iPhone Free Week: Introduction To A Week With HTC Tattoo (Android)

ban_iphoneI’ve been ‘suffering’ from the “iSyndrome” since I got my first MacBook back in Q2 2006 and when the iPhone EDGE was released in the US, I had no other choice than go to eBay and import one of them. Then came the iPhone 3G and I bought one locally. The year after, iPhone 3GS came and I got one of those – and I still have it.

Basically, I’ve been using nothing than iPhone as my primary mobile phone since Q3 2007. That’s very unusual for me. Let me explain it real simple, I was always the guy receiving those “Oh, you have a new cell phone, again” -comments at all the family get togethers.

While I had an iPhone, I’ve also been having a few other phones as my secondary phone, since I have one for work too. Mostly some great Sony Ericssons but I had a few HTC’s too, with Windows Mobile, and boy did they suck.

At one point, I actually decided to try and use another phone instead of my iPhone as the primary one. I ordered a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic in March 2009 and I was really impressed with it, taking the cost into consideration. Alot of great stuff packed into this touch screen device for a very low price.

It took me only a few weeks and it started to annoy me, so I went back to my iPhone and used the Nokia 5800XM as a secondary device. I sold it in July 2009 and replaced it with a Sony Ericsson W715 (read my Sony Ericsson W715 review & view unpacking video here!) which I’m currently using as my secondary/work phone.

I’m with an iPhone 3Gs for a while now and I felt like I needed to broaden my horizon a little bit. I mean, how can I seriously recommend an iPhone to most users, when the only Android experience I have, is 5 minutes of play time with a HTC Hero? I can’t.

That’s why I decided to do a little experiment: Will somebody like me, with the “iSyndrome”, be able to use nothing but an Android based phone for a week?

I was actually ready to shell out the dough for a used device myself, when, after having announced my intentions on a local forum for cellphone discussions, HTC contacted me, offering to lend me a HTC Tattoo. Due to some time limiations, I’ll only be able to have it for a 5-6 days, though I wish I could have had it for at least a full week.

Another downside, beside the 5 or 6 days, is that the HTC Tattoo doesn’t come with Android 2.0. So my upcoming Android experience will still not be 100% compatible as Android 2.0 will arrive shortly after (I think). Never the less, it should give me an idea on how Android really is and how it works.

But wait, there’s more downsides. HTC Tattoo comes with a smaller screen size than previous Android devices, meaning it will have less applications available in the Android Market (I was told).

One more thing. Another downside. HTC Tattoo comes with a resistive touch screen and I hate those. The one on iPhone is capacitive. The difference, overall, is that the capacitive just requires you to touch it while the resistive will require you to “push” it. Nokia 5800XM came with a resistive screen too and it was really annoying to type on it. The upside is that you can use a resistive screen with other objects than human fingers, like a stylus or something, which is of course great if you’re using gloves on a cold winter day. For the iPhone, gloves won’t work, unless you’re using Dots Gloves or something similar, which I recently ordered a pair of.

Sorry for the long introduction post, but now you know the basics of my little experiment. In a few days I’ll be posting a “warm-up” post and next week I’ll be posting every other day, or so, with my HTC Tattoo experiences. I’ll try to title all the posts with “iPhone Free Week” so they are easily recognised.

Don’t go just yet. You have to leave a comment and tell me what your current phone is, because I’m curious as to what my readers prefer for cellphones. Thanks 🙂

9 thoughts on “iPhone Free Week: Introduction To A Week With HTC Tattoo (Android)”

  1. Pingback: danny k
  2. but .. if I tell you what my primary phone is you wont be able to pick your self up from the floor, all crumbled together in cramps from laughing. On the other hand, by now you probally know my phones hardly ever get changed.
    Sony Ericsson K550i – found a receipt in my gmail, bought it 05/11/2007.

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  3. I’ll be interested to see what you think. I’m an iPhone user as well, but I was just checking out somebody’s Droid today, and it looked nice. I lament the fact that the cell phone companies lock you in for a couple of years, or I’d experiment a bit more (well, if the IT guy at work let me – my phone is a work phone). I don’t know much about the Tattoo. I’d be more curious if somebody had given you one of the latest and greatest Android devices, like the Droid. We can keep our fingers crossed . . .

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    • Unfortunately HTC doesn’t make the Droid, so that was probably not going to happen 😀

      But I’m grateful being able to check out the Tattoo for free, so I’m excited to try out Android.

      Reply
    • My HTC Tattoo is my first smart phone, & I love it. The screen is smaller than a lot of other devices, but the handset itself is, & I like that. It’s flexible, syncs, has an amazing market for apps, & is responsive. Also, it is generally very user friendly it’s suitable for non-techs too!

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  4. Just saw an advertisement today for both the Hero and the Tattoo, dkk 900 difference (around USD 200). I don’t know, thats not much of a difference

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