New old guy with Motorola Cliq questions

[RayTheRat]

Hi. I'm an new old guy who's looking at jumping on the Android wagon.

I'm a freelance photographer. I mainly shoot automotive events. I also have a Samsung flip phone that I hate and since I cover every meet on the Bonneville salt flats, I have a cell modem for my laptop. It bites. Rebooting every coupla hours isn't my idea of fun.

So. I'm tryin to think outside the box. I want a better phone. I don't need a camera (but that seems to be ubiquitous with just about every phone on the market) but I'd like something that I can use for several other things besides making phone calls.

I'd like to be able to show my photos/slide shows/screen savers, etc. I'd also like to be able to tether the phone to my laptop and get rid of that gawdawful cell modem.

I didn't want an Apple product nor a Samsung product...just cuz. So I went to a T-mobile store (that's where my service is) and I ran across the Cliq. Not the XT, but the unit with the qwerty keyboard.

Here are some questions.

Is the Cliq as good as the reviews say it is?

Can I use it as a tether/modem for the laptop?

Can I show samples of my photos and slide shows, etc?

I know that phone isn't currently running the latest OS release, but would it be possible to upgrade it?

Can I increase memory size by adding a larger sdram chip?

Any drawbacks to this phone/pim/whatever?

Are there other alternatives to this unit that might work better for my stated needs?

I'll leave it there and offer some thanks in advance as I go back to work to get a website updated before tomorrow.

 

[dabbill]

How to Tether Your Android Phone - Android - Lifehacker


I used the PDA Net with my t-mobile MyTouch3g, seems to work good. I found the older free version of PDA Net and it worked just fine.

 

[RayTheRat]

Thank you. The PDA Net thing looks pretty good. $30 isn't that pricey to avoid a buncha hassles that I could spend doing other stuff...like shooting photos of race cars and hot rods...or even workin on my own.

 

[grainysand]

Can I show samples of my photos and slide shows, etc?

Sure. The screen's rather small, but load the photos etc up onto your SD card and you can access them from your gallery. Not sure about slide-shows; what format are they in?

I know that phone isn't currently running the latest OS release, but would it be possible to upgrade it?

All currently Android phones are supposedly going to get upgraded to Android 2.1 by Q2 of 2010. So... any time from now to June.

Can I increase memory size by adding a larger sdram chip?

Nope. Shouldn't be an issue, anyway; the phone probably has enough memory not to lag.

Are there other alternatives to this unit that might work better for my stated needs?

Well, yeah. I'll give you the same advice I give most people: go with the latest and greatest. Currently that's either the Nexus One or the Motorola Droid: both of which offer much nicer screens (bigger; the N1 sports a more vibrant one, though offers poorer visibility in direct sunlight), superior hardware, and the latest version of the OS.