I’ve had my new gadget for more than 24 hours now. I have to say, I’m in love.
The hardware is nice. The size is a bit smaller than I anticipated, but it fits in the hand very well. The screen isn’t as big as say, an iPhone, but it’s big enough for the job. I like the way the keyboard slides out, and it makes the phone curve just a bit to fit better than flat bars when talking without a headset. The buttons on the keypad are pretty tiny. I’m almost to the point I can use them without trying to type with my fingernails… almost. It can be done, but it takes some getting used to. I have pretty big hands for a woman, so I would bet that others with smaller hands would like the keyboard ok, I don’t know if a guy with bigger paws would adapt to it well at all. The rest of the buttons are well placed and function very well. The touchscreen is very responsive.
The software is great. I will be really happy when they release the SDK and developers start putting out apps for it. I agree with critics who say this is where the iPhone really beats the pre out right now, but I think once the SDK’s available, that will change. I do find that changing between things and the action after pressing something with my finger, is a bit sluggish, but then I’m pretty spoiled with my desktop hardware. I also had to slow myself down with my Mini9, and be just a bit more patient to let things start up or switch over.
I’m not happy with the ringtones, and haven’t found where to change the tones at all for things like the SMS alerts. That may need to be some of the first apps put out. At least the ringtones are easy… I just need to transfer some MP3’s to the device and choose them as my ringtones.
I’m also having to adjust to having every contact I’ve ever emailed, phoned, or SMS’d in my address book, including all my Facebook contacts. The device syncs everything. So I’ll need to actually USE the speeddial feature, and get more used to searching when I want to find someone. The search feature works great, and fast, though, so it’s not a huge burden.
The internet is really where the device shines. Flash isn’t supported yet, I hope they get that update out VERY soon, because a lot of pages won’t load. But I can go to many pages I couldn’t go to on my regular phone, and zoom in and out with the pinch/spread motion like on the iPhone.
Having my calendar sync seamlessly to my Google calendar is a dream. I knew I would love having my Gmail pushed to me anywhere, but my GCal is actually *useful* to me now. I have my GCal set up to exchange information with my Outlook calendar at work, so I can keep everything in order. It’s very nice.
All in all, I’m VERY pleased. About the only downside I see so far is battery life. With internet and email push, I’ll need to charge it fairly regularly (as in every night, plus some extra during the day, most likely). But at least the cable they supplied works with both a computer and has an adapter for the wall plug. I got a car charger, and between all of that I should be able to keep in power. At some point, they’ll release a separate battery charger and I’ll get a spare - one very nice thing is the user replaceable battery.






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