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11/07/2011, 12:36 PM
#1
Hey guys. I thought I'd post my frustrations with the TP before doing anything rash. I'm running WebOS 3.0.4 along with UberK and Govah. I've installed nearly all of the "recommended" Preware app's that everyone suggests, along with some games and app's I have purchased myself. Some of my issues could be lack of education... meaning I don't know how to properly do the tasks I need to do. That being said....
My top issues with the TP are:
The Browser- I bought this because I thought WebOS would support most of the websites that I frequent for my job. I interface with with a lot of secure servers that run off of an extension aspx. I was told this is some sort of .Net or Java server language that is out dated. However, these are big "insurance company servers" (I'm an agent and have to log in to rate and service policies). HTML5 is the future, but I can tell you that insurance companies aren't going to make the switch any time soon because most of their agents use PC's.
Safari doesn't jive at all with my Insurance company interfaces. So, doing my job on a "Mac" is impossible. I use a Mac, but I run Parallels Desktop for my work stuff. Even Firefox on the Mac side doesn't work. WebOS is no better. It's no supported usually, but that doesn't mean it won't work. Usually if it gives me that error message, it won't work.
For sites that ARE supposed to work, insurance or not, I find myself pressing on a link with nothing happening. OVER AND OVER this happens. It's like the TP isn't responding to my tough. I recalibrate the touch constantly, and it's usually never off.
I frequently visit ESPN and Yahoo Sports to manage my fantasy line ups. Yahoo's site is the worst to deal with, but I can deal with it. Still lots of unresponsive finger touches. Another site I like to visit is Youtube. That can be hit or miss as well. I also enjoy Cracked.com for a good laff, and I enjoy reading the Huffington Post. Both sites can be NIGHTMARES to navigate. I notice that the progress bar at the top of many of these sites fails to actually complete it's progress or only gets 15% into the progress and stalls. Also, Facebook is horrible to use. I was told that the WebOS is the only OS that has the Facebook app written specifically for it, but I'm not at all impressed with the performance. If it's not "touch inputs" that fail to respond, it's a wacky layout that doesn't make sense. But bottlenecking of online data is what bothers me the most because it's prevalent on MANY sites. This tells me that something may wrong with the WebOS, or site, or...
Networking/WiFi: For instance at church... there are 750, per service, half of which know the password to access the router. So, it can be slow. I have no problems on my Android phone, but on the Touchpad, it's a nightmare. I'm a musician at church, and many times I need to quickly connect to a website that we use called planningcenteronline to download sheet music to my TP. I usually do this before service, put the set list I'm playing in order in a folder on Box.net, then I open each pdf file one after another, so that as we finish with a song, I can load the next easily. Half the time, I can't access any info on Planning Centers site, because the browser is frozen. But I could turn around and pull it up on my phone in no time usually. So, what is it with the Wifi of the TP that makes it totally bottleneck and fail?
Working with Documents: I work with PDF files a lot, which is no problem on the TP. Sometimes, if I'm singing a song, I'll type up the lyrics in Word and email them to myself, or upload them to Box.net. But when I pull one up using QuickOfficeHD, not only are the fonts different, but it seems like I can't properly edit the file. If I send it to myself in all caps, it shows up "proper" and there is no way for me to adjust margins, highlight the text and change it to all caps, nothing. In fact, pulling up the "select/select all" field at times is a trick. It'll flash, but go away immediately, or if I cut/copy something, it won't copy. It's literally like anything you pull up in QuickOffice HD is uneditable and ends up crashing the app. Another AMAZINGLY annoying thing is when I download a file that I email myself, like this .doc file, or even a PDF... most of the time, WebOS doesn't know what to do with it, and the MIME type is not recognized. This forces me to use file manager app to go in and find the file (which usually gets renamed to something crazy), rename it, add the extension, then open it. And sometimes it still won't work. It just doesn't make sense!
I also don't like the way that WebOS handles "selecting/highlighting" things. I don't understand if I select a paragraph how to move it? Apparently you can't. You always have to cut and past. You can't drag a "selection" around. That is just WACK to me!? I swear, for "cool" as WebOS supposedly is, it's shockingly limited all the same.
Many of my woes will disappear once Gingerbread is fully ready and functional for the TP. But I may not keep my TP long enough to see that happen because I don't see it happening fast enough. I bet it will be at least six months before Gingerbread is seemingly transparent and functional. Right now, I could install it and dual boot, but I'm not sure that's the answer for me. There are still lots of strange issues with the Alpha that I'm thinking I don't have time to deal with. I don't have time to sit around and fart with my tablet for hours. I want it to do what I need it to do, period. The Android browser on my phone is able to connect just fine to the insurance sites I need. It's just frustratingly small. So I haven't really had the patience to get deep into the limitations, but it seems like it's going to be fine. It's pretty sad when I want something to work, I have to go to my cell phone over a Tablet. This Touchpad should be way better, and it's not.
I've got half a mind to totally reset it back to factory and install only a few of the Preware tweaks... but NOT UberKernal or Govnah. I personally think my TP performs worse OC'd.
Games: I have some games, both paid for and free. And the ones FOR Touchpad are really good. But before I knew what I was doing, I installed some games or app's that were for a phone, but worked on the TP. Those app's, though small on the screen, should work fine right? I have a game called "RollerBall" (which is Ski-Ball), and it's hard to play. You're supposed to touch where the ball is to sit, then you flip the TP up to simulate a throw. More than half of the time, my flip (which i'm consistant every time) will fail to register properly and the ball will end up never making it to the holes. While playing Rockband, you've got to use both hand, and be VERY precise or else it won't register your touches. So, is it the game? Or the touch input of the TP not being accurate? If I calibrate it all the time, why would it LOSE it's calibration? It shouldn't.
If I'm one of those "power users that demand too much from a device", then I can accept that. I just need to know if that's the case with this TP. To be honest with you, I want an iPad 2 so badly that I can't stand it. But it will not serve it's purpose as something I can use for "work" because Safari won't cut it. But it will serve NUMEROUS other functions. So, perhaps I'm more of a "laptop" guy and can't get what I need from a tablet. I was hoping to, but maybe that's not the case? I even bought the Touchstone Dock and the Touchpad Keyboard and case! I was/am fully committed to this device in that way, so I had to have to turn around and sell all this stuff and risk losing money. I want it work, that's all.
Thank you for your patience in reading this! Your advice and input is much appreciated!
Jason
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