Database Develop

Slowdown + Application compatibility + Defragmenting XDA2i

Hi,
:idea:
I'd be interested in everyone's comments re the slowdown caused by adding programs, and I guess others would too.
Part of it is normal caused by eating up the available memory, both storage (and ram?)
However I have found that some applications do not seem to work well on the XDA2i, even though they do actually work. The problem is that this only comes to light after a while, after you've actually shelled out the money for a product that seems fine.
I list below products that I have found work on my XDA2i and those that seem to irritate the XDA2i so that it gradually gets worse and needs a hard reset.
I have tried defragmenting, and believe that Pocket Mechanic works fine a few times then things grind to a halt.
I am not an expert, and obviously cannot prove that the products are faulty, so take what I list 'with a pinch of salt' - but it might be that others might add others or agree/disagree with my findings, and might be careful about thoughily testing before purchase.
1-Calc 2.3.1 seems fine
BIBLE WITH YOU for Pocket PC- GMPSoft seems fine.
Journal Bar seems fine
POCKET ARTIST seems fine
Pocket Controller- Professional 5.04 seems fine
POCKET DVD WIZARD seems fine
Pocket Streamer Pro seems fine
PocketBible - NIV Version by Laridian seems fine
RESCO EXPLORER 2005 seems fine
TCPMP (The Core Media Player) (freeware) seems fine
MTUX RingToneX - Ringtone Coloring 2.1 not sure about this
DVD to Pocket PC for me was problematic after version 2
1-Pass - Revolutionary Security App not sure
eXPerience (Windows XP Style Interface) had this running ok but slow on XDA2 but not tested on XDA2i
File Transfer Anywhere(PPC Anywhere) 3.01. Tried trial period but didn't like it.
iLOCK e-wallet password manager 1.0.1 had this running ok but slow on XDA2 but not tested on XDA2i
POCKET TV ENTERPRISE worked fine up to version 1.2 on my XDA2i
Pocket Mechanic. Not sure. I bought it to defrag XDA2i and storage. Found that after a few times the system slows down and needs to be restored.
TV Remote commander. Not sure about the usefulness because Very limited range.
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andromeda9,
try using Tweaks2K2.NET. quite amazing tweaking software. can speed up your display. i can feel the speed different.....

Tweaks2k2net
Thanks Clustered.
I've downloaded the trial. What settings worked best for you?

Under Video, I tick the Speed Up Display.

Thanks the display is quicker...
Thanks for the tip...
The display is quicker.
It seems overkill to go for Tweaks2K2 but just for one display fix, and the Date/time on the bar (I love it!) so is there anything else you might recommend?
Thanks

just try yourself....maybe you will like others.....

Ok.
Appreciate your help.

I removed O2 Active and the XDA2i is about 10 times quicker and more reliable now.
This is how I removed O2 active:
1) Use file explorer to navigate to: my device>windows>startup.
2) Move the file called connections to another folder.
3) Navigate to: my device>windows>fonts.
4) Rename the "xpdr_02" file to "xpdr_021".
5) Soft reset your phone.
6) Go to: Settings>system>remove programs.
7) Uninstall O2 active. You may get a message saying that certain dll files are in use in windows directory- simply use file explorer to rename these files and try again. Rename them back afterwards.
8) Use file explorer to navigate to: my device>windows>fonts.
9) Rename the "xpdr_021" file back to "xpdr_02".
10) Navigate to: my device>windows>mobile solutions.
11) Cut and paste this folder to your built in storage
12) Soft reset the phone.

Thanks Hedley!

Hedley,
:?:
I just thought of a question re your unistall procedure.
After unistall, can you change 'profile' in order not to cause problems on aircraft?
In Active, I quite liked the simplicity of the email setup. I suppose once it's installed it is not neccessary, but did you find / is there anything else likely to be needed after removing?
Thanks

It is definately Faster!!
I am impressed with this one, my XDAIIi is definately a lot faster!
Cheers for that! :lol:

Airplane trips?
andromeda9 said:
Thanks Hedley!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Hedley,
:?:
I'm thinking about what you describe, maybe migfht trial it over Christmas... but once Active is uninstalled can you tell me how I might cope with Airplane travel?
i.e. can you turn off the 'airplane' parts? because obviously just shutting down the XDA leves it actively listening.#
Thanks

"Flight" mode
You can enable flight mode (turn off mobile receiver) by tapping the reception icon on the top bar. In the bubble that appears, there is a link to "Turn on flight mode" / "Turn off flight mode"
The piece of software I really miss in the O2 active is the "profile" stuff, which unless I'm blind isn't in the 2003 OS. For example: normal, work, silent, noisy etc
I wouldn't manually uninstall the Active rubbish - do a corporate install instead. If you have to manually delete locked files etc etc you're asking for trouble later.

