FINALLY sprint announces the HTC Touch Diamond and Touch Pro

[secretanchitman]

link

touch diamond has 4GB built in storage and its thinner, but unfortunately it has that burgundy/red backing. touch pro gets a bit thicker because of the 5 row sliding out keyboard, upgradable storage, and a *drumroll* business card scanner application. my gripe is where the eff is the fm radio? it isnt mentioned anywhere! tv-out is there though..

and i can confirm that these phones do NOT need one of those simply everything plans, so you can continue to use your current plan, or if youre grandfathered in on one of the SERO plans!

oh forgot about the release dates; touch diamond comes out on september 14th, and the touch pro is on october 19th.

sprint also released 3 other phones for their fall lineup, and they're all mentioned in the link at the top.

 

[Strk]

I was watching a few videos of the Touch Diamond. The interface looks kind of slow.

On a side note, of the three other phones, the Samsung Rant looks kind of nice. It basically looks like a refresh of the Lg Rumor. The square phone looks pretty dumb though.

 

[tdawg]

The Diamond looks slick, though I'm looking at it on HTC's website, so it better be impressive.

This makes me wish more and more that phones were independent of carriers and I could pick any phone to use on any carrier's network.

 

[secretanchitman]

i know! but then it would definitely cannibalize sales of every phone company...

 

[Pepsei]

just purchased one online... too bad it won't go out until monday.

Touch Diamond? by HTC

24 Month Contract
$200.00 instant savings
$100.00 mail-in rebate (require data-pack $15/month or better)


Total $549.99
-$200.00

shipping free

Estimated Tax
$24.50

Total One-Time Charges
$374.49


once i load wifi-router on it, i'll have internet anywhere with sprint service.

 

[Icepick]

Pepsei - How are you liking your new phone? This one is on my short list right now, although I'll probably hold out for the Pro. Please post a reply and let us know how this one is performing.

 

[Pepsei]

love the new phone... however, when i first got it, i couldn't get on the internet at all... CSR on the phone couldn't figure out why... took it to a store... the tech there couldn't figure out why. so they gave me my phone back and order a replacement for me.

took me 30 minutes of searching on sprintusers forum and figure out a fix myself. imagine that.....

gps works great too with google map. patched the weather to display any city i want, still haven't tested wmwifirouter on this phone yet. i don't like the music UI, hopefully i can change that later.

the next thing i want to load on there is probably aim

 

[nycxandy]

Best Buy is now selling the unlocked Diamond for $699.99.

 

[Icepick]

I'd stay away from the BB one. From the photos it looks like it has the black faceted back plate like the models that were released in Europe this summer. Those had a 900mAh battery and reviewers complained a lot about poor battery life.

The phones released by Sprint have a redesigned backplate that allows more room inside to accommodate a larger battery. These phones are shipped with an upgraded 1340mAh battery instead.

I'm trying to decide whether to get the Diamond now and have a compact smartphone that will fit comfortably in my pocket or the Pro.

The pro has a full keyboard, upgradeable memory, more RAM and a faster CPU. The con with the Pro is that it's twice as thick and am not sure how portable it will be. On the other hand it might be worth it if the ladies finally notice the "bulge" in my pants. Could make it worth the extra $50.

 

[Icepick]

Originally posted by: secretanchitman
link

touch diamond has 4GB built in storage and its thinner, but unfortunately it has that burgundy/red backing. touch pro gets a bit thicker because of the 5 row sliding out keyboard, upgradable storage, and a *drumroll* business card scanner application. my gripe is where the eff is the fm radio? it isnt mentioned anywhere! tv-out is there though..

and i can confirm that these phones do NOT need one of those simply everything plans, so you can continue to use your current plan, or if youre grandfathered in on one of the SERO plans!

oh forgot about the release dates; touch diamond comes out on september 14th, and the touch pro is on october 19th.

sprint also released 3 other phones for their fall lineup, and they're all mentioned in the link at the top.

Interesting that another phone that is on my shortlist, the Blackberry Bold, is absent from this list. I wonder if that is an indication that Sprint won't get this one until early '09.

