WC 1M Post Challenge - You Ready?!

[Laura Knotek]

I miss snow and some cold weather.. ain't gonna see any over here in the tropics unless I head to the highland regions. It may drop into the teens (Celsius) at night...
I did spent several years in Ottawa, ONT... jeez, they do have freezing winters over there..

We finally got our first real snow of winter. I miss snow and cold too. We used to have real winters before climate change. Having real winters made me enjoy spring more.

 

[N_LaRUE]

I have to say, being a person who grew up with snow, dealt with snow for many years. Used public transport in snow. Cleaned the car. Shoveled the driveway. Had a couple of 'incidents" while driving in snow.

I have to say I'm well over it.

Not saying it isn't pretty when it first falls or anything just rather not live with it.

I'm not overly fond of cold either but that's easy to deal with.

I'm happy to visit snow and happy to leave it...

 

[N_LaRUE]

People in France and the UK typically don't have all season tires. Just summer. So if it snows...

Usually only countries that have snow or regions that have snow use snow tires here or all seasons.

Going by how warm it's been lately here I doubt we'll have snow here but I guess it's always possible.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

Wow. How does someone criticize every fault about their partner but is unwilling to hear faults about themselves? Currently watching Family or Fiance. It's very interesting.

I feel like I talked about it here before. The synopsis is that there's an engaged couple who stays in a home for 3 days with their families seeking their blessings to get married. They air their issues/concerns with the couple getting married. Each day, the couple meets with a therapist to discuss things and the individuals meet with the other family to do an activity to get to know them better. After that, they ask each family member for their blessing. Blessing or not, the couple chooses to proceed or not proceed with getting married.

Because owning your own isn't easy. Because not everyone feels it is necessary to put in that work.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

So far, I'm enjoying the BlackBerry keyboard again. Swfitkey is still solid, and I do move faster on that, but this feels more useful to me. My only critique is that it does feel a bit cramped. Otherwise, it does the job just fine.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

It's been a quiet holiday weekend so far. Totally fine with that. Sometimes quiet is what is needed as one plots and schemes on how to move forward.

I'm in the process of picking up that intermezzo and something to use as a business handset. I'm looking forward to thumbing through both. Not sure which I will use for what, but it will be an interesting decision.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

I still have a preference for smaller handsets, even though I have huge mitts and often prefer typing two handed. Sometimes speed is overrated with typing on glass - nothing for me still beats using a physical keyboard.

And yes, I still think that the closest glass keyboard I've typed on was the piezoelectric setup on the BlackBerry 9550. That was so fun, it's not even funny. They did a good job of digitally reconstructing the physical keyboard. I remember how I used to fly on that thing, picking away like a hungry woodpecker on the side of a tree.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

I still have a preference for smaller handsets, even though I have huge mitts and often prefer typing two handed. Sometimes speed is overrated with typing on glass - nothing for me still beats using a physical keyboard.

And yes, I still think that the closest glass keyboard I've typed on was the piezoelectric setup on the BlackBerry 9550. That was so fun, it's not even funny. They did a good job of digitally reconstructing the physical keyboard. I remember how I used to fly on that thing, picking away like a hungry woodpecker on the side of a tree.

It's always the same idea...humans claim they want freedom of choice, but it shakes out that an oligopoly is what the secret preference is. The mobile industry is a great example of it these days.

While I appreciate the extra effort into providing top camera performance, that and the handful of features that are being pushed as differential features across budget, mid range and premium levels really doesn't make as much sense now as it did even a few years ago.

I really wish someone would emerge on the Android side who would do hardware on an 18 month cycle with software support on a 36 month cycle. But, even on the software front Android is starting to (me) feel like it's in a holding pattern until Fuchsia becomes more viable. I thought Essential hand a good chance of doing so, but it looks like Andy has brought them more baggage than clout. Lots of stuff in the world that we enjoy can no longer be as easy separate from the human cost of its production.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

Well, the weather has slightly improved. Itbis the semi old school cold. I remember times twenty years ago we would be worried about avoiding stretch of being in the teens and single digits. I doubt it will ever be that cold here again.

Climate change, eh? More like being suckers for punishment as we keep screwing ourselves.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

So uncle tio is going on trial and built the made for tv defense team. Are my tax dollars paying for this? Of course, but they won't show what the tab is. What an expensive mistake he has been to most of us (and a blessing to the old farts who will be dead long before the rest of us have to cash the checks that their greed wrote).

 

[libra89]

Because owning your own isn't easy. Because not everyone feels it is necessary to put in that work.

That's so true, but I believe that there will be a time when one is forced to face it.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

I'm going to likely have to the an L on the V40 if I decide to move it. Maybe I just retire it fully instead of selling.

Haven't done a true long-term review, eh? Now's a good time to share some thoughts in transit.

