So let's hear some first impression reviews!

[Jersey Tom]

Going to be tempted to pick one up tomorrow. For those who picked it up and have had a day to play around with it... what are your thoughts?

Likes?

Dislikes?

 

[LadyX]

Just picked up my flyer and stylus! So far, fun to play with... Like my Thunderbolt, just bigger! The stylus is pretty cool to play with also. You can highlight, draw, write etc. Two things I am not impressed with is the camera and the screen resolution. The camera, even when focused just isn't that clear but I am still playing around with it. Also, the home screen seems a bit pixelated. I am very used to the crisp, clear screen on my TB so unfortunately I've been comparing the two. I'm also using the TB as a mobile hotspot so the WiFi I've been using is extremely fast. I also live that when u rotate the screen the home buttons rotate as well! So far so good but still playing. Will keep you all updated!

 

[aekhhi]

Just picked up my flyer and stylus! So far, fun to play with... Like my Thunderbolt, just bigger! The stylus is pretty cool to play with also. You can highlight, draw, write etc. Two things I am not impressed with is the camera and the screen resolution. The camera, even when focused just isn't that clear but I am still playing around with it. Also, the home screen seems a bit pixelated. I am very used to the crisp, clear screen on my TB so unfortunately I've been comparing the two. I'm also using the TB as a mobile hotspot so the WiFi I've been using is extremely fast. I also live that when u rotate the screen the home buttons rotate as well! So far so good but still playing. Will keep you all updated!

I agree about the camera. I'm so used to my 8MP camera on my Inspire that I noticed right away how the camera on the back isn't completely focused like it should be and that it doesn't have a clear picture. but the front facing one is very nice and did take a clean picture.

oh and the back cover is very hard to get off. I've been trying for 10 minutes

 

[falconeight]

HTC makes horrible cameras. But I am in awe of my flyer, I love it.

 

[aekhhi]

HTC makes horrible cameras. But I am in awe of my flyer, I love it.

Minus the one on the Inspire. That one takes amazing pictures. Sometimes better than my 12mp digital camera

Another thing I dont like is the fact that my charger won't work. USB cord is fine but its the wall charger that doesn't work

 

[JSchu22]

I like it, just debating if it will replace my iPad (I'd likely sell that to justify the price of the Flyer). The size is great I just wish I could view PDFs in the browser, need that functionality for work occasionally.

 

[LadyX]

Really disappointing. I mean I'm still going to play around with it but I took a bunch of pictures last night trying really hard to focus them and they just werent as clear as they should be.

 

[DroidDaddy]

First, I like the tablet much better than my Samsung Galaxy Tab. The higher resolution screen makes it much crisper and easier to read web pages. However, if you're coming from a 10" tablet, you're going to find 7" takes getting used to. I downloaded a movie via the "Watch" app, it was 1.9gb in HD and it looked gorgeous.

The sound is noticeably better than the Galaxy Tab from a quality standpoint. I think the loudness is about the same.

Using the pen... you only get the highlighting of text in three applications. The Kobo book "Reader" app, the included PDF viewer app and the Polaris Word app (opens MS word documents.) You can tell they were made by three different vendors as the quality actually varies. For instance, in the Kobo app, highlighting text actually obscures it somewhat like your using a watercolor paint on top of the text. It's much better in the Polaris word app and the PDF viewer. The Kobo reader is definitely the worst of the three. I purchased a book with some illustrations which are just not legible on the 7" screen. For some reason the book image doesn't seem to make use of the entire screen like the Kindle app does. Of course the Kindle app is not pen enabled so you can't make notes in your books.

Notes - I have no real problem with the notes app, it's just I had forgotten how writing on a tablet is different than using a real pen and I'm not sure if it'll just take me a few days to get used to it or not. You're basically sliding a plastic nub across glass. It just feels very different than writing with a ballpoint pen on paper.

Web browsing is fast, (of course it's on wifi so it should be). No complaints. I love the HTC widgets they've included.

