CES 2010: Thoughts From the Road
This year’s CES is winding down and I finally have time to slow down long enough to catch my breath, rest my aching feet, and reflect on the road trip in general. This isn’t really a reflection of the show, it is instead my thoughts on the road trip and the mobile gear I used this year. It is a look at what worked, what didn’t, and why. Join me for this look at the past week.
Before the road trip, I shared my thoughts about the gear I was going to bring and why. I mentioned I was bringing the iPhone 3G, but also the Palm Pre as my experience with the AT&T network while traveling was not a very good one. Bringing the Pre was a very good thing, as I found the iPhone virtually useless for calls and data coverage from day one. AT&T can say what they want about its data coverage, I am continually finding it to be poor during my road trips, and this one was as bad as ever.
The iPhone 3G was great to have for reading e-books, but not much else for most of the week. I couldn’t do anything that required data, until late Saturday. I could tell when a lot of people here for the CES left town, as the AT&T network came back to life. There is absolutely no question in my mind that the AT&T network cannot handle saturation during an event like the CES. The Sprint network rarely faltered during the week. I don’t know why, given its horrible reputation, AT&T wouldn’t beef up coverage for an event like this. Let’s face it, if they can’t provide service to a gathering of technology journalists who cover such things, they have a real problem.
The real joy for me the whole week was using the ThinkPad x200 Tablet. It was liberating being able to use the multitouch x200 in slate mode, especially in tight spaces where there was no room to comfortably use a laptop. I got admiring glances all week while I was using the slate, mostly from others precariously balancing a laptop in very uncomfortable ways. The x200 worked well for me no matter what the circumstances were, and it was great to take notes during crowded press events on the slate with the pen.
The only area I wish worked better was in handling video I shot during the week. The MacBook would have been better for this, strictly due to the ease of use that iMovie 09 provides. I could do everything I needed using Windows 7 on the x200, but not nearly as easily. It still worked though, and I am happy I brought the x200 and left the MacBook at home.
The one gadget that saved my bacon regularly all week was the Verizon MiFi, but I knew that would be the case. My hotel room had both wired and wireless connectivity, but it worked so inconsistently that I just used the MiFi. It never hiccuped, and I had outstanding bandwidth the entire trip with the MiFi. For those interested, I used right at 1 GB of my 5 GB data cap the whole week, and I used it for hours each day. I watched a lot of CES videos this week so it’s a good indication of how much usage would be required to exceed that 5 GB cap.
I brought the docking station for the ThinkPad as it allows me to charge the second battery at the same time as the other battery. That came in handy only once, as the battery life on the x200 is so good I only drained it once during the week. I never brought the charger with me during the day, so I was on battery all day every day. I regularly got over 6 hours of life on the battery. The one day I drained it I just swapped batteries and kept going. Back in the hotel room that night I popped the x200 into the dock, and the second battery into the charger connection on the side of the dock. It was wonderful never having to worry about conserving the battery, and especially nice not to be looking for a power outlet at the show.
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i think the only thing that makes the iphone tolerable is also having the mifi. i have gotten used to just leaving the mifi on in my bag and letting the iphone use its wireless rather than relying on 3g.
3g coverage seems decent in phoenix (where i live) for the most part – but certainly going anywhere its spotty. the mifi makes up for that.
i drove from phoenix to la a few months ago using the xm app for the iphone – as soon as i left the major phoenix area 3g was gone for at&t. i turned on the mifi and listened to music all the way across the desert – verizon’s 3g connection never even hiccuped. they can say whatever they want in the commercials but that was pretty much all the evidence i needed on the quality of the two networks.
i suspect your sprint connection had no issues at ces simply because no one uses sprint :)
so what did the Pre-hater Kevin do since he opted out of even taking his 2nd phone?
even blind ‘dis’loyality can come back to burn you. thats why you should make decisions based on logic over emotion, its no secret to Vegas regulars that Sprint is “Vegas country” as they literally soak the area in towers.
