@Skunkmonkey The suggested app bites ass on Android. Use the Tencent Jetjat app. It’s apparently written by the original manufacturer and works great, and without asking for unnecessary permissions.
More intuitive than Android or iFone, with better calendar, alarms & contacts list. I will use it until they shut down the last of the CDMA towers, then I will continue to use it as a standalone device offline.
For sheer usability the Palms were great. I could whip mine out, mash a button, and scribble a note or pull up an address and only THEN need to look at the screen.
@mbimeh I loved both the Palm version as well as the IBM version of the Pilot that I got a great deal on at the LA SAP SAPPHIRE conference (1998?) where they rented The Forum arena for attendees to see Rod Stewart perform. (I wasn’t a fan but will admit it was a good show) How’s that for nostalgia?
But wow, impressive you’re still milking every last penny of that thing!
@mbimeh My palm pixi plus’s glass shattered 3 months ago. I haven’t bought a new phone yet. I think I paid 39$ for it, so I’m experiencing a lot of sticker shock.
And the drone…my only hesitation is how it handles. I’ve bought a few and could never, ever get them to fly like those slickies make 'em fly in the videos.
@blaineg I originally had a Palm III, maybe around 1998, then slowly upgraded a few times, IIIx, IIIxe ?
All in all around 3 or 4 different models around the years. Was still using one of those older Palm devices when I got my phone version of the Palm. Still have Palm desktop installed on my PC to sync.
@wew I wish this forum thread/meh sale had some up a couple weeks ago. I just barely gave away a NIB Pixi and a factory refurb one still in the original boxes. Originally we got them as spares for my daughter’s Pixi but never needed them.
@mbimeh Thanks for the love, it makes my eyes leaky. I have a virgin palm pre 2 still in the box, and maybe I could even restore my palm pixi plus with a new screen(?), but I thought you couldn’t get these phones activated anymore.
Good times! HP touchpad fire sale, I won a touchpad from webOSnation back in the day. What a great forum, anyone remember the FrankenPre3? It was a very ‘hackable’ phone, and was great for experimenting.
ya, i have a pageplus account I’m paying on and no phone, sorta like my VMP membershi…I talk too much!
Is this even possible? Getting a Palm activated?
@wew When my phones were still with Verizon, just under a year ago, you could technically still activate them. They use the CDMA network which is still in operation, so it should be possible. HOWEVER, you probably have to get a customer service rep who has been there a long time and knows their stuff, to be able to do it. Might have to call a few times to get someone knowledgeable enough.
Generally you must have previously had a Palm phone of the same model active on your line of service at some point in the past. They can go back in the history of your account and look up the codes for activating it. I might have some of the general details wrong, but that’s the gist of what’s needed.
My wife had previously worked at Verizon customer service (for smartphones) and she knew how to do it, but she was also the resident expert at their call center on anything related to Palm products. When we had a Pre die on us once, after she had left, she actually had to talk the rep through how to activate the new one on our account with their computer system. It was funny to listen to, having the customer know more about their system than the employee.
@mbimeh thanks! Sounds do-able…And sorry, but grateful for hijacking this thread.
There’s one or two communities I go to daily, and think I’m a good member. But the meh people—and I’m not even here that often—have done more to help me out than any other community I’ve been in.
@mbimeh I don’t think I still have the Palm desktop installed anywhere, but I do still have a perfectly functional Palm TX, and a spare.
My own history with them was a PalmPilot Pro, Handspring Visor (loved the expansion slot, played with several things there, including a CF card adapter), and then the TX.
I’m sure the usability was due to Hawkins prototyping it by carrying around a block of wood!
@blaineg And to wander even further afield, does anyone here have any use for old Windows based PDAs? I’ve got several of the Compaq / HP iPAQs with sleeves and chargers andstands, and one Dell Axim (X51?).
@blaineg That’s a kind offer Blaine. I’d take you up on it, for my son at least if not for myself, but I’m in the middle of de-junking my house and my normally-laid-back wife might just kill me if I started adding old electronics back into my clutter. Regardless of how useful I might find them.
So I have one of these and they are awesome. The vertical stability control makes it really easy to fly. I bought another drone that was a little bigger that I could still fly around indoors and it was so damn hard to keep it level – constant throttle control. I use a ‘google cardboard’ plastic headset and it feels like I’m flying with really poor quality eyesight.
