I am a believer in competition.
Anything Apple is counter competition.
That is why there is no USB ports.

Paul Lamar


The iPad and iPhone are well integrated, well thought out products.
Apple spent
a bunch of money making sure they work. And Apple provides support
for them.
They don't need every Tom, Dick and Harry plugging cheap-assed USB
devices into
them and then whining all over the place when something gets fouled
up.  Neither
Windows nor Linux handle all USB devices perfectly. Numerous times
I've had to
restart Windows because of USB. And USB is one thing I've seen to
actually
lock-up a Linux box. Don't want this in aviation GPS.  Actually, I
don't want
this at all.

Why'd you pick those Itronix boxes?  The lightest one weighs more
than 2x as
much as an IPad, is about 5x thicker, and has a smaller screen..
Yeah, you get
slightly more open architecture. That's great if you want to be a
developer, but
it adds no value if you just want a good functioning tool.
Everyone has their
preferences..  For getting on with my life, I just want tools that
work.


Matt-

Oh sounds like I hit a nerve :)

What Linux distribution gave you trouble on the USB?
I have used half a dozen distributions on two different computers
with nary a
problem.

I went to Frys today and they had almost dozen different brands of
"pads"
running Android software. I took notes :)

Name........Price..LCD
------------------------------------
Maylong....$109.. 7"
Coby.......$149.. 7"
AOC........$139...8"
Pandigital $159...7"
Samsung... $699...??
Samsung....$269...5"
Asus...... $499...10.1"
Asus.......$999...12.1"
Acer...... $499...10.1"
Fujitsu... $849...10.1"

Most had USB ports plus card readers and HDMI video.

The wife has a Mac computer but an NTC phone (with USB)
running Android software. We used the moving map app
driving back from Minneapolis with the RV4 in the back of a
truck. The cloud computing worked great in the cities
giving us accurate real time traffic data, restaurant and
gas station locations. Not so hot
out in the country where cell phone coverage was spotty.

Paul Lamar


Sorry for the tone of my email, Paul..  I stand by the content.

I don't think the USB problem is with the release of Linux..  The
issue is with
the open nature of the architecture.  It's easy to have a buggy USB
device
plugged in which can take down the rest of the USB devices.
Requiring a reboot
to clear. I was probably using Ubuntu.  On a five year old laptop.

Does your wife's NTC (HTC?) phone take a thumb drive?  Or do you
mean it just
takes a mini/micro USB cable as its interface?  The Apple devices
also plug into
USB ports..  They just have a different cable end on them. Until
recently, lots
of phones had proprietary cables..  Samsung, Nokia, Motorola, etc. The
socialists in Europe mandated going to a standard plug style...

How often does your wife have to reboot her phone?  How often do
apps crash?
Most of the people I know with Android phones get to reboot them
every few days.
I'm sure they're getting better.  Just like Windows is getting better.


Matt-

mini/micro USB cable

She has very few apps and she picks 4 star or above apps only.
She does not turn it off for weeks on end. It reboots of course
when you turn it off. She loves the swipe apps for sending
email and text messages. On hind sight she wishes she bought the
larger screen Samsung with no keyboard.

(wife) I had a Blackberry for years and wasn't sure how well I would
like the
Android. There is a steep learning curve, and its different. But I
do like it. I
am surprised that your friends are having the apps crash. It might
be games. I
am pretty simple with apps - mag light- etc.

Paul & Robin Lamar

BTW Robin said she loves the moving map software and said it was far
superior
to the dedicated moving map device she bought just a few months ago.
The voice recognition software understands her perfectly when she tells
it where she wants to go. No need to type anything in.


Paul Lamar


That's what I was talking about with my HTC phone.  Unless you are in
Albuquerque and speak a Spanish address, you just say where you want to
go and the phone shows you the map and speaks the directions to you.
Google maps seems to constantly update for free.   It is head and
shoulders above my Garmin GPS navigation system in my car.  Go to google
maps and it will give you Utube demo's of all it will do.  Amazing.
Daughter has Iphone and can't get the voice instructions.  If you have
droid phone don't bother getting a Garmin for your car, because it is
way inferior to your phone.

Also, for hi tech types you can "root" your android phone with a new
interface.  I had a kid at Best Buy do mine with one I found on the net
called MIUI.  Interesting UTube articles on it.  Changes your droid
interface to an Iphone type interface and battery last longer.

Van Vannoy