G1 = Fail

[j]

Anyone else that owns or have ever owned a G1 not happy with it?

I've had my G1 for a few months now and have found many FAILS.

1) No way to calibrate the touch. I know it's capacitive touch screen, but even capacitive can be calibrated

2)No stylus, One of the reasons the G1 should not be a capacitive base screen. Many of the apps have very small points to touch. I always mistouch

3)Docking sucks. You have to open the notifications and press dock? come on really. cells phone have been auto docking for the last 10 years, why go backwards.

4)Does not link to a contact system other that google or outlook. I prefer to keep my contacts separate from my e-mail. For the expense of the phone I should have this option. Even my old Motorola phone had Motorola phone tools.

5)The screen will time out and then I have to press menu everytime I want to use the phone again. How annoying, I can't find away to shut that off.

6) The battery last for 8 hours. Ok I may need another battery, but still

7)When I'm going though phone prompts I have to hit menu to unlock the phone, then hit the grren phone button, then hit dialer tab. It defaults to some other tab. By the time I go through that I either miss the prompt, or the prompt kicks me out for not making a selection.

8)Internet access really slow.

Ok the apps are cool and the display looks really good, but these things don't compare to the annoying nuances of this phone. I have just bought a Wing again and selling my G1. The Wing in my opinion is a much better phone all round. It's got everythong the G1 has except for the fancy screen.

Dear google and HTC. Please improve your dumb phone.

I know I bitch a lot, but when I spend $200 on a phone I expect a lot more.

I know Prime will say I'm just lazy, But I say after using a Wing and knowing how easy a smart phone can be and then going to a G1 and seeing how much extra steps and how user unfreindly it is...it just makes me :tim:

[ardichoke]

Couldn't disagree with you more. I love my G1 to death.

1) I've only owned a few touch screen devices in my life but none of them have ever had a "calibration" feature. At least not that I remember.

2) You want a stylus, drop a couple bucks (http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/Soft-touch-Stylus-Pen-for-HTC-Google-G1/3725813/product.html?cid=123620&fp=F&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=11794058) and pick one up. The only app that I'll agree with out about the small points is twidroid, and that's only because they have those stupid circular buttons instead of just using square ones with rounded corners. That's not the G1's fault, it's the developers.

3) This is because when the phone is docked, the SD card is unavailable on the phone. They don't want to auto-dock it if you are just plugging it in to charge it. I like this option as I charge much G1 off my computer more often than I actually dock it and I like my SD card to still be usable when it's drawing charge off USB.

4) I'll give you this one, someone will probably write an app to do it in the future if it's that big of a deal though. I, for one, prefer having everything sync'd automatically to my Google Contacts.

5) You haven't looked through the options very thoroughly. In settings > sound and display > Screen timeout you can disable that or just set it to really long if you prefer. Also, if you get power manager it can change it automatically based on battery power level, AC plugged in, etc.

6) Yeah, the battery life sucks. Then again the battery life on most smart phones isn't stellar especially if you use it a lot.

7) I've never had this problem. When I'm in a call, there's a tab at the bottom to pull up the Dialpad... are you sure your software is up to date?

8) Depends on your area. I'm in Lansing and my internet is blazing fast (unless I have a weak signal out in the boonies). The WiFi is very snappy as well.

[primesuspect]

1) wtf

2) you're cheap

3) lazy

4) paranoid

5) lazy

6) lazy (charge your phone more often)

7) wtf

8) wtf

[j]

1) wtf

2) you're cheap

3) lazy

4) paranoid

5) lazy

6) lazy (charge your phone more often)

7) wtf

8) wtf

LOL. response = awesome

[j]

2) You want a stylus, drop a couple bucks (http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/Soft-touch-Stylus-Pen-for-HTC-Google-G1/3725813/product.html?cid=123620&fp=F&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=11794058) and pick one up.

can't use a stylus with the G1. Because it's capacitive you have to have a wide conductive area to touch. I tried, it failed. But if I used a metal object with a wide base it worked, but the wide base is just as fat as my finger.

To each his own I guess.