 

[Icepick]

http://www.phonearena.com/html...on-article-a_3021.html

Sprint's variant runs on Qualcomm 7501A chipset with 528MHz processor, 256MB ROM, 256MB RAM and 4GB internal memory. Verizon's runs on Qualcomm 7500 chipset with 400MHz processor, has half the RAM (128MB) and has microSD cards slot instead of 4GB NAND flash...

The Pro will have 512MB ROM on both carriers. Sprint will have 30 days of exclusivity.

Yikes!! Verizon is also going to omit the Motion sensor. :Q Looks like Verizon customers will get a crippled product.

 

[TheDrake]

Originally posted by: Icepick
The pro has a full keyboard, upgradeable memory, more RAM and a faster CPU. The con with the Pro is that it's twice as thick and am not sure how portable it will be. On the other hand it might be worth it if the ladies finally notice the "bulge" in my pants. Could make it worth the extra $50.

Its actually only about 50% thicker, Touch Pro is 18mm and Diamond is 11.35mm. Saying twice as thick is an exaggeration. Its still thinner than my treo so I cant wait til it comes out. I was really wanting to wait for the Touch HD, but I think I will benefit having the keyboard more than a bigger screen and higher resolution.

 

[Icepick]

Originally posted by: TheDrake

Originally posted by: Icepick
The pro has a full keyboard, upgradeable memory, more RAM and a faster CPU. The con with the Pro is that it's twice as thick and am not sure how portable it will be. On the other hand it might be worth it if the ladies finally notice the "bulge" in my pants. Could make it worth the extra $50.

Its actually only about 50% thicker, Touch Pro is 18mm and Diamond is 11.35mm. Saying twice as thick is an exaggeration. Its still thinner than my treo so I cant wait til it comes out. I was really wanting to wait for the Touch HD, but I think I will benefit having the keyboard more than a bigger screen and higher resolution.

Thanks for clarifying that. I'm anxious to get my hands on one of these so I might just order the Diamond and test it out. Then maybe ship it back and cancel my contract within the 30 day trial period if I decide the Pro would be better.

Hopefully, Sprint will anounce some decent discounts before then. It really pisses me off that they removed the $30 SERO plan this summer. This is a major factor that is holding me back from taking the plunge.

 

[Pepsei]

love the motion sensor... when i get a call from the capital ones bastards asking for 'junita lee', all i have to do is flip the phone over, and it mutes the ring. i could change the ringtone to silent, but i love the 'rickrolled' ringtone i made for capital ones. oh the ringtones are quite loud too if you wanted it, a plus in my book.

the battery life is very short the first few days, but it is okay now that i've charged it a few times

also, if you run multiple apps for a long time, the chip will heat up (right below the battery), wish they make a phone cooler if i wanted to run wifirouter at work for 6 hours straight.

i could pay $50 more for the pro later, but i don't need the keyboard and 4 gig is enough for me (maybe they'll have a hack for that later.)

 

[Icepick]

Originally posted by: Pepsei
love the motion sensor... when i get a call from the capital ones bastards asking for 'junita lee', all i have to do is flip the phone over, and it mutes the ring. i could change the ringtone to silent, but i love the 'rickrolled' ringtone i made for capital ones. oh the ringtones are quite loud too if you wanted it, a plus in my book.

the battery life is very short the first few days, but it is okay now that i've charged it a few times

also, if you run multiple apps for a long time, the chip will heat up (right below the battery), wish they make a phone cooler if i wanted to run wifirouter at work for 6 hours straight.

i could pay $50 more for the pro later, but i don't need the keyboard and 4 gig is enough for me (maybe they'll have a hack for that later.)

Yeah, I think 4GB is going to be plenty. I don't need to load my entire music library. I also don't plan to do a lot of text messaging with it or if I do it will be limited so the keyboard won't be worth the extra thickness. I like the idea of being able to carry this around in my pocket.