And again, you’re using a different name to leave the same brand of negative comments. It’s really getting old and you’re a step away from becoming permanently banned. Sorry to sound rude, but I have little tolerance from anonymous sniping and misrepresentation. Put another way: feel free to have a differing opinion here. I’m all for that because it can offer perspective for the whole community. But do it under the same name instead of trying to make it appear as if a whole posse of different folks have issues with what we say and do. Sound good?
That aside, I’m not a “Pre hater”. I’ve said repeatedly that the Pre is a good phone and that I really like the webOS operating system. However, it doesn’t offer me the tools I need in terms of software. For me to keep using a tool that doesn’t meet my needs would simply be silly, no? That’s not blind disloyalty, as you say: it’s smart use of mobile tech. There’s no emotion involved.
In any case, I bought a Google Nexus One and had it delivered to my hotel. It worked great on T-Mobile this week. In addition, as I mentioned in my gear bag video, I brought my Verizon 3G USB stick. It worked flawlessly as did my hotel’s in room Wi-Fi.
all of this Apple/Palm/Android talk these last few months is really heating up. my gut feeling is that the Nexus is probably the best Android device so far, but i have been shocked by the hot/cold reaction to this phone, so i will be curious as to your thoughts
i assume you & james have already seen this since pretty much everybody is talking about it. BGR wrote an entire article absolutely slamming Android, so far getting over 1,100 replies. while praising Apple, the only OS he thinks that competes currently is Palms webOS.
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/01/09/google-android-personal-thoughts
I bought an unsubsidized Nexus One when I landed in Vegas and it arrived 2 days later. Although I haven’t had too much time to play with it, it’s a pretty solid device. I read the BGR review and opinion piece and there’s some merit to his commentary = Android isn’t as “refined” as iPhone OS just yet IMO, but it’s darn close in many ways and even better in others.
I just popped up a first look and impressions video: http://jkontherun.com/2010/01/11/google-nexus-one-first-look-video-impressions/ Much more to follow, of course.
So nice to see a tablet pc being put through its paces and being used for what it was designed to do. What struck me most was this point: “I am happy I brought the x200 and left the MacBook at home.” That says a lot for Windows 7 as much as it does for Lenovo. Great post.
I have to say that this type of article is really my favorite ones to read. I don’t care how much we LOVE our gadgets during the course of a review and such, the real-world usage is what matters most, and knowing how a network and devices function in those situations is a telling sign.
It comes as no surprise to hear about AT&T or Verizon or Sprint. All of those are exactly what I’d expect in the real world, and they’re consistent with what others report in the real world.
As for the x200, that’s excellent news. I’ve looked at that model several times and wondered why I haven’t bought one. With regard to the video editing, what software did you end up using as an alternative to iMovie? You just mention that you were on Windows 7, so I’m assuming Windows Live Movie Maker, but I’m curious to know so that it’s an actual APP comparison not an OS comparison… ;)
I am using Corel VideoStudio Pro. It’s as capable as iMovie but much harder to use.
Thanks James for sharing your experience with the MiFi. I’ve always considered that 5GB cap too restrictive, especially considering European providers offer far more liberal 7GB and 14GB plans. Going by what you say though, 5GB would be a realistic monthly amount for an “always mobile” road warrior. While I would still prefer a higher cap and avoid monitoring my usage, it’s comforting to know from a real-world user how far that limited quota goes.
That said, while plugging the MiFi into USB gives you all-day power, I’m thinking a high-capacity battery for the MiFi could work better. I can see instances when you need all-day 3G connection but are using it with a device such as a PPC/smartphone that does not offer a USB port for charging. A slightly thicker 8 hour battery for the MiFi would be helpful in such cases.
I would rather just buy a second MiFi battery for $40. Available at Verizon now.
