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I've been at XDA for 2 years, initially trying to get my T-Mobile MDA to perform better, and for this past year my T-Mobile WING. I've never owned an iPhone -- nor have I ever sat down to ask friends of mine who have iPhones these questions. But now I am curious:
Apple makes killer products with thoughtful attention to product design, customer usability design, graphical interface, and occasionally some software/hardware breakthroughs (like multi-touch for the iphone). Then they market to consumers like nobody else, in every sales channel. This is all the "in-front of the curtain" stuff everyone knows.
But I know from being a Mac user since 1986 with my original MacSE, all way up to the current Mac Pro desktop and MacBook Pro laptop, that "behind the curtain" they ALL lock-up at times, requiring restarts, etc. And servicing. I just got my Mac Pro desktop back from repair where a hard drive failed. ... But I am out of touch completely with the world of iPhones.
Some of you have iPhones. I'm curious on a given day, how many apps can you run simultaneously, and how often does an iPhone freeze up requiring a reset? For comparative purposes, on my "XDA-modified" Wing (HTC Herald) -- which has an old & slow processor, and very litle RAM, I can now, after many software improvements, run Google Maps, Contact Manager, Notes, Total Commander, OperaMini browser, "Photos & Videos" photo cropper, and sometimes my MP3 player all open at same time, and not crash. My MP3 player *will* cause all that to lock up, and I know this, so I don't normally do this, but under normal usage, all of the above WITHOUT the MP3 player is doable), and I task-switch between these open apps.
How much can the iPhone handle simultaneously?
Do they freeze up time to time?
If so, how often for an average user?
What's the remedy? A "restart"?
This is not a "shootout" question. It really is just curiosity because I hear all the time the many great things about the iPhone (but that it lacks video, and MMS messaging), but I have no clue at all if they generally never lock up, or if they do. thanks, in advance for any comments.
quicksite said:
How much can the iPhone handle simultaneously?
Do they freeze up time to time?
If so, how often for an average user?
What's the remedy? A "restart"?
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Click to collapse
a) for an "average" user - 1 app at a time (the exception being itunes + whatever app you want to use.)
for someone who is willing to mod there iphone (jailbreak + backgrounder app) i'll reckon 3 - 4 apps.
b) hardly, again for an average user this would be even less, probably once a couple of months.
if you are into cutting edge stuff then more freq., maybe once a week.
c)1) hold the home button , this should force the the app to close.
2) if the above step does not work, turn of the phone by holding the power button
3)if that does not work, reboot by holding the power and home button simultaneously.
Thats being generous Yes the iPhone DOES lock up and freeze, fairly often. At least as much as a factory standard WinMo device, if not more. Of course WinMos, being much more open can be modified and as such they have the potential to be less reliable if the modding isnt careful.
rovex said:
Thats being generous Yes the iPhone DOES lock up and freeze, fairly often. At least as much as a factory standard WinMo device, if not more. Of course WinMos, being much more open can be modified and as such they have the potential to be less reliable if the modding isnt careful.
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i beg to differ, winmo requires a softrest atleast every week, on the other hand i have not had to reboot my iphone since last dec.
Well my experience is somewhat different, the iPhone i had to test (im a technology reviewer) required a reset at least every few days. Ive only just given it backafter 6 months or use so it wasnt to do with early software. My everyday phone is a Touch HD, and it does have issues, but normally only with opera, nothing else causes any problems that need a reset.
rovex said:
Thats being generous Yes the iPhone DOES lock up and freeze, fairly often. At least as much as a factory standard WinMo device, if not more. Of course WinMos, being much more open can be modified and as such they have the potential to be less reliable if the modding isnt careful.
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Just no
It hardly ever screws up, but does sometimes.
But to say more than stock WM is hilarious.
The great thing is that because it only runs one thing at a time, it never runs out of memory unlike sock wm. Backgrounder on jailbroken iphones lets you run stuff in the background. I always had mail (with 2 accounts) sms, safari and ipod in the background with no probs
Well, since i experience otherwise.. JUST YES. I love how others automatically write off your experience because they don't experience it.
Multitasking has little to do with anything, some of the stock and buyable apps for the iPhone are problematic and cause it to lock up. Im hardly the first or last person the find this.
rovex said:
Well, since i experience otherwise.. JUST YES. I love how others automatically write off your experience because they don't experience it.
Multitasking has little to do with anything, some of the stock and buyable apps for the iPhone are problematic and cause it to lock up. Im hardly the first or last person the find this.
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Well i guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on that.
just out of curiosity, what firmware were you running ??? and what were the stock applications that caused you to lock up.
and did you actually lock up or did the application crash???
rorydaredkign said:
Just no
It hardly ever screws up, but does sometimes.
But to say more than stock WM is hilarious.
The great thing is that because it only runs one thing at a time, it never runs out of memory unlike sock wm. Backgrounder on jailbroken iphones lets you run stuff in the background. I always had mail (with 2 accounts) sms, safari and ipod in the background with no probs
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wow you ran a mp3 player, sms and the web and it didn't freeze?? AMAZING.. /sarcasm
Apples attitude is 'my way or the highway' and as someone mentioned, windows can be tweaked opening to reliability problems.
My WinMO device hasn't required a softreset for about a month. My friends iPhone froze as soon as i ran a app, forgot what it was called.
If Microsoft made a phone that was the perfect config to their software, it'll run like a reliable phone but that's Apples territory. There is a reason why it's called "Jail"Break.
Same with the OSX and Windows.. you can't compare cause Microsoft makes it work with thousands of hardware and is bound to run into a problem somewhere. OSX is very limited so they hardly run into problems.
I've used Windows Mobile phones (standard and professional) since 2005. (Starting with the Audiovox SMT 5600) In addition, I have had a work BlackBerry since 2007, and an iPhone (now iPhone 3G) since 2008.
