My Wife's Cherry Droid X has SOLD

SOLD

This Droid X was not used much, she never gave out her number and just used it for contacting the family, for email when away from the PC and a GPS when out of town.

Mint condition with a new charger and USB cable in the original box.  Protected by a red rubbery elastic (vinyl?) case and a screen protector for the life of the phone.

SOLD - If you would like to know the whole spiel, see the listing at http://swappa.com/listing/EDK018/view

The 25 Top Essentials..

My Note II has become an integral part of my life.  I can't even imagine life without it.  And even the smaller Galaxy screens seem too tiny for me, now.  But I wouldn't want to carry around anything bigger in my cargo pants.

I have also noticed that I tend to hit the right keys more often, even though I have big hands with big fat fingers and I'm not particularly coordinated with the finger action, either (all my friends beat Me when we are gaming).

My wife's Droid X has sold for $75.00 on Swappa (http://swappa.com/listing/EDK018/view), but I cannot force myself to sell mine, yet.  I became kind of attached to my Droid X over the two year carrier contract.

Even though the battery on my Note II goes all day long, usually no matter how much I use it, it is often really low when I take off to go to work and I leave it plugged-in at home to charge while working (because I don't want to bring the charger and lose it).  But I do grab the old Droid X so that I can browse and check email, etc., on breaks.  I almost don't mind that I can't use it as a phone anymore (the Note uses that number & phone plan, now) because I'm not allowed to have a phone on me at work.

What are my favorite apps?  Writing this blog entry I have come to find out that is quite a long list.  Some of the essentials are actually already there, the Samsung Camera is astounding when compared to My old Droid X.  But I see that 41 mega pixel camera that the Nokia Windows has and I wonder why the android didn't do that.  I always thought the Windows phone killer app would be that they would allow bullet-proof Virtual Private Network (VPN) access to your Windows desktop/laptop computers screens & files.  But No, they finally addressed the camera issues.  I might just grab one of these when I upgrade my business cell, now.

Still, my Note II comes with some great photo tools and the quad processor (and decent memory) allows Me to run virtually anything I want, even doing a couple of things at once (like checking My already downloaded email while on hold).

These androids are great tools compared to the old smartphones of yesteryear, though.  Yes, I do mean the single processor Droids... any single processor "smart" phone.  And yet, there are fantastic apps that are a part of the OS itself that those antique models share.  The stock Gallery on either device is absolutely killer, for instance.  You cannot find many competitors to that one.  But that is a part of the android experience.  What apps would I recommend a user have?

The list is really too long.  Too long to list in a single blog entry, anyway.  Let's just start with the essentials...

Some of my favorite essential android apps are the same as when I had the Droid X, only updated since then.  And they run much faster on the quad processor enhanced Note II, as well.  But they open up the device to real usefulness by allowing it to become more of a tool.