Thanks MMM
Thanks for the information and tips.
What is a corporate install - I am not familar with the term.

thorneh said:
7) Uninstall O2 active. You may get a message saying that certain dll files are in use in windows directory- simply use file explorer to rename these files and try again. Rename them back afterwards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Goto Start->Settings->Today->Items and uncheck the ones O2 puts on there (can't think off hand which ones they are!) this stops the dll in use messages.
mmm_ok said:
I wouldn't manually uninstall the Active rubbish - do a corporate install instead. If you have to manually delete locked files etc etc you're asking for trouble later.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only problem with the corporate install I found, was it didn't setup the O2 GPRS and MMS settings before finishing device setup, I had a pain setting them up manually, and when I finally managed it, they didn't work 100% (or maybe it was i didn't trust my work 100%!)
You can invoke a corporate install by selecting it when it asks if you are a personal or corporate user. it'll ask you for a password, which is 0506 if memory serves me correct.

Way, how to syncronize files from internal memory?

Hi everyone,
is there any way how to set up syncronization between ActiveSync @ PC and internal memory on my Diamond?
Thank you

bit of a noob question but i'll give it a go (No offense meant by the way)
No.
You cant set up an automatic sync to the internal storage as far as i know, not through activesync anyway
When you select to sync files, it will sync to the 'My Documents' folder in the main storage.
You can of course explore the phone through activesync and then manually move files back and forward.
the other way would be to plug the device in as a memory stick (the phone will pop up and ask you this when you plug it in), and use some thrid party app to auto sync to folders. I think microsoft do a powertoy for XP and possibly for vista that does this. it was desgined to keep USB keys and removeable hard drives updated, but you could use it for any removable storage device really...
have a look here http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx, it is sync toy that you might want to have a look at.

rhedgehog said:
bit of a noob question but i'll give it a go (No offense meant by the way)
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much sir, i've tried this app from Microsoft and it can be used as i expected... Hope that in the future it will be not necessary to switch the device always to mass storage, but thank you anyway

Better app what i've found is Allway Sync (8.1.1)...
Those who had same problem as me, highly recommended!

The Touch Diamond does not show the WM screen rotation under settings so we can't manually set rotation for apps like Word, SMS. Here is how to enable it. After you've done the hack, run the app you want to rotate (eg. Word Mobile), then do Start, Settings, System, Screen to set rotation to landscape. The onscreen keyboard is much larger in landscape! When you click the HOME key it will go back to portrait.
Enable Manual Screen Rotation (Portrait/Landscape):
HKLM - System - GDI - Rotation - HideOrientationUI (change from 1 to 0)
Change is immediate effectively. No reboot is required.

Does anyone have Office Mobile being REEEALLLY SLOW to the point of being ridiculously unusable? Searched online but not much info on this. It would take a minute or so to open a 100K Word attachment in my email. Recommendation on http://forum.xda-developers.com/archive/index.php/t-302108.html is to replace Word Mobile template with Pocket PC 2003 version, but I don't have this.
I went back to hack #1 and reversed the recommended change "file system filter cache to 131072" and went back to the factory default which I think is "disabled". The performance of Office Mobile increased substantially and is now usable. HTC Album seems good now too. Stability and speed on restarting the diamond is better too. Previously it would sometimes hang at "Tap here to launch TouchFlo".
Can someone who also has slow Word Mobile / Office Mobile / HTC Album reproduce this and confirm?

habitat.dnb said:
Hi everyone,
is there any way how to set up syncronization between ActiveSync @ PC and internal memory on my Diamond?
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't do that with Activesync unfortunately but you can with a program called Soti Pocket Controller http://soti.net - also its has other features which is sorely need for pocket pc users
Its not free tho