Design - I'm an old fart these days, so I like it. It's got a functional feel overall. The notch has always been irrelevant to me, as Essential still did it the best the first. Not a fan of the off-centered speaker, but it's not that bad. Wished it was dual stereo speakers (V50 is). I'm used to the lighter weight from LG - doesn't make it less "premium" , in fact it makes the engineering more impressive. The rear FPS is a plus, and with the old school knock code, works just fine for me. It's narrow enough and wide enough were dual handed use doesn't have my mitts stepping on each other as I type.

Screen - quite nice. I appreciate whenever I use other screens. I thought LG did a nice job going from the Pixel 2XL and V30 screens to the V35 and V40 models. The G7 screen was super good too - I do have the same complaint as the tech reviewers as I feel the screens arent as energy efficient in their tuning as they should be. It's why while I like the G8's panel, it feels more of the same to me. I run it on 1080P and it does the job for me. It's a flat screen, which is a boon for me as a daily driver.

Audio - the DAC is still the DAC, nice and tasty forward listening. My gripe will be that I wish the Bluetooth game was just strong, it's just OK. The acoustic loudspeaker setup is solid.

Camera - so, it's solid. I enjoy shooting in manual. I'm liking the auto mode a bit more, but there's still work to be done here. Especially poorer low lighting. The trip camera setup is nice, but I wish there was access to all three cameras in manual mode (telephoto is missing). The camera app is busy as hell, but once you know where what you want is located, it's solid.

Battery - got mixed feelings here. My unit isn't new, so I don't expect Mate 20 Pro run time here. Still, a bigger battery and better software optimizations are welcomed. Plus, LG's radios are...OK. They're not bad, but it doesn't feel like much moment is happening here. Standby is solid enough, but once you start to push it, it drains power faster than a gold digger with a black AMeX in a closing high end store.

Software - I still like MIUI over the LG skin. Feels like HTC Sense - quick but dated as hell. I see the LG G8X UX and go "that's kinda a start" but more needs to be done here. Usually, it's unobtrusive, but I'm never the type to use the stock launcher or keyboard.

My beef here is security patches. I wish they just went with a quarterly release schedule for all their handsets. I never expect LG to move fast with larger OS drops, but they really need to be better at security patch management.

Misc - I do get random reports with this thing. It happens often enough for me to mention it. Nona fan of that.

Overall, it's a good device. The G7 has been a good device (outside of the battery management), the V35 is a good device and the V40 is a good device. I think the V50 refines some of the smaller gripes I have with both the V35 and V40 models. Having used all three, I still like the V35 the most.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

That's so true, but I believe that there will be a time when one is forced to face it.

There are always moments when the happens. It is what the individual does in that moment that's most important. Some do, and never have to deal with that issue again and grow from it. Some don't, and get stuck in the same loop of being presented the same lesson in different scenarios.

 

[fatclue_98]

That's hilarious. Here in NYC, you couldn't use that as a late excuse for work as the supervisor would point to a half snow covered jacket in a corner...

Funny how this got mentioned. Check the date on the headline.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

Funny how this got mentioned. Check the date on the headline.

Yup.

Doubt you'll ever see that again.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

Well, the Chiefs are in the Superbowl. I'd like to see them play the 49ers, but wouldn't be surprised if the Packers got there.

I really have no skin in the game, really. Both the Giants and the Jags are a long way off from Superbowl contention.

 

[fatclue_98]

Well, the Chiefs are in the Superbowl. I'd like to see them play the 49ers, but wouldn't be surprised if the Packers got there.

I really have no skin in the game, really. Both the Giants and the Jags are a long way off from Superbowl contention.

I would've liked to have seen Tennessee get in solely for the chance to see Ryan Tannehill stick it to the Dolphins. Tom Brady in his prime would look like the 6th round draft pick he is if he had Miami's O-line. Go Niners then!

 

[MSFTisMIA]

I would've liked to have seen Tennessee get in solely for the chance to see Ryan Tannehill stick it to the Dolphins. Tom Brady in his prime would look like the 6th round draft pick he is if he had Miami's O-line. Go Niners then!

Pat Mahomes is a beast and a half. If they stay healthy, I'm hopeful to see Lamar Jackson vs Pat Mahomes as a rivalry for the next few years.

At least it ain't Belicheat again this year...

 

[MSFTisMIA]

Mr. Cue, my dad is a massive Dolphins and Miami Heats fan. He'll watch the Marlins, but we know right now only 10 people watch the Marlins right now (most are in that club in the stadium).

 

[Laura Knotek]

Mr. Cue, my dad is a massive Dolphins and Miami Heats fan. He'll watch the Marlins, but we know right now only 10 people watch the Marlins right now (most are in that club in the stadium).

I just don't get it with the Marlins. How is it that they need to have fire sales when they win the World Series as often as they have? Are their owners just the cheapest guys in the league?

I'd love to see the Dolphins become good again. They were a powerhouse when I was a kid.

How are the Heat doing this year? I haven't kept up with the NBA lately.