I want to know what members think about the HTC Desire Z, if you have had the phone for at least 3 months.
FYI, it was announced in September. In Canada, it has only been released for a month. It may have been available in some places in October. I got mine the first week of November which is almost a month and a half.
Reason being that I previously purchased a new android phone which didn't have a keyboard but within 3 months it was rebooting. This happened with someone elses phone too but as soon as they got it. I thought I got away with a phone that worked but 3 months later and I encountered the same problem.
It is possible the rebooting issue is due to dirty battery contacts. If the contacts are bad, the battery may shift and hit a dirty spot. When this happens, the phone may reboot either immediately or after some time.
When I first got my Desire Z, I it was rebooting a few times a week. I then took the battery out, cleaned the contacts and put it back in. It's been almost 4 weeks since I did that and the phone had just one reboot a few weeks ago and then it's been fine since. I've seen something similar happen with cordless phones as well. The battery shifts and you lose the connection.
If you are having these reboot issues, I recommend you take out the battery and clean the contacts on the battery and phone. Then see if this fixes the problem.
I don't like touch screen phones as they are but with a keyboard would make the phone better and android is good too. I want to know what you like and dislike about the phone and whether you have encountered any faulty phones. Alternatively, could you suggest a better phone? I'm not interested in the iPhone or Blackberry.
I am very happy with my Desire Z. I do a lot of web browsing on my phone and the Desire Z is able to handle the web sites that I frequent very well. I find I am hardly using my computer anymore.
The keyboard keys are fairly spaced apart which makes it easy to type. I prefer this keyboard over a BlackBerry for that reason. Many of the commonly used punctuation marks do not require shift/alt to access which makes typing a little faster. The top row of keys are a little more difficult to type with because they are close to the top edge where it meets the screen. After a few weeks, I got used to the keyboard. I switched from a Nokia N97. Since smartphone keyboards are not standardised in any way, it took a few weeks to get used to.
The keyboard has a few shortcomings. There are a number of symbols that are not available. There is no greater than, less than and carrot symbol. You cannot enter these symbols with the physical or touch screen keyboard. I have also noticed that sometimes there is a bit of a lag when entering text with the keyboard. This lag seems to be limited to enter text in a message board such as this. When entering text in email, or other apps, it seems fine. I'm not sure the reason.
I find the Desire Z is very slick. Great feel and look to the interface. It makes me want to keep using the phone even after I'm finished doing what I need to do. The screen is good. It is only an S-LCD screen, but it is very good even outside in the sun.
As for alternatives, there is the Nokia E7 that is due out early 2011. If you like Symbian, the E7 is the latest Symbian phone with a physical keyboard. It has a larger screen, but a lower resolution. The Clear Black Display provides very greater contrast in colours and brightness and better viewing in sunlight.