Let me start by saying that I got my first iPhone a week after they hit the street. I LOVED it. It was the best phone I had ever used. Years ahead of anything that was on the market at that time. The network sucked, but I could live with it because everything about the phone was perfect. I upgraded to the 3G when available skipped the S and was waiting for the iPhone 4. However lately the AT&T network has really started to be an issue. I noticed this the most as I purchased a Verizon Wireless MiFi last fall and love it. I often have it on and am using the WiFi tether on my iPhone because the AT&T network sucks so bad. And having the proverbial apples to apples comparisons of the AT&T network to the VZW network has really opened my eyes to how bad the AT&T network truly is.

Let me start with the negative. The things that the Android is lacking that the iPhone just does better:

• not integrated well – Apple did a phenomenal job with the iPhone interface. No instruction manual is really necessary for someone with a bit of a technical aptitude. It doesn’t take a geek to add apps, browse, search, email, setup, etc. The HTC sense UI downloaded a bunch of contacts from Facebook (like high school friends) that I don’t want or need in my contact list.

• not very slick – it just seems a bit clunky. It’s not really the resolution, but it just looks kind of glued together. Icons too small, text is a bit too tiny. Having to scroll through the “all programs” I’d tedious.

• Keyboard – the touchscreen based QWERTY keyboard isn’t near as fast as the iPhone. The keys are slightly smaller and I fat figure much more frequently. I’m getting better, but it’s still not as polished as the iPhone keyboard.

• BATTERY!!! – OMG the battery SUCKS!!!  My first day of heavy usage netted me 4 hours and 19 minutes. Next day about 5 and a half. Best to date has been less than 24 and that was with light to moderate usage and turned off while on a plane. I already have battery/charge anxiety … This may be the show stopper for the incredible for me.

• Mobile me and address book synchronization – I’m missing my contact list big time. Looking for some alternative synchronization capability (like plaxo), but the iPhone with MobileMe is such a killer.

• No iTunes – this is a blessing and a curse. iTunes and synching your iPhone to your computer is a hassle, but a blessing in disguise. Making it mandatory is the hassle part, the fact that a new device can’t be used until the initial sync is a pain. I have an iPod so i never really used my iPhone as a music or video device, so i could live without the music synchronization, but apps, backups, photos taken on the phone, etc are great to synch with iTunes. And without MobileMe the synching of contacts and calendar entries is vital.

Here are the good and sometimes great things that Android and Verizon do that the iPhone does not (and some of these are fixed in the upcoming OS upgrade):

• coverage and data speed – noticeable on my very first use. Even more noticeable as I drive around in areas where I previously had NO data and often not enough of a signal for a voice call. The VZW network is just better. Hands down. And if the device is only as good as the network it is on… I really don’t think i can stress this point enough.

• Multi-tasking – though this will be moot for 3GS and iPhone 4 users this week, this is a substantial delta.  Being able to listen to your streaming media (Pandora, NPR, Stitcher) while continuing to use other applications and browsing is such a huge thing. Likewise, keeping Skype or IM running while doing other tasks is vital.  I’m surprised that Apple has not already come up with multi-tasking prior to iOS4.

• voice transcription – is a beautiful thing.  It even makes up for the crappy screen based keyboard as I can send SMS and chats with Skype without relying on the keyboard. I think this will be more and more noticeable as i use it while driving. I try not to drive and text often, but sometimes I slip up and the voice transcription will be a valuable safety tool.

• google voice – I am an avid Google Voice user.  I use it for business as the dialing from the computer and keeping track of incoming and outgoing calls is great.  Hiding or masking my called from number is also a great feature.  Avoiding SMS charges is a bonus, but since i went with an unlimited plan not all that necessary (but having a record and continuity between a chat / SMS session on your phone and on your computer is a huge benefit). Granted you can use google voice from an iPhone thanks to the Ajax web app, but it isn’t like dialing natively like it is on Android .