To answer your questions, I have rarely (maybe once every few months) had the iPhone freeze up requiring a reboot. To be honest, I rarely had a hard freeze on any of my Windows Mobile phones BUT I did restart them once a week because they just ran better that way. (Memory leaks, probably)
You can't compare the iPhone directly because by design, only a few applications run simultaneously: Mail, Phone, Safari, iPod. (And possibly Maps)
However, the iPhone seems very good at switching from application to application, with no noticeable memory leaks.
I've found that it really depends on what you expect the phone to do. I rarely talk on the phone or text; for me, it's all about email and Internet usage. The Safari browser is currently second-to-none, and the iPhone is exceptionally good at connecting to Wi-Fi whenever available seamlessly. And, since the email application uses Safari to render, it is also very good.
Thank you for all your replies. It wouldn't be the tech world if there wasn't vast -- sometimes diametrically opposed -- disagreement.
The great thing is that because it only runs one thing at a time, it never runs out of memory unlike sock wm. Backgrounder on jailbroken iphones lets you run stuff in the background. I always had mail (with 2 accounts) sms, safari and ipod in the background with no probs
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Once again, my inquiry is not for "shootout" reasons. It has to do more with the reliability of the overall user experience on the iPhone. I know from only briefly using it for 15 minutes or so, how responsive it is, and how easy the interface is to use. But it only struck me recently, given this new explosion in Apps for Touchscreen devices, that the more things people are going to want their iphones to do, DO they ever freeze up.
I was looking for an answer like "only 1 out of 100 people, and maybe then, maybe every 3-4 months, so in general it just doesn't freeze up in numbers high enough to be statistically noteworthy".
But even given the disagreement of experiences just amongst 3-4 people in this thread (a very tiny sample), it freezes more than I would have expected. That's not to lower the grade of reliability in using an iPhone to accomplish a series of tasks; it's more just to note: YES, IT DOES FREEZE UP, on occasion, but rarely.
I already know my old T-Mobile MDA, and now my new T-Mobile WING, froze up a lot, for my taste; and that was before I started modding here at XDA. But I attribute most of those freezeups to the simple hardware inadequacy issue of slow processor and not a lot of RAM. So, if I wanted to launch a bunch of things to stay in memory, to swap back and forth between apps, the WM device would lock up, requiring a soft-reset to reboot the device.
WHich is why XDA-developers has pulled off miracles by, in effect, doubling or probably more like tripling, the usefulness of my WM phone.
But regarding this:
The great thing is that because it only runs one thing at a time, it never runs out of memory unlike sock wm. Backgrounder on jailbroken iphones lets you run stuff in the background. I always had mail (with 2 accounts) sms, safari and ipod in the background with no probs
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I'm trying to interpret this correctly. Running only one thing at a time is only a great benefit if all apps open relatively instantaneously, like, in a half second. So I could hop between selecting text within a browser, then paste it in to a notes document, edit it a bit, then look up an address on Google Maps, find it, grab the link, then add it to my text doc, then snap a few pics, attach them to an email along with my edited text, and send -- perhaps with my mp3 player playing inot my earphones the whole time.
I am talking about realtime use-case scenarios, not simply the sequential moving from app to app on an iphone. So, what I am interested in NOW is doing a bit of a shootout between an iphone and a WM phone in accomplishing a real-life array of tasks -- because that's the real test of the performance of a phone. Not what it does in demo mode, but in reallife getting stuff accomplished mode.
Is anyone here interested in helping to construct a few scenarios? I mean a wide variety of stuff, from emergencies and need and ambulance and also to perform CPR on someone and finding out where they are, to going to a demonstration in Washington DC, coordinating your meeting spot, using Google Maps to track where various people are, shooting photos, updating a blog in real time, etc --- and many kinds of multi-tasking of life demands ?
I am seeing 5 if not 6 platforms now poised to battle each other in the downloadable widget/apps dept -- Apple, Google Android, Blackberry, WindowsMobile, Palm, maybe Symbian, who knows maybe Nokia --- and I am interested in how this all starts to play out when people load suff onto their phone expecting to do x, y, z at the same time, or closely in sequence -- and how each platform is poised to handle these consumer behaviors.
thanks for the headstart in learning that the iPhone, though perhaps more reliable than WM in not freezing up so often, still does have this issue to contend with from time to time.
In a sense, WindowsMobile users almost expect there will be hang ups time to time... frsutrating and irritating, but not like a major surprise. Whereas I would imagine iPhone users have very high expectations, like close to perfection, and will not take kindly to any increasing freezeups.
Just my 2 cents on this in general.
quicksite said:
I'm trying to interpret this correctly. Running only one thing at a time is only a great benefit if all apps open relatively instantaneously, like, in a half second. So I could hop between selecting text within a browser, then paste it in to a notes document, edit it a bit, then look up an address on Google Maps, find it, grab the link, then add it to my text doc, then snap a few pics, attach them to an email along with my edited text, and send -- perhaps with my mp3 player playing inot my earphones the whole time.
Click to expand...
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you do know that the iphone cannot do almost half of the things listed here
fallenczar said:
you do know that the iphone cannot do almost half of the things listed here
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Well that's kinda why I listed them, kind of like at the start of a race, ready-set-go! And when it comes time for iphone to shoot video, race ends... or sending an MMS message.
As far as I know those are the two main things, right? But in all fairness, you just know Apple is going to have those two things added into and working in their next big product release.
