General News and Notes

I think use GSM will save your battery more compare WCDMA/3G/HSDPA, mainly the green network
keep on bouncing amongst 3G and HSDPA. Somehow
rather WIFI turn on will get the mobile phone more heat compare to making use of data on
3G/HSDPA.

I am using my dell laptop with pre.install windows XP .The OEM version is the exact same operating system as Retail, you just can't transfer it between computers (no big deal), and you don't get support with it (again, no big deal).

Not a problem Ann - you can move that license to the new machine. Just uninstall Office 2010 from the old one and install it on the new one. If it gives you any complaint when you go to activate on the new one (and it probably won't) just call the Microsoft Licensing desk, explain you're moving your license and they'll fix it up. I seriously doubt you'll have to do that though.

I work for a non-profit with a volume license. I had to retire one of my computers and want to install Office 2010 on another computer. Will I use up one of my instances? How do I prevent this?

you forgot one version of office, Office Enterprise (though it's essentially the same as ultimate)

Hands down, Apple's app store wins by a mile. It's a huge selection of all sorts of apps vs a rather sad selection of a handful for Zune. Microsoft has plans, especially in the realm of games, but I'm not sure I'd want to bet on the future if this aspect is important to you. The iPod is a much better choice in that case.

Fair enough, however I will point out that I said they should CONSIDER the Droid2 or the HTC Incredible, not that they should automatically get it. Some people will prefer the Incredible or the Droid2 and for those folks it's probably a smart choice. I've heard nothing but rave reviews of the Incredible in particular.

And, if you would re-read the post, you might notice that it's not simply the delay of the updated software that is tempering my enthusiasm. It's the fact that the device, for all its strengths, has quite a few quirks and annoyances. The navigation in the car dock is almost unusable, for example, and that's a pretty big selling point for the device.

I didn't even mention the fairly weak set of default ring tones which seem to place a premium on being cute over being heard. I've lost more calls to voicemail because I never even heard the DroidX ring than I ever did with my Droid. I think I've resolved that now with a more attention-getting ring tone but the inexperienced smartphone buyer you speak of might not even think of it.

The DroidX is a device with a lot of potential. But right now it's also fairly flawed. For now I'm living with the flaws and finding workarounds for them. If the flaws persist 2 months from now I may well be in the position of regretting that I got one.

Besides, with the pace of smartphone development these days we're ALWAYS signing a 2 year contract for a device that's going to be obsolete in a few months. The issue is whether or not it does the job you need it to do now.

It's so disappointing to see people posting such poor advice, particularly when there are so many inexperienced smartphone buyers seeking advice nowadays.

Is it really wise to sign a two year contract for a lesser device because a new release of software is two weeks, or even two months, late? Hardly.

Hear! Hear! Each time I post a new entry (and I only have a few so far), I get a flood of about 30-35 new "comments," all of which are ads for cheap imports or totally irrelevant sites. Some try to look legit by including supposed references to non-existent previous comments, etc. I assume from the pattern that the spammers add me to their RSS feeds, so they get notified every time I make a new entry, and they rush to post comments to that entry. I can only assume that, as the number of blog entries grow, so, too, will the volume of spam. {sigh}

As always, great tips Ben!

The utility I recommend using to see if a PC has available slots for RAM memory is Belarc Advisor and can be downloaded for free from http://www.belarc.com

Andrea Cannavina (aka LegalTypist)

Ah, but what if you forward your existing phone number to a Google Voice number? Then your clients can call your regular 808 number but will leave voicemails in your Google Voice mailbox, which will allow you to use the Google Voice app.....

I don't know, I don't have either.

O.K., I just checked - it's $2.99 a month (at least here). I can't use Google Voice, unfortunately, because they (like every other VOIP provider I've seen) don't offer 808 area code numbers and the vast majority of my calls are from the 808.

Good thinking though!

With the visual voicemail, I am not paying for it either, but I think it's only $1.99/month not $6.99. And you can opt to use google voice for voicemail instead, which would probably serve the same function except better (I don't know if you've tried the google voice app on the droid yet, it's pretty neat).

I'm hopeful that Google will have a fix for that problem soon. If they do then I think it's definitely a device that business users should consider.

I am looking forward to what John Simek and his crew have to say about the security of the device, though. They've pointed out some pretty significant issues with the iPhone and I'm hoping the Android gets similar scrutiny.

Thanks Ben. I was wondering about this phone. I'm on Verizon and need a replacement for my HTC 6800. Your comments about the Outlook calendar sync are a dealbreaker for this phone. I'm keeping fingers crossed that the HTC HD2 will come to Verizon.

Nice post on facebook. You now have me curious who "Susan" is lol. Sounds as though it may be someone I know lol.

-Tim