Golf Break - EV-DO isn't prevalent in the Poconos yet
While James is toiling away in a Starbucks, I decided to get an early round of golf in this morning. Don't scold me just yet because there's a mobile tech method behind my madness. Barb and I bought property in the Pocono Mountains a few years back. The hope was that we could eventually save up to build a vacation home and then work or retire there after the kids go off to college. Or when we kick them out... that part's still up in the air.
So I drove 100 miles to our property early this morning because there's a beautiful golf course on the premises. The round is over and I'm at the proverbial 19th hole. That's the clubhouse in the pic above as I came up the 18th. Truth be told, the round was over just a few holes in as my golf game leaves much to be desired. And where was the crowd as I marched up the final hole?!?
In any case, I was hoping to find some EV-DO coverage up here so I did some testing. I brought the Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium and it takes up less space than the sandwich I just ordered. I grabbed my Apple Bluetooth keyboard as well and it's working great with the Q1UP. The EV-DO though... that's a NO-GO. I'm connected to Verizon's National Access, so I can obviously get connected, but it's painful. The download speed has topped out around 340 Kbps with the upload about half that. Hopefully, by the time we save up for a house (or win the lottery), Verizon Wireless will get some EV-DO up this way.
The funniest part is all of the people that stop by to ask me if that's really a computer on the table. UMPCs haven't hit these parts yet either although I'm doing my share: the person that bought my Q1P actually lives up this way too. Plus he's a custom home builder in this area so we might do business again someday. Small world!
Looks like a barley sandwich. ;-)
Posted by: nomo | April 18, 2008 at 01:40 PM
I'm waiting for my Q1 Ultra Premium and it's just driving me nuts right now. XD It's been on a FedEx delivery truck since 5 AM today so I'm hoping it'll get here before I get off work. Ahh.. I can't wait!!
Posted by: PJ | April 18, 2008 at 01:41 PM
Nice OS(X) there Kevin! I am assuming the experiment is working well.
Posted by: Greg C | April 18, 2008 at 01:58 PM
Do you guys ever work?
Golf trips. Hanging out at Starbucks. I'm starting to notice a trend here.
Posted by: Nate | April 18, 2008 at 02:04 PM
You'll have to explain this to me Kevin. You have some property but there's a golf course on it? How does that work?
Posted by: John in Norway | April 18, 2008 at 02:16 PM
Just got my Q1UP!! I'm so excited but I won't be able to play with it for another couple of hours until I get home from work. Interesting thing is, I picked free standard shipping method, which would've taken 7-9 days according to the website, but it got here in 1 day! I'm so glad I didn't pay $49 extra for the next-day delivery, which I was really tempted to do.
Posted by: PJ | April 18, 2008 at 03:00 PM
I live just south of the Poconos in the Lehigh Valley area. I get a strong 3G signal every where I go around here. So hopefully that means it with stretch north in the near future for you.
Posted by: Raymond | April 18, 2008 at 03:13 PM
Hello,
Is the Apple small bluetooth keyboard the best samsung friend on the road ?
Posted by: Lorie Ghamy | April 18, 2008 at 04:38 PM
Now that I'm back after another 100 mile drive:
Nomo: it *was* a good barley sandwich, although I had a roast beef on rye to wash it down. ;)
PJ: looking forward to what you think of your Q1UP. It's among the most powerful UMPCs on the market; not without its flaws, but I'm very happy with mine.
Nate: testing Verizon's service *is* work. Just ask the guy in the "can you hear me now commercials." ;)
John, I wish I could say that I had a golf course on my property, but alas, I can't. To clarify: we bought a lot in a 5,200 acre resort community. The community has an 18 hole course on the premises.
Raymond: not sure where you are, but I was just outside of Hazleton today. Even on the PA Turnpike I found spots with zero bars for AT&T phone coverage so there's still some dead zones. They have plenty of time to fix 'em for me... unless we actually DO hit the lottery. :)
Posted by: Kevin C. Tofel | April 18, 2008 at 04:41 PM
Oops, I missed Lorie's question. Normally, I use the my ThinkOutside Stowaway Bluetooth keyboard, but I was in a rush this morning so I grabbed my Apple keyboard. Actually, it's a better match for the OS. ;) The Samsung Q1UP's "best friend" has to be the USB 727 EV-DO card. I don't need a keyboard due to ink capabilities (with Windows more-so) but I do need my connectivity.
Posted by: Kevin C. Tofel | April 18, 2008 at 05:42 PM
It looks like the old IBM jr. chicklets keyboard. Can it possibly be useful for touch typing?
I'm in a college town, and I've seen maybe two tablets besides mine and Sharon sbtablet (and her husband's--they saw mine first!), but never even once a UMPC. Makes me wonder what kids are coming to today (although when I make an assignment, I always have a few whip out their phones either to record the due date, which is what they tell me, or to text a friend).
Posted by: bluespapa | April 18, 2008 at 05:45 PM
Would be interested to hear more about your OSX86 experience as it would be perfect to have a small apple tablet...
How long do you plan to keep it on the Samsung?
Posted by: Clement | April 19, 2008 at 01:04 AM
@bluespapa: Over here at Berkeley, one can see a few tablets once in a while, though they're still a drop in the pond compared to notebooks and desktops; no UMPCs here either, though I suppose my P1620 is encroaching on that territory. Most students don't really see the need in having a computer they can carry everywhere... besides, it's a struggle to take notes in Word on a 800x480 screen....
Posted by: bluemonq | April 19, 2008 at 01:25 AM
"I don't need a keyboard due to ink capabilities (with Windows more-so) but I do need my connectivity."
Kevin, how do you manage to use a web browser without a keyboard? How do you enter urls? Can you use search engines? Fill in the forms? Use internet banking? I'd love to have a slate form umpc but I'm afraid I couldn't do even the most basic stuff without a keyboard. The built-in thumb keyboard must be very impractical (=slow). Correct me if I'm wrong, please. Could you imagine using Q1UP as your main device?
Posted by: Jan | April 19, 2008 at 05:53 AM
bluespapa: The wireless keyboard works great. The keys are identical to those on a MacBook. Touch-typing is a non-issue.
Clement, I'll only keep the OS on there for a few more days at most. Experiences to follow.
Jan, I've used a slate UMPC as a primary mobile device for two years. You don't need a keyboard if you use an operating system that supports inking. XP Tablet Edition and some Vista editions offer those functions. The Tablet Input Panel is even smart enough to recognize the context of the address bar. I never have to type "http://", "www.", or ".com" because there are buttons for those.
Posted by: Kevin C. Tofel | April 19, 2008 at 08:04 AM
The web context only works in Internet Explorer, not Firefox.
Posted by: James Kendrick | April 19, 2008 at 08:57 AM
ox looks nice on their. I think I've decided to Keep vista ULTIMATE on my q1up. the Apple Keyboard works good in XP & vista also. (FYI if you didn't already know)
Posted by: kevintm | April 20, 2008 at 12:05 AM
Wait, so you're getting speeds at 340k but it isn't EV-DO? Well.... it isn't 1X either.. seems like it is EV-DO just not REV A
Posted by: Glenn | April 20, 2008 at 11:38 AM
James - check out the Firefox add-on GeckoTIP which provides TIP support for Firefox - a real life saver that one!
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3641
Posted by: Steve Breen | May 08, 2008 at 01:05 AM