Samsung Galaxy or HTC Desire

fadi68

For those of us in Lebanon who will not buy a cracked phone, the Iphone is out of the picture. What is the best alternative? According to my research i got the HTC desire and the Samsung galaxy. The HD2 is old technology now (or is it?). I read about a phone called 'android incredible' but it does not seem available in lebanon. Nokia phones are stuck in the 20th century... the nexus one is the older twin of the HTC desire. so does it really boil down to HTC desire or samsung galaxy? and which is better?

EddieEC

You should get either a Nexus One, or a Galaxy S.
I had a Nexus One, I played with a Desire, Nexus One was superior, because HTC sense makes the phone lag a bit.

sayo9394

The Nexus is on backorder, and isn't available in lebanon, or in any shops else where! To buy a brand new phone, you have to be an android developer with a developer account (some fee required) then you have to have order the phone from Google to deliver it to lebanon for you. I say your best chance is ebay with a second hand nexus. (u might find brand new ones if ur lucky!)

I say go for the Desire, it is exactly the spec as the Nexus, the only difference being the HTC Sense, which can be turned off anyways. The desire will be updated to Android 2.2 any day now and with the JIT enabled, trust me u won't be noticing any lag wat so ever.

U mentioned the Galaxy (I'm guessing u mean the Galaxy S, coz samsung also released a Galaxy a while ago).
The Galaxy S, in my opinion, is definitely one of the best phones made so far! it has the best GPU and 1GHz CPU. The specs are heavenly. The only downfall is the Custom UI (The TouchWiz) which makes it look like a crappy iPhone clone!.. Alot of pple don't mind the touchwiz, so it's a personal choice. i prefer vanilla UI (default android)

Here in sydney, they just released the Galaxy S, i reviewed it last week, and it's amazing! the SPEED is WOW! the graphics is so cool. it also has TV out with it's 3.5'' Jack. I just hated the UI. But with pple like Cyanogen with Custom ROM. I'm buying the phone, then root it and load CM roms.

If you want to buy an Android, and ur a geek, u have to look into loading up ur own ROMS they are real sweet.
http://www.cyanogenmod.com/ check it out.

EddieEC

Get a Galaxy S because it has a better processor (Hummingbird) while the HTC desire has a snapdragon processor which isn't as good as Hummingbird. If you don't like TouchWiz, some hackers have already loaded the original android OS. HTC sense is good, but it lags. I tested a Galaxy S, and it's great, plus it has Super Amoled.
And sayo9394 there is still people who got nexus one imported before they stopped producing.

Bassem

I also recommend the HTC Desire. The hardware is similar to Nexus One but improved in a few ways. Like sayo9394 said, the Nexus One is hard to find now.
You can find the Desire in Lebanon for around 550$.
Make sure to update to Android 2.2 when it becomes available very soon.

EDIT: Re: Galaxy S Haven't tried it, I hear a lot of good things about it and I also hear the interface sucks. If you can be bothered hacking it with a custom ROM like the guys mentioned above, go for the Galaxy S... But if you just want to use the phone normally, I suggest the HTC Desire. It's more than good enough.

sayo9394

i've never used a smart phone in lebanon, (i don't live there, i only go there for holidays in summer) but i'm trying to think why would you want a smart phone anyways? there's not even a 3G connection there, so it'll probably take you ages to access anything on the net. no maps on 3G, no video calling.

I'm really curious how could you use the smart phone in lebanon. i would appreciate all ur opinions :) Especially coz they are so expensive. The Galaxy S would retail for nothing less than 700$, which is more than the average monthly wage in lebanon!

wollyka

For your information, official 2.2 update to the HTC Desire was released 2 weeks ago :)
I already have it installed + root of course. it is much faster than the stock 2.1
The Galaxy S has a more powerful CPU+GPU so it will better for games and heavy apps

EddieEC

Yup, Galaxy S is better for apps.

Bassem

sayo9394 wrote[...]why would you want a smart phone anyways? there's not even a 3G connection there, so it'll probably take you ages to access anything on the net. no maps on 3G, no video calling[...]

It's mainly for use with Wi-Fi... true, you can't use them to their full potential, especially with so many apps being US-centric, but you can still browse on Wi-Fi (which isn't available enough in Lebanon yet.)

Also if your mobile line is "fixed" you can use WAP too, which is slow as hell but good for checking cinema schedules and what not.
Yeah, it's too little, but for many of us it's reason enough.

wollyka wroteFor your information, official 2.2 update to the HTC Desire was released 2 weeks ago :)
I already have it installed + root of course. it is much faster than the stock 2.1

If I get the HTC Desire I hope you don't mind if I bug you with info on how to update and root it :)

fadi68

sayo9394 wrote:

[...]why would you want a smart phone anyways? there's not even a 3G connection there, so it'll probably take you ages to access anything on the net. no maps on 3G, no video calling[...]

It is true that we dont have 3G but a lot of places have wifi+the gprs service is decent compared to our (low) expectations.

