mem_313 wrote: 
let me summarize for you:

ATT guy: I'm going to put up some big money promising this will happen, that's cool right?
FCC guy: uh, I'm not sure..... Waiter, another lobster bisque please.
AG: Well, what could we do to make sure that everyone gets protected here?
FG: I don't know?
AG: Well, think about it while I go use the restroom. Oh, and watch this envelope for me, it's got like a million dollars in it... or maybe a hundred, I'm not really sure, I'll count it when I get back though.
FG: No problem.

{time goes by}
AG: I'm back, what do you think?
FG: I've considered all the options, and I think you can proceed with your merger.
AG: Great thanks, now let me count the money in my envelope: 1 dollar, 2 dollars... huh, I guess there was only 2 dollars in there.
FG: I must have missed those, oh well, you're picking up lunch right?
AG: Of course.
FG: Waiter, I need 14 lbs of steak and a bottle of your finest merlot to go please. 

 BillnDollarBaby wrote: 
I doubt mine would make 7 hours of streaming (never timed it). I'm guessing I'd be close to Xerics 5.  

If Android apps are properly written, they will kill themselves and not require an app killer to maintain battery. Unfortunately, the downside to the open nature of android is that you can have poorly coded apps. Android is a lot like the Unix/Linux world - you have every tool in the shed available, even the really dangerous ones. You can make art or chop your leg off. And the people with the skill to help you are just as likely to mock you from the fence while you bleed to death as they are to jump in with a tourniquet and stop the bleeding.

 islander wrote: 


I knew that. I must have know that. No, really.

 islander wrote: 
yea if only to be a fly on the wall of those meetings huh?

 Xeric wrote: 
GPS sats are geostationary (your position can change in relation to them, but if they move gps no worky).

 

 Xeric wrote: 
3 BILLION dollar break up fee = somebody knows something.

 islander wrote: 


Interesting—thanks. I knew it WORKED that way but had little clue as to why. And yeah, come to think of it, it's not eight hours but our five-and-a-half-hour *morning* that the iPhone might make without charging.

 BillnDollarBaby wrote: 


It works on the seat, but yes, the roof does seem to make it harder for it to maintain a good satellite fix. Works great up on the dash. (This issue seems intermittent, too—like, it might depend on where the satellites happen to be in their orbits?)

 mem_313 wrote: 


That merger is a long way from being a done deal. Still, I wouldn't bet against it. . . .

i called T-Mobile last night to get an issue resolved, and the man on the phone said, well we are merging with AT&T....

the whole REASON i went with T-Mobile is to get away from AT&T (and freakin verizon sucks as well). sigh... d*mn monopolies.

 islander wrote: 

 Xeric wrote: 
??
 

 Xeric wrote: 
I don't understand... does the roof block the reception?  You can't just leave it in the seat next to you?
I just listen to annoying GPS lady.  I don't look at the screen, so maybe that's why I'm not getting it.

 BillnDollarBaby wrote: 


Yeah, the rinse trick works. Amazing stuff.

The windshield in my truck is steep enough so that the GPS works better if it's forward on the dash a few inches.

 Xeric wrote: 
Given the placement of the power outlet in my car, this one should work well for us.  But we're not using the thing for a GPS, either - got a Garmin for that.

 Xeric wrote: 
No. An iPhone won't make 8 hours of streaming either unless they have changed something dramatic in the laws of physics lately. Streaming uses CPU cycles and radio at elevated levels, so no matter the device it will have an impact. How much impact depends on all kinds of factors - the radio you are using, if you are using WiFi and 3G/4G simultaneously, the signal quality at your location, the codec/app you are using...

I have a cradle on my desk that I can just set the phone in for connectivity and charging. I don't stream that much - in the boat (where I have a charge plug as well), and occasionally when in the car, most other places I'd be using a PC or my regular stereo that is set up with the same sources. I only occasionally use the cradle, and I rarely find myself out of charge at the end of the day. I do charge my phone every night though.

 Xeric wrote: 
When it loses its goo... rinse it off and air dry.  Should work again.

