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Differences: Nexus One and HTC Desire

I was planning on getting a Nexus One but it seems I missed the Google store closing by about an hour. Annoying. What I'm interested in is trying some of the custom roms and maybe moving on to making my own or doing some work with the AOSP. So the N1 seemed the perfect choice.
Having looked round at different Android phones I think the HTC Desire now best fits my needs. A very close hardware set to the N1 makes me think that custom rom support will run in (near) parallel to the N1. But before taking the dive I just wanted confirmation of a couple of things;
1) For rooting and loading custom roms is the HTC Desire now as straight forward as the Nexus one? (not including a one off evening or setting things up).
2) Once rooted and with the appropriate setup are there any differences in the capabilities of the N1 and the HTC Desire as far as flashing is concerned?
I guess it could be simply summed up as: am I missing out on anything by going for a HTC Desire rather than trying to track down an N1.
Thanks

You'll get a better response in the HTC Desire subforum.
I have one, it's not particularly hard to flash roms. Although i don't have a N1 to compare it to.
Also we don't have the same roms as the N1 but we do have a ****load of them.

Cheers for that brummiesteven.
If there's no rule breaking then I might repost a similar thread on the Desire forum.
At present it does look like there's little to no difference once the initial rooting is over and done with.
By the way, love the Stewie avatar.

[Q] HTC Support History - Ditch HTC??

HTC seem to be developing a history of dropping development and support on their models after 6 months, which is extremely annoying unless you like to upgrade every 6 months. Is this false? Or should we all migrate away from HTC to other phones for this reason? My particular interest is in Android.
I was going to get my wife a HTC Desire Z but now I'm wondering if she's better off with an Android phone from a brand with a support history longer than 6 months.

Which Android vendor provides you with long support?
For me, I have just bought a HTC Dream more than 2 years after its release because there are tons of custom roms on xda. The Dream lives on because of the large community.
Make sure what you buy is a popular phone, so when official support stops you would stil get new roms from the community.

Inclined to agree, I have the original Desire so I am reading up on rooting and custom ROMs. Any suggestions or warnings?

DroidBois said:
Inclined to agree, I have the original Desire so I am reading up on rooting and custom ROMs. Any suggestions or warnings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take your time and read those stickies on the Desire forums. You'll be glad you did.
To OP, I think most are about the same. Though, I am still a little annoyed at the whole TyTN II debacle a few years ago, lol. For me, it really comes down to build quality and not much competes with HTC. Especially when they try. Like the HD2.

I sure am taking my time. I am the kind of person who drives everyone nuts with questions on every detail.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

This site is a benefit to anyone who uses it. It will extend the life of your phone. Many of the manufacturers will drop support after a few months. Most don't provide upgrades to software. Being able to use this site provides you with both: technical support for problems and upgraded software as newer versions becomes available.
My advice to you; buy a phone supported by XDA. If its not on here, don't buy it...
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

Wise words. I am so thankful I got the STOCK factory standard unlocked / unbranded AMOLED UK HTC Desire now, that's about as 'vanilla' as you can get by the sounds of it and I should be ok for ROM support then. Now to work out the right rooting / ROM procedure and which ROM to use!!

[Q] Predictions on the bootloader

Since I have very little technical knowledge, I want to ask the people who do: Do you think the signed HTC bootloaders can be cracked?
Are they bulletproof? Is it just a matter of time? No idea?

Lord Panzer said:
Since I have very little technical knowledge, I want to ask the people who do: Do you think the signed HTC bootloaders can be cracked?
Are they bulletproof? Is it just a matter of time? No idea?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My knowledge on the topic is probably as limited as yours, but consider this: if someone figured out how to crack an iPhone, someone will undoubtedly figure out how to crack a signed bootloader.

The SE X10 bootloader was locked too and xda devs have unlocked it...though it took them a year to do it
Now knowing that hTC devices are way more popular here in xda, the unlocking process will take much less time, the incredible S are already temp rooted and it wouldn't take much time to be permanently rooted.
Now if you want to play on the safe side and love HTC then buy the DHD, it's still a stong device,rooted and plenty of roms

I like to believe my knowledge is limited as well.
From what I understand, a signed bootloader will require a leak of an internal engineering build to unlock. This was done on the HTC Thunderbolt for example.
An encrypted bootloader is tougher to unlock. This is why most of us won't buy a Motorola device.

