[HD Mini General] JHTCHD:
Hello everybody!!:p

It's been a while since I have posted.:confused:

I decided to post a little story of me using the HTC HD Mini, and the conclusion and consequences thereafter.

During the almost 7 months I have used this phone daily; intensively, I experienced a great many things of which I made a report.

I decided to write this report because I want to help people who want an opinion

.

And I will give it based on a

user experience

and of course some people are not going to agree with me and that's that.

And that’s ok! I didn’t take an hour of my time of thinking this through for the haters, but for the people who want an

honest opinion

on a product that we love.

I started with windows mobile 5 and after I bought the HTC Touch HD with Windows Mobile 6.0.x I wanted a phone that was faster, had better graphics and more user friendly apps. I wanted a phone I could have more fun with!

I chose the HTC HD Mini and in the end.. I still love it.:)

But not all is said with that opinion!:eek:

Now this was important to me because it made me change my mind about a lot of things regarding HTC AND Windows Mobile...:o

A view of the Mini…

The design of the mini was striking to me from the beginning, from its small, but workable size to its practical but esthetically pleasing exterior. And don’t forget the big yellow surprise on the inside!

It is cute and looks stabile at the same time. It has a big pocket factor and for someone of my posture its quite ergonomic. ( I am a small guy with small hands and fingers).

And so the mini found the mini:p

Interface

* I really liked the new sence interface, easy to use and more user friendly then touch flow 3D was.

* I liked the way windows mobile 6.5 is cloaked so to speak, in a way that it doesn't bother you, nor makes things unnecessarily complicated.

* The weather animation and wallpapers really made me smile the first time. I really loved that one

* HTC Peep made me use twitter for the first time and I really got the hang of it afterwards.

Media

* I was happy with the camera performance and liked the way I could take pictures and upload them if I desired to.

* The photo gallery was very nice to look at and easy to use.

* The video quality was good and I was satisfied. Although editing really would have made my day!

* The music player and the download option for various album covers made it fun to listen music, although I later decided not to use the function too much because I have a LOT of music…:cool:

I have experienced the fact that my mini became sluggish:eek:, in overall performance after I loaded up a few gigabytes of music.

That really bugged me because I had a more than capable memory card.:mad:

*The Facebook app and YouTube app were easy to use, though I would have liked the YouTube app to have more options regarding viewing profiles, comments, etc. My feeling was that it wasn't complete in a few aspects.

Performance

* One of the most positive things I have experienced was the good use of battery life. The Mini takes a good 2 days use with use of various media, 3g connectivity and viewing video's.

* With the connectivity I had some mixed feelings. Although I rarely lost a phone call due to signal loss I was not always happy with the results while tethering, and sharing internet connections. But the overall internet experiences were good and I rarely had problems with it.

Browsing and Web usage

- I was satisfied with opera. This is a stable browser and it is easy in use.

- The overall web experience was good but "mini". I have realized that I don't mind the mini size of the phone, but eventually prefer a little bigger screen:cool: for internet browsing. Though it wasn't really a big deal in practical, daily use.

- I rarely have had problems with sites loading the media, or slow loading of sites.

Overall I am satisfied with the web experience.:o

Customization

Here came the real deal breaker for me....:confused:

After I bought the mini I was under the impression that with the development of this phone,

a window would be opened for the HVGA format

and the windows marketplace. I believe this has failed. For me, in Holland there are really not that many apps available for the Mini. I missed that for a great deal!!:mad:

Updating the mini and customer support

What really got on my nerves (I think everybody's nerves) were some of the updates... I strongly believe that there is a lot to be said about FAILED support for this device.:confused:

The very badly worked out updates that is, HTC provided us with.:eek:

A lot of problems later, and very very crappy customer service, we still experience user interface problems that in most high end phones, are shortly dealt with.

I read XDA a lot and it surprised me to see still a lot of problems, which HTC SHOULD have fixed, modified or kept working on some problems hinting to things that could have been thought out better because they are really development issues.:confused:

Just to name a few...

- Problems with notifications sound as well as LED notifications.

- Problems with the phone not waking up when it should

- Problems with proximity sensors

- Problems with memory cards

And so on.

Personal conclusion:

I really do love this Mini! I love its exterior and I love its interior.

But.....

I don’t like the way it has been treated. It deserved better in a way.

I have the feeling this is the Cinderella story of an HTC ending line of windows mobile 6.5.x phones…:o

It closes a chapter, but leaves a lot of things open…:eek:

HTC made my regard for them fall, I was disappointed.:mad:

Windows Mobile 6.5.x is saying goodbye in a way, now that Windows Phone 7 is operational, but

it doesn’t close with a bang

. It closes very silently in my opinion.

In February, my contract expires and I can get a new phone.

And after several years… I am sorry to say, I’m saying goodbye to HTC and Windows Mobile. It wasn't the phone... it was it's broken potential in a way that made up my mind.

My interest now lies with the Iphone, it’s development and continuing evolution, it’s appeal to me has a great deal to do with the expandability, where Windows mobile 6.5.0 on the Mini ends, and Windows phone 7 constricts within it’s not even fully developed capability. I chose a different way.

My mini stays for the time being. But it will probably be my last HTC phone in a while.

I hope HTC improves it customer support, doesn’t make on-the-side-phones anymore, and develop their continuing support for their existing models.

And MOST of all not to make

progress for the sake of progress

or money.

Because in the end the

money creates the product,

but the consumer MAKES the product.

Note:

I just hope some people will find this report helpfull, and I hope it contributes to XDA's motto of finetuning the user experience, because that's what it's all about isn't it? Together we grow.

Take care guys!

Joey