The Dodge Retort

Well, I’ve had the iPad for a month and I am supposed to love it. Guess what? I don’t know quite what to do with it.

It seems like a toy….great for watching videos, perusing photos and perhaps reading a book. It’s very good for reading newspapers to which I am addicted, but not hugely better than my $290 PC laptop. It competently plays music, but no better than my much smaller and cheaper iPod Touch.

I surf the App Store about every night to find that killer which will tip me from “I like it” to “I love it.” Everybody else seems to.

The iPad technology is sound, elegant and reliable save its annoying habit of dropping my Wifi connection mid-session. My $290 PC laptop doesn’t ever drop as Wifi session.

I just checked Apple’s stock and it’s trading at $257 a share just $22 off its 52-week high. The market must love the iPad so why don’t I. I want to given that I waited a month for the privilege of shelling out $829 for it, but I am just not there yet.

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Update Sunday night, July 11, 10:12 P.M.

The Wifi dropping problem is apparently not unique to me. There are discussion threads in the Apple forum that examine the problem and Apple has a page with about four work-arounds, including adjusting screen brightness off the lowest settings (???), replacing WEP security with WPA or WPA2 security, making sure your router firmware is up to date or renewing the iPad’s IP address.

I’ll try numbers 1 and 4 given they are easiest. If all of them fail, call Apple.

As for loving my iPad, things are looking up. MTV just released a Beavis and Butthead video clip app for a buck ninety nine for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. Actually, I’m not sure this is THE killer iPad app.

I wish I could tell you this is my first post composed on my new iPad, but its on-screen keyboard doesn’t come when I use WordPress 3.0 in the Safari browser.

That’s just one example of things I can’t do on the iPad that I can on my netbooks, notebooks and tower PCs. Actually, I just found WordPress in the iPad App Store and with a couple tweaks, adapted my blog editor to the iPad. But going into WordPress straight through Safari was a bust.

Apple's WordPress app for iPad

So this post was half-composed with the iPad and I am still figuring out details like embedding links and that sort of thing.

Don’t get me wrong: there’s plenty to like about the iPad:  it’s a great reader, photo and video viewer with a fantastic display, but to three decade PC vet like me, it feels quirky. And the tablet metaphor has some drawbacks.

For instance, I recline using my netbook and notebook. With the display flipped up, I plunk the notebook down on my belly or chest and type with two hands. The tablet requires one hand to hold it up (it feels heavy at one pound, six ounces), leaving only one hand with which to peck away. For me, this is a downside of the tablet.

I have this idea for a sling like device attached to the iPad and fastened to my forehead. That would free up my left hand for typing. Or I could really grow mountainous beer belly and lean it against that.

No Adobe Flash on the iPad also means I can’t play my favorite Facebook game, Word Twist. And funneling everything through iTunes onto the iPad (save a the Camera Connection Kit, which my Apple store seems always out of) is a pain. iPad like Macs are closed systems.

I  like the iPad the more I understand its trove of features, but I won’t be giving up my PCs any time soon.

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Like two million others before me, I am getting my iPad – today. Yes, t minus 90 minutes before I head to the Apple store in Salem, N.H. to pick up my  64 GB 3G iPad.

It seems so appropriate for Father’s Day. Just plunk down the $829 cost on plastic (add $30 for the cover and god knows what else I’ll get while I am in the spending mood) and worry about paying later. Truly the American way…

As many of you know, the iPad is seriously back-ordered. I put my iPad reservation in 4-5 weeks ago and checked on it Friday. The store salesman told me it had no reservation for me on record, but that he’d re-enter it and I should expect to wait two months for delivery.

The next day as in yesterday June 19th, I got an e-mail from Apple telling me my unit was in and that it would be held in my name for 24 hours. I’ll take that as a good sign.

I better print out that e-mail and take it with me.

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PC Pitstop has conducted a netbook satisfaction survey which places the MSI Wind U100 at the top. Pitstop surveys folks downloading its Overdrive diagnostic download and asks three simple questions:

• How satisfied are you with this PC?
• Is this PC running slow?
• Is this PC hanging or requiring frequent reboots?
  

  Rob Cheng

PC Pitstop CEO and co-founder Rob Cheng who I knew a dozen years as a Gateway honcho says the netbook results were extracted from “well over a million and probably closer to two million” survey responses. However, the number of netbook responses ranged between 107-1,035, reflecting the small number of netbooks out there relative to overall PCs.  So while the U100 got the top rating with 170 responses, number 8 on PC Pitstop’s survey Acer AOA150 garnered the most responses with 1,035. That reflects Acer’s dominant position as the market netbook share leader.