Diamond new users question/answer guide

to begin with, i want to tell you all how glad i am to have found and be a part of this community which taught and showed me a lot of things on how to configure and set up a decent working version of Windows Mobile. this is my first winmob phone, after having a dozen java/symbian/s60 operated phones.
i chose the HTC over the iPhone mainly because of the huge possibilities of tweaking, but for an inexperienced (WinMobile) user like me, to kick it off in the right way might prove to be harder than at first expected. so i decided to create this topic not only to ask for your help but hopefully to lay down some basic guidelines for all users new to this forum and to WinMob.
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my ROM version is 1.37.401.3 and my Radio version is 1.00.25.03 - that's how i bought it from store.
1. i installed the advanced confing utility but some options there don't work for me (e.g. Show SIM contacts - disable[doesn't work] or X button - close app [same]). why is that ?
2. is it in anyway possible to modify my start menu app list cause it laggs for about 2-3 seconds before opening the huge list i have there
3. what does the Radio version mean ? from what i've read on these forums, i'm thinking it has to do more than with the basic radio app, right ? what exactly does the higher version (.05) improve ?
4. the ROM version - correct me if i'm wrong .. are there official ROM versions from HTC that can be downloaded from their site that work regardless of the tweakings done to the phone? and how are user made ROMs better ? is there anything consistently better than my current version in terms of battery life and performance ?
5. i've read the manual and it says that the win media player supports .avi files yet mine doesn't open one. anything special i need to know of ?
6. what programs can i install apart from those i've found here? say yahoo messenger, if i don't want to use win messenger. and if that's possible, are there appz especially made for winmobile cause i doubt it that an ordinary PC .exe will work the same
7. is there any way to use the camera from the front of the phone for photos?
8. is there no other possibility of turning the phone ON from sleep mode other than the power button ? if not, where's the timer that sets how many seconds pass before entering sleep mode?
9. if i got it right, tomtom7 is a gps navigation program, right? does it work stand-alone? i mean, no external receiver? and does it connect to the internet while in usage ? what about google maps?
10. any other useful programs to recommend other than the ones found within this section of the forum ? i've read about users using Total Comander.. where can i find that ? or is it the normal PC program ?
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i know these are a lot of questions but honestly these were the first things that popped in my mind after using this phone for nearly 5 days now i'll be grateful for whatever answers, advice and solutions you'll be kind enough to provide.

8. Take out the stylus - wakes it up. Just got mine today and found this out by accident. After all - why read the manual??

9. TomTom 6 is the version I bought for my Trinity, and it works just fine on my Diamond. I just chose Com Port 4 for 'other bluetooth receiver' and it works without the need for an external bluetooth GPS receiver. Curiously it turns bluetooth on while TT is running - then turns it off when stopping TT. Does it really need to connect to itself via bluetooth? Any readers got an idea?

domnu' iliescu,
a. go to:
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Diamond
and learn a few basics and in special a few therms some "slang"
b. go to:
http://modmydiamond.info/index.php and learn how to hardspl and flash a new ROM.
the "cooked" ROMs are by far better than the original one (the one u have for example). is like buying a car and using a kit to tune it, make it the way you like it. you tweak the motor and you''l get less consumption (more memory and longer battery life), more speed (faster and smoother diamond) and so on. escuse my car analogy but the thing i love even more than my diamond is my car (i wonder, is it really in this order?).
now, my answers to yr question. i might be wrong on some of the answers but there are enough ppl here hapy to correct me..lol
1. there is a high probability that flashing a new ROM will change that (see a.)
2. for sure flashing will solve it.
3. in simple words, the radio is the function that allows you to make calls, use bluetooth or yr gps. connectivity. see my a. for more info.
4. see the beginning of my replay namely, point b.
5. don't know why, again maybe a new ROM will solve this (strange ..)
6. live it to later. there is somewhere here a post regarding applications and programs supported by diamond. first flash new ROM and new radio, get familiar with the device and forget about applications. there are a few "must have" but again, l a t e r .
7. the camera is for video calls. why do u need to used when u have a better (much better) one dedicated to taking pictures?
8. pull out the stylus is my favorite.
regarding "the timer":
- go to settings/system/power/backlight for adjusting the backlight and go to settings/system/power/advanced for what u call "sleep mode". btw, it is in diamond's manual!
9. the diamond has an internal GPS. no need for external (see yr manual again). you can choose between lots of navigation programs. tomtom, igo8 and google maps (never used google maps, maybe somebody else is going to help you). i am using igo8.
10. total commander is somewhere as a cab file in the thread of one of the many ROMs here. i'll look for it or i'll upload mine somewhere.
important!!
read diamond's manual, keep reading in the forum, ask only after you are certain that the answer is not somewhere here (use search function) and read again some more! "invatzatzi! invatzatzi! invatzatzi!
good luck! Noroc!

