Disqus - Latest Comments for cgavula

Re: Check out the new phone that just made the iPhone 8 look like it’s from the stone age

cgavula — Fri, 18 Aug 2017 19:55:03 -0000

Single lens camera? Fingerprint scanner on the back? Pass.

Re: USB-C compatibility problems are the worst

cgavula — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 12:48:18 -0000

I'm primarily Macbook-based (2015, USB-C Only) and I haven't really had any compatibility issues either. I have the Macbook, a Lumia 950, even a Nintendo Switch and they all charge just fine and haven't given me any problems. I did hear about bad 3rd party cable as you mentioned and I tended to stay with bigger brand names for my cable and things have worked without issue. I prefer the connector to USB-A/mini/micro because you don't have to fuss with the direction at all.

Historically, all cabling changes have had compatibility problems when they came out. I know HDMI is another standard that has struggled a lot with that, especially since it was consumer-device driven and the expectations were high for it. I remember even USB-A had a LOT of issues when it first came out. And the various Ethernet cabling standards have had issues over the years. Again, although not desirable, I think this is normal with every cabling technology - many vendors making up a standard and then interpreting it slightly differently from each other. It does sort out and get better, but that only happens if manufacturers actually implement the technology, otherwise there is no financial incentive to fix it. FOr this reason, I think MS should have implemented at least one USB C port on the Surface, especially since they already went down the USB-C path with the Lumia 950.

Re: The Edge is dead. Long live the edge!

cgavula — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 23:22:21 -0000

I had a Galaxy S7 edge and I am not a fan. It was too easy to accidentally activate stuff and games were difficult to play if what you needed to do was near the edge of the screen. Yeah went back to a phone with a flat screen and bezels. With those you don't accidentally launch stuff just by holding the phone. And this nonsense with the fingerprint scanner on back next to the camera lens is just idiotic.

Re: Can a fingerprint sensor ruin a perfectly good phone?

cgavula — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 14:19:05 -0000

I'm one of those who thinks a fingerprint reader on the back is a design mistake anyway (because you can't activate it when it's sitting on your desk - a thing I do regularly), but that said, next to the camera lens is possible one of the worst places I can think to put it - can you say fingerprints on the lens? It seems like a last minute choice that was not properly thought through,

Re: With the Microsoft Surface Book i7, the top tier gets a big upgrade | Pocketnow

cgavula — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 17:57:38 -0000

Actually, you kind of mis-state the pricing. You say "This top-end Surface Book i7 is $2,399 ..." In reality, $2399 is the STARTING price of the i7 tier. So the $2399 model is near the higher end of things, but it isn't the top-end Surface Book. The top-end Surface Book is actually $3299.

Re: 24 Hours with the Apple iPhone 7 Plus: Oh Yeah! | Pocketnow

cgavula — Sun, 25 Sep 2016 15:20:54 -0000

And wow you totally ignored my main point.

Re: 24 Hours with the Apple iPhone 7 Plus: Oh Yeah! | Pocketnow

cgavula — Sun, 25 Sep 2016 12:14:03 -0000

I really don't understand the whole "bezels=bad" thing. I have an iPhone 6splus and I have a galaxy s7 edge and that lack of bezels is NOT an advantage to me. I keep accidentally opening apps near the edge when I didn't intend to. Bezels give you a place to hold the device without activating anything on the screen. While I agree that bezels can be too big, I do NOT agree that apple blew it and I do NOT agree that Samsung necessarily outdid Apple in this case. At least not with regard to physical design.

Re: Microsoft cements Lumia 950 price cut, starts new one for Lumia 650 | Pocketnow

cgavula — Mon, 15 Aug 2016 23:29:51 -0000

So the 950XL actually went back up to $499 (it had been on sale for $449) and it doesn't look like either one comes with the display dock anymore. Not as good a deal as it was before.

