Today I did get my package I was waiting for so I now have a 7 port USB hub for my Macbook at home. No more swapping out one device to make room for another. The old 4 port hub now can goto the office since I need one there. I also got a bluetooth mouse for the Vaio laptop I got at work. There are only two USB ports on that little thing. One of them is hidden so it is difficult to get to. I want to plug in my Skype phone to the USB port, so it makes life easier if I have a bluetooth mouse that I don’t have to worry about plugging in a dongle to get the wireless to work. My current travel mouse is like that. It works, but it is a pain to deal with the dongle. This new Microsoft travel mouse worked in about a minute with the bluetooth on the Vaio. I can also use it on my Macbook if I need to when traveling.
Mobile Tech
The Nokia N95 Experiment
OK, so the idea of me getting a Nokia N95 turned into a bad idea. As much as I think it, in this day and age I need a phone with easy text imput. That means a keyboard, or maybe a touch keyboard (aka iPhone). The concept of a blackberry pearl or even just T9 text input from a Nokia N95 just doesn't cut it. As much as the N95 was a great phone in every other way I need the ability to input data quickly.
And you guessed it, that means I returned my N95 last Friday. I am stuck with the limitations of my Nokia E61i until the iPhone 3g comes out. Hopefully that will be an improvement over the original. If that is a failure I can either try my luck with the Nokia E71, the 61i replacement, or wait a really long time for Palm to get their act together and come out with their new OS.
Until July 11, I will try and figure out how to keep managing my tasks on the E61i.
Chair Blogging
I am attempting to write on my Sony Vaio laptop I have from work. It is so tiny. It is one of those 2.5lbs units with a tiny screen. I have to push the fonts up to 22pt in order for me to see things when I put the laptop on my lap. They keyboard is small, but so far I am able to touch time without tons of errors. I don't know how long i can do it for.
Even though the laptop is less than 3lbs this is the first weekend I have taken it home. I had to get everything configured properly on it as well as get a power adapter so i can leave it at home. I know, I have a Macbook that I travel to and from work with, but when I am home it acts like a desktop so this tiny guy is nice to have for times like right now when i want to sit on my comfy chair and type. It also has broadband access so i can get on the internet from anywhere Sprint has mobile service. That makes it worth it to travel with. OK enough talking about extra computers that I am tinkering with.
Nokia N95, vs iPhone 3G
Since I wrote my post about getting the Nokia N95, I thought of a few things that get me wanting a new iPhone, and some that make me think the N95 is a better option than the iPhone.
Features that my new Nokia N95 does now or last year when it came out that the iPhone will do in July are: GPS, 3G data speeds, Wifi, 8gigs of music or videos, & sync’s to my Mac seamlessly.
Cool features that the N95 does that the iPhone doesnt are things like built in internet radio, regular radio (via headset), 5mp camera, & basically any S60 application can be installed on it. Oh, yes Apple being able to write software without any restrictions is a good thing, no matter how crash proof you want to make the platform. There has to be a better middle ground than what Apple does.
To be fair the iPhone does the following things that will probably get me to switch when it comes out. It will have a keyboard (well touch keyboard still counts), awesome email client, & mobile me.
There are probably more features that fall into all three categories but that is a summary of what I care about.
Phone vs PDA Phone
Yesterday I broke down and did a sort of impulse buy. I have been eying some mobile phone alternative to what I have that is not an iPhone. The Nokia E61i is just too dam slow, and the lack of a good email client and task management has put me over the edge with tolerating it. I will admit the E61i is still a great phone, but for me there are things that I will put up with and things I won’t. My issue is that the next real contender for a phone for me is the new iPhone 3g that is not out yet. Even then I am not 100% convinced I will be happy with it due to some known limitations for me.
That all being said I broke down and went out and bought a Nokia N95-4. It has almost all the multi-media functions of the iPhone and more, but it is not a PDA. In the first day that became a problem for me, but I did have a back up plan. I broke out my old Treo 750 that I never got around to selling and set it up to use as just a PDA. I can also use bluetooth to use the N95 as a modem if i want to check mail or browse the web on the Treo. I know, a PDA and a phone. How 2001ish. So far it has worked for me. I don’t always need the PDA, but it is on my desk at work or in my bag when I need it. That and I actually have a nice fast phone that sounds good. I know I will probably ditch this setup by the time the iPhone 3g comes out and I get sucked into getting one, but this setup does work.
Can I Find The Right Phone? Part 4, The Palm Treo 750
The latest device I am trying is the Treo 750. Well technically the Centro was the last phone that I bought, since I had the 750 before the Centro, but I still have the 750 where the Centro is returned already. I haven’t tried a Windows Mobile phone since I tried the HP iPaq 6515 back in 2006. I was hesitant to try the Windows Mobile Treo since I had such a bad experience with the iPaq, but I heard decent things about the Windows Mobile 6 OS, I liked the form factor of the Treo 750, and frankly I was running out of alternatives.
