HowWouldYouChange
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How would you change Amazon's Kindle Fire?
The Kindle Fire is less a tablet and more a $200 window into Amazon's storefront. The 7-inch slate that shares its DNA with the BlackBerry PlayBook lacks any physical features bar a micro-USB port, headphone jack and speaker. Internally, that 1GHz CPU is paired up with 512MB of RAM and 8GB storage, with no option for increased size, Bluetooth, 5GHz WiFi or 3G. Performance was fine inside the company's carousel sandbox, but step outside and things became outrageously herky-jerky, especially in the Silk browser, which didn't live up to its name. We found that there was plenty we'd like to change to make it more of a useful tablet, but did we miss the point? You probably had one bought for you in the Holidays and it's had three or four months solid use since then, so what do you think? Is it a good companion on your daily commute, did it justify winning our E-Reader of the year prize and if Jeff Bezos was reading all of your comments in anticipation for version two, what would you demand he changes?
How would you change the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9?
We like to think of HWYC as the counterpoint to IRL, focused on your experiences of using these gadgets on a daily basis. What annoying little issues do you wish the company had ironed out before shipping? Is there anything you like about the device you want to share with people? This week we want your opinions on Samsung's Galaxy Tab 8.9 -- the niche offering for people unable to decide between the 10.1, 7.7 or the 7-inch versions of the same. When we reviewed it, we found it to be virtually indistinguishable to its larger sibling: it was 10 percent smaller and 10 percent cheaper, and that was about it. But is that the whole story? Now you've had a few months to stew over your purchase, how have you found it? If Samsung was hawkishly watching the comments below, what would you say? How would you change it?
How would you change Sony's Vaio F?
Let's say you bought Sony's VAIO F Series laptop at the end of last year. Would it be a stretch to say you liked how cheap it was and that games played well as long as you dialed down those display settings? Were you not too impressed by the battery life or that touch button on the trackpad? Well, at least you agree with our review of the "desktop replacement" device. But we'd like to know more, dear friends: what gremlins have you uncovered in the numerous hours logged using this unit? What are the nice surprises? If Kaz Hirai was reading this intently waiting for your opinion, what would you tell him you'd like to change?
How would you change the T-Mobile Springboard?
What's in a name? That which we call a T-Mobile Springboard by any other name, like the Huawei Mediapad, would smell as sweet. Multiple names aside, the Honeycomb slate was teasingly cheap as it coaxed you to a two year marriage with the pinky/purple (magenta, okay) mobile network. It had some great build quality but our issue stemmed more from the pricey contract you had to sign up to alongside it -- but we figure thousands of you picked one of these up and you've had a couple of months happy or horrible surfing under your belt. You've gotten under the skin of the device, you know what its foibles are, it's strengths and weaknesses, what do you love, what do you hate and most importantly, what would you change?
How would you change the Motorola Droid RAZR?
Phones, phones, phones: the burden of autumnal launches for a raft of handsets is that it makes our post-mortem strand a little repetitive. This week's cellular telephone du-jour is Motorola's Droid RAZR, a "7.1mm thick" slab that hopes you neither notice nor mention that 10.6mm hump on the top end. Ludicrous claims about its waistline aside, it oozes materials quality, built from Gorilla Glass, Kevlar and diamond-cut aluminum. It wasn't the most comfortable to hold in our fleshy palm, but it compensated for that with great performance and LTE. Of course, that battery could have been bigger, but where would you stick it? What would you sacrifice (and you do have to sacrifice something) in order to improve this handset? Ladies and gentlemen, it's over to you.
How would you change HTC's Rhyme?
Clearly, it was never going to go down well with feminists, or the general public. HTC's "ladyphone" was found to sacrifice power and features for, erm, a flashing notification bauble that didn't even fit on our reviewer's purse. Its lackluster spec, patronizing marketing and plenty of bloatware meant we couldn't recommend this phone -- but if one wound up in your pocket / hand / handbag, how has life been with it? We want to know how you feel about the unit, does that good camera compensate for its flaws, how does the charm indicator work on a daily basis and most importantly of all, if you were offering suggestions for a revised version, how would you change HTC's Rhyme? The comments are this way, fill them with words and let's talk this one over.
