Jason Wood software, music, graphics, television

Having eked out my xperia X1 for a couple of more months through custom ROM upgrades and the like, I threw it out and got a HTC Desire

What a fine phone! Three days in and I am still drooling and talking incessantly about it on any poor souls who get stuck with me. (Sorry guys!) I thoroughly recommend it to anybody who is looking for a new smart phone,doesn't want to go the apple route, and wants a better phone than the iphone.

Yes, that's right - better. That's a big statement that you should pull me up on, so here is a bullet-point list of why the desire is better.

First, a quick summary of why it's as good as an iphone :

• Very quick and smooth operation, the phone never skips a beat even when skimming between three or four apps in quick succession.
• Simple to use, everything Just Works. The HTC Sense interface over the top of android is a killer combination.
• Web browser is webkit based - the same as the iphone, and works very well, dealing with complex sites such as the full facebook site.
• Proper headphone jack.
• Thousands of free apps available via the andriod market.
• Supports Multi-touch

Now for the reasons why the desire is better than the iphone.

• Plug it into your computer and use it as a USB stick. Still don't understand why the iphone doesn't allow this.
• Better camera - 5 mega pixel with an auto-correcting flash (so no over-exposed pictures), and face detection for easier focussing.
• Full facebook/twitter/flicker intigration. (Iphone OS 4.0 poportedly has facebook integration see http://bit.ly/at27sZ)
• You can download an updated google maps from the android market that provides full, free car navigation. And having used it last night, I can say that it is mighty fine! Sorry iphone guys, seems like you don't get this - http://bit.ly/dzI9FQ
• Installing new music is a breeze, just copy songs to the phone- no ITunes synchronisation hell!
• Larger, better screen, (but not so big it doesn't fit in your pocket)
• Flash support. Yes, that means you can browse my website with it and listen to music and watch the videos! Currently Flash lite support, it wil get a Flash 10.1 update when it becomes available.

So all good so far, any bad points?

Well, one. The battery life is quite poor. Expect to be charging the desire daily if you are a moderate to heavy user of it's functionality, maybe twice daily if you spend all your time glued to it's screen. Which I can tell you, in the first week of owning it, is very likely!