Dell Streak review redux: thoughts from the New World

If you've been following the ongoing saga of Dell's Streak, you've probably already read our review of O2 UK's version -- thing is, the British perspective can be very different from the Yankee one (we didn't see eye-to-eye during the War of 1812, for instance). To that end, we wanted to circle back now that the gargantuan Android beast is finally coming close to a US release and get another quick take.

As a refresher, this thing matches or exceeds the specs you'd expect to find on any modern high-end smartphone in most respects, starting with a 1GHz Snapdragon core, a 5 megapixel camera with dual LED flash, 850 / 1900MHz 3G for use on AT&T, Rogers, Bell, and Telus, and 2GB of internal storage coupled with a bundled and pre-installed 16GB microSDHC card. Where the Streak sets itself far, far apart from the crowd, though, is with an absolutely enormous 5-inch capacitive touchscreen at 800 x 480 resolution. Needless to say, it's a polarizing feature -- and for many, it'll singlehandedly determine whether the phone is a buy or a no-buy.

Our original review ultimately concluded that the Streak was a promising device in need of an update from Android 1.6 to Froyo. On second look, does our American reviewer agree? Read on.

Dell Streak review redux: thoughts from the New World

Hardware

The Droid X is an extraordinarily imposing device -- so for us to be able to say that the Streak dwarfs the Droid X is making one hell of a statement. It's clear that Dell expects you to generally hold it in a landscape orientation (more on this in the software section), and in that respect, it works fine for users of any hand size; if you imagine the way you'd normally hold a PSP (a real one, not a Go), you're on the right track. Be that as it may, there are definitely times when you'll want to hold it portrait, and for that Herculean operation, you'll need the hands of a yeti. Actually, that's a bit of an overstatement -- we'd consider our hands just a little bigger than average, and we were able to get a comfortable grip on it, though trying to reach every corner of the display with your thumb is a tricky affair at best.

At 10mm, the Streak is among the thinnest smartphones around, but the effect of that thinness is amplified by the device's surface area. In other words, it feels even thinner than it actually is. As we'd noted in our review, as long as you're not wearing tight pants (or pants with unusually small pockets), it's totally pocketable without too much drama or bulge; a good rule of thumb is that if the 4.3-inch Droid X or EVO 4G fit for you, the Streak should fit, too, particularly thanks to the curved edges and glossy, slippery surfaces. It's a good thing that it's so easily concealed, because it's a serious conversation piece when it's out -- a testament to the fact that there's seriously nothing else quite like it in the market today. Seriously, strangers of all types will come up to you and want to know what the heck it is you're tapping on, so be prepared for that.

Talking a little bit more about the Streak's materials and construction, we can't overstate it: it's a simply gorgeous phone, truly one of the prettiest we've ever seen. Dell has done a magnificent job of blending the Gorilla Glass display almost completely flush with its surroundings in such a way that it appears to be a solid, uninterrupted sheet of curved, glossy blackness -- an effect similar to that achieved by the Palm Pre, but with far more reassuring levels of construction and quality here. In fact, the Streak really feels more like a computer than a phone in some respects, a testament to Dell's traditional comfort zone. That said, we did have a couple concerns; first, the plastic caps that sit on either side of the display had a tendency to creak when pressed, particularly the top one where the earpiece and front-facing camera are located. That's not a big deal since you don't really have a valid reason to be pressing too hard on these parts of the phone, but a bigger concern lies with the display itself: pressing on it with anything more than a light touch causes some LCD rippling around the edges, a sign that it's taking more stress than it should.

Controls and ports on the Streak are fairly standard for an Android device with a couple notable exceptions. The capacitive buttons below the display (or to the right side of it, depending on the orientation) are capacious and work really well. Strangely, though, there's no dedicated search key among the trio, a strange omission for any Android phone, let alone one with this much room across; we thought "no big deal" at first, but we did actually find ourselves regularly missing it. More importantly, though, the Streak eschews the nearly universal micro-USB port for a wacky custom one -- it kind of resembles an iPod connector, but without the ubiquity or the availability of hundreds of compatible crappy alarm clock docks. Apple, of course, can get away with pretending micro-USB doesn't exist because it's cultivated its own widely-popular standard over the last decade, and by now, most people have an iPod cable or three lying around. Dell, however, can't get away with it. The fact that we couldn't use our already-connected cables to charge the Streak or transfer files to and from our PC drove us nuts, never mind the fact that you're stuck buying accessories and spare cables -- likely at jacked-up prices -- straight from the source or from whatever relatively small third-party ecosystem develops to support this phone. Of course, the advantage to the proprietary connector is that you can purchase an awesome dock for the Streak that features HDMI-out and a USB port, and that's totally fine, Dell -- just give us a micro-USB port on the phone, too.

