HTC Aria

[dclamp]

I upgraded to the HTC Aria today. I got the 200mb Data plan for $15... should suffice for now... If i have to i can upgrade to 2gigs for $25.

Pretty neat android phone. Touch keyboard isnt that bad, intelligent text or what ever is cool.

[dclamp]

I'm posting from my phone. Woo

[baja_yu]

I've got the Desire, my first but definitely not last Android phone. Be sure to check out Dolphin Browser HD for android, I find it much better than stock or Opera Mini, Dropbox also has an Android app, eBuddy for all IM needs, XilaLive Lite for internet radio, Ghost Commander file manager similar to Total Commander on Windows. There are a lot more nice ones (Google Sky Map, Shazam, Kindle, Google Goggles, Compass, Barcode Scanner...) but those are the ones I find most useful. You might also want to check out 3G Watchdog which monitors your internet usage and can (coupled with APNDroid) turn off internet when you reach your limit, so you don't end up with extra costs.

[abhijit]

I have found the Skyfire browser (beta) to be as good as Dolphin. It also supports flash videos.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I've got the Desire for my first but definitely not last Android phone.

You left out a word. Just to be helpful, I added it back in for you.

[kregg]

I have the E71. While it isn't HTC nor is it Android, it comes bundled with bucketloads of features built in. Shame the Ovi store is pretty crap in my opinion. All the worthwhile apps aren't even in the store, but make way for all these crappy Need for Speed and Resident Evil themes for the E71 which, again, you can find much better themes on the internet. In other cases, you can find freeware apps on the internet (where author says they are freeware, and even in the app claims you shouldn't pay for it) charging £1.50 (no, there isn't a freeware version on Ovi store, but the website says it is freeware). It is ridiculous.

tl;dr E71 phone is very good on its own, but Ovi store is crap. Must hunt online for better, free apps.

[baja_yu]

I had the E71 before this, and there is really no comparison. Symbian OS is years behind Android and it will be the demise of Nokia if they don't adapt soon. On its own, E71 is excellent, great build quality and all, but it just can't compare when it comes to OS and software.

[dclamp]

@baja: thanks for those app suggestions. I downloaded them and are working great. I really like the 3g Watch dog

[abhijit]

Symbian doesn't force close an app. So it has that going for it. I have the N75, which I currently use as a paper weight.

[kregg]

I had the E71 before this, and there is really no comparison. Symbian OS is years behind Android and it will be the demise of Nokia if they don't adapt soon. On its own, E71 is excellent, great build quality and all, but it just can't compare when it comes to OS and software.

While I have the E71, my two sisters both have the HTC Desire, and I have to honestly say I much prefer the phone and the OS over the HTC Desire. Android has a lot of potential, but I really haven't seen it used that much, especially with these 3rd party apps, which seen to consist of nothing but these stupid soundboard apps and pointless "quick facts" apps, with very few apps actually being any good. But then again
1. I'm far more used to Symbian than any other OS (my last smartphone was the P910i, and I LOVED that beast)
2. The preloaded software (along with firmware updates) does literally everything I need. If I wanted any extra apps, I'll just hunt online, since (like I said before, the Ovi store is crap)
3. I've honestly haven't spent nearly as much time with Android as I have with Symbian. I can definitely see the potential of Android, and how in many ways surpasses Symbian, but my problem with Android is that by default, it doesn't really seem to give that much (again, this does depend with the phone I admit, and if I stripped Symbian bare, then I'd probably say the same), and majority of apps on the Android market seem absolutely arse. I've yet to see if there are any apps online via a Google Search that you can add to Android phones that absolutely make the phone more "business-y" I suppose

Mind you, I'm probably the only one on planet Earth who actually would debate Symbian > Android.

[baja_yu]

The two main things for me are better Gmail app and better file managers. With Gmail on Android I can do everything I can on a PC, receiving/sending attachments etc, while I could not do that on the E71. Ghost Commander which I mentioned is an excellent file manager which can work with FTP servers just like Total Commander, which is also a must for me. Plus Dropbox has an app for android too which is a plus. The widget style main screen is also great. HTC Sense UI gives you 7 screens to place widgets and shortcuts on so you rarely have to open an app or menu to get the info you want like weather, news, text messages, calendar etc. Everything is there and accessed with a flick or two. And you can customize everything.

The other thing (and this is purely hardware) is the much bigger screen and works lighning fast thanks to the 1GHz CPU.

EDIT: Forgot one very cool thing about android. Integration. Everything just integrates with everything. Setup your Gmail, Flicker, Facebook etc accounts, and bam! Birthdays just show up in your callendar pulled from facebook, contacts have pictures pulled from FB, emails linked to phone contacts pulled from your gmail account and so on. Also, default actions. On Android you can set thrid party apps as default actions. For example, I can set Opera Mini or Dolphin Browser HD as default for URLs. When I click an URL it will open in it. On Symbian URL will always open in the crappy factory browser.

[kleinma]

I found skyfire to be a bit shady. They render everything on their servers and deliver it to the app, so it isn't really a true webbrowser in the sense that your phone connects directly to the site you are visiting. I think there is something shady in their eula about how you agree that they can use any information from your browsing sessions to "improve" their services, which probably means selling your browsing habits to the highest bidder. I mean who do they think they are? google?