• integrated Skype – i didn’t think this would be such a bit advantage, but it is.  The free Skype to Skype calling actually uses a voice call to a Skype server and then Skypes your contacts. We use Skype for work so this is a great addition.  Having the Skype application running in the background (multi-tasking) is great because i get notified of an incoming chat even if using another application.  I did discover two problems with the integrated Skype.  One is that you have to disable WiFi to run Skype, which since the VZW network is so much better AT&T it might not be a big issue (until they do away with the unlimited data plans).  The other is that using both the free Skype to Skype and Google Voice is not possible if you have selected to force all calls out of google voice.  The dialer dials some Google Voice number and then calls the Skype number which never completes the outgoing call.

• Friends and Family (combined with Google Voice) – all outgoing calls are free!!!

• No iTunes – as i mentioned this is a benefit and a curse as the iTunes synchronization had some great features.  There is a disk that came with my Incredible, but it only runs on Windoze (and I use OSX or Ubuntu as my preferred desktop OS and only boot Windows XP when I have to (which is getting less and less frequent)).

I’ll post more and/or add comments as I discover more things or when I have something to update (like Froyo).

The battery life, while I do get a solid 5 or 6 hours of constant use out of it, could be a bit longer. The 1000HE looks to fit that bill with an advertised 9 hours. I bought a car charger for the EeePC on eBay for $8 + $3 S&H have have charged it in the car a couple of times while on the road.

The WiFi on the EeePC works as well as my MacBook Pro and much better than my wife’s Dell Inspiron Laptop.

I’ve adapted to the keyboard, but I do have to agree with those that say it is tiny. I have only used OpenOffice to draft a document a few times because typing more than a page of text is cumbersome. If it was my only computer, I could live with it, but when I need to create some serious content, I usually just use one of my Macs.

I did have one other problem, which because I purchased it from Amazon was not as big a problem as it could have been. I had a hardware issue with the video card on the mother board (at least that’s what my experience indicates (and Asus Technical Support agreed)). Asus said I could RMA it and they would either fix it or send me a new one but I would be without it while they made that determination. They suggested that I use the return policy of who I bought it from. The Amazon return policy is great. They shipped me a new one. I just had to ship my initial EeePC back within 30 days. This gave me plenty of time to compare them head-to-head and to copy settings, content, etc. from the defective one to the new one.

Before doing that I compared the default Fedora install and Eeebuntu. The Fedora install boots and wakes from sleep much faster. Opening applications on them is identical and I didn’t notice any incompatibilities on the internet or using hardware between the two. I’m hoping that Jaunty will catch up (one of the core improvements in Jaunty will be boot and wake speed).

Overall, I’m very pleased with the purchase. I really like Eeebuntu but I may be jaded as I run it on several other PCs and like to tinker under the hood. I also recommend upgrading the memory to 2GB for any operating system you are running if you plan on multi-tasking (or running Tweetdeck with a memory leak over a weekend).

To be honest, the solution was all over the forums, but none of the posts specifically mentioned the 901. I spent a few hours trying different things and eventually got the settings about where I want them. The trick was that all the steps in this post need to be followed. The post indicates that this works for the 900 as well, but YMMV.

The trackpad seems responsive, yet not overly so,  it’s not jumpy (as it was with just the elantech driver), and I even have both vertical scrolling on the side of the trackpad and two finger scrolling as well.

Here’s the steps that I performed (these are pretty much identical to the post, but I’ve added some dialog):

The first step is to enable the driver module in the kernel. To do this create a file in /etc/modprobe.d called eeepc and enter the following line in the file:

options psmouse elantech=1

I rebooted for the module to load. I noticed upon rebooting that the mouse was very jittery and it was hard to make small moves.

Next I created a file named shmconfig.fdi in /etc/hal/fdi/policy and entered in the following text:

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”ISO-8859-1″?>
<deviceinfo version=”0.2″>
<device>
<match key=”info.product” string=”ETPS/2 Elantech Touchpad”>
<merge key=”input.x11_options.SHMConfig” type=”string”>True</merge>
<merge key=”input.x11_driver” type=”string”>synaptics</merge>
</match>
</device>
<device>
<match key=”info.linux.driver” string=”psmouse”>
<merge key=”input.x11_options.SHMConfig” type=”string”>True</merge>
</match>
</device>
</deviceinfo>

I rebooted again to load the driver in gnome. The trackpad was still jittery, but I was now able to adjust sensitivity in Prefereneces -> Mouse. I also noticed that I had lost two finger scrolling at this point.

