Category Archives: Gadgets & Toys

Samsung Series 5 Chromebook

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In a continuing effort to broaden my gadget experience, I picked up a Samsung Series 5 3G Chromebook. Verdict: Don’t buy it.

Hardware

The actual hardware isn’t completely shoddy, but I should have expected anything with an Atom to not perform very well as soon as a Flash plugin kicked in. And for a device that’s supposed to do the full web, I was underwhelmed by not only the Flash performance, but by the performance overall. I really thought I would be able to say that this is a step up from a netbook, those cursed devices that I abhor. (I owned a Asus 1015PEM something something [I hate hate these model numbers] for about a couple days before returning it.) But in reality, this version of the Chromebook, maybe the first of many models, is only a tiny bit better.

And actually, in some parts it’s not all that better. The screen hinge is one of the weakest I’ve seen in a laptop. Feels like it’ll lose its grip on the horribly-contrasted screen very quickly. With the MacBook Pro, the hinges might seem loose, but it’s because of the freaking glossy screen being so heavy, and even then, I still feel like the hinge will hold it’s grippiness for the life of the laptop. (Yes, next time I get a Mac, I will have to grab the matte, no question.)

I do, however, like the feel of the keyboard. I think the keys are a tiny bit rubberized, and so there’s a bit of grip on them as I type. I do think that the omission of a third “function” key on the bottom right corner is a bit of an issue for keyboard nuts like me.

Trackpad… eh. Responsiveness is… alright. I definitely need triple finger gestures, though. I need the ability to close tabs and middle-click open tabs very quickly. I’m already missing the Thinkpad pointer nub.

I’ve had an SSD in my computer, PC/Mac/Linux, for a while, and so there’s no wow factor in seeing anything boot faster.

I haven’t tried the 3G, but I bet it’s going to be better than AT&T.

Software

I like the idea of the Chromebook. I want my current favorite browser on the go. Simple.

But it just isn’t there yet.

I loved how all my plugins were right there, waiting for me to reconfigure. I’ve fell in love with this ever since Google enabled it (secretly, mind you, as they like to just randomly add features and updates without telling anyone). The future is, obviously, to be able to take the entire browsing experience, tabs and settings (like my Google search blocklist) and all.

The actual Chromebook settings seemed to be saved on the cloud somewhere, since I swapped out my Ctrl key for the Search key and vice versa, and was already set after a system reset. (Use the little switch on the right side of the Chromebook, and hit Ctrl + D on start, btw.)

And so…

To this day, I don’t think you can go wrong with an Apple laptop. If I had a need for one, I’d be getting the new 13″ Macbook Air that may or may not be coming out soon in the future.

Verizon Does Data Activation Right

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On the Chromebook? Just fire it up, without having Wifi.

On the first generation iPad? You better have Wifi before signing up.

What still sucks is that I still have to give my credit card information. They say it’s “soley to confirm identity”, but still… At least they follow it up by saying that “no charges will be applied to your account unless explicitly authorized in advanced.” AT&T? You’ll get charged if you don’t cancel in time if you’ve signed up for the 250 MB plan.

And what’s this talk of the PSP Vita getting AT&T? How much is AT&T paying these people to get these exclusives?

// TLDR: Moar Verizon plz. Less of the craptastic network that is AT&T.

// Oh, and yes, I have a Chromebook now.

Edge Case: 3G iPad 1st Gen vs iPad 2nd Gen Data Activation

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After an hour long conversation with AT&T and Apple, as well as an hour at the AT&T store (first of which, wasn’t the right store because they just sold phones), I am finally ready for the 3G on the iPad. I picked up a refurb 1st gen for $350 a couple days ago. (Super cheap, some crazy fire… sale at AT&T’s site.)

When I got it, I couldn’t access the Cellular Data tab in Settings to see if I could sign up for it. Kept giving me an error: “Your account type does not support the view account feature (H5006).”

So here’s the interesting info. The 1st generation iPads would come with completely blank micro SIM cards. The 2nd generations, however, come with a phone number already attached to it. Someone shipped my iPad with a micro SIM card with a phone number on it, and so the 1st gen couldn’t start the sign up process because there was already a number assigned to it.

You can’t just ask for a new SIM card if you have this error: You have to ask for a completely blank one.

Conspiracy Theory

Okay, so here comes my hatred/fear of the telecoms: When I signed up through the less-than-perfect AT&T site, I had to pick a data plan. Now, as you may know, I love love love the fact that on the 3G iPads, I don’t have to muck around with the pipe provider. You sign up for 30 days of X amount of data, and you’re done. No contract. No calling in to customer support, hammering at the 0, saying no to every single question. No bullcrap. But when I bought this iPad, I felt like I was entering into a contract with AT&T, telling them that I’d be giving them money regardless of if I used the 3G feature (which I normally wouldn’t).