[ardichoke]

Did you even bother to follow the link? It's a stylus made specifically for the G1 capacitive touch screen. If it doesn't work return it.

I'm starting to agree with prime's assessment.

EDIT: Okay, the ONE reviewer of that stylus said that its responsiveness on the G1 is questionable. Regardless, buy a stylus for the iPhone or iTouch as they both use capacitive touchscreens as well (or so I've read).

[RyderOCZ]

Did you even bother to follow the link? It's a stylus made specifically for the G1 capacitive touch screen. If it doesn't work return it.Seriously? Come on Jeff, you didn't even click? bahahahahahahahaha

[j]

Shit! Your right I didn't click the link. I assumed that it was just the regular old plastic ones. oops. what a dick. Sorry Artichoke. :-)

[fatcat]

5)The screen will time out and then I have to press menu everytime I want to use the phone again. How annoying, I can't find away to shut that off.

Settings>Sound and Display>Screen Timeout

[j]

Settings>Sound and Display>Screen Timeout

if you change the timeout the battery life goes down, and the problem still exist. I don't want to press menu every time it times out

[Snarkasm]

... What button WOULD you like to press when the screen saves itself?

This is such a stupid qualm. The screen shuts off to save battery life. How exactly would you like to turn it back on without pressing -some button-? Do you honestly have a problem with hitting "menu?"

[j]

... What button WOULD you like to press when the screen saves itself?

This is such a stupid qualm. The screen shuts off to save battery life. How exactly would you like to turn it back on without pressing -some button-? Do you honestly have a problem with hitting "menu?"

I have a problem with hitting menu twice. You have to hit any button to wake it up and have the backlight turn on. Then you have to hit menu to "unlock the screen" I don't ever want my screen to lock. There is no way to do this what a fail.

[Thrax]

Welcome to every smartphone on the market. If you didn't hit the button twice, the phone would be unable to differentiate input from waking the screen. Congrats pressing random UI buttons to activate the touchscreen.

[Snarkasm]

What about this (http://inportb.com/2008/11/28/disabling-the-screen-lock-on-android/)?

[j]

dude, I have to hack my phone to disable an unlock feature. The Wing lets you decide weather or not to lock the screen after wake up.

"If you didn't hit the button twice, the phone would be unable to differentiate input from waking the screen. Congrats pressing random UI buttons to activate the touchscreen."

Wing does not have this issue.

[Snarkasm]

You can be such a tool sometimes. Your problem can be fixed, who cares if it's fixed by a setting or a reboot in the middle of a setup program?

Jesus Christ, fix your made-up issue and be happy about it.

[jared]

I think you should just get a pay-as-you go phone and then stop being such a pessimistic bitch.

There are plenty of things I would change about the iphone (I don't know where I would start), but ffs its a god damn phone.

Everything is amazing, and nobody is happy...
http://www.hulu.com/watch/60634/late-night-with-conan-obrien-everythings-amazing-nobodys-happy

[j]

OMG heaven forbid I'm unhappy with a G1. I just think if you pay $200 or more for a phone it should a least work as well as the last phone you had. In my case it does not. I had a Wing and it worked better than the G1. So now I'm going back to the Wing. What's wrong with that? I agree cell phone are amazing, but there is a difference between amazing cell phone technology and a shitty UI. The G1 really is google's first stab at a phone, I expect them to get it wrong and it's ok to have a shitty UI on your first go around, but don;t expect me to like it and keep it because it's popular.

[Thrax]

What Jeff says: "shitty UI"
What everyone else sees: "Jeff is being a pain in the ass again."

[jared]

ITS GOING TO SPACE..... :D

[ardichoke]

I have a problem with hitting menu twice. You have to hit any button to wake it up and have the backlight turn on. Then you have to hit menu to "unlock the screen" I don't ever want my screen to lock. There is no way to do this what a fail.