The Streak's display is fantastic. It's not quite as vibrant or bright as an AMOLED device or an iPhone 4, but it's exceptionally usable outdoors and has some of the best touch sensitivity we've ever experienced -- there were actually a couple cases where we had to prove to ourselves that we were even making contact with the display with our fingertips when taps were being registered (turns out they were, but just barely). Dell makes great use of the screen's real estate, too; even though its 800 x 480 resolution is no higher than, say, a Nexus One, the Streak uses lower-resolution screen elements (icons and the like) so that you can fit far more on the screen at one time -- and because it's five inches across, you can really take advantage of it. Sure, you can make out individual pixels in some of the fonts and icons, but so what? We'll take being able to see twelve Gmail items on the screen at once with message body previews (pictured above on the right, versus a Droid X on the left) any day over higher pixel density.

Mirroring our British colleague's sentiments, we were a little underwhelmed by camera performance and disappointed that video capture tops out with VGA. Shots were generally oversaturated, seemed heavily compressed, and just generally looked like they came off a cheap sensor with poor optics; the standard-def videos didn't fare much better, hampered by mediocre sound quality. That all may not be an issue for many users -- especially since a phone as big as the Streak doesn't really make for the most convenient camera -- but considering that many modern smartphones like the Droid Incredible, EVO 4G, iPhone 4, and N8 are all delivering high-def video capture and superb stills, it's still a bummer. We also had some strange issues with the automatic white balance delivering stratospherically high color temperature indoors (check out our sample shot of the iPhone 4 in the gallery), and were confused to see that the phone offers no automatic flash control -- you've got to trigger the dual LEDs yourself if you think you need them.

Dell Streak US camera samples

Software

Herein lies the true tragedy of the Streak. Glancing at the downright mean-looking hardware, you assume that this is an extraordinarily powerful, full-featured computer that could replace a laptop or netbook in many cases. In some respects, that's true -- Android is arguably the most powerful, flexible mobile operating system on the market today -- but we came away feeling like the thing was gimped in some significant ways that arbitrarily limit its appeal.

First, and most obviously, the Streak is launching with Android 1.6. Froyo and Flash 10.1 are promised in an update, but the fact remains that Dell is releasing a high-end smartphone in the middle of 2010 running a platform that is now three major revisions old. And that's not just a meaningless number, either -- there are some very practical implications to the version gap. For example, Google Maps doesn't support pinch-to-zoom here, even after you update the built-in app to the latest that's available, version 4.3 -- that especially sucks considering how great it looks on a display this large! You're also denied access to the "official" Facebook and Twitter experiences for Android, instead being stuck with half-assed clients that Dell has baked into the firmware.

Then, there's the skin. We see what Dell tried to do here -- we think -- but it didn't work out. It seems they sought to make Android just a little more MID-friendly by adding capabilities geared specifically toward taking advantage of the 5-inch display; the pop-up app menu and notification window, for example. In doing so, though, they've left a trail of questionable design decisions that left us yearning for stock Android (or Sense... or really, anything) at virtually every turn. Here's an example: you can't swipe down from the top of the screen to get the notification drawer, which is arguably one of Android's most brilliant gestures. Instead, you've got to tap a surprisingly small gray area in the status bar, which in turn pops up a bubble listing your current notifications. Dell has also managed, against all odds, to not have room to show the time in the status bar when you're in portrait orientation -- an impressive feat, considering we're talking about a 5-inch WVGA display.

Speaking of portrait orientation, Dell really doesn't plan for you to be using it very often -- which, depending on your style and your hand size, may or may not be a safe assumption. The home screen doesn't work at all in portrait, though some elements of it -- context menus, for instance -- can occasionally be coaxed to do it. Virtually all apps, of course, are more than happy to work in portrait -- so when you're using the phone that way, you might find yourself getting used to using the home screen sideways to launch apps you're trying to get into. We were also surprised to see that Dell killed the concept of the trash can on the home screen, so when you want to delete an icon or a widget, you've got to hold it until you "pick it up" then drop it again; it'll stay highlighted red, indicating you can press the Menu button to get a delete command. Awkward and unnecessary.

