It’s been a week since I got my T-Mobile G1, the Google Android phone.  I’m really pleased.  I don’t regret passing on the iPhone 3G.  The G1 feels a lot like my Linux desktop — it’s different enough from Windows that you notice, but everything works together perfectly.  So even though the big boys beat me by a couple of months, here’s my review:

Pros

(a) The operating system (as I mentioned above).  All the pre-installed apps work great.  I’m Googling.  I’m checking mail (2 different accounts).  I’m even using the maps because …

(b) Screen resolution is excellent, crisp and clear.

(c) I’ve had no problems connecting to the 3G network.  Granted, I work in Philly and live in the area, but I haven’t had the problems that others have reported.

(d) The App Marketplace works pretty well.  I’ve only downloaded and installed 2 so far — one is ShopSavvy, which is sooo cool — but I’ve experienced no glitches.  (I’m really reading the user comments.  If I see a lot of complaints, I back off and wait for an updated version of the app to appear.)  Selection is a bit sparse right now, and I can’t compare it to the iPhone App Store, but I imagine it’ll get better.

Cons

(e) The battery drains after about a day.  Using wifi and/or GPS makes it worse.  I wasn’t used to this, because my trustworthy old dumbphone could go a week on a charge.

(f) Your apps are stored on the phone, not the 1GB SD card.  The G1 has 256 MB of internal flash storage, 70 MB of which is reserved for apps.  If you install a lot of apps and don’t pay attention to clearing your browser’s cache, you can run out of room.  This, I think, is my biggest beef with the design of the phone.  But it’s hasn’t been a problem for me yet, and I’m already used to housecleaning my old 20GB laptop to maximize space.

(g) The phone shipped with a small, useless, glossy quick start guide.  I’m old-school — I wanted a manual.  I had to hunt around for it, but I finally found it on the T-Mobile site.  One hundred and forty-one pages of blissful detail!

(h) Smears!  The glass touchscreen gets so smeary after, I don’t know, 3 seconds of use.  I know someone who had a slightly textured plastic coating applied to his iPhone.  I gotta see if I can do that for the G1.

Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Education Services Manager
on December 09, 2008 - 9:45 am

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