Now, to fix the tap while typing problem you have to run the following command (which will run as a deamon):

syndaemon -i 0.7 -d -t -K

Now the tapping while typing problem is no more. To run this command on gnome startup you can put it in the session manager by running gnome-session-properties from the command line and entering the following:

Name: Synadaemon
Command: syndaemon -i 0.7 -d -t -K
Comment: Disables touchpad 0.7 second while typing

As such:

[View with PicLens]

Now that I had the typing and tapping issue solved, I wanted to get the two finger controls back. To do this you need to install the installed gsynaptics-elantech package through apt-get or synaptic. Once installed two finger scrolling works and there is a new application in Preferences with which you can configure the touchpad to your specifications.

Happy typing with no tapping

I’ll attempt to describe all that I had to do to get it installed and go into some of the customizations or additions I’ve made and why.

Installing Eeebuntu was not very difficult but I did have a few challenges and even did a re-install to change the default partitioning to use both SSD drives.

The first problem I came across was that I could not boot from the USB stick I created using another Ubuntu box I had which is running 8.10. I changed the settings in the BIOS to boot from the USB stick first, but it still wasn’t booting. I read online that if you press ESC during the initial splash screen that you can choose the boot device, which is true. However, even when I did that and selected the USB stick it still wouldn’t boot from the USB stick.

I had an old PC that I was cannibalizing for parts and I had a USB to IDE adapter (which has come in handy before), so I took the old DVD player out of my old PC and used that to install Eeebuntu NBR (2.0).

During the install, the GUI in which you make all your selections in is larger than the screen so the Back and OK buttons can not be reached. That was  easy to overcome, but is nevertheless a minor annoyance.

My first install was just accepting the defaults and went very smooth. The machine came up clean and I poked around for a while. The main issue I had with the default install and using the “Guided” partition setup is that it installed  the entire system on the larger of the two SSD drives on the system (the 901 Linux version comes with two SSD drives, a 4GB and a 16GB). It didn’t even format or mount the second SSD. I decided that I would reinstall the system and put everything but the /home directory (and swap) on the 4GB drive. I also called my local PC store and they said that a 2GB upgrade for my EeePC was only $34.99 so I ran out and picked up the memory.

The memory install was a snap and not even worth going into.

For the second install I put the / mount point on the entire 4GB disk, created a 15GB primary partition for the /home directory and left the remainder of the second SSD drive for swap in a logical partition (I think it was just under 1GB).

The first problem I came across was during the system update, I was getting a message that some of the repositories had an unknown public key and therefore were not being updated. I think this was an oversight of the Eeebuntu repository so I did some searching and determined that I had to add the key for that repository:

sudo gpg --armor --export <INSERT KEY HERE> | sudo apt-key add -

After this, all updates completed successfully.

I have to say that I really like NBR launcher. It’s slick and easy to customize. It works very well with the EeePC form factor. I like the Eeebuntu distro much more than the OOB Xandros distribution, but there are some tweaks that have to be added if you want to use some of the hardware features.

The next step was to install the eee-control tool set and set it to load on restart. The eee-control tools allow you to assign actions to the silver hotkeys, turn on and off hardware (wifi, bluetooth, webcam, SD card reader), and control the system performance mode (which is a requirement, in my mind, to take advantage of the Atom processor and get decent battery life). To add the eee-control system tray icon add an entry to the Session in the Control Center.

Once I was satisified with my install I installed the following applications:

1. Gnome Do
2. Skype
3. Songbird
4. Gnome games
5. Tomboy

I removed:

1. Banshee
2. Gnome PPP and other PPP utilities
3. gtkpod and other iPod utilities

Overall, the installation process was not unexpectedly difficult based upon prior experience with Linux (I started with Slackware and kernel 0.82 in 1993) and Ubuntu. It’s still not Windoze but I doesn’t come with all the problems that you get with Windoze.