The Top 25 Essential Apps for Android

1. By far, I use Kuffs Password Safe Pro the most and rely on it the heaviest.  With all the passwords I have to remember, and the security I have to maintain, Password Safe Pro is an absolute life saver.
2. Lookout keeps the Note II secure, as well.  I had tried another anti-virus/anti-malware program for portable devices, but this one stays free without bugging the hell out of Me.  Gotta like that.
3. It would seem so obvious to many that having the Play store on your device is a give, but there was a time when I had a tablet that wouldn't run it and I really, really, really missed it.  I don't even use that tablet anymore.  Anyone want a used tablet for free?  
4. PayPal... as a web designer I would not be able to function without PayPal. I do wish the mobile app would support more than one PayPal account, though.  I have a business account so that I can accept credit card payments, but I also need my free personal account so that PayPal doesn't double charge and take a fee out of My reseller commissions.
5. Amazon Mobile ...If ever you need something for your mobile device, a charger, etc... check out Amazon.com.  They offer the lowest prices on device gear and necessities. To have the whole Amazon store on your device and giving the very best prices on device accessories, makes the Amazon Mobile app a shoe-in. If you have a larger tablet, get that version for better display support (I have a couple of android tablets, as well).
6. Dropbox!!!  I cannot emphasize enough how valuable this app is.  Many device and PC apps support the cloud now, and it seems that they all start supporting Dropbox first.  This is a good idea, as they offer a great free Dropbox account to get you started.  It isn't that they are the only game in town, but they are one of the best with ways to upgrade your account for free, including linking your Facebook account to more easily share folders with friends on Fb and more.   
7. Google Drive is an important app to have on your Android device as well, allowing you to access your Google Docs and more.  But why does Google dislike us trying to brand ourselves with keywords when Google itself always chooses keywords for it's products?  LOL
8. SkyDrive is also a staple, this cloud service is a part of the Microsoft network and allows Live or Hotmail to be and do much more, from your phone.  Cool.  Plus, as with Dropbox & Drive, SkyDrive is supported by most software that supports the cloud.
9. Wifi Analyzer is a great tool, especially when trouble shooting connectivity problems with your local network.
10. Fing is a great network monitor and toolbox for checking your LAN and viewing who is connected.
11. For bigger issues with network providers, Speed Test is an essential app, and can also verify that your network provider really is all that they say they are.
12. Elixr is probably the best and most complete little monitor and toolbox.  But it does seem to have an interface that is sort-of hard to get aquainted with, with non-standard icons/buttons.  But some other apps won't do all it does, either.
13. System Tuner also offers lots of neat monitors and tweaks.
14. One of the best android tweakers is Spare Parts+, it really allows you to set a great deal of things you can't using any other app.   
15. Without a doubt, you cannot go wrong with ES File Explorer.  This is a very powerful tool that allows you the flexibility you need to find exactly what you are looking for, and makes an awesome file manager.
16. I also like Android Sensor Box, because it is easier to use than some of the other apps that do absolutely everything, when you just want to check or monitor your sensors.
17. Sometimes programs will have memory leaks on any computerized device when they aren't written well enough.  I use Memory Booster to manage my memory and currently running apps.
18. When I think that something may be slowing down the system, I might tap My Advanced Task Killer so that I can manually kill any non-essential apps that I don't need and haven't assigned an exception.
19. Polaris Office is My go-to office app, and it came with My Note II.  
20. But I also have OfficeSuite Pro from when I registered it on My old Droid X.  Either of these is really good.
21. I really love CamCard, because I can easily take a photo of someone's business card with it and it will magically turn it into a contact.
22. S Note is vital for playing with the stylus.  Not that I do it a lot, but as an artist I love that I can play with graphics and do kooky handwritten stuff with My phone.  This app also came stock with the Note II.
23. Alarm Clock Extreme Pro is my only and absolutely essential alarm clock.  In fact, without this device running Alarm Clock Extreme Pro, I would be late all the time.  But now it's a very rare occassion.  Even then, its only because I didn't set the alarm!  I also upgraded it with the Timer.
24. Chrome.  Sure, you can use any browser, but Chrome is working flawlessly with My laptop, saving my bookmarks (favorites) and filling in the info I let it have when I come to forms.  It just plain works right.
25. I want to say Gmail, but gmail comes with every android phone because android is a Google product.  I want to say the GPS, but again, that is standard equipment, here.  I want to say the Camera or the Gallery, but I've already knocked them off the list as well.  But there is another little gem I've been missing... the All In One Toolbox.  Try it, you'll like it!

I haven't even touched on the camera apps, image processing or video editing tools.  I'm not even speaking about books or MP3 & sound software.  But I think that would be a great start for anyone wanting to put the right applications on their device to enable it to be more of a use, more of an indispensable tool.

Blogger Changes

Sorry Google, I just do not like the new Blogger editor or dashboard formats.

Ever hear of the blank page syndrome?  You would think that you would want to have bloggers post here, but then you make it harder for a writer to get started writing.

Damn, I hate this new interface.

Blogger is finally working?

This is a test.  It appears to be working. Cool.

My wife upgraded my Droid X to a Samsung Galaxy Note II for Christmas (Thank you, Maria! What an awesome gift. Love it, love her.)

So what was this test about?  I have never been able to use the blogger app as well as I expected to be able to.  Whether this was a misgiving of the software, my device or me, I'm not sure.  But I started this post on my Asus Android EeePC Transformer TF101 tablet (with keyboard) and left it there, and then ran the blogger app on my Note II and picked up right where I left off. 

That's cool.