We were also unimpressed with the keyboard, which Dell has made as full-featured as possible (to take advantage of the display size, we think) at the detriment of usability. In portrait mode, they've tacked on punctuation keys and a dedicated Caps Lock key in the letter rows, which we were accidentally hitting almost constantly (though the dedicated numeric row at the top is a neat addition). In landscape, they've inexplicably put a full numeric keypad to the right of the letters, which means you can sock away any dreams of typing with two thumbs unless you want to learn how to effectively do it off-center. Considering our extremely positive experience with the Droid X's keyboard, we'd come into the Streak assuming that we would do even better -- bigger is almost universally better when it comes to screen size and soft keyboards -- but it's just not the case with the Streak. Needless to say, we'd love to try the stock Android keyboard on this display in portrait mode and see what kind of typing speed we could achieve.

There are bright spots in the Streak's software, though. We really liked its home screen panel system, which is user-configurable in real time -- just by tapping in the status bar, you can add or remove panels so that you don't have to swipe through five if you don't want five. The browser has also been customized from the stock Android 1.6 app to add in pinch zooming, which is a major usability issue for some users (though interestingly, the Streak's screen is just large enough so that you can totally read some full websites completely zoomed out). It seemed a touch slower than it should've been considering the 1GHz processor, but not to the point of annoyance.

Wrap-up

For many, high-end browsing and messaging capabilities have overtaken the importance of voice calling in a phone, and that's a philosophy that giant handsets like the Streak embrace with open arms. It's an exciting, young segment of the smartphone market where we think we're going to see a lot of growth and innovation over the next few years -- and in many ways, Dell's 5-inch monster is at the forefront of that charge. What makes the Streak such a heartbreaking device for us, though, is that the types of folks it's most likely to appeal to -- power users and road warriors who value sheer capability over portability -- are the very same people who are least likely to appreciate Dell's heavy-handed and generally unhelpful UI tweaks.

We're more than willing to forgive a weak camera to carry this beauty, but ultimately, it's the firmware that's holding the Streak back from its full potential -- and we're not confident Dell is going to tone down the skin when the time comes to launch the Froyo upgrade (which, by the way, can't come soon enough). For now, we'll look to the hacker community to get us some nice, clean Android 2.2 builds for this thing -- but if Dell wants to play in the hyper-competitive smartphone market over the long term, they're going to need to remember something that they've known in the PC space for many years: they're a hardware manufacturer, not a software firm.

[youngmoney Posted Jul 20th 2010 3:03PM]

To clarify, i meant 3g on tmobile. does that not work?

[gadgetgenius Posted Jul 20th 2010 3:17PM]

this guy is happy http://www.wellpromo.com/upload/upimg78/22-x10--Deluxe-5-Pocket-Carpen-21878.jpg

[gadgetgenius Posted Jul 20th 2010 3:21PM]

I think bugs bunny will like it http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=138477369515003

[koneill Posted Jul 20th 2010 3:22PM]

Was anyone really expecting this to turn out well? Dell screws up nearly everything, especially software.

[legips Posted Jul 20th 2010 3:57PM]

@koneill aside from Advanced Infrastructure Manager what software does Dell lic? How did Dell screw up AIM?

[koneill Posted Jul 20th 2010 4:22PM]

@legips

Let's see...Android, for one, or were you unaware that Streak runs Android? Of course, Dell would choose to launch a high-end mobile device with an OS that's three versions removed. This is typical for them.

But it's not just about the software they license, it's also the software they write (or more accurately, pay others to write). The "half-baked" clients for Facebook and Twitter included with the Streak are good examples.

Then there's the stuff they do TO software they DO license, such as skinning, in the case of every Android device they've dared to touch thus far. Read the reviews. Any time Dell attempts to skin something, they make it 1) ugly or uglier, 2) less functional, 3) more buggy, or all of the above.

Then there's the usability stuff associated with the software, such as deciding to include a numerical keypad to the right of the qwerty keyboard in landscape mode, making typing with two thumbs as one would on any other mobile device / smart phone an exercise in anger management.