I probably got about 6~7 force closes yesterday but I was playing with it for hours and hadn't rebooted it since opening it and syncing up all my apps, etc. I finally had to reboot it after an issue with the Kobo reader (which fixed the issue.)

Overall, I'm amazed at the device and will keep it. As said, it's much better than my Galaxy Tab which is going up on Ebay. I prefer the 7" size to the 10" even though it makes web browsing a bit less comfortable. I wish there had been more accessories available at launch like a stand and cases.

 

[Jersey Tom]

I'll be very interested to hear more feedback regarding how well the pen works... precision, ease of writing, etc. Thanks, DD.

 

[falconeight]

I'll be very interested to hear more feedback regarding how well the pen works... precision, ease of writing, etc. Thanks, DD.

The pen makes the flyer. I used it last night in school to take notes and it was really nice.

 

[DroidDaddy]

The pen's extremely accurate in the notes app and is definitely getting easier to use with practice. There are five pen sizes/diameters. I tend to prefer the black ink pen with the smallest point size as it looks the most like real notes and seems the most like normal notes. I also like the next largest size for "pencil" writing if I want to take advantage of different strokes (depending on how hard you press, like a real pencil.)

I had some existing voice notes from Evernote on my phone which appear as attachments which can be played. You can then transcribe them on the same note. However, Audio recording (pressing the record button in a meeting from the tablet) doesn't seem to appear as something separate so I can't figure out how to delete the test recording I made with that note.

The notes page scrolls vertically so you can simply scroll up as you need more room. There's a light gray dashed line between pages but you can write across it.

I've found when erasing it's easier to quickly change the pen width size to the largest diameter. When taking notes quickly, you tend to make clicking noises as your pen taps on the glass. That might be a significant problem for me during meetings. If I consciously try I can minimize the noise, but that's another thing that will take some practice. The problem is probably due to the plastic nub (which is replaceable) fits loosely into the pen. Removing it, there's actually a .5" metal pin behind it that inserts up into the pen. I'm liking it more and more as I use it, but it is going to take some practice/getting used to I think.

 

[JSchu22]

I bet an anti-glare screen protector (if and when available) will help writing with the pen feel a bit more natural.

 

[Stocklone]

Well. I love typing in portrait mode. It's a fantastic experience. I love the pen. It is going to be insanely useful at work. And the tablet is small enough that it fits in hoodie pocket so it is portable. A lot of games are a lot easier to play since your thumb/finger doesn't take up as much space. Sense UI is absolutely beautiful. They also did a fantastic job making their software take advantage of landscape mode. It's a shame other software still behaves like a giant phone. I think honeycomb will help with that.

I love the screen. It's so bright.

It does not have the feeling of pen and paper but I'm sure I'll get used to it. Also the stylus has a capacitive end on the head of the stylus so you don't have to switch back to your finger. Nice touch by HTC. You have to write a bit bigger than I would like but it's still very useable. I'm very interested it buying my wife the 10" version for school. That's going to be very handy since she can mark up documents with it and sync her notes with the calendar.

I did have a few issues but a reset seems to fix stuff. Also the camera is laughable because it is so bad. Maybe that is why there is no flash. LED flash would make you think you can take decent pictures with it. The Nexus One camera destroys it. Seriously. It's bad. I was also disappointed when some of my games did not scale up. So big black borders.

I'll be happy to answer any questions about it.

 

[Renegade360]

I picked one up today also. I asked the best buy people for a flyer, they said they were in the front, and handed me their paper advertisement. DUH

So anyways got the flyer and Pen. I've used it all day. First of all, I got this for work primarily. Secondary was for fun. I'm a real estate appraiser and we just got an app for field inspections. Integrated camera, desktop sync etc. This was the initial release of the software so they are still building the sketch program. I've been using a Droid X and had an HTC Eris prior to that. I Miss the HTC Sync for outlook contacts and calendar. I like the HTC interface better than motorola.