Does the fact that the 3G iPad 2 comes with the phone number already attached to it say anything about the vendor/telecom relationship between Apple and AT&T/Verizon? Will there be a subsidized iPad in the future? Don’t know, but don’t sign me up on it.

Now to enjoy yet another addition to my ever-revolving set of gadget loadouts. Hooray.

Chromebooks

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Uh, so this happened.

I want one. Definitely grabbing it from the Amazon store when it does come out, unless I somehow have a laptop… And maybe even then, the free 100MB per month (for 2 years) sounds delicious.

I won’t need it, but what would make this deal even sweeter is if I can somehow get to a terminal, like it was possible with the Cr-48. I wouldn’t want to throw Linux on it. While it won’t be as bad as getting a Mac to throw Linux on it (seriously, who does this? you’re paying for the OS/Hardware integration…), I would still want Chrome OS to be happy in its native setting, without disturbing too much of the innards.

I could have totally used this on my trip to SF last week… trying to find hotspots is so amazingly annoying, especially on foot, without an internet-connected device telling you where the hotspots are.

// Yes, I’m on a feature-phone. There’s a post coming on this subject.

EDIT: I guess they’re currently not interested in going into tablets. It kind of makes sense, because they’re still keeping the Android/ChromeOS separate projects… and in some sense, it’s super smart making sure not to be okay at two things but be very good at one thing x 2. (Android though… meh.)

I really would have liked to have some multitouch gestures to my Chrome browsing experience, but I guess that’ll have to wait. Android web browser (also with Dolphin and Opera) is… lacking. I’d take the iOS webkit over any Android browser any day.

Maybe it’s time for my 4th iPad… good thing those things are still sold out. :-)

GalaxyTab 8.9 and 10.1

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Still nowhere close to the responsiveness of the iOS, and I’m comparing it to the first gen iPad. I still haven’t touched the 2nd iPad.

I no longer buy Apple devices. I buy backlit rectangles that run GoodReader, AirVideo, Garageband, Tabtoolkit, and Safari. And run them well, the iPad does… And I’m assuming iPad 2 will run them even better.

Android vs iOS: UI Responsiveness

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There is no question in my mind that one is superbly better than the other. If someone picks Android, they haven’t used an iOS device.

I don’t think Nexus S with a future version of Android will be as smooth as the original iPhone. There’s just a level of attention to detail that is only realized by the marriage of software and hardware.

The home/back paradigm, on the other hand… well, that’s up in the air.

Dropbox on Jolicloud?

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Problems with installing Dropbox?

First, install the Dropbox Client from the App Center. Go to the settings “tab”, the little gear icon. Then select “This Device” on the right column. Click “Legacy Apps” and open up “Local Apps”. There, you’ll see that your device was waiting to finish the install device this entire time.

The current problem is that the icon on the main screen is still grey, and seems to not open up anything. In the very least, you can access your Dropbox.

Remember, alt+tab works, so leave Nautilus (the file explorer) open, and just hop back and forth.

// Ah, looks like you can access the Dropbox folder via clicking on the icon on the top taskbar.

Linux on Laptops: Yeap…

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It’s interesting to always see a post on a particular subject you’ve been meaning to write on (but only for the past day), especially the state of Linux on laptops… in my case, a netbook.

I never thought I’d be in this position, actually owning a crapbook, but for less than $400, the ability to do everything I can on a normal computer, albeit slower but with battery life, was quite interesting to me.

After hours upon hours trying to figure out why my wireless didn’t work (BCM4313, I hope to never ever have to type those characters again), scouring the Ubuntu forums and wikis, I’ve come to realize that maybe the drivers are just not existing in a current form that works easily.

I could, of course, learn the ins and outs of the ndiswrapper, or try to compile from source with the right flags… but really?

System76 is definitely an option, though. Their Starling NetBook seems inexpensive enough… but the included battery life is atrocious…

At this point, why not just get a MacBook Air? Yes, I ask myself this question, too… Definitely more expensive, but definitely will hold its value over time (since I’ll probably be switching again in six months or so). But the thing is, this machine would only be used for when I’m away from my awesome desktop, running an Ubuntu VM on top of Windows 7.

Which brings me to another point: Virtualization is the hotness. Just buy more RAM. I’m looking forward to upgrading to a 16GB in the future if I keep this up.

// Definitely need to clean up this WordPress installation to bring things back to a tip top shape.

Blackberry PlayBook

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I’ll try anything that has WebKit on it. Heck, it’s even got Flash, AIR, and Reader built in. And cameras, 3MP front facing, and 5MP rear facing. And does 1080p video recording. Java? Don’t care.

I like the 7″ size. Not 100% sure if I’ll like it more than the 9″ size of the iPad, but we’ll see.

Totally willing to buy this after a demo.