@ParadisePete The rotors are a potential cutting hazard. Though not capable of life threatening injuries, it certainly could cause an uncomfortable scratch or small cut. And possibly an eye injury.
@blaineg And it arrived yesterday, not long after we got home from the hospital again. (All is well, details in the “My Heroes” topic, if you’re interested.)
Great timing, I get to figure it out this morning, and have fun with it, with the nieces and nephews, this afternoon.
This is a good beginner drone at a very good discount price. It is small and light enough that you can crash it into things and the only damage you’ll really have is that a propeller will pop off and you have to put it back on. The propellers are not heavy enough to actually cut into anything but certainly could cause injury if you fly it into someone’s eye. You clamp your phone onto the remote controller which you hold in your hands. The Drone has a camera on it that transmits video to the phone. The 5 minute flight time is real.
Can it be used without a phone connected? A non-video displaying drone? I want to get this for my child, but he doesn’t have a smartphone… nor will he anytime soon. But the auto take off feature seems worthy enough for this product to get him started with drone flying.
I can’t understand the desire to remove physical buttons from a car’s cockpit. You go from being able to mindlessly change something without looking to having to take your eyes off the road until such time you’ve confirmed what you wanted to touch did indeed get touched. It’s just dangerous and gives no real advantage.
This is pointless for me to bring up now since everything will be autonomous in the next few days anyway. And I don’t think car manufacturers check the meh forums for market research… but at this point I’ve already typed it all so it’d be silly to just delete it… so I guess I’ll post it. Sorry I took up space on the server/used bandwidth unnecessarily…
@westownsend
Truth! I cannot STAND the “touch somewhere in this area of smooth surface and if you’re lucky it’ll do what you want” in the car and home. The number of times we’ve bumped the dishwasher and have it start. “Oh, but it has a lock button…” Yeah, that you have to hold for 5 seconds and it might lock it but not if you let go too quickly then you just have to do it again; and then AGAIN to turn it on. 5 seconds isn’t a lot but it and the annoyance adds up!
I don’t even like the push button on/off switch on my computers. I want a freaking toggle switch so I KNOW it’s on or off - not “um, I pushed it two or three times but I don’t know if it registered them all”. Grrrrr…
Can you tell this is a hot button item with me… (yeah, I said it! ;P )
@brettpeirce That’s a lot of work to avoid having buttons :| Unless they can make it cheaper before cars are fully autonomous anyway… But as soon as autonomous taxis are available, I’m selling both my cars and converting my garage into a nonfunctional batcave… so I’ll probably never experience it.
Side rant that no one will ever see - The Tesla screen is very usable, but a big part of that is I tend to use it only when autopilot is engaged. The only time I have to use it while driving is the garage door opener and I pretty much always mis-hit it :|
My biggest complaint about these (in general, not necessarily this specific model, but it seems this one is no different) is that you can play with them for 5 minutes and then have to charge them for 25-30 minutes.
Flight Time: Approx. 5 min.
Charge Time: Approx. 25-30 min.
@h8uat Agreed… But are you prepared to drop $600+ on one with longer flight time? My nephew is a professional photographer, so the investment was well worth it for him… But for us casual users looking for a distraction? Nah.
got one last time; play with it every day. record lots of useless videos, getting better at flying the little guy. I have a short attention span so 5 min of flying is good enough. nice gift for a kid under 12.
@rkpSLJo85CR0oIl I’ve gone to Tophatter and won larger drones for $20 + $5 shipping. For the price point, I could care less if I crash it… It’s just… fun.
i got this the last time around. main issue is that when it takes off, it immediately veers hard to the right. so fast that i don’t have time to correct it. i’m not sure if the rotor pitch is just way the fuck off or what. i can’t seem to figure out how to calibrate it to not do that either. i’ve tried adjusting the trim settings in the app to no avail.
so basically, i’m lazy and am looking to you, the meh community, for answers.
@carl669 recalibrate the speed sensors. Once it connects with the controller, press both joysticks to the lower right, and hold it there. The lights will flicker for a bit on the drone, but when they go solid it should be done. See if that helps (if not, Mota would likely be better at diagnosing).
@carl669 make sure you don’t have a propeller that is made to spin the wrong way. There are clockwise and counterclockwise props and there should be two of each, diagonally opposite each other.
If you crash and knock two props off it’s easy to put them back on wrong.