How would you change ASUS' Zenbook UX31?
This week's How Would You Change stars ASUS' UX31 Zenbook, the benchmark that all of 2011's Ultrabooks should aspire to. We loved its striking design, good performance, battery life and that fantastic display. We weren't so hot on some of the frilly-script branding, annoying trackpad and a keyboard that required hammer-typing to register our presses. It's a shame to think that so many companies are producing great thin'n'light designs that are always hamstrung by one jarring error -- which is where you guys and gals come in. Now that it's been around the block, we're asking you: what improvements you'd like to see? -- but because this is an Ultrabook, for every addition, we want you to suggest something you'd be happy to lose. The floor is yours in the river of comments below.
How would you change the HTC Sensation XL?
Okay, so we said we'd cover HTC's Sensation XL in "a couple of weeks," but since we're on the subject of pocket-bursting phones with the same internals, let's do them back-to-back. The outer shell got a few tweaks, and Beats Audio support -- but beyond that, these telephone twins are identical. If you bought this phone instead of the Titan, why not tell us what you thought about the unit, did you love it, did you hate it, would you trade one device for the other and most importantly of all: How would you change it if you were sat in the boardroom? Commenters, you're the one thing we believe in, and it's time for you to tell us in the space below.
How would you change the HTC Titan?
We fell in love with the 4.7-inch HTC Titan's brilliant build quality, battery life and camera -- less so for the bad pixel density, Mango's flakiness and only having 12GB free memory once the OS had made its land grab. But if you found yourself back in 2010 when HTC was hashing out the schematics for this giant of a smartphone, what would you have demanded it do differently? (We'll cover the Sensation XL in a couple of weeks for those of you who grabbed the Android version of this device.) There's a river of comments below, come on in, the water's fine!
How would you change Apple's iPhone 4S?
It's the dawn of a new year for How Would You Change, so let's take a look back at one of the hottest-selling phones of the last one. A low-key launch couldn't dispel a summer of hype for the handset: Apple went for evolution when we were expecting a revolution -- even though we'd seen the same with the 3G/3GS. In the cold light of January, we can see the 4S for what it is: a refined experience that lacks a compelling reason to pay an early-upgrade fee. If you were in the planning meeting for the iPhone 6 (it's a hunch), what would you be pushing for? Built-in NFC? Would you have kept Siri under wraps until it had left beta? Do you resent the existence of any phone that can't run Android? Constructive and polite suggestions in the comments below, impolite ones should be written down on a piece of paper and sent to the usual address (we kid, we kid).
How would you change Logitech's Harmony Link?
Remote controls suck, but touchscreen phones and tablets aren't smart enough to replace them, yet. Logitech's Harmony Link is there to bridge the gap between your WiFi device and TV, but we found it inflexible, unreliable and unspectacular. Some of those issues might have been fixed in the recent update -- but what would you do differently to make it the must have gadget of 2012? Ladies and gentlemen, when you've finished your turkey dinners (happy holidays!), sound off in the comments.
How would you change Amazon's Kindle (2011)?
Amazon's Kindle is, broadly, the million-selling gold-standard that all other e-readers aspire to. This year's edition was slashed back to basics, with the hardware keyboard, touchscreen, expandable memory, 3G access and MP3 support sacrificed in favor of a $79 (with ads) price tag. Now you've had three months to get to grips with the changes, do you feel it was worth it? Do you miss the keyboard, are the adverts too intrusive, is it the right size for comfortable use? If you were in Jeff Bezos' shoes, let us know what you'd have done differently in the comments below.
How would you change Motorola's Droid Bionic?
Two Droid units, two weeks in a row here at HWYC? Say it ain't so! This go 'round, we've got Motorola's Droid Bionic, yet another LTE handset in Verizon Wireless' stable, and with a $300-on-contract asking price, we're pretty sure the early adopters will have some pointed things to say. Still feeling like your chunk of change was spent on something worthwhile? How's the battery life? Would you have jazzed up the overall design in any way? Feeling like you should've waited for the Galaxy Nexus? Good or bad, we're eager to hear your comments now that you've had a few months to play around with it -- drop 'em in comments below!
