yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[HD7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jonno2343:
Hey All,

I'm having a very hard time deciding whether to get the HTC HD7 or the Samsung Focus and was wondering if any of you could help out.

I'm going to post this in the Samsung Focus Forum as well to get their side of things so I mainly want to know from the HD7 owner's side of the story.

HTC HD7

Large 4.3" Screen (the main reason I want to get it)

Really nice design - mainly screen (Focus has too much plastic around the screen)

16GB Built in memory with option to void warranty and upgrade :)

Kickstand which will be useful since there are no docks available.

Dual LED flash - not too important for me as I hear the HD7 camera isn't too great.

Heavier than the Focus - seriously, I do prefer a denser phone :)

Comes with free GPS Navigation Software.

Samsung Focus

Amazing 4" SAMOLED display (although it is smaller than the HD7). I have a Zune HD and the quality of that screen is amazing.

Design is OK, a little plasticky for my taste

Very light, this is an advantage (even though I prefer a denser phone) as it is less noticeable in your pocket.

8GB NAND memory which appears to be much, much faster than the HD7 with the option to upgrade to 40GB with a 32GB card without voiding warranty. 16GB is probably enough for me but 8GB is definitely too small.

According to reviews, has an excellent camera.

Now my decision is even harder because I will not be able to see the devices until I buy one as I live in South Africa and will be getting a relative to send the device out to me. I will be immigrating to the US in less than a years time so if I get the HD7 I will be going with T-Mobile and if I get the Focus I will be going with AT&T as my SP. (Is one better / cheaper than the other?)

I hope you guys can provide me with some information to sway me either way :)

Thanks,

Jonno
[HD7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] yly3:
Hi Jonno!

I kind of understand how you are feeling right now because I was also in this situation and when WP7 launched on 11th October I wanted to buy the Omnia 7. It depends what you really need/want from a phone.

Personally , I am not into S-AMOLED screens because of the lower sharpness and I am also not too overwhelmed by having the guy next to me reading all my messages etc. Vibrant colors is cool but you'll get bored of this pretty fast.

The official micro-SD support one the most important advantages if you ask me and NAND is indeed faster BUT I also think apps are not yet optimised for HD7's memory and might see an update soon ,because let's face it, the hardware is there and it can help.

Also a larger battery the 1500 one but the S-AMOLED screen kinda compensates the bigger battery and good sAR values but honestly I wouldn't mind having a 1500 in my HD7

For me, when I pay big cash for a phone I want to have a good-looking one and I might refuse a bit better specs for a gorgeous design which HD7 clearly has.

So, if you want a phone that simply has the specs go for the Samsung, if you want a sexy phone with a BIG display go for the HD7.

P.S. Are you saying you will be buying it in an almost 1 year time ? Ouch , by then you will have a better OS and other devices as well
[HD7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jonno2343:
Hi yly3,

Thanks very much for that advice.

I'm not necessarily after the best specs, I just want to be happy with my decision and I will never be happy until I research all of the options and am sure that I know what I want to do.

Yeah, I'm not too worried about the viewing angles (would also rather have poor angles so that I have my phone to myself). I just noticed in the Focus videos that the display seems almost surreal - the visuals just appeared on the top of the device as if there was no screen.

I'm also wondering about the speed of the two devices. If I get a Focus I will most likely be adding a SD card to it anyway so it'd be interesting to know the performance changes when a card is added to the Focus.

Yeah, as long as the battery lasts me the whole day I'm fine. Will charge it at nights anyway.

I would like this phone to act as a bit of an ambassador for the platform as I'm not sure when it's going to be launched in this country.

Oh, and no, I will be moving to the States in a year but hopefully purchase the device before the end of the month.
[HD7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] yly3:
S-AMOLED or not the battery will last a little bit longer than HD7's one. Although reading through Microsoft forums I saw that there is not much of a difference between the batteries, Samsung might win in standby mode or using the phone only as a phone.

About the cards, it seems Microsoft is on this one and recommends we wait for the "official seal of approval cards" from them for the best performance. When those will be available , there is no word yet , in my opinion somewhere in Q2 if you ask me but that's just a wild guess.

