First real G1 hands-on review?

[Buck]

I just found this review from a UK cellphone website. It seems they couldn't make the press event so they were given a G1 to play with and review - it's not known how long they had with the device.

Their in-depth review was slightly mixed however:

Surprisingly it does fail at some of the same hurdles as the Apple iPhone. It seems Google can't crack cut and paste on a touchscreen device either, as there isn't any here.

Elsewhere the camera doesn't support video recording, there isn't a camera flash, dedicated headphone socket, or Flash video playback.

In conclusion...

So is this a mainstream consumer device? It wants to be, but my feeling from my time with the handset is that this is going to be for the geek community for the time being. They will use it with pride, boast to their friends that they've got one and enjoy the unlimited data package, but won't be buying one for their uneducated partner.

As for the rest of us, the time for Android isn't just yet. It will be in 2009 as more handsets are released, but as a consumer device, from a handset point of view, Apple doesn't have too much to worry about from the G1. As for the platform, that's a different matter.

full review

I know many Android fans and early adoptors will have already got their pre-orders nicely processed, but even though i was originally planning on doing the same i might just wait until some real reviews start flooding in...

Anyone else thinking the same?

[nolatron]

I got my order in because the only "review" that I trust is my own.

For example for the above review quoted:

it does have copy/paste. It works just like my sidekick. Unless from what I've read elsewhere is completely wrong.

Video recording isn't a biggie to me. My sidekick has it, it sucks, I never use it. I have a HD camera if I want to record something.

My sidekick doesn't haven't flash anymore though I don't think you need one anyway. If you wanna flash, use a real camera with a real flash. Otherwise, my flashless sidekick works great without on.

I never use headphones on my current sidekick, and don't me using them much on the G1. If I really wanted to use 'em on my G1, I'll but the 1" dongle for $3 online. Whoopee do.

Flash Video Playback? Referring to youtube prehaps? Like the iphone it it has youtube app, and probably has some embedding capability in the browser to play embed videos in the youtube player.

What he points out as downfalls for the device, I don't really care about. So that's why I'm still buying it and trying it for myself.

I personally don't think anyone should ever base a purchase decision based on what someone else thinks is good/useful or not. But that's just me.