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I just got my first ever smartphone the other day, a HTC Desire – and it’s absolutely gorgeous! Picked it up on Telstra in the AU on a $50 (~25 quid) 24 month contract that gives me $400 of calls and texts, plus 200MB of data, and the phone for free. I know the data side is a bit low, but Telstra have the best coverage and fastest mobile network in the AU, and I could always throw in an extra $10 a month to double it to 400MB. To be perfectly honest, I don’t think I’m going to be downloading an awful lot with it, it’ll just be nice to be able to check my mail, browse a few websites etc while I’m on the move, so 200MB should be plenty.

The version I got is a Telstra branded HTC Desire (A8183 model) which is currently running Android 2.1 with Sense UI – and it’s an absolute pleasure to use; pretty to look at, fast & responsive, and does pretty much everything I could possibly ask of it, but Android 2.2 isn’t officially out for it yet, so I’m going to root that bad-boy and stick on a DeFroST or DJ DROID Android 2.2 (froyo) ROM, which’ll give me tethering, wireless hotspot capability, save and run apps from the microSD card instead of the phone memory etc. Should be good, if I can get it all to work!

I’ll make sure to document the rooting/mod process using my own particular brand of x-ray pedantry, too =D

Awesome, awesome phone – couldn’t be happier