My biggest gripe at this point is the trackpad issue. The trackpad is super sensitive and it’s very easy to inadvertantly touch it with your thumb when typeing (even more so with this form factor as the keyboard is tiny and one thumb has to be tucked under the other while typing). I tried several options that I found on the eeebuntu forums including uninstalling eee-control and installing eee-acpi-utilities, enabeling the kernel module for the elantech touchpad, and any combination of the above. I still haven’t found a solution to that issue, but I did revert back to eee-control and set one of the hotkeys to disable the touchpad. It’s a solution, but I would prefer to have  the option of disabling the touchpad while typing which is an option with the Xandros distro and workes with some of the other EeePCs that have a different trackpad.

I’ll continue to see if I can find a solution for the touchpad issue and post as soon as I do. If anyone has a solution for the 901 using Eeebuntu or easy peasy please let me know.

My first impression was that the damn thing was tiny, shiny and did I say tiny. I’ve been using it for a little over a week now and I am grabbing it from the computer room more often than sitting down at my desktop. I did take it to work with me as it fit  in my bag with my other laptop and didn’t add much weight nor was it too bulky in addition to the MacBook Pro and a few folders and notebooks. I haven’t traveled with it, but I’m sure it will make the rounds soon.

After a week of use here are my first impressions both negative and positive:

Due to it’s size, the first thing I noticed was the size of the keyboard. The reviews out there that say it is too small are valid. It took me a few days of typing on it to adjust and I’m still not near as fast as I am on a full size keyboard. The most difficult thing is symbols, capital letters, and entering in complicated passwords because the right hand shift key is tiny (as opposed to a double sized key, it shares the normal space with the up arrow and the shift is on right). I can’t say that the keyboard is a show stopper as I’m typing this blog entry on the thing and I also typed up the entry last night. I’ve also typed a dozen  e-mails and chatted with Skype and Pidgin (AIM).

The other main annoyance is the track pad is super sensitive to touching it while typing. So I’m often pecking away and the cursor is somewhere else in the text or on another window or button and I inadvertently hit the trackpad with my thumb and the focus moves or I start typing my text into somewhere else. I’m getting better at avoiding it, but I do end up hitting ctrl-z frequently to undo the last few letters I’ve typed somewhere else in this entry. I understand there is a utility that fixes this and disables the trackpad while typing and plan to look around for it, but I’ve installed Eeebuntu and I haven’t had too much luck finding a workable solution (I’ll post later on my experiences installing and using Eeebuntu and if I find a solution to this issue).

Given those main issues, I have to say that I really like the form factor. It works quite well sitting on my lap on the couch or even on my knees in bed (yeah yeah, I know….very sad (but true)). So despite the issues with it’s size, it’s what I wanted and is fitting the bill. I do have the alternative of my MacBook Pro as well as desktop machines if I need to do something that the size makes difficult.

The battery lasts for ever (some sites claim 8 hours but I think 7 is more likely). Just this morning, I surfed around on it over coffee and am sitting on the couch typing up this entry and I still have 5 hours and 50 minutes of battery (according to the power management app which has been pretty accurate to date). One of the reasons I looked at netbooks is that I saw someone using one in the airport recently. I had had my eye on the EeePCs for a while, but was still on the fence. I struck up a conversation with him and learned that on one or two night trips he didn’t even take his power supply, much less carry it in his briefcase (like I did with my current and previous laptops).

The SSD drive is nice as there is no vibration from the spinning. There is a fan, but it’s inactive most of the time and isn’t very noticeable even when running.

So those are my first impressions on the usability. I’ll post another entry later with my experiences upgrading the RAM to 2GB (why not spend $34.99), installing Eeebuntu, installing applications, file sharing with other machines and other issues dealing with hardware, compatiability, and the Eeebuntu useability.

HDTV

So, I’ve been configuring my Mythbox as I have time.  Some of my hardware arrived late, but I put together the basic PC the first weekend, installed Ubuntu and did a burn-in (I am very happy with how quiet it runs).  My HDHomerun arrived a few days later and decided to interrupt my burn-in. I installed Mythbuntu and attempted to configure it. I hooked up my coax cable to the HDHomerun and ran a Cat5 to my switch and I was able to see it immediately in the MythTV configuration utility. I did a channel scan and was surprised to have 80 unencrypted hits. My jaw dropped, I had 80 HD channels over basic (analog) cable?

