Just Returned my Diamond....
 

Just returned my Diamond to a Sprint store in Tempe, AZ. The sales rep was pretty mellow when doing the return, he didn't seemed shocked at anything I told him about the phone.

Reasons for my return were: Heat issue when doing anything on the phone for longer than 10 minutes/ the problem with the phone saving the correct AZ time/ problems with low storage memory/ and the simple fact that I don't think the phone is that much of an upgrade over a HTC Touch that has the ROM tweaks.

I told him I might take a look at the Pro, due to the storage slot, keyboard, and faster processor. Out of curiousity, I asked him when this corporate store would have the Pro, his response was that it had just been pushed back (due to what he thought was the removal of a video conferencing feature) into November. Not worth a lot, but he did know about the Phone.

So, I'm back to my HTC Touch running a cooked ROM and all my favorite programs, plus 4gig sd card.

I'm gonna give the TF2D a try... but I missed my Ultimate Launch.

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

WiFi
Memory
VGA
G-Sensor
+ all the other little quirks (magnetic stylus, etc.)

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

I want some of what he's smoking!! Pfft, the Diamond isn't that much of a upgrade...HAHAHAHA!!

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

Yeah and my Mogul wasn't much of an upgrade from my dad's bag phone...

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

WIFI - Never used it once.
Memory - debateable
VGA - it was nice
G-Sensor - not even when it works was it a "must have"
magnetic stylus??? Are you serious? WTFC?

ChefBen... no reason to knock one persons opinion just because it isn't yours.

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

Look at the big picture, bro. There is a reason the Touch is $99 now. Cell phones are growing exponentially. What once took 3 years to develop now takes months. What about when WM7 is released? You think that the Touch hardware is going to be able to support it?

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

I have to be honest when I say that I bought the diamond with no intention of keeping it... after 2 days OMG its a masterpiece!

It is so much better than anything the vogue (touch) could ever do.. It almost seems that with the vogue everything that I tried to tweak and make it happen comes SO EASY to the diamond!

The touchflo interface, the software, memory and programs is simply smooth! No crashes, no freezes, and all the features!

I don't think I will be getting the touch pro... SIZE DOES MATTER! (regardless of what she tells you!)

:)

(Thanks to all the other users on this forum cause without their resounding positive reviews of the diamond.. I would have never taken the risk!)

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

I love my Diamond, but i dont use the browser anymore (as much as I can help it) because it heats up the phone and drains the battery like nuts. It drops 10 to 20% after only 15-20 minutes of light browsing. Something just isnt right here. My Mogul never heated up like this so quickly, and using the bluetooth radio or ANY radio didnt drain the battery the way this thing does.

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

The Pro has a faster processor?

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

No, it doesn't.

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

Hmmm, tell me more about the touch pros "faster" processor. LOL

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

LMAO ! This is much better than the Diamond !

http://www.jancorver.org/ombouw/nokia/img/nokia.gif

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

guys lets keep it down to a dull roar (seriously someones gonna end up flaming)

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

Yes, I'm serious. I like this feature. The touch nor mogul have it. Have a problem with that?

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

I second that, it's a kick arse feature. I had the Mogul before my Diamond, and this isn't and upgrade? The hell you been sippin on homie? The diamond is leaps and bounds over the Mogul and Touch, yea, tweaks made them a lot more accessible and extended the functionality of the devices. But, overall out of the box as is, they are no match for the Diamond in no shape or form. I've played around with a few settings on the phone and the battery life can be okay if you change a few things. I only get a heat issue when I have a low signal. I love my Diamond, I do want a Touch PRO but this Diamond is damn SEC CAAYYYY ;)

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

i agree with the first post. when you get past the "superficial" (a.k.a cool but useless) features of the phone, its barely (if at all) an improvement.