By the way we still don't have any confirmation if it will be locked or not.
Htc said that their approach to security is "unchanged." If their approach is unchanged from devices like the Incredible S, which has an encrypted bootloader, the Sensation is unlikely to see custom firmware. If, however, their approach is unchanged from the Thunderbolt, then we are in luck: that phone has already been unlocked and rooted.

kgbkny said:
My knowledge on the topic is probably as limited as yours, but consider this: if someone figured out how to crack an iPhone, someone will undoubtedly figure out how to crack a signed bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except that Apple products seem to be very crackable, sometimes even before the launch date.

Once again they are not signed they are locked meaning there is a possible way to crack them. Motorola signed theirs. HTC just locked them in a different way. Making harder for us to crack. Bootloader locked and bootloader are signed two different things.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA Premium App

Perhaps but when you see the poor Incredible S users who tried everything possible to root it and couldn't...

vegetaleb said:
Perhaps but when you see the poor Incredible S users who tried everything possible to root it and couldn't...
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Click to collapse
The ps3 couldn't be hack someone did it its mostly about popularity. They said the same thing about the g2 and the thunder bolt it got hacked. Its not impossible.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA Premium App

Not if, but when?
For me personally, the issue is not if the Sensation will be rooted, but WHEN. I'm personally thinking I might not want any new Android device before its rooted. I mean, although the Sensation has a lot to offer, unrooted it's going to be a resource hog that I won't be able to manage as I'd desire. I won't even be able to use Titanium Backup and some of my other apps till its rooted.
So I'm debating with myself about holding off on getting the Sensation till after it's rooted and an "unroot" path is also developed.
The only form of Android I've ever known is ROOTED, so going to a locked down version is not a pleasing option to me.

See this is what I love about Android and Opensource in general, and XDA in particular. You can go directly to the best and brightest and get answers! Thanks, everyone!

It shouldn't be a problem stock as bad as other phones gingerbread fixes alot of problems. The real fix is from ext4 but. It shouldn't be as bad as before though I hate sense the only thing I like is the camera apps ui and the fact that it doesn't lose data speeds.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA Premium App

The main thing I like in Sensation is the Sense 3.0, but the low benchmark score is a clear indication that it needs root to speed up some things like kernel OC.
Rooting a phone is not sufficiant, you need a bunch of happy devs to build roms and kernels, look at the beautiful xperia Arc for exemple, it has same power as DHD and its rooted for 2 weeks, but due to lack of devs we still don't have recovery nor roms,it's like if you bought a ferrari but can't drive it because of lack of petrol
HTC devices are the most loved ones at XDA for the time being and they get tons of roms BUT things can change if HtC wanna lock all their new devices like the Incredible S, even Paul from Modaco is not willing to buy the Sensation if it will be locked like IS, the SGS2 will win the hearts of the devs here...

vegetaleb said:
The main thing I like in Sensation is the Sense 3.0, but the low benchmark score is a clear indication that it needs root to speed up some things like kernel OC.
Rooting a phone is not sufficiant, you need a bunch of happy devs to build roms and kernels, look at the beautiful xperia Arc for exemple, it has same power as DHD and its rooted for 2 weeks, but due to lack of devs we still don't have recovery nor roms,it's like if you bought a ferrari but can't drive it because of lack of petrol
HTC devices are the most loved ones at XDA for the time being and they get tons of roms BUT things can change if HtC wanna lock all their new devices like the Incredible S, even Paul from Modaco is not willing to buy the Sensation if it will be locked like IS, the SGS2 will win the hearts of the devs here...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before there was ever Android, there was Windows Mobile and locked ROMs. And this very same site, XDA Developers was the place to come to unlock and get new ROMs.
So HTC locking down Android devices is old hat, as is unlocking them .
This site's history is rooted in HTC devices and so long as HTC makes something even marginally competitive I don't see it changing. The developers here have been hacking HTC devices before Android came to town. In fact, Android is the new kid on this block . Here, a lock is simply an exciting challenge to overcome, and a source for some developer to earn our $upport .
Don't count on a lock in the Sensation causing any wave of developers here to go running to Samsung.

