HTC HD7

  For the past month I have had the delight of playing around with an HD7, courtesy of BzzAgent.  for those of you that don't know about BzzAgent, it's a word of mouth network for products and ideas to be passed around and discussed by agents.  I got the phone for free, and in return I am telling people about the phone.  The difference between what some might do, and what I am doing, is a warts and all approach.  I am coming from the Android platform, and the differences between the phone after a month are night and day.

  When I got my HD7 the first thing that I noticed was the lack of a physical keyboard.  This was a huge hurdle to overcome for me in my mind, because my frist Android phone, the G1, had a physical keyboard, and so did the Cliq I had after that.  Would I be able to get over it?  Yeah, in about 2 minutes.  The touchscreen is just built for people to use, and doesn't feel like a gimmick or afterthought at all.  The apps market isn't nearly as robust as the Android Market, but Android didn't have anything on the iPhone, and look at it now!  I see a lot of potential in the apps, and see them getting better and much more consumer friendly in the near future.
  One thing I had to be a bit upset about is the absolute lack of free turn by turn navigation.  The phone comes with TeleNav already installed, but it costs to use it beyond the trial period.  Android had turn by turn built in as of 1.6, and it is something that I not only miss, but hope to see a better version of soon on my HD7.   Quite a few people are aware of the Motorola Cliq 2.1 upgrade debacle, and if you aren't, look it up.  You will greatly appreciate your smart- and dumbphones that much more.  We waited from April until Novemeber before we got 2.1, and I basically had to downgrade from 1.6 with turn by turn to 1.5 again.  Same thing here.  After having 2.1 Android for a couple of months, to go back to basic visual directions is a bit of a hassle.  I will break down a few pros and cons in a minute, but this one is HUGE to me.  Microsoft is throwing a lot of weight behind this platform, and this is going to be a big step if and when it happens.
   The hardest part of buying/owning any phone is that no matter how many great features that it has, you will always miss out on something that you had before.  I have definitely found this to be the case with my new phone, but it is nothing that I can't live without, and more importantly, the things that I have gained are a mile past anything I might have "lost".
 PROS

• HUGE Touchchscreen (4.3") compared to my Cliq and older G1.
• The Tiles on the Home Screen just make sense.  For anyone to say otherwise either means that they haven't taken the time to customize theirs or they were biased to a different style from the start.  Walk in with an open mind and see how great it is.
• The Camera is WONDERFUL.  I love the fact that I don't feel bad for not carrying a Point and Shoot with me to capture little moments with my wife or our kids.  Sure, it isn't 21.9 megapixels, but it is solid for 5 megapixels, and the flash works well.  It takes a little practice to get a good feel for it, but practice makes memories.
• The phone is blazing fast compared to what I came from.  Pick up the phone, use it for a couple of days, and make a listing on ebay, because you WILL want to sell your old phone.
• Battery life is, in a word, outstanding.  I had honestly forgot what it was like to not have to charge my phone every 12 hours or less.  With the phone properly set up, I was able to get almost 2 days out of my phone with no loss of features.
• The flip out kickstand is perfect for letting my toddler watch a few episodes of Dinosaur Train or Yo Gabba Gabba when he needs a great distraction.
• The Zune Player is great.  I don't own an iPod because its not my thing, but I like having music on my phone.  Having the Zune software integrated makes it feel like a full featured mp3 player on steroids.

CONS

• No free turn-by-turn navigation.  I can't emphasize this enough, because Android did a damn good job of spoiling me to this feature.
• You have to go to the XBOX Live section to be able to play games.  I want to have a tile on the front page to play Tetris instead of needing to go to XBL, then select Tetris.  It's small, but noticeable to me.
• No customizable ringtones!  I HATE the T-Mobile Jingle, and the stock ringtones available are vanilla.  I want to use a couple of my mp3's and have my ringtone fit me.
• I HATE that I can't load a custom background, and am limited to only a lock screen wallpaper.
• There's an app for that!  Wait!!  No there isn't!  Not yet, at least.  The App market isn't as full featured as others, but I have no doubts that it's working its way there.

 You may notice that my cons list is small and niggling.  This is absolutely true.  There is nothing on this phone that is so negative that it would cause me to not recommend this phone to anyone.  Have oversized hands?  Get this phone!  Tiny hands?  Get this phone!  Want a physical keyboard?  Play with this phone for a few hours or days and see if it doesn't change your mind.  The HTC HD7 Windows Phone 7 (man, is that a mouth full!) is the smart phone you have been waiting for.  The wait is over, so get to your retailer and pick one up.