Re: What exactly is the iPad Pro? A computer like no other, according to new Apple ad | Pocketnow

cgavula — Tue, 02 Aug 2016 11:10:26 -0000

Almost, but not quite true. You can use a thumb drive with a USB/Lightning adapter to import pictures/video, but not other types of files. I've done that many times to move both from my camera and video camera to the ipad for quick editing.

Re: What exactly is the iPad Pro? A computer like no other, according to new Apple ad | Pocketnow

cgavula — Tue, 02 Aug 2016 11:06:09 -0000

I would argue that they don't really compete. The Surface Pro is a great thin laptop, it is a poor tablet. The iPad Pro is a great tablet, but a poor to middling laptop replacement. They really service different needs.

Re: What exactly is the iPad Pro? A computer like no other, according to new Apple ad | Pocketnow

cgavula — Tue, 02 Aug 2016 11:02:40 -0000

Interesting. I've found the iPad Pro palm rejection to be excellent in my experience, so I'm surprised it hasn't worked out well for you. I didn't have much luck at all with Android tablets, and the Surface pro isn't really very good at being a tablet. You're forced to treat it as a desktop (laptop) much too often and the interface is poor for tablet use (but good for regular desktop app use). The SP was better under Windows 8 (as a tablet) than it is under Windows 10, unfortunately. Now it feels more like a thin laptop than a proper tablet, and don't get me started on the poor text rendering/anti-aliasing when you try and use it in portrait mode!

Re: What exactly is the iPad Pro? A computer like no other, according to new Apple ad | Pocketnow

cgavula — Tue, 02 Aug 2016 10:57:21 -0000

Really? I find the iPad Pro to be excellent at note taking. I use One Note on it so I can access my notes across all my devices. I tried using the Surface Pro 3 for that, but the pen lag and the terrible palm rejection about drove me nuts. The iPad Pro does a great job for taking notes in meetings.

Re: The Surface Pro 4 is finally worth buying | Pocketnow

cgavula — Tue, 31 May 2016 13:54:11 -0000

There are other reports out there that the sleep freeze/restart issue still exists for people.

I have an SP3 (i5/256GB) and I still see issues with it as well despite a few complete rebuilds, not to mention that text looks terrible in many apps (like Kindle, for example) if you try to use it in "portrait" mode. Also the new fingerprint keyboard, which is listed as compatible, has a LOT of issues in terms of fingerprint reading reliability. It works maybe 40% of the time.

The SP line is excellent as a laptop replacement, but still not great as a tablet, unfortunately, and Windows 10 was a "downgrade" in my opinion if you want to use it as a tablet. And Windows 10 has been less stable than Windows 8.1

Re: Apple’s iTunes Is Alienating Its Most Music-Obsessed Users

cgavula — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 10:51:33 -0000

I agree with others here that the bloat has made the program nearly unusable, but the notion that a music-only manager is the solution is probably not the answer for most of us. I want something to manage ALL my media, not just my music, but I don't want/need any of the social add-ons or cloud-based add-ons. I don't need media match, or connect, or genius, or any of that. Just give me basic media management with the ability to push/pull media to my connected devices (ipods/ipads/iphones). That's what's gotten lost in the shuffle here.

Re: Galaxy S6 Edge named best 2015 smartphone at MWC, Surface Pro 4 wins tablet crown | Pocketnow

cgavula — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 14:50:25 -0000

MWC is basically a non-Apple type event for a number of years now. Nothing from Apple generally wins so no big surprises.

Re: We want all tablets, and phones, to look like this HiSense VIDAA Mirror slate | Pocketnow

cgavula — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 16:22:41 -0000

With phone I think not having a bezel is great but with bigger devices a bezel is useful while holding the device. Palm rejection is great but a thumb (to thumbs) holding the device can easily be misinterpreted and palm rejection wouldn't necessarily do a great job interpreting that so having a bezel can actually be useful on larger devices.

