Apparently my netbook reads this blog. And wasn't too happy about me going on and on about my new DROID phone. On Friday the 12th, as I was carrying it to find a better WiFi signal it HURLED itself out of my arms and onto the hard wooden corner of a chair.
It was touch-and-go for a while; he was displaying nothing but a terrible error message. Then one day, he never woke up. He wasn't even three months old!! :_(
I called the company and (predictably) dropping isn't covered (it took 45 minutes to find that out, not counting the 3 times their phone tree HUNG UP ON ME!) though they were perfectly willing to fix him... for $398!! (Not including postage.) I only paid $170 (after-Thanksgiving sale). I did find out that I can have him fixed for "free" by buying the Accidental Coverage plan for $119. Which is less than buying a new one, so I guess that's what I'll have to do.
Despite my excitement over my new phone, it really isn't a replacement for a netbook or notebook. As I'm finding out in spades.
*sigh*
P.S. - I downloaded the full manual (not included) for the netbook and took him all apart to see if I could locate a(n easily fixable) problem... no dice. Not a scratch, not a bump, not a solder out of place. So it's a bloody mystery.
21 February 2010
08 February 2010
DROID Phone Is MAGIC!
I really don't know what I'm doing with this blog. But since nobody reads it (except spambots) I guess that's OK.
I just got the new DROID phone and I have to say: I have never been so impressed with a gadget in all my 32 years. This is the coolest thing I own. It's the bloody future!! Could you even imagine 10, 15, 20 years ago that a tiny mobile phone could do almost anything like what the most basic cell phones can do today?
This phone has the most impressive, clear, bright, high-res screen I have ever seen. It makes me want to watch movies on my phone, even though I have a nice big HDTV. It really has to be seen to be believed.
I've downloaded possibly hundreds of apps (I haven't kept all of them, but most) without spending any money, since there are so many free apps. I love Google's system of open source for the apps, and the fact that they don't reject any; the people will sort out the bad apps via the ratings. So far I've only had an actual problem with one app (others I uninstalled just because I didn't need or really want it) and the developers were really responsive and are working to fix the problem. How great is that?!
Some reviews I've read complained about the physical keyboard, mostly saying it was poorly laid out or unresponsive. I guess if you're typing on it extensively, or texting quite a lot, that would be a problem, but I don't have any problems with it. I think it's a lot better than the on-screen keyboard on my old Omnia (which I loved). And the on-screen (Android) keyboard is really quite impressively responsive and accurate.
Other complaints were that there is no physical end button for when you want to end a call, and that's true BUT: This phone is so clever! It knows when the phone is against your face and it turns the screen off, then detects when you take it away from your face and it instantly brings the screen back with a giant red end button. So I don't see the problem. The Droid phone really is good at detecting light levels and position with regards to the screen backlight. And even the backlit physical keyboard. It knows when I turn the hall light off while still typing! HA!
From this post you may have gathered that this is kinda my first foray into the world of new and advanced devices. I've been in the tech industry for 15-or-so years, but I've never really had the money to buy all the latest gadgets for myself. I typically only get to play with them for a while when I set them up for my clients. But this year (fiscal) I've bought a brand new super-fast, top-of-the-line computer (desktop), a cute, little netbook (which hasn't even been turned on since I got this amazing phone), and this amazing phone. I feel so up to date!
I can't even think of anything else to say about this phone, only because every little bitty thing about it just blows my mind.
Oh.
I will say that haters might be right about the weak battery life. But for my uses I'm rarely far from a charger, either the car charger, the dock (GENIUS!!), the computer cable, or the simple wall charger. Also, it seems that every time I check what, specifically, is eating up battery life, it almost always says that the display is taking up about 70-75%. But the display is so gorgeous, it's worth it. I could probably save a bit of battery life by manually adjusting the backlight, but it does such a good job of adjusting on its own (with looks, not performance, as the focus) that I'll just stay near a charger. And at least this phone doesn't yell at me when it's fully charged like the Omnia did. I can keep this plugged in or docked all night, all day, whatever, and it's perfectly OK with that.
And my very, very favourite feature of this incredible phone: I don't have to sit there and wait a full minute for the screen to time out just so I can put it back in my bag without my lipstick deciding to call Antarctica. The Omnia's touch screen could be touched by anything, and until the screen went dark objects in my purse would bump against the screen and start activating things. It was highly annoying. Now, not only does the screen not care about being felt up by my wallet, but I can turn the screen off with a simple button-push, without turning the whole phone off. BRILLIANT!!
I just got the new DROID phone and I have to say: I have never been so impressed with a gadget in all my 32 years. This is the coolest thing I own. It's the bloody future!! Could you even imagine 10, 15, 20 years ago that a tiny mobile phone could do almost anything like what the most basic cell phones can do today?
This phone has the most impressive, clear, bright, high-res screen I have ever seen. It makes me want to watch movies on my phone, even though I have a nice big HDTV. It really has to be seen to be believed.
I've downloaded possibly hundreds of apps (I haven't kept all of them, but most) without spending any money, since there are so many free apps. I love Google's system of open source for the apps, and the fact that they don't reject any; the people will sort out the bad apps via the ratings. So far I've only had an actual problem with one app (others I uninstalled just because I didn't need or really want it) and the developers were really responsive and are working to fix the problem. How great is that?!
Some reviews I've read complained about the physical keyboard, mostly saying it was poorly laid out or unresponsive. I guess if you're typing on it extensively, or texting quite a lot, that would be a problem, but I don't have any problems with it. I think it's a lot better than the on-screen keyboard on my old Omnia (which I loved). And the on-screen (Android) keyboard is really quite impressively responsive and accurate.
Other complaints were that there is no physical end button for when you want to end a call, and that's true BUT: This phone is so clever! It knows when the phone is against your face and it turns the screen off, then detects when you take it away from your face and it instantly brings the screen back with a giant red end button. So I don't see the problem. The Droid phone really is good at detecting light levels and position with regards to the screen backlight. And even the backlit physical keyboard. It knows when I turn the hall light off while still typing! HA!
From this post you may have gathered that this is kinda my first foray into the world of new and advanced devices. I've been in the tech industry for 15-or-so years, but I've never really had the money to buy all the latest gadgets for myself. I typically only get to play with them for a while when I set them up for my clients. But this year (fiscal) I've bought a brand new super-fast, top-of-the-line computer (desktop), a cute, little netbook (which hasn't even been turned on since I got this amazing phone), and this amazing phone. I feel so up to date!
I can't even think of anything else to say about this phone, only because every little bitty thing about it just blows my mind.
Oh.
I will say that haters might be right about the weak battery life. But for my uses I'm rarely far from a charger, either the car charger, the dock (GENIUS!!), the computer cable, or the simple wall charger. Also, it seems that every time I check what, specifically, is eating up battery life, it almost always says that the display is taking up about 70-75%. But the display is so gorgeous, it's worth it. I could probably save a bit of battery life by manually adjusting the backlight, but it does such a good job of adjusting on its own (with looks, not performance, as the focus) that I'll just stay near a charger. And at least this phone doesn't yell at me when it's fully charged like the Omnia did. I can keep this plugged in or docked all night, all day, whatever, and it's perfectly OK with that.
And my very, very favourite feature of this incredible phone: I don't have to sit there and wait a full minute for the screen to time out just so I can put it back in my bag without my lipstick deciding to call Antarctica. The Omnia's touch screen could be touched by anything, and until the screen went dark objects in my purse would bump against the screen and start activating things. It was highly annoying. Now, not only does the screen not care about being felt up by my wallet, but I can turn the screen off with a simple button-push, without turning the whole phone off. BRILLIANT!!
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