I love this phone.

The display is gorgeous.

I love the live wallpapers.

It’s super fast. Slated to get Froyo 2.2 and full flash.

It’s the right size and weight for me. The EVO is too large. Plus I was already on Verizon and got a good deal.

The third time I picked up the phone, I typed on the onscreen keyboard perfectly. I nearly always use it in portrait and wouldn’t want a pull-out keyboard.

I love that it has seven home screens. You can put whatever you want on them, plus you can save different scenes for different times like profiles: work, play etc.

No idea what the complaints are about the Android interface, seems perfectly simple to use.

The camera is fine. (Keep in mind that I don’t see well enough to take serious pics with it anyway).

The battery life is fine as well. It averages about 7 1/2 hours with my normal use. I don’t foresee a problem with that. By that time I just plug it in.

I love having the Google calendar and contacts right there. If you add addresses to appointments and contacts you can just click the map icon and instantly see them on Google maps.

Voice commands and turn-by-turn directions are great.

I got this case. It’s black silicon that fits on the back and sides to protect if from spastic droppage. I don’t want to stick a plastic screen protector on it. No need.

There was one small problem with the hardware: the optical joystick stopped working after about a week and a half. I now have a new replacement phone with a working joystick.

One annoying oddity: why does the Droid sound not come on this phone? I loved it in the ad campaign, and had to download Mabilo Ringtones to get it. Why not include it?

Apps

First get the Barcode Scanner. So easy to download apps.

Then get AppBrain.

I can watch live streaming CNET podcasts using the Skyfire app!

Seesmic is my favorite Twitter app. I can switch between my two accounts, and it’s the easiest to use. Facebook Touch is the best FB app I tried. (My family is on there and doesn’t know what Twitter is).

When I got the replacement phone I used AppManager to backup the apps on the first phone then restore them on the new one.

I like the Battery Widget, WeatherBug and a lot of the silly ones like Instant Buttons, Light Saber, Tricorder, plus the Monty Python, Star Wars and Star Trek sound effects.

I’m still trying out other apps whenever I get a chance. The Incredible can do so much I haven’t had time to get to everything yet.

I love this phone.

PS – See the new Android Atlas Weekly podcast. Live tuesdays 2 PT.

Post from: Jeannie's Brain

Incredible Adventures part 2: I love it

I now have a Linksys WRT320N

WRT320N

Works great.

Post from: Jeannie's Brain

All about a router

There was a Black Friday sale and I got this at a great price. After reading more reviews….I got scared all over again and left it in the box. Then I got busy sorting out a new desktop and laptop. And it stayed in the box.

In March I started thinking I should really take it out of the box. I did, freaked that it would cause another problem with the desktop, and left it on the desk behind the monitor. One saturday I went back to reading reviews. It looked like the biggest complaint was about the backup software. I already back up to my laptop and Jungle Disk. I just wanted a big hard drive to drag majorly changed files over to once in a while. Enough prevaricating – I plugged it in.

Windows 7 instantly recognized it. I saw the crapware on it, reformatted to ntfs, created a few folders on it and dragged over the files I wanted. All of which took less than five minutes. The drive hummed and buzzed and shook the desk a bit, so when i was done I ejected it and left it there with the wire pulled out. Whenever I want to backup I simply plug it in and drag.

Looking for a larger grain of salt to take reviews with…

Post from: Jeannie's Brain

Go Ahead… and Back Up

I have never owned or even tried a smart phone before. I have also never used an onscreen keyboard or touchscreen. So I spent a couple of frustrating hours at the end of a long day attempting to make the authorization call to Verizon. The keyboard wasn’t going into landscape and I hit the wrong keys so many times I considered throwing it out the window. Verizon’s phone system repeatedly barked instructions at me, then terminated the call when I didn’t get the info in fast enough. I finally got an operator who authorized the phone. Enough frustration for one sitting. I turned it off.

The next day I had about an hour in the morning to try and figure out the keyboard. Apparently it only goes into landscape when you turn it clockwise (?). Finally I found the necessary keys to begin typing like a human rather than a keyboard cat.

That night I had a couple more hours to start learning how to move things around on the screen, and familiarize myself with the many options and apps.

To be continued…

Post from: Jeannie's Brain

Incredible Adventures part 1: Duh

HP Pavilion Elite e9280t PC

* • Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
* • Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-920 processor [2.66GHz, 1MB L2 + 8MB shared L3 cache]
* • 8GB DDR3-1066MHz SDRAM [4 DIMMs]
* • 2TB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s – two 1TB hard drives
* • 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 [DVI, HDMI, VGA]
* • LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
* • Integrated 10/100/1000 (Gigabit) Ethernet, No wireless LAN
* • 15-in-1 memory card reader, 1 USB, 1394, audio
* • Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio

HP 2159m 21.5″ Diagonal Full HD Widescreen LCD Monitor
4-year HP Care Pack House Call Service for HP Pavilion Elite or MS200 Desktop PC

I turned it on. A minute later during Windows setup the screen went black. A balloon popped up that the video driver had stopped responding and recovered. This continued periodically – sudden black screen then the message about the video driver. I went to the Nvidia site and downloaded the most recent driver. This stopped the black screen. Then it proceeded to crash every time I went full screen on anything – black screen, had to hard restart. Plus it just randomly froze when I opened or dragged a window. Unresponsive. I discovered this thread which proved I was not alone.