I need to backup here a bit and explain what I had learned through the internet and from a flier that I picked up at the local Comcast office, but even with the flier in my hand, I could not get a Comcast salesperson to give me a straight answer. It clearly states in the brochure that:

HDTV broadcast signals are included with subscription to Limited Basic Service. To receive other HDTV signals provided by the Company, an HDTV capable television set (not provided by the Company), Standard Service and an HDTV digital converter and remote are required. In addition to receive Expanded Service, Digital Starter, Digital Classic, Digital Preferred, Sports Enterntainment, Package or premium (i.e., HBO, Showtime) HDTV signals, a subscritpion to that service is required. (sic)

However, the salesperson was adamant that I needed to rent a digital cable box to get any HD (I did check and there is a Firewire out on the Scientific Atlanta box) even though it clearly states in the brochure that HDTV is included with the analog (limited basic) service (only the broadcast channels (NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, and PBS)).

So, I was surprised and vindicated when I had 80 unencrypted hits. Unfortunately, I was soon to learn that some of those must be placeholders (for what I can’t imagine). I also can find NO information which channels are the networks, Fox, and PBS so I had to slowly change channels through all 80 and hope Myth didn’t crap out when there wasn’t actually any content on that channel. I have found the 5 19×8 (i) channels and plenty of upconverted 4×3 channels, but getting them to match up with the schedules from Schedules Direct is still somewhat of a mystery (help would be appreciated … please leave a comment). I do have to admit that watching the last few days of the Olympics in HD was very sweet … I’m still using a computer monitor as I haven’t convinced the wife to let me get an HDTV yet but the picture quality is great.

The remaining tasks are to install an analog capture card to get non-HD channels, figure out how to get the BlueRay drive working (if possible), get an HDTV (if possible), get the schedule to match up to the HD channels, and a few other odds and ends.

If anyone lives in the Blacksburg, VA area and has been able to decrypt the Comcast HDTV signals over the analog (limited basic) service, please drop me an e-mail or leave a comment here.

Mythbuntu

My DVD player, which is a Sony and only about 5 years old, is on the fritz.  My Tivo, likewise 5 years old, is showing heavy pixilation which I’m going to assume is related to it’s hard drive being 5 years old and having run 24×365 and starting to go (over 43,000 hours).  My (current) TV is standard definition, but I plan on upgrading to HDTV this Christmas (or sooner if my plans pan out). I wasn’t looking forward to the price of a set-top Blu-Ray player nor an HD Tivo, both of which would be limited to playing content only on the TV they were attached to, so I decided to go it alone and build a media center computer.

I poked around a lot and have setteled on an Ubuntu implmentation of MythTV called Mythbuntu. I seriously considered adding some stuff (a video capture card, larger hard drive, HDMI output, etc) to an older PC which I had just decomissioned and was planning on donating (wiped the hard drive and installed Ubuntu Hardy). However, after doing some research I decided to build a decently powered frontend/backend combination which will later be the hub of my content.  I’m going to be assembling the system this weekend and plan on tinkering a few days with it before moving it into the living room. I did my research and setteled on the following hardware:

• Micro ATX Case (Ultra Micro Fly) … may be a bit large, but I wanted plenty of room. I’m also concerned with the noise as I’ve returned a Ultra power supply in the past as I couldn’t think over the noise.
• EVGA e-7150 which has onboard HDMI, DVI, VGA as well as Optical and Coax S/PDIF
• Intel Q6600 (Quad @ 2.4GHz) as I want something with some horsepower which will not require a massive fan to keep it cool
• ZeroTHERM CPU Cooler
• 2GB 800MHz RAM
• 1TB Hard Drive
• Lite-On Blu-Ray Burner
• PCHDTV-5500 as one HD OR only SD capture card
• HDHomerun for 2 other HD captures

I plan on spending some time this weekend assembling and will blog my experience with setup of Mythbuntu, hardware and driver setup and the like.

Check back for more info soon….