MrWizard
Van Nuys, Ca
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that brick was heavy hanging on a belt, and it had about 45min of talk time
it really was better suited to being 'in the briefcase'
Connected via Verizon Via LG Dare VX9700
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bill h
el segundo
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Joined: 08/02/2001
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MrWizard wrote:that brick was heavy hanging on a belt, and it had about 45min of talk time
it really was better suited to being 'in the briefcase'
Yeah, carried on my belt, it would almost pull my pants down.
I carried mine in a fanny pack when I really felt I just HAD to carry a phone. Or on the shoulder strap of my backpack. I had two antennas, the short one, and a longer one that I screwed in when needed. Most of the time, the phone stayed in the vehicle, all of which had external antennas. Made a BIG difference. I even made a ground plane on the underside of the deck of my boat with foil tape.
Curiously, it worked better when plugged into the cig lighter. I never measured, but apparently the Motorola batteries, even the big ones, had a little more voltage drop than the phone needed for optimum performance.
We still carry it with us, even though its batts are dead. When we are at a remote are and see people trying to use their cell phones with no apparent success, one of us will take it out in view and pretend to be having a conversation.
Bill and Susan
84 Barth 30 tag powered by ht502/Thorley, Gear Vendors OD
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bill h
el segundo
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MrWizard wrote:
I have the Dare, I love that phone.
The new BB STORM looks to be a very nice device, i hope i get to test one.
Yeah, I am leaning toward the Dare. Perhaps you could offer some advice.
In addition to a phone, I will check E mail a few times a day, check traffic on Sigalert, look at Google Maps, and maybe surf a little. When out of town, I will use the VZ Navigator. On long weekends and longer periods in the MH, I will tether to my laptop for internet access.
Do you think the Dare is what I need? I am attracted to it because it seems to be a little easier to read, and has jacks for both GPS and phone external antennas, and is Rev A, which, I think, is a little faster. I do not upload much data.
Financially, if I have it right, the Dare is more to upgrade but a little cheaper per month, particularly if the tether charge is not in force.
The BB keyboard would seem to be a little easier to get used to.
I have considered waiting to look at the Storm, but it will probably be overpriced for a while.
Any advice, thoughts or musings would be much appreciated.
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MrWizard
Van Nuys, Ca
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I tether my dare to my PC, and i use the $15 vcast feature
but you can NOT connect an external GPS to the dare, and you cannot use the AGPS without vz navigator.
I have used the dare for my gmail, and these forums and it works well, recently when my laptop died, ( now replaced ) my dare was my only internet for 8days
the BB storm will require the $30 bb internet and email plan or the $45 data plan
so the dare is the less expensive way too go,
i think google maps are activeX or java, neither of these will work on the dare
you can view maps that are gifs or jpegs, you just can't use interactive maps that use GPS location and track you
you can call up a map and view it, but you can't get location directions and tracking on the dare, OTHER than vz navigator
AGPS ( Assisted GPS ) works from cell tower triangulation and is NOT ( on vzw ) a stand alone app that can be used without vz navigator
other than that, I love this phone. i find the touch screen easy to use, and do NOT miss the keyboard
the voyager has both a touch screen and a keyboard and (2) displays, so if you might miss having a phyiscal keyboard, you might want to check out the new titanium voyager, it is also a feature phone NOT a smart phone so you can use the $15 vcast instead of the $30 or $45 BB plans, also to tether a BB you need the $59 plan, NObody I know of has hacked a BB to tether on cheaper plans
like we can do with 'feature' phones like the dare etc..
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AKPioneer
A L A S K A !
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I have an HP910c which bluetooths to a Redfly 8" lcd/keyboard making my phone a mini-laptop without "tethering". Also can BT stereo from Sirius, MP3, am/fm/tv, built in Google maps and GPS, one key Google search... Have both ATT and VZW but prefer ATT. Better techno-phones.
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slabman
Plano TX or somewhere along the road
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Joined: 07/01/2003
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Mr. Wiz, I'm learning more about my Dare through this thread. Am I to believe I can tether it to my Wilson external antenna? I can't see where that connection would be made. All I find is a headphone jack.
Also, do you find the touch screen that easy to use? When scrolling through the contacts list, I have to repeatedly move my finger up the screen and yet it doesn't scroll. After several passes, it might select one contact and expand on the data details, which means I have to go back and try again. Kinda difficult to use. And then there is the heat. After about 15 minutes of talking, this thing gets very hot! I recently had them do a firmware update, but no help there. Do you still think I've got a bum unit?
2007 Travel Supreme Alante, 45 ft.
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MrWizard
Van Nuys, Ca
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the heat issue seems confined to the most recent batch of phones, mine does not get hot, take it to the store, while waiting your turn to be seen, use it and get it warmed up, then show it to them while its HOT, get it replaced
for the touch screen get a pda stylus, calibrate the screen using the stylus and the lightest touch possible, this will make the phone more responsive
i do not know whether the heat is a hardware problem or the new Firmware 'over cycling' something, but i'm pretty sure ver 3 & 4 do not have this problem , mine is still OEM ver3
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bill h
el segundo
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slabman wrote:Am I to believe I can tether it to my Wilson external antenna? I can't see where that connection would be made. All I find is a headphone jack.
Underneath the battery cover, just to the right of the release catch, is a receptacle for an external phone antenna.
HERE is one source for an adapter cable.
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* This post was
edited 10/20/08 06:34pm by bill h *
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