Pros
IT FITS IN MY SHORTS POCKET. (Awesome)
Camera is satisfactory for my work needs. (I use a real camera for real photos)
Pen Notes, for details about my inspections.
Pen for sketching building until sketch software release. (the note pad works pretty good, syncs to desktop easily and can then be printed to PDF for workfile.)
HTC Sync.
Let me say size and weight again.(Awesome)
Outdoor view is just as good as my Droid X. So it is acceptable. (Better than other tablets I've seen. Easily able to read and use in sunlight with the proper screen angle. Need to try a glare reducer for a better look.)
Runs fast enough for me. (Dual Core Schmool Core. I don't need it. Same with Honeycomb. Never had it, Don't know what I'm missing if anything. Don't need it.)
$200 Cheaper than a bigger, heavier, Windows 7 tab.
Wireless tether with Droid X works great out and about.

Cons
Propriatary Charging/sync connection. Corrected below, can use micro USB
No Pen Dock
Wifi needed for GPS to work.
No cases available yet except for some leather sleave thingy.


Bottom line.
It is great for my needs.
It's Not a laptop replacement, but I've been using a Motion slate for the past several years and it never replaced my laptop. The Slate is great for extremely portable email, entertainment, websurfing, field notes Etc. I've got a great netbook for more intense usage. I don't think you can beat the 7" form factor for portability when a 4" phone is just too small. The 10" is no more portable than my netbook, so even that is covered. Right now I think this is the best 7" tablet going. Will have to see what happens with the 8.9" units start to show up to see if they take the cake for portability and performance.
Worth $600? It is to me. For a consumer user maybe not.

 

[JSchu22]

I picked one up today also. I asked the best buy people for a flyer, they said they were in the front, and handed me their paper advertisement. DUH

So anyways got the flyer and Pen. I've used it all day. First of all, I got this for work primarily. Secondary was for fun. I'm a real estate appraiser and we just got an app for field inspections. Integrated camera, desktop sync etc. This was the initial release of the software so they are still building the sketch program. I've been using a Droid X and had an HTC Eris prior to that. I Miss the HTC Sync for outlook contacts and calendar. I like the HTC interface better than motorola.

Pros
IT FITS IN MY SHORTS POCKET. Awesome
Camera is satisfactory for my work needs. (I use a real camera for real photos)
Pen Notes, for details about my inspections.
Pen for sketching building until sketch software release.
HTC Sync.
Let me say size and weight again.
Outdoor view is just as good as my Droid X. So it is acceptable. Better than other tablets I've seen. Easily able to read and use in sunlight with the proper screen angle.
Runs fast enough for me. Dual Core Schmool Core. I don't need it. Same with Honeycomb. Never had it, Don't know what I'm missing if anything. Don't need it.
$200 Cheaper than a bigger, heavier, Windows 7 tab.

Cons
Propriatary Charging/sync connection.
No Pen Dock
Wifi needed for GPS to work.


Bottom line.
It is great for my needs.
It's Not a laptop replacement, but I've been using a Motion slate for the past several years and it never replaced my laptop. The Slate is great for extremely portable email, entertainment, websurfing, field notes Etc. I've got a great netbook for more intense usage. I don't think you can beat the 7" form factor for portability when a 4" phone is just too small. The 10" is no more portable than my netbook, so even that is covered. Right now I think this is the best 7" tablet going. Will have to see what happens with the 8.9" units start to show up to see if they take the cake for portability and performance.
Worth $600? It is to me. For a consumer user maybe not.

Very good points here. Charging can be done with any micro usb cable though, so it isn't proprietary. HTC has often used plugs that look slightly different but function just a generic one.