On point 8, has anyone managed to wake the phone up/bring the screen light back on without pressing the power button or removing the stylus? Pushing the central button or even the home button would be better.

iliescu902 said:
1. i installed the advanced confing utility but some options there don't work for me (e.g. Show SIM contacts - disable[doesn't work] or X button - close app [same]). why is that ?
You should install diamond tweak, you'll find it on the forum, for easyier twaeking, it got 40 tweaks incl, and you can easy just disable or enable there.
if you hide sim contacs, it will be reset to show again after a soft reset i think.
4. the ROM version - correct me if i'm wrong .. are there official ROM versions from HTC that can be downloaded from their site that work regardless of the tweakings done to the phone? and how are user made ROMs better ? is there anything consistently better than my current version in terms of battery life and performance ?
Yes there is a new rom out, 1.93, you can download it from htc.com, htc e club, register there, and then register your product when you are logged on, and you should be able to install it.
5. i've read the manual and it says that the win media player supports .avi files yet mine doesn't open one. anything special i need to know of ?
Install TCPMP/core player, .avi, .mpeg etc. works there, best player for movies imo.
7. is there any way to use the camera from the front of the phone for photos?
Yes there is, when you use camera, go on settings and press the icon with 2 cameras on, and it will switch to the camera on the front
10. any other useful programs to recommend other than the ones found within this section of the forum ? i've read about users using Total Comander.. where can i find that ? or is it the normal PC program ?
NoData, tcpmp, S2P(music player), diamond TF3D config, diamond tweaks is some of those i find very good to have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hope it helps

A few questions

This post contains a few questions I have after a week or so using my Touch Diamond, about issues I've not seen mentioned on this or other boards.
1) When I hold phone then speak to phone a contact, it repeats the contacts name (ie plays the sample of my voice it used to identify the contact). Can I turn that playback off?
2) Sometimes holding the bottom right key (end call) does nothing, or just moves the touchflo 3d selection to the right, instead of locking the phone. It seems to do this more often if I've been using the phone to surf etc, and less if I've just used it for a few seconds, as if it's busy (although it's responsive in every other respect)
3) In the messaging app, under the top line of text, I can choose between:
Gmail
Outlook E-mail
SMS \ MMS
I'd like to remove the Outlook line - I never use it - it's just Gmail or text messages for me. Can I do this?
4) When I use Fring to do Instant Messaging (which doesn't seem to pick up on all my contacts for some reason - any idea why?) it will enable and use Wifi, even if it was turned off. But if I load Opera it'll not re-enable Wifi but will simply use my phone provider (ie 3G, GPRS etc). Is there any way of getting Opera (or any app, if that's easier) to enable Wifi when loaded. I want to use it for speed, and to reduce my data usage via my phone provider, but I don't want to pay the price in battery life.
5) Has anyone had any success in using their Touch Diamond to connect to a network (Ubuntu, using Samba, or Windows - I'm not bothered which)? Surely it should be possible?
6) Can I make Opera and not Internet Explorer the default app for .html files and links in emails/text messages?
7) Has anyone had any luck getting java applets working from web pages in Opera (or Internet Explorer, as a last resort)? I can get regular midlets working in the stand alone Java client thing, but I need to be able to log into secure sites using my phone and the sites use little Java apps.
I'm sure I had another question or two but it's late and I can't remember, so this should keep you going for now!
Thanks in advance.

