Round Robin: Help Jennifer with the G1!

[lilmissq]

yeah, it looks sturdier than the black one.. functionality wise, i guess it's gonna be as great as it. However, i have doubts about the camera and its photo qualities.. will it be the same grainy quality? Hmm..

 

[chuazy]

same hardware, software -> same issue

 

[miketlo]

I wonder if BeeJive is coming up with an IM app.

jive is awesome

 

[Jennifer Chappell#CB]

Thanks for the informative and pleasant review, Jennifer! A lot of work went into it. I even learned a few things. I liked your description, "It's kind of like busting open a geode and discovering those beautiful crystals inside." I come from the land of thundereggs which often take the form of a geode.

One small clarification. You mentioned: "Rotating the device with the keyboard closed won't change the screen orientation." True for the home screen but auto-rotation actually depends on the application--some do, some don't. Auto-rotating can be distracting with apps that are intended more for portrait mode or that have no reason to use landscape without the keyboard.

Finally, I have to point out the Fuze reference you left in the Must-Do's. Cut-and-paste will get you every time!

All the best in TC land.

(BTW, why is TreoCentral one word and Android Central two? Anyone know?)

Thanks for the clarification about the rotating and the screen orientation! And lol, I just noticed that "Fuze" thing last night when I went back to copy and paste again from the "Editor's must-to list".heehee! Oops!

I'd love to find a geode and bust it open sometime. I'm not sure if we have those in N.C. It does seem like I've seen them in the souvenir shops up in the mountains.

About TreoCentral being one word. I guess it could be either. I just got used to typing it as one word with the two caps. I've been doing it that way for 2 years now, so I sure hope that's right! ;-)

 

[IAmTTim]

Are they keys on the G1 keyboard raised or are they flat? I've only seen the pix on the web and have not been to a T-Mobile store so I am not sure, but it looks like the keys are almost flush and not raised.

 

[chuazy]

the black ones are raised. the white and brown one if i am not wrong is flat

 

[anon(171)]

The backlight being a bit too dim is mentioned in more reviews, it seems to depend on the color of the device - not sure what colors had this problem or not though.

 

[Dr. Tyrell]

Re: KB light

The backlight being a bit too dim is mentioned in more reviews, it seems to depend on the color of the device - not sure what colors had this problem or not though.

The gold and white G1s have light-colored KBs that wash out in some light. The all-black G1 does not have this problem. A way of turning off the backlight when it is not wanted would be welcome.

 

[IAmTTim]

Okay, so for the G1 owners here how long can you use it before you have to do a recharge on the battery? If I were to get one I think I would probably be using it pretty heavily so it would be nice to get an idea how long the battery lasts. Also, AndroidCentral posted something about T-mobile maybe sending out a new battery to G1 users, has anyone received a replacement battery and if so how long does it last?

 

[Paul Roberts]

one day i managed a whole 7 hours playing podcasts etc, othertimes it's been abysmal and i've had to charge it at work after 3-4 hours...

 

[Dr. Tyrell]

Re: battery life

Okay, so for the G1 owners here how long can you use it before you have to do a recharge on the battery? If I were to get one I think I would probably be using it pretty heavily so it would be nice to get an idea how long the battery lasts. Also, AndroidCentral posted something about T-mobile maybe sending out a new battery to G1 users, has anyone received a replacement battery and if so how long does it last?

Mixed reports on the T-Mobile forums about any battery replacement program. T-Mobile customer care reportedly denies it. Some owners who complained to T-Mobile about a defective battery were given a new one. I bought a spare off of eBay. There is an after-market 2200 mAh battery (twice the capacity of stock) with back for the G1 but it adds 2 mm to the thickness.

As for battery life there are too many variables to say. Many discussions on various forums. The range seems to be anywhere from 3 to 12 hours. The low end is probably using wifi, Bluetooth, GPS, push email and the phone continuously. I get roughly 6 hours of "heavy" use before the phone warns me to charge it but I don't use Bluetooth much. You learn to pay attention to your own battery-draining habits and there are some handy apps that help.

 

[IAmTTim]

The functions I'm most interested in would be wifi for email and web and then the phone of course. I've never really liked the Bluetooth headsets so I would not be using one of those but the GPS might be interesting too.

 

[IAmTTim]

AndroidGuys.com have some info up about replacement batteries going to G1 users, guess we'll have to see if there are any reports that roll in over the next few days/weeks.

 

[chuazy]

that "news" has actually been floating around since november and was supposed to happen in Dec.... i do hope it will happen though.

 

[vbsoulpole]

Is there some site or a post here on AC forums that provides some review of the battery life for all android phones? I cant imagine there is a specific metric for it, but it'd be nice to know which manufacturers typically provide phones that can last the work day.