 

[zmcgee8]

I've been trying to figure out which tablet to get for a few weeks now. iPad, xoom, flyer, acer iconia are the ones I'm looking at. I got the flyer just to.see what its like. I love the size. It is easy to type on and super portable. The screen is big enough for comfortable browsing and video playback but not too big to be annoying. I like the Adobe.flash support however overall web browsing isn't too great and I've used quite a few browsers. Some browsers won't have the ESPN flash videos play, the stock browser won't let me visit the full Facebook site, only mobile or touch. No full site link on the bottom. For some reason I thought it had hdmi hook up but think I was wrong on that so that is disapointing. What app am I supposed to use for video chat??? They all seem to need a phone number and Google talk doesn't have video capabilities for it yet. Unless I'm doing something wrong. The pen has cool features but I'm not going to use it much. Great for people that need it for work though. Especially if signatures are needed on documents or work orders. I'm an apple guru but trying to stay away from ipad because of the lack of flash. The flyer is a pretty cool tablet but don't think its perfect for me. I think I'm going to return it and get the xoom or acer. Or perhaps wait for something else. Id lke to have the dual core processor. The flyer is snappy but would get sluggish when I would try to download and update apps while litening to music while downloading songs....maybe dual core can keep up better. Overall tho I give it a 7/10. Needs to be more fluid. Some apps show up small as if its an aria screen I'm working with. Engadget app...don't bother. Just visit the site.

 

[Jersey Tom]

Good info. Particularly like the "business end" review, Renegade. Thank you!

 

[Renegade360]

Very good points here. Charging can be done with any micro usb cable though, so it isn't proprietary. HTC has often used plugs that look slightly different but function just a generic one.

good to know, I'll have to give that a shot, I was thinking charging was going to be a pain in the A**.

 

[Dolmangar]

Anyone know if the Flyer is going (or does) support USB On the Go (OTG)? Hopefully when it gets the Honeycomb upgrade it will with the OS, but what about the hardware?

Went to a Best Buy Mobile store this weekend, which had an eight foot banner in the window for the Flyer and asked someone inside and they had no idea what I was talking about. I mean in a normal BB store I could forgive the guy, but in a the BB Mobile store that only carries a handful of items, all phone and portable computer related I felt like maybe he was in the wrong line of work.

They didn't have one displayed at the Android tablet table, so perhaps they didn't have any to display, but you'd think they would prep the sales people considering they've got a picture of the Flyer on their wall that's the size of a car.

So off to the one in Tyson's today at lunch to see if I can get my hands on one to try out.

 

[LadyX]

Anyone know if the Flyer is going (or does) support USB On the Go (OTG)? Hopefully when it gets the Honeycomb upgrade it will with the OS, but what about the hardware?

Went to a Best Buy Mobile store this weekend, which had an eight foot banner in the window for the Flyer and asked someone inside and they had no idea what I was talking about. I mean in a normal BB store I could forgive the guy, but in a the BB Mobile store that only carries a handful of items, all phone and portable computer related I felt like maybe he was in the wrong line of work.

They didn't have one displayed at the Android tablet table, so perhaps they didn't have any to display, but you'd think they would prep the sales people considering they've got a picture of the Flyer on their wall that's the size of a car.

So off to the one in Tyson's today at lunch to see if I can get my hands on one to try out.

I called up Best Buy the day it came out to see if my local one had any in stock. The girl that answered the phone had no idea what I was talking about. The reps in the mobile area were pretty educated though and seemed to know a decent amount about each of the tablets. But I agree, atleast prep your staff about these things.

 

[Dolmangar]

I called up Best Buy the day it came out to see if my local one had any in stock. The girl that answered the phone had no idea what I was talking about. The reps in the mobile area were pretty educated though and seemed to know a decent amount about each of the tablets. But I agree, atleast prep your staff about these things.

Just checked one out in Tysons Va BB. They don't have their display up yet. I asked at the Mobile counter and they were happy to open one up for me and let me try it out. I don't see how they are going to sell any (they seemed to have at least six or so in the cabinet) if they don't put up a display. I assume that it will be out with the Playbook and the Tab. At least there's no trouble getting on like the Transformer.

