HTC shipping devices with sub-par drivers?
There’s a bit of tension building over at XDA-Developers.com over the OTB HTC device drivers. It seems that a significant number of HTC owners have experienced sub-par performance from their handsets, with the TyTN II, aka AT&T Tilt, aka HTC Kaiser seemingly at the top of the hit list. Some clever developers have traced the issue back to the on-board Direct 3D (D3D) drivers. These D3D drivers are the bits of software that handle all drawing operations, including video playback, gaming, and much more. There is apparently also a problem with the touchscreen drivers that is responsible for significant device slowdown whenever you touch the screen. The flaw can be exposed by attempting to adjust audio levels during video playback, an operation which seems to bring the device to a momentary halt. According to the folks over at XDA, all HTC devices based on the MSM7200 and MSM7500 Qualcomm chipsets are affected, which is a signficant percentage of the company’s current offerings. We have no word of a response from HTC yet, but there’s growing discontent, and many of the XDA members have signed an online petition asking HTC to release updated drivers to improve device performance. Have any of you experienced these issues? Care to weigh in?
Thanks, to everyone who sent this one in!
On Jan 20, 2008 @ 12:57 pm, Matt Van Stone Said:
I recently got rid of my tilt and switch to a Q9h as a result of these issues.
In all honesty I would have been perfectly fine waiting it out for HTC to release an update. However, after reading a few responses from HTC to some letters sent to them regarding the problems it didnt seem to me it was going to happen any time soon, if at all.
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On Jan 20, 2008 @ 1:06 pm, Mike Said:
the movement is growing! in a month or two we will see if HTC has been lying to us or not. With the coming of 6.1 they may be releasing an update for drivers (not specifically video, but we are hoping). Just other bits and pieces of rumors. Soe tech support staff are very aware of the $3000 bounty on xda for the driver fix also. Youtube videos demonstrate some pretty pathetic performance as well. So if you have a problem, youtube it and send their support team and email with a link.
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On Jan 20, 2008 @ 1:24 pm, kortom Said:
I own HTC Kaiser and I think it will be my last HTC phone.
I will not buy HTC product anymore due to this kind of issue and lack of support.
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On Jan 20, 2008 @ 1:50 pm, Stlets Chutler Said:
Up until a few days ago, our IT department was looking into purchasing nearly 100 of the AT&T Tilt version. Needless to say, a lot of us were thrilled (well, minus the size issue–like it or not, Kaisers are pretty big). After almost non-existent responses about this issue from whoever they were talking to at AT&T, the whole thing is now on hold.
Let’s go HTC, get it fixed, I want a new phone!!
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On Jan 20, 2008 @ 2:20 pm, Jay Said:
I have a at tilt and everything there is correct. I have experienced those problems and have signed the petition hoping to get he driver patch released.
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On Jan 20, 2008 @ 2:29 pm, Paul Guy Said:
My tytn2 is back at htc for repair due to these problems lets hope some thing comes of it…
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On Jan 20, 2008 @ 2:37 pm, Jack Sparrow Said:
True, true, true.. sadly what should be an excellent device is hampered by an unacceptable video driver. If you happen to have a few apps running and you slide the keyboard open, it can take 3 or 4 seconds to rotate the screen. Usually you close the keyboard thinking it’s crashed and it takes another 3 or 4 seconds on top of the original delay to catch up. A real shame as the device has such potential.
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On Jan 20, 2008 @ 2:38 pm, Siemens Said:
I am in corp. purchasing for the Siemens Corp. and we have the TyTN II on our road map for employee PDAs. The order would initial 750 units in the EU alone. But there is the problem with these drivers..?? HTC get on this! 750 units is not a small order to lose out on…
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On Jan 20, 2008 @ 3:05 pm, forcedalias Said:
Yup, that’s HTC alright. Once customers take the bait HTC don’t care no mo’.
Spent almost $900 on my TyTN II yet the software drivers are making the camera look like some el cheapo 5fps disposable.
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On Jan 20, 2008 @ 3:26 pm, ajadoniz Said:
I certainly have, especially when I first got it. I updated to the latest released version and that didn’t seem to fix anything. I then followed several reg edits and add-ons, but it still lags when you push the device.
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On Jan 20, 2008 @ 3:28 pm, Galvatron Said:
Heh htcs been dropping the bomb latly I’m sticking to rim.
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On Jan 20, 2008 @ 3:35 pm, Rob Said:
I expected my Tilt to be very fast but these problems do exist. The phone is great even though the touchscreen slowdown is very annoying.
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On Jan 20, 2008 @ 3:45 pm, Jon Briggs Said:
Agreed. I have the Kaiser and this will be my last HTC phone. I called the so called customer service and wow was it terrible! The video drier situation is amazing. It hard to believe HTC would put out this phone with what they knew were sub standard drivers. Way to save a buck HTC!!!
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On Jan 20, 2008 @ 4:45 pm, Jeff B. Said:
I dont’t know what the hell you all are complaining about, my Tilt seems to be fine. Every once in a while the browser will slow down when loading big (about 300 KB+) web pages and I try to scroll before it’s done. Other than that, mine’s been great!!
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On Jan 20, 2008 @ 5:44 pm, Eric Said:
Maybe that’s because you don’t even what your machine is NOT doing. It may appear to be OK, but it is suppose to be ALOT better. :rollseyes:
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On Jan 20, 2008 @ 5:50 pm, Zyren Said:
No offense Jeff B, but just because you may think its running fine doesnt mean it actually is running fine. THe phone fails miserably at video playback, the camera takes 5 seconds after you hit the button to take a picture, and the overall usability of the phone is just incredibly sluggish compared to similar spec’ed phones, all because of the lack of the 3d drivers.