Can you say the same to Incredible S users?

vegetaleb said:
Can you say the same to Incredible S users?
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Click to collapse
Inc S is Verizon right? We all know in the US VZW is the largest CDMA Carrier cell co. They usually get what they want. To me VZW is like Steve Jobs bunch of corporate jerks
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA Premium App

I recall the old Touch Pro 2 also took a little time to crack, but it was also unlocked. Even the old Treo Pro was eventually cracked, both the GSM and CDMA versions. They all get unlocked, some take a little more time than others.
Which is why my only question is when? The Sensation being a device that will be with GSM carriers, having a good degree of pre-sale marketing and being made by HTC. It's going to have development somewhere to the level we see with the HD2. Most of us HD2 owners that frequent this site moved to Android and the Sensation is the next suitable upgrade.

epsix said:
Inc S is Verizon right? We all know in the US VZW is the largest CDMA Carrier cell co. They usually get what they want. To me VZW is like Steve Jobs bunch of corporate jerks
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Incredible S is a GSM phone that is attracting attention since it has T-Mobile's AWS band support. Verizon is coming out with a dual-mode GSM/CDMA sister of the Inc S.

Is the Desire S the ugly sister?

Last year we had the Original Desire, it wasn't long before it was rooted and had plenty of support.
This year we had the Incredible S, The Desire S and the Sensation and its like the Desire S has been forgotten about.

I think it's because the phone is so similar to the incredible s with the incredible s being slightly better. Also by naming it desire s you expect it to carry on the legacy of the original desire which i don't think it pulled off that well.

dan-fish said:
I think it's because the phone is so similar to the incredible s with the incredible s being slightly better. Also by naming it desire s you expect it to carry on the legacy of the original desire which i don't think it pulled off that well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It didn't carry the legacy of the Desire at all, I'm regretting getting it, it is a fantastic phone but its never gonna get any decent level of support.

Spoke to someone in the trade.They think the desire s will be abandoned by htc meaning no support or updates.Its a major flop hence the cheap deals.They cant give them away.

Problem is it was released at the wrong time, there will be little to no support from hackers either I suspect.
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA Premium App

still a sick phone though.
prolly once the s-off-ing gets released, more people will develop/port to desire S.
my guess is most roms could be ported over easily to DS from IS and DHD

I wonder is the Incredible S having the same issues thanks to the Sensation? I think the Galaxy SII is the Desire of 2011, it'll be the one getting all the support I reckon.

I just hope it'll get S-Off'd so I can root my device
That's all and people are doing that
It's a mid-range phone, so most people will get it, but very little of the dev community on xda will get it unless they are trying to make major developments on it which sucks D:

Is HTC not supposed to be unlocking the boot loader? Or is this just going to be on new phones?

I thought it was just new phones.
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA Premium App

Phillmitchell said:
Spoke to someone in the trade.They think the desire s will be abandoned by htc meaning no support or updates.Its a major flop hence the cheap deals.They cant give them away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt that very much. The Desire S is stable with no generic problems, updates to sense 3.0 will come in due course, it is something they are working on. Incredible S has not received any updates since the 2.3 update, while the Desire S launched with 2.3. I fail to understand what the fuss is all about

atomicsoul said:
I doubt that very much. The Desire S is stable with no generic problems, updates to sense 3.0 will come in due course, it is something they are working on. Incredible S has not received any updates since the 2.3 update, while the Desire S launched with 2.3. I fail to understand what the fuss is all about
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
@others i am pretty sure the phone will get updates in the future...
& alpharevX team is working on software s-off & have succeeded they will release it in public soon...

Alsoo you can't say anything about it not getting updates no more
I recieved an OTA update just now (like literally 15 minutes ago) and all it adds is **** i don't want. (bloatware). Yayyyy
new software number now = 1.47.161.2

I, like others on this forum, don't really see what the problem is. I came from a Hero and got the Desire S based on its merits as a handset straight out of the box, not what it could be with rooting and modding. As a straight out of the box experience, I've been overjoyed with the performance, look 'n' feel and general use of this phone. I did pay to borrow an XTC clip and s-off'd it quite quickly and as a tinkering handset, it's even better. The important thing is I would have been happy with it as it was... the s-off and root just makes a great handset even greater
The recent (albiet buggy) ports of Miui and Gingerbread/CM7 are evidence that the Desire S has a rich and rommy future

I'm guessing that everyone posting in this thread has a Desire S in which case...
If as me you like the device (which was why I bought it in the first place) then great, I can't see any need to continue adding to this thread.
If you don't - then buy another device or IMO don't continue adding negative posts to threads like this that will mainly be read only by other Desire S owners. It's still too early to predict/guess the level of support the device will get in the future and as the last month should have shown us no-one can accurately predict what HTC will do!
We all have the device and probably will all have it for at least one year, in some cases maybe two so either way we'll have to live with. So let's at least try to be positive!