@carl669 One other thing to check, inspect your right side motors for fuzz or pet hair. It will easily wind stray things around the shaft and slow the motor down enough to make it fall off to that side. It’s easy enough to pop the prop off and remove the offending junk and be back in business.
@djslack thanks. but, this was right out of the box, so i’m thinking that’s probably not it. i’ll still check and make sure there’s no offending material there.
FakeSpot gives it an “F” (75% fake reviews) and a reweighted review of 0* (not sure what that means, but it’s not good). Price is attractive, but $30 is $30 and if it’s crap it’s crap.
this thing was a piece of junk. Not only did it not fly but the app was garbage and would immediately crash when I attempted to connect to the drone with it. At least I didn’t spend too much money on it I suppose…
Specs
Pictures
White or black
Black controller and drone
Just the black drone
The box and everything you get
And in white
And the white drone
Feeling very thorough tonight
And that box for the white one
Yep, you can carry it
Oh, and it can play Jenga
But it does not work well in high winds
What’s in the Box?
1x Jetjat Ultra drone
1x Controller
1x USB Charging Cable
1x Set of additional propellers
1x Propeller guard
Price Comparison
$129.99 List, $61.63 at Amazon
Warranty
1 Year MOTA
Estimated Delivery
Monday, July 13th - Thursday, July 16th
I don’t want to drone on and on, but this makes a great gift.
All that for this? The most appropriate thing to say is “meh”.
Those people remind me of The Sims, but with drone indicators.
i saw no picture to relay size comparison, say, to like a hand, or automobile, or ant
@Yoda_Daenerys Or a banana. What happened to bananas?
@hchavers Or a baby arm?
Bought one of these last time, and it simply won’t connect to the app, so it can’t be flown. Also the grip thing broke almost immediately.
@Skunkmonkey These don’t need to connect to the app to fly, only to display the video feed. Sorry about your experience though - did you contact CS?
@Skunkmonkey The suggested app bites ass on Android. Use the Tencent Jetjat app. It’s apparently written by the original manufacturer and works great, and without asking for unnecessary permissions.
@mehcuda67 Many thanks for that tip!
I see the same app on the iPhone, so I’ll give that a try.
So when it crashes into a tree it takes your phone with it? Am I missing how this is a good idea?
@katbyter but it doesn’t fly with the phone…
@katbyter That’s the 3.0 version of virtual reality
Only if the camera quality and flight time weren’t crap. Meh
I love my 2007 PALM Treo.
More intuitive than Android or iFone, with better calendar, alarms & contacts list. I will use it until they shut down the last of the CDMA towers, then I will continue to use it as a standalone device offline.
@mbimeh
@mbimeh A friend still uses a Palm III.
For sheer usability the Palms were great. I could whip mine out, mash a button, and scribble a note or pull up an address and only THEN need to look at the screen.
@mbimeh I loved both the Palm version as well as the IBM version of the Pilot that I got a great deal on at the LA SAP SAPPHIRE conference (1998?) where they rented The Forum arena for attendees to see Rod Stewart perform. (I wasn’t a fan but will admit it was a good show) How’s that for nostalgia?
But wow, impressive you’re still milking every last penny of that thing!
@mbimeh My palm pixi plus’s glass shattered 3 months ago. I haven’t bought a new phone yet. I think I paid 39$ for it, so I’m experiencing a lot of sticker shock.
And the drone…my only hesitation is how it handles. I’ve bought a few and could never, ever get them to fly like those slickies make 'em fly in the videos.
@wew If you want a gently used pixi let me know. I need a good home for one.
@blaineg I originally had a Palm III, maybe around 1998, then slowly upgraded a few times, IIIx, IIIxe ?
All in all around 3 or 4 different models around the years. Was still using one of those older Palm devices when I got my phone version of the Palm. Still have Palm desktop installed on my PC to sync.
@wew I wish this forum thread/meh sale had some up a couple weeks ago. I just barely gave away a NIB Pixi and a factory refurb one still in the original boxes. Originally we got them as spares for my daughter’s Pixi but never needed them.
@mbimeh Thanks for the love, it makes my eyes leaky. I have a virgin palm pre 2 still in the box, and maybe I could even restore my palm pixi plus with a new screen(?), but I thought you couldn’t get these phones activated anymore.
