Poll - Will You Pay the $600 Best Buy Price for the HTC Flyer?

[S Prime]

S Prime, any idea of why this user manual is from a Costa Rica domain? I'm a bit leary of accessing it . . . bein' the cautious puter user that I am.

Hummingbirdhill, I have no idea if the domain is located there or if it is just using a proxy server to disguise the real location, but if you click on the link it opens the pdf document and then you can save it. If you are concerned wait until someone other than me verifies the link is safe.

 

[LowFire]

It is legit, THANK YOU S Prime!

 

[S Prime]

Apps on HTC Flyer

It is legit, THANK YOU S Prime!

Looking below at the quoted section from the manuel we get a hint of some of the included Apps:

Highlighting and drawing in pen-integrated
apps
Open a document or photo in a pen-integrated app and easily highlight words or
draw over it.
Highlighting text
1. Open any of the following:
? An eBook in Reader
? A Word document in Polaris Office
? A PDF document in PDF Viewer

 

[yapkuen]

So, Yapkuen, whatcha going to do??

Still holding onto my pre-order for now. If/when Best Buy calls me for pick up, I'll do my best to demand that they hold my unit for me until such time that I can get the pen on the same day, assuming that the pen does not become available on the same day as the tablet.

 

[hummingbirdhill]

Looking below at the quoted section from the manuel we get a hint of some of the included Apps:

Highlighting and drawing in pen-integrated
apps
Open a document or photo in a pen-integrated app and easily highlight words or
draw over it.
Highlighting text
1. Open any of the following:
? An eBook in Reader
? A Word document in Polaris Office
? A PDF document in PDF Viewer

Thank you for this quote from the user manual.

I hope it can also open Excel and PowerPoint . . .

Is Polaris Office the new office software Nokia is using? Or is it strictly an android thing?

 

[LowFire]

Engadget did a nice review of it

HTC Flyer review -- Engadget

 

[S Prime]

Engadget did a nice review of it

HTC Flyer review -- Engadget

I had just finished reading the review and was pleased to see a lot of positive points, but his review of the scribe technology was far from glowing. It appears to me the usefulness of the pen will depend on how you plan to use it and the detail required. I was pleased that he did note the possibility that additional software could improve detailed writing. One other thing that clearly echoes everywhere was his comments on pricing in the summary. I was pleased over all though.

 

[LowFire]

As was I, I posted that before I finished reading (probably one of the most extensive reviews I have read there as well), and I kept smiling the more I read. Although, I too am a little disappointed with the review of the pen, I think that will be improved upon with better apps, updates, and whatnot. Pricing, meh....I just hope that we get the pen and case along with our purchase. And I am also curious about the rumor I read on US ones being a different color.....of course that could be for the Evo View though

Even still, after reading that I look more forward to recieving my Flyer

 

[bouncing]

As was I, I posted that before I finished reading (probably one of the most extensive reviews I have read there as well), and I kept smiling the more I read. Although, I too am a little disappointed with the review of the pen, I think that will be improved upon with better apps, updates, and whatnot. Pricing, meh....I just hope that we get the pen and case along with our purchase. And I am also curious about the rumor I read on US ones being a different color.....of course that could be for the Evo View though

Even still, after reading that I look more forward to recieving my Flyer

AFAIK, everyone gets the case.

The wifi-only model going on sale, hopefully soon, here in the US doesn't include the pen, but supposedly the case will still be there.

 

[hummingbirdhill]

Okeydokey, y'all, I'm (for the first time) havin' verrrrry serious doubts about this Flyer. $500 plus pen for "all show" (or so it sounds from that absolutely fantastic Engadget review)---and then having to depend on third parties to develop software for which I will then have to go shoppin' (free or not) . . .

I am on the very verge of cancelling my pre-order---or at least of changing my order to "ship to store" so I won't be paying $8.99 shipping if I don't keep the device.

The entire Flyer-and-Scribe-pen marketing mode of HTC and BB makes me uneasy. I'm thinking I'd rather see the Flyer and Scribe in action (in persona) prior to this large investment. I do not appreciate what appears (to me) to be deceitful marketing to trusting consumers. I suppose exclusive retailing, such as BB in this case, encourages less-than-sheer practices.

As far as I know, the Flyers haven't begun shipping in USA. Has anyone heard any different?

 

[LowFire]

To eahc his own, personally the review reinforced my opinion on wanting this tablet over others. The price is the same or within $100 of anything like, and every point in the Engadget review was spot on for what I want in a device like this. The Scribe is a bonus IMO and I think it is decent now and can only get better...

I hope I am right anyway hahaha

 

[hummingbirdhill]

LowFire, I hope you're right too! And this is the sole tab I've been interested in at all period. So, I may end up w/o a tablet. One of the major items I'll miss, if I do cancel, is the informing, opinionated, encouraging conversation in these Flyer forums.

 

[hummingbirdhill]

Yo! Just saw that BB for Business no longer has Scribe pen for sale!

 

[LowFire]

Hrmmmm, let's cross fingers!

