HTC Desire

This isn't available in all markets, right? This is available in some European and Asian markets, but I think most of us with Android phones seem to be in the U.S. where this isn't an option.

A quick look, though, says that it is basically a Nexus-1 with the HTC sense interface, but it seems that most people in the U.S. prefer the Droid line over the Nexus-1.

If you've never owned a smartphone, I think you'll be surprised at how many apps you end up using (if you try... if you just don't think about it, you can use it as a "just" a phone and internet browser... but then you are probably overpaying for a smartphone package and should just get a non-smartphone with an internet browser and a cheaper data package and you'll likely be happier). I have at least 20 apps that basically just make the OS itself better, and another dozen that are widgets that give me access to things more quickly.

Regarding features, all Android phones on the same OS release will have similar capabilities on the software end, the only difference being speed (there will, of course, be hardware differences with the touchscreen, camera, keyboard, etc.)... so for things like video playback, you can use the same player for any Android phone, so it will most likely come down to things like processor speed and RAM in determining video playback quality.

Also, if you are interested in video playback, screen size, resolution, and display brightness might be other things you are interested in.

I'm not familiar with the European market, though, so I'm not likely much help beyond these general vagueries. :P

Good luck, though!

The HTC Desire HD is coming out in October...check that out.

I love my Desire - the Sense UI setup always gets some positive looks from people and works well, the facebook integration is fantastic and the web browsing is outstanding.

Apps that I find essential include Static IP (for assigning multiple static IP addresses), eBuddy, ColorNote (note writing), Beeb Player (one of the best reasons to own a non-Apple smartphone) SMS Popup and SilentBoot. Most are just UI tweaking apps or supporting ones, but they're good all the same. The App store for android is excellent too.

Downsides include the usual stuff for a current gen smartphone - Battery life and call quality can be sketchy (but then I came from the N95 to this) but find disabling constant internet updates helps with battery life, and a bluetooth headset can help with the call quality. Apparently it's lost a noise-cancelling microphone from the Nexus?

Also - could use a cover for the camera lens and I appear to have a fairly common shutdown bug where the OS won't shut down - it'll simply hang.

The Desire actually just came to the US...on US Cellular.