So far, my experience with the Hiptop has been pretty glowing. But it definitely has room for improvement. Hell, I'm on the first public release of hardware/software, so you have to expect some weird little bugs. Thankfully, I haven't had anything that stops service or breaks the thing, like some users at dangerinfo.com are reporting.
There's some sound trouble. Whenever you do anything that trips the speaker, it makes lots of little electronic non-sounds... pops and squeals and other electronic burbles. I've had some interesting connection disruptions, but you can lay those at the feet of spotty wireless service. And I worry about the flip screen. I feel like every time I flip it, I'm counting one flip off the thing's Count of Flips Per Lifetime, eventually leading towards that final flip that won't flip back.
It will be very interesting to see how Danger upgrades the software as we go. Like, adding some decent games to the abysmal Arcade (Maybe some multiplayer games? Even something as simple as Chess?) New apps for the Jump menu. Stronger revisions to the AIM, e-mail, and camera software. Java support for the browser. How about a file managing ability, so you could interact with your saved files in other ways... use the usb port to send them to your home computer. FTP them to your webserver. (Please, please, please.)
I wonder where the camera weakness truly lies. Is it a memory/software issue? If so than a better camera app could fix it, or beefier memory cards. Is it an issue with the camera plug-in? Then a new physical attachment could snap pics of higher resolution or pixel size. Either way, I hope it's on Danger's To Do list.
The biggest demon in the bushes is the upcoming 15MB/month bandwidth limit. Although the current contracts all specify "Unlimited Internet," some mean-spirited fine print declares that in one year, Unlimited becomes 15MB/month. The weird thing is, the Hiptop is always online, exchanging tiny packets with the T-Mobile servers. And they are really promoting AOL Instant Messenger use, which also is in a state of constant data exchange. So even if you don't web browse or send e-mail, you'll still be using up precious bandwidth. I've been trying to meter how many MB I average, just to see if I'll be in trouble.
Plus other companies are adding unlimited internet to their wireless PDA options, so it remains to be seen if T-Mobile will stay true to the planned course. I hope not. Right now, it's insanely affordable for the combined cell phone/unlimited internet service.
