I like my phones either really simple, not too small, but small enough and without too many unimportant gizmos. Lets be honest camera in my phone is used only to quickly grab some info, like that truck that had phone numbers on, for removal services. Quick click there, got it. But nobody will ever tell me that this silly piece of equipment is really a camera. No, sorry if you want to make good photos you need good lenses and I'm talking at least decent.
the Neo 1973, the first smartphone using the Openmoko software
So yes, my phone has to be either simple and deadly reliable (that's my approach to every single piece of equipment I use, be it cars, dishwashers or epilators!) or... really useful. Just like good smartphones. Now the market is filled with those little toys. Some really pretty like iphones. Some not quite so. I wanted to replace my very, very old toy MDA Compact (1st edition!) and get a new one.
I wanted to change it for so long, cause I got really hooked up with the whole openmoko idea. Only it took too long for those guys to get a working version going. When the devel version hit the shelves people had really mixed opinions about them. So I thought to myself: Is it really worth it? I want it to be reliable. After all I want to be able to call that bloody taxi when I need it, be it in the middle of nowhere or in the city! Ok I really liked the looks of this baby, simple, sturdy and cute. One word however killed the idea for me: Reliability!!!
So I have resigned and went to check Nokias, Blackberries and all those. Jeeeez... How I hate their little buttons. Oh no! I've got small fingertips, but I have fingernails! And they slip off the buttons, click those nearby. Have to delete and rewrite and again. Argh! No! And Blackberry is the worst in my opinion. It is my opinion so you're entitled not to agree. Anyway those are not for me.
I don't like Apple products either. Majority of them are white. And quite contrary to this blog's colours, white is not the shade I like for my gadgets. Besides Apple's soft is even more closed than Windows. I do not like it at all. I am sorry I'm a huge fan of open source and Apple stands for everything that's not open. Not that I'm crazy! I use some of their software but only when it's really the best in their genre or suits my needs best.
And then Android came live. Finally. Was to be completely open source, ended up not as bright, but still great! The only problem was finding the right phone. Some were slow, some were crashing way too often. I went through dozens of reviews and finally chose. I'm not going to write through what hell I got to get my mobile, as it's not really supplied by any mobile operator in the UK! doh. What's important is that I got it.
It's
Motorola Milestone for some reason called Motorola Droid in the US. Oh well the name is not really very innovative (US one) so maybe this way is for the better ;)
What you get when you open the box is a very elegant, but by no means frail device with full qwerty keyboard and clear 480 x 854 display. There is a silky touch to it which I really like. Keyboard seemed a bit weird to me at first, until I found that the idea of almost flat surface and single piece of perforated plastic prevents dirt and dust from piling between keys. Neat. Response of it is also very good, although I find the on-screen one good enough to rarely use the slide off option.
The amount of programs I got pre-installed was really great. Lots of them of course by google, like maps, email and neatly combined standard messages and google talk messages. I am a google user so it's all fine by me. Also your contact box can get combined into one list with your google contacts. Useful as it gets updated online instantly. There's a good choice of office applications too.
Android itself has a good base of free and pay-for programs which can be downloaded very easily via an application called Market which of course is there in your phone. Less useful, preview only website version at
http://www.android.com/market/. The big plus of open source market is that essentially if you think some application would be very handy there's high probability someone has already thought about it, so you can try it. Are you a freak like me and use you mobile as a flashlight? There's an app by the same name for you to try.
And if you don't like the way it's done and can program a bit you my try to do it better or look for an alternative.
Such is the case with e-book readers. There's a couple of them to chose from and they differ a lot, so whichever way of flipping pages, previewing or storing your library you prefer you will most likely find it.
What's also nice is the system of comments, so you get some idea whether the thing you're about to download is OK, or maybe it crashes some mobiles?
After using Milestone for a while I've found the docking station (in the middle on the photo above) is a must. Unfortunately medium usage (a bit of gaming, some surfing and 2 or 3 phone calls) will suck this babe's battery dry. Even though the docking station is a bit expensive it is a great way to replace dodgy alarm clock and get a very stylish and useful device at you night stand ;)
So that's the downside: battery life.
The device never crashed on me and I'm using it for a good while now. Screen is way more responsive than I found in iphone. My fingernails were a problem there, they're not here. And I can even use it in thin gloves.
Now the real introduction: Apart from a bigger machine, I am also an owner of a not so new, but really cool DELL Latutide X1. Nice girly hot piece of hardware if you ask me. It fits easily in every medium bag, has widescreen 12.1 1280x768 display and weighs only 1.14kg (let's be honest my makeup accessories on party night weigh much more ;) Weight comes from two factors: there is no built in CD, which in time of widely accessible wifi I never find a problem, and lack of fan, which makes this laptop hot after a while. Funny enough, for most people it's a real drawback, while for me it's a bliss! My hands are always cold, laugh if you like, but this is the only keyboard that heats them nicely :P This box has one great flaw though. It comes fitted with Windows. And Windows is not my OS of choice. It's buggy. It doesn't allow me to do what I want keeping every information hidden and... It is crazy bad when it comes to security. This is after all my "work at home, on the way, in the plane" laptop we're talking about. I do not want any viruses, and I do use internet immensely. Therefore windows is not for me.
It has changed a lot of course. For example, live CD which I got from 