Anyway, really liked it. The screen is nice an clear. I haven't used Sense before so I had to hunt a little bit to get used to the UI but that's simple. The one thing I did notice was that the screen, although glossy, was almost sticky when you would scroll. Part of it might have been that it was right out of the box and needs to be wiped down, but I also might be to give some traction to the pen (which I didn't get to try). Birthday is in two weeks and I'm pretty much sold on that being my gift. In days gone by I would have just walked out of the store with one, but with two little girls I TRY to curb my casual tech spending (at least a little)

Can anyone comment on the screen? Is it really as sticky/tacky as the one right out of the box?

 

[JSchu22]

Just checked one out in Tysons Va BB. They don't have their display up yet. I asked at the Mobile counter and they were happy to open one up for me and let me try it out. I don't see how they are going to sell any (they seemed to have at least six or so in the cabinet) if they don't put up a display. I assume that it will be out with the Playbook and the Tab. At least there's no trouble getting on like the Transformer.

Anyway, really liked it. The screen is nice an clear. I haven't used Sense before so I had to hunt a little bit to get used to the UI but that's simple. The one thing I did notice was that the screen, although glossy, was almost sticky when you would scroll. Part of it might have been that it was right out of the box and needs to be wiped down, but I also might be to give some traction to the pen (which I didn't get to try). Birthday is in two weeks and I'm pretty much sold on that being my gift. In days gone by I would have just walked out of the store with one, but with two little girls I TRY to curb my casual tech spending (at least a little)

Can anyone comment on the screen? Is it really as sticky/tacky as the one right out of the box?

Did you see them open the box and take the protective screen film off? If so, that sometimes leaves behind a sort of tackiness that is easily wiped off. If the film was already removed, perhaps they installed the Zagg Invisicrapshield. Either way I can say with confidence that the screen is as smooth as any glass screen out there.

 

[Dolmangar]

Did you see them open the box and take the protective screen film off? If so, that sometimes leaves behind a sort of tackiness that is easily wiped off. If the film was already removed, perhaps they installed the Zagg Invisicrapshield. Either way I can say with confidence that the screen is as smooth as any glass screen out there.

I'm pretty sure it was just residue from the packaging, I don't believe that it had a screen protector on it. Of course maybe I just need to wash my hands...

Thanks for the confirmation.

 

[LadyX]

Just checked one out in Tysons Va BB. They don't have their display up yet. I asked at the Mobile counter and they were happy to open one up for me and let me try it out. I don't see how they are going to sell any (they seemed to have at least six or so in the cabinet) if they don't put up a display. I assume that it will be out with the Playbook and the Tab. At least there's no trouble getting on like the Transformer.

Anyway, really liked it. The screen is nice an clear. I haven't used Sense before so I had to hunt a little bit to get used to the UI but that's simple. The one thing I did notice was that the screen, although glossy, was almost sticky when you would scroll. Part of it might have been that it was right out of the box and needs to be wiped down, but I also might be to give some traction to the pen (which I didn't get to try). Birthday is in two weeks and I'm pretty much sold on that being my gift. In days gone by I would have just walked out of the store with one, but with two little girls I TRY to curb my casual tech spending (at least a little)

Can anyone comment on the screen? Is it really as sticky/tacky as the one right out of the box?

Mine was a little sticky when I took off the covering but it's been fine since. As for a birthday gift for yourself I would say this is a great one. Besides it being fun, it is actually extremely functional and I am using it more and more for productive purposes everyday.

 

[SciJohnDroid]

1. To DroidDaddy:

"Of course the Kindle app is not pen enabled so you can't make notes in your books."
Although it is true that you cannot highlight text with your pen, you can highlight text with your finger and type a note in the Kindle app.
​

2. Maybe you all know this already but the screen responds to the back of the stylus like it was your finger. I don't find myself using it that way but I thought it was interesting.

3. I have been getting great battery life out of it. Yesterday I was using it constantly on WiFi from 6AM to 9PM and it still had 3/4 charge left. It must have some very good battery saving intelligence in it.