I expect this because I know that Dell goals in product design are not usability and innovation. Rather, they are minimizing all costs and maximizing profits at the expense of usability and innovation.

[legips Posted Jul 20th 2010 5:58PM]

@koneill Well, we agree this device isn't a phone at the very least. I messed around with one yesterday, cannot say I was dissapointed. Dell made 1.6 relevent, but I see everyone's point here. Let's hope the over the air update mentioned by Dell is sooner rather than later.

[ITSpecialist Posted Jul 20th 2010 3:33PM]

Sometimes i think that it nevver will become Android 2.2 ....

[ravisharma Posted Jul 20th 2010 3:35PM]

I just have one question...what if Dell does not release a 2.2 upgrade for Streak at all?

[koneill Posted Jul 20th 2010 4:24PM]

@ravisharma Dell would NEVER do something like that! *rolls eyes*

[SCB Posted Jul 20th 2010 4:22PM]

1.6!
I think not.

[good grief Posted Jul 20th 2010 4:29PM]

This device would be perfect if the screen panel went edge-to-edge like the photoshopped pictures on the box... and what happened to that acrylic case the North American market was supposed to get?

[Yankee Posted Jul 20th 2010 4:35PM]

I think 4.5" is the hold-against-your-face limit. You might be able to fit a 5" or bigger device in your pocket or have no trouble holding it, but cmon you can't put that thing against your face and expect to look normal. So 4.5" is the limit IMO and that's ONLY if it has a 1280x720 resolution that they're promising for Gingerbread, otherwise 4-4.3" is more than enough for that measly 800x480.

[Soldier1969 Posted Jul 20th 2010 4:40PM]

@Yankee
Who wants to look like everyone else, one of the biggest reasons I want this phone is its not like everyone else has or can afford. Its designed for the power user and it will be getting froyo 2.2 update come September so says Dell and 3.0 later on. This device will only get better with time. I just want to know pricing now on AT&T with contract as I really dont want to pay $500 if I dont have to. If I want higher resolution I use my home PC with 2560 x1600p res thats 30 inches of love with a second Sony Bravia 1080p 120hz monitor.

[Eroded Fallacy Posted Jul 20th 2010 4:41PM]

NO AWS come on!!! I was looking forward to this. Why did T-mobile get stuck with the oddball 3g slice of the spectrum?

[niftydl Posted Jul 20th 2010 6:03PM]

@Eroded Fallacy

I am fairly certain there was an AWS version that went through the FCC. The real mystery is whether we will see both version at launch (like Google with NexusOne). *cross fingers*

[POZ Posted Jul 20th 2010 4:54PM]

I Loved the review (both US and UK) but then I get to the Cons and it kills me. I dislike the skin ridiculously so. I want stock android on my phone. I care not for sense, touchWiz, or mBlur. Google needs to require a built in disable button for custom UI's. That would rock.

In the meantime, not only does this device not have HSPA+ capabilities, its got 1.6.. sure, update to come soon, but seriously, it should be a hard date for this sink-or-swim feature.

I think I will wait for the 4.3 sidekick replacement. Maybe it will have BT3, Wifi-N, a front camera and the Hummingbird CPU :)

[zbot Posted Jul 20th 2010 6:31PM]

Dell, please hear us.

I am not buying with a dated OS.

Also, please release a t-mobile 3G variant. I guarantee you with android 2.2 and T-Mo 3G, i will buy it.

[Charbax Posted Jul 20th 2010 7:15PM]

"a testament to the fact that there's seriously nothing else quite like it in the market today."

You guys forgot about the Archos line of tablet, Android being available for 10 months on the market and other Archos embedded Linux OS flavors available in pocketable tablets for the past 5 years.

[Chris Ziegler Posted Jul 20th 2010 7:18PM]

@Charbax They're not phones.

[Charbax Posted Jul 20th 2010 7:23PM]

@Chris Ziegler I make VOIP phone calls using SIP and Skype on my Archos tablets, over 3G and WiFi, using Mifi and $5/month/GB plans that are available in about 50 countries worldwide.

Is your definition of a "phone" only something that scams consumers out of paying $2500 in a 2-year contract to have that voice/sms thing going for it?

