[QtMoko] handset is (almost) unusable for voice calls with background noise
Brolin Empey
brolin at brolin.be
Tue Jun 15 09:41:23 CEST 2010
Hello World,
Almost 1 year has passed since I first posted to this list to ask “Is a
FreeRunner sufficient for me?” on 2009-06-17. I have definitely had an
interesting experience with my FR and have learned a lot, but it has
also been a very frustrating experience. I have been living alone in my
own apartment since 2010-01. I have a phone line at home but it is used
for ADSL only, not for voice calls. Consequently, my FR is my daily
phone, but using it as a handset is still very frustrating, even after
using it since 2009-08. One of the largest problems I still have is
call volumes when there is background noise. I usually use my FR as a
handset only, not with speakerphone nor a headset. My FR is (almost)
unusable as a handset for voice calls with background noise when I am in
public places, such as a street or shopping mall. I either have to find
a very quiet place, such as inside my car with the doors and windows
closed, or move my SIM card to my old and lame Nokia 6103b, which is
still my backup phone. I am not a newbie: I have over 8 months of
experience using my FR with multiple distros. I have used QtMoko since
2009-09 or 2009-10. I am currently still using QtMoko v19 with the
QtMoko v19 debug kernel because I have not been motivated to upgrade to
v22 and v24. I have already experimented with changing values in
gsmhandset.state and have a config which is usually usable for handset
voice calls in quiet places, such as inside my car, home, and workplace.
My FR is still sensitive to how I hold it, though, which is annoying
because sometimes I cannot hear people well or they cannot hear me
because I slightly moved my FR without noticing.
How many other people are in my situation? Is there a practical
solution? I do not think having to remember to enable a louder
gsmhandset.state before using voice calls with background noise, then
enabling the quieter gsmhandset.state when I am in a quiet place again
is a practical solution because it is not necessary with my Nokia 6103b.
Why do I have so many problems with call volumes on my FR but not on
my Nokia 6103b? Is it because the FR lacks Automatic Gain Control (AGC)?
Anyway, I finally ordered a Nokia N900 from NewEgg.ca on Sunday. I
expect the N900 to be more usable as a handset than my FR. Nokia
released the N900 without USB Host support to meet deadlines because
they could not have it certified for USB Host without fully working USB
Host at the time of certification, but on Sunday I learned it is still
possible for the N900 to use USB Host: there is a community project to
make USB Host usage easy for end users. To be practical, I probably do
not need USB Host on my N900 because it has a hardware keyboard and the
Wireless LAN probably works easily, unlike my poor and frustrating
experience trying to use Wireless LANs with QtMoko. However, lack of
USB Host was one of the reasons I did not order an N900 months ago
because the FR has USB Host. After I receive my N900, I will follow up
to let this list know if my N900 experience is better than my FR experience.
Finally, I do not want to start a thread of complaining about how crappy
the FR is: my first post to this list already started one of those
threads! ;) I appreciate all the effort and accomplishments of the
Openmoko community, but I also think the N900 may be a more practical
solution, at least for me, than continuing trying to make my FR as
usable as a handset as my Nokia 6103b, which is a very closed device.
Brolin
--
Sometimes I forget how to do small talk: <http://xkcd.com/222/>
“If you have to ask why, you’re not a member of the intended audience.”
— Bob Zimbinski, <http://webpages.mr.net/bobz/ttyquake/>
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