Bob's new toys . . .

For the past few days I have been in tech stuff overload. 

Had been looking at Netbooks for several months on eBay, and about 10 days ago one came up that I thought would work for me (w/o having to lug my laptop w/it's short battery life). I just wanted something that I could have with me when out and about away from my rig that I could check mail and such, but also be able to respond to customers -- w/remote on line if necessary. I got the bid at $270 on an Acer 250-1633 with a 250gb HD, 2gb RAM, and Win7 Home Premium OS. The other feature is a 6 cell batter that I tested last night and got about 6 hours OK.

HERE is a used one on Amazon. The fellow that I bought from purchased last November and only used it for about a month before buying an iPad. Looking at the specs on Amazon, you can see he put over $100 in upgrades into the device.

About the same time my 2 year contract w/Vz came due so I decided to go with a Droid X smartphone this time around. I did the overnight thing via phone and have the 30 day test drive to check it out. So far so good - although the 1st few hours with that puppy after 2 Windows based phones previously was a bit tedious. I can see I will miss some stuff on my Omnia by Samsung, but also see the tremendous advances Google has made in this OS.

Will report back what I come up with . . .

A little sidle as I took the new Droid X with me to breakfast at a local Denny's on Sunday. I had purchased one of those in the ear headsets for the Omnia last spring and decided to take it with me. It hadn't been paired yet on the Droid so that was the first order of business when I settled into my booth. I didn't have the model number with me, but figured the Droid would find it and display it for me OK. Anyway, can you imagine how many headsets came up in a crowded Denny's on a Sunday AM!!! Yikes!! 

Nice additions.  Welcome to the rapidly growing Android family.  Set up your email account on the Droid X and you can get it anywhere.  If you don't know where you are, the Maps app will tell you

Can the droids be synchronized to Lotus Notes?  That's one of the reason I don't have an iPhone.  With the Windows phone, with the combination of Lotus EasySynch and MS Active Sync, all my contacts and calendar entries are in sync.


Windows Mobile 6.5 is not bad, but there is still progress to be made and my hardware will not run Windows Mobile 7.  I think I might be able to put a droidx ROM on it,  but have to make sure I don't turn the phone into a brick first.

While the Android phone won't sync to Notes out of the box, I believe there is at least one app that offers that capability.  A Google search on droid lotus notes sync turned up a lot of references.

Thanks Ned.  I'll research more before my next ROM upgrade or next phone.

Marc L said:

Can the droids be synchronized to Lotus Notes?  That's one of the reason I don't have an iPhone.  With the Windows phone, with the combination of Lotus EasySynch and MS Active Sync, all my contacts and calendar entries are in sync.

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That was a potential deal breaker for me. In fact, one Vz salesperson told me he discourages those heavily into MS apps such as Office and especially Outlook from going Android. He was probably employed selling shoes a few weeks before this job. Sync software is really big with developers these days for this reason. If you go to the Droid Market there are tons of new syncing stuff.

I use Outlook as a contact/email manager - and am sure not going to Google/gMail instead. At least not for now. Syncing w/ActiveSync was perfect for my needs. I found a free product called Android Manager WiFi recently added to the Droid App Market. After reviewing on the net, then the Market decided to download and try it out. A little more cumbersome to set up, but it works as advertised. It synced my Contacts/Notes in about 30-45 seconds.  I used my own Cradlepoint 1000 router for the WiFi link between my Droid X and computer.

Bob,

I had the original Droid last winter. Decided it was more than I needed and had to pay for the data package. Now I wish I had it! I'm paying more for 5gb than it cost for the Droid. I'll be getting another when my contract is up.

I'll use it tethered to the computer when at Yellowstone. Will be using both a Mac and PC until the PC dies. Then I'll be all Mac.

Jim, that will work only if they don't disable the support for 3rd party tethering programs.  The VZW tethering is not free.

Ned,

Just saw your response on the 10gb thread. Hope they do keep it! Will have to keep an eye on it after the first of the year. My plan is up in July.

Bob:

I use Active Sync and have had one problem. I have a lot of Contacts listed with a Company name but no first and last name. After I did a sync they all show up as a Null,Null listing on the Droid People list. I have to open them to see who they really are which isn't too practical when I'm on the move. The only way I have been able to fix this is to go into Outlook and copy the Company Name to the Full Name field.

Jeff said:

Bob:

I use Active Sync and have had one problem. I have a lot of Contacts listed with a Company name but no first and last name. After I did a sync they all show up as a Null,Null listing on the Droid People list. I have to open them to see who they really are which isn't too practical when I'm on the move. The only way I have been able to fix this is to go into Outlook and copy the Company Name to the Full Name field.

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Interesting, Jeff. My contact info is a bit messy as well. When I receive a call I want to know which "park" it's coming from vs. trying to keep track of the turnover in managers and machine operators. I have parks that I have only dealt with the owner for almost 10 years (every call or whatever), whereas other parks I hear from a different new employee every several months.

But are you saying you sync between a PC and an Android phone using MS ActiveSync?