Too many questions!
I'll answer number 5: Yes you can connect to a network share using a program called Network Plugin or, even better, Resco Explorer, although that one isn't free. I've only used it for Windows XP shares so far.

I'll answer number 2!
Do you use a rubberized case similar to the one in my avatar? I've come to realize that it somehow prevents the talk/end keys from functioning properly (same behavior - itll think im either trying to go left or right in tf3d). Removing the case fixes the problem for me. Sounds silly I know, but when I realized that it was the rubber case, I couldn't stop banging my head.
If you're not using a case of some sort, then I have no clue

I'll asnwer number 2 as well.
Had the same problem. I think it's a kinda bug.
Solved it with the new Rom 2.30.

few problems, user fixable or need to wait for update?

Love Windows Phone 7, don't really love the hardware quality of the HD7. There are a few software issue that I am hoping are user fixable and not something I have to wait for an update to address.
1. Search button behavior in Internet Explorer - it irritates me immensely that when you hit the search button on the HD7, it brings up the Google desktop website. Similarly if you enter text in the address bar it searches Google, not Bing. If I wanted to use Google, I'd have kept my Android device. Is there a way to change this yet, and set the T-Mobile USA HD7 to default to the Bing app and not the Google website? Its especially annoying because the results bring you to mobile formatted pages.
2. This is more of a complaint than a fixable issue until copy and paste comes, but I have noticed that the text type recognition doesn't work all the time. In some places if I click an address it goes to Bing Maps but other times it does nothing, it looks like it highlights the word I touch. I haven't been able to find any pattern in which sites work and which don't, but its frustrating.
3. Sometimes when I get a text message the notification sound plays all choppy. It does seem to happen only where service is bad. Is there a fix for this?
4. Office and Skydrive. Maybe I am just retarded but I feel like there should be a way to access my Office files online, specifically through SkyDrive since I can save to it from Office on the computer. Do I have to have a Sharepoint server to do this? Can I really not access my SkyDrive files?
If I remember more I will post.
Also, is there an ETA for Flash?

I have been playing with the skydrive and I added a few files to it to try and see if I could open them on the HD7. The thing is I can open them but have yet to figure out how to open them with Word on the HD7 so that I can edit them and save them back to the skydrive(copy & paste would be nice...meh...soon I hope). But I opened IE and logged into my Windows Live account and I can open anything I have saved on the skydrive, PDFs, word files, excel sheets, ppt presentation, pictures, etc. Now the only issue is editing those files, I haven't tried sending files Word, Excel, etc. to the skydrive and trying to open them on my PC. Will update later with results of further tinkering.

My issues with HD7
Like many people I love this phone but coming from Windows Mobile 6.5 and donw (isn't that weird to say), this phone is really lacking.
1) The Zune software is crap for lack of a better word. No Smart DJ; No Artist photos; no random track play etc. These are not deal breakers but if you came from the Zune HD like me then you'll feel let down.
2) Font Size. It might just be me, but not being able to set a minimal font size is ridiculous. I use the word ridiculous because even my first pocket Pc phone edition in 2001 allowed font resize.
3) No ability to sync my desktop mobile favs. Yes! I know of the work around but wasn't the point of the new OS to avoid all that crap.
4) I want to be able to sync with my local address book. This whole facebook and windows live thing . . . .Look at it this way, if your contacts are based through FB then if one of those contacts cancels their FB acct then you automatically loose all that data. Of course this is not a MS thing.
4) With my HD2 and HTC Sense, I was used to seeing ALL my FB contact photos. Again not an MS thing but . . . .
5) This is really more of a gripe than anything but the battery icon doesn't tell much.How come I can't see exactly how much juice I have left.
6) Unified Inbox, flash, cut and paste. These are all things MS was kind enough to make us aware off so they get a pass on those.
Where is the File Explorer?