Does your GPS have to be in a certain spot to work?  Or are you just referring to being able to comfortably see the screen in addition to hearing annoying GPS babe?

 oldslabsides wrote: 


My sorta-epic effort to put an input jack into my truck got even more epic when I got tired of plugging in both the phone cord for music and the dock connector for charge, so I re-jiggered the audio input so that it works through the dock connector, too. I couldn't find a cradle that supplied power and also held the phone up on the dash where it needs to be for the GPS to work well. I did find a non-powered cradle that works via a patch of some magical permanently sticky nuclear green gooey stuff in the middle of it. You press the phone up there, it sticks, you pull off—repeat infinitely, apparently.

 Xeric wrote: 
I can stream most of a day without a recharge... I can't go a full 16 hour day which many of mine are without a recharge if streaming.  But I can go from 30% to 100% battery on my mobile charger in under an hour.  If I've been streaming, I just plug in while I'm driving around and I have never ended up with a dead phone.. except when I lost my mobile charger and forgot to bring a cord with me, my fault not the phones.  I was a dead duck around the 11 hour mark, after about 7 hours of streaming and some phone calls and media use.  Overall, I am having the best battery life I have experienced.  My last was a Palm Pre and prior to that I was strictly a military-grade, nextel kind of girl so there is no comparison. 

Edit: Islander has an HTC EVO and I have a Samsung Epic... very similar, but not the same phones.  His mileage may vary.  On all Droid phones you MUST have a task killer to prevent background apps from killing your battery... one area I believe there is room to improve.

 oldslabsides wrote: 
I don't disagree... I just found that the Droid Enhanced 3G and 4G phones offered more than the Apple phones.  My Epic weighs about the same as my Palm Pre or my iPod touch and isn't much thicker than the the iPod.  BDH is a big researcher when we shop and everything I appreciated about the iPhones, he proved to me could be met or beat by the Epic and the EVO... there are also some Verizon phones that rank, but Verizon was never an option for us.

The Droid market is what really sold me.  Apple is too busy keeping a choke hold on everyone's creativity.  I can download almost anything I need for free.  I have paid for one app in my entire life.  I used to believe in what Apple stood for.  And I still believe that for certain graphics industries, you can't beat them.  But Steve Job's snobbery and control issues have tainted the brand.  He's brilliant.  But that doesn't make every product he puts his name on the best... it just makes it Apple.  The days where Apple is always a better product no longer exist.  When I worked as a graphic designer, you wouldn't catch me touching a PC... now, for everyday use, I find it easier and more affordable.  Why should I pay more for internet and household computing?  My computer is quite zippy, faster than anything I work on at my contract offices, Apple or PC.  I don't work as a pro designer anymore.  Why should I pay more for a phone and service when my Droid does more and costs less?

I don't think there is anything wrong with Apple.  I just refuse to pay more for no reason other than name cache.  To me, its the same as paying more for Esprit or Tommy Hilfiger clothes.  They aren't better clothes, they just have a label on them.  (I'm probably dating myself with that Esprit reference.  Do they even exist anymore?) And that's what they are charging for.  Especially back when ATT was your only provider choice.  My plan is $69.99 plus a $10 upcharge for the 4G/Enhanced 3G —- unlimited text, talk and media plus 450 land line minutes.  I actually pay slightly less than that with some corporate discounts BDH qualifies for through his company.  ATT's comparable plan was well over $100 before discounts and they declined to honor the corporate discount his company qualified for on any iPhone purchases or services.

I have nothing against Apple, this is just how we got to our decision... my phone is really a household purchase in a sense.  Without the mad-shopper BDH, I may have gone iPhone too, based on past loyalties and experience.  But with the research in my hands, it was hard to justify the higher price for the slightly lesser product.  BDH should start a personal shopper business or work for Consumer Reports... he does nothing without a raft of research behind his purchase from food to our vehicles to the phones.  A pair of sneakers merits some thought.  He always knows exactly what he wants and who has the best ability to provide it.  He's kind of a freak that way.  When it comes time to replace my iPod touch, I will almost certainly purchase another Apple product.  In that forum, they still are producing a better product.