A disappointing Start with HTC

Good morning. Greetings from the Southern Coast of England!

Today marks my first full day of owning an android through my new Desire HD. I must say it has been a very disappointing start.
Sad to see there was not even a condensed user guide in the box, but what was most disappointing was my first call to HTC for guidance. I had three questions which I had written down - one relating to downloading data storage and how to ensure it went to my SD card and not the actual phone, the second was adapting the sounds to come from my SD card, and finally a question about maps, which clearly irritated the gentleman I spoke with. He told me, unequivocally that all maps are stored on the phone. I pointed out that the phone showed I only had 1.6GB of available space. He said that was correct. When I told him that if this were the case I would not be able to add, in some cases, more than three maps and certainly not all of a large country such as South America or the US. The chap said "for someone who claims to know nothing about Android phones you certainly know a lot." This miffed me. I told the gentleman that I still knew nothing about the phones but I have a basic understanding of mathematics a you can't put 2400 megabytes into 1600 megabytes worth of space. He then said "well, I think it would be best if I refer you to our website and you can use that as your reference."

I thanked him and ended the call. Surely they could be a bit more supportive to someone who is new at this technology and certainly they must gather that anyone using an android phone for the first time has a learning curve to get through. I'm a busy person as most people are and no doubt once I got my initial calls sorted over a few days I would not be bothering them again. But they must not see it this way.

It was a sad experience and not one I wish to repeat.  Of course I'll refer to the 243 page guide but I should think if HTC were to provide a condensed user guide with the phone many people, such as myself, would not need to make even the first call to their 'support' line, thus reducing their service costs exponentially!  Fr B+

Good evening jaamgans! 

How kind of you not only to respond so promptly, but with such depth and foresight. Thank you very much indeed!

Yes, it was wholly unnecessary and disappointing. I shall heed your advice and revert to using the 'chat' line henceforth.
Please understand, although I'm technically inept with my new phone I'm certainly not an idiot, nor afraid to search as best I can. But what the service chap seemed to forget or perhaps simply didn't care about was the fact I am not yet au fait with HTC's jargon, interpretations, and in some cases acronyms. Just as a wholly pedantic point, I noticed one of the buttons on my screen says 'flashlight.'

I'm not certain I would EVER consider typing in the word flashlight if I were needing to search for information regarding whether my phone has a 'torch?' Daft example perhaps - but I hope it's one that makes sense.

You're very kind to offer advice. I found on the phone whilst talking to the HTC chappy a note that said I had 1.6GB of available memory. This is what prompted the discourse with the gentleman. Last night I had already downloaded what I felt would be my most immediate needs in the form of maps.

You are correct, I do travel extensively and one very important feature of the HD phone was the map system. But now I must show my ignorance, I didn't realise the difference between Google Maps and whatever may be on the phone.

Last month, whilst driving my daughter all over the country, plus to Paris,  to visit potential universities, she and I compared my year old Nokia 'posh' phone and her new Desire phone, which I had purchased for her as a graduation gift.

We were blown away with how uniquely different the two phones were in the map features as we travelled. Her phone promptly registered where we were and charted our route quickly. My Nokia eventually sorted it out but instantly told us to 'turn around.'  Each time we came to either a junction or roundabout the Desire would (albeit somewhat after the fact occasionally) tell us to turn left or right, but again, the Nokia became muddled and told us to either turn around or would re-load to compute the route again. It became quite comical. At the time I was under the impression my daughter's phone was using only the Desire and reverted to whatever it thought necessary to guide us like and ADF beacon for aeroplanes. The Nokia appeared to use only its resident maps.

Apologies for being so verbose. In this instance I'm hoping I can choose a setting that remains permanent and in my general best interest. My journeys are generally rather static. I travel extensively to the Continent and the states and Australia - all of which I assume will be no problem. But the most definitive reason I selected this phone was under advice of the UK's SOCA and our local Interpol rep. I work with victims of child-trafficking and collectively we're hoping this phone will provide an active mapping of where I am 24/7 as I travel between Hungary, Romania, and Moldova, and occasionally Transnistria. Consequently, whatever flaws the phone may have, they matter little provided I understand how to maximise my GPS details, and Ident key.

I shall follow your suggestion about the SD card. I took the card from my Nokia and placed it in the Desire. It had more than 6GB avail. The content being no more than a few radio shows to help escape the tedium at nights when there is no radio or telly and some innocuous work photos.  This does lead to another perhaps logical concern - how will I move the data from the smaller SD card to the new 16 or 32 GB card I'll buy immediately....(and I've been told there are some SD cards that have a higher performance ability than others - if you know anything about this I'd be grateful for your advice. You clearly know what you're speaking about.

And I'll try to find an 'app' that helps me move everything to the SD card. I haven't even broached this new concept yet. I certainly understand the concept and how they would logically work but don't know the steps - which I'm sure will come to me in no time.

Moot point I'm sure, but I would have GLADLY paid a premium for a quality printed condensed user guide. I wish they had offered this option. I got my contact number from the same place you got yours - the global phone list. And I used the same instruction sheet you did to start the phone up. From all the propaganda I've seen regarding the deplorable power drainage from which this phone suffers I've already ordered two new high-density batteries with the hopes they will provide me all I need during one of my typical 36 hour days.

Again, thank you so very much for your kind concise and professional advice. This was a warm welcome and much appreciated!

I wish you very best regards!

Fr. B+

To add to MarkD's advice:
Trusted brands are good, but most work fine as long as its from a reputable store and not from a dodgy ebay store - if its too good to be true it probably is. They look real but they aren't and tend to give issues. Depending on what you use the card for any class is fine, but the higher the class the quicker it will work - which can be useful for transferring large files or for taking video.

Useful apps to analyse your SD card:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.diskusage

And then SanDisk have put out a really neat one to:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.sandisk.mz

Either of these are great at showing you what is on your SD card.

A note re the SD Card you are using - format it via the phone. People who haven't done this have occasionally found issues, so always worth doing it. If you have stuff on it that you don't want to loose - transfer to PC, then once formatted you can transfer it back.

Good morning Mark and jaamgans!  I must say I'm in awe that both of you have contributed so much of your time to help me. I'm most grateful indeed! I'm now feeling rather guilty. And I must immediately offer an apology to you jaamgans regarding the "flashlight." I was merely using that as an example to express my frustration with the HTC chap who didn't care that I wasn't au fait with their jargon and terminologies. As I've shared before. I don't think of myself as an idiot and I'm grasping it as quickly as I can - although just as with your good selves, finding time is a frightful challenge right now. I started this early this morning. It's 2330 now and I've just arrived back. Full day in court. I just don't want any of you to think I'm being rude or ungrateful. I shall reply in the morning when I can make more sense. I have something to share. Jaamgams, you'd think you're a psychic considering what has occurred with the reply I received from HTC. Again, thank you all! Nice to know you're all so up on all of this.
Fr B+

If you believe in telekinesis, raise my hand.