You are possibly the laziest person I've ever met. You're also just plain WRONG. All you have to do is press Menu ONCE to turn the screen on and unlock it. You don't have to press anything else.

http://z.about.com/d/politicalhumor/1/0/j/t/2/dining-room-table-argument-.jpg

[j]

ardi I am the laziest person you'll ever meet :-) And on my G1 I have to hit the menu twice. Maybe you have different software. Ah be here is another fail of the G1

You can't organize your shortcuts from your PC. Making folders, moving the icons around and general organization is very poor. If they had a program that ran on your PC so I organize my folders and programs and then sync to the phone, that would be sweet. But alas, G1 makers saw fit to leave organization out of there products. I think the decision went like this.

Marketer1: "Should we make the UI easy to use a versatile?"

Marketer2: "Why no! People will accept these short coming because we'll hype this up to be the best phone ever. They won't question it. mo wa ha ha"

Marketer1: "Genius, It doesn't matter how well it works, it matters what we tell them. The masses will buy anything. Hey, maybe we show Justin Timberlake or some famous person holding it, then we'll sell tons. Double mo wa ha ha"

(Fade to black as the 2 Marketers grin in an evil manor).

[Snarkasm]

Those evil manors can be so intimidating. And creaky.

[ardichoke]

Okay... I was going to continue pointing out the absurdity in everything j posts, but there's no point anymore. Go buy yourself a Jitterbug (http://www.jitterbug.com/) and STFU.

[j]

I don't like the color. LOL

[j]

I'm not alone.
http://counternotions.com/2008/09/24/g1/

Other good ones is camera sucks.

11 and 23 are also 2 of my disappointments. crazy J no so crazy

[Snarkasm]

Time to LOL!

Unlock a G1 (http://www.androidcentral.com/unlock-tmobile-g1).
Tether a G1 (http://gizmodo.com/5076233/how-to-tether-the-g1-for-3g-laptop-browsing).
Flash/Silverlight/iTunes - I just have to laugh at that.
Exchange Support for the G1 (http://mail2web.com/blog/2009/03/microsoft-exchange-activesync-tmobile-g1/).
Skype Lite (http://share.skype.com/sites/skypegear/2009/01/video_skype_lite_on_android.html) on G1 - but the fact that it can't run over 3G is hardly Google's fault. Blame the carrier.
No 3.5mm headphone jack - welcome to 80% of other phones.
A2DP came in Cupcake (http://hackaday.com/2008/12/19/android-adds-a2dp-avrcp-bluetooth-and-more/).
Multitouch on G1 (http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/22/g1-multi-touch-a-reality-integrated-headphone-jack-still-just-a/).
Desktop sync - what would you sync? Everything goes to the cloud.
No compatibility with iPod connectors?! WTF?!
Record video on a G1 (http://www.googleandblog.com/htc-g1-google-android-gets-video-recording/3412/).

I'm done wasting my time with the rest of these. Almost ALL of them are complete and utter bullshit.

[Snarkasm]

No, fuck that, I'm not done.

# No data-only T-Mobile plans - HOW IS THIS THE G1'S FAULT?
# Limited to 1GB bandwidth cap, speed down to 50kbps after 1GB Again, a T-Mo problem.
# Limited to 3G coverage in only 22 locations in the U.S. Again, a T-Mo problem.
# Limited to stores within vicinity of T-Mobile 3G covered locations Again, a T-Mo problem.
# Limited to users with Google accounts only It's a Google phone, for God's sake. You can still access Exchange for other email, download via POP for others, reroute everything to your Google mail account...
# Limited to Google email, contacts, calendar, plus another generic email Oh, so you CAN access a non-Gmail account? Get it straight!
# Limited to maximum 8GB memory, with additional microSD card purchase MicroSD cards go up to 32GB (http://www.blackberrynews.com/2009/02/24/sandisk-shipping-32gb-microsd-cards-soon/).
# Limited to read-only Word, PDF, and Excel docs; no editing HEY, maybe a legitimate complaint![/URL]
# Limited screen size (3.2″) and colors (65K) [i]Better than most things out there. How about some context?
# Limited language support Another legit one, for some.
# Limited apps and games Lots more than most phones! Maybe you should code one.
# Limited transparency on how Google or carriers will ‘validate’ app submissions There's no limited transparency - there IS NO VALIDATION. That's what makes it wonderful.
# Limited industrial design appeal Seriously? A design complaint?