Monday, September 04, 2006
Mobile Lecture Update
I went biking Saturday. Couldn't bring along the XV6700 Brick - that was inconvenient. So, I decided I just don't like the XV6700 as a phone. It's too cumbersome, and it's tough to dial with it. I need a number pad with real buttons that click under my thumb, and maybe a scrolly wheel. I tested out the Q today at the VZW store; see, I get one exchange in a 15 day period. I'm about 5 days into that period, so I have about 10 more to figure out if I'm really returning this XV, and if so, what I'm getting to replace it.
I looked at the 700w treo. If I could afford the EVDO to acquire the license, the Treo might work. But it only has Bluetooth, no WIFI. And there is no way to copy a license from a computer over to the miniSD or anything.
As for the Moto Q, it easily acquired the license, and read my SD card; problem is, Q was too slow to keep up with the WMV. The Audio was just barely chopy, but enough to drive anyone nuts. Video was jerky, but that would be something I could live with. Q seems like a nice phone - too bad it cant handle the lecture audio. As for the video player WMP, when there is no stylus, the only way to fast fwd is with buttons. To queue up the Q to the start of lecture (again, this is a complaint: why the 10 minute bumper at the front of each lecture?) took about 5 minutes for the phone to FFWD. Ain't gonna work.
Solution: ???
So now I'm not really sure what to do. I'm looking at two seperate devices now - PDA for the train, and then the cell phone for normal, drab cell phone stuff. In other words, for me, I don't think the cell phone world has quite collided with the mobile video watching world. Weight/bulk is too much. The price for web service is too much, but if DEN would just get rid of the DRM that wouldn't be an issue. Anyway, looks like it's not doable on a phone.
Maybe a two-device solution is fine because I'm only DENing for the next 9 months. Then I'm back to civillian life! So I want to end up with a phone I like for the long run.
I'll check out some PDAs at Best Buy and/or Fry's tomorrow. Dell Axiom seems like the nicest feature set for the cash, but I'll see what they've got at the store.
As for boring cell phones, I can get Chocolate for $50AR. My friend has Chocolate, but it's got drawbacks too. But the Dell Axiom/Chocolate combo will be the same price point, and result in the same or better combined feature set.
I went biking Saturday. Couldn't bring along the XV6700 Brick - that was inconvenient. So, I decided I just don't like the XV6700 as a phone. It's too cumbersome, and it's tough to dial with it. I need a number pad with real buttons that click under my thumb, and maybe a scrolly wheel. I tested out the Q today at the VZW store; see, I get one exchange in a 15 day period. I'm about 5 days into that period, so I have about 10 more to figure out if I'm really returning this XV, and if so, what I'm getting to replace it.
I looked at the 700w treo. If I could afford the EVDO to acquire the license, the Treo might work. But it only has Bluetooth, no WIFI. And there is no way to copy a license from a computer over to the miniSD or anything.
As for the Moto Q, it easily acquired the license, and read my SD card; problem is, Q was too slow to keep up with the WMV. The Audio was just barely chopy, but enough to drive anyone nuts. Video was jerky, but that would be something I could live with. Q seems like a nice phone - too bad it cant handle the lecture audio. As for the video player WMP, when there is no stylus, the only way to fast fwd is with buttons. To queue up the Q to the start of lecture (again, this is a complaint: why the 10 minute bumper at the front of each lecture?) took about 5 minutes for the phone to FFWD. Ain't gonna work.
Solution: ???
So now I'm not really sure what to do. I'm looking at two seperate devices now - PDA for the train, and then the cell phone for normal, drab cell phone stuff. In other words, for me, I don't think the cell phone world has quite collided with the mobile video watching world. Weight/bulk is too much. The price for web service is too much, but if DEN would just get rid of the DRM that wouldn't be an issue. Anyway, looks like it's not doable on a phone.
Maybe a two-device solution is fine because I'm only DENing for the next 9 months. Then I'm back to civillian life! So I want to end up with a phone I like for the long run.
I'll check out some PDAs at Best Buy and/or Fry's tomorrow. Dell Axiom seems like the nicest feature set for the cash, but I'll see what they've got at the store.
As for boring cell phones, I can get Chocolate for $50AR. My friend has Chocolate, but it's got drawbacks too. But the Dell Axiom/Chocolate combo will be the same price point, and result in the same or better combined feature set.
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