I fought with HP on the phone. Only the lowest level of customer service ever answers the phone. I tried chat. Same thing. I tried email, got one stupid reply, complained about it, then got a couple of actual replies and convinced them there was a problem. They came and replaced the motherboard. No difference. They replaced the video card. No difference. It continued to crash randomly when I opened or dragged a window. I don’t even try to watch video full screen any more. At the end of last week I downloaded the fifth new driver in four months.

Waiting for the next freeze.

Post from: Jeannie's Brain

Don’t buy this desktop

Model Number: US-VGNFW590-LBOM
VGN-FW590 Configure-to-Order

Customization Details:

• Large Capacity Battery (VGP-BPL13)
• CD/DVD playback/burning
• 4GB (2GBx2) DDR2-SDRAM-800
• ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4650 graphics with 1GB dedicated video RAM
• Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8800 (2.66GHz)
• 16.4″ VAIO Display (1600×900)
• Genuine Microsoft® Windows® 7 Professional
• 500GB SATA Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)
• Black
• FreshStart™
• No additional AntiVirus Software
• No additional Photo Editing Software
• No additional Office Software
• No additional Finance Software
• No additional Video Editing Software

It’s supposed to ship November 30 and take 5-7 days to arrive.

The Nebula color is nice, but it’s backordered and I thought I’d get tired of looking at it. I got the highest specs I could afford. My favorite feature in the Configure-to-Order may be the “FreshStart” choice: no crapware! Not even Norton, which I planned to spend the first couple of hours removing.

Can’t wait!

Post from: Jeannie's Brain

Lapping it up

At last someone noticed! All the teens I know positively swoon when they see my HP Mini. Why? Because they live on their various smartphones. To them a netbook has a big screen and keyboard, a fast processor and is very comfortable.

Yesterday I went through the netbook or smartphone debate again when I held the Motorola Droid in my hands and fell in love.

The Droid would be smaller to carry around.
My netbook fits in my pocketbook, but only if I carry a large one, and it makes the pocketbook heavy.

I would have almost universal service.
My ISP offers free wifi in most places here but there are blank areas, and free wifi is spotty or non-existent when I travel or go to another state. With the Droid I would have coverage anywhere Verizon is. And where I live Verizon coverage is universal.

The Droid is faster and easier to use than my netbook.
With the netbook I have to stop, sit or find a place to set it down, then wait for it to boot. And wait. Then wait for the browser to open. Then either maneuver on the small trackpad or carry a mouse with me. And the battery lasts less than two hours.

Droiiiiiiiid!!!

If I could afford the monthly bill I would get the Droid. (Health insurance went up, income is down). Annoying because if I traded in my current phone the Droid phone itself would only cost $99. Maybe in 2010.

Reading the netbook vs smartphone article again to remind myself that there are pluses to having a netbook…

Post from: Jeannie's Brain

Netbook or Smartphone. Again

I was logged into #CNETFans on WyldRyde as usual, when a Global announcement popped on: the network had been sold. A few seconds later, a second Global: there was a new owner. An instant after that, a Global appeared that we were now on the GeekShed IRC network. The network name in X-Chat had changed! There we were, all of us, the channel, channel modes, access list and registered nicks all perfectly intact.

Yes there is still a WyldRyde IRC network with a couple of servers and Administrators. But we (#CNETfans) are all on GeekShed. So are all but two of the former WyldRyde staff.

This transition was extraordinary. Yes I call it a transition, because that was how it appeared to those of us who were present.

Congratulations Phil, Allan, Pierce, Mist, Atri, Corey, Kat, Admiral_Justin, therock247uk, PurPle_Teddy, Ryan, SubWolf and crrj – that was Awesome.

Bravo!

Thank you for all your hard work.

#CNETFans is now proud to be on irc.geekshed.net

For more info, see:
GeekShed Notice of move
Wyldryde Statement of change
IRC Report
Pirillo’s Blog

Follow GeekShed on Twitter

Post from: Jeannie's Brain

GeekShed IRC

Some people can simply minimize their client or app, walk away and live their life. I could not. Obsession seems to be my middle name. I love my Twitter and IRC friends, but sometimes I just need to be alone; to read a book, or listen to music, or sit in silence, or even get out of the house.

I love Twitter. Usually. I get most of my breaking news from there now, both silly and serious. And it’s wonderful to keep up with my friend’s lives and moods; it gives me a real feeling of community. But sometimes it starts to feel just a bit oppressive to keep up with. Or maybe it was because I kept it open on my desktop and hit refresh every five minutes. Time to log out.

IRC can be great, but after more than a year without a break, I just didn’t want to say ‘hi’ to dozens (or hundreds) of people any more, or answer the same questions over and over. For fifteen hours a day. I also find the multiple tabs for channels (chat rooms) and PMs stressful. Carrying on conversations with more than one person at a time is at best unsatisfying. My preference tends to be either to connect with someone or be left alone. Introvert thy name is Jeannie. And I was so obsessed with keeping up and not missing anything that I wasn’t taking care of myself. I was failing to eat, drink water, take breaks or do any work. Even my sleep was being effected. Time to log out.

I also needed a break from keeping up with so many podcasts. Some people complain that they’ll have nothing to listen to and nothing to do if they “run out of” podcasts. I love the podcasts I listen to and the people who record them, but I also wanted time to hear music I haven’t heard in over a year. I wanted to just sit or lie on my couch without a laptop or netbook. I wanted to watch movies or tv shows without also being on the computer, obsessively checking social sites.

So I took a little holiday. And it was goood.

Post from: Jeannie's Brain

Logging Out or: Leave me alooooone!

This cracked me up. Too true.

But Twitter is fun at this moment in time.

Post from: Jeannie's Brain

Twouble With Twitters