I suppose the test is mostly for myself since I gave up trying to use the app with my Motorola Droid X because of the tiny software based keys.  The fact that I am around 6"2" and have large hands also means that I have big fat fingers that rarely hit the right keys. 

I tried using a the Merkury Innovations physical Bluetooth keyboard that is so often on sale for half-off at Kohl's Department Stores (as I work there), but that keyboard didn't work with my old Motorola Droid X.  Luckily, the Galaxy Note II's large 5.5" 720P resolution High Definition tablet-like screen is much bigger and easier for my big fat fingers.  And that same Merkury bluetooth keyboard that I bought for my Droid X works just fine on my Note II, as well.

I suppose that the initial test was primarily about whether or not the Blogger app would work, as I have had difficulty connecting with Google's Blogger servers in the past, which is primarily the reason I haven't been blogging much for a very long time. 

Thankfully, now that I have my Transformer tablet and my Note II phone/mini-tablet both working flawlessly with blogger now (as long as this gets posted, of course), it looks like I can resume my blogging adventures.

This is a great big deal because I don't like using my noisy Windows PC/laptop anymore,  unless I am creating a website, doing video or using Photoshop, etc...

I have come to rely on my android devices for all of my web browsing, searching, gps, maps, directions, camera,  video cam/calling, remote controls, music, even when selecting a movie or TV show to watch, now.

I guess you can say that I am a big Android OS fan.  And now Samsung's Galaxy Note II has finally taken the aches of being an early adopter out of the picture, as it is so easy to use and lots of fun!  It even works as a phone better than the Droid X ever did (which the Droid X did pretty well).

Anyway, cool.  This was a successful test and I will start blogging here at Blogger more (as well as check out the apps for blogging at WordPress and Tumblr, too).

Rock On!

Blogger Changes

WOW, has Blogger changed! 

I hadn't posted anything to any of my Blogger blogs since last year.  That's when Google deactivated my AdSense advertising, though they never stated why.  I know why, I had been showing Google Ads for about a year and I was probably approaching the hundred dollar mark in earned commissions for displaying their advertising, where they would actually have to send me a check.

But just like last time, they wiped out my account, refusing to pay me a dime for publishing their ads on my blogs and such.  Heck, I'm not posting their competing ads on my real websites, those are business sites.  I'm not about to invite anyone to do business elsewhere, that's just stupid.  Unfortunately, that's what they want, they want to post Google AdWords on my business websites.  If I just post them on my blogs where I'm having a bit of fun and sharing stuff with the world, they get all upset and ban me from AdSense.

Its ridiculous, and Google does this exact same kind of bullying all the time.  I administrate several Google Groups, but I am looking for a new home for them because Google refuses to develop the platform and allow me any ability to administrate the groups easily, always giving the Google Groups a lower priority than any other Google operation so that things take forever to work and administration of any one group is the daunting chore from hell.

I really believed in Google at one time, primarily because they treated people better, much better than bullying them around like Microsoft used to do all the time to smaller businesses (it was there way or the highway).  Google has become a clone of the 80's/90's version of Microsoft.

It's really a shame, too.  I have an Android phone and everything Google does is all tied together in a huge F'n knot.  You can't get away from Google no matter how much you want to, no matter how hard you try.  The result is that Big Brother from 1984 that we were all afraid of, always screw'n with us, no matter how right we are, always taking advantage of us, taking things out of context and wagging it's spiney index finger at us.

Heck, I came here and logged in to take off the AdSense crap and now I don't know where to customize the blog design because they "improved it?"  It's not an improvement if it is less useable by the humans that use it, Google. 

SHEESH!

Polaroid T7 Internet Tablet (7 inch Tablet)

I recently purchased a Polaroid T7 Internet Tablet.  This was My second attempt at purchasing a cheap Android powered tablet.  Luckily, I am very pleased with this purchase, finally. 

(Quick Background:)
The main thing that I am losing is the multimedia aspect of a tablet.  I had originally purchased a Pandigital Planet with only 256MB of internal RAM and because it was so severely limited in the internal memory aspect I could never take advantage of the Front or Rear Cameras or the Micro HDMI out. 

Even after resolving to just use the Planet for email and surfing the web, I still found that it lacked the ability to run apps at speed. 

Wanting a cheap Android Android Tablet that actually worked, I returned the Planet and picked-up a Polaroid T7 Internet Tablet from Kohl's.

