So it was definitely one of the third party apps that drained the battery so rapidly on Sunday.
 
Still waiting for sim activation

Okay... so MTN were quick to process the order and deliver, but I'm waiting since Friday for sim activation. I called them and was told that they're having problems for the last 3 months and they don't know how long it will take for my sim to be activated. :mad:
 
oh wonderful - I hope - I don't have the same issue with Sim activation.

My unit is on its way as well.
 
i emailed the forms for the contract on Sunday.

Still awaiting a courtesy call to be informed when I will receive my phone.
 
hi guys this is a great deal , did anyone manage to solve the battery issue ?
whats nice is this phone should still be able to have the software upgraded for some time .
a great deal , everyone still happy with it ?
 
dudleygb said:
hi guys this is a great deal , did anyone manage to solve the battery issue ?
whats nice is this phone should still be able to have the software upgraded for some time .
a great deal , everyone still happy with it ?
Click to expand...

isnt the magic a better phone ? specwise ?
wonder if vc will have a similair deal , although the kb on the dream is great
 
dudleygb said:
isnt the magic a better phone ? specwise ?
wonder if vc will have a similair deal , although the kb on the dream is great
Click to expand...

The Magic has more RAM and memory. I wonder if Vodacom will drop the price when the Hero is available on contract. I for one must have a hardware keyboard, so the Dream is perfect for me. The keyboard really is a pleasure to use. I especially like the extra number row, it makes it very easy when entering passwords etc. The battery life isn't grand, but it's okay. With "normal" use I'm getting a full day, not as good as my current Nokia, but you can live with it. Once I start using Youtube, the battery drains rapidly (and so does my data bundle!).
 
IF anyone has got the phone please check if its network blocked or not???
A person from MTN mailed me and said it is but the call center guy said it isnt?
Also if anyone got the phone, does it kill the IPHONE??? :)
 
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