I want to run internet games that rely on flash + I want to listen to internet radio. With this in mind, is it necessary to wait for the GalaxyS to come to lebanon (or is it here already?) or will a simple HTC desire do it?

wollyka

Some flash games run fine on the Desire, others no. The limitation is not the phone hardware (well in part) but the flash software. Some games will not run on the Desire or the Galaxy S, they were designed to be run on a desktop browser. However, for the games that can be run, the Galaxy should in theory have better speed

Internet radio runs fine on Wifi but skips a LOT using EDGE so no doable without Wifi ( i have a fixed line + mobile internet)

Btw, Adobe will release AIR 2.5 on Android in the coming months, so Android will have access to better quality games soon hopefully.

Edit: there is a place in Dahiyeh called amhaz, this place supposedly has access to the latest hardware, maybe he got the Galaxy S already.
@Bassem no problem :)

sayo9394

fadi68 wroteWith this in mind, is it necessary to wait for the GalaxyS to come to lebanon (or is it here already?) or will a simple HTC desire do it?

Mate it comes down to how much u wanna spend. The desire is cheaper than the Galaxy S, and has a smaller screen. As a gaming platform, the GalaxyS has a really powerful GPU, and according to benchmarks, its 1Ghz hummingbird is better than the snapdragon CPU, not to mention the 4inch SUPERAMOLED screen

Oh another thing, i just remembered that Android2.2 has already been released on Desire to the US, and vodaphone europe is currently releasing 2.2 now. So if you buy the Desire, it should either come with the official android 2.2, or will be updated anytime now.

wollyka wroteSome flash games run fine on the Desire, others no. The limitation is not the phone hardware (well in part) but the flash software. Some games will not run on the Desire or the Galaxy S, they were designed to be run on a desktop browser. However, for the games that can be run, the Galaxy should in theory have better speed

Unless you have Android2.2 on your mobile, no flash games will run on either the Desire or the GalaxyS. Android2.2 is being released to Desire, but the galaxy S currently doesn't have Android2.2, and samsung has the release date as later this summer (winter here in australia).
There are also no custom ROMs for the GalaxyS which run Android2.2

I completely agree with you that the GalaxyS is better for games. Trust me, the thing is a rocket! i love it (i always take it from my friends to play with it )

for more info on android you guys can check the following;
www.androidandme.com
www.androidcentral.com

also for hacking
http://www.xda-developers.com/ (best site)

vegetaleb

I bought my Nexus One from Amhaz n Beirut, no second hand and whatsoever...
HTC Desire and Nexus One are available at Amhaz shop as well as HTC shop in front of Hotel Dieu and MicroAge in Dora(with Lebanese warrenty)
I personally preffer HTC over Samsung in terms of Android phones because the hardwares are more resistant(samsung's body paint peels off) and the great choice of custom Roms.
Between Desire and Nexus One I will go for Nexus One:
-Faster updates from Google (FW 3.0 available by Christmas)
-Trackball led can be used for missed calls and SMS
-Trackball can ''wake'' the phone
-Nexus One can use Desire Roms if you need Sense and WAP.

Also it has been proved with youtube videos that Nexus One beats all other Android devices in terms of speed...

EddieEC

HTC Ace/Desire HD will have a 1.5 GHz processor. That's freaking fast.

rantnrave

Does anybody know the price of a Samsung Galaxy S in Lebanon? At least an approximation?

Bassem

EddieEC wroteHTC Ace/Desire HD will have a 1.5 GHz processor. That's freaking fast.

There will always be something around the corner that's faster and better... I'm sure once the Desire HD is released, the next upcoming superphone will be announced... If you keep waiting you'll never get anything :D

sayo9394

First of all, i LOVE ur avatar, it's AWESOME :D

Though i have to disagree with you about the following;

vegetaleb wroteAlso it has been proved with youtube videos that Nexus One beats all other Android devices in terms of speed...

Youtube proved that the Nexus1 with Android2.2 beats all the other Androids. This is because of the speed gains with addition of the Just In Time (JIT) compiler to the Dalvik VM. The galaxyS will be Blazing Fast when it gets updated.

This is DroidX (i get so excited everytime i hear that name! grrrrrrrr hehehe) with Android 2.2 benchmarks

you'll notice two entries for Nexus, the Nexus 2.2 One (android2.2) and the Nexus One (Android2.1)

wollyka

I forgot that Android 2.2 isn't available yet for the Galaxy S! so sayo9394 is absolutely right, no flash game will run on Samsung for now, but it is just a matter of time.
I usually prefer HTC because of the XDA community, they are usually very active with customs roms. My current rom on the Desire is modaco R8 RC1 with A2SD+ (i love installing ALL my apps to the SD card)+Arabic files. Working great :)

vegetaleb

And that's another reason you should buy HTC or Nexus One because you get FW before everybody else (if samsung decides to do it anyway)

Jad

rantnrave wroteDoes anybody know the price of a Samsung Galaxy S in Lebanon? At least an approximation?

I would also like to know the approximate price of the Samsung Galaxy S in Lebanon because I'm actually in China to see if it's worth buying it here...or in Lebanon with the local guarantee.