Polaroid T7 Internet Tablet (PTAB7200) 1st Impressions:
The Polaroid name is apparently licensed, as the tablet is actually supported by Southern Telecom.

The Specs:

• High Res 7" Touch Screen
• Android OS 2.3.1
• 1 GHZ RockChip RK2918/ARM CORTEX-A8 w/Neon 512KB L2 Cache
• RAM: 512MB DDR3
• 4GB Internal Memory (Expandable with Micro SD card)
• 802.11 b/g/n wi-fi network capable
• USB Host feature allows the ability to connect a Flash Drive
• Rechargeable LI-ion battery (lasts 5-6 hours with wi-fi on in normal use)

The T7 Package Includes:

• The PTAB7200 7" Tablet
• Mini USB to USB Cable
• Adapter Cable for USB Memory Stick (Flash Jump Drive)
• AC Power Adapter/Recharger Cable Unit
• PTAB7200 User Manual

This item is advertised right on the box with HD Digital Video 1080P but I cannot see how in the world they could get real 1080P HD Digital Video into that tiny 7" screen when the resolution is reported to be only 800 x 480 pixels.  HD aspect ratio, yes, but HD it is not.  What the hell has happened to truth in advertising, folks?  And no, there is no HDMI output to make this HD capable in any respect.  But, I didn't know they were advertising HD 1080P until after I bought it and knew I was getting an 800x480 screen with no HDMI.  C'mon Man!

Despite the false advertising, the thing has so far proven to run like a champ.  I did have to poke the reset hole with a paper clip after leaving the unit on standby for over a day, once.  But it runs surpisingly fast for only a 1 GHZ processor.

I left the protective cling-plastic screen protector on it, the touch screen works well and does a better job than my planet did, but is not near as good as my DroidX.  But as this is a cheap tablet, I am quite happy.  My son would like a better touch screen to play his games, and therefore still prefers my DroidX for games.  But otherwise games run fine.  Angry birds and Greedy Spiders all seem to be doing quite well without any problems.

I cannot log into NetFlix, but I couldn't on my Planet and I can't on my DroidX, either.  I think my login email address is too long for the mobile platform.  Netflix works great on my PC, Laptop, Wii, PS3 & Blu-ray players.  Video is clear and crisp, even at 50% brightness, though.  The audio could be a bit louder, sometimes (usually when people screw up the audio levels while recording).  Video also streams well with a good signal.

I am still looking for my ear buds to try out the headphone jack.  The speaker sounds OK, but needs to be all the way up to hear alarms as it is not real loud.

A word on the Wi-Fi: OK.  That's all, just OK.  Not as good as My PC, Laptop, Wii, DroidX, My son's iPad & PS3, etc... but definitely a little better than that old peice of crap Pandigital Planet, making this new T7 internet tablet usable downstairs (where the Planet wasn't even able to connect).

The printed user manual unfolds like a map and walks you through loading Amazon AppStore which works well.  I have apps I have licensed through Google Market that I miss, but I don't want to be running BOTH the Amazon AppStore licensing system and the Google Market licensing system when My apps check to see if they are legal.  So right now I am doing without Kuffs Password Safe or Unified Remote, etc., which is a big loss that I do feel daily.  So I have to deal with that.

Although 6 sensors are reported, it doesn't seem to support Bubble Level.  There is no GPS, and I have set it to use network locals, but Google still can't tell where I am.

No Bluetooth, although I want to try my USB Bluetooth adapter and haven't, just yet.

I haven't found if it can be rooted, yet.

I am especially happy with the battery life.  The Planet was done in a couple hours.  I don't think I've had to worry for around 5 or 6 hours with the Polaroid T7.

I love that it comes with some extra cables.  Not just a USB cable to connect the device to your computer, but also an adapter cable to plug in a USB Flash Jump Drive (Memory Stick).  This makes transferring files manually an easier option from friends computers (especially when they don't want to set you up with their Wi-Fi settings and install something on their computer to exchange files with).

Although the buttons are in different placements (back, menu & home buttons), I like the setup very much because it works out as logical when I have to hold the thing upside down in portrait display position because of the omnidirectional wi-fi which has a stronger signal through the bottom end, and it makes sense in any landscape position, as well.