Ned said:

Nice additions.  Welcome to the rapidly growing Android family.  Set up your email account on the Droid X and you can get it anywhere.  If you don't know where you are, the Maps app will tell you

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I love the disclaimer -- that reads it is only accurate to your location within 6 meters. Bummer -- I want to know "exactly" where I am! Haven't figured all that out as yet, Ned, but am having fun learning. My understanding is that POI's are not stored in the phone as with a GPS device, but rather come from the internet and that makes them current all the time. Also, am not completely clear on how is can either use satellites or the internet to find me and do directions. It for sure seems to know exactly where I am and capable of giving directions even when inside a building.

Last night I was going into Los Banos (nice to go to the big city from the much smaller Santa Nella, CA ) to visit a Target. So I looked at where I am on the DX, searched for Target, and up pops everything I would ever want to know about that store in Los Banos. I then click GO and was on my way. I sat the DX in front of my old, old, Garmin 2610 to see how well the directions are displayed. The screen is so much larger than my 2610, with much more contrast and up to date displays of streets.

Using it in place of a GPS will take some thought. Earlier I had loaded close to 600 music tracks. As with a Windows device that is just a matter of copy and paste via Windows Explorer vs. the iTunes mess. So anyway, I am listening to Chris Botti light trumpet jazz, watching the map, and my phone rings - at night on a 2 lane crowded country road. I realize it was all new, but that seems a bit dangerous to me - but the jury is still out. There is a car cradle to use the DX as a GPS but am not sure that is the way for me to go as yet.

Was able to answer an earlier post on this thread this afternoon while having a late breakfast at the local Denny's w/the new Acer Netbook. The little Inland mouse you see in the pic was purchased at Fry's in Roseville for about $8.95. Notice the smaller transmitter stick. Don't even have to take it out to fit into the case that came with the unit. Did a Remote PC hookup via TV5 to my own home desktop and that worked well. Rather than using the local Wi-Fi, I took my Vz air card from the router and plugged directly into the Acer. The downside was that the display on the the remote is too small to read - so will have to change the resolution in cases like that. Also, the battery life is grand!! No need to carry the power cord unless am doing an overnight or whatever.

The speed with the Acer w/2 gb of RAM seems very adequate for my usage. I am loading some heavier apps that I would use if remotely fixing data - so we shall see. But for now it appears the Acer will be able to fill that gap while away from my rig that would be either impossible or cumbersome even with a smart phone like the DX -- and won't require taking a laptop.

Bob Buchanan said:

But are you saying you sync between a PC and an Android phone using MS ActiveSync?

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Sorry Bob,  I mean using HTC Sync. (Last HTC used Windows Mobile)

I have over 500 songs on my Droid and when in the motor home I plug it into my radio and when the nav system is on it interupts the song and tells me a turn is coming up and I hear it over the motor home speakers. it's great for the hard of hearing like me. I never have to look at the maps just listen for the directions. I use the WIRELESS tethering to get the laptops to the internet. I have officesuite and quickoffice and that takes care of my needs as far as office goes. I love my droid it's takes care of my nav, mp3, internet, office, all in one and oh yea it can be used as a phone to. you can find a lot of apps at www. ppcwarez.com

Bob, if the GPS is off, the phone will use cell towers to compute an approximate location.  Not nearly good enough for navigation, in my opinion, but will tell you what city you're in   I would get the car dock if you're going to use it there and use a Bluetooth headset so you can navigate and answer calls without reaching for the Droid.  It will also voice dial using a headset.

I thought the Droid had Outlook sync right out of the box.  Look for an app with Corporate in the name.  The phone uses the Gmail contacts for the phone book and that works well.  I can update the contacts on the computer in Gmail and the changes appear almost instantly on the phone.  And the reverse works the same way.  I really like the Gmail contacts list as it has provision for lots of information on the contacts.  I just wish that Thunderbird would use it too.

The netbook is perfect for what you're using it for.  I take mine out to the picnic table and can do just about anything there that I can on the desktop.  TV is a bit small on the 10" display but usable in a pinch.  I have the Logitech Nano mouse, about the same size as your Inland with the tiny Unifying receiver.  These devices really are a lot of fun

Mike, I've found all the apps I really need at the App store.  I'm not sure I'd trust any from a web site with warez in its name

Phil Bullock put me on to Pandora Radio when I got the Droid last spring and when on the road it is almost all I use. I have created about 6 radio stations so depending on the mood you can sit and listen to never-repeating music with no commercials for hours.

Just enter an artist name or song title and it finds comparable music for you.

Last week I was in the local mall waiting for Sue. Sitting at Starbucks, listening to Pandora over ears buds, and reading a book on the Droid Kindle app. A real techie! :

Ned:

The mail sync with Outlook got names, phone numbers, and emails but not comments in the Contact file, Notes, Tasks, etc.

[quote author=Jeff]Sitting at Starbucks, listening to Pandora over ears buds, and reading a book on the Droid Kindle app. A real techie![/quote]

LOL Jeff, I caught myself reading the forum in WalMart when I first got my Droid Eris 

Jeff, I wasn't sure how much it synced, I only remembered seeing the app when I first got the Droid.  Since I don't use Outlook, I think I removed the app from my phone.  The Mail and Calendar apps sync with our Gmail and Google calendars and that's all we need.