So I am really aiming this for that next release... My overall premise is that the consumer marketplace has almost no clue about what all these competing devices & platforms do and can't do. But that's not because they're stupid. Rather it's because they are hyper-marketed at, very effectively, with really sharp ads that focus on different whiz-bangs -- coming at them from 3 different industry sectors all at once:
the Carriers tout their packages and calling features mixed in with snippets of cool phone, then the phone makers tout their newest whizbang devices features & differentiatable special gizmos, and the platforms come at them with their own angles, again inserting whiz bang phone devices into the ads. Then I guess you could add a 4th source -- bloviating saleasmen at Best Buy (in USA) showing people their latest most expensive phones, regardless of the bigger picture questions of platform and carriers required to use it.
This is my reason for wanting to develop several real-world use-case scenarios, just to test how well each achieves the end-objective.
quicksite said:
Well that's kinda why I listed them, kind of like at the start of a race, ready-set-go! And when it comes time for iphone to shoot video, race ends... or sending an MMS message.
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Click to collapse
well not quite
there are a couple of video rec. and mms apps, and they work as reliably as apps on other platforms.
However, i don't think it would be fair to compare 2 platforms that are so dissimilar, one being media centric, the other being business centric.
You are right about not really being able to compare them, they are two different devices with 2 completely different intended audiences.
I have used WM since 2001 constantly and I have used my iPhone for about 2 months.
Why WM devices are more like a little mini computer in my pocket where as my iPhone is more like a pocket media device that does lots of things that WM does, but not all.
I would say that my iPhone has only crashed 1 time in 2 months and that was from some jailbreak action, never from normal use. There are a couple of things that should be clarified about the iPhone and its limitations though:
1. No copy and paste. Duh. Everyone knows that. I knew it going into the whole 2 year contact. I can't honestly say that other than entering in my signature for emails has that really been an issue.
2. MMS. Today was the first time I wanted to send an MMS and I just emailed it to their phone number instead. No biggy. Worked well.
3. No true multi tasking. I disagree with this one. While there are some things I would prefer to be able to run at the same time most programs save state when they are closed so they are exactly back where they where when you closed it. Games, utilites etc.
Heck, the free timer I downloaded is programed so well that the start time used is the actual time that you hit the button so it comes back up and keep the count running.
Are there things I miss from my WM device, sure. Are there things that the iPhone does better than WM does? Sure. Are there things WM does better than the iPhone, sure.
How much does each one crash? I'd say a touch more on WM, but that is because I have a great ROM that a dedicated chef cooked up here at XDA. Comparing stock to stock though, is no comparison. The iPhone wins hands down in that regard.
Long-time Android user and always wondered this. Over time I have tried lots of keyboards. There are things I like about Better Keyboard, Swiftkey and Swype and I tend to alternate every now and then.
Is there any reason not to keep them all enabled so I can switch just from a long press?
-Steve
Yes, the world may explode.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
My concern is that maybe it makes texts or emails load more slowly or something?
Indeed, but it would be due to the world having exploded.
(Nonsarcastic answer: No because only one keyboard is active at a time)
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
I don't think switching between multiple keyboards is a problem. I do it, and I haven't seen any significant slowdowns in overall performance.
I'd like to say...
Typing on the Android remains one of the few sore spots in my personal Android experience. I have been switching and experimenting with all sorts of keyboards for a long time. It's a bit frustrating that not a single keyboard format can mimic the smoothness and accuracy of the experience typing on an iPhone (or even an iPod Touch). Some do come close:
First, the stock Gingerbread keyboard is a vast improvement over past iterations, however I'm still experiencing oddities like missed presses (particularly with the space bar, resulting in words likethis, or when missing letters, words like tis or ths) or the complete opposite with overly sensitive touches (resulting in double hits like tthis or thiss) -- all frustrating. It's unfortunate the experience can be so polarizing.
Second, Smart Keyboard Pro is quite amazing. It's fully loaded with features and customizations (like custom auto-correction, something which is so helpful which I don't understand why it isn't implemented in the stock keyboard). However, I think until the developer optimizes it for Gingerbread, it remains a bit laggy. I've been in contact with the developer and he says he's looking into updating soon.
Lastly, I've recently been experimenting with Better Keyboard Beta 8 (fully optimized for Gingerbread) and I have to say I'm very impressed. I've only been using it for two days, but my initial impressions are positive. It doesn't seem to misfire too much, and the auto correction is incredibly smart. I'm excited for the potentials of this.
As for others, like Swype and Swiftkey, I find they are novel ideas but can work counter-intuitively to thumbing out long and quick messages. Swype is cumbersome when you're trying to write personal/custom words (slang, etc.) or when you're attempting to write long words (it's easy to lose track). And Swiftkey, when it lands and predicts accurately your sentences, is very impressive. Unfortunately, this happens rarely. More often than not, the predictions are off, and you end up having to type out nearly every letter of a word anyway. Also, because you are so busy focusing on picking the next and correct predicted words, it ironically makes completing messages slower. Even Swiftkey's own website says the predictions will be 1/3 correct. Impressive as that is itself, those odds don't translate to a fluid typing experience in the real world.
Having said all that, I'm hoping Blindtype will be implemented soon and change all of this. Until then, the typing experience on Android, regardless of which keyboard, feels second rate. It continues to be one of the few areas of Android I can't enjoy.
Hello everyone,
So i thought I would go ahead and chime in with my own experiences and observations of the Asus Transformer (AT). I wanted to write an article that might help others trying to make a decision about replacing their laptop with the AT or maybe asking about a one vs the other. I wanted to stay away from a “VS” conversation and talk more about my experience. The long and short of it, is it depends. I think the AT can augment your business and maybe replace a netbook as a travel computer but i still need my laptop/desktop in the office. However, as you will see I am now using fully when out of the office my AT for all business needs and it works just fine.