If a "phone" means being scammed out of thousands of dollars in hugely expensive contracts or having to pay over $500 for it unlocked, as a real power user and early adopter, I'd rather not have any of those "phones" and I keep to my $199-$249 totally unlocked Archos Android device experiences.

[Charbax Posted Jul 20th 2010 7:34PM]

@Chris Ziegler You also perhaps forgot to mention Dell does not play any video formats such as DivX HD with b-frames and AC3 audio, MKV h264 720p high profile at high bitrates with AAC audio, WMV/WMA, Flac and Ogg Vorbis, Mpeg2, On2, rmvb, Archos on the other hand supports all those formats. You forgot to mention Dell doesn't output to HDMI HDTVs which Archos does. You forgot to mention Dell doesn't support USB host and Bluetooth keyboard/mouse input, which Archos does. Dell doesn't support files that are larger than 4GB due to EXT3 and FAT32 storage formatting options in settings which Archos does. Dell doesn't support storage options up to 500GB 2.5" hard drives and MicroSD expansion, Archos supports all that. There is also the video recording and electronic program guide functions, the battery dock that doubles battery runtime, the WiFi-N dual antennas that extend WiFi coverage. Finally also, Archos officially supports Developper Edition firmware to allow installation of developper edition OS such as Maemo, Angstrom Linux and alternative Android installs and Ubuntu even.

I'm just saying, if you want to do a full review, you could at least mention the Archos alternative. Seeing as how Mifi are very affordable at 50€ in Europe unlocked, seeing as how Mifi functionality is even included in the latest Android OS and phones, some of your readers might much prefer getting a much cheaper unlocked Archos Android tablet and still have high resolution Android and web browsing experience and many other features in their pocket at all times.

[mrxman Posted Jul 20th 2010 9:49PM]

@Charbax The Streak does output to HDMI via the dock and it also has a USB port and charges the unit. It also has a user accessible micro SD card upgradeable to 32GB. It can also connect to and recognize USB keyboards and mice even.

And, yes, being able to make voice calls is huge. VOIP is not ubiquitous, and therefore not practical enough in our society right now, maybe in ten years. Are you saying you never need to make voice calls, ever? If you do, then you need a phone. And if you need a phone it means you need two devices. The Streak allows you to just have one device with one data/voice plan.

[Charbax Posted Jul 20th 2010 11:01PM]

@mrxman What's the point in HDMI output if it can't playback high profile h264 videos which are the main format for HD movies and TV shows on the Internet.

VOIP is a $50 Billion a year industry with 150 Million users worldwide. VOIP are voice calls, just not requiring ridiculous $2500 2-year subscription plans with carriers.

If you want a mobile phone for voice calls, more than 100 countries worldwide have cheap pre-paid plans that work just fine in any $10 basic mobile phone. Using a large screen like 5" is not useful for using as mobile phone anyways, that screen is for video, for apps, for web browsing, for gaming, not for voice calls.

Anyways, doing a review of Dell 5 Mini and not comparing it's features and price/value with the market leader Archos 5 Internet Tablet with Android just doesn't make any sense.

[zboot Posted Jul 21st 2010 12:00AM]

@Charbax

The Archos doesn't make calls. What is the point of mentioning an alternative. The iPod classic plays music too. Should that alternative have been mentioned?

[mrxman Posted Jul 21st 2010 5:22AM]

@Charbax Where are you getting this $2500 amount from? You can get plans for half that amount. Besides you don't have to get a plan if you don't want, and just get one later. But at least you have the flexibility. Personally, I'm trying to simplify my means of connectivity so having one device that can do both VOIP and non VOIP voice calls, surf the web with less pinch and zoom, google maps, turn by turn navigation, video calls, HDMI output, connect bluetooth keyboards, music and video player, and future improvements through OTA upgrades is just the ticket. Not only will the Streak replace my existing 3 year old cell phone, it will also be my only phone as I will get rid of my land line. In the end, I will be saving money by getting rid of my land line. And I will also postpone replacing my 4 year old 15" Macbook Pro since I'll be using it less after I get the Streak.

BTW, 150 million VOIP users worldwide is not ubiquitous on a planet with billions of people. And the quality and robustness of VOIP systems don't come close to standard voice systems. Give it another ten years and we'll talk.