A small reminder is that the Samsung has slightly less RAM (512 vs HD7's 576) but I am sure it's not a deal breaker anyway ..

If this helps you with anything Bill Gates' phone is the Focus :)
[HD7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jonno2343:
Yeah, as long as the performance of the HD7 is not a problem, and from what I've read it isn't, then I don't really mind.

If you add a card to the Focus and fill it up I doubt the performance will be any better that the HD7. As MicroSD cards improve it may be possible to upgrade to faster cards anyway.

Does anyone have any experience on how much bigger the 4.3" screen is than the 4" screen? From the pictures it looks to be quite a bit smaller.
[HD7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mrroey:
Since the big deciding factor is the screen display, please take the time to read this thread I posted regarding AMOLED color representation

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=840883

Also, watch some review videos comparing the two!

Here's a good one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTLfGbvNATA
[HD7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mrroey:
Also, since the phones are so similarly spec'd with the main difference being the screen, you should focus (pun!) more of you decision on which carrier is better.

For example, where are you moving to in the US? ATT has a stronger signal in the northeast but tmobile is much better in the south and west coast. The 3g speeds also vary depending on your location and if you use a lot of mobile data, expect to pay more for ATT since they no longer offer unlimited data plans.

Overall, you can expect to pay about 10 dollars less for the same plan on Tmobile vs ATT.

But like I said, service and reception should be your ultimate deciding factor since both phones are almost identical and priced the same.

Good luck with your decision!

One thing that I must say about the Samsung Focus that most people leave out of their reviews is that the back of the phone scratches very easily. Compare it to the iphone chrome rim and you get what I mean. It's been a week since my friend bought his focus and the back has already shown some wear and tear and he pretty much babys his phone. So if you do plan on getting the focus make sure you get a case or whatever.

Also, if you are looking for an "ambassador" device, always go with htc since developers on xda focus more of their time developing on htc devices. I mean the HTC XDA II was the reason why this forum was created!
[HD7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] LuRock:
About prices: everything unlimited- Text, Minutes, & Data.

On T Mobile you ll be paying between $80-$90 a month. But 3g is spotty and indoor 3g sucks with T mobile and I live in south florida. Every time I call to complaint they say their working on it, and thats been for three years now.

On AT&T you will be paying between $135-$145 a month for same service.

only difference is At&T has 3G coverage in way more areas than T mobile.

and they dont have the indoor problem with their 3G.

I have till Monday to return my HD7 and Im still debating on what to do cause Im off contract already. I love the phone but what I like most is the OS, Microsoft has done a beautiful job. Still needs a little touch here and there but awesome start I think. I would love to get the samsung focus phone from AT&T but as you see the prices are way more, I guess thats the price you gotta pay for better service. and Verizon is just as expensive. Sprint is the cheapest but the W7 phone they are coming out with is to small for my taste.
[HD7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] nrfitchett4:
It seems that for cards right now, the ones to get are sandisk class2, those are the ones that people have gotten to work in the hd7s and the ones that are now coming out microsoft certified.

Definitely want to keep the carriers in mind. At&t will get you signal just about anywhere, but doesn't have the best 3g/4g network so your data may suffer.

Tmobile isn't as widespread as the others, but if you live in a city chances are you are good. I live in San Antonio and always have reception (hspa+)
[HD7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Sultan1993:
Yeah :) i also need an advice. Thinking between Samsung Omnia 7 or HTC HD7

HTC HD7

-better design

-bigger screen

Samsung Omnia 7

-better screen

-better battery life

can anyone help me to choose?
[HD7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jonno2343:
Hmm.. It definitely seems like I'll be going with T-Mobile then as AT&T sound too be just a little too expensive.

Thanks for the link on the Color Reproduction, very interesting!

Also interesting to hear about the Focus scratching, I imagine they used too thin a plastic to make it terribly durable.

Since I'll be stuck in South Africa for another year, the carrier isn't too much of an issue for me right now and I will only be able to fully determine which is best once I've tried them out in the places I'll be.

The HD7 always stuck out as me as the phone to get and I think as I look at it, it's turning out to be the better choice.