Assumptions/Reasons for Buying:
So lets start with the reasons for wanting the AT. I wanted to find a solid replacement for my day to day use of my laptop while out of the office. I wear a number of hats one of which is application development, the other is as a Commercial Real Estate Broker. So needless to say this is for my brokerage business as i am pretty confident that there will be no Visual Studio use on the AT, well with the exception of a remote desktop of some kind. So, that all said what was i looking for? (Lets be honest we all want it ALL right but hey we can settle right?)
1. Email, this was first and foremost. A majority of both my businesses are relying on email as a main form of communication to my clients. Well, i didn't really need a tablet for this my phone handles it just fine, but typing anything longer than a paragraph is tedious , i have big hands and its just not the best experience, that said when i am out of the office most of my email replies are very short and so though i wanted/needed a better way to work with email the phone would have sufficed.
2. Document reading/generation: This one was a sticking point as we all know reading pdfs word docs and such is possible and works well on most devices, again the phone would work, but not for generation. I bought Docs to Go for my phone and it made things better but still no way was i going to get a "Word" experience. I know this is a debate by itself Microsoft "shop" vs opensource etc but lets be real, there is still a majority of the business working world that uses and will continue to use Microsoft office and so we just have to comply. (Yes you will service US Microsoft, resistance is futile)
3. Access to my daily files and work: So i also needed access to all my files and work related information. This was more a business choice than anything, putting information into the cloud, but i also had to think about how i was going to access so i am putting it in as a decision factor.
4. Browser media service: I wanted to be able to browse and access media whether at a clients to show them an article or news clipping or maybe a website etc. I also wanted something for reading surfing while having my morning coffee(We can be all work right?)
5. media entertainment Yes it has to be a "Fun" device to, watch a movie while travelling, or playing a game while waiting on my next appointent so this was on the list though not a major factor, as this gets us into an "apps" war and thats not the focus.
OK so there is more but that covers the major items
Decisions:
So I shopped and shopped borrowed friends ipads and a xoom, I really do like android in a lot of ways, it has its problems but I had an Iphone and was ready for a change. I am not going to bore you with the research but needless to say i chose the AT as my device to put this whole notion of Tablet for business to replace my laptop/netbook for work to the test.
REASONS:
1. Keyboard number UNO i wanted the physical keyboard cant live without it for major typing and work related stuffs. I tried the bluetooth one with the ipad and it wasn't bad, but the extra battery power in the AT was a bit of a topper not to mention all the expansions. ( I do think $150 is a bit much, but in the end, its what makes the Transformer a Transformer right?)
2. Expandability: Up to 64gigs of additional memory i can have a card with all my data a card with movies books music etc this was just too good to pass up. Yes i had already figured out a cloud solution etc but lets face it I wanted the kitchen sink with my device. The HDMI and USB were great additions as well. (A note my laptop took a dump one day and I was able to connect my external mouse keyboard to the AT and easily finish the day and deal with my laptop later)
3. Screen: yes as i mentioned it is going to be a bit of a "Play device" so it needed a great display and i liked this one over the xoom though the galaxy tab 10.1 i compared it next to was sweet and it had a keyboard, but the keyboard had no battery and had a lack of other expansion ports.
4. overall performace: this wasnt really to much of decision factor as all tablets are running tegra 2's for the most part and i wasnt looking at an ipad
THE PURCHASE:
I am putting this in because well it was an ordeal. I bought from bestbuy and got their 2 year replacement plan. Well i am on my 4th tablet and 3rd keyboard. Now I will be honest i wanted perfection and as was pointed out in a previous thread that just ain't gonna happen so really the first keyboard and tablet were it but i wanted a perfect no leak screen and a non discharging keyboard so back to the BB i went, again and again and again. Ok so now i have a series 60 tablet with a 50 keyboard and it all works, some light leaks but nothing that is earth shattering and doesn't bother me(Ok well it does but i got over it) So for those of you who think i just keep returning etc till its perfect, um take it from me, each one was worse, the second keyboard the space bar stuck, the 3rd keyboard was great, it does discharge but not a bad as the first. The tablet, on the second the light bleed was worse than the first and the 3rd one had huge dead pixel/flaws in the screen now the fourth some light bleed but in my opinion perfect as perfect can be. Moral of the story read the forums there are people here who are super helpful and will get you set straight but also be practical. If the little things really are going to bug you and you feel the need to come to a forum and write a post of Why i am returning my AT then its not for you, i knew the snowball i created with being picky and i got over it.
ONWARD!!!!!
OK THE SETUP APPLICATIONS AND PREP
1. First thing I did prior to buying anything was setup my business info and stuff to be accessible via the web. This required its own set of decisions which i wont get into, maybe a blog post about it later, but i migrated my stuff to google apps. (Hey i am going android so using google apps everything should all work right? it's all google, well sort of i will address it later)
a. Files and storage, i actually chose a combination of google docs and Microsoft live(25gigs of free storage how could i turn that down) I moved all the necessary files to the cloud and i was set
b. All my email addresses were migrated to my google apps and i was set there
c. Contacts moved to Zoho (I am debating this choice good for a later discussion)
2. Tested everything using my laptop and a web browser it all worked fine. I ran for about two weeks while i was doing more research on Android tablets apps etc, and I didn't have any issues.
