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linuxdoctor
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 Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 6:27 pm Post subject: Neo Freerunner A7 |
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I am considering purchasing the aforementioned Neo Freerunner A7. You may find the specifications and other good stuff about this product here: http://www.openmoko.com/product.html
This is a Linux-based open source product that runs both a Debian distro and an Android version. I'm wondering if any of you guys have had any experience and/or knowledge of this thing that you might want to share.
The price of the unit is US$399 so it is competitive with the Blackberry. The advantage to me is it is open source which means I have complete control over my phone.
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spock
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| Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2009 2:20 pm Post subject: Re: Neo Freerunner A7 |
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| linuxdoctor wrote: | I am considering purchasing the aforementioned Neo Freerunner A7. You may find the specifications and other good stuff about this product here: http://www.openmoko.com/product.html
This is a Linux-based open source product that runs both a Debian distro and an Android version. I'm wondering if any of you guys have had any experience and/or knowledge of this thing that you might want to share.
The price of the unit is US$399 so it is competitive with the Blackberry. The advantage to me is it is open source which means I have complete control over my phone. |
Well, I've actually been looking into buying the Neo Freerunner a couple of months back, but I decided not to do it. I like the idea of full control, however, it doesn't have the same functionality as phones in the same price range, it's quite expensive for it's specs.
But maybe for you that isn't a big deal, I could imagine that the freedom could be more important than price or specs.
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linuxdoctor
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| Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2009 7:25 pm Post subject: |
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I'm not all that familiar with these things and for me I wouldn't know what sort of functionality constitutes good or bad. My current cellphone is a Samsung SGH J706 other that cost me about CDN$150 about a year ago. All I use it for is to keep in touch and very occasionally to text. All the other myriad of functions that it has from calendars, notpad, games, Internet access and camera I have never used.
I really got a hate for this thing when I discovered it didn't have a standard telephone ringtone but only a collection of tunes that constitutes the crap from the Top 40 or something. No problem, I though, I'll just download a telephone sound into it. Think again! The thing needed special software to talk to it that runs only on Windows which is out of the question. I finally got the ring tone by using its Internet access capability to grab it off my computer (after giving the phone special access through my firewall). Then, as the last straw, it needed to be DRM encoded before it would play it. In fact, if specifically told me that it will not play non-DRMed tunes. GRRRR!
Anyway ... way off topic.
I'm not really sure what constitutes good functionality in these things. I'm looking at this as a non-proprietary Blackberry and right there it beats it in base functionality. It can run either Qtopia or Android. As far as software functionality, as in applications, well the thing is still in development, however, as I said about, I don't use any of these phone apps anyway. If I had a piece of hardware I actually liked maybe that would change. The nice thing about it is because it is an open platform I can put whatever apps I want on it. What thay may be is open to question since I've never had one of these things and I don't use the functionality built into the phone I have right now ... except maybe the tip calculator from time to time.
I havn't really made up my mind yet on the purchase of one of these things. The same question remains, what constitutes a "good set" of features for these things. Why, in your (iSpock) view does it fall short?
I'll appreciate anything you can offer.
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mcwkm
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| Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2009 11:09 pm Post subject: |
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I looked at it awhile back but it didn't have the best connectivity considering the price. I heard rumors of it being underdeveloped and the development may not catch on.
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linuxdoctor
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| Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 4:00 pm Post subject: |
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I know the first version of the hardware (the A6) had issues. There is a newer version (A7) that (apparently) have fixed the hardware.
I'm still undecided on this, but they are still cheaper than a Blackberry, which I wouldn't buy anyway.
Ultimately that is the issue for me. Would I buy something like that, meaning Blackberry, Palm, and so forth, in the first place? So far I have to answer, no.
On the other hand, the problem I've had with my current cell phone vis a vis its proprietary file access method and its digital 'rights' management irks me to no end. The problem at this point is that the phone works and I cannot justify the cost of simply ditching my current phone for the Neo Freerunner.
If my phone stopped working for some reason, then I'd have a reason. I had to purchase my current despised phone when my old phone had an accident and fell into the toilet.
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If you think I'm 'politically' incorrect you have the wrong politics.
