HTC HD2 Rugged Mobile Review

Posted on 07-12-2010 | By: david | 

Category : HTC, Mobile Phones

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The HTC Touch HD2 is essentially a toughened up version of the HTC Touch HD. With a special 4.3 inch touchscreen (displays up to 65,000 colours with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels) that hardens upon impact to protect the phone and a unique thick stylus designed to be usable even wearing thick gloves. Weighing in at 157 grams and measuring 120.5mm x 67mm x 11mm, this is a compact smartphone designed to take some knocks! Running on Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional with the pocket office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and a PDF viewer) installed, the HTC HD2 Rugged is ready to face the everyday challenges of work and play.

The HD2 Rugged is packed with the latest features such as a 5 megapixel camera (with geo-tagging, autofocus, dual LED flash and video recording capability), touchscreen with auto-rotation and handwriting recognition, Quad band reception and 3G HSDPA, GPRS and EDGE support, WiFi built in and Bluetooth A2DP support.

Although this phone is designed to be used as a professional robust handset for those working outdoors and/or those who have active occupations or hobbies, it does not disappoint in terms of entertainment. With dedicated camera key taking photos and recording video is fast and fun, videos can be played in WMV, 3GP, MPEG4, 3G2, M4V, AVI, and ASF formats. The integrated music player supporting all the popular file formats (including mp3) offers a great listening experience and the inclusion of a standard 3.5mm headphone jack means users can simply plug in their favourite headphones. An FM radio is also included and the phone supports downloadable games.

Connectivity options are numerous with internet access through HSDPA connection, WiFi hotspots, EDGE, GPRS, micro-USB and Bluetooth. memory storage of up to 32Gb (via microSd card) means you can store all your music, video and photos easily on the HTC HD2 Rugged.

Advantages: Amazing Tech21 d3o protection case (a specially engineered material made with intelligent molecules. They flow with the product but upon shock, lock together to absorb the impact energy). Specially designed stylus easy to use in all situations even with thick gloves. Good 5-megapixel camera with autofocus and dual LED flashlight, 3.5mm stereo audio jack, Windows Media Player, HSDPA, GPRS/EDGE , WiFi, Bluetooth A2DP, long battery life. Good deals on Orange.

Disadvantages: Touchscreen not as slick as class leaders, uses Windows 6.5 operating system, not in same league as the latest Windows 7.

Find the cheapest deals and tariffs on Orange for the HTC HD2 Rugged now!

Full review on the HTC Desire white

Posted on 06-12-2010 | By: david | 

Category : HTC, Mobile Phones

Tags: , , , ,

A potentially class winning mobile phone featuring a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 3.7inch OLED screen and the latest Android 2.1 Operating system. The HTC Desire white is very similar to the Google Nexus One and has its sights firmly set on the Apple iPhone. With HTC Sense overlaying the latest Android OS and a huge range of features allied to a sleek design – it may well be the better mobile phone, lets take a look at some of the HTC Desire features in more detail.

The Desire has a 5 megapixel camera which takes decent photographs in good lighting and reasonable snaps in the dark with the LED light (LED lit photos can be a bit harsh but this criticism is shared by all LED flash cameras). Video recording is also impressive even in low light conditions. Viewing images and videos is a joy on the stunning AMOLED screen with 480×800 pixel resolution but there are occasions in bright sunlight when the display can be hard to read (not a major problem in the UK!). One particular area where the HTC Desire easily beats the iPhone is watching streaming video while browsing web sites, the iPhone still does not support Flash whereas the Desire fully supports Flash 10 along with 3GP, 3G2, MP4 and WMV video file formats. The microSD card slot can be used for storage up to 32GB and with high speed connectivity using 3G or on board WiFi downloading movies and music is fast and easy.

The Desire’s integrated web browser is one of the best on the market, super fast, and easy to use. The large screen also makes it more enjoyable surfing the web with some neat resizing features such as multi-touch zoom capability making it easy to view all types of web content. Once again
the Desire beats Apple’s phone in almost every area of internet browsing. The HTC Desire white uses an optical trackpad that registers finger motion over the sensor, rather than the trackball featured on the Nexus One, this is a much more responsive option and looks neater too.

