Looking to pick up a FreeRunner

[Brolin Empey]

Warren Baird wrote:
> Hey Woody,
>
> Just a word of warning - the FR is a very fun device to play with -
> but if you expect it to be a fully functioning phone, you will
> probably be disappointed.   I tried to use it as my cell phone for a
> long time, and found it *very* frustating - regularly missed calls and
> had to reboot it because it had hung.

Which distro were you using?  I recommend QtMoko because it is the best 
and only usable distro I have found.  Make sure you use QtMoko v19 or 
higher, though, because earlier versions miss some incoming SMS 
messages, including notifications of new voice mail, until QtEI is 
restarted.  I do not recommend QtMoko v18, even though it is newer than 
v19, because v18’s 2.6.32 kernel lacks support for both RNDIS and USB 
mode changing.

>
> I've been using an N900 for a couple of months now, and am very happy
> with it - isn't quite as open as the FR, but it is open *enough* for
> me, and it *works*...    Of course if laying out $200 for an FR is a
> problem, then the N900 is probably out of reach...

The N900 lacks USB Host support at the hardware level.  I guess this 
does not matter to you, but I might miss it because I have used USB Host 
multiple times on my FR.

Anyway, I had a disappointing and frustrating experience with my FR too 
until I discovered QtMoko because all of the distros I tried before 
QtMoko (Om 2008.x, Om 2009, SHR (misnomer++;)) were unusable.

swoody:  If you get an FR, please try QtMoko first.  That way, if you 
decide to try other distros later, you can at least compare them to 
something usable (QtMoko).