10/6/14 1:48 PM

...is OK, quite good really...unless you have certain expectations.

the transformer is such a useful form-factor, when i go into laptop mode...i want it to have all my normal laptop apps. it'd actually be fine if it could run linux windows isnt a necessity, but a stripped down phone OS just holds me back when i'm in laptop mode.

10/6/14 2:47 PM

I've got a Transformer and really like it. Some incompatibility is creeping in between Chrome and some websites that are upgrading to take advantage of the new web features and work better with Windows Explorer.

For some reason, my keyboard battery lost its connection to the tablet battery. I may be facing a new laptop soon.

10/7/14 3:56 PM

But I really like the aluminum body. Wish I could find a newer laptop with that.

10/7/14 6:56 PM

MacBook Air.

I gave up on my iPad except for reading and some items at work.

10/7/14 7:19 PM

despite the size, i LOVE the call quality. it's amazing...ever since cell phones went digital, i've been bummed by the sound quality and there's always a lagginess to it that gets in the way of normal conversational dynamics.

with this phone, it's like i'm on an old school land line with high quality wires. clear voices w/o overtalking and no weird lagginess/latency. i'm simply amazed. while the 4G helps i'm guessing the 8-core architecture has alot to do with it. prior phone was also a 4G, but only a dual-core design.

here it is with bumper fitted:

<img src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10533384_10204266492574364_6952874222655534839_n.jpg?oh=2743c263ab2b438157412783712f1ee6&oe=54AA51E6&__gda__=1421531059_0c23eff6bf332b01c1102cb24f20ed22"><img src="https://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/10176251_10204266493174379_8126520852804602152_n.jpg?oh=b1dfc0bdddc43470749298974abfa052&oe=54BBAEB0">

10/8/14 2:47 AM

That looks like a good size.

I just don't like the Android OS. It let me down and cost me money. Plus my home is one big Apple these days and that is a huge plus for me. All the stuff integrates so easily. I love my music on EVERYTHING without having to download it to the devices. 10,000 songs don't fit on a phone with anything else in it.

10/8/14 7:06 AM

quote:

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Plus my home is one big Apple these days and that is a huge plus for me.

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10/8/14 9:03 AM

Elaine got a LG G2 a while back. I am still using a Rugby Pro, but thinking about getting a LG G3 for Elaine and taking the G2 for me. Like to just get a bigger screen mostly. But the quad proc. over the dual is a good thing too. ;)

Ant comments on 'Super AMOLED' display VS LG IPS LCD?

10/8/14 1:52 PM

no idea what my phones have had! they seem to get better with each new device, though.

i've had 3 moto droids in a row: droid-pro, droid razr maxx, droid maxx

i'd love it if someone came out with a modern 4G android with bberry keyboard.

10/8/14 2:33 PM

The old motorola droid 3 had a nice slide out keyboard, but I've grown to love the swipe! And the droid 3 was pretty heavy in comparison to newer phones.

10/8/14 4:00 PM

...and better power management algorithms.

jjust spent a 10hr work-day with wifi hotspot running for 8hrs along with 2hrs of of telecons using a BT headset.

as of 6pm my battery is still @ 25%.

SHAZAM!

10/9/14 3:33 AM

That is working a phone very hard. My iPhone could not pull that one off at all.

I handled a 6 yesterday. Crazy light. The owner stated it was bent but I could not see it. I put it on the table and the only thing that appeared to be bent was the camera lens protrudes a bit and makes it not lay flat. I like the form. The curved edge of the glass is very classy looking.

I could carry a 6 but it does feel very fragile due to the light weight and thinness.

The case screams to be made out of Ti. That would be a perfect metal for it.

10/9/14 6:43 AM

is actually a great idea for premium market.

apple and the others could make a mint off a high-end phone that's differentiated by chi-chi materials. anyone remember the multi-thousand dollar vertu phones? i think they're still around, offering android or windows based stuff...they have a $20K android!

IMO a Ti framed iphone-6 would sell well for a small high-end niche market.

here's the $20k vertu android:

http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/18/vertu-signature-touch-hands-on-video/

10/9/14 7:55 AM

quote:

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IMO a Ti framed iphone-6 would sell well for a small high-end niche market.

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10/9/14 8:39 AM

...thin designs with less bending/deformation risk compared to alumin.

plus it's expensive and different! maybe some cool scratch-resistant Ti-nitride coatings, too.

