So I have been wanting a new phone for a while now. I love my QTEK 8500 (aka HTC StarTrek) but it is starting to show its age (~2 years). It was my first clamshell phone and a great upgrade from my 2125 (aka HTC Tornado) from Cingular.
The StarTrek has been a great phone! The things I love about it
· Fairly stable (after putting the Cingular ROM on the device)
· Pocket dust has not gotten under my screen (still none after ~2years)
· Main screen does not get scratch easily (because it is a clamshell phone)
These were all HUGE improvements over my Tornado which was scratched to hell and had dust under the screen in just a few days.
For my next upgrade I wanted a few additional items:
· 3G
· Longer Battery life
· Hot swap storage card
· Runs Windows Mobile 6 (or greater)
· Supports tethering for my Laptop
· No contract with a Carrier
My main push for a new phone was I wanted the ability to have fast Internet almost anywhere. So the question was do I get a 3G data card or get a new phone that supports tethering. I decided to go with a new phone to save on an additional ~50/month.
My partner (Heath) has been pushing me to get an iPhone but I want a device that can use Active Sync. Also the lack of 3G support make the IPhone just a large IPOD for me. Now if the IPhone gets “Enterprise” support and add Active Sync and gets 3G then it will be a viable option.
The phone I really wanted was the Imate Ultimate 9150. But it was scrapped even before coming to market. Which is VERY sad because it was going to be a great phone. My next pick was the HTC S730 (aka Wings) but due to its lack of HSDPA 1900mhz or 850mhz support it does was not an option because I live in the US. So in the end I picked the HTC Touch Cruise.
A few weeks ago I ordered a HTC Touch Cruise (aka Polaris) from mobileplanet.com. It was going to be delivered on ~3/22 due to back order but it magically shipped early. I was very EXCITED! So on 2/18 it was delivered to work.
The unboxing experience was much better than the Tornado or Startrek but was still underwhelming. Still included with the phone was the worthless thick as hell manual that was 50% of the total box weight. While driving home with my friend Pete I booted it up for the first time. It was a good looking phone. Thicker than the iPhone but thinner than the StarTrek when it is closed. It was overall a bigger phone that I was expecting but still an acceptable size.
Based off the title you can probably tell how “happy” I was NOT with the phone.
Good:
· 3G support
· Windows mobile 6.0 (much nicer than WM5)
· Opra browser included by default (tab support)
· SIM and APP Unlocked
· No Contract required
Bad:
· Touch screen was crappy, Either my fingers are not like the people that tested it or it just is not responsive. Nothing like the IPhone
· Many actions still required use of the stylist. WM is NOT designed to be used with a finger
· HTC Touch Keyboards while nice still made typing a text message a two hand task
· Text input location would get covered by Keyboard. This would happen when typing on some screens. Where the keyboard would popup above the input box so you could not see what you were typing
· SMS notification after sending a text. When I got the phone one of the first things I had to do was a Registry change to get the Stupid SMS notification turned off so my phone did not vibrate after sending a text
· New Pocket Outlook SUCKS!
o Folder Tree shows EVERY folder in your inbox. Not just the ones that you are syncing. This is VERY annoying and clutters the screen a lot
o 3+ screen taps to get to send a new Text Message. Why do I have to do Menu -> New -> SMS/MMS to send a new text message?
· No tilt sensor in the phone. If you rotate the device to landscape the screen does NOT follow
· Screen really collects the Face Grease
· Dust under the screen in less than 7 days!
· I am sure that there are more but I have repressed them
So in the end have sold the phone to someone that already had a HTC Touch but wanted an upgrade I am back to using my StarTrek and waiting for the release of Sony’s new XPERIA X1 or the HTC S730 US.
Cheers