[rockula]

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

[bluenote]

Hmmn, did you try ubuntu?

There is an easy installation script (see below) which takes about 10 minutes. You first have to metadoctor your TouchPad which will take a few hours (see webos internals wiki).

The documents package on ubuntu is desktop. However, I did find that some of the fonts were not compatible with Microsoft Office so I would not use it interchangeably with office docs for formal presentations.

Flash works with firefox but scrolling will be harder. Chromium scrolling pretty easy once you install a extension but I did not get it to work with flash yet although some others may have (read the thread below for more details).

http://forums.precentral.net/webos-d...on-ubuntu.html

[Jonnie]

Not every device satisfies everyone; best of luck finding one that supports your needs.

[rubenfan]

Grass is always greener on the other side. I suggest you try ipad or an android and come back and tell us how unhappy you are.

[rockula]

BlueNote: I've never tried Ubuntu, so perhaps I will. I've never ever messed with Linux, so that would be interesting. Can you install it in a way that allows for dual booting? That way I can boot into WebOS if I had to.

Jonnie: Well that goes without saying. But I my complaints aren't all that unreasonable I don't think? I probably should have broken it up in several posts because I'm pretty sure that no one is going to sit through all of what I typed. Hopefully they will though!

Besides... After reading about all of the 3.0.4 complaints... I'm not sure that might not be half the problem! The question is, how do you go back? Wipe and reinstall? Because this would also mean going to all of the prior versions of Preware apps too.

J

[andytvcams]

Android or a laptop would have done the Job.
with the new upgrade the touchpad Is ok for browsing the internet and that's about it.

[howi]

rockular,

Hi, are you trying to substitute your Windows laptop with a tablet? In my experience (HP TouchPad, Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1, Apple iPad 2), they are good for presenting media but not for creating complex documents, mission-critical or specific tasks. I can only use Critrix to a certain degree but not like with a PC.

[bluenote]

BlueNote: I've never tried Ubuntu, so perhaps I will. I've never ever messed with Linux, so that would be interesting. Can you install it in a way that allows for dual booting? That way I can boot into WebOS if I had to.
J

Its better than dual-booting. It just runs in a card like all your other apps. The easy-install script gives you a choice of virtual keyboards and if you have the webOS keyboard, that's even better and gives you another option.

You don't have much "messing" to do as the script takes care of installing everything but Firefox. The hardest thing will be to create the metadoctor and then edit the metadoctor makefile for the ubuntu install before you run it on your device. After you run it, you need to mount the partition. All these instructions are on the webos internals wiki

UbuntuChroot - WebOS Internals

[UncleVanya]

IF you need wifi for church related business - suggest that they setup a second access network with QoS on the first to keep that public one from kicking you out of the legitimate use of the bandwidth for important business.

[rockula]

Another silly thing... I downloaded a series of photos from a website, and saved them to my TP. They would naturally reside in the photo viewer. But after downloading all 40 pictures (frame by frame shots of the Dan Wheldon crash RIP), I realized that they all had crazy file names that i had to fix. I had to painstakingly rename them with the Internalz Pro app, only to find that I couldn't SORT them within the photo viewer app, to put the in order from 1 to say 40. I discovered that the order in which they were in, was the order in which I downloaded them. That meant that the LAST picture was first, and first was last! You'd think I could sort by: Name. But noooooo. That doesn't appear to be the case. I ended up wasting way too much time on such a simple thing, and gave up and moved on.

What about that makes me a guy who's asking for too much from an OS?

[rockula]

Its better than dual-booting. It just runs in a card like all your other apps. The easy-install script gives you a choice of virtual keyboards and if you have the webOS keyboard, that's even better and gives you another option.

You don't have much "messing" to do as the script takes care of installing everything but Firefox. The hardest thing will be to create the metadoctor and then edit the metadoctor makefile for the ubuntu install before you run it on your device. After you run it, you need to mount the partition. All these instructions are on the webos internals wiki

UbuntuChroot - WebOS Internals

So in other words... it exists within WebOS? Now that I'm starting to understand the "concept" of how it works, I can make progress investigating it. Since I'm new to this, that's part of my problem. These are totally new concepts to me, and I'm not sure what or why just yet... so It's hard for me to visualize what all this stuff does. Once I grasp the concept I'm fine.

So essentially there's really no "risk" involved in installing it. It doesn't mess up what I have now in WebOS, and if I decide I don't want it, I can uninstall it without a lot of hassle?

Essentially: if I just follow instructions on how to do this, it should work and I'll sort of figure it out as I go? meaning... it will start to make sense as i go thru the process of installing it. Because right now... the language and methods mean NOTHING to me because i don't understand it. Kinda like installing Preware for the first time. I had no clue what it all meant until I did it. After that, I was able to understand it through seeing it in action. I'm a visual learner obviously!

[bluenote]

Another silly thing... I downloaded a series of photos from a website, and saved them to my TP. They would naturally reside in the photo viewer. But after downloading all 40 pictures (frame by frame shots of the Dan Wheldon crash RIP), I realized that they all had crazy file names that i had to fix. I had to painstakingly rename them with the Internalz Pro app, only to find that I couldn't SORT them within the photo viewer app, to put the in order from 1 to say 40. I discovered that the order in which they were in, was the order in which I downloaded them. That meant that the LAST picture was first, and first was last! You'd think I could sort by: Name. But noooooo. That doesn't appear to be the case. I ended up wasting way too much time on such a simple thing, and gave up and moved on.

What about that makes me a guy who's asking for too much from an OS?

