How I Spent My Christmas Vacation
Wednesday, January 5th, 2011(or Upgrading to Android and Windows 7)
The holidays are usually a time I can use to catch-up on some extra reading or research. This year I had two major infrastructure changes that occupied my time. I moved from my Blackberry Storm to an HTC Incredible and from my old Gateway M680 with Windows XP to a Dell Vostro 3700 running Windows 7. It has been a bumpy couple of weeks getting my virtual life back in order.
Before getting into some of the details of the experiences, I’ll summarize by saying that both upgrades were worth the learning curve and associated frustration. The Incredible’s hardware and the Android OS are orders-of-magnitude beyond the Storm in terms of usability, reliability, and functionality. On my computer, Windows 7 (64-bit professional version) provides a clean and efficient environment. The compatibility with 32-bit applications has worked flawlessly so far.
The phone journey…
I ordered the Incredible with the intention of switching over to it during the week before Christmas. I would be off from work that week so any issues with email and calendar wouldn’t pose much risk. However Verizon had other plans. A day after the Incredible arrived they shut off my Storm. This meant I had to get the Incredible going immediately. This was during a week that I was traveling to Alabama and Vermont so I needed my cell phone working reliably.
I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I was fully operational with the basic services (phone, email and calendar). Blue Slate uses Google as our hosted email service so its ease of integration with the Android environment isn’t a surprise. The phone setup process through Verizon has changed since I got my Storm several years ago. Making on-line changes to my services is now simple. I quickly expanded my data plan so that I could use the 3G Mobile feature of the Incredible while at the client’s site. No issues at all!
My main disappointment with the Incredible is its battery life. With my Storm I could go days without recharging. Now I have to recharge my phone every night. I’ve gone through the “kill the app” phase and found that process doesn’t really help. I use WiFi as much as possible since that is supposed to save battery life over using the cell connection to access email and internet services. I keep the screen dimmed and turn off location services when they are not needed.
On the bright side, the variety of applications, including a nice SSH tool makes the phone amazingly versatile. I don’t have to fire up my computer to check on a batch job or fix a basic database problem on our Linux servers. The GPS services surpass my Magellan’s capabilities so I have one less device to carry with me on trips.
All in all I’m very pleased with my move to the Incredible. I probably would have considered the iPhone but really prefer Verizon’s coverage. This phone should serve me well for my 2-year contract.
The computer journey…
My new Dell arrived several weeks before Christmas. I put off doing anything with it, knowing that the process of moving my virtual life, installed and configured over the course of 4 years on my trusty Gateway laptop, would be onerous. I’m glad I waited. Although the Dell is a great machine, the process of getting products installed (or obtaining newer versions) and getting files and configurations in place took several days.