While many of my friends and office peers were quick to praise my G1 I have to say that the drawbacks, few though they be, were enough to cause me to return it to T-Mobile.
Let me say that the G1 operating system (Android) worked fine. Video was excellent and there were plenty of free product downloads.
My problems were in several areas: The G3 Network and the hardware design.
I live in a city (Tampa) where Tmobile is "on its way" in setting up G3 towers. this means I'm stuck with Edge until they make their way to Tampa. This is not too much of a problem for me as I find that I can simply use a wi-fi- network. Needles to say, Edge slows down the G1's network speeds considerably.
I was willing to tolerate the Edge speeds (I have to on my Sidekick LX) What really bothered me was the design of the phone itself.
The touch screen works fine but the pull out keyboard was poorly designed. The keys light up as you type on the keys at about the same brightness as the silver tone of the keys. This has the odd effect of making the qwerty keys' lettering difficult to see.
A second problem with the G1 keyboard is the keys are barely raised and close together. This means you don't have the "feel" of the key being contacted.
To be mobile means having a keyboard you can actually use. The G1 stops short by significantly slowing down the creation and communication of email, meeting notes, and messaging.
I have reverted back to my Danger Sidekick LX for its keyboard and equality as a web browser in the Edge speeds.
Perhaps an Android with Sidekick keyboard? hmmmm.
A third problem is that the earphone is usb and so it the charger. In order to charge and listen with headset you will need to buy a usb port expansion.
The final and more important issue was poor battery life. I contacted G1 Support and they informed me it was a "known issue". The suggested solutions were,
1. Keep recharging through the day.
2. Minimal use of media, web browsing.
3. Buy a spare battery.
4. Turn down the display,
5. turn off bluetooth, wifi, and gps.
So, it order to insure your G1 lasts through the day you have to keep it near a power source or don't use it for all the reasons you bought it.
G1 support apologized for these "known problems" and reminded my that according to Tmobile policy I could return my G1 before my 2 weeks were up. So, with some sadness and some relief, I returned it and reactivated my Sidekicj LX.
rdbyrne