c0wb0ycliche said:
Love Windows Phone 7, don't really love the hardware quality of the HD7. There are a few software issue that I am hoping are user fixable and not something I have to wait for an update to address.
1. Search button behavior in Internet Explorer - it irritates me immensely that when you hit the search button on the HD7, it brings up the Google desktop website. Similarly if you enter text in the address bar it searches Google, not Bing. If I wanted to use Google, I'd have kept my Android device. Is there a way to change this yet, and set the T-Mobile USA HD7 to default to the Bing app and not the Google website? Its especially annoying because the results bring you to mobile formatted pages.
2. This is more of a complaint than a fixable issue until copy and paste comes, but I have noticed that the text type recognition doesn't work all the time. In some places if I click an address it goes to Bing Maps but other times it does nothing, it looks like it highlights the word I touch. I haven't been able to find any pattern in which sites work and which don't, but its frustrating.
3. Sometimes when I get a text message the notification sound plays all choppy. It does seem to happen only where service is bad. Is there a fix for this?
4. Office and Skydrive. Maybe I am just retarded but I feel like there should be a way to access my Office files online, specifically through SkyDrive since I can save to it from Office on the computer. Do I have to have a Sharepoint server to do this? Can I really not access my SkyDrive files?
If I remember more I will post.
Also, is there an ETA for Flash?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Apparently carriers can change the search engine within Internet Explorer, and we can't do anything about it. Once someone gets access to editing the registry, maybe we will be able to change that. BUT I do have some help for you: Search something in Google, and then scroll down to the bottom, find the "Settings" link. Then you can change it to NOT format sites for mobile phones. That should make the experience better!
2. Addresses have to be in a certain format: #### N Street Rd, Zip Code. Like this address, 6362 N Calle Campeche, 85750. If it doesn't have the zip code after the street, it sadly doesn't recognize it. Hopefully they fix that, it's a great feature otherwise.
3. Idk, never had that happen.
4. You can access your Skydrive files and download them to your phone by going to the SkyDrive website (they have a mobile version), but you can't upload any documents from your phone or upload the changes you make in a doc you download. It has been rumored that SkyDrive integration will be implemented at some point.
alabij said:
My issues with HD7
Like many people I love this phone but coming from Windows Mobile 6.5 and donw (isn't that weird to say), this phone is really lacking.
1) The Zune software is crap for lack of a better word. No Smart DJ; No Artist photos; no random track play etc. These are not deal breakers but if you came from the Zune HD like me then you'll feel let down.
2) Font Size. It might just be me, but not being able to set a minimal font size is ridiculous. I use the word ridiculous because even my first pocket Pc phone edition in 2001 allowed font resize.
3) No ability to sync my desktop mobile favs. Yes! I know of the work around but wasn't the point of the new OS to avoid all that crap.
4) I want to be able to sync with my local address book. This whole facebook and windows live thing . . . .Look at it this way, if your contacts are based through FB then if one of those contacts cancels their FB acct then you automatically loose all that data. Of course this is not a MS thing.
4) With my HD2 and HTC Sense, I was used to seeing ALL my FB contact photos. Again not an MS thing but . . . .
5) This is really more of a gripe than anything but the battery icon doesn't tell much.How come I can't see exactly how much juice I have left.
6) Unified Inbox, flash, cut and paste. These are all things MS was kind enough to make us aware off so they get a pass on those.
Where is the File Explorer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Yeah, I miss SmartDJ too. I never looked at an artist's pictures however. Their picture does load as a background image, but I know that's not what you're referring to. By random track playing, you mean Shuffle? In the now playing screen, tap on the album art, and then click the shuffle icon.
2. Font size depends on the user of course. I'm good with it as it is, but they should have made an option to change it. Maybe a future update.
3. Eh yeah. I don't use favorites honestly
4. You mean how the HTC Album app in WinMo could access all of your friends online Facebook photo albums, right from their contact card? Yeah I loveeeed that in HTC Sense. I was really disappointed when my WP7 didn't have something like that.
4.2. Umm, if a friend cancels their Facebook account, you don't loose anything that you stored yourself. Just add a contact's info into your Windows Live contacts, it will never disappear.
5. Maybe someone will write a battery percentage app. Idk.
6. I personally can't wait for copy/paste!
7. Microsoft made it decetly clear months ago that there wouldn't be a file explorer.

