Viliv X70 pre-delivery thoughts

After reading and watching a few online reviews, waiting a few weeks due to manufacturer delays and paying an additional $84 for overnight shipping, Dynamism finally shipped my Viliv X70 so that it could arrive at my door right before my trip to Florida.

Since I will be able to use it while driving for a few hours, this review will cover the car mount and car power adapter as well.

Specs on the unit I ordered:
Intel Atom 1.3GHz (Z520)
32GB Solid State HD
7" WSVGA (1024 x 600) with Touch Screen
DDR2 1.0GB
WLAN 802.11b/g
Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
GPS Sirf Star3
Windows XP Home
Audio, USB, USB Link (Built in Data Transfer function), Built in MIC and 1.3M Web CAM. SDHC Memory Slot
210(W) x 117(H) x 22.5(T) mm
8.2 x 4.6 x 0.8 inches
660g with battery
1.45 pounds

Why I bought it to replace my OQO Model 02:

I currently have an OQO, that while I truly enjoy looking at in its sleek DVD dock, I have a hard time making it a good backup portable device. It's too slow running the stuff I need, the screen size and resolution is too small, and there is no touch capability without the digitizer pen, which I don't like due to inaccurate response. Also the fan is too loud for use in meetings and the thing heats up pretty quickly in a hot car.

What I expect it will do for me:

• GPS navigation in my car via the Garmin Mobile software I purchased.
• Web browser before bed to read news and blogs
  
• Work and personal messaging
  
• Connect to work via VPN to do emergency support when needed
• Read eBooks (tentative, as I read on my Kindle mostly)

What I like about the Viliv X70:

• Fan-less design (huge for meetings and quiet places)
• 32GB Solid State (only way to go my friends - no need for a ThinkPad accelerometer to keep the disk from hurting itself during active use) (I do wish it were 64GB however)
  
• Touch screen for web browsing and clicking on the "okay" button with my fingers
  
• GPS for use as a decent navigator in the car
• 1.33 Ghz processor (hoping it will be as fast as the reviews show)
• Cheap (my OQO cost me over $2500, this one is $850 with overnight shipping)

What I didn't like about the Viliv X70: (or hoping for on the next version)

• Netbook restrictions - please break free from Microsoft and sell it with 4GB and Win7
• 64 or 80GB option please, the 128GB $1400 model seems nice, but with 1GB seems 2007
• Dedicated video (really speeds things up)
• Windows 7 in the box with a quick book Ubuntu option for web browsing
• 12 hour battery attachment
• Better case and more accessories (OQO is amazing on this front)
  

Thoughts on Dynamism.com

• Seems like a small outfit with a niche market
• The guys are nice and very easy to work with
• Sells gadgets you can't get anywhere else in America (so it seems)
• Website checkout seems a little behind, not seemless like Amazon
• Only ships FedEx, not good for small accessory purchases

Everything below here is after actually owning and taking possession of the device:
**Coming Soon**

Blackberry Tour 9630 (Verizon)

Rant on Verizon shipping policy:
I pre-ordered a Blackberry Tour 9630, waited patiently for it to arrive and got it on Tuesday July 14, 2009, two full days after I could have gotten it at the Verizon store had I just went there the day it was released. I think Verizon should have made the release date on Friday (or any business day) and shipped these overnight (as they did for me) the day before so everyone can enjoy it on the same day. Being penalized because I cared enough to pre-order seems a little unfair.

Initial impressions:
Seems plasticy, cheaply made and a little to light to be a serious phone. I currently use the BB Storm and it seems of a higher caliber oddly enough. Every iteration of Verizon Blackberries get worse for some reason. My 8830 was a rock, the 8330 seemed cheaper, the 9530 seemed even cheaper, the 9630 seemed outright abysmal. That aside, my trackball didn't work right out of the box. The up/down movement worked fine but the left/right movement was missing a beat. I would roll the ball over and the icon highlighter wouldn't move, then all of a sudden it would move over four icons, completely missing what I was trying to click on. Upping the sensitivity only made it worse since now it ignored my short rolls, but jumped even further on the full rolls.
After a week, I took it back to the Verizon store and the manager thought they needed to clean it but when I brought it to the support desk to have it cleaned (which I explain was the behavior from day one) they decided to replace the unit outright. I tested my bad phone against the store demo and mine was definately defective. So after getting the new phone, I took it home to activate it on my work BES and get it back to full operational status. This phone had a working trackball, but something else was wrong and even a bigger issue. The data connection on the phone would cut out after a few hours of use. When a Verizon phone is operating at the 3G network it shows "1XEV" on the screen. Working data but at 2G speeds shows "1X." No data shows "1xev." Each time this happened I called the Verizon support and they had me do something else that always made the phone work again, but then fail a few hours later. First time I had to reset the route hosting table, second call I had the service books resent related to data connection and reset the BIS email service (unsure why this is related) third time I fumbled with the connection settings by entering "##000000" on the phone and reentering the password. The support rep told me they had to open a ticket with the tower support team and it would take 24-48 hours, well 36 hours later I still have no response from Verizon, so I took the next logical step.
Finally after two days of inconsistent email service that's critical to my job, I gave up and returned the phone to Verizon store. Back with my Storm, the phone data works perfectly. I'm holding out hope for a better made Storm 2 coming up in November. Anyone else had similar experiences?