Best phone Iv had. Coming from the HD2, and more recently the Galaxy S2, I cam honestly say this phone is near perfect. I diched the Galaxy S2 in the end because the touchwiz was in my opinion behind the HTC sense interface. The S2 was buggy and battery life lousy. The des S's build quality it brilliant, has a really quality feel to it. The 3.7 inch screen is also just right.. Hits the sweetspot between portability and usability. Personally I feel the 4" plus screens make the handset to big... Feels like taking a step back. Sure, the S2s hardware beats the desires in everyway, but when it comes to usability.. The desire kills it. For starters, theres no lag when waking up the phone..shockingly there is with the s2 which boasts a dual core processor. To sum up, I feel that the desire s is an awesome handset, not the most powerful, but it's reliable, does the things you want it to and more outa the box..and once s-off'd and sense 3 components added, I feel the phones near perfect. If I had to suggest just one improvement, I'd say keep the phone exactly as it is..but add some dual core muscle.
There.. That's my two pence worth.

No phone will get manufacturer support for more than 18 months or so in the new retail world. As to whether enough modders buy it to make it better, I really don't care much. I'd like HTC to fix a few niggles, but basically that's about it. I don't particularly care if it is upgraded to Android 3.0 either.

I came from the original Desire which I rooted and tried numerous different roms infact I got addicted to flashing not one week would go past without me trying a new Rom
My main qualms with the desire were lack of internal memory and I couldn't wait for gingerbread and sense 2.1
Now the DS has all these features as standard and people are still not happy in time all the custom roms will come you will be able to root and be s-off I'm sure when the original desire came out all these didn't turn up over night
So people please be patient
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA App

I feel that the Desire S is the most attractive HTC phone in general.

I agree, it's pretty looking, robust, not too big.

[Q] Opinion needed, thinking of buying Sensation

Hello guys,
I am thinking of buyin' an HTC Sensation to replace my old Desire (AMOLED), since I found a very attractive offer at a store near home, which is somehow cheaper than any of my usual online store and I can buy it with 1 year installment.The offer is unfortunately valid only for this device and not for SGSII, so not much of an option.
My main reason for upgrading my device from Desire is the pathetic internal memory of the Desire (beside of course better proc)...even CM7 partition, A2SD+, data2ext, etc. are not really solving this issue...
So...is there any big difference, if I upgrade to Sensation?
Edit: it is O2 branded device without contract, just the phone.

Or should I wait for EVO 3D for the bigger battery capacity?
Hmmmm.............

advice
aaa said:
Hello guys,
I am thinking of buyin' an HTC Sensation to replace my old Desire (AMOLED), since I found a very attractive offer at a store near home, which is somehow cheaper than any of my usual online store and I can buy it with 1 year installment.The offer is unfortunately valid only for this device and not for SGSII, so not much of an option.
My main reason for upgrading my device from Desire is the pathetic internal memory of the Desire (beside of course better proc)...even CM7 partition, A2SD+, data2ext, etc. are not really solving this issue...
So...is there any big difference, if I upgrade to Sensation?
Edit: it is O2 branded device without contract, just the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I own a sensation but i would not recommend buying it at the moment since it is still locked. an android phone that does not have permanent root and no ability to flash radios or ROMs is quite boring for Android enthusiasts
I would recommend to wait until alpharevx or HTC release S-off patch, we have no ETA on the alpharev release and cannot know whether it will ever be released, and we have no idea of how HTC perceives an "unlocked bootloader" so we do not really know the kind of freedom the HTC S-off will igve us
Just sit tight and enjoy the show till HTC or alpharev make their move. I had the galaxy s-II before but i did not like it. But now i am starting to think about it again because i am stuck with a locked phone that i cannot do anything with.
dont get me wrong, if the sensation ever gets unlocked the way we want, its gonna be an iconic mobile for the android community

