Comments (17)

By phroghollow, January 28, 2010 5:26 am

I`ve been waiting to see hard info on this product, this since the rumours started flying thick and fast, i`ve never been an Apple fan due to the limitations on them set by Apple, but i`m looking around, and Apple have done really good things as far as mass marketing gadgets, so here`s what I think of the iPad :

Pros :

• eBook Store (ePub format) – Very interested to see how this pushes the eBook format, also no info on the DRM etc on it.
• Battery Life, 10 Hours is stunning, I would say due to the 1GHz Apple A4 CPU but interested to see more about this CPU.
• Looks Good, even i`ll admit it looks good
• 9.7″ Screen looks good, but 1024×768 res is a little disappointing but size of screen is limited.

Cons :

• No GPS, Kinda limits the possibilities.
• No HDMI or DVI Output – Big Disappointment.
• Only 64Gb Max??
• No Flash integration.
• No camera, Yeah it has an option for an add-0n but come on.
• No multitasking, maybe an OS update this year will do something about it?
• Soft Keyboard, No really positive reviews on it yet.

Pricing :
Biggest disappointment is the price, as usual for Apple there is a big premium for slapping a fruit logo on the back :
WiFi Only : $499 for 16GB, $599 for 32Gb and $699 for 64GB
Adding 3G costs a $130 per model So :
WiFi/3G : $629 for 16Gb, $729 for 32Gb and $829 for 64Gb
- Bear in mind these are US dollars and will be a premium markup when it hits Australia presumably around June/July this year.

Overall :
I was seriously looking at this device as my first Apple product (bar an iPod I never actually used except as a portable HDD), but the Cons column quickly outweighed the pros, the price also makes it look unattractive. The one thing I am really excited about is the iBook stuff, I read…A Lot, I don`t listen to music much so iTunes never really excited me, but I do read, extensively and quickly and I like to own original legit copies of books, so i`m quite frankly excited to see what Apple can do for ebook readers. Hardware wise, i’d like to see some things fixed up, mainly the stuff in the Cons column. Overall i`ll wait to see what other tablet options come out maybe the next version of the iPad may convince me, or it may be the Asus Eee Pad or the HP, Who knows? But I do know I like the look of tablet PC`s.

EDIT : Forgot, The Name : iPad, sounds like a female sanitary product, Really.

Comments (23)

By phroghollow, March 19, 2009 5:25 am

You may or may not have noticed that I seem to use my blog as a place to remember cool things i`ve seen or want, I mean I could use my favourites list, but I like this way as I add pictures and stuff, so it`s easier to remember, that and my iWoot favourites folder is so huge it`s hard to find stuff. So i`ve had my HTC Dream for a month now, i`ve found I want some accessories that I feel would make my life with it a bit better.

These would be :
A Larger Battery, going from 1150mAh as standard to 1400mAh which seems to be the largest without adding a larger battery cover :
A Mini-USB to 3.5mm adaptor so I can use normal head phones on it :
A heap of screen protectors, I`ve tended to not worry about this in the past and it has been to my detriment :
A Case, I think something like below would be good as it has the belt clip on it, but I do tend to keep it in my pocket :A Cradle, I would like 2 of these, 1 for work and 1 for home :
That`s about it for now, i`ll probably edit this post if I come across anything else I would like for the phone, but that`s my list for now, most of this stuff is on eBay pretty cheap, so i`ll be getting alot of it myself, espescially the screen protectors as I have one on now and it`s getting dirty and scratched.

Side note, Kirsty, Clone Wars have the last episode coming out on Saturday, so i`ll be sending your discs on Monday to accomodate.

Anyway, I`m outta here for the day. Bye.

Comments (21)

By phroghollow, February 23, 2009 6:05 am

Ok, so I got my HTC Dream a week ago, i`ve been through the Android Market many times and basically I`ve got this :

eBook Readers :
aBook Reader – Not great, very close to uninstall at the moment
Audua eReader – My Current favourite
CadreBible LE – so I can show my dad a Bible, other than that, I don`t use it
jjReader – Can`t even get it working, gonna uninstall it

Games :
Alien Blood Bath – 2d SideScroller, not too bad
AndPipes! – Based on one of my favourite windows games, Pipe Dreams, doesn`t translate real well to android, but still fun
Beat the Joker Slots – Hey it`s a pokie
Amazed – tilt game
DroidDice – always good for when you lose a die for a board game
Solitaire – gotta have solitaire
Spin The Bottle – gotta make sure it ends up pointing to the wife

