Divorcing my iPhone 3G – Hello HTC Desire

My iPhone battery has been flagging for a while, and I started noticing the little cracks in the ceramic case that afflicts the white cased 16GB iPhone 3G. It is a known defect and acknowledged as such by Apple. Indeed, they replaced the iPhone once for me in NZ.  But unfortunately, my current model is out-of-warranty so getting a replacement on Apple wasn’t an option this time around. And the lack of a user-replaceable battery either meant I shell out for a new battery, or pay £139 for an out-of-warranty replacement from Apple. And this, at the time of the release of the iPhone4, didn’t seem like such an appealing otion.

I considered getting a 12-month contract iPhone4 from Tesco. Hell, I was even on the waiting list.  But the fiasco with Apple and the antennagate issue and the long-lead in times for production after the massive launch put me off.

I decided to look elsewhere.

I decided to go Android.

After a little research, I bought someone’s unwanted upgrade HTC Desire on eBay for £280. A bargain, give these are retailing for £380-£400. It was meant to be Orange branded and locked to that network, but it turns out that it was unbranded and unlocked – which saved me no end of hassle and about£20-£30.

I had a bit of a wrestle getting to grips with some of the crashes that a relatively young OS like Android can throw at you – which was frustrating, but that seems to have sorted itself out now. It isn’t as slick as the iOS, but Android is growing on me rapidly. And the HTC Desire is a nice bit of kit a better phone than the iPhone, but more like a mini-computer than a device specifically built to enable you to consume media like the iPhone.  I have no idea how it compares to an iPhone4 but it is lightning quick compared to my iPhone 3G.

As I have hinted, the HTC Desire isn’t anywhere near as slick a product in terms of its integration with iTunes, and the videoplayer is nowhere near as integrated. But, I have found a player that will play some DivX and .avi files, which is a bonus in being able to get under the hood a little more than an iPhone.

So far, I’m pleased with my decision to divorce. Let’s see how long the new relationship lasts.  And please, let me reassure you: I am just talking about the phone here.