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Desire getting left behind?

W

weyland76

Newbie
I've had my Desire since about last June, so not even a year into a 2 year contract yet. It's amazing to see how much Android has come on in that time, but I still have another year before I can upgrade and not even 12 months into my contract it feels like the Desire is pretty much forgotten about. HTC have - or will have by the time my 1st year is up - released about 10 new Android phones! The Sensation has me drooling but only because the look of it and specs make my Desire feel like a Nokia 3210.

Don't get me wrong, still love my Desire, but in less than a year it feels quite outdated.... anybody else feeling this? Hopefully us Desire owners WILL get a sense upgrade soon, though T-Mobile took about 6 months from 2.2's release to port it to us so I may not have it before it's time to get a new phone!
 
Nope.

This industry is moving fast but many being released are still lower spec than the desire. Theres not really anything id swap my desire for. It's a great phone.

2 years does feel long but I can cope
 
There will always be new phones coming out with more bells and whistles. I have only had my Desire for six months. I actually just received a replacement( lost the original)yesterday. Spent a couple of hours today getting everything dialed back in. When I work up the courage to look under the hood, i can't imagine tiring anytime soon of what that will open up. Such a fine gadget that is the perfect size for me.
 
I am totally drooling over the sensation. But then again its not a huge jump from the desire. Yes the screen is bigger and better resolution, dual core, and the usual improvements like camera and app memory. The main thing that makes me want a new phone is the software. Having 2.3 or higher and mainly sense 3.0 those are things that really matter to me. I could always get by with the current desire specs.
 
Will keep mine til it packs up or a lot of apps require more I think. No warranty on it now and I'm on a 1 month rolling contract so I'll be happy to tinker with it once I figure out how to (limited myself to debranding to a generic HTC firmware) and in the meantime I'll stick the 2.3 update on it when HTC release it either OTA (if it works) or by RUU. Not found an app that doesn't work and as said above, it's still well above a lot of new devices in the specs department.
 
Just look at it this way:

if you buy another phone 6 months after getting a Desire the improvement will be 5% (performances, UI, everything)

if you wait the full 2 years it might well be 20+%. So it's not really worth upgrading it as soon as you 'feel' it's being let down.
 
Kibbster said:
If it wasn't for the great dev support and all the great ROMs then probably.
I think updating new ROMs makes that two years seem a lot shorter with a new phone every flash.
Click to expand...


Too right. A custom Rom on a Desire still puts it ahead of most brand new phones. OS version, battery, storage are all at least as good. Only CPU and screen are lagging.
 
As long as the phone runs on the latest OS version, runs all the apps I need, and is able to perform as I expect, then I'm keeping Desire. :)
 
Another thing to consider, these newer phones are going to be harder & harder to root.
This will tip the balance more in favour of the older phones.
 
I love mine, It does what I need and its still really good and one of the most popular Android phones... Sorted! :P
 
anoniemouse said:
Another thing to consider, these newer phones are going to be harder & harder to root.
This will tip the balance more in favour of the older phones.
Click to expand...
Newer HTC phones are getting harder to root - if that continues until I feel the need to upgrade it may drive me away from HTC (which would be a shame, as the Desire is a great piece of kit, but if that's the way they want it...).
 
I agree, even if a new phone has enough speed and memory I would still like the option to root if I want.

The thought of being stuck with Sense and sense only isn't a great one.

I like HTC phones and the great build quality/ looks but I might consider something other than HTC for my replacement.
Something that is fast, has a bigger screen and most importantly a decent external speaker and headphone volume.
 
I think tech is getting pushed out so fast these days that what appears new is not nessesarily better. Its a marketing game as well. Manufacturers are using numbers to make it seem as though something has improved when in actual fact, it has not. The item may look a little different, slightly more memory and a modest CPU upgrade: but do you really need it?

Baring any physical damage or unknown hardware failure my Desire is going to be with me until the end of my contract, 2.5 years left :)

-
 
weyland76 said:
I've had my Desire since about last June, so not even a year into a 2 year contract yet. It's amazing to see how much Android has come on in that time, but I still have another year before I can upgrade and not even 12 months into my contract it feels like the Desire is pretty much forgotten about. HTC have - or will have by the time my 1st year is up - released about 10 new Android phones! The Sensation has me drooling but only because the look of it and specs make my Desire feel like a Nokia 3210.

Don't get me wrong, still love my Desire, but in less than a year it feels quite outdated.... anybody else feeling this? Hopefully us Desire owners WILL get a sense upgrade soon, though T-Mobile took about 6 months from 2.2's release to port it to us so I may not have it before it's time to get a new phone!
Click to expand...


I feel 100% the same way and I can't upgrade till feb next year. I really want the sensation so bad :). I will never get rid of my desire I love it with all my heart and always will lol.
 
The Desire is still on course to receive Gingerbread sometime soon and it seems to me that Android is settling down now. I haven't heard anything about 2.4, 2.5, etc so it seems that Gingerbread is "it" for now.

Most of the improvements on newer Android phones are tweaks and improvements rather than brand new features (aside from NFC and it could be a long time before that tech is commonplace), so a slightly larger screen, faster processor and the like. But the functionality is the same; access the web, email, take photos, videos, play games, etc, etc. To be honest, I'm not keen on HTC's own mapping system but it's likely to be non removable. I do like the new Sense interface, though.

I don't think the Desire is being left behind, it's done an amazing job for HTC and Android and I can't really think of anything it can't do that new phones can.

I'll probably hang on to mine even when I upgrade, it's a future classic.
 
2.4 is supposedly Honeycomb for phones. Thats the rumour I heard. There are certainly rumours of it. I dont think the desire would get it though. 2.3 I think will be the last official release.
 
I kind of know what you mean, but despite some phones having better hardware, few have managed to match the Desire's level of form and functionality. Take for example the latest dual core LG phone. Amazing tech, but reviews are clearly showing it is not "all that". Same with the Nexus S... good technology, but not a major game changer like the Desire was.

In fact, the only phone that I would consider swapping my Desire for, is the Desire S. But I am not willing to pay a lot of money for a phone that is only slightly better.

I don't think we have seen a generational leap since the Desire was released back in mid 2010. The ONLY thing that lets down the Desire is its weak GPU... and that does sometimes annoy me.

I also agree that HTC should not abandon us Desire owners. The Desire really pushed HTC into the spotlight, but unless they look after their customers, my next phone may well not be an HTC.

Having recently had a major pay cut at work (sadly not a work cut), I will not be buying a new phone until I can find myself a new job. But I would be happy to keep my Desire for another year. It never crashes, it always works, it looks nice... what more could I ask for.

I would also recommend playing around with some third party launchers... these really made me fall in love with my phone all over again.
 
adam_hilluk said:
Been able to upgrade for 3 months now... nothing worth upgrading to =\
Click to expand...

The only problem with that is that you are paying for a handset you have already paid for.

Some carriers allow a sim only tariff on a monthly basis. Sometimes it may be worth considering this until there is something to upgrade to.

Paying
 
SUroot is right.. Even if you get something thats not worth upgrading to it still will be a new phone you are paying for rather than just giving money to the Wireless Carrier
 
Welcome to the world of technology! It'd be very unusual for technology to NOT be outdated after a year. ;)

I do get phone envy but when I actually stop and think about it, my Desire does everything I want my phone to do and it's fast enough to do it.

I drool over these dual core phones but I don't really play games or run any system intensive apps so it'd be a waste of
 
There are so many deals that don't tie you in for lengthy periods I have no clue why people go for these 2 year deals anyway. I've been paying
 
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