How would you change Motorola's Droid 3?
Believe it or not, Motorola's Droid 3 shipped back in July. That feels like about eight centuries ago, but for those who've spent the last few months toying with what used to be Verizon's latest and greatest, here's your chance to voice your opinion. Are you pleased with the keyboard? Satisfied with the software? Would you change up the form factor any when dreaming of the Droid 4? Tired of that "lip" just beneath the board? Go ahead and toss your thoughts in comments below. Just take a deep breath first, okay?
How would you change Olympus' PEN E-PL3 and E-P3?
Canon's been focused solely on the top-end of things here recently, but it's obvious that the mirrorless and Micro Four Thirds markets are booming. Cute sells, right? And if you've taken the plunge on either of Olympus' newest PENs (that'd be the E-PL3 or E-P3), we're interested in knowing how you really feel about 'em. Would you have preferred a slightly larger casing? Still want it smaller? Cool with the kit lens? Any quibbles with the exterior? The UI? The company's made quite clear that the PEN line ain't going anywhere anytime soon, so speak up in comments below, won't you?
How would you change RIM's BlackBerry Bold 9930?
There's no QNX (or BBX, we should say) here, but the Bold 9930 is still taking baby steps towards the future with BlackBerry OS 7. Now that you've had a few months to tinker with your latest and greatest, we're interested to hear how you'd tweak things if given the keys to Waterloo. Would you make it look a bit more like this? Change up the screen? Toss that chrome ring around the edge? Chunk it to another carrier? Go on and get creative in comments below, but keep it civil, cool?
How would you change HP's TouchPad?
Not like it matters much now, but hey -- why not, right? HP's TouchPad was tossed into the closeout bin just over 40 days after it initially went on sale, and it actually served to be a spark for the eventual webOS fire that still seems to be smoldering. When we tested it -- and before we knew HP was about to demolish its operating system in the consumer realm -- we found tons of promise. That said, we also found lackluster hardware and a relatively barren application store, but we held out hope that the latter would blossom. These days, our readers are using fire sale TouchPads for all manners of tasks, but if you had the chance, how would you change yours? Toss in a different CPU / GPU? Give webOS the overhaul HP never did? Swap Touchstone for Qi? Let us know in comments below -- those who need to hear, will.
How would you change HTC's EVO 3D?
A 3D phone? Who woulda thunk it? HTC would have, and the EVO 3D is the product of its labor. The jury's still out on whether 3D will end up being more than just some over-marketed, over-sensationalized fad, but judging by the sales of this thing on Sprint's network, someone is into the concept. We saw it as one of Sprint's stronger Android offerings, but the lackluster battery life and par-for-the-course display were quirks that we couldn't quite overlook. For those who bit, what are your main annoyances? Would you change the design at all? Toss in a different panel? Would you tweak anything about the Sense implementation? Is the 3D camera serving you well? Let us know in comments below!
How would you change Samsung's Chromebook Series 5?
It's compact, it's cute and it's weird. But it might be your perfect netbook. Google's Chromebook family isn't apt to ever be an end-all solution -- particularly for those that aren't married to the company's suite of web-based products -- and we're pretty sure Samsung's taking notes on how to make the eventual followup to the Series 5 even better. Battery life was stellar, and the matte display was a joy to look at, but we still found plenty of quibbles. Are you one of the early adopters who picked one of these guys up? If given the chance, how would you tweak the design / software / whatever else? Go on and get crafty in comments below!
How would you change HTC's Droid Incredible 2?
It's borderline crazy to think that we posed this very question about the original Droid Incredible in June of 2010, yet here we are again. Same question, different day, and (mostly) different phone. Verizon Wireless has been pumping out Android devices like it's its job -- and really, it sort of is -- and HTC's DI2 is certainly one of the more polarizing options. Loaded with Sense and plenty of VZW "extras," we're anxious to see if the things that bothered us also bothered you. Is the screen size adequate? Are you still better off with Sense than without? Would you change the form factor or software in any way for the inevitable third iteration? Holler in comments below -- we're all ears.
