cliveb
2007-10-02, 10:13
Here's the second part of my Jive feedback, this time addressing the hardware:
I think the device is rather nice. The handset has a good weight and size, and fits well in the hand. The finish is fairly classy. The charging station is nice and solid, and I like the way that the handset slips in easily without needing to be pushed in and pulled out.
I've noticed that the handset gets quite warm (especially behind the screen) during charging, but I presume this is normal and not an issue.
I understand the battery cover has given some people a problem - there were no problems with the battery cover on my sample. I like the way it clicks into place very firmly. Of course during beta testing it may be necessary to pull the battery now & then, but in production use one wouldn't need to do this. So a nice firm cover is what's required.
The screen is good - very crisp and legible.
The scroll wheel doesn't feel quite right. It is a little difficult to scroll accurately. It's possible that because I have turned off the "click" sound effect for scrolling that this makes the use of the scroll wheel more difficult. The portable MP3 player I use is a Rio Karma, which has a small thumb wheel for scrolling. That has a mechanical indent which gives very good feedback and makes accurate scrolling easy. Perhaps such a mechanical feedback could be considered for the Jive?
The buttons themselves seem to be mid-way between a very nice positive "click" action (eg. like an old Hewlett Packard or Texas Instruments calculator) and a nice free action (like on a Squeezebox remote). I'm not yet sure whether falling into this middle-ground is OK. When I first started using it, it just felt wrong, but I've got used to it now.
I think the device is rather nice. The handset has a good weight and size, and fits well in the hand. The finish is fairly classy. The charging station is nice and solid, and I like the way that the handset slips in easily without needing to be pushed in and pulled out.
I've noticed that the handset gets quite warm (especially behind the screen) during charging, but I presume this is normal and not an issue.
I understand the battery cover has given some people a problem - there were no problems with the battery cover on my sample. I like the way it clicks into place very firmly. Of course during beta testing it may be necessary to pull the battery now & then, but in production use one wouldn't need to do this. So a nice firm cover is what's required.
The screen is good - very crisp and legible.
The scroll wheel doesn't feel quite right. It is a little difficult to scroll accurately. It's possible that because I have turned off the "click" sound effect for scrolling that this makes the use of the scroll wheel more difficult. The portable MP3 player I use is a Rio Karma, which has a small thumb wheel for scrolling. That has a mechanical indent which gives very good feedback and makes accurate scrolling easy. Perhaps such a mechanical feedback could be considered for the Jive?
The buttons themselves seem to be mid-way between a very nice positive "click" action (eg. like an old Hewlett Packard or Texas Instruments calculator) and a nice free action (like on a Squeezebox remote). I'm not yet sure whether falling into this middle-ground is OK. When I first started using it, it just felt wrong, but I've got used to it now.