Hiya

Can anyone help me decide between getting a Wildfire or Desire for my next phone

What are the real differences between the 2 handsets for someone who know too much about all the technical jargon they use?

I struggled with this choice myself. In the end I chose the Wildfire for 3 reasons:

1) Smaller - I don't want a big phone
2) Slightly prefer the looks - I'm not so keen on the buttons of the Desire
3) Price

However, the Desire is superior in pretty much all other measures. There's no denying that it's the better phone. The Wildfire is basically a mid-budget version.

Most people notice the better screen of the Desire, so if a clear picture is a big factor for you then I'd recommend the Desire.

It also runs android 2.2, which is a more recent system which is supposed to be faster. Because of the higher res screen and newer version of Android, this also opens up extra apps to you. Another small benefit of the Desire is that you can use 'live wallpapers', which are moving desktop screens for the phone.

Either way, I think HTC phones look great and are excellent quality, much better than the competiton. You've got good taste

I think price is a big thing for me - I don't really make many calls or send many texts and from the looks of it the cheaper tariffs are on the wildfire.

However one thing I would be interested in using it for is as a sat-nav and mp3 player. Hubby had an i-phone that had a satnav app for this and I believe (though I may be wrong) that you can get the same on android/HTC? Would the wildfire be good for this?

Yes, there are SatNav apps. I haven't tried any, but I have used the map app, which tells where you are. The GPS seems accurate, based on that.

For playing music, the Wildfire is fine. Mine came with headphones

The Desire is the better phone by far, hence it's more expensive price tag. The Wildfire is cheaper and has a worse screen, this is why it's cheaper. Some apps don't even work on it due to it's bad quality screen.

Its not a bad quality screen as such. Its just a lower resolution, doesn't make it bad quality.

If you can afford it then its the Desire no question. Although for the price the Wildfire is a nice little phone. A little slow in the menus but web browsing is quite snappy, very easy to hold and use in one hand as well.

Haven't really tried the Desire so can't comment much on it but have the Desire HD which is just beasty compared to the Wildfire!

I know the widlfire is around £20/m, but P4U have the Desire HD for £25/m. [Note. The unlim txt can be changed after 30 days to unlim web]

I think the screen takes a bit of unfair flak. Like you say, it is low resolution, not low quality. Secondly it is only low in comparison to other smartphones, which tend to be more expensive. It's higher res than other devices like a Nintendo DS or non-smart phones. Compared to a 19" monitor with set to 1024 x 768 it's twice as many pixels per inch. It's the same PPI as a Sony PSP.

I browse the web on mine and the resolution is perfectly adequate for reading small text.

Oooh, thats interesting! Not that much more than the Wildfire tariffs I was looking at.

i have the Desire and i wouldnt touch the Wildfire. lower CPU and you can tell it struggles on the web at times. i wouldnt risk youtube or something like that. and of course the screen res is lower. if you don't intend to push your phone very far get the Wildfire but if you want web browsing and all the apps to run smoothly get the Desire

I'm wondering if I actually need unlimited internet access? If I am at home I assume I can connect to our home wireless network (or anywhere else that has free wifi?)

I don''t understand too much about what the limits are and how they actually apply when I use the internet - is there an easy way to find out?

I was worried about internet use too.

I get 1GB on my contract, and have found that is more than enough. When you're at home, if you have wireless, it can use that. That won't come out of your monthly allowance.

You can switch 3G on/off. I've been browsing the net, downloading a few apps and reading emails away from home my 3G allowance is still over 1000 out of 1024 after 3 weeks of use.

Unless you spend hours watching videos or dozens of hours listening to music, you're unlikely to get through 1GB.

ive done youtube, streamed TV channels and radio stations and not gone over my allowance. However using the phone as a modem or wi fi hotspot will rapidly use of your allowance

i have a wildfire and the screen is no where near as bad as is made out....

as for the apps... if they font show up in the market dont fret... torrent the apk and it wild work... ive had loads of apps this way...

the wildfire is a brill fone for the price and can dj everything the desire can do if not better in some case....

mine has a 16gb card so even better

What sort of food do you buy? Value, standard or finest?

Value = Wildfire
Standard = Desire
Finest = Desire HD

I always buy the best, even when I can't afford it. I would rather buy a little of the best than a lot of the worst.

Wildfire is 3.2" 320 x 240 capacitive. I don't know if it's AMOLED.

Desire is 3.7" 480 x 800 capacitive AMOLED.

There's also Desire HD and Desire HD2 with higher resolutions.

Screen resolution is particularly important if you're going to be using the phone to view web sites.

The phone can be switched between using the mobile phone network to connect to the Internet (using up that allowance) or via wi-fi and the house's wireless router (using up that allowance). I don't know if the switching happens automatically though.

Mine uses the phone network only when it has no wi-fi connection, i.e. the wi-fi always takes priority. I think it asked me if I wanted to do this during the initial setup.

The Wildfire is LCD, however the HTC Desire is now SLCD (super LCD). Basically Samsung, who supplied them the AMOLED displays couldn't match demand, and so HTC switched suppliers. There may still be some of the older AMOLED ones in circulation though. It's a matter of debate whether the SLCD display is better or worse:

http://goo.gl/HHxy4