Touch Vs. Diamond

Battery: Touch by a far, perhaps double as good.
Heating Up: Touch, once again, by far.
Ruggedness: My Touch has been through hell, yet after more than a year, it is still in great shape. My Diamond already has noticeable scratches on the sides.
Sound Quality: The Touch was pretty bad, but the Diamond is far worse.
Buttons: The Diamond's d-pad is so hard to use, its pathetic.
Size: the diamond is smaller, but the touch is actually a bit thinner.
Screen: the diamonds vga screen is awesome, but its is very unsensitive around the edges.


Taking Away the superficial:
Magnetic stylus: cool, but I've never, not once, lost my stylus on my touch.
G-sensor: makes me want to cry compared to the iPhone. barely works, and takes way too long.
TouchFlo: Admittedly, VERY COOL, but not nearly as useful as it is cool
Wifi: never used it (well once to test it, but no more.)

The diamond does have a better camera, but i barely (almost never) use it anyway.

while i didn't cover it all, point is, when compared to the touch, the diamond isn't all that revolutionary, and in many ways a step back. While i am no fan of Apple or its products, one should give them credit: their new products are always across the board improvements on the older ones. In a year and a half of technological advances since the Touch, the Diamond is actually a disappointment. Its better, but by an embarrassingly small margin.

and yes, I will be returning my Diamond.

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

I hate to say it (and we all do because we paid good money for this phone) but I have to agree with kingabrahm3. I guess I just had higher expectations. I'm coming from a Mogul, the VGA screen is the only reason I won't return my Diamond. And the fact that I've already sold my Mogul for $175... lol

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

I have Diamond since the first week it was released. I love it so far

last april when my contract expired, I checked out the Touch and did not like it at all.

today I stopped by a sprint store and took a look at mogul and Touch. I said to myself: " my god, why do people like these phones?" I can't imagine how you can would use your finger. stylus is a must with these phones. Mogul is bulky and ugly. too much info squeezed in a small screen. WM6 is horrible compared to iphone in term of user-friendly. TF3D makes WM6 complete.

I am excited with new WM7 which will replace WM6 and TF3D.

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

It's funny that no other person who posted in this thread actually said why they thought the Diamond is better than the Touch.... Only knocked me for having an opinion. And sorry to the 'Know all phone geeks' for making a mistake on the processor, 1000 apologies.. now get the F over yourselves.

As stated above by king, and IN MY OPINION... Besides the screen, the Diamond is not $249 better than the Touch.... not yet.

BTW>>> Magnetic stylus, dumbest reason ever for a phone to be mentioned as being better than another phone... cause those styluses are always just flying all over the place.

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

some of the replies here to the op are way to harsh.... i feel a need for some warnings

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

It's a reason nonetheless, among many other solid reasons I have mentioned.

I do not have a problem with battery life myself. The VGA screen is beautiful, and Windows Mobile is very responsive in general.

This is the best phone I have had.

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

...and some of his replies are quite harsh too, don't you think?

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

I think the Diamond is better than the Touch. I do agree that the battery life does suck, but I am always near a computer and have no problem charging my phone at work. Plus, this isn't an iPhone and I can invest in a 2nd battery.

The screen on the Diamond is a much appreciated upgrade for me, since I use Slingplayer a lot and the video looks much better than it did on my Touch. Plus the screen, even though not as good as the iPhone, is more visible in the sunlight than the Touch. GPS seems to be much better on my Diamond, which locks in 5 seconds or less for me. On my Touch it would sometimes take 30 seconds. WiFi is nice! I really missed it on my Touch since the EVDO coverage at my home is not so great. As far as the magnetic stylus, you must have never owned a PPC6700 because I've lost several styli with that phone. So it's nice to feel a little more confident that I won't loose a stylus again, even though I never lost one with my Touch. Oh, and it's nice that the Diamond turns on automatically when I pull the stylus out. The G-Sen is nice feature that I like. It may be laggy at times, but there are tweaks out there to make it much better. I think the sound quality on the Touch is much worst than the Diamond.

Other things that I like about the Diamond over the Touch are that it has more RAM and a faster processor. The camera is also usable on this phone, the one on the Touch was junk.