3. Applications
a. Polaris Office/Docs To Go: I already had the later and the former comes with the AT so i was pretty much set for tablet handling of office docs. Its not a perfect solution by any means and would i like to have office on my tablet YES, do i need it not really. If i REALLY need to generate a word doc with high end formatting etc or i need that complicated cash flows analysis spreadsheet i can usually wait till i am back in the office in front of my computer. Remember this device is for travel/on the go and for THAT these apps are fine. (I am hoping they fix the keyboard issues with Office 365 because that will be IT and you will have it all)
b. Evernote became my note software, I REALLY miss onenote its my favorite office program but alas Android does not have support for it, mobile noter is not that great so migrated to Evernote. Evernote works well just takes a little bit to get used to as i had to change the way i organized my stuff, its different from onenote. (One thing i miss big time is pen input. I looked at the HTC Flyer because i really wanted to have the pen/OneNote experience. I found that this was one of those compromises. If i was still in school or in a job where i had to take copious notes in meetings, i would probably opt for a Tablet PC Fujitsu Q550 comes to mind so i could use pen input.)
c. With everything migrated to Google apps email was a snap put my google apps account info in and BAM its all there. I had already got Zoho synced with my contacts in Apps so they came down as well.
d. Using a combination of gdocs and the docs apps above is fine, though i really think google needs to "Finish" their products they have a habit of starting something putting it out there then never finishing or refine it. Google apps had a chance but with Office 365 available for a dollar more its gonna have troubles unless they step up their game. (We can have a google apps vs office 365 debate somewhere else)
e. To access my skydrive i use Sorami which is working well. The bad part is that i have to drag the file to the asus work on it here then push/send it, not ideal but it works. Quick note on collaboration, one of my sticking points on gdocs is that in order to collaborate on it and get all the functionality you have to convert it to a gdoc, i am not to keen on this as usually the conversion of complicated word docs with lots of formatting is horrible, hence Office 365 maybe the answer with the ability to use web apps and edit things in the native .DOC format. In any case its fine for on the go, and truthfully i don't know about others but my needs for generating complicated or highly formatted documents when i am away from my computer are pretty low.
f. For ZOHO i am limited to their mobile website they have an ios app now but android development is lagging, as it seems to with a lot of things, however i am hopeful they will come up with a native android app. I am still shopping on the CRM front so we'll see this may be a non-issue
That's the basics of apps i have the file explorers and a few games and other stuff but that's the basis of the business stuff.
HOW HAS IT WORKED
Now we get into the dirt of the article how did using the AT as a replacement for my daily out of office use workout. in a word GREAT but here is the skinny
THE GOOD:
1. Weight, wow being able to carry around my portfolio folder to hold documents etc and my AT was fantastic.
2. Access, i had access to all my documents when i needed them when i wanted them. (Let me clarify I know the AT is Wi-Fi so i tether it to my Nexus S 4G when i am not in range of a Wi-Fi hence my statement i can access everything) Yes its true i had that with just my phone but on the 10" screen with a keyboard i felt like i could really work with them when i needed and i could draft from scratch some pretty nice letters etc.
3. Email, yes i know we all have this with our phones but as i noted my hands are big so typing anything of length on the phone is tough for me, the AT made this a snap, take a few minutes between appointments to dock with my keyboard which is in my trunk not only does the pad get a top up, which it didn't need but hey some extra juice nevver hurts for that extra round of Angry Birds, and i can type up all notes etc.
4. Worth noting i did need to make a change to a .NET app for a client i was no where near a pc and this needed fixing now, i used splash top logged into my pc launched studio and made the change, was it horribly slow yes would i want to try and work that way HELL NO but was my client beyond happy and will i get a ton more business from him cause his problem was addressed right away OH YEAH. So i can do the same with office docs etc its not ideal but dang in a pinch there are work around’s.
THE BAD: (This i boil down to i would have been fine had i had a pc)
1. Well obviously programming, I did like having my laptop and being able to sit in a Pete's or something and work on some projects that had been lagging. So not being able to do my development is a bit of a downer, but its all about compromise right.
2. I mentioned earlier pen input. I REALLY like Onenote and I am an advid pen user, i replaced all the notebooks and post its around my desk with a Wacom Tablet and onenote. I did a tremendous amount of research, and business organization in Onenote, so putting this on the table as a “Compromise” was difficult. I downloaded EverNote and started taking notes via typing, and it wasn't so bad. Hence, my decision to make the switch. Again if Office 365 shapes up the way I think it will, i will be back in OneNote in a heartbeat.
SUMMARY
So for me the AT system will accomplish what i need and i think will only get better as android and apps mature. Email, doc reading editing and file creation, file access ebooks movies on and on the device is fabulous. For those thinking of going this direction, here are some thoughts. I look at my purchase of 700 which includes my 2 year replacement with BB and I compare that to what i can get in the PC world. Well the New Fujitsu Q550 i believe is about 700 and that is a full slate pc with about 6 hours battery has the stylus for writting runs office including one note (onenote + stylus = Heaven) there are a few reviews out there and this seems to be a nice challenge in the pc arena, if you want a PC for your work. The AT is not a pc so you have to adjust your thinking and try not to compare it to a netbook or pc thats why this is more of a "How i went about using the AT" rather than a vs because truthfully its not fair to compare apples to oranges. After making some changes to the way i do business i am able to successfully use the AT as a replacement for my day to day operations OUTSIDE the office i still have my PC and still use it. I think that moving forward online services like office 365 and google apps will level the playing field a bit to make comparing tablets to pcs a little closer but right now there are things that my tablet does that a pc is really hard pressed to do. Grab from my bag push a button read a book surf the net watch a video the list goes on. Maybe the new pc tablets will sleep/hibernate better and the gap will get closer I don't know. I miss some PC functions once in a while and with Tablets PC’s coming out as light as the Q550 I think the landscape is going to change, but take a look at your situation and see whats right for you. You can read “VS” articles all day but those are simply peoples observations/opinions. Take a step back and decide what you want and then mold your world to it.
Thats my experience please feel free to comment if we want to use this thread as a building block of Business “how to's” for getting people to undertand that tablets and pcs can live together it doesnt have to be an either or thats great. Maybe share some uses/apps things you do to leverage your AT in the work world.
The Rahl (Heh)
Why not use Splashtop HD to remote into your PC to do programming?
