What I LOVE about my G1!

**RegGuheert** · 10-21-2008, 10:46 PM

Well, I've finally had about 6 hours with one of our two new G1s. I LOVE this little phone!

Here are some highlights:

1) The rubbery feel on the back is great. Makes it less possible to drop. I wish the top half around the display were also rubbery like that.
2) It's nice and small! Like almost everyone who has commented on the phone, I find the tiny size of this thing to be quite remarkable.
3) Battery life is awesome! I guess I got a good one. I charged for about 1 hour while I played with it and have been using it for over 6 hours on WLAN since then and I'm at about 70%. I've done a little of everything during that time. We'll see how my other G1 looks in this department...
4) Works great WITHOUT a data plan! I think I'll use WLAN except when I need to travel and may just turn it on then. We'll see how addicted I get to this thing though...
5) The screen is beautiful!
6) The touchscreen is great! I've never had a phone with one of these and I like it very much. (Though I DO think it would be nice to have multitouch.)
7) The MarketPlace is awesome! I've only gotten one app so far, but by the time I received my phone, there was quite a bit there. (Still need Pac-Man!)
8) ShopSavvy is cool! Definitely impressed my wife with that one. Scanned a book, a DVD, even an ERASER and found reviews. (Yes, 2 reviews for an ERASER.) Funny thing: I scanned my G1 barcode and it said product cannot be found!

9) The browser is great! I've never had a phone with a useful browser. Now I do!

Disappointments:

1) Music player cannot handle 2000 audio files. Funny thing is this was the first thing I tried and it brought my G1 to its knees instantly. I switched back to the stock microSD and all was well:

http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f...-slowwww-3524/

2) I'm not a big fan of the keyboard. While it's a nice keyboard, I find it odd to type with my thumbs, since I'm a touch typist. I do think I can get used to thumb typing, however. I also found myself wishing for a virtual keyboard in several instances. This was particularly true when I was in portrait mode. It's pretty silly to have to rotate the phone, open the keyboard, etc. just to enter a couple of letters. This is such a glaring omission that I'm sure it will be resolved very soon.

3) I'm afraid I will drop it and break it. Time will tell.

Questions:

1) Was I supposed to get a SIM card? I cannot find one in the package. It's not an issue. It's just that the reviews listed that as part of the contents.

Notables:

1) I haven't seen any mention of the fact that the phone lets you select between two different networks in the US: T-Mobile and AT&T. Is this just because they are GSM, or is it because AT&T will sell the G1 also? (Likely Steve Jobs will not allow it!)

Bottom line: No complaints here! Great job HTC, Google and T-Mobile! Two thumbs up!

**NetCom** · 10-21-2008, 10:51 PM

I have talked to T-Mobile Rep today and SIM cards were not distributed and do not make any difference when it comes to 3G network (old vs new SIM card).

Also, T-Mobile Coverage Map is not FULLY EXACT when it comes to 3G coverage. According to the map I live in 3G area. However after I tested the unit tonight on my way to Jewel 1-2 miles from my apt - it grabbed 3G as I was going closer to another community in N burbs of Chicago. I am not dependent on 3G network in my house as I have WiFi and the place where I work they have 3G coverage. On the top of that Home computer has cable internet connection - work computer has LAN internet connection. Therefore on daily basis I am surrounded with internet enough you may say

**dherna** · 10-21-2008, 10:53 PM

I'm with you on pretty much everything...

My wife has an iphone and I hate typing on the virtual keyboard... this keyboard is by far much better. I'd rather deal with the flipping and opening and get a better keyboard.

I got a sim card with my phone but ended up using the one from my old phone because when I put the new card in it told me that that card did not have a data plan... as soon as I put my old sim card in everything worked perfectly.

**RegGuheert** · 10-21-2008, 10:55 PM

Thanks! No T-Mobile 3G within about 100 miles of here. LOL! But EDGE has been solid here for a few years. I have a Sprint data plan for 3G right now, but its days may be numbered...

**refused9150** · 10-21-2008, 10:58 PM

Thank you so much for that review!!! It is nice to hear a users opinion.

**constellanation** · 10-21-2008, 11:04 PM

Ha ha the first thing I scanned was my phone's box also, and no it wasn't found.

as for the keyboard I think the delete and enter could of been spaced a little further apart. I have sent a couple of texts mid typo already, I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually though.

the battery has been good to me, I used it until got below ten percent charged it to 100 percent while dropping some music/photo files, (unplugged it a couple of times to make sure they would read correctly) and have been using it nonstop since in every possible manner.

the virtual keyboard would help, as would multitouch and pac-man would be great. Other than that, I really really am happy with the useful functional playfulness of this phone.

as a side note to reg, finally got to use the video skype tonite with my cousin in brazil, worked great and it was good to hear from him, so thanks again!