Social networking is well taken care of with the fabulous Sense application “Friendstream” sits on the home screen and combines all your Facebook, Twitter and Flickr updates into one stream, simple and effective.In terms of messaging there are numerous options available such as SMS, MMS and Gmail.

Perhaps the only Achilles heel of this handset is the decision by HTC to fit a 1400mAh battery, this small capacity battery means you’ll probably need to charge the Desire every day.

Advantages: Fast internet browser with Flash support, Friendstream to integrate your updates and contacts across social networks, superb HTC Sense interface and Android OS, inbuilt hands-free kit supplied with headphones and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.

Disadvantages: some still feel Android OS is a little “geeky”, poor battery life, AMOLED screen can be hard to see in bright sunlight.

There is no doubt the HTC Desire is one of the best phones of all time. Significantly cheaper than the iPhone, but matching or beating the iPhone in all areas.

Find the cheapest deals and tariffs on the HTC Desire white now!

HTC 7 Mozart Mobile Phone Review

Posted on 06-12-2010 | By: david | 

Category : HTC, Mobile Phones

Tags: , , , ,

The HTC 7 Mozart yet another Windows Phone 7 handset from the Taiwanese company, but in addition to the Microsoft standard specification (which can make Windows 7 phones all feel the same) this phone offers a high fidelity, surround sound experience for music and video playback. This is how the Mozart has met the challenge of differentiating itself from the other Windows phones. In addition to the enhanced music and video playback features the HTC 7 Mozart is also smaller than the HTC 7 Trophy and HTC HD7 and has a better camera with 8 megapixel sensor. The basic spec for the HTC 7 Mozart is, as you would expect, similar to the other Windows powered phones with a 1GHz processor, 3.7 inch screen, eight megapixel camera, 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity.

Looks wise, the HTC 7 Mozart follows the standard Windows 7 layout with the front of the handset featuring the large screen and Back, Menu and Search buttons below. Clever use of brushed aluminium and chrome inserts highlight the sleek, smart image. The rear casing features the camera lens, xenon flash, speaker and the Windows 7 logo.

The screen is excellent with crisp, bright graphics, however it’s no match for the Super AMOLED screen of the Samsung Omnia 7 or the super sized screen of the HTC HD7. The virtual surround sound offered courtesy of SRS WOW HD sound driver is fantastic, even listening through standard headphones the sound is crystal clear with good bass.

One of the downsides to the Windows Mobile 7 phones is no hot swappable storage, you have to make do with the 8Gb of internal memory. For this reason some will prefer an Android powered HTC handset like the Desire HD for the extra external memory storage.

Advantages: Xenon flash is great for taking photographs in poor light conditions, its brighter and gives better results than the normal LED light found on most mobile phones. Fantastic sound quality, simple and slick Windows 7 user interface, standard 3.5mm headphone jack allows good choice of headphones. Excellent Zune software that allows you sync music easily between your phone and your computer. Setting up email is easy – just require user and password Google, Yahoo, Orange or Hotmail set up.

Disadvantages: Only 8GB of internal storage which can’t be expanded, Windows 7 App store is just getting started so not many apps when compared to the iPhone and Android platforms. No HTC Sense as Windows will not allow the overlay of user interface skins. only available on Orange.


Find the cheapest deals and tariffs on the HTC 7 Mozart now!

HTC 7 Trophy Full Review

Posted on 06-12-2010 | By: david | 

Category : HTC, Mobile Phones

Tags: , , , ,

The HTC 7 Trophy is a reassuringly solid handset with a high quality feel, yet somehow managing to be slim and compact at the same time! At 140g and measuring just 62mm x 119mm x 12mm, the Trophy will easily fit into any pocket. This handset even looks expensive with brushed aluminium and chrome casing. The display is large at 3.8 inches (although obviously not as large as the HTC Desire HD) and has good resolution and sharp graphics courtesy of the new Windows 7mobile operating system. As already noted in other HTC mobile reviews, this latest version of the Windows mobile OS is light years ahead of previous Windows mobile system. Offering sharp graphics, intuitive and simple interface, slick operation and fast transitions. In fact the only downside to having a Windows 7 powered phone right now is the lack of apps available for downloading, although this will obviously improve over time.