Can I Find The Right Phone? Part 3, The Palm Centro
Due to the Nokia E61i’s poor performance with its core organizer functions I recently began to look at alternatives. I sold my Nokia 6120 Classic and N810 Tablet since I found I didn’t use them that much. With that money I bought a Palm Centro from AT&T. I was hoping that the newer Centro would not have the same bugs as the older Treo 680. It was still buggy when I installed the software I typically use. The screen and keyboard on the Centro were too small for me. A screen smaller than a 680 is just not usable for me. I also got spoiled with the nice large screen of the E61i. I wasn’t even a fan of the plastic white case of the Centro, so I returned it yesterday after work. It was worth a try, but the Centro experience didn’t get me anywhere.
Can I Find The Right Phone? Part 2, The Nokia E61i
I have been using the Nokia E61i for a few months now and I like allot of features of the phone, but its shortcomings are starting to bother me allot. Where the Treo 680 would freeze for a few seconds every once in a while, the E61i’s biggest problem is just slow all the time. Launching applications or moving through screens is noticeably slower than on the Palm OS, Windows Mobile, or Blackberry. The E61i is very stable. I almost never have to restart the phone. In fact it was almost 2 months after I got it when the phone froze on me. I think the problem was related to something I installed that was a Beta. I removed it and have been fine since then. The other issues I have with the E61i is it’s PIM functionality. More specifically its tasks program is horrible. The phone doesn’t support categories, the search functions are all but useless, and it takes me around 5 times longer to enter a task on the E61i than it did on my Treo 680. Because there is no category support for the PIM (Personal Information Manager) Software, I cannot easily filter calls with calling groups out of the Address Book. I also have to edit every single calendar entry I make on the phone to put it in the correct calendar on my computer. The lack of a touch screen bothers me, but is a minor issue compared with all my other issues. I haven’t found a good email program, but I limp by with what comes pre-installed. What is good about the E61i is it has no issues syncing with my Mac, especially over bluetooth. It works flawlessly with Bluephone Elite, the phone control software I use on my Mac. It also has great internet functionality especially since it has built in Wifi. Bluetooth also works flawlessly. I paired my Motorola Bluetooth Headset to the phone with no problems. I am able to turn on the headset and it always finds the phone and works. I stopped using Bluetooth headsets on my Treo because it wouldn’t work all the time and I would lose calls because I tried picking them up with the headset.
To sum it up the E61i is a nice reliable phone with a decent selection of software, but its basic functionality is lacking and the phone is just slow. If I could fix most of my issues with the tasks program I might be able to overlook the other issues I have with the Nokia’s Symbian S60 software.
Can I Find The Right Phone? Part 1
Since October I have had a minor problem left unresolved. I have been unsuccessfully searching for a wireless phone I could use every day. I have written previously about how my Treo 680 had been causing me too many problems so I was on the outs as my day to day mobile. The issue is I haven’t been able to find a suitable replacement. As much as I jump from phone to phone (I do about 1 a year and maybe toy with an alternative one during that time but never switch over to it) over the years, I have been sticking to Palm based Treo’s relatively consistently. I did go from a Treo 270 on T-Mobile to a Treo 600, then to a Treo 650. From there I went to the Treo 700 on Verizon. When I left my last company I switched my number to a Treo 680 on AT&T. It has been several years using the Palm OS on Treo phones. As I have said in the past it has been a love / hate relationship.
So even though it sounds kind of silly I am stuck on what phone to use day to day. I guess it is such a big deal because I use it for allot more than making calls. In fact I use it for other stuff more than I use it as a phone. I check my mail on it. Read the news on the way to work. I keep track of my expenses on it. I use it as a calendar, and more importantly I track all the tasks I need to accomplish on it. I use it to track notes, and I take notes with it more than I use pen and paper. If I am in a meeting playing with my phone, it is because I am actually taking notes or updating tasks related to what we are talking about on it. There is tons more things I use it for, but that is enough for you to get the point. Because of all my requirements I am a bit picky.
The Palm OS on my Treo 680 did everything I needed it to. It just would freeze up for no reason I could identify (maybe due to loss of cell signal but if it was that it is a retarded problem) and would crash or reboot at least once a day. Recently I also had huge issues syncing my Treo to my Macbook. The Missing Sync is a great product, and I have used it for years but since they updated the Palm version it has been buggy. I have had to reset the data on the phone dozens of times due to corrupt data or the software simply crashing on syncing some conduits, especially my task lists. So I can have everything I want, but deal with problems all the time. It kind of feels like WIndows, but I solved that problem by getting a Mac.
Vacation to Nowhere
I tried to make today as eventless as possible. It was my last day at work before my vacation. I didn’t need any excitement to delay my rest. Thankfully I had good mojo or something since nothing crazy happened like earlier in the week.
I hit the local bar everyone from work goes to for a quick drink before my vacation began. I am off for 11 days counting weekends and the christmas holiday. I am not really going anywhere, but I needed to take some time off. I haven’t been on a vacation since my Cancun trip in 2005. For this vacation I couldn’t think of where to go and couldn’t find any travel companion’s so I just decided to take time off and relax. The second half of the week I am going to my sisters in New Jersey to see her and the kids and to babysit one night. So that will break up the vacation a bit.
Even though I am not going anywhere I am not going to contact work. That means my Blackberry is off, I have the away message in my email client running, and I told everyone in my group I would only answer the phone for them and only if it was during certain times of the day. I need some time to relax. Lets see how that goes!