Does anyone think it's better to hold off till later next year? Maybe better devices (dual core, etc)? Looks like quite a few more coming next year according to http://pocketnow.com/windows-phone/how-htc-and-samsung-look-at-their-windows-phone-7-futures

But then again I can't wait until the next best thing comes out as there will always be some better coming out.

Thanks for all of the responses!
[HD7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mrroey:
Regarding your concern about waiting another year for updated specs, you will feel the exact same way next year when your buying your newer phone. Think about it in the perspective of an iPhone user...they know for a fact that a new upgraded iphone is coming out in a year but nonetheless theres no talk about waiting another year to see what might be released whether its dual core or 10mp cameras.

The truth of the matter is technology will always be doubling in specs at an exponential rate so theres not point in waiting for a year cuz of course there will be better phones and hardware.

Ever since I bought my first G1, I always upgrade my phone in a year or sometimes less either due to better hardware released or just because I get bored easily. And after I buy the newer phone, I just sell my old one. At most i'll be spending about 100-150 to "upgrade."

For example. I sold my iphone 3gs on craigslist for 350 this summer and bought an iPhone 4 for 450 which was a pretty good deal. I then sold my iphone 4 for 500 and bought an hd2 for 250. And then I recently switched to the hd7 buying it for 450 with no contract.

So don't worry about holding off on buying a phone. They seem to improve at a faster rate than computers/tvs so its really not worth keeping around older hardware that grows more obsolete day by day.
[HD7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jonno2343:
Thanks for that.

Good to hear that you can sell them again for a respectable price.

One problem with technology is that very few people want to buy the old stuff if they have a choice so it's nice to know that it is not so for smart phones.
[HD7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] kwill:
HD 7 for sure. The differences in AMOLED or whatever is not enough to make up for the sheer 4.3 inch size on the HD7. I loved it on my HD2 and told myself I would never go back to anything smaller. And I meant it. The HD7 is hands above as far as stylish looks and the "WOW" factor when you or someone else picks it up. Bottom line is, better looking phone with about the same performance across the board due to the OS just being that much more efficient.
[HD7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mrroey:
Last generation Android (Moto Droid, Nexus One, Desire) and iOS phones are usually in great demand since most people won't pay $500+ premium prices for the top of the line phones.

The majority of XDA community make up the small percentage of hardcore phone users that are willing to shell out however much for the newest spankn phones.

For your situation, as long as WP7 doenst end up flopping like the Palm webOS, you can expect the resell value of the HD7 to be pretty good in a year.
[HD7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] KraFT_mk:
Had the same problem.

Solved, but wont tell you how :)

->> http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=833140
[HD2 Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting and Genera] freeksj:
Hi all...^^

I bought a SDcard (LG 16G 6class) for my HD2 Android a few days ago.

The Bench result of this SDcard is write-speed 16Mb/s and Read-speed 18Mb/s.

That result is Coool ~~

Actually, Write-speed is better than I thought.

But ....

When that is using for HD2 Android, it occur delays or freezing so many times.

After turning off screen, and clicking the "End button"... I am waiting a moment(about 2~4sec).

My bundle SDcard(Transend 8G 2class) is better than SDcard (LG 16G 6class)

I've not experienced delays and freezing in using SDcard(Transend 8G 2class)..

How about that thing??

(I used SDformatter Program, Froyo 2.2 android, chucky win-mo rom..)
[HD2 Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting and Genera] whynot66:
Pop it in your pc and make sure that it is formatted to fat 32 with a large cluster size :-)

Sent from my hd2 desire
[HD2 Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting and Genera] pkchips:
Don't you mean small cluster size? ....
[HD2 Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting and Genera] whynot66:
No I was always told to use a larger cluster size never had any SD related problems, battery is good :-) using a class 6 formatted to fat32 with I think 32b clusters :-)

Sent from my hd2 desire
[Focus General] Jonno2343:
Hey All,

I'm having a very hard time deciding whether to get the HTC HD7 or the Samsung Focus and was wondering if any of you could help out.

I'm going to post this in the HTC HD7 Forum as well to get their side of things so I mainly want to know from the Focus owner's side of the story.

HTC HD7

Large 4.3" Screen (the main reason I want to get it)

Really nice design - mainly screen (Focus has too much plastic around the screen)

16GB Built in memory with option to void warranty and upgrade :)

Kickstand which will be useful since there are no docks available.