RTbar said:
Why not use Splashtop HD to remote into your PC to do programming?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He did mention that he did remote desktop to his comp for a quick fix. Its def not ideal, especially for a long time.
If you have your code stored on a Linux box, you could SSH into it and use a terminal-based text edit to do it. Yeah, not the most fun, but it takes less bandwidth/power to do.
i had thought about the linux box but truthfully if i need to program i will grab my laptop. My goal was to use the AT on the business side though i am finding new ways of doing things everyday. Though kind of wondering since i dont NEED an AT shoud i wait on next gen Tegra3. Heh yeah that opens the wholebcan of worms "if i wait ill get the newest and the best" youll never buy anything then butbyou cant help but wonder. Heh I think ifthey had some firm dates on tegra3 i might consider but since there are no firm dates ichosetheAT.
I'm looking really hard at the 1520 on sale Friday.
Love Android...really love Google Apps actually but am in love with the 1520.
Played with it for about 30min today.
But you former androider's who switched and actually live with Windows now, how was the adjustment, honestly?! What do you really miss?!
Thanks
rockky said:
I'm looking really hard at the 1520 on sale Friday.
Love Android...really love Google Apps actually but am in love with the 1520.
Played with it for about 30min today.
But you former androider's who switched and actually live with Windows now, how was the adjustment, honestly?! What do you really miss?!
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought I was going to miss the customization of Android but I haven't yet. My 920 and 1020 are silky smooth and reliable. Apps? Every app that I used on Android I have on WP8. Even the 3rd party apps are excellent for those mainstream apps not yet on WP *cough* Instagram *cough*
I've had multiple iPhones and Androids and I will not be going back to either for the foreseeable future. Good luck with the 1520, it's a sweet phone!
Thanks for the response.
I'm gonna miss Google Now for sure! No windows equivalent I don't believe.
I just switched. Before I had a HTC HD2 (first several custom Windows Mobile 6.5 ROMs, then Android) and then a Note 1 with several custom ROMs and Kernels (stuck with Slim ROMs btw. for the last months).
So far (after almost two weeks) the things I miss most are:
- decent toggles to quickly switch on and off things like WiFi and Bluetooth and to see their current states (be it as live tiles or centralized inside an app)
- decent battery analysis tools (percentages are only refreshed every 30 minutes; OS limitation) to check for battery eating applications
- the swype keyboard (best voice recognition (esp. punctuation and capitalization); but plain typing and word prediction on WP8 are superb!!!)
- seperate volume levels for media and notifications (about to come in the black update, due in a month or two)
- custon notification sounds (SMS, Mail, etc.; you can set custom ringtones and alarms though)
- ascending alarms (best way to wake up in the morning; so far I mady my own ascending alarm sound in Audacity)
- a way to get a preview of the newest messages across all message options (WhatsApp, SMS, Mail,...) on the lockscreen (so far you can display only one from a single program that you have to set beforehand)
- an easy way to close an application (now you have to exit it via sometimes quite a lot of presses on the back key; but the black update will bring this option)
- seemless integration of playback from web-videoplayers (although even Google took its sweet time to get even close to that...)
As for the app situation... The selection IS smaller, esp. when you are a pro user. Also the general quality of implementation is somewhat lacking in many cases (I guess its the lack of competition, als well as OS limitations (see custom sounds and settings access)). But for day to day use I have no serious complaints. Normal users will be more than fine and even I can live with the omissions and compromises.
I will stay with my Lumia 1020 and keep it as my only phone (my Note is currently going up on ebay). The build quality is superb, the main Nokia apps are as well and the Windos Phone 8 UI actually feels more modern than Android. Clean, responsive, effective.
ThoroSOE said:
I just switched. Before I had a HTC HD2 (first several custom Windows Mobile 6.5 ROMs, then Android) and then a Note 1 with several custom ROMs and Kernels (stuck with Slim ROMs btw. for the last months).
So far (after almost two weeks) the things I miss most are:
- decent toggles to quickly switch on and off things like WiFi and Bluetooth and to see their current states (be it as live tiles or centralized inside an app)
- decent battery analysis tools (percentages are only refreshed every 30 minutes; OS limitation) to check for battery eating applications
- the swype keyboard (best voice recognition (esp. punctuation and capitalization); but plain typing and word prediction on WP8 are superb!!!)
- seperate volume levels for media and notifications (about to come in the black update, due in a month or two)
- custon notification sounds (SMS, Mail, etc.; you can set custom ringtones and alarms though)
- ascending alarms (best way to wake up in the morning; so far I mady my own ascending alarm sound in Audacity)
- a way to get a preview of the newest messages across all message options (WhatsApp, SMS, Mail,...) on the lockscreen (so far you can display only one from a single program that you have to set beforehand)
- an easy way to close an application (now you have to exit it via sometimes quite a lot of presses on the back key; but the black update will bring this option)
- seemless integration of playback from web-videoplayers (although even Google took its sweet time to get even close to that...)
As for the app situation... The selection IS smaller, esp. when you are a pro user. Also the general quality of implementation is somewhat lacking in many cases (I guess its the lack of competition, als well as OS limitations (see custom sounds and settings access)). But for day to day use I have no serious complaints. Normal users will be more than fine and even I can live with the omissions and compromises.
