Tough HTC/Network Decision

bill_whu

Orange rang me up a couple of weeks ago and informed me that I'm due an upgrade. I've been a Blackberry fan for the last two years, but their lack of development and poor reviews have led me away from getting the Torch.

So I had a look around at reviews and decided to make the jump to HTC, I'm a tech freak so it should suit me nicely. I was then stuck between the two new Desire's (Z and HD.)

Since I'm now fully adapted to using a keyboard, the Desire Z was my immediate choice. I then looked at reviews and was extremely stuck between the two. I phoned Orange and they only sold the HD so they offered me that. Now, two weeks later, they still haven't got any in stock. Sadly just another thing to add to the list of problems I've had with them in my two years there!

So now I've decided to go against Orange, and opt for a new provider. I've been told that Orange add loads of bloatware onto Android's? Is there any providers that don't do this? I can't afford to buy one outright so contract is my only option sadly.

So, my questions are:
a) Has anyone who has used both the Desire HD and Z got any strong pros/cons for either phone? The keyboard is obviously better and I'm reading about better battery life on the Z too. Z seems to get worse reviews in most places though but nothing to really back up negative reviews apart from tiny niggles.

b) Which provider offer the best support and are generally a much more pleasant experience than Orange and don't cram the phone with bloatware?

Any responses greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!

S0litaire

I've had a Desire HD for a month now...

Battery life is good.
It does suffer from what I call the "shiny new toy" syndrome, when you first get it, your constantly using it so the battery life seems short. but out of the box the battery should last 8h of use with everything on and up full! But after a few tweeks and not using it much you'll get 18h-24h out of a full charge.

As for Branding, I got mine on contract from "3" it was a stock HTC no branding or simlock
Branding can be removed if you "flash" a custom ROM with the HTC default ROM (it's easy to do!)

Hint
Since you're used to Blackberry Push emails:
if you can set up a "Gmail apps" or "google mail" email account and forward your emails to that!
Google mail is push (So you'll get mail as soon as it hits your gmail account) , whereas other mail types are pull (requiring you to set times between pickup.)

bill_whu

Thanks for your response.

I did think that, I had the same problem on my Bold, when you're excied flciking through all the settings you do burn the battery more than normal use.

Have you tried using a Z at all? I am a big fan of keypads, do you think that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages for me?

Interesting about you receiving a stock one, do you know if o2 add bloatware? I may be changing to them now. Also, is that 'flashing' an allowed process? If I was on contract and I decided to do that and then something went wrong with the phone would I be voiding it in any way?

Thanks for the tip with push, that sounds very useful, and indeed what I've grown used to!

Parva

If you get the phone from Carphonewarehouse it will be unlocked and unbranded. Alternatively there are sites like mobiles.co.uk etc (which is just another Carphonewarehouse company) where you may be able to strike a better deal with some cashback or perhaps a better tariff (but do read up on the issues surrounding reclaiming cashback before you jump in).

I couldn't really advise one way or the other between the HD and the Z, I have the normal Desire model but I will say I looked at getting the HD but when I actually got hold of one, wow it was a big thing! If you're not too fussed if it's big then fair enough but if I were you I would check them out in a mobile store before you commit as it is a bit of a monster! If I had the choice I personally would go for the Desire Z as I too like my qwerty keyboard and the on-screen normal Desire one is ok but a proper push button one would undoubtedly be a huge improvement!