Dual LED flash - not too important for me as I hear the HD7 camera isn't too great.

Heavier than the Focus - seriously, I do prefer a denser phone :)

Comes with free GPS Navigation Software.

Samsung Focus

Amazing 4" SAMOLED display (although it is smaller than the HD7). I have a Zune HD and the quality of that screen is amazing.

Design is OK, a little plasticky for my taste

Very light, this is an advantage (even though I prefer a denser phone) as it is less noticeable in your pocket.

8GB NAND memory which appears to be much, much faster than the HD7 with the option to upgrade to 40GB with a 32GB card without voiding warranty. 16GB is probably enough for me but 8GB is definitely too small.

Now my decision is even harder because I will not be able to see the devices until I buy one as I live in South Africa and will be getting a relative to send the device out to me. I will be immigrating to the US in less than a years time so if I get the HD7 I will be going with T-Mobile and if I get the Focus I will be going with AT&T as my SP. (Is one better / cheaper than the other?)

I hope you guys can provide me with some information to sway me either way :)

Thanks,

Jonno
[Focus General] emjee87:
I played around with both phones a decent amount before purchasing, and I went with the Focus because I find the color on the screen to be that much better compared to the HTC WP7 phones, which appear washed out to me with bad viewing angles. The 4inch screen is the sweet spot for me as well, between the common screen sizes. I find 4.3 just a little too big, bordering unpocketable. Also, the option to expand the memory(not currently a smooth process) was a big selling point. I had a Nexus One and generally like build quality from HTC, but I felt the screen and camera on the HD7 were a bit of a letdown from what I previously had with the company. I don't find the Focus' body to feel cheap at all, but I did prefer the weight on the HD7, so that was a semi difficult concession to make.

As for providers, T-Mobile is generally cheaper from what I've seen, especially if you're coming to them with a phone you already purchased. Generally it's $20~ dollars less than if you had a subsidized phone. AT&T is probably the most expensive, tied with Verizon. I would probably just go with whichever carrier was best in your area. There's little point in having a great phone with 0 service.
[Focus General] ricky119:
Wat u need to do is just try to follow what uncle bill done, the focus

Http://Ricky119.com
[Flipout and Charm Themes and Apps] jutley:
Please post working game emulaters here the flipout is very good for playing games on the keyboard very nice feel to the keys.
[Flipout and Charm Themes and Apps] theimpaler747:
Gameboid, etc all work well, they're on the market
[Flipout and Charm Themes and Apps] jutley:
and can you use the flipout keys and redefine them aswell? do they play smoothe?
[Flipout and Charm Themes and Apps] theimpaler747:
Keyboard can be used, and they play well on my hero :)
[Flipout and Charm Themes and Apps] matheusoc:
gameboid and snesoid are both laggy here, the sound flicks.. :(

i see other phones with less hardware running well...
[Flipout and Charm Themes and Apps] theimpaler747:
Yeah, they run fine on my HeroC
[Flipout and Charm Themes and Apps] melenko:
scummVM works perfectly as long as you have a good aim picking text :D
[Flipout and Charm Themes and Apps] ReaperXL2:
I'm running both 64oid & snesoid on my Uk flipout. 64oid has some sound issues but most roms run ok (using setcpu to boost gaming). Snesoid also has some sound issues but on the whole both run fairly well :D...

Lets not forget that both of these emulators & others are still "work in progress" so we can expect some significant improvements in rom execution & hardware compatibilty in the future...

Stay Breezy & Be Lucky...

Peace...
[Flipout and Charm Themes and Apps] El Diablo:
Which games did you try on the N64oid? It will be great if you try Zelda OoT.
[Flipout and Charm Themes and Apps] silent_bob52637:
i tried psx4droid but the only game i can get to run smooth enuff to play

is yu-gi-oh forbidden memories

sound gets destroyed

animations get abit choppy
[Flipout and Charm Themes and Apps] a_rocklobster:
I use NESoid to play:

Mario

Krion Conquest

Felix the Cat

Kirby's Adventure

all of those work fine, with a less than occasional audio stutter.

as for the input settings:

im using up, down, left, right with the Dpad

the A-button is J and the B-button is H

return/enter is my start and delete/backspace is my select
[Flipout and Charm Themes and Apps] kaleb_709:
I played fpse it's a psx emulator and it worked pretty well, I was playing final fantasy 8 on that emulator, the downpoint was that the screen is a little bit too small for that... gameboid works perfectly
[Flipout and Charm Themes and Apps] xevil87:
snes9x play smoothly!
[Desire Themes and Apps] gjjh25:
My new desire says it is down to 18mb of memory.