10/9/14 9:03 AM

Why anyone would pay a huge extra for a "better made" phone, however high end, is beyond me. It'll be obsolete within a year or two, so the premium is wasted!

Most people pay extra for phones that has better function. iPhones have functions to match its nice form factor to make for an overall better package worthy of the premium. Even that gets wasted a few years later when the market level function leaves it behind.

10/9/14 9:13 AM

My wife's 6 is lighter then her old 4S. She commented on that right before we handed in the 4S to Verizon.

She promptly put the 6 inside an Otterbox Defender case and that's the rub, you could make the phone out of titanium, aluminum, carbon or wood and it wouldn't matter to 90% of the users who put the thing inside a case or skin.

10/9/14 9:32 AM

quote:

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it wouldn't matter to 90% of the users who put the thing inside a case or skin.

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10/9/14 10:20 AM

I don't case mine, either. I figure cases make the phones harder to use (and they can affect the audio) and the margin of protection is probably not that great. When I'm not using it, I do slide it into a slip case, just to keep the screen from getting too scratched, but it's a fairly disposable bit of electrojunk.

It's not like it's a bike, for heaven's sake.

10/9/14 10:56 AM

"but it's a fairly disposable bit of electrojunk."

By getting cheaper and 'less featured' non latest and greatest an annoying component is removed.

Having to give a shit about it, it getting broken, scratches, stolen. This includes car, phones, computers, yada...

When a branch fell onto my limited edition 1996 SS Impala I was keeping under 9k miles successfully in 24 months, I was done. The trunk, quarter tops and bumper cover needed to be painted to fix it with the paint matching. After 2 years of minimal use, parking it all the way on the other side of parking lots and lot of walking to avoid cart dents etc.

It easily could have been a 2-3 more expensive car as well. Flipped a switch for me, sold it needing the repair for more than I paid for it and was done.

I enjoy smashing cell phones too much also. ;) Although last time was in 2002 I did that. That one day of telling yourself you will never get another one before you do is bliss. ;))

10/9/14 12:00 PM

What I mean is that I don't fall in love with a phone the way I fall in love with a bike (and I do) the way some people fall in love with a car. Digital devices are not things to which I can really get attached. I would hate to lose my little notebook, but more for the data on it than for the thing itself. Compound that with the fact the electronics are almost constantly improving and, well, replacement doesn't hurt as much. OTOH, there's an aesthetic to bicycles, and the fact that I built up a particular bike with my bare hands makes it harder to lose...the same could be said of guitars (though if my insurance would replace a Tele with an Alembic, I could live with the loss).

10/9/14 12:24 PM

Maybe because I have so many bikes I do not relate to falling in love. I can honestly say the 'tool' side of both phones and bike is my focus. At least I think. ;)
I do dig the shit out them all, and do love the aspects of a few that stands out in function. Example: Scott LTD's performance,weight,stiffness. Springy feel of the Paramount. A feature in the Schwinn I would consider a bad thing in the Scott, ;) A dichotomy, I know..


Update BTW on the Roubaix SL4 VS Scott after a 40 mile ride on the LTD yesterday. The Scott is more comfortable, and with smaller tires too. ;)

10/9/14 4:38 PM

I don't use a case very often but I do have a leather sleeve I slide my phone in. I will put my phone in a ziplock when I ride is poor weather.

Ti would be a very functional addition to the iPhone line-up. It is super tough, I have messed with sheet Ti at work plenty of times and the stuff is nuts strong. It is lightyears better for a phone frame than any plastic or Al framed device.

I would pay iPhone 6+ prices for a iPhone 6 made of Ti, maybe a bit more.

10/9/14 6:58 PM

Ti maybe tough, but what is it protecting?

Screen is the most vulnerable of them all, which the Ti case won't help protect.

The electronics inside, if you drop them, probably won't get any "protection" from a tough outer case. Some cushioning would go a long way but ti isn't any better at cushioning.

About the only thing a tough ti skin will help is scratches. But that's really not a functional issue, only cosmetic.

10/9/14 8:33 PM

i think april is the only person that used the word "protection" regarding Ti in a phone, then goes on to dispute a couple times the (non-existent) assertion of protection that Ti provides. funny.

Ti is stronger than Al, which would make screen breakage due to frame deformation less likely. a Ti nitiride coating is a fair bit more scratch resistant than anodized aluminum by a long shot, and the gold color would certainly win points with many people! i personally would prefer a stainless-steel frame, cuz i like the heft.