It has to be said that all Windows 7 phones are very similar, this is no doubt due to the minimum spec requirements laid down by Microsoft to ensure consistent Windows 7 experience across all manufacturers hardware. All windows 7 phones for instance, have (as a minimum) touch screen, 5 megapixel camera, FM radio, accelerometer, 1Ghz processor, the same three control keys under screen etc. Once you have used a Windows 7 handset you will certainly have no problems switching models at a later date (much like changing PC/laptop model, the user experience remains basically the same).

The camera is worth noting as at first sounds pretty basic with just a 5 megapixel sensor, however in practice it actually takes nice, clear photos with the included LED flash and the camera software is simple to get to grips with. There is a video recording feature as well which is actually pretty basic but does record decent smooth footage and is not bogged down with endless options which are rarely used.

Advantages: Good display with sharp contrast and vibrant colours, Windows 7 operating system is lightening fast and very slick, decent 5 megapixel camera, feels solid and well made.

Disadvantages: Very similar indeed to other Windows Phone 7 mobiles with nothing to really make this handset stand out from the crowd, not many apps available to download for Windows 7 yet.

The HTC 7 Trophy is a great mobile phone featuring the new Windows Phone 7 operating system. But, remember to check out the other Windows Phone 7 phones that are currently available. The Windows 7 based phones are so similar that it really comes down to a choice of screen size or camera specification within your budget. Available now on T-mobile, o2, Orange and Vodafone

Find the cheapest deals and tariffs on the HTC 7 Trophy now!

HTC HD7 Full Review of Window’s 7 flagship phone

Posted on 03-12-2010 | By: david | 

Category : HTC, Mobile Phones

Tags: , , , , ,

The HTC HD7, unlike the HTC Desire Z, utilises the latest Windows Phone 7 operating system. A big departure from HTC’s popular and impressive Android phones. So far the HTC HD7 is exclusive to O2 in the UK. All the new Windows & mobiles are packed with features and high tech hardware to a similar specification including 1GHz processors, at least 8GB of memory, 5 megapixel camera sensors (minimum) and large touch screens.

The HTC HD7 has the largest touchscreen out of all the latest Windows 7 handsets at 4.3 inches. The screen on the HD7 looks so large it’s almost like a tablet device! This of course makes it a joy to use for internet browsing, watching video or playing games.

While the large screen has many advantages, one disadvantage is the size of the actual handset, the slab design and large size combine to make it awkward and sometimes uncomfortable to use, particularly during long calls. On the plus side this new Windows 7 operating system is light years ahead of Windows Mobile. This latest mobile Windows OS is so far ahead of the old system it bears no relation – this is no minor upgrade but a complete (necessary) revamp for the better. The new interface is extremely user friendly and easy to navigate quickly. With handy shortcuts to services like Windows Live (hotmail, office and Skydrive cloud storage for files) and there is even support for Google accounts too.

The HTC HD7 comes with Zune (basically Microsoft version of iTunes) and once Zune is installed on your computer syncing music files, videos and podcasts via USB cable is effortless. Unfortunately, unlike the HTC Desire Z, the HD7 currently does not support Flash video online, but in fairness Flash support is pretty new and hardly any mobile phones have this capability as yet. One other drawback on the web experience is that the web browser seems to be hard wired for Yahoo search only – annoying!

Advantages: Fantastic 4.3 inch screen with vibrant colours, easy and flexible user interface courtesy of Windows 7, neat Zune software, reasonably priced music store with all the latest content, responsive touchscreen, handy flip-out stand for watching videos

Disadvantages: Social networking integration and options could be better, annoying Yahoo search in the browser (though this is expected to be changed in early 2011 update), no expandable memory, battery life poor – even with moderate use expect to charge daily

The HTC HD7 is possibly the best device for the launch of Windows Phone 7, with its good looks, fantastic screen and totally revamped Windows OS which is fun and easy to use.

Find the cheapest deals and tariffs on the HTC HD7 now!

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