Re: US online Surface sales blew up in October, helping Microsoft overtake Apple | Pocketnow

cgavula — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 16:17:07 -0000

I have a Surface Pro 3 and I mostly like it, but its text rendering sucks compared to a Mac or even an iPad, making it a terrible ereader (especially when you try to use it in portrait mode - something ClearType (and the Kindle app) never got right. Also, the handling/typing of foreign/extended characters is WAY behind that of the Mac and/or the iPad. The laggy pen (which was great until Windows 10 came out, then it got really laggy) is also a disappointment.

Those things make me use it less and less, unfortunately. Cool hardware crippled somewhat by limitations in the OS (which I have sent over and over to MS). So people who think it's better at "everything" are simply wrong not to mention SP4/SurfaceBook pricing that makes Apple MacBook pricing look almost reasonable.

Re: If you want an Apple Pencil now, be ready to pay a lot for it | Pocketnow

cgavula — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 22:16:52 -0000

If it was about creating an artificial shortage then why only do it with the accessories? Why not put the iPad Pro into shortage as well? The argument doesn't make any sense in this case.

Re: iPad Pro should run Mac OS X

cgavula — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 18:41:50 -0000

iOS 9 on the iPad (and iPad pro DOES have cursor support. This has been mentioned in many online articles already.

Re: iPad Pro should run Mac OS X

cgavula — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 18:41:13 -0000

iOS 9 on the iPad (and iPad pro DOES have cursor support. Two-finger swipe on the keyboard. Numerous online articles have already pointed this out.

Re: Microsoft Lumia 950XL, Lumia 950 leak anticipates specs, reveals more details | Pocketnow

cgavula — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 12:04:48 -0000

Wireless charging is only more convenient if you work at one or two fixed locations. If you move around a lot it isn't convenient at all - the wireless charging base is a pain to carry around and not particularly convenient. Everyone doesn't have the same use case.

Re: Surface 3 with LTE hits AT&T later this week

cgavula — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 16:42:23 -0000

I'd like to see a Pro3 with an LTE option. Also - I hate the type keyboards. Although they improved them for the 3 series, they are still too flexible. I'd also like to see kind of a laptop-type dock available for the times you want it to hinge more like a traditional laptop. The current setup is fine much of the time, but very space consuming when on a plane, and not nearly as easy to use on a lap as a laptop. I'd like to be able to have it both ways via something detachable/dockable that snaps on like the type keyboard snaps on or set in a frame like the Surface dock, but more like a laptop.

Re: Apple seeds beta 4 of iOS 9, OS X El Capitan, and watchOS 2 to developers

cgavula — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 16:37:51 -0000

I'm curious when the next public beta will occur and when it will actually include WatchOS 2.

Re: Feature Review – Nexus 6 & Project Fi Part Two

cgavula — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 16:33:14 -0000

Interesting situation. I'm not wild about the coverage - they picked the 2 weakest players in their respective technologies, unfortunately and the coverage is weak in areas I sometimes frequent, but it is an interesting service, but I'd watch that list of "120" countries - looking at them, it seems that many don't offer voice or data when in them roaming even though they are on the list. That's a little misleading when most of the key services aren't even available. That should be the exception on such a list, not the rule.

Also, I wonder why you couldn't use any dual-band phone, nit just the Nexus 6. Sprint offers a few of them including a dual-band iPhone. Since one network is Sprint and the other is T-Mo it seems to me a dual band phone from Sprint should work, but clearly Google isn't there yet. Possibly a control issue since they had a lot of control of the Nexus 6 as a product. Still interesting offering, but definitely not for everyone.

Re: Most surveyed Apple Watch users don’t recommend it to friends | Pocketnow

cgavula — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 19:36:41 -0000

Reports indicate that they sold at least a million on the launch weekend. The deliveries have been rolling for a while now. 52 is not a reasonable statistical sample so I wouldn't put much stock in this report. That said, they really do need to address the app issue regardless of what any survey says.