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

Well said. =D>

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

Conclusion: Diamond is the best Smartphone, if not the best all-purpose phone, that sprint currently have. it is not perfect but it is the phone which brings the most excitment to the sprint community.

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

alot of people can keep going back and forth, but for me the diamond is a great upgrade over my mogul. No longer do i have a brick taking up my pocket. Even though i had custom rom on the mogul, the interface on the diamond is so nice, very easy to use and user friendly. A BIG Plus. Its kinds nice having the onboard memory, and the screen and camera are PERFECT. I like having movies on my phone where i can actually see what is going on in the screen. I dont miss my keyboard, and yes i do text much, but still its not that bad. Overall, its very easy to use and much simpler for my friends to pick up this phone and use it, as where there heads were lost up there arse trying to do anything with the mogul.

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

i have a touch and a diamond, when my first diamond took a crap and sprint sent me a new one i had to use my touch again for 2 days and it was driving me nutz. the touch looked like somethind from the 80s. i love the fact that removing styli prompts phone on. not a dealbreaker but very cool feature. as for people needing warnings, the mods will step in when needed.like my touch but love my diamond.

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

i still love my mogul..no matter what lol

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

Some people just get so defensive when you suggest that they might not have the greatest device of all time... the iPhone guys seem to be really bad about this.

I am completely happy with my Diamond although I do have some problems with it... battery life being the big one.

Anyway, even if your device happens to be the super greatest thing around, it's not going to be in a couple months when the next big thing hits so no reason to get all bent out of shape if someone knocks it... right?

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

also, what people seem to forget is how crappy the mogul and the touch were day one, just give it some time and the awesome developers that be will have some pretty nifty upgraded roms to ease what problems are out there.

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

have you played with a diamond? i said the same thing till i played with my friends diamond. then i found away to afford one.

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

Here's a great quote by Confucius, which may be slightly relevant to this post....... It's just for humor, so don't critique me on it! Thanks.

"Better a diamond with a flaw, than a pebble without."

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

see that's the problem... i'm the resident geek in my realworld circle of friends... so none of them have it yet... and obviously i cant just pop in to my local sprint store and mess with a demo unit at this point even though it was 'launched' say 14 days ago?:protest:](*,)

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

You all seem to have come from a line of HTC products (Touch to Diamond). My path to the Diamond was a little different. I got the PPC 6700 when it first came out some years ago. It was a solid product with a good slide out keyboard and was reliable after Sprint released an updated ROM. I'd still be using it but it died. Battery life was pretty good meaning I could get through the day then I'd plug it in when I got home.

When my 6700 died 4 months ago I went into the Sprint store and bought a Treo 800w. That phone was a nightmare from the beginning and if you have problems with the battery life on the Diamond, you'd throw the Treo 800w out the window. I swear I almost did myself on more than one occasion. The phone constantly locked up, turned itself off in the middle of calls and would not turn back on for hours, wouldn't charge (even after software fix) and drew so much power that neither USB nor car charger could keep up.

I returned it twice and when the third one was exactly the same as the first two they told me that if I could get by for a few weeks the Diamond would be out and I could trade the Treo even though the 30 days had expired (I made them send me an email confirming their agreement while I was in the store and wouldn't leave until I received it).

The Diamond is by far the best of the three in my opinion. I've tried the iPhone but I can't tether with it and I'm not paying AT&T $160 a month for what Sprint gives me for $99. I get through the day with the battery, the phone is, let's face it, gorgeous, and I really like many of the features like weather and Sprint TV.

I fully intended to return the Diamond for the pro but the reality is, I rarely had two thumbs free when texting on the 6700 and the compact QWERTY with predictive text has turned out to be a godsend so I'm keeping the Diamond because I like the size. In fact, I switched my last AT&T line to Sprint and bought a second Diamond that came yesterday. I switched from AT&T totally when Sprint agreed to give me a free Ariave for my house (I have AT&T service at home but Sprint service only works in one corner of my bedroom).

Long and short, our phones provide so many services that I don't think we'll ever see 2 or 3 days without charging again so that's a given as far as I'm concerned. If I get through the work day I'm fine. Now that I have the Airave I'm cancelling my house phone which comes through my cable company.