This may be the first PDA phone you’ve owned, and i know how much of a big step it is to use a phone like this compared to something like a razr, but it is incredibly slow compared to what it should be, and thats a FACT, not an opinion like some people think it is.
The same comparison is like upgrading from 56k to cable and your ISP only gave you DSL speeds. it may be faster, but you should NOT be happy because you are paying for what was advertised, not for something “better” than you had and much less than you expected.
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On Jan 20, 2008 @ 6:09 pm, Anton Nilsson Said:
@ Jeff B
If you don’t know you should probably check out some of the youtube videos. There are very clear examples of the TyTN II being overrun by much older and inexpensive hardware (even from HTC themselves).
As for myself I have a few of the issues:
1. 2D is slow and sluggish when moving from landscape to portrait, when exiting/entering apps, when using HTC Home and so forth. It’s not devilishly slow it’s just plain annoying.
2. Performance in TomTom is horrible. It updates the screen way too slow for it to be usable in “tight” situations.
3. The camera is simply horrible in all but the most well lit situations. Now I’m not talkning quality here, I’m talking performance. The viewfinder runs at 2-3 fps in dark lit envoirments making it basically unusable.
The actual time to take a photo is also drastically increased in dim light (5 seconds from the instant you push the button ’til the photo is taken).
4. The few games I’ve tried to run (I personally don’t intend to use it much for gaming though, I just found this out while toying around with it when it was new) either run slowly or not at all in case of some 3D games/apps.
5. Video performance, unless you downconvert the videos or only watch videos tailored for cellphones, is just not any good.
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On Jan 20, 2008 @ 6:10 pm, SF Said:
Well, I have a Kaiser, but I don’t use it for media, I use it for business so I can leave my laptop at home on trips.
I have an iPod Touch that I use for entertainment.
HTC will never be able to top that gem.
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On Jan 20, 2008 @ 8:12 pm, Gary Said:
SORRY SF,
Your touch can not stream XM Radio, play your Home Internet Radio or Even use a set of Bluetooth Stereo Headphone. Your not using the phone to its capacity.
As for the delay seemingly caused by incorrect drivers. The delays are there. The Device does a lot but it could be faster.
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On Jan 21, 2008 @ 1:46 am, Jeff B. Said:
Eric and Zyren,
I’m not an idiot and this isn’t my first PDA phone. Actually telling somebody how the phone isn’t acting helps instead of just saying something useless and putting :rolls eyes:.
Thanks to Anton for actually telling me what it does do/doesn’t do and now that I know what it actually does, yeah I’ve experienced some of those thing but not to the extent of what you all are talking about. My camera takes a while to snap a shot but it’s not as bad as what you’re saying, my games run fine, every once in a while the HTC home deal (like what is on the TyTN II) runs a little bit slow, and the switching from landscape to portrait and back has always been kinda slow but it has been doing that since I bought it so I thought it was normal.
You guys really don’t have to be as asshole-ish about it and just tell what it’s doing or not doing like what Anton did.
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On Jan 21, 2008 @ 4:40 am, NuShrike Said:
I brought my Kaiser into an at&t store, and compared it to the Pantech Duo C810. The Pantech crushes the Kaiser in GUI response immediately, even when it’s only running WM6 Standard.
What’s wrong with this picture?
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On Jan 21, 2008 @ 6:34 am, fed up boss of 30 workers Said:
Been an HTC fan ever since I bought my first Blue Angel several years ago.
however, after this mess with the now renowned “WORST HTC MODEL TO DATE” and the seriousness of such an expensive “toy”,the awful disgrace at the length of time HTC has left this driver problem even though we all know they released the model knowing full well of its shortfalls AND their utter disregard to customer service adds up simply but surely to the fact that along with a myriad of other fed up owners I feel confident this will be my last EVER HTC purchase . I am also going to make sure HTC phones are well and truly off our client recommendation list for pda and phone companies in the future or to our future and present clients. My name is my bond and I have been in business for several years and I now refuse to connect the two through fear of the awful units such as the TYTN2 I now regretfully own.
This is now my last purchase.
…end….
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On Jan 21, 2008 @ 7:27 am, Dtest54 Said:
Gary, you are incorrect.
touch can stream internet radio and xm/sirius. not with native apps but in other ways. Works very well and is easy to set up. Works with iphone as well.
As for bluetooth stereo, you can keep that one.
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On Jan 21, 2008 @ 9:38 am, DanD Said:
I have the original TyTn (Hermers 200) and using the the HTC provided upgrade to winmo 6.0. Everyone of the above issues mentioned (switching from portrait to landscape, camera slowness, everything else slow) is correct. Tapping on “send message” Popping the keyboard, waiting for the screen to switch, and then waiting about 9 seconds for everything to come clean is beyond disgraceful. I went back to my blackberry for most day to day use. ” I even toyed with a T-Mobile Wing (Herald) and noticed the exact same issues. Its sad that HTC cant own up and fix this shit, and spend some $ to write better drivers. Really why would it take to have their coders locked in a room for a month to release driver updates for Winmo 6.0 across the line? This is making people jump ship from Windows Mobile in droves…Microsoft are you listening too????
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On Jan 21, 2008 @ 10:47 am, Mark Said:
After months of reading/research on the HTC TyTN II and s730 I went ahead and bought both of them for christmas($1200.00 bucks thank you very much). My Wife uses the TyTN II and I use the s730,we both have experienced every issue being discussed.Lets hope HTC takes quick and agressive action to rectify these issues.
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