I went ahead and ordered one today. For those interested, here's what it costs:

Touch Diamond: $549
Instant Savings: -$200
Shipping: Free (2-4 business days)
Activation: Free
Tax: $41.55
=
Total One-Time Charges: $391.54


Everything 450 Plan: $69.99
Total Protection: + $7.00
=
Monthly Charges: $76.99
Corporate Discount: -25% ($19.25)
=
Discounted Monthly Charges: $57.75
Sprint Surcharges: + $5.95
Gov't Taxes & Fees: + $7.70
=
Total Monthly Charges: $71.40

There's also a $100 rebate.

Edit: I also got a $50 credit off my first bill by using this code: SAVE50.

 

[secretanchitman]

Originally posted by: TheDrake

Originally posted by: Icepick
The pro has a full keyboard, upgradeable memory, more RAM and a faster CPU. The con with the Pro is that it's twice as thick and am not sure how portable it will be. On the other hand it might be worth it if the ladies finally notice the "bulge" in my pants. Could make it worth the extra $50.

Its actually only about 50% thicker, Touch Pro is 18mm and Diamond is 11.35mm. Saying twice as thick is an exaggeration. Its still thinner than my treo so I cant wait til it comes out. I was really wanting to wait for the Touch HD, but I think I will benefit having the keyboard more than a bigger screen and higher resolution.

you just stole the words right out of my mouth. i also have a treo 700p and i think the exact same thing. ive already done size comparisons on sizeasy.com and the touch pro is still a good deal thinner and smaller in every dimension compared to my old treo. my pant pockets are going to love me even more now since there isnt going to be a huge bulky antenna sticking out of the phone now.

i didnt realize that emailing ecare would get you so many perks. i have sero 500 but i didnt use my initial one time phone discount (because i wanted to use my treo 700p at the time and still do). now they are letting me get the touch pro at $299 with an additional $75 off.

even if the Touch HD is just a MUCH better version of the diamond, i still would way prefer a keyboard than a complete touch device (as you stated the drake).

icepick - they have a simply everything 450 which i think includes 450 anytime minutes, unlimited texting and nights and weekends starting at 6pm. you could try to ask them to get on the old sero plan but just have them give you a comparable plan instead. some of my friends did this, and every month for them, it shows up as $60 - $30 in credits so it evens out. they get an even better deal because their BB service and premium music/tv are included, as opposed to the old sero which didnt have either or those.

 

[Icepick]

Here's a link to one of the best in-depth reviews I've been able to find of this phone.
http://www.mobiletechreview.co...-HTC-Touch-Diamond.htm

According to this review, the Sprint model is performing much better than the original one that was released in Europe and Asia this past June.

 

[Pepsei]

to add any city to the weather apps, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=408918

 

[hebrewbacon]

I've had this phone for 9 days, and I can say that as far as features go, it's great. Call quality is very good as well. However, there are some usability issues that so far cripple it to an extent, at least in the eyes of a prosumer (rather than a true business user). For instance, the screen only goes into landscape when using Opera, and that's a bit hit or miss. Apps can fix that to an extent, bug it's no replacement for a better ROM on Sprint or a dev's end.

What's probably the most obnoxious thing about the phone is the quality of the physical keys. The d-pad has no obvious border. so even when clicking the call or home buttons, it's possible to actually be tapping left on the d-pad. This makes it extremely difficult to lock the phone or to end calls, not to mention to go back to the home screen.

If anybody isn't having these issues, at least the physical key problems, with their Diamond, PM me so I can know that I need a replacement!

 

[blackangst1]

Originally posted by: Pepsei
love the new phone... however, when i first got it, i couldn't get on the internet at all... CSR on the phone couldn't figure out why... took it to a store... the tech there couldn't figure out why. so they gave me my phone back and order a replacement for me.

took me 30 minutes of searching on sprintusers forum and figure out a fix myself. imagine that.....

gps works great too with google map. patched the weather to display any city i want, still haven't tested wmwifirouter on this phone yet. i don't like the music UI, hopefully i can change that later.
the next thing i want to load on there is probably aim

Core Player.