I will stay with my Lumia 1020 and keep it as my only phone (my Note is currently going up on ebay). The build quality is superb, the main Nokia apps are as well and the Windos Phone 8 UI actually feels more modern than Android. Clean, responsive, effective.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the information as I am looking to switch, I have a note 2 and iPhone 5. The 1020 would be my work phone. I now take a lot of pictures with many in low light. As people know Samsung and iPhones are not good performers in low light. One thing I would miss is the ability to insert word documents and excel files into replied emails and also adding in multiple ones. However I have had many of the iPhones, which have this same limitation,
I admit, it a a strange ommission, to cripple the email apps in such a fundamental way. But as far as I know, that is because there is no file manager in WP so there would be no mechanism, to choose the files you want to add. Sadly this is one of the many sore points, that lead to the pro crowd bashing WP. Missing even basic features, that f.e. my old Nokia N82 had no problems with, is simply astonishing. I really hope, this will get better soon, scince I really like the WP disign philosophy so far (or at least most of it).
I personally do not miss anything. Its just a period of understanding of how wp8 works, and its completely different from android.
I really miss the Hangouts app.
Really really miss it.
IM+ is kind of a replacement, but it doesn't support group chats and the video function...
IMPORTANT UPDATE: I HAVE RESOLVED THIS ISSUE BY DOING THE FOLLOWING:
1) Root the SM-P900 using ODIN. (it's a breeze to do - just follow the directions!)
2) Install TWRP recovery and then do a full TWRP backup of your device.
3) Download & Install the new "Hyperdrive Note Pro 12.2 KK RLS1.1" ROM from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-pro-12/development/rom-hyperdrive-kk-rls1-tab-s-t2986949
Follow the directions for installing this ROM very closely. As recommended, FULLY WIPE your device - everything except the external SD card - BEFORE installing the new ROM.
4) Download the AOSP "MAIL" APK and "Exchange Services" APK from here: *SEE NOTES BELOW
http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/exchange-services/exchange-services-6-2-1158763-apk/
http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/email/email-6-3-1218562-apk/
These are "Exchange Services 6.2-1158763" and "Email 6.3-1218562", respectively. (These are the last stock, Android versions before the forced upgrade/merge to Gmail)
5) Install (side-load) the Exchange Services APK and then Email APK - from whatever folder you downloaded the files to.
* NOTES:
A) Side-loading is necessary because the Play Store will recognize that you have an SM-P900 and won't allow the install. It has nothing to do with compatibility, but rather agreements made between Samsung and Google (and likely Apple, as well), to prevent you from doing this.
B) Replacing the Samsung Email with AOSP Email is required for a complete fix because the Samsung app seems to side-step the re-enabling of the red-underline spell-check. In other words, your new, working spell check will work nearly everywhere - except inside the stock Samsung Email app!
C) These are NOT the most recent versions of Exchange and Mail, but they are the last ones before GMAIL swallowed MAIL - and I prefer the stock AOSP MAIL. If you install a higher version, you will be forced to 'upgrade' to the GMAIL app during installation. It's up to you, of course.
I'M SURE YOU WILL BE AS HAPPY AS I AM - FINALLY!
PLEASE DONATE TO THE DEVELOPER, sbreen94 - HE'S DONE SOMETHING REALLY GOOD AND INVESTED A LOT OF TIME FOR A VERY ESOTERIC DEVICE - THE P900 - WITH A SMALL USER-BASE.
THE ROM PROVIDES MUCH, MUCH MORE THAN A SPELLING-CORRECTION FIX - THAT'S JUST MY THING. OUT-OF-THE-BOX, THIS ROM IS STOCK TOUCHWIZ - EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE USED TO, INCLUDING FULL S-PEN SUPPORT AND ALL THE SAMSUNG APPS (OR WHICHEVER ONES YOU WANT - YOU CAN CHOISE DURUNG JNSTALL).
HOWEVER, IT 'UNLOCKS' TW AND ALLOWS YOU TO TWEAK MANY VISUAL AND FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS, TO YOUR LIKING. AS THE DEVELOPER SAYS ABOUT THE ROM...
"Touchwiz how I think it should be: The latest Samsung Tab S Software features as well as a Fully Customizable User Interface on the fly as well as excellent performance and battery life."
LASTLY, BE AWARE THAT THIS ROM IS SPECIFICALLY FOR THE SM-P900 NOTE PRO 12.2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm desperate! I can type faster and with fewer mistakes on my puny, 5-year-old iPhone 3GS than I can on my HUGE Note Pro 12.2 horizontal keyboard. Predictive text is retarded. I'm tired of fighting with auto-replace. All I want is a little red line under each of my misspelled words, like in the old days - before Samsung crippled Android. I've tried Anysoft, Hacker's, Google,... as Gordon Gecko once said, "different dog, same fleas".
I've stock-rooted the tablet with CF. What next? I'll install any mod or keyboard that does this simple thing. I don't care about the warranty, or if the UI ends up looking like Windows 1.0 and sharp pins jump out at every virtual key-press, puncturing my fingertips as I type - just show me the misspelled words before I click 'Send'!
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Pretty sure that apps handle misspelled words like MS Word does using Windows. So you need to find a android word processor that handles spell checking. Maybe someone here has a recommendation for you.
Proper keyboard spelling check....
treetopsranch said:
Pretty sure that apps handle misspelled words like MS Word does using Windows. So you need to find a android word processor that handles spell checking. Maybe someone here has a recommendation for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your timely reply. In the context of a Windows PC, for example, I would wholly agree with you - that spell check is provided by the host application; however, it seems that in the mobile world, a different approach was taken, with the 'keyboard' providing a unified spelling correction that behaved identically within all applications. This is very evident in iOS, and is well documented as a mysteriously disappearing keyboard option ("Underline Misspelled Words") in fairly recent Samsung distributions of Android. KitKat seems to be where the trouble really started, and some claim that this was among the casualties of the Apple-Samsung patent wars. Placing a red line under an unrecognized word, after the spacebar is pressed or navigating away from it, seems well within the means of a keyboard app. That simple red line is all I'm looking for.
Other (non-Samsung) Kitkat devices appear to still have it....