Good times! HP touchpad fire sale, I won a touchpad from webOSnation back in the day. What a great forum, anyone remember the FrankenPre3? It was a very ‘hackable’ phone, and was great for experimenting.
ya, i have a pageplus account I’m paying on and no phone, sorta like my VMP membershi…I talk too much!
Is this even possible? Getting a Palm activated?
@wew When my phones were still with Verizon, just under a year ago, you could technically still activate them. They use the CDMA network which is still in operation, so it should be possible. HOWEVER, you probably have to get a customer service rep who has been there a long time and knows their stuff, to be able to do it. Might have to call a few times to get someone knowledgeable enough.
Generally you must have previously had a Palm phone of the same model active on your line of service at some point in the past. They can go back in the history of your account and look up the codes for activating it. I might have some of the general details wrong, but that’s the gist of what’s needed.
My wife had previously worked at Verizon customer service (for smartphones) and she knew how to do it, but she was also the resident expert at their call center on anything related to Palm products. When we had a Pre die on us once, after she had left, she actually had to talk the rep through how to activate the new one on our account with their computer system. It was funny to listen to, having the customer know more about their system than the employee.
Good luck.
@mbimeh
you just described 99% of companies out there.
@mbimeh thanks! Sounds do-able…And sorry, but grateful for hijacking this thread.
There’s one or two communities I go to daily, and think I’m a good member. But the meh people—and I’m not even here that often—have done more to help me out than any other community I’ve been in.
@mbimeh I don’t think I still have the Palm desktop installed anywhere, but I do still have a perfectly functional Palm TX, and a spare.
My own history with them was a PalmPilot Pro, Handspring Visor (loved the expansion slot, played with several things there, including a CF card adapter), and then the TX.
I’m sure the usability was due to Hawkins prototyping it by carrying around a block of wood!
http://pretotyping.blogspot.com/2010/08/one-of-my-favorite-pretotype-stories.html
@blaineg And to wander even further afield, does anyone here have any use for old Windows based PDAs? I’ve got several of the Compaq / HP iPAQs with sleeves and chargers andstands, and one Dell Axim (X51?).
Free to any home.
@blaineg That’s a kind offer Blaine. I’d take you up on it, for my son at least if not for myself, but I’m in the middle of de-junking my house and my normally-laid-back wife might just kill me if I started adding old electronics back into my clutter. Regardless of how useful I might find them.
So I have one of these and they are awesome. The vertical stability control makes it really easy to fly. I bought another drone that was a little bigger that I could still fly around indoors and it was so damn hard to keep it level – constant throttle control. I use a ‘google cardboard’ plastic headset and it feels like I’m flying with really poor quality eyesight.
Can this drone record this?
bought one last time & used it to check my gutters, roof and chimney. It’s not a terrible way to waste $30.
@alacrity But
/giphy gutter margarita?
How dangerous is it around small children?
@ParadisePete
@therealjrn What about the chopping hazard?
@therealjrn Thanks. That’s not what I meant though, I’m worried about the spinning blades.
@ParadisePete The rotors are a potential cutting hazard. Though not capable of life threatening injuries, it certainly could cause an uncomfortable scratch or small cut. And possibly an eye injury.
@ParadisePete not for kids, and I strongly advise not using it for your colonoscopy.
@alacrity But if you do, you know, take video!
So, typical Cheerson size, but VR? Sure, I’m in.
I’m off work sick for two weeks, how fast can you get it here?
@blaineg Whoah, it shipped!
@blaineg And it arrived yesterday, not long after we got home from the hospital again. (All is well, details in the “My Heroes” topic, if you’re interested.)
Great timing, I get to figure it out this morning, and have fun with it, with the nieces and nephews, this afternoon.
This is a good beginner drone at a very good discount price. It is small and light enough that you can crash it into things and the only damage you’ll really have is that a propeller will pop off and you have to put it back on. The propellers are not heavy enough to actually cut into anything but certainly could cause injury if you fly it into someone’s eye. You clamp your phone onto the remote controller which you hold in your hands. The Drone has a camera on it that transmits video to the phone. The 5 minute flight time is real.
So this gadget is on Amazon’s current holiday gift list?
How the hell did it get on Meh?
Can it be used without a phone connected? A non-video displaying drone? I want to get this for my child, but he doesn’t have a smartphone… nor will he anytime soon. But the auto take off feature seems worthy enough for this product to get him started with drone flying.
@bradsour Absolutely. You could also buy a $30 wifi tablet at walmart that would connect to it.
