T-Mobile G1 user reviews (black)

4.5 stars

"It's all about the APPS" on September 25, 2008 by davidmcbee

Pros: This phone is OPEN SOURCE, which means ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.

Cons: Okay, seriously, what's up with no headphone jack?

Summary: This phone is OPEN SOURCE, which means ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. No Outlook Exchange...YET! It's way too early to review this phone. It's like reviewing a computer with no (few) programs installed on it. Developers will make this phone do amazing things. Check out the developers challenge. This phone will show you what you can have for dinner, where to shop for the groceries, give you directions to the store, allow you scan the bar codes to find the best price, then show you how to cook the ingredients with a video! It'll tell you how far you are from the tee and what club to use. It'll keep track of your family and friends on a map. It's a phone, a GPS, a calendar, a web browser, a media player, a phonebook... It may not have a video record function now, but someone will develop an app that will. And what about that keyboard and "clunkiness" people are complaining about. I never could type on an iPhone! Heck, if the iPhone 3G had had a slide out keyboard, I might've even caved in and switched to (awful) AT&T. I'm so glad I waited so I could stick with (awesome) T-Mobile. Again, just wait and see what open source does for this phone. We ain't seen nothing yet! Thanks Google!

Updated on Oct 27, 2008

Well I've owned the G1 for about a week now, and I stand by my assumptions that this phone would be great. It's much cooler in person than I expected, with all the talk about how "unsexy" it is, I was prepared to be unimpressed. However, it feels great in my hand, it's small enough to carry in my pocket, and the screen swipes are smooth and cool. Having a full keyboard is so sweet. Sure, it's a hint thicker than that "other phone", but it's totally worth it.

Not once has the Android operating system frozen up on me!

I go back to what I originally said about the apps, thought. They are what make this phone amazing. This phone does the coolest stuff and there are new apps in the market EVERY DAY! The browser is awesome, this weekend went camping with the cub scouts and was able to pull up a star chart on my G1. Are you kidding me?! I love the way it integrates with Google Calendar, Contacts and Gmail. I'll never have to sync again!

Updated on Oct 27, 2008

Okay, to be fair... I hate hate hate not having a headphone jack. Sure, I bought the adapter for $5, but I'm sure I'll lose it.

1.0 stars

"This is the typical "neato" product... junk." on June 7, 2010 by hb_scone

Pros: -Solid build quality
-Touch screen and keyboard
-Decent camera
-Android
-Basically, a fun little computer for your head

Cons: Lacks quality PHONE features:

-Terrible receiver and transmitter sound
-Can only be used effectively with Bluetooth for sound
-Rollerball web navigation is TOTALLY unmanageable
-Text messaging is one long, constant CRASH!!
-Heavy
-No GPS/no tracking

Summary: First of all... the most important features of a PHONE, to me are:

1. The phone, per se. That is: Those aspects that allow me to make and receive phone calls. Remember when they were called cell PHONES?!? The G1 is a pretty terrible phone. I'd like a phone that doesn't require me to use Bluetooth on those rare occasions that I don't want to look like a jerk*ff walking around the supermarket talking to the Invisible Man. I like holding a phone. The G1's transmitter mic and receiver speaker SUCK.

2. Texting. I text a hell of a lot per day. Sometimes, I send and receive (in total) upwards of 300 messages. With the G1, well... you're going to have to wait your turn in line, my friend. First, sometimes, if you type your message too quickly, it pops up a screen asking you if you want to "force close" or "wait". If you EVER try to continue typing a second message right after you've hit "send" for the first... it again gives you the option: "force close" or "wait." The wait is a relatively long wait. Plus... after you "hit" send... you don't just have to wait a second; you have to wait until it sends the text TO THE NETWORK! That can take a while. Further, if there is an incoming text, it stops you from typing. It gives you the same force-close or wait message. Basically, if you like to text on other keyboard phones... the G1 will slow you down by a factor of 1/2 to 1/3. It sucks in this regard. For this reason alone, it is useless for me.