Some of these models are a bit long in the tooth given the rapidity with which new models appear. Also, check out which ones crash the most or are reported as slow. PC Pitstop also looked at desktops (Dell took top nine spots!) and laptops (Dell, HP and Toshiba) as well.

A Verizon TV ad pushing a free Compaq netbook caught my attention today. I only caught the tail end of it, but apparently my ears were not decieving me. Verizon has a promotion that started Saturday giving away a free Compaq netbook (said to be a $299 value) to new FIOS customers. Or customers have the option of selecting a free Flip mini flip camcorder instead.

The netbook looks exactly like the HP Mini I bought earlier this year for $399 and returned once I finished reviewing it for eWeek.com. Now, they’re giving them away… sort of. They’re free only when you commit to either Verizon’s $120 or $130-a-month Triple Play TV/Internet/Phone plans. With the $110 a month plan, you still have to fork over $100 for the netbook or camcorder.

The deal also includes free HBO and Cinemax for three months, according to some folks kibbitzing about it on Verizon’s site. If only I could get FIOS in my neighborhood!?

My full review of the HP Mini Model 1151NR bundled with Verizon mobile broadband is now up at eWeek.com. In any case, I give it a B- given the inconsistent bars I got, but it pretty much works as advertised.

A better option for Internet ubiquity is the MiFI 2200  mobile hotspot which I also reviewed for eWeek. The full review was filed yesterday and I will link to it when it is posted.  In a nutshell, the device – smaller than an iPod Touch – is mobile broadband in one end and up to five WiFi connections out the other. And you don’t have to deal with Verizon Access Manager on the host after the first mobile broadband connection is made. After that, you simply switch on the unit and it automatically connects to Verizon’s 3G network.

The WiFI worked well once I understood you have to unplug the MiFi from host where the mobile broadband was the connection was initially made (For a host, I used a netbook running Windows 7 release candidate which worked fine). The device costs $100 and $60 or $40 a month for the ususal Verizon two-year service commitment. If I spring for mobile broadband  given its relatively high cost, it will be for this.

Verizon MiFi charging

Meanwhile, I am blogging away about at SmartPlanet.com which covers its namesake “smart” technologies. Check it out. Today’s topic was cameras implanted in a prosthetic or bionic eye.

I’ve been playing with HP Mini Model 1151NR that come bundled with Verizon Mobile Broadband for a couple of weeks now and the convenience is growing on me.

It’s much slower than Wifi and cable Internet and the Verizon Access Manager that you use to find the network and connect is a minor imposition. One problem is in my office I only get one bar ( four is tops) so connecting can take a little longer. You can track you speeds from a Statistics tab. Verizon says average speeds are around 500 Kbps with bursts up 1.4 Mbps and it generally delivers as promised.

Video downloads take several minutes, but it’s fine for browsing, Twitter, Facebook, WordPress, email, visiting The Dodge Retort and other standard apps.

I’m going to return the loaner to Verizon soon and am going to miss it. Next decision is whether to spring for the unit at $200 and a two year commitment at $60 a month. I have a full review of the HP Verizon bundle  coming up at eweek.com.

Also, Verizon just gave me a Mi Fi mobile router with Mobile broadband in the back end and Wifi out the front so I don’t have to decide right away. It’s about two thirds the size of an iPod Touch and connects via USB to its host. I will report back in a week or so on that. Meanwhile, stay connected.

I have not posted for several days because I was busy with my new CBS Interactive blog ThinkingTech at SmartPlanet.com. Check it out.

We’ll cover all manner of smart technologies from the rehabilitation of the grid to smart gadgets that report on traffic in realtime. The focus is on smart technologies that are kinder to the planet and that help humans. It’s a great site with lots of video (hey, it’s CBS!)

But don’t worry, The Dodge Retort is still a top priority for me. In fact, I’ll be introducing video shortly and should be getting a Dell Mini 10v to review.

I also finished my review for eWeek.com on the HP Mini 1000 Model 1151NR that comes with Verizon wireless mobile broadband. I will summarize that review here next week. My conclusion is that it works as advertised, but could use some refinements. It’s all in the bars!

I’m posting this from the passenger seat of a moving car, by the way. I do like that!

Seeing red is goal of HP's Vivienne Tam edition

Dell Mini 10v is awash in colors

You can have a netbook in any color you want as long as it’s black. While that timeworn notion thought to be coined by Henry Ford is changing, it would still seem to be the case (pun intended) from netbook leader Acer which dominates a third of market.

