So reviewed
30 May
I hate rushing reviews for tech stuff.
This is a bit antithetical to what the industry is like now. Everybody wants their hands on a gadget first and to put out the earliest review (usually right when an embargo lifts) and rack up those page views from curious Googling readers.
But given the kinds of stuff we’re talking about — tablet PCs, smart phones, stuff that you really have to live with a while to get your head around and really sort usefulness from novelty, I just don’t think you can review something like an iPad or a radically new kind of phone in a few hours or even a day or two. So I tend to play with stuff over time and then realize that a month has gone by and I still haven’t written anything about (insert name of gadget). Right around the time the PR people start e-mailing me, asking, “So, uh… are you ever gonna review this thing and mail the product back?” is when my crack timing, motivation and work ethic kick in and I write the damn thing. Sometimes I write two in the same article just to clear the decks.
So, here’s some recent stuff that ran in the paper. I did a review that appeared as a Sunday secondary taking a look at the Motorola Xoom tablet and the T-Mobile G-Slate. I liked them both for different reasons, but not as much as the iPad, which should be no surprise to anyone who’s spent some serious time with an iPad or iPad 2. The article in the paper was reverse-published from a Digital Savant blog entry from a little while ago.
A bit of a companion to that is a first-impressions I did of the BlackBerry PlayBook this week.
I’ve got a more detailed story about migrating to a tablet running June 11 that’ll offer tips, app ideas and more to those thinking about moving away from a laptop or desktop to something a little more portable.
Also had a review of the new Mortal Kombat game, which I quite liked. Spent a lot of nights trudging through that story mode (which was ridiculously awful/awesome) and getting back my moves from all those years of Kombo muscle memory.
And on Saturday, I wrote a lengthy “Raising Austin” column about kids, security and Facebook. I got to talk a little about a trip I took to Dallas last year to speak at a panel for Jewish Family Services on the topic and to tie it in with some recent news. Sometimes I do speaking stuff or freelance and worry that it won’t be useful for anything but making a little money, but other times it pays off in other ways and helps me a lot at my day job.
That’s about it for now. Summer has kicked off her in New Braunfels and we went to Schlitterbahn three times in one weekend. That is how the Gallagas roll when it is hot outside and we have season passes.
I love mine. Just wish they would get the SD slot working!
You mean your Xoom?
Yep. MicroSD slot actually. 90% of my use is web and gmail, which it does very well. The other 10% is videos, games, and the B&N Nook app. I just got the WiFi version, because I couldn't bring myself to spend $20/month for 1GB 3G service, and there still isn't word when LTE upgrades will start. I have to admit, if I had any willpower, I would have waited for something a bit slimmer, but I don't consider the Xoom to be heaver than I would expect from any tablet. The iPad 2 is impressive, but I jut can't get past the "You have to do it the Apple way" (sync with iTunes) mentality. I also like the idea of removable storage (when it comes). Either way, the consumer is winning. Competition is good, and hopefully, it will bring the sub-$300 tablet (which is basically here, if you root a $250 Nook Color).
I thought I was the only one that waited to write reviews until the reps started calling for the gadgets back. I feel so much better now. Great reviews, btw.
Thanks! I have a hard time taking reviews that come out the day of a product launch seriously if the person got the device that day. And I see that all the time.