And also, I particularly liked this part of the Engadget review

Setting aside the improvements just introduced by Google in Android 3.1, we've been of the view that Honeycomb remains unpolished and in need of extra work to optimize responsiveness and better exploit the added real estate afforded by tablets relative to smartphones. Those are things that will surely come over time, but until they do, Android slate buyers are left to answer the question of what they should do in the interim. Motorola will tell you to run the standard Honeycomb and like it, Samsung will tell you that TouchWiz 4.0 will make everything better, and HTC will urge you to use Gingerbread until it can cook up the right Honeycomb recipe. We can't yet speak authoritatively on how Samsung's skinned Honeycomb tastes, but from our experience with the Flyer, we'd argue HTC's implementation is preferable to stock Android 3.0 installations. It's faster to respond, feels more refined, and though it has significant weaknesses of its own, the unfortunately immature Honeycomb doesn't offer a stark enough contrast to highlight them as it should. Lest you find all this poor consolation for HTC failing to ship the Flyer with the latest firmware on board, an update to Android 3.x has been promised for this summer, so this tablet won't be hanging out in smartphone software territory for an excessive period of time.

:-[

 

[yapkuen]

Yo! Just saw that BB for Business no longer has Scribe pen for sale!

Best Buy: Uh oh, consumers are starting to clamor about why we have the pen up for pre-order on the business site, but not on the regular site. Solution: LET'S JUST STOP SELLING IT!

Either that or they finally wised up and stuck it in the box with the Flyer where it belongs. Though I wouldn't put it past them to have done the former.

 

[S Prime]

Best Buy: Uh oh, consumers are starting to clamor about why we have the pen up for pre-order on the business site, but not on the regular site. Solution: LET'S JUST STOP SELLING IT!

Either that or they finally wised up and stuck it in the box with the Flyer where it belongs. Though I wouldn't put it past them to have done the former.

Obviously Best Buy is aware of consumer dissatisfaction and the bad press that has come from every media source, so look for a new tack in their marketing strategy. It will be interesting to see what develops in the days before shipping starts. You got to love the game, if you are going to play as an early technology adopter. Let?s just hope we have made enough noise to have gotten Best Buy?s attention.

 

[S Prime]

Obviously Best Buy is aware of consumer dissatisfaction and the bad press that has come from every media source, so look for a new tack in their marketing strategy. It will be interesting to see what develops in the days before shipping starts. You got to love the game, if you are going to play as an early technology adopter. Let?s just hope we have made enough noise to have gotten Best Buy?s attention.

SlashGear has this review posted:
HTC Flyer Review - SlashGear

I am quoting an interesting part of his summary:

Yes, there are some frustrations: the camera is an embarrassment, the speakers underwhelming, and the single-core processor does give us a little pause for thought when we consider the sort of demanding apps likely to be coming down the pipeline for Android slates. Still, HTC obviously believe it?s potent enough for Honeycomb, since an update to the tablet-centric OS is expected in reasonably short order.

What will really make the difference is HTC?s commitment to Magic Pen functionality. Sensibly, the company has decided not to keep its pen magic all to itself, and to instead open up the APIs the Flyer uses to third-party developers. That will hopefully mean more apps that take advantage of it, broadening the Flyer?s appeal beyond mere note-taking. Before that will happen, though, developers will want to see that there?s a market worth their time: that will probably take more just the Flyer alone. HTC needs to be clear that dual finger and pen interfaces are integral into its vision of tablets. Users will only stomach the added cost and bulk of the digitizers ? pushing the 32GB 3G Flyer in the UK to a heady ?599.99, while the 16GB WiFi-only model comes in at ?479.99 ? if they?re confident that HTC won?t abandon the idea down the line

 

[hummingbirdhill]

As far as I can see, all mention of the Scribe pen except here

Best Buy For Business - Announcement Center

has been removed from the BB and BB for Business Flyer pages . . .

(So far, I'm holding on to my pre-order; I don't want to regret anything.)

 

[shadohh]

So....I watch the carrypad tablet war live today. 3 hours they compared playbook, flyer, galaxy tab for 7 inch and the acer, and others for 10 inch tablets. This carrypad review should be on youtube by tomorrow if anyone wants to watch it.

The HTC flyer is plagued with alot of problems. The single core cannot handle 720p video let alone 1080p. The pen has to be perpendicular to the screen or it does not always register the pen strokes.

Considering the high price and problems with the software I have decided to pass on the HTC Flyer. I canceled my order and bought a playbook.

After watching the comparison to me it seems as if the Flyer was designed to be pen-less and to compete with the Galaxy tab. They then added on the pen last minute.

I will be watching the 10 inch tablets and hopefully they will come with the pen and better integration.

While I really like the idea of the pen and the software its first generation just isnt up to par and that leaves you with a 1.5ghz single core tablet that cannot even handle 720p video.

When I went to talk Best Buy people about my pre order they had no clue if the pen was extra and they have no idea if its coming out on Sunday. They said they doubt it will be out Sunday as the rep hasn't come to train them on the device yet, course it is only Tuesday.

 

[adamm44]

I've had my preorder in since day one. I'm starting to get a little disappointed. I still want to give it a try though. They can enhance software a lot with upgrades. I think the processor will handle what I need it to do also.