This is my first review here. Fingers Crossed
Almost one and a half years of Nokia 6630 usage and a broken screen later, I decided to go for a mobile platform different from the usual Nokia + Symbian combination. A little research revealed that an entirely different and a powerful mobile platform also existed, called as Windows Mobile which allowed the use of a Touchscreen to interact with the device.
I was sold! :D Sometimes, lady luck does favour me. I was discussing mobile devices with a friend (lets call her S...And yes, she’s a geek, just like me) and she told me that HTC had launched their newest offering, The HTC Touch (Codename Elf, hence the title), in India, for INR 19900. I had initially set my eyes on the Dopod D600 PDA which was
available for INR 19999 at that time. You can very well imagine how
happy I was! Went straight to the authorized HTC dealer and bought it
just 2 days after it was launched. Happy and proud, I went home and
inserted a Vodafone SIM Card. It was only then I realised how conniving
some people can really be. The (T)ouch was asking for an "Unlock Code".
A phone call to the dealer revealed that the Touch was meant to be used
only on the Airtel Network. Yes, I was disappointed. However, my
Bangalore number, the one which I used the most, was thankfully from
Airtel. So, Open Flap > SIM Insert > Power ON followed. It
worked! Yay! :D
The first boot required me to set the screen
orientation. The Network Wizard follwed automatically after that and
configured GPRS and MMS settings on its own. HTC has done an excellent
job of sprucing up the standard Windows Mobile interface. The all black
interface looked pretty cool. I had already read a few reviews over at
(Mobile-Burn, Mobile-Review, Engadget etc) and could see why all of
them were whining about the processor. The phone is indeed a teensy-bit
sluggish, but pretty much OK for my needs.
The Touch is a Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
enabled PDA. Setting it up to synchronize contacts, calendar, e-mail
and tasks with my laptop via bluetooth was pretty much straightforward,
once they were paired (I prefer not using the USB cable). I was
pleasantly surprised to see that the PDA could use my computer’s
broadband connection via activesync automatically! I couldn’t
configure Wi-Fi internet on the Touch using my Home Router. However, I
did get a chance to try out Wi-Fi at the Bangalore Airport. Works great
but eats up a lot of battery!
EDGE is also supported.
Called up Airtel and got the "Your phone is too advanced for WAP
Internet. Please subscribe to Mobile Office" hogwash. For the record,
Mobile Office is Rs 20/day and pretty much useless if you use your GPRS
connection only on the phone. Also, WAP does work on the Touch! :D
HTC has been generous enough to provide a 1GB microSD card
with the device. As the Touch is SDHC compatible, I can also use an 8GB
card with it. However, 1GB is sufficient for my needs :-).
I was able to configure my mail2web hosted exchange account with the Touch and can say that Direct Push e-mail works flawlessly, but unfortunately it tends to eat up a lot of battery juice.
This
PDA is beiing marketted as a "Touch" based phone i.e I am supposed to
use my fingers on the screen. Unfortunately, I’m a terrible OCD, and
this device is a fingerprint magnet (both screen and the
rubberised body). You can now very well imagine how most of my time
goes cleaning this darn thing :D It’s the stylus way for me..Thats for
sure!
Sound quality is average through the loudspeaker, which is mono. However, a stereo headset has been supplied with the phone and is pretty good.
Now comes the Camera. 2 Megapixels without autofocus and flash. Photo quality is above average, enough for my needs.
A word of caution: The PDA has to be restarted once in 2 days. For some
weird reason, if this is not done, it just "hangs". Also, it’s a little
moody. Sometimes when I am supposed to receive a call, no notification
is shown. However, the calling party assumes that I am not picking up
the phone. Similar problem with SMSes. One out of 15 don’t show up.
Yup... No notification either! I have learnt to live with this, just
like I have learnt to live Miss S’s never ending supply of Tech News
(and celebrity gossip ;-) )
I guess that about sums it up. I hope my first review was Okay. Comments?
(Eeeek! Just found a finger print on my Touch. Clean Mode: ON)