Thanks for the tips, and I'm really hoping someone figures out how to change the search option. It's annoying when my bosses WP7 (HTC Surround) pulls up the bing app in IE, and mine goes to the Google site. You can remove all carrier and manufacture apps (1 step forward) but can't choose your default internet search while your carrier can (2 steps back.)
Hardware wise, the issues I have are these:
After a couple days, the back and battery color have some discoloration. I don't have particularly dirty or clammy hands, so I don't know why this is. It weirdly also doesn't look like where my fingers actually are, so maybe it's heat related. I've seen similar issues on the Touch Pro and the G2. I think it has something to do with the soft touch material.
There is also a gap between the two pieces of the battery cover. This I have seen on literally every unit I've touched. Mine, my boyfriends, the demo unit at T-Mobile, and the ones at Best Buy.
Likewise, if you press search a little hard, you see like a ripple in the bottom right hand corner. This also was on every device I played with, so it's a general thing.
These things, for me at least, aren't deal breakers, but they are annoying, especially compared to the absolutely astounding build quality of the HD2.
...
anyway.
All of this stuff aside, I must say, my actual general usage experience with the device (again, more WP7 than the HD7 specifically) has been honestly, wonderful.
I've found that in my experience,true to Microsoft's goal, everything just works, and works quickly. Coming from Android (recently, after the HD2 I just couldn't deal with WM6.5) and having had every phone in between (iPhone, Palm Pre, a crap ton of Android phones, even a Symbian phone) I must say that I have had the fewest problems, and most fluid experience of all, on WP7. General usage stuff like calls, texts, e-mail, web browsing, social networking etc. are all just super fast and efficient (with maybe the only exception being Facebook's annoying load time, but its not horribly necessary with the "what's new" section in People. Also, despite some issues (like it taking me a week to realize you can click on the song list under now playing) the media and gaming is hands down the best I've had on a phone.

Ugh, is the T-Mobile HD7 locked into Google?
I thought the whole idea of the Search button was to get quick access to the Bing Search Application. Is this so or is it only the search in IE?
Hoping they'll add a way to change that ASAP.

Jonno2343 said:
Ugh, is the T-Mobile HD7 locked into Google?
I thought the whole idea of the Search button was to get quick access to the Bing Search Application. Is this so or is it only the search in IE?
Hoping they'll add a way to change that ASAP.
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Only in IE. Press Search from the start screen and it'll work like you expect (opening Bing)

Jonno2343 said:
Ugh, is the T-Mobile HD7 locked into Google?
I thought the whole idea of the Search button was to get quick access to the Bing Search Application. Is this so or is it only the search in IE?
Hoping they'll add a way to change that ASAP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The T-Mobile US variant of the HD7 works like this, in all places other than a) Internet Explorer or b) app that override the search button (like contacts) when you press the search key it bring up Bing. When in IE, it goes to google.com. When in an app with an override, it searches within that app.

c0wb0ycliche said:
The T-Mobile US variant of the HD7 works like this, in all places other than a) Internet Explorer or b) app that override the search button (like contacts) when you press the search key it bring up Bing. When in IE, it goes to google.com. When in an app with an override, it searches within that app.
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Click to collapse
About your part B... that's how the search button is supposed to work, Windows Phone was designed like that. The T-Mobile USA HD7 is only different than other phones in part A.

as a few more days have passed, I also noticed that sometimes the Marketplace will lock up. The phone doesn't, I can still go back to the start screen, use all other apps etc, but when I go into Marketplace again it says loading and then goes back into to start unless I restart the device. Not a big deal, not too common, but still a bug. I think its related to the small freezes while browsing apps when it's loading the icons.

To clarify, you can upload and save your changes to SkyDrive. Simply tap down at the application settings and select synchronize. That will sync any changes with SkyDrive.
Sent from my HD7 using Board Express

Edit: it just works with OneNote.
But I think if you download excel doc from SkyDrive and make changes it will sync with SkyDrive?
Sent from my HD7 using Board Express

c0wb0ycliche said:
as a few more days have passed, I also noticed that sometimes the Marketplace will lock up. The phone doesn't, I can still go back to the start screen, use all other apps etc, but when I go into Marketplace again it says loading and then goes back into to start unless I restart the device. Not a big deal, not too common, but still a bug. I think its related to the small freezes while browsing apps when it's loading the icons.
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Yep, that's a problem with just about everyone that has an HTC phone. I'm not sure if it affects Samsung and LG too, but I wouldn't be surprised if it does too.