...Owners of HTC devices, running KitKat, claim to still have the 'Underline misspelled words' option in their keyboard options.
No underlines for you!
treetopsranch said:
Pretty sure that apps handle misspelled words like MS Word does using Windows. So you need to find a android word processor that handles spell checking. Maybe someone here has a recommendation for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've always understood that if I failed to ‘fix' this deficiency, I would have to find an email client with its own spelling correction, "like MS Word does using Windows", either utilizing its own dictionary or one of the two already installed in the tablet - stock Samsung or Anysoft.
Last night, I did some research and landed on ‘MailDroid', having a true spell checker among its many other impessive features. So, I installed the ad-paid version to test it out, fully prepared to fork over $22 for the ‘Pro' version. Email is my main concern, so I was getting excited! Installation was a breeze and within 2 or 3 minutes I was up and running with 2 accounts. And, yes, misspelled words were immediately underlined in red!!! Yipppeeeee!!!! Such a feature-rich, $22 app surely comes with its own dictionary, right?
So, just for fun, I disabled WIFI and tried to compose an email, offline. Then I felt something happening around my feet. I looked down and saw a Google API flopping around on the carpet, gasping for air. It was tring to say something, so I got closer and I could hear it muttering "feed me, feed me".
When I bought this tablet 6 months ago, I just expected it to work at least as well as my 5-year-old Apple 3GS. For a couple of months, I just figured that I wasn't understanding something, that I just needed to find that one setting - it was just hiding somewhere in unfamiliar Android territory. Some folks would say things like "No, it's not like that. Just play with the auto-replace and word prediction settings, or try another keyboard." Well, I did all of that and I'm sorry - Apple does a way better job with automatic correction - even identifying and separating words that are both misspelled and conjoined with errantly typed letters from the bottom row! And the few mistakes that do get past this magic are UNDERLINED IN RED! All applications that require text entry enjoy this unified writing tool... and all of it works even in ‘Airplane Mode' - offline!
There are two installed, accessible, LOCAL dictionaries on my tablet - including stock Samsung... Asking why an email client ]needs to go online for a dictionary is entirely rhetorical - especially when Google is involved.
One of the reasons I bought an Android tablet (and ultimately rooted it) - as well as being a protest vote against Apple's authoritarian control over what I do with MY mobile device - was to gain at least some control over unnecessary permissions, personal data leakage and data mining...
But, it feels like there's a trap - or a beaten-down conformist holding a sign that says "That's just the way it is" - everywhere I step. :crying:
WOW! You did a great job explaining this android dictionary stuff to me. I suspect the app 'Maildroid' didn't have a dictionary installed because of memory concerns. Dictionaries take up lots of space in memory. But, Hey, Word had one for XP in the days when we had very little memory on our machines 10 years ago. So that is really no excuse. A major fault for android devices in my book.
swiftkey keyboard app
Phuyuk said:
I'm desperate! I can type faster and with fewer mistakes on my puny, 5-year-old iPhone 3GS than I can on my HUGE Note Pro 12.2 horizontal keyboard. Predictive text is retarded. I'm tired of fighting with auto-replace. All I want is a little red line under each of my misspelled words, like in the old days - before Samsung crippled Android. I've tried Anysoft, Hacker's, Google,... as Gordon Gecko once said, "different dog, same fleas".
I've stock-rooted the tablet with CF. What next? I'll install any mod or keyboard that does this simple thing. I don't care about the warranty, or if the UI ends up looking like Windows 1.0 and sharp pins jump out at every virtual key-press, puncturing my fingertips as I type - just show me the misspelled words before I click 'Send'!
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Swiftkey key board app allows you to use a physical bluetooth key board and still have spell check for the win. AWSOME!!! Get the app at play store for free.
Swiftkey? Are you serious?
samsunggoliath said:
Swiftkey key board app allows you to use a physical bluetooth key board and still have spell check for the win. AWSOME!!! Get the app at play store for free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Swiftkey? You think i haven't already tried that? And adding a physical keyboard - defeating the purpose of having a physically-simple, stand-alone communication device - to this [email protected]!%& top-of-the-line, most-expensive-Android-tablet-in the-world - that I paid over $800 for with a memory card? Really?
I have a better idea: Invest not one more penny in this mistake, cut my losses, and get a different kind of keyboard - one that comes with a screen and does what it was designed to do, correctly.... and I will not have to patch it up with goofy solutions because it will also have Windows or Ubuntu built-in- at no extra cost! Wait a second... I already own one - this isn't going to cost me a cent!
BTW, since I first posted on this topic, I bought - directly from China, a new Android Kitkat phone - made by Foxconn. I had it in 5 days and Including shipping, it cost me less than $200, has a lovely 5" 300ppi screen, quad-core Snapdragon, all of the sensors known to mankind, a decent camera (front and back), and a real FM radio! Oh, and you know what else it has?!? Oh, c'mon... you know what's coming.... AN INTEGRATED, UNIVERSAL, ANDROID SPELLING CHECKER WITH RED LINES UNDER EVERY SPELLING MISTAKE! I don't need to get a keyboard or pay for more software because it already does what it's supposed to do! I can type an error-free paragraph, with confidence, more than twice as fast on that little phone than I can on this overpriced piece of TouchWiz.
And that is the problem - TouchWiz. Samsung lost a lawsuit and quietly crippled the OS with Touchwiz. Sadly, since this tablet is so overpriced to begin with, not many people bought it, not many accessories have been made for it, and more importantly, no front-end, TouchWiz-replacements have been developed for / ported to it as has been done for nearly every other Samsung device.
Like I said in an earlier post... it feels like there's a trap - or a beaten-down conformist holding a sign that says "That's just the way it is" - everywhere I step.
Problem FIXED!!!
Please read the EDITED FIRST POST in this thread.
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