Apps :
aCurrency – Fantastic currency convertor
Android Gallery – Slightly better than pictures
Bartender – good for a list of cocktails, plus you can add your own
BlueBrush – painting program
Cellfinder – supposed to find nearest cell tower, going to uninstall this
Compass – its a compass
Farm Animals – makes various noises
FartDroid – it farts, and has a timer so you can set it and walk away
fBook – FaceBook Client, I`m not on Facebook, my family is trying to convince me
fIRC chat – gotta have an irc client, but I havent`t tested it yet
Flashlight – Great flashlight, just makes an all white screen at full brightness
Flower Pot – I`m trying to grow a plant
Konvertor – Cool konvertor app, converts units of measurement
meebo – IM client for MSN, AOL etc.
MemoryforLemmings – clears up memory
Moon Phase – shows phases of the moon
My Collection – supposed to be a good database, but I have over 1000 DVD`s and it wont import my CSV list.
My Backup – Great backup program for those unfortunate cases
Now Playing – Great app, links to trailers, movie info and now playing times at local cinema`s
OI Safe – Password Safe, it`s pretty decent
Remote Droid – app for controlling your PC, touch screen acts as touchpad, good for media centre PC
SciCalc – better calc than standard calculator
ScreenCrack – cool app, makes it look as though your screen is broken
Steamy Window – novelty app, steam up your screen then wipe it away
Stop Watch – good basic stop watch
Telnet – used for Rooting your phone, haven`t got there yet but I will
The Schwartz UnSheathed – Everyone should have a lightsaber on their phone
The Weather Channel – Good app for weather, can add multiple towns so I can see weather for all my family
TideApp – Good app for telling you the tides
Toggle Settings – has on/off for all functions
Toggle Blu – One touch BlueTooth on/off
Toggle GPS – One touch GPS on/off
Toggle Wifi – One touch wifi on/off
TriCorder – Star Trek, damn we need some light meter and thermometer in the G1/Dream
TuneWiki – supposed to be a good mp3 player, i`m not into music so much and the times i`ve used it, can`t find lyrics for my songs
TwiDroid – Twitter for Android, this one is pretty cool
Whatis My IP – Obvious it finds your IP
WikiMobile – Wiki on your phone

Still Looking for :
Decent MS Office program for Android – Both reader and editor
xvid player – hoping now paid apps in the US we will see a company release a player, I refuse to convert my 2.5Tb`s to Mp4
Video Recorder – the current app in the market is too buggy
eBook Reader – Audua Reader is pretty good, but has flaws, not great scrolling, no LIT, PDB, RTF, DOC or any other format support except HTML and TXT

So really, i`m having fun with my phone, I hope there is 3G access on Stradbroke Island, I`ve only got 6 more working days till holidays . Bye.

Comments (24)

By phroghollow, February 16, 2009 6:20 am

Well I got my new phone, Adele got hers as well, basically they`re both in her name Woohoo, I`m on a $59 cap with a $20 data pack on top, so I get 1.5Gb of Downloads on my phone, which is lucky as it seems to be fairly data intensive, but i`m overjoyed .

Our painting has been disappointing as when we removed the tape today, half the paint has come off with it, i`m thinking we`re going to have to sand it all back to wood so the paint bonds with the surface.

I`ve been searching around and found some more stuff, I feel this bottle of Sauce may last me at least a week :

I think I found Al`s next birthday/christmas present here as well :
But really just a blog to tell you I have my phone and am extremely happy with it. Bye.

Comments (29)

By phroghollow, February 15, 2009 6:20 am

So Adele has changed her mind and instead of Half Hog`s Bristle on the door`s etc. we are going for a high gloss White Watsonia(any tips for getting rid of brush marks on high gloss paint are appreciated).

Side note : whilst out to buy our paint, even though we had managed to park almost right in front of the doors, Adele managed to lose the car, despite the fact I was standing behind it and waved at her and she also looked straight at me.

But anyway here is the painting so far :

So basically from this :
To this :
A long process, it takes 3 coats to get us this far, we may do a fourth coat tomorrow we`re going to see how it looks tomorrow morning.

So tomorrow both Adele and I have the day off, we both are going to get new mobile phones, me to get the HTC Dream, it`s the first phone in Australia running the new Google Android Operating System :
Adele will be getting the 6500 Slide :

I tried to convince her to get a Dream as well but she doesn`t think it`s worth the cost, now we`re also trying to bring our Home phone over to Optus as well as Telstra have well and truly p*ssed us off. They have given us nothing but grief since we joined them and we figure they have not listened to complaints from us and the only way to get them to listen is to drop them completely.

I am a little worried about how my bad credit history will affect my getting a new phone, but as it`s now 4 years and 11 months since I paid off my bad debts it should be ok, if not i`ll have to wait till the 9th of March which is the 5 year anniversary of my bad debts being paid off,(note to all pay your debts, debt collectors are whiny b*tches). I`ll be jumping onto MyCreditFile on the 9th of March whilst we`re on Stradbroke Island to get a copy of my credit report, hmm, maybe I will wait till we`re back in Canberrra, so Al depending on wether I am successful in getting a new phone tomorrow you may have a new phone shortly.

So anyway, that`s my update, i`m gonna leave you with some funny pics I found in the course of my internet surfing, I generally find lots of amusing stuff but I just forget it but here`s a start :
Those of you with a Nintendo Wii will appreciate this :
And the other is this :
My Question is what is the machine gun for??

Aight everyone fingers crossed for our phone excursion tomorrow, Bye.

Comments (18)

By phroghollow, January 18, 2009 6:23 am

So yesterday I installed a new browser on my phone which means I can blog on my phone, I also found if I “utilise” the next door neighbours wi-fi which is unsecured I can do this without interrupting my downloads, Alright its technically on the grey side of legal, I swear I will go teach them how to protect their wi-fi .

Adele is off with her mother at DFO, hope she buys me a present. I bought Wall-e the other day on Blu-Ray taking my Blu-Ray collection to 5 but until prices start falling on Blu-Ray discs I refuse to really buy them it’s only a couple I want.

So a big shout out to all of you in shake land, from what we’ve discussed we’ll most likely be joining you, I hereby vote a carbs fest at Clare’s wedding, who’s with me?

alright ti,e to get off this thing my but’s numb, and I still can’t find the scale toilet seat, so till next time . Bye.