Big business is a disease we will need to cure before we will ever achieve real prosperity. |
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spock
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| Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 3:04 pm Post subject: |
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| linuxdoctor wrote: |
I havn't really made up my mind yet on the purchase of one of these things. The same question remains, what constitutes a "good set" of features for these things. Why, in your (iSpock) view does it fall short? |
It falls short because it doesn't offer a lot of functionality for it's price. One major problem in my opinion is the fact that lot's of the phone's hardware is not yet supported by any of the operating systems it can run. Those problems are being adressed, so that will probably change a lot in the near future.
You can actually get a phone with better hardware in the same price range. And that's personally the most important reason I wouldn't buy it. However, if you really love the idea of freedom, and you don't mind a few shortcomings, you should buy it.
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linuxdoctor
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| Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 5:00 pm Post subject: |
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| spock wrote: | | It falls short because it doesn't offer a lot of functionality for it's price. One major problem in my opinion is the fact that lot's of the phone's hardware is not yet supported by any of the operating systems it can run. |
Ok, there is that word again, "functionality." When you use that word do you mean functionality as in applications (ie software) or functionality as in hardware capability? Perhaps both?
As for the the hardware not being supported by the operating system I don't know what you mean by that either. The thing is a fairly straight-forward embedded application utilizing components that have been supported by Linux for quite some time. The ARM processor was one of the earliest ports for the Linux kernel spurred by the Netwinder project from Corel more than a decade ago.
As for my love of freedom, yes that is paramount. In fact, freedom is the reason I am a strident opponent of the tyranny of democracy. But my freedom does not hinge on the purchase of a Neo Freerunner.
My decision, I believe, currently hangs on essentially two decisions. First, when and if I will need a far more capable phone than I currently have. At present I carry my laptop with me most places I go and it gives me all the capability I need. The second is when and if my current cell-phone ceases to function or I loose it.
More serious for me is the assertion that the hardware may have been under-designed. I've looked into that and I haven't come across anything to suggest that to be the case. I do know that there were a few design flaws in the A6 version which (they say) was fixed in the A7. If you can find more information on this assertion I'd greatly appreciate it.
This thing is, after all, still in development even now. It is not a finished product and is following an Open Source development cycle. At this stage it is open to developers, both hardware and software developers, to develop new applications for it and find bugs. I don't expect to purchase a finished product either.
Perhaps that also figures into my equations. While I don't expect a finished product perhaps I'm waiting for something that is a little more finished than it is. In other words, I'm not certain I want to invest a lot of time and effort in development for some new hardware that I may have done in the past.
Developing for embedded systems was how I used to make a living, after all. These days I'm into something radically different. While I don't mind development as a hobby, I don't want to put that much effort into it.
In the end, I still want to have something that works and works well even if I never develop anything for it.
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If you think I'm 'politically' incorrect you have the wrong politics.
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spock
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| Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 10:12 am Post subject: |
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| linuxdoctor wrote: |
Ok, there is that word again, "functionality." When you use that word do you mean functionality as in applications (ie software) or functionality as in hardware capability? Perhaps both? |
Well, I actually mean in software. You miss a lot of functionality out of the box. (However, if you have time enough, that might not be a big problem) (I actually believe that MMS doesn't work in the default OS that's on it, but that might have been fixed already since I can't find that anymore)
The battery isn't that great, and the phone's performance is quite bad when doing certain tasks.
The screen is small in comparison with other phones this size and it lacks a camera.
| linuxdoctor wrote: |
As for the the hardware not being supported by the operating system I don't know what you mean by that either. (...) The ARM processor was one of the earliest ports for the Linux kernel(...) |
Support for the CPU has never been a problem. The ARM support in the kernel is good as far as I know.
However, a phone consist of a lot of complicated hardware. (For example the battery, the components needed for the GSM connection (which is quite complex and needs the ability to run in realtime))
You should look at this page from their wiki. It shows hardware issues that are still a problem. Like I said in my previous post, they fixed a lot of problems lately, but there are still a few bugs.
http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/.....are_Issues
| linuxdoctor wrote: |
More serious for me is the assertion that the hardware may have been under-designed. I've looked into that and I haven't come across anything to suggest that to be the case. I do know that there were a few design flaws in the A6 version which (they say) was fixed in the A7. If you can find more information on this assertion I'd greatly appreciate it. |
The hardware is well-designed in my opinion. There are some minor hardware flaws, but most of the flaws are software/driver flaws.
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