OFFICIAL HTC Desire Thread

Also, HTC has said that all the phones released this year should have Froyo before the end of the year. Hopefully Leaf gets the updates to us quickly after it's released.
 
Monkey101 said:
Is it worth buying this phone cash from places like CaCell or Expansys? Going for just under R6k.
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qwert said:
New to this thread - lots of great info here.

I badly want one of these phones, but have seen some bad reports about getting it from Leaf (eg. http://www.arbitraryuser.com/blog/2010/03/05/why-you-probably-shouldnt-buy-an-htc-phone-in-south-africa/ ).

What are the pros and cons of going through Leaf/Lab88 versus someone like Expansys or CaCell? Seems like the import option is way cheaper than the Leaf route (R5900 versus R7500), but how good is the support from the importers if you have a problem? And Warranties? The other option is get in contract via Vodacom on the next upgrade, but I'll have to see how that works out financially still. I'm a BYO phone guy in general.

Any feedback appreciated.

Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere - there are a lot of comments on this thread.>>- oops Monkey101 just asked the same basic question no need to answer us both.
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qwert said:
Thanks Enigma

I haven't ever broken a phone before, and I do have several phones that still work fine to fall back on.

From what I am understanding you wouldn't see much reason to not just go for the imported phones (best deal) - which is the way I'm leaning.

The Leaf phones originally had a crocked version of the Android market - but I understand this is no longer the case right?
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Keep in mind that phones needing repairs will go back to leaf anyway, as they are the sole distributors of HTC products. So, do what makes financial sense - I didn't have R7k to shell out on a new toy, but I can easily manage the R80 or so p/m that my MTN bill has gone up by.

As for the market, I can still only see free apps - anyone on MTN (non-rooted) that can see paid ones?
 
alt146 said:
Did you try the market enabler that I linked?
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Yes :(
"We have a problem Housten" - if it's the same one. Haven't really played around, though; I suppose I could get the market running on the SDK... just haven't gotten around to it.
 
I have an HTC Desire, and so far i have found it to be quite amazing. Just two questions.

I have turned on delivery reports for my sms's but I fail to see how the setting works. Or well i havn't gotten a delivery report yet. I am on vodacom's network.

2ndly I have used the marketenabler app, and I have been able to access the full market. I somehow fail to see the point to having access to the paid for applications though, if you are not really planning on buying any of them? I would just like to know what is the default operator number for vodacom? I have 65501. Just want to confirm that this it the default one :)
 
Fafa said:
I have turned on delivery reports for my sms's but I fail to see how the setting works. Or well i havn't gotten a delivery report yet. I am on vodacom's network.
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The delivery reports are implemented differently - if you go into 'messages' and long-press on one you've sent, there should be an option like 'message status' or similar. That'll show 'delivered' when it's gone through. There's no separate notification/pop-up.

2ndly I have used the marketenabler app, and I have been able to access the full market. I somehow fail to see the point to having access to the paid for applications though, if you are not really planning on buying any of them? I would just like to know what is the default operator number for vodacom? I have 65501. Just want to confirm that this it the default one :)
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Not just paid, but 'protected' apps - some apps have an attribute set that hides them on the free market, even if they don't cost anything. GoogleEarth (although I believe that's now off the market altogether) is the only example I can come up with off the bat.
 
Took me about a week with the phone to finally realize which apps to use with it.

Using:
3g watchdog ( just cos this phone is so damn expensive on 3g bandwidth :< )
APNDroid ( for combination with 3g watchdog )
Astro filemanager ( for installing apps manually )
Handcent sms ( smsing tool )
MarketEnabler ( doh? )
RemoteSMS Full ( to turn your sms screen into a website, when you access the phone wirelessly. You can then send sms from a webbrowser )
Ringdroid ( To easier change ringtones )
Syncmypix ( To get contact photos from facebook, without facebook overpopulating my contact list )
Dolphin Browser HD ( for viewing websites )

What I am looking for is a navigation tool, like a GPS app ( Which is either free or "tweaked to be free" )
Also an application so that I can track my phone when it is lost / stolen. ( Also free or "tweaked" )
A good power management widget ( One that can turn on/off my Wifi AND on/off my 3g. ) Currently using Juicedefender + Ulitimatejuice but it doesn't seem to fit my needs. It is more aimed at power saving and not data saving :)
A nice skin pack to customize my home screens ( I havnt had much time to play with this, but im sure there should be packs to do this )

Lastly using the power management widget that is provided. If you turn off background data in your accounts sync option and the automatic sync, the widget will turn on background data automatically if you switch between sync on and off. Anyone who can tell me what is the easiest and most elegant way to manage my data usage in the odd occasion where I MUST use 3g to access a website, so that it doesn't update anything else apart from the data i'm sending to and from the website.
 
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Found this video.
[video=youtube;jlIv_V2r51c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlIv_V2r51c[/video]
Seems pretty scratch resistant, even if its not drop resistant :D
 
3G watchdog is good, but I find Stats to be better. monitor & set limits for calls, sms, wifi, 2G/3G etc.
APN manager is not really needed since there is a native widget for mobile data.
Why not just use the native Wifi widget and Mobile data widgets?
Where's my droid works nice to locate your phone while on silent and GPS Coordinates .
Mapdroid is free and has offline maps, but no turn by turn navigation.

Just my 2c
 
Hey guys ...
Best contracts out for the Desire at the moment? (around R500pm -> +-200 minutes anytime )
Found these through Nashua Mobile:
R487.50 on MTN Anytime 350 - Phone is "free" with "Hardware Subsidy Fee = R129.00"
and
R387.50 on MTN Anytime 200 - Phone is "free" with "Hardware Subsidy Fee = R179.00"
Vodacom is well over R500 for these contracts.
Anyone know some better deals? :D
 
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Cheapest vodacom contract is R300 (business call at R185pm + R114 device payment).
i Took out the MTN anytime 200 for R339pm - R200 airtime. Best deal at the moment by far.
 
Ya the contract is cool, except for the fact you get nothing with it. So everything yuo use you will have to pay for at the end of the month, can really bite you in ass if you not carefull.
That contract is better if you take it out just for the phone. You can pay the device monthly at R300pm instead of having to fork out R6k straight up
 
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Yep ... IF you don't really make calls, then the business chat is cool ... but if you use 200 minutes or so every month, a "free minutes" contract is better, else you will end up spending more.
Agreed ... contract is more affordable than R6k once off.
 
I've been due for an upgrade on my MTN upgrade for months now & seriously thinking of going with The Desire... Is there a music buying solution on the 'droid market place to rival iTunes? It's toss up between waiting for OS 4 & The Desire. I currently don't own a smart phone & have an ipod touch for in-car & portable music. And is there a solution to access paid apps in the South African 'droid store yet? An iTunes type work around would be fine too.
 
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