Android :: Vibrate() Does Not Behave According To API Docs - HTC Desire

I'm trying to get a simple vibration working and according to the api docs(http://developer.android.com/reference/android/os/Vibrator.html) all I need to use is this: public void vibrate (long milliseconds)

Turn the vibrator on. Parameters milliseconds How long to vibrate for.

However the behavior I am seeing is not what is described. Instead of a number of milliseconds, it seems this parameter translates into an "intensity"?

I tried: vibrator.vibrate(200);

And I got a sustained vibration which didn't stop until I exited my app. Initially I thought perhaps the api docs were wrong and the parameter was seconds, not milliseconds, so I tried: vibrator.vibrate(2);

This time I got the same behavior, i.e. continuous vibration, but the vibration was very gentle.. almost in-perceptible. This leads me to conclude that the parameter translates into an intensity, not a time.

Is it possible that this is a "feature" of the particular device? In my case HTC Desire.

I'm running 2.1 as my crappy telco hasn't distributed an update to 2.2, but it worries me that this behavior may differ from device to device.