RADLOUNI said:
I own a sensation but i would not recommend buying it at the moment since it is still locked. an android phone that does not have permanent root and no ability to flash radios or ROMs is quite boring for Android enthusiasts
I would recommend to wait until alpharevx or HTC release S-off patch, we have no ETA on the alpharev release and cannot know whether it will ever be released, and we have no idea of how HTC perceives an "unlocked bootloader" so we do not really know the kind of freedom the HTC S-off will igve us
Just sit tight and enjoy the show till HTC or alpharev make their move. I had the galaxy s-II before but i did not like it. But now i am starting to think about it again because i am stuck with a locked phone that i cannot do anything with.
dont get me wrong, if the sensation ever gets unlocked the way we want, its gonna be an iconic mobile for the android community
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another reason I went back to my g2x.. I need development and this hardly has any at the moment..

RADLOUNI said:
I own a sensation but i would not recommend buying it at the moment since it is still locked. an android phone that does not have permanent root and no ability to flash radios or ROMs is quite boring for Android enthusiasts
I would recommend to wait until alpharevx or HTC release S-off patch, we have no ETA on the alpharev release and cannot know whether it will ever be released, and we have no idea of how HTC perceives an "unlocked bootloader" so we do not really know the kind of freedom the HTC S-off will igve us
Just sit tight and enjoy the show till HTC or alpharev make their move. I had the galaxy s-II before but i did not like it. But now i am starting to think about it again because i am stuck with a locked phone that i cannot do anything with.
dont get me wrong, if the sensation ever gets unlocked the way we want, its gonna be an iconic mobile for the android community
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand where you are coming from Roudlouni but the point of the matter is he is getting a sensation at a very good price close to him, it isnt valid for another handset and he has found it attractive, the sgs2 is an ugly piece of ****.
at the end of the day ITS COMING. whether htc are unlocking the bootloader or alpha rev x is as he has already posted proof of s off.
the point is. ITS coming
Its not as if he sensation will never ever be unlocked. There is already youtube proof its S-off'd by Alpha Rev, we are just waiting for him to give us the S-off
so you might as well get it before its gone if you like it
its way better than the desire WAY BETTER.
Gingerbread already supports apps2sd. so thats not an issue at the moment.
but the dev section is about to kick off as soon as we have s off. my guesses are within the next week or two alpharev will release his exploit to S-OFF.
Your main reason of upgrading was the pathetic internal memory and yes the sensation has more than the desire. and once u get a custom rom on it you will be able to do much more.
head over to the SGS2 threads, the phone was s-off on stock and its been out for a few months, how many roms are there, the dev support is minor and small, hardly worth bothering, but guaranteed if its anything like the DHD threads.
The sensation thread will be crammed to suit your flashaholic needs
believe me i own a sensation it is a good device, just patiently waiting for S-off.
My main reason for upgrading my device from Desire is the pathetic internal memory of the Desire (beside of course better proc)...even CM7 partition, A2SD+, data2ext, etc. are not really solving this issue...

ikhzter said:
the point is. ITS coming
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have learned that there is no guarantee that these things will come. Either root is available now or it is not available now. I do not recommend buying a device now and expecting it to be upgraded in the future.
Many times a hardware vendor has promised an update that either never came or turned out to be a piece of crap. Many times people with great intentions have tried to put a 3rd party hack together and it just didn't work out the way they hoped.
I HOPE options for the Sensation open up in the future. Some may EXPECT it. But time will tell.

Coming from a real world user of the phone..its the best phone I have used on T-mobile system. Are there issues? Yes battery life is not the best but expected from this type of phone, I have a abnormal reboot issue that happens at time. The sense 3.0 seems laggy at times and the dumb T-mobile apps that are on the phone are annoying. But when the root comes, this phone should be one hell of a phone,

May I put some conclution from your comments?
For me, unlocked bootloader is very important, as important as permanent root, installing custom ROMs, etc.
I believe I should wait till htc has unlocked the bootloader, the price will also eventually go down in time....but by then, EVO 3D will be more tempting..