[Blakk_Majik]

Any particular reason you went with the Aria, when AT&T (going by the data plans, I assume you are with ATT) has the faster and much larger screened Samsung Captivate?

[abhijit]

<snip> I mean who do they think they are? google?

[kregg]

The two main things for me are better Gmail app and better file managers. With Gmail on Android I can do everything I can on a PC, receiving/sending attachments etc, while I could not do that on the E71. Ghost Commander which I mentioned is an excellent file manager which can work with FTP servers just like Total Commander, which is also a must for me. Plus Dropbox has an app for android too which is a plus. The widget style main screen is also great. HTC Sense UI gives you 7 screens to place widgets and shortcuts on so you rarely have to open an app or menu to get the info you want like weather, news, text messages, calendar etc. Everything is there and accessed with a flick or two. And you can customize everything.

I do admit this - I'm completely jealous of the fact Android has Dropbox and Symbian doesn't (why not? Pfff! Who knows), and the fact that everything is customisable. Apart from that, I don't need a FTP manager personally (although that file manager sounds pretty sweet IMHO), I don't need that many screens, I personally loathe widgets in any form (Personally, I prefer the WinMo 6 screen out of all OS screens, since it has essentially all the information I'll ever need minus half the crap), and the E71 screen allows me to see text messages, calendar entries (all I'll ever really need tbh, but it does support email). Final two points are I can, and have, set up GMail natively on E71 through email setup (maybe you weren't using latest firmware?) and that supports attachments (although I'll never use it), and my anger with Android lies with the fact that you can customise everything, but I rarely see any app that does extensive customisation and bring something new to the table (the only one I've seen which I've been massively impressed is SlideScreen). Note that these are all my views, and I'm not necessarily taking a dig at you for liking Android.

The other thing (and this is purely hardware) is the much bigger screen and works lighning fast thanks to the 1GHz CPU.

Again, I find the E71 just fine (yes, even the sluggish speed).

EDIT: Forgot one very cool thing about android. Integration. Everything just integrates with everything. Setup your Gmail, Flicker, Facebook etc accounts, and bam! Birthdays just show up in your callendar pulled from facebook, contacts have pictures pulled from FB, emails linked to phone contacts pulled from your gmail account and so on. Also, default actions. On Android you can set thrid party apps as default actions. For example, I can set Opera Mini or Dolphin Browser HD as default for URLs. When I click an URL it will open in it. On Symbian URL will always open in the crappy factory browser.

I don't use Facebook, but I do use GMail, and along with it, the contacts, which for some reason (I never quite got this) shows my contact pictures from GMail. Also, using apps like Nimbuzz and fring allows me to integrate contacts in my phonebook into the apps. Why? I have no clue, but they do, and to be honest, I'd give more of a toss if I used the IM messaging apps more on my phone. The only thing I don't get the privilege of is being able to set the default apps, like you can on Android, but this is just wishful thinking from Symbian.

Again, try to remember I'm not trying to knock you for liking Android. I just feel, in my own experience and from what I want in a smartphone, that Android a tad bit overhyped, and as a result, feel slightly let down (slightly let down, not Google Wave let down)

[baja_yu]

Again, try to remember I'm not trying to knock you for liking Android.

Don't worry, I'm not one of those people that can't get into an argument without escalating it to a fight. I respect everyones opinions, and when it comes to stuff like this, people have different needs and preferences and that's why we have so many different models (except Apple fans, they apparently all have exactly the same needs )

(slightly let down, not Google Wave let down)

LOL.

(maybe you weren't using latest firmware?)

Possibly. I had it for a little less than two years, but I didn't bother to upgrade the firmware except when I first bought it. That's one more in favor of Android, it can upgrade over the air, no need to connect to a PC, and it doesn't erase everything when you upgrade. I've been on Nokia's symbian phones quite a while, went throug N72, N95, N97 and E71. All very good phones, except N97 which turned out to be extremely buggy for me.

[dclamp]

Any particular reason you went with the Aria, when AT&T (going by the data plans, I assume you are with ATT) has the faster and much larger screened Samsung Captivate?

I bought the phone at costco. They dont have a great selection but they do have great deals. Aria was $99 with a two year renewed contract, plus my dad has his membership there and got some reward. So it worked out.

[kleinma]

I'm looking forward to trying out a Win7 phone. I have 2 cell phone lines, and 1 I just upgraded to the droidx, but the other I can upgrade around april/may next year. So possibly one of the second gen hardware devices (not a launch device) will be available when I can upgrade that line.

Microsoft is certainly playing catch up now, but from what I have seen, it looks to be at least "as good" as the droid/apple OS in terms of its capabilities. I would imagine the office integration to be the best of any phone out there.

[baja_yu]

It'll be interesting to see what they come up with. WinMo has been dated for some time now. Though I'll probably still prefer Android, if nothing more then for its 'open sourceness' and availability of free apps, which Windows Mobile was not famous for. I haven't bought a single app from Android Market (maybe because I can't in my country?!) and I have apps to do basically everything I would want it to.

[kleinma]

speaking of shady google...

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/David-Ba...news-8029.html