WP7 phones

T-Mobile announced a new monthly plan that is $30 and includes unlimited texting and data with 100 minutes. This is perfect for my usage, so I'm looking around for phones.

Obviously the only WP7 phone on T-Mobile right now is the HTC HD7, with the HTC Radar coming in a month or so.

Does anyone on here own an HD7? How do you like it? Since I'm going contract-less, my choices are pretty limited. I also don't want to spend a ton on the phone. $300 for a new HD7 is as high as I really want to go.

I'm open to getting an unlocked AT&T phone, but I hear that a lot of the ones for sale are stolen and can't be activated.

@spivonious: There are a few decent deals on Amazon. In any case, I would wait at least until the Nokia conference, in eight days.

@Blue Ink:Good point. I had forgotten about that. The new mango phones are sure to drive down the prices on the old ones.

@spivonious:I have used an HD7 for quite a while and love it. It is easily unlocked and is also the only Windows phone that is upgradeable to 32GB (as far as I know).  I would go for it (if you can get a good deal).  Downsides are it is slightly slower when compared to some of the other gen 1 devices (though you wouldn't notice this in general use).

Of course the new phones are going to run a lot faster and include gyros/better cameras etc.  With Tango around the corner and Nokia about to unleash there might be some great deals around 'real soon'.

I've had an HTC HD7 since launch last year. It's been a good servant. The only thing I don't like on it is the camera, so I'll probably be swapping it for a new Nokia later this year.

I've got an HD7 and frankly, it's awful. I had an HTC phone before I got an iPhone so I shouldn't be surprised the build quality and industrial design is so poor. The battery cover doesn't fit on properly because something inside isn't aligned properly. The plastic all feels very flimsy. The speaker grille on the front will fill up with fluff and look ugly. The bezel for the camera protrudes from the back in a way that makes it sit awkwardly and rub on everything you put it down on. Oh and apparently nobody at HTC has heard of a diode because if I shut down my PC with the phone plugged in, the battery discharges (presumably into the PC) overnight.

But all that is minor compared to the main problem which isn't unique to the HD7: the capacitive buttons on the front. If you do decide to take pity on WP7 and buy one, whatever you do, find one that has mechanical buttons on the front or you will be cursing with frustration every time you're playing a video or a game or whatever and you randomly get pulled into Bing search or the start menu, etc. Worst design feature ever.

Have to agree with you about the capactive buttons; the novelty has seriously worn off. Don't have a problem with the build quality of the phone though.

I did have that problem with the buttons when I tried out the Focus in an AT&T store. Are there any WP7 devices with physical buttons?

Is Tango confirmed? Last I heard was Mary Jo Foley speculating it was an "emerging markets" version.

@Ray7: Same here, the number of times I've been dumped from the middle of game to Bing.

Even a simple software fix would be nice, if in an app that has full screen lock, like an XNA game or video then the buttons should require push and hold for say a second to activate.