Acer’s most powerful model the Aspire One 11.6  says nothing about color choice and it’s black in the picture so I assume it’s, well, black. Or dark. It’s the same with Aspire One Pro 10.1, Ultra-thin 10.1 and regular 10.1 models. Only it’s 8.9 models comes in colors: sapphire blue, golden brown (like a perfectly-cooked McDonald’s fry), seashell white and rose pink. Near as I can tell, there is no black for the 8.9 inch model.

I’d like to think Acer is a reflection of the Taiwanese netbook maker’s greater focus on real features than cosmetics. Black is fine with me, but let’s face it, to teenage girls, color is a major feature. Dell and Asus by comparison are downright psychedelic.

In fact, number two maker Asus offers multiple colors for all its 24 netbooks. It’s new Eee PC 1008HA comes in white, black, pink, blue, sapphire blue and Ruby Red. Dell, too, is awash in color with the Mini 10v which can be had in jade green, ice blue, promise pink, passion purple, alpine white, red and not just black but obsidian black (Dell makes a $5 charitable contribution when the red and pink are purchased). All but the latter is $40 extra. What’s more, Dell offers the Mini 9 and 12 with sleeve covers in grey/famingo pink and jet/cabernet.

The wildest design is the Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam edition which probably comes closest to looking like a purse especially when it’s owner is wearing a similarly styled print dress. It plays off the notion of the art of accessories. It’s way too red for me – passionate red some politely might say and the $700 starting price is in the stratosphere.

Then again, it’s all in the eyes of the holder (of the netbook).

One thing I looked for in an operating system is predictability meaning it will work the way I anticipate. Windows 7 in its attempt to automate functions and deliver every imaginable feature falls down on this front. Unanticipated things occur, some good, some bad. Whoever said Windows was simple?

Yours truly high up on St. Bartholomew's Cathedral in Plzen. WIndows 7 does a great job of organizing photos.

Case in point: I never recall turning on the picture Slide Show viewer. The surprise was somewhat serendipitous because it allows me to automatically view the hundreds of shots I took on a recent trip to Europe. I like this applet. Hey, there’s Dvorak’s grave…and Smetana’s.  That’s son Chris and wife Ann high above the Voltava River in Prague. That’s me high up clinging to side of St. Bartholomew’s Cathedral in Plzen, Czech Republic. Very nice. Photos appear in user-defined increments of five seconds to five minutes with optional transitions. This very nice applet is easy enough to shut down so no complaint there, but I don’t recall activating it (as it turns out, a single click turns it on – Libraries->Pictures->Slide Show).

On a related note, Windows 7 does a vastly superior job of organizing files. To me, the Libraries feature as I come from XP is one of the best in Windows 7. It offers relief from the usual unorganized mess of photos, music, videos and documents that quickly accumulate year after year. Kudos on this, Microsoft.

It’s a different story with Narrator, the overbearing voice-guide to Windows 7 for the vision-challenged. Run the mouse over the icons and the voice spits out a rapid-fire jumble of definitions like “checkbox, exit button, application, focus on start button, show desktop, running application toolbar with five buttons.” Huh? Granted, I turned on Narrator (click on Programs->Accessories-> Ease of Access), but often it’s describing that seems to have no relationship where I am in Windows. Worse, it only sort of shuts off. Searching help with “Shut Off Narrator” yielded zero results. I exit the program and it keeps working (Windows has a habit of making you feel like it’s your fault).

One other feature I’ve played around with is the Network and Sharing Center which most of us use to find a Wifi hotspot. It functions the same way as the same way as Wifi manager in XP, but looks different for no advantage that I can immediately detect. It’s just another thing to learn although that happens quickly. Features like this seem the next model year of a car that you don’t need. Maybe as I dig down, I’ll find the Network and Sharing Center is vastly superior to its XP counterpart, but wouldn’t it be nice if there was no need to a network center. You just connect. That’s coming some day.

A nit with Windows 7 which should be fixed once it’s commercially available is no Windows 7 option for downloading Flash, Adobe Air and presumably other applications. I clicked on the “Vista/XP/2003/2000″ option and after several tries, it downloaded, but Flash applications do not run reliably. And I can’t Air-based tweetdeck to run.

As for performance and reliability, Windows 7 on my netbook continues to do fine. I have to keep telling myself to give the myriad features on it a chance.

Shut this off already!