3. Internet. I like to use the web. I consider myself a normal kinda guy. I like to buy on Amazon... watch my eBay auctions... get directions from a maps site... or look at Zagat.com for a dinner hookup. First off, the little rollerball control at the bottom of the G1 is RIDICULOUS. It zings you around between the links so fast that it's pointless to try to use it. That is... to get it to land on the specific link that you want, you have to tap and nudge it like you're trying to thread a needle! So... OK... better to use the touch screen. That's true, except sometimes links are so closely clustered together that even the tiniest "boop!" of the tip of your finger hits the wrong one. Then you have to go back. Or... sometimes... you risk hitting a cancel button (next to a continue) button, that ruins everything you've been doing. So you go back to the ball. Ball is no help. So what the heck do you do? Call a friend with a computer or wait till you get home.

4. GPS. So... I envy all of these guys who have maps with tracking on their phones. It's not that I don't have a nav sys in my car; I'd like to be walking around downtown Chicago and know where the heck I am! I don't like having to stop and ask guys bludgeoning old women to death... "Excuse me... how do I get to Union Station?" Phones with GPS tracking are great for getting around particularly unsavory parts of town... or if you don't have a nav sys.

Listen... the bottom line is... the iPhone blows this piece of junk away. Sure, Android is cool. It doesn't have the memory of an iPhone, though. It does have a real keyboard, but its a total pain to use on the internet. And text messaging blows. I will NEVER buy a Google-designed phone again, as long as I live. I think this thing cost me $299?!? Puhleez. Como se dice, "Taken for a ride."

Put the PHONE back in phone. If you want to buy a mini-computer... get one of those mini netbooks. A phone should make good calls that don't drop and send other quick communication (texts.) This is not a phone. It's a mini (lousy) computer with some phone-like features.

Updated on Jun 7, 2010

AND... if you're a businessperson... I might note... the thing is heavy enough that you can't keep it in your breast pocket unless you want to look like you've been recently feeding a baby. ;-)

2.5 stars

"I tried to love this phone" on April 5, 2010 by missdemilo

Pros: When it works....great QWERTY, responsive touchscreen, great sound, good reception, speaker phone works well, great google mapping directions, GPS is accurate

Cons: Limited apps, constantly crashes, battery life is horrible, slow web browsing, did I say it crashes (well multiply that times 10 times a day at least)

Summary: I purchased this phone in November 2008. It was between this and the iPhone. For about 3 years before this, I had suffered with a basic flip phone so I really wanted to make a drastic and great improvement. I actually had no idea that the G1 had come out at the time I was looking to make a switch to an iPhone or something maybe that T-Mobile that was somewhat close. So when I went shopping around, I wasn't swayed either way towards Apple or not. What really made me decide was the affordable plans associated with the G1. The G1 had email, web browsing, a cool GPS feature (like I didn't even know that this was specific to the G1 and not iPhone at the time - that's how clueless I was). Another factor was that my husband had a contract in which he had about a year remaining so I was sort of stuck with T-Mobile. It just didn't make sense for me to start a single plan for me with AT&T, especially because AT&T's calling, data, and unlimited messaging just costs more. So I just sucked it up and went with the G1.

Big mistake.

After about, I'd say, 3-4 months this phone started crashing. The battery did not keep it's life, I could not really browse the web because the connection was so bleeping slow. Eventually, I had to call customer service and get my phone reset. And of course I lost all my app data because most apps aren't developed well because the phone doesn't let you store data onto the SIM card from what I understand. It's totally inefficient from a dev standpoint - and relies heavily on the hard drive. One of the reps even told me that I should keep an eye on the amount of memory that is being used-up (WHY would I have to do that for a phone that is made EFFICIENTLY) otherwise it will start crashing (okay for the cost of this phone I should not have to do that).

After about a year of suffering through this phone, I wised-up and finally got around to calling T-Mobile to ask for a replacement phone - or at least a battery. This was my fault - I should have called sooner. And this is where the nightmare begins. Really, I bet all I needed was a new battery but for some reason, the T-Mobile rep thought I needed a new handset. So I get the "new" (aka REFURBISHED) handset and my problems were not resolved. They even sent me a new battery and that did not help. They send me ANOTHER handset and that one crashed too. Then they send me a third handset. So after three new batteries (sent to me through my warranty at no charge) and three handsets, I thought everything was good. Well sure, for about 3 weeks. Then of course as a colleague at work asked me how my phone was doing, and I said "great" it suddenly does not want to turn on. I was SOOOO careful with this handset. I didn't drop it, I had a new case on it, I made sure to always put it in it's own pocket in my purse, I didn't overcharge it, I mean come-on already.