[cyberXwarrior Posted Jul 20th 2010 9:36PM]

So, I could wipe Dell's skinned version of Android off the phone and stick my own fresh version of FroYo on there, right? If so, this is a definite buy.

[lestat0122 Posted Jul 20th 2010 10:04PM]

I thought it was coming out for t mobile. I want it for t mobile since I just got a contract with 2 free cliq xt`s, so I kinda dont want to cancel two lines to switch to att. : (

[mrxman Posted Jul 20th 2010 10:16PM]

It's not perfect, but you can improve the current Streak through UI mods available through the Marketplace. ADW Launcher will change the skin of the home screen and allow you to use it in both portrait and landscape modes. Chris said it was not possible, but he is wrong. It is, and here is a link to a video that proves it. BTW, this video also showcases a mod of the keyboard too called Better Keyboard. Both of these mods rectify two of the biggest shortcomings pointed out by Chris in this article. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSoSJs7bRV0

The Streak is the one device right now that comes closest of all to that single convergent communication device we've all seen in SciFi movies and dreamed of as kids. I foresee this form factor to be the default size for communication devices in the near future. We won't even be referring to these things as phones anymore because they will be much more than that. As a guy, I can see it replacing my wallet for example. Why not? No need for cash, credit cards, "phones", etc.

[JoblessPunk Posted Jul 21st 2010 12:28AM]

meh, I'm going to pass.

[youngmoney Posted Jul 21st 2010 10:17AM]

Well, that's a shame. That actually might just push me over the EDGE (pun intended)-which, in fact is quite sad because I've been defending this phone ever since the prototype came out. I was an avid fan and extremely excited for this device, but I'm not going to switch from T-mobile to the worst network (AT&T) just to be able to use 3G on a device that's supposed to be 'more' than a smartphone. This really disappoints me.

[muntu Posted Jul 21st 2010 11:26AM]

I have one in the UK on O2. My main criticism is that I hardly ever get a decent 3G signal in London on O2.

The device itself for what I mainly use it for is great (web, twitter and Facebook). I couldn't care less what anyone thinks when I use it as a phone.

Also to say that you can't install other FB and Twitter apps is plainly incorrect. I agree the build in ones are rubbish, but just install others from the Market and you're done.

They should have pointed out the extortionate prices of the accessories that Dell charge in the UK, rather than saying probably.

All in all I love it & am looking forward to 2.2

n.b. Dell have a very small software development team on this (7 !!) - read here http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/dell-streak/22071-dell-streak-ui-chat-log.html

[ericmcneill Posted Jul 21st 2010 2:18PM]

his says tmobile do you think it will be unlcoked?

[1016JP1 Posted Jul 21st 2010 10:21PM]

As much as I hate the iPhone 4, I'd say the iPhone is a way better buy. Or even the Droid X or HTC Evo or Incredible. 5.0'' screen! Are you kidding me! I thought the Droid X and the Evo had to big of a screen. And the specs aren't even that good on the Dell Streak. The Droids and iPhone have better specs. Personal I would go with Android or Apple. Dell is making a serious mistake on entering the cellular device market.

[mrxman Posted Jul 24th 2010 5:41PM]

@1016JP1 Dude, it's a tablet first, a phone second. Dell is creating a new market with this device because it's two devices in one. There is no other device that can claim that right now so it's being compared mostly to the bigger phones, but also to the iPad. Still, the fact that Dell has decided to lock the home screen in landscape mode is telling that they tend to market it as a mini-tablet that can also make calls when you need to. Dell is ahead on the curve on this one. Personally, Apple made a mistake with the size of the iPad. It's too big. That will be proven over time.

[Mieville Posted Jul 21st 2010 10:27PM]

this was really tempting me and it might sound daft but a weird port instead of usb is a total deal-breaker for me. Being able to charge my phone anywhere I go without having to carry around the charger is way to important to me.

[legips Posted Jul 22nd 2010 11:02PM]

I'm still not sure how Engadget can have this review out when the final device hasn't released yet in the US. What if Dell surprises and launches with Android 2.2 and leaves behind some of the "puzzling UI tweaks"?

[SilverSatin Posted Jul 25th 2010 4:19PM]

my god thats HUGE :p kind of cool now some people can stop dreaming about the PSP phone adn get this instead lol :p

i'm waiting for the dell thunder its got more bang for my buck :D