When held, the T7 feels very solid (the Planet squeaked all the time).  It doesn't feel cheap.  I like it so far.  I like it a great deal better than the Planet.  But I still hope to one day be able to grab a Toshiba Thrive.

Pandigital Planet - 7" Android Tablet

Hi All...

I just grabbed a Pandigital Planet from Kohl's.  They have it on sale for $189.00 this weekend (you can find it cheaper online, about 170 to 175).  I grabbed it at the sale price with a 20% off coupon they sent Me by email and my wife gave Me $90.00 Kohl's cash.  So I only paid 84.79 with the tax and everything and I'll actually get another 15% off with my employee discount. 

I wanted to wait for the Nova, but we don't have that one in the store yet, and the Kohl's cash we had was only good until today.  They may well have the Nova when I go in for work tonight, though.  Oh well.

So far I can see that with only 2GB I have to get a big microSD card and be very conservative with the applications I install.  On My DroidX I have a 5GB memory bank for apps and I have lots of cool looking apps that act crappy and like to stay in memory and run absolutely all the time.  That's just not a possibility with a 2GB Planet.

What's there:
7" 800x600 resistive TFT LCD touchscreen tablet device with...
MiniUSB port (not MicroUSB like on a Droid X, but MiniUSB like most cameras).
HDMI port (accomodates DTV as well as 720p & 1080p HDTV playback to TV/device).
microSD Card SLOT (no card included) will accomodate up to 32GB cards.
Wi-Fi (The 802.11 B/G/N is very cheap and doesn't have much range).
Mini Stereo Headphone Jack.
Microphone.
Forward and rear facing cameras.  NOTE: NO Flash.
Power button.
Volume Up/Down buttons.
Android buttons.
Dedicated DC port (a dedicated power adapter port that doesn't use the miniUSB port).
Uses a rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery.
AC wall outlet power adapter (for recharging).
MiniUSB to PC USB cable.
Tablet miniUSB connection is compatible with Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 and MacOS X computers.  Although not stated, it should be compatible with properly configured Linux computers as well since android is Linux based.

The 7" Planet uses a proprietary market place.  When searching at Google's App Market from the device, Google won't even acknowledge that you are on an android device. Apparently there is a hack for this, but you need to be careful with piling on some of the less memory friendly apps that never shut down from most developers out there (android has a big problem with this no matter the device, perhaps this may be pandigital's attempt to stop crappy apps from infecting everything with constant memory loss and consistent device reboots?).

After getting it and playing with it a bit there was a firmware update.  After the firmware update, parts of certain screens, such as the drag-down notification window and menu shrank in parts to a phone-sized screen.  Very unusual looking, but the thing still works just fine.

The 800x600 display is a little different from My Droid X in that it uses a 5 x 5 icon layout, as opposed to the 4 x 4 icon layout.  The Droid X has 3 additional screens on either side of home, where the Planet only has 2 extra screens to the left or right of home.

That said, I really like the bigger display.  I can read the 800x600 pretty well without My reading glasses, as opposed to the tiny screen on My Droid X device. 

Touch seems responsive until trashing or otherwise moving icons around.  Then, it just plain bites because I am not a real patient guy.  You have to pause quite a while once you select the icon and it grows, before you can move it somewhere else.  I am told that there is an issue with how the wi-fi antenna is positioned.  Moving it to a side location apparently helps touchscreen sensitivity.  Someone also says that using aluminum tape to do so has increased the wi-fi signal on theirs.

I really like that they switched the Home and Menu buttons around, and that they are physical buttons (when compared to My Droid X button positions or the lack of real buttons on My friend's Droid Incredible). 

I have downloaded an app, Nimbuzz, to use it for skype, but it seems that they only support skype on a phone?  Curious that these guys aren't supporting tablets, yet.  Maybe I'll find one that will.

I understand that the Planet can be rooted, now.  I'm surprised.  Glad, but surprised, as it hasn't been out long, has it?  I'm going to have to do that once I grab a microSD Card so that I can back it all up for reinstalling it all. 

The 7" Nova will have more memory (4GB), so some might want that one, instead.  As mentioned, we don't have it just yet in our store, but I might grab a Nova, or maybe wait for Pandigital's flagship tablet due out in September.