You've got multiple issues. Prioritize the ones that are most important into a list (I suggest 3 or 4 max to start). Then determine which ones can be solved. The prioritizing will help us too. You will most likely not be able to solve every issue (on any platform). Also even if you solve most issues, you will not be able to solve them in a day.

[DizWhiz]

Sell it on ebay or craigslist, save up for iPad 3 or an Android tablet, move on and be happy. Having an expectation that a dead product with a barely supported OS is going to be everything you need is just looking for disappointment.

[cawhalen]

$600... all gripes and complaints are accepted; $150 and the knowledge that Webos is not entirely supported or going anywhere, you need to deal with the product you have and understand there is no upside to you. This is not your platform. If you want all of these things, you need to move to a platform in the $600 range.

[rockula]

IF you need wifi for church related business - suggest that they setup a second access network with QoS on the first to keep that public one from kicking you out of the legitimate use of the bandwidth for important business.

Right now there are three different Wifi connect points you can connect to if you know the password. I'm pretty sure half the congregation knows the password, but I also don't think they make it common knowledge. You have to ask. The problem is, the church is so big that you connect to whatever network is in your "zone". On the day of the service, everyone is in the "sanctuary" zone, and there is no specific access for staff separate from everyone else. We all connect to the same access point, depending on where we are. So, I'll bring this up to Web guy. That way our connections aren't bogged down by everyone else.

Thanks!

jason

[rockula]

rockular,

Hi, are you trying to substitute your Windows laptop with a tablet? In my experience (HP TouchPad, Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1, Apple iPad 2), they are good for presenting media but not for creating complex documents, mission-critical or specific tasks. I can only use Critrix to a certain degree but not like with a PC.

Howi, in a way I am I guess. I was hoping the tablet would be like a poor man's laptop. Since most of what I do at work is based on me logging on to a website/server and inputting data, sending emails, etc... I thought it would be ok for that. That and playing some games, checking facebook, watching youtube vids from the living room chair, etc. I realize a laptop is way more suitable, but I figured this would be able to do what I needed it to do. I'm not sure it's not still able to. But the problem is, I'm not sold that my TP is running all that great to begin with, based on seemingly SIMPLE things that aren't so simple. Like for instance, on my Android phone... copy/cut/paste/select/select all is 10x easier then it is on this tablet, and you'd think it would be the opposite! For me, it seems to be the difference between WebOS and Android with what one does that the other doesn't. Android seemingly "just works" for the most part, compared to WebOS. I just never expected to be so frustrated with something as simple as browsing the web! This MIME business... that just can't be normal?? It makes no sense why a common file isn't recognized? I shouldn't have to use Internalz Pro to change file names and extensions for nearly anything I download.

[stumblinh]

#1 get a free tether app for your phone and access internet via that vs a bogged down wifi hotspot. If you have control over the hotspot make sure it's using wpa2 protection for fastest speeds.

#2 I suggest a program such as splashtop remote or if you have a windows pc at home "remote desktop client" will do the job. This will allow you to get on your PC to view any web pages or edit doc's and files for work if the tablet cannot handle it. None of these tablets are up to the task of raplacing your desktop or notebook.. but they are very portable have great battery life and do a great job for most things.

to note: if you have not used remote desktops before you may need to email yourself some doc's or files to have access on the home or remote tp. I'd say splash top is best choice btw the two.. OR better yet use the free dropbox account that comes w/ the touchpad (50gb I think)

[vivajay69]

Rockula...Tablets are best to use for entertainment needs. Watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading books/magazines etc. Productivity is something current tablets just can't match up with against most laptops and desktop computers. Every tablet has its things it does better that others. I have a Touchpad and iPhone 4 right now. I'm a singer/guitarist (semi-pro) and love that the iPhone has certain apps for me such as Garageband for recording, composing and sequencing songs and Songbook which I can turn to for songs to display lyrics and chords for me when I'm gigging. A chromatic guitar tuner and a couple of guitar amp mods. Things I love with the TouchPad is Synergy between all my social media accounts and apps and not having to be tied down to iTunes (which with Apple's last IOS update finally allows updating through the cloud instead of forcing you to have to plug your phone into the computer and syncing up with iTunes). There are some pretty solid apps for the TouchPad such as Video Flood which pretty much takes care of most of my video needs (Webcasts, TV Shows and even some nice movies). Good luck with whatever you choose. I like having a taste of both myself. I may get GoogleTV just to get in on the Android party.

[c000]

too long. didnt read. but if you are unhappy with it i will buy it. since its used i'll give you 60% of what you bought it for

[major payne]

Howi, in a way I am I guess. I was hoping the tablet would be like a poor man's laptop. Since most of what I do at work is based on me logging on to a website/server and inputting data, sending emails, etc... I thought it would be ok for that. That and playing some games, checking facebook, watching youtube vids from the living room chair, etc. I realize a laptop is way more suitable, but I figured this would be able to do what I needed it to do. I'm not sure it's not still able to. But the problem is, I'm not sold that my TP is running all that great to begin with, based on seemingly SIMPLE things that aren't so simple. Like for instance, on my Android phone... copy/cut/paste/select/select all is 10x easier then it is on this tablet, and you'd think it would be the opposite! For me, it seems to be the difference between WebOS and Android with what one does that the other doesn't. Android seemingly "just works" for the most part, compared to WebOS. I just never expected to be so frustrated with something as simple as browsing the web! This MIME business... that just can't be normal?? It makes no sense why a common file isn't recognized? I shouldn't have to use Internalz Pro to change file names and extensions for nearly anything I download.

I own a Web Hosting company. I code websites on a daily basis. I use the Touchpad actually alot to do this. I use either Splashtop if there is something i can't do on the Touchpad which honestly is not much. If you need more information on that just hit me up.