So the thing turned on but then the touchscreen didn't work. Then it shut off on its own. So then, it turned on, and the touchscreen worked but it wouldn't work if it was being charged (normally it does). And then sometimes the touchscreen doesn't work and only the trackball works. FRUSTRATION.

I'm so extremely urked in many ways because I've invested so much of my time into this phone and when I got it, it was not cheap. I could have purchased a 16GB iPhone and could have been much happier.

T-Mobile offered me three other options where I would not have to pay them a dime but those phones were not even comparable (the Behold, Dash, and some Blackberry - like why would I want a Blackberry from a G1????). THEN they offered the MyTouch (which I also don't like) but only if I paid $130 difference.

Basically I had to tell them that our relationship was over because they could not guarantee a brand new G1 would be sent to me if they sent me yet ANOTHER (my 4th) handset. T-Mobile basically lost a 6 year customer (three cell phone users I might add in our plan) because they could not simply send me a brand new G1 in which I was paying warranty insurance on for one year and 5 months.

I would be able to recommend this phone but the thing is, I've never had it in a "good" state to really say it's worth the money and time and frustration. It's good for like 4 months. There, that I can guarantee. Just like T-Mobile CAN guarantee they'll send you REFURBISHED handset if this thing breaks on you - and it will.

2.0 stars

"The Phone of Your Dreams - You'll Wake Up Screaming!" on November 17, 2009 by reunite_pangaea

Pros: Smartphone concept - access to a plethora of applications.

Cons: "Abends" - applications on this phone crash about every 5 minutes of active use - INCLUDING in the middle of a phone call: "The apllication Phone has just closed - OK?" - ahhhh, not really.

Summary: The first and most important action to take when buying a G1 is to CAREFULLY select your wallpaper. You might think this is trivial. IT IS NOT. You will be looking at that wallpaper about 40% of the time while your phone is thinking about what to do next. The second most important thing to do is to join me in requesting Google to stylize the Forced Closed dialog box. While this box actually appears more often (45%) than your blank wall-papered home screen, the tiny likelihood that anyone will bother theming this pop-up results in its dropping to priority #2. But while we?re on the topic, to describe this as a DIALOG box is a disservice to the Greek language, whose prefix ?di-? we use to mean ?two?. While the Force Close box does allow you to press one of two buttons, they both do precisely the same thing: 90% wait; 10% close ? independent of which button you press. So the only real reason to call it a dialog box is because if you don?t communicate (press a button), you?ll be stuck with the FC box indefinitely (the longest I?ve actually waited before pressing a button is 11 hours, 23 minutes).

Your 3rd priority is to practice ripping the back off the phone to remove the battery. It now takes me 5 seconds, but I?m sure many others with younger more dexterous video-game trained digits would be ashamed to do it in over 3 seconds. Still, you?ll need this skill not infrequently when your phone absolutely freezes - though I must admit my patience runs out after waiting more than a half minute and/or pressing the off button more than 37 times, so it may not freeze quite as often as I would, under oath, testify.

4th priority is to SAVE YOUR OLD PHONE! This OBVIOUSLY moves up to #1 if you already tossed your old Blackberry Curve. Always carry a spare phone in case you want to make a call. Several months ago I urgently called my brother who was 100 yds away. It took just short of a minute for the G1 to recognize that I wanted to get into Contacts, to find my brother?s number, to open that specific contact, to click the number and to have the G1 dial it. (As I feared, he?d already gotten on the 305 bus and we had to connect a mile down the street).

There are a myriad more problems ranging from a two-second delay in typing, to a backspace key that hesitates then jumps wildly, to a Calendar which lags 1995 functionality, to an Alarm Clock which you can?t set to wake you up. While T-Mobile can be blamed for connectability problems (like not being able to talk and use the web browser at the same time), most of the problems probably emanate from a ?weak gut? (processor & RAM) which just can?t keep up with concurrent operations (think PC prior to Windows ? an Apple innovation). This type of phone is definitely the wave of the future, but in order to stay ahead of the curve, stick with (again) Apple. There are many good reasons to buy a Smartphone, just not this one; not yet anyway.