@Luscious
I’ve just checked the UK’s five 3G mobile operators to check the statement that ‘European providers offer far more liberal 7GB and 14GB plans’. I don’t know about the rest of Europe, but here in the UK that statement looks a bit wide of the mark.
Most monthly payment plans here are in the 1, 3 and 5 GB range. Three offers also 7 GB and and 12 GB options, but those are on pre-pay only only (that is, you pre-pay for a month’s use only when you want to). Maybe that makes sense, because if you know you’re going to be using a lot in the coming month you can pre-load your account with money.
The only montly payment plans I found with a cap above 5 GB were offered by Orange and O2. In both cases the cap was 10 GB, and in both cases you pay quite a lot: £25/month in the case of Orange, and £30/month in the case of O2. To give an idea of what those figures mean, I pay about £25/month for ADSL fixed-line broadband (with a 10 GB cap) and all phone calls, local and national.
T-mobile in the UK doesn’t quote any cap, but has a range of ‘fair usage’ figures depending on the package. These are 2 GB, 3 GB and 5 GB. If you exceed these, your usage might be restricted in future.
Hmmm, interesting. I’m on ’3′s 15Gb pay monthly for £15 per month, but you’re right, it doesn’t seem to be available anymore for new customers!
I also seem to recall Vodafone had 7Gb on pay monthly at one point, but no longer it seems.
These bad data plans in the UK are really strange, not typical for a European scenario.
For example the price range in Austria is about 15€/month for 15 GB, and 25€/month for unlimited traffic (flat rate). If you buy a prepaid card then you pay 4€/GB.
James: great post, thank you.
Were you using the high-capacity (8 cell) battery on the X200 to get the 6 hours on a single charge?
Yes, the 8-cell battery. It’s giving 6 hours with no special power management, up to 8 with really stringent control.
If AT&T can’t or won’t seemingly do anything to get out in front of the CES network saturation that was surely expected, then are they being lead competently? Instead of absolutely blanketing downtown LV with temporary cells to avoid further PR embarrassment by literally ALL the tech opinion makers in town, or better yet planning to spend the capital necessary to permanently blanket downtown LV with 7.2 mpbs coverage and maybe making that the center of their CES presentation with an emphasis on “we hear you and this is one example of how we’re taking aggressive action to meet your data demands”, they trumpet some nonsense about how developers are going to come build crapware for their feature phones, now on a unified BREW mobile platform – as opposed to developing for the iPhone that is surely now going to another network……Hard to imagine that Verizon could have regained the upper hand with Apple, but AT&T is now hurting Apple enough that big V’s execs must be licking their chops at the negotiating table.
any thought about your x200 vs. the new HP tm2?
OK… I am trying to understand all the Sprint bashing. I live and work in Columbus, Ohio and have multiple offices all around Ohio. Myself and the other IT guy here have had Sprint for nearly 10 years while the rest of the corporation uses Verizon. We have never had any issues with Sprint while other users in our office complain about the Verizon network. I can also say that Sprint has never had any problems even when traveling on vacation. Your results with Sprint in LV seem to be on par with what we have been experiencing for years. Can you guys fill us in with the problems you have with Sprint? My only complaint is that I can’t use data and be on the phone at the same time.
I must be avoiding all of the AT&T voids or something. I get great coverage in FL, and most major cities on my 3GS, 5 bars at home, etc. Occasionally when I’m driving in the sticks or at certain airports, coverage may drop, or data fall back to Edge momentarily. But, I’ve had pretty good luck. I always have a Sprint Mifi with me as well (for Slinging, tablet & Macbook data).
Thanks for the great post James. As someone else mentioned, it’s nice to see the results of technology taken through its paces in a real world scenario. An unboxing/review in someones house, is quite different from the mobile jungle of airports, hotels, rental cars, jammed up networks and crowded trade shows… Good to be home, isn’t it? ;)
Actually I am at the airport in Vegas, not home yet but so close I can taste it. :)