Just my 2 or 3 or 25 cents.

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

Wait, does playing with it make it grow a slide-out keyboard? Oooo, cool! ;)

I'm in the "cheaper, trailing edge" camp.

Touch for $100 is a very good platform. All the HTC eye candy is rapidly being moved over by the various hacker dudes, because other then the vga display, the guts are very similar across the HTC line from the touch forward.

Me, coming from the apache (whoa, there, big fella!) the mogul/tilt sized keyboard devices are quite bearable since I'd rather have the keyboard... looking forward to the vga/flat screens for sure, and really pulling for them to abandon the stylus and go to the glass/capacitive vs the plastic/scratchpad/resistive touch technology.

So yay HTC, keep developing new layers on top of windows mobile "today" screens, keep advancing the hardware, thanks for finally realizing 64mb ram isn't gonna do it, please consider better battery technology, and try not to make your phones run so hot that you can't hold them, should you actually want to use one for more then 3 minutes in a row.

(And yes, of course the Diamond will be better when the R2 hardware comes out - quietly, unknown to all of us - and a new rom is released. That will be in about 3 months, or about 3 months before it's EOL... Ah progress!)

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

Everything aside, the deal breaker is the battery. When comparing the battery life of most other phone (not necessarily ppc, but say razr, chocolate, instinct etc...) With them, its will the battery last me 1, 2, 3, or maybe 4 days. My last non ppc phone was a Nokia slider: 3-4 days without recharging, easy.
But the point is, thats all meaningless. As long as it lasts one full day and a little more for emergency (or really late nights), then I'm fine. I can charge my phone every night, no big deal. But once you get LESS than one day, its crossed the line. Its practicality has now dropped to very close to none. Any extra battery life over the one day minimum is great (and very appreciated) but the basic one day is a must.
To relate in other terms: different phones have different radios, and thus vary in their reception. Thats okay, but if it has no radio at all, then it ceases to be a phone because it doesn't have all the components of a phone. To me, one of the necessary components of a phone is one (1) full day of battery life. less than that, its no longer a phone. a cool device, but its not a phone.

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

I guess that my Diamond qualifies as a phone then. Started yesterday morning at 6:40 am (100%). One hour of phone time and miscellaneous small tasks (check weather, turn on to check time, briefly open settings, etc.) since then. The battery still shows 60% remaining, 33 hours later. If the device is used as a phone and the device is not defective, then it performs as a phone - 4+ hours of talk time or a couple of days of moderate phone use (probably more - I will know that tomorrow). Signal strength during this period was 1-3 bars.

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

I do not have battery problems. I can go over 24 hours just fine, although I charge it every night and have only had to do that once.

I also do not have problems with the heat. It does happen to heat up a little bit at times but it has never been major for me....

So, any other silly complaints regarding this phone?

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

and i agree with that but people dont make accurate comparisons about other phones battery life. A flip phone may last a lot longer, but youre also not watching youtube, surfing full web pages (higher data use), getting weather, push email, etc etc. With more features comes more battery drain. But then if you turn off or dont use any of the features then youve wasted money compared to buying a flip phone. So its that balance of features vs battery life, you cant have both to the extremes

Thats just how PPCs are. Ive been experiencing pretty much average battery life compared to my previous PPC's- 6600,6700,mogul, touch, 700wx, 800w, etc etc. there are subtle battery difference like the mogul and 700wx definantly lasted longer but they were larger devices with bigger battery capacity to start with. i mean i took mine off the charger at about 8am, basically in standby up to now with 2 email accounts checking every 2 hours and still have 86% battery left and its 4 pm- so 8 hours later.

Re: Just Returned my Diamond....
 

I had a mogul before and love my diamond...To the point where I am returning it and getting a new one. Due to problems that have been fixed but come back. Picture mail and roaming issues. I think its a pretty decent improment over my mogul. And to be honest I dont miss the keyboard at all. I hardly used it before any way.