legend or desire. need help deciding!

scrapsmac

hi all. so im going to buy either the legend or desire sim free today but i can't chose which! im swaying towards the legend because it looks the part aswell as being android. will i regret it down the line?

my next question is which site is the best for getting an unlocked phone? im looking at expansys at the moment but would appreciate some advice. its to a UK address btw and a UK Sim.
cheers

floggg

Call me biased being the proud owner of a shiny new Desire, but if you can afford it, I say desire. Coming from a Hero, the bigger screen is a joy, and while legend looks better I don't think there is much in it. Obviously the desire has the best specs, but wouldn't be too sure how much difference that really makes to the average user.

However biggest reason I would say desire over the legend is that from playing around with one in store the other day, I could imagine the aluminium frame on the legend around the top would get pretty uncomfortable during long phone calls. As has been mentioned in some reviews, it looks like it could really cut into your ear!

No idea about where to buy sim free.

scrapsmac

cheers flogg. im torn between the two. i would be an average user i suppose so maybe ill go with the legend. its about 60/70 quid less on expansys also...

argh tough one. anyone else care to share their tips?

Murilloinf

Got a legend over the desire on saturday, on meteor as a friend work in one of the stores, tried both for about 2 hours, and must say the desire is faster, but no enough to make me give the look/quality of built etc from the legend, and I spent 70 less on the legend over the desire. for someone who had a 5800, then a 3g, must say I'm very very happy with it, and planning to stick to it for a while.

thegom145

I had a good auld play with the Desire over the weekend, I'll definitely be getting one in the next month or so (I think I'll wait and see what kind of tariff O2 has when it brings it out, or maybe go with vodafone if my companies phone plan covers the Desire). Its definitely the nicest phone I've ever played with, snappy performance, huge screen and looks beautiful, and the Android app store has enough good things on it to keep me interested, I'd say go with the Desire.

EPM

Bought a desire at the weekend after my hero called it a day.

Looked at the Legend but I knew in the back of my mind I would be sorry and there was only £50 in the difference. For the sake of it go with the Desire...the bigger screen makes it so much nicer to use

scrapsmac

bit of a noob question now but is the app store for the legend and the desire the same?

Mr E

Yes, its the Android marketplace (accessible by all android devices)

scrapsmac

i really am torn people but the looks of the legend might win it for me! i take it if i buy sim free from amazon/expansys etc then i can just pop my uk o2 sim in and it will work?

Atomic Pineapple

If you can afford the desire then there's no point in looking at the Legend, the snap dragon processor alone on the Desire makes it worth the extra money

Murilloinf

also, get the legend sim free does not make sense, cause you can get the legend for 129 in meteor in a 30 euro plan on a 12 month contract, what is almost the price of the phone.

scrapsmac

unfortunately i live up north dude. the only network to carry it up here is vodafone and their data usage is pants

scrapsmac

also iv read it can hurt your ear when youre chatting on the phone? this worries me slightly lol

partyatmygaff

scrapsmac wrote: »

also iv read it can hurt your ear when youre chatting on the phone? this worries me slightly lol

Only if you like holding your phone on to the side of your face :pac:

The metal corners are kind of sharp though.

But to be honest, the desire is a much better phone. Specs aside, the Desire is going to have a LOT more support from Developers because of it being based on the exact same hardware as the Nexus one. You only need to check the XDA-Developers forum for example. The Legend has hardly any threads despite being released before the Desire.

scrapsmac

lack of developer support would be a worry! id mainly be using the phone for the friendstream and a few important apps. i take it theres a lack of developer support because of the processor? im sorry im a bit of a noob on android. i just dont want to go near the iphone!!

partyatmygaff

scrapsmac wrote: »

lack of developer support would be a worry! id mainly be using the phone for the friendstream and a few important apps. i take it theres a lack of developer support because of the processor? im sorry im a bit of a noob on android. i just dont want to go near the iphone!!

Well the Legend runs on a MSM7227 which is an ARM V6 processor which is pretty sufficient for regular use but does not have the power to run heavy applications or heavy 3d games. The only phones running that processor seem to be mini counterparts of the X10 or the HTC HD Mini which don't really have much developer support. Adobe also said that Flash 10.1 will only be coming to ARM v8 phones like the Snapdragon and the OMAP CPU used in phones like the N900 and Motorola Milestone. It will not be supported on the Legend.

That and the Desire will sooner or later be sharing much of it's developer support with the Nexus One after it gets rooted.

deepriver

Legend

If you are not a serious tech freak get the Legend, better looking phone and more or less the same spec as the Desire, at a lower price

major differences are size and looks - Legend wins
screen size - FOr me Legend wins I dont want a huge phone hanging out of my pocket, prefer something more compact
processor - snap dragon wins hands down, but the Legend is no slouch

otherwise the spec is more or less the same, I have also heard there are a number of teething issues with software on the nexus / desire....

scrapsmac

cheers for all the advice guys! went into carphone warehouse yesterday and had a feel of both phones. although not much smaller, the legend certainly feels more pocket - friendly and looks so damn good with that casing. i think ill give it a go with o2 simplicity so im not tied into any contracts.

okay so next question, if i buy the phone on amazon or expansys it says its sim free, i take it this means its unlocked?

partyatmygaff

deepriver wrote: »

Legend

If you are not a serious tech freak get the Legend, better looking phone and more or less the same spec as the Desire, at a lower price

major differences are size and looks - Legend wins
screen size - FOr me Legend wins I dont want a huge phone hanging out of my pocket, prefer something more compact
processor - snap dragon wins hands down, but the Legend is no slouch

otherwise the spec is more or less the same, I have also heard there are a number of teething issues with software on the nexus / desire....

One major problem is that the Legend won't be getting Flash 10.1 when it comes out in Android 2.2.

budhabob

partyatmygaff wrote: »

One major problem is that the Legend won't be getting Flash 10.1 when it comes out in Android 2.2.

And what does that mean for it? tthat it wont be able to run alot of the newer applications? That kinda sucks.

partyatmygaff

budhabob wrote: »

And what does that mean for it? tthat it wont be able to run alot of the newer applications? That kinda sucks.

It means the Legend will be stuck with Flash lite 4 which means the most flash content you'll be able to see on the Legend properly is Flash ads. Movies that use Flash run pretty poorly on Flash Lite. With Flash 10.1, it will be the exact same version of Flash as used on desktops meaning you get full flash content and flash content will be much more usable than with Flash lite.


That and the Snapdragon CPU is used in nearly all high end android phones so I would expect most apps to be optimized for the Snapdragon.

scrapsmac

so sim free means its unlocked?

partyatmygaff

scrapsmac wrote: »

so sim free means its unlocked?

Yeah. That said, Meteor sells the Desire unlocked.