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My Unbiased Review of the HTC G1 (Google Phone)
I have had the phone for almost a month and here is my unbiased review of the device. It's pro's & con's and what needs more development.
This device would be perfect for the SOHO user who uses Google applications.
Pro's
Audio - is crisp & clear and is easily heard even with background noise. No feed back or static at all. Even in low signal areas it still has good reception.
Data - The browsing experience with the device on either the Edge or 3G networks is outstanding and with side by side tests with a iphone in 3G network the G1 opened a webpage faster than the iphone.
Synchronization - syncing Google apps is flawless and if you use Calaboration (for mac) or Google Calendar Sync (for windows) you can sync ical or outlook wirelessly with google calendar and your device without having to bother with sync software or cable to pack around. This is an awesome move and should be looked at by Blackberry and Windows.
Stability of OS - the flavor of Linux they use on this device is outstanding. it won't hang, crash or freak out on you because it's running low on memory. It's designed to keep open 6 applications open. If you open a seventh application it will close the first one. I have ran some memory intensive programs and had the device bog down but never lock, crash or go nuts cause it needed more memory.
Navigation - navigation on the device is very well laid out. you have 3 desktops. the main screen and then one to the left and then one to the right. Here you can put your most used apps and then all the others reside in a slide out tray on the desktop and from here you can pick the app you want to open. The notification bar is a stroke of genius. Here is where you get your prompts for new email, calendar events, text messages and so forth. This is an awesome feature. Also all text messages are organized as threads kinda like Gmail which is nice if you are looking for something in a long conversation of text messages with someone.
Hardware - The device feels solid and isn't hard to hold on to. I really like the rubber coating they put on the back of the device. It makes you get a solid grip so it won't slip out of your hand. The only complain that I have is if you do need to take off the back cover it's on there so tight that when you take it off it feels like you are going to break it. (but if you need to do a soft reset you can hold down the call answer, call end & menu button and this will reboot the device). I like the option of a onscreen keyboard and the physical keyboard depending on what I am typing. The touch screen is awesome and very responsive. and the best thing is you can see the screen in direct sunlight. That is a really nice feature.
Applications - you can get a wide range of programs for the device such as a memo & task manager to expand it's capabilities. They do have an office suite for it (androidoffice and Documents to go) where you can edit and create documents but both of these aren't free. But you do have a wide range of applications and most are free.
now comes the Con's.
Music - I don't know why PDA's (Blackberry, Windows & Palm) sold their soul to Satan and now have MP3 music playback.... if you wanna listen to music get a MP3 player... you can get then the size of a bic lighter. Well Google now has done this and it's one feature I don't use and not going to any time soon. So having to use HTC's adapter to use headphones really isn't that big of a deal.
It would be nice to have a basic office suite offered by OpenOffice that could be used on the device atleast to view office documents (Word & Excell).
have a bigger .pdf storage. it will only allow 1MB to be downloaded. If your pdf file is bigger you are screwed and it won't open.... unless it's in gmail then you can preview it.
Overall I think Google made a nice device and have found their nitch in life in the PDA world. I don't think they are trying to compete with the heavy weight contenders like Blackberry but are there for people who want a fun, stable device but don't want to fork out the money for the iphone.
This device would be perfect for the SOHO user who uses Google applications.
Pro's
Audio - is crisp & clear and is easily heard even with background noise. No feed back or static at all. Even in low signal areas it still has good reception.
Data - The browsing experience with the device on either the Edge or 3G networks is outstanding and with side by side tests with a iphone in 3G network the G1 opened a webpage faster than the iphone.
Synchronization - syncing Google apps is flawless and if you use Calaboration (for mac) or Google Calendar Sync (for windows) you can sync ical or outlook wirelessly with google calendar and your device without having to bother with sync software or cable to pack around. This is an awesome move and should be looked at by Blackberry and Windows.
Stability of OS - the flavor of Linux they use on this device is outstanding. it won't hang, crash or freak out on you because it's running low on memory. It's designed to keep open 6 applications open. If you open a seventh application it will close the first one. I have ran some memory intensive programs and had the device bog down but never lock, crash or go nuts cause it needed more memory.
Navigation - navigation on the device is very well laid out. you have 3 desktops. the main screen and then one to the left and then one to the right. Here you can put your most used apps and then all the others reside in a slide out tray on the desktop and from here you can pick the app you want to open. The notification bar is a stroke of genius. Here is where you get your prompts for new email, calendar events, text messages and so forth. This is an awesome feature. Also all text messages are organized as threads kinda like Gmail which is nice if you are looking for something in a long conversation of text messages with someone.
Hardware - The device feels solid and isn't hard to hold on to. I really like the rubber coating they put on the back of the device. It makes you get a solid grip so it won't slip out of your hand. The only complain that I have is if you do need to take off the back cover it's on there so tight that when you take it off it feels like you are going to break it. (but if you need to do a soft reset you can hold down the call answer, call end & menu button and this will reboot the device). I like the option of a onscreen keyboard and the physical keyboard depending on what I am typing. The touch screen is awesome and very responsive. and the best thing is you can see the screen in direct sunlight. That is a really nice feature.
Applications - you can get a wide range of programs for the device such as a memo & task manager to expand it's capabilities. They do have an office suite for it (androidoffice and Documents to go) where you can edit and create documents but both of these aren't free. But you do have a wide range of applications and most are free.
now comes the Con's.
Music - I don't know why PDA's (Blackberry, Windows & Palm) sold their soul to Satan and now have MP3 music playback.... if you wanna listen to music get a MP3 player... you can get then the size of a bic lighter. Well Google now has done this and it's one feature I don't use and not going to any time soon. So having to use HTC's adapter to use headphones really isn't that big of a deal.
It would be nice to have a basic office suite offered by OpenOffice that could be used on the device atleast to view office documents (Word & Excell).
have a bigger .pdf storage. it will only allow 1MB to be downloaded. If your pdf file is bigger you are screwed and it won't open.... unless it's in gmail then you can preview it.
Overall I think Google made a nice device and have found their nitch in life in the PDA world. I don't think they are trying to compete with the heavy weight contenders like Blackberry but are there for people who want a fun, stable device but don't want to fork out the money for the iphone.
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