I have rooted the phone and have access to the installed app folder if i delete some of these will i get more memory available to me?

Also i did try deleting quickoffice but it just keeps reappearing?
[Desire Themes and Apps] TheGhost1233:
If you want to free up memory you need to uninstall apps that are installed in /data. This can be done via market or application management.

If you want to remove apps from /system (like quickoffice) you need to do it via recovery or S-off your desire. In your case i would wait with s-offing your desire and remove Quickoffice via recovery, just remember it won't give you more space since /data and /system are different partitions.
[Touch Diamond2, Pure Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] hadist:
nevermind find the prblem
[Focus General] Jonno2343:
Hi All,

I was wondering if someone who has added an SD card to their Focus could comment on the performance of it with it in and with it out.

Maybe a video of before and after showing a game loading or just a general comment on what they've noticed?

Thanks very much and looking forward to your responses!

Jonno ;)
[Focus General] Tempest790:
I got my Focus yesterday. Played with it all afternoon and evening. I already had a 16GB Sandisk class 2 card which is listed as compatible, so I went ahead and installed it.

Set everything back up and played with it some more, plus this morning. I've noticed no slowdowns or lagginess of any kind. I've got 22GB free after the install. Also tried the tethering and it worked great.

FYI: I did order the 16GB Kingston class 4 card, but didn't want to wait for it. I'll put that one in my old phone.

Verdict: very happy!
[Focus General] Jonno2343:
Thanks very much!

I saw a video just now with someone who had added a SD card to their Focus and it still outperformed the HD7. BUT, it was relatively empty (< 2 GB of storage used) which means that it is possible that more of the data was on the NAND memory than on the SD Card.

It would be interesting to see someone install an app without the card in and run it to see how long it takes, then add a card and install the same app and time it, and then fill up the card with media and THEN install the app (once the storage is almost full) and then time it.

May take some time but should be worth it in the end :).

I know the data is supposed to be spread across any of the storage facilities available but we're not sure how it is done (simply filling it up, striping the data).
[Focus General] ricky119:
Yes, that's video was unfair, need a full data card to test, waiting

Http://Ricky119.com
[Focus General] jbastian:
I ran for a week without an SD card and encountered many of the same issues reported (app hang/crash, marketplace lag/hang). I had to reboot a couple times my first week for one reason or another.

I've since added a class 2 sandisk 8gb and do not notice any difference, performance or otherwise. Incidently I have not had to reboot since I added memory. I have rebooted it once only verify the data was still there after reset.

Hope this helps,
[Focus General] RustyGrom:
I tested my coworker's Focus vs mine. He had a 16GB Sandisk class 2 card with >8gb of data. I had no card with ~7GB of data. I launched ilomilo on each phone about the same time. They finished pretty much at the same time.
[Focus General] markgamber:
I'll second the above, I've noticed no difference between having a card and not having a card except for the amount of storage available. I'm not saying there's no difference, I'm saying I've noticed no difference so I didn't bother measuring. Programs load and run at the same speed either way, media loads and plays at the same speed...no difference.

Guess I should add that mine is an 8GB Sandisk class 2 card. No problems whatsoever as far as speed, rebooting or anything else.
[Focus General] karelj:
In my opinion, the best type of test would be a stock Focus vs a Focus with an added micro sd card with the phone+card loaded to the max with content.
[Focus General] ganks:
I will test this and report back. I have a Focus stock and my wife has one with a 16GB Sandisk Class 2 card in it. I'll load it up and see if there is a difference over the weekend.

My Focus with no memory card has not crashed in the marketplace yet, my wife's does a lot...
[Focus General] Jonno2343:
Great, thanks very much!

Looking forward to the results.