[wplug] nokia n900 vs iphone

[Yaakov Nemoy]

I have a hard time recommending it, but i think that HTC did a
suboptimal job with the HTC magic. I've been using the Dutch variant
of the HTC Magic for a few months now, and the first thing in noticed
is that performance was horrible. It was slow, it misread my finger
strokes, especially with the on screen keyboard, and it was pretty
much a nightmare to use.

In order to make it useable, i had to install cyanogen's image, and
that leads to a whole boatful of issues. First off, to make a phone
realistically useable, it shouldn't require third party firmware.
Ever.

Second of all, cyanogen has been having issues with Google's lawyers
making it much much harder to produce usable quality images. I know
he's been looking for ways around it, but the legal situation really
makes me doubt Google's ability to be a good steward of a real open
source project, and not just trying to score brownie points while
making Motorola and HTC a fortune.

Third of all, and this is HTC specific, with some of the newer HTC
models, there are issues where you need a specific kernel and drivers
to run any Android on it. HTC won't make the kernel open and that
leaves friends and colleagues of mine in the lurch where they have to
suffer with a bad firmware with no other options.

Another HTC specific issue, but it could be come more widespread is
there is this unfortunate trend of phone manufacturers loading up an
otherwise lovely open source OS with closed source add ons for added
value. My impression of the Android so far is that it's got a long way
to go in terms of real integration with internet services, such as
unifying chat with SMS, unifying contacts and so on. Having few
options but the closed source bits from companies like HTC limits you
a bit further. If you need these things, be prepared to look long and
hard and possibly even do coding. Maybe you're into that though; i
just wish i had the time myself for these things.

One less HTC specific issue i have is that even with a pretty
optimized firmware, i can't load up the home screen with widgets. This
takes away alot of value from the android. When i do load it up,
performance drops noticeably and in order to make it useful again, i
had to remove alot of stuff. Having a minimal setup is nice in some
ways, but i wish there was a way to combine more information into a
few high quality widgets. This goes back to either proprietary bits or
writing my own.

I can't recommend Android so readily unless you see yourself as an
early adopter and a technology enthousiast. The experience wasn't all
ponies as i had hoped. The entire setup still feels a bit immature to
me. It could change in a year though.

-Yaakov

2009/10/20 Chris Thomas <sruchris at gmail.com>:
> Has anyone used an android phone? If so, what do you think. Another
> person today recommended an android phone.
>
> -Chris
>
> On Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 9:04 AM, Andrew Fisk <andy at spitcomp.com> wrote:
>> did you look at any of the android phones -- I have had a couple of
>> G1's for best part of a year and they are great -- I gather that the
>> newer hardware is even better.
>>
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Andy
>> Spitfire Computer Services
>> Suite 19
>> 2301 Duss Ave.
>> Ambridge, PA 15003
>> Phone (412) 749-0162
>> andy at spitcomp.com
>> www.spitcomp.com
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Oct 19, 2009, at Monday, October 19, 200911:12 AM, Kevin Dunn wrote:
>>
>>> Hi
>>>
>>> Anybody lookin at buying the Nokia N900 ? I am on the fence . It is
>>> a bit high on the price tag and not released yet . I am also looking
>>> at the iphone ,
>>> I need some feedback to help my decsion, I have pros and cons about
>>> both .
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> IPHONE  $199 16G
>>>
>>> PROs:
>>> Lots of apps that I could actually use , works well, has 3G on
>>> AT&T,great gps for free and a sweet gps add on for $90 .
>>>
>>> CONs:
>>> Apple locks it down tight and keeps control, No tethering without
>>> jailbreak, no ssh without jailbreak .
>>>
>>>
>>> N900 $582.00 on Amazon
>>>
>>> PROs:
>>>
>>> Runs linux , endless possibilities,
>>>
>>> CONs:
>>>
>>> Very few apps , would have to use on Tmobile for 3G and coverage
>>> seems to suck , Probably would have to use on AT&T but would only be
>>> EDGE , new and not proven yet .
>>>
>>> thanks for any thoughts , kevin
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> wplug mailing list
>>> wplug at wplug.org
>>> http://www.wplug.org/mailman/listinfo/wplug
>>
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