[Touch Cruise General] surgex0:
I actually bought an ipod touch recently...and I think it's one of the most amazing devices I've ever seen..but it's not without it's issues.

The main problem (imho) with the polaris is the screen and user interface. They made it seem like the device is touch-friendly, but it isn't -- the bottom line is that the device is made to be used with a stylus! Think about it, if it was a real touch device, they wouldn't have included a stylus / slot for one with the device -- you wouldn't need it! What I am still mad about is that in the advertisements they made it seem like the screen was exactly like the iphones and that it was a true touch friendly device.

Apples touch screen actually works how it's supposed to.. It's designed for use with skin/fingers perfectly, and won't even work with a stylus. HTC's touch-flo is a piss poor solution for turning a stylus-tap screen into a finger friendly screen. It just doesn't work right. IT's a software solution to something that needs to be taken care of at the hardware level. IT's funny how apple's first ever multi-function-device / pda phone has a more advanced screen and features than htc -- who has been making devices for years. You can blame it on windows mobile all you want, but the actual hardware (touch screen, processor, hardware media decoder, graphics acceleration) of the iphone/itouch is way more advanced than anything from HTC.

Apples iphone OS has alot of problems though. You need to hack the crap out of it just to be able to do the simple things you could normally do on windows mobile. And alot of the software in the app store is very expensive, and there aren't even any trial versions (for example, the VNC client called teleport or something like that is $25.99!). I refuse to purchase anything from the app store and I have mine loaded with all cracked apps and games.

Which leads me to the conclusion, as to why I bought an ipod touch rather than an iphone -- despite all the problems HTC devices have; a majority of them (not including the polaris imho) are good productivity tools. Apple tries to make it seem like the 3g can be (notice their comercials showing push mail / activesync compatibility), but at the end of the day it's really just a media player with a phone on it. If you want software for it, you're gonna pay out the ass for mediocre features. And the firmware that's out for it right now is buggy to say the least, and lacks the most basic features required for productivity we have become used to with windows mobile -- for example, applications running in the background, notifications, etc.

Now that HTC actually has some competition, maybe someday they will get their act together and start producing faster more finger-friendly devices that have the features of the iphone with the productivity and versatility of windows mobile.

The touch pro looks VERY promising. I have not had a chance to use a diamond yet, but the fact that it has no micro-sd slot is a huge turnoff...and most people who own one said it is slow with the stock rom (like most HTCs).

Bottom line is...don't get an iphone 1g/2g/anything. Apple are greedy as hell and make you pay for a god damn firmware upgrade. Can you believe that? I've never had one piece of hardware where I had to pay to get a new firmware. Completely rediculous.

If you're curious about the device, get an ipod touch. You can always use WMWifiRouter (an amazing software) to give the touch internet and use it as your media device / web browser, and continue to use your WM device as a PDA / Productivity / Business tool. It sucks carrying around two devices, but at the moment I feel that's the best possible solution.

Maybe the touch pro will eliminate the need for the ipod touch...I can only hope!