/giphy ballistic-advanced-kite
I can’t understand the desire to remove physical buttons from a car’s cockpit. You go from being able to mindlessly change something without looking to having to take your eyes off the road until such time you’ve confirmed what you wanted to touch did indeed get touched. It’s just dangerous and gives no real advantage.
This is pointless for me to bring up now since everything will be autonomous in the next few days anyway. And I don’t think car manufacturers check the meh forums for market research… but at this point I’ve already typed it all so it’d be silly to just delete it… so I guess I’ll post it. Sorry I took up space on the server/used bandwidth unnecessarily…
@westownsend
Truth! I cannot STAND the “touch somewhere in this area of smooth surface and if you’re lucky it’ll do what you want” in the car and home. The number of times we’ve bumped the dishwasher and have it start. “Oh, but it has a lock button…” Yeah, that you have to hold for 5 seconds and it might lock it but not if you let go too quickly then you just have to do it again; and then AGAIN to turn it on. 5 seconds isn’t a lot but it and the annoyance adds up!
I don’t even like the push button on/off switch on my computers. I want a freaking toggle switch so I KNOW it’s on or off - not “um, I pushed it two or three times but I don’t know if it registered them all”. Grrrrr…
Can you tell this is a hot button item with me… (yeah, I said it! ;P )
@westownsend, @kytyn – enter Ultrasonic haptic feedback:
https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/03/ultrahaptics-launching/
@brettpeirce That’s a lot of work to avoid having buttons :| Unless they can make it cheaper before cars are fully autonomous anyway… But as soon as autonomous taxis are available, I’m selling both my cars and converting my garage into a nonfunctional batcave… so I’ll probably never experience it.
Side rant that no one will ever see - The Tesla screen is very usable, but a big part of that is I tend to use it only when autopilot is engaged. The only time I have to use it while driving is the garage door opener and I pretty much always mis-hit it :|
@westownsend Yes! Think it through, “engineers”. You WANT me to take my eyes off the road?
@westownsend It’s great that the autonomous option is becoming real for those that desire it.
But you can have my stick shift when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!
meh just need a reason to justify VMP
/buy
@dupart3 Sorry, this deal contains 2 unique items and I’m not sure which one you want. You can review how to pick one, or just try ordering from the checkout page.
My biggest complaint about these (in general, not necessarily this specific model, but it seems this one is no different) is that you can play with them for 5 minutes and then have to charge them for 25-30 minutes.
Flight Time: Approx. 5 min.
Charge Time: Approx. 25-30 min.
@h8uat charge time is less than 5 minutes- I use and old lipstick-type external battery, and it’s remarkably fast.
@h8uat Agreed… But are you prepared to drop $600+ on one with longer flight time? My nephew is a professional photographer, so the investment was well worth it for him… But for us casual users looking for a distraction? Nah.
@h8uat Cars are the same way. My car charges in 4 hours and run time is about 30-40 minutes.
got one last time; play with it every day. record lots of useless videos, getting better at flying the little guy. I have a short attention span so 5 min of flying is good enough. nice gift for a kid under 12.
@rkpSLJo85CR0oIl I’ve gone to Tophatter and won larger drones for $20 + $5 shipping. For the price point, I could care less if I crash it… It’s just… fun.
@andrewkl sold three of these guys at the office today when ppl watched it fly around. Meh should pay me a bounty.
@rkpSLJo85CR0oIl Need candy corn?
i got this the last time around. main issue is that when it takes off, it immediately veers hard to the right. so fast that i don’t have time to correct it. i’m not sure if the rotor pitch is just way the fuck off or what. i can’t seem to figure out how to calibrate it to not do that either. i’ve tried adjusting the trim settings in the app to no avail.
so basically, i’m lazy and am looking to you, the meh community, for answers.
@carl669 recalibrate the speed sensors. Once it connects with the controller, press both joysticks to the lower right, and hold it there. The lights will flicker for a bit on the drone, but when they go solid it should be done. See if that helps (if not, Mota would likely be better at diagnosing).
@carl669 make sure you don’t have a propeller that is made to spin the wrong way. There are clockwise and counterclockwise props and there should be two of each, diagonally opposite each other.
If you crash and knock two props off it’s easy to put them back on wrong.
@seancookpdx- thanks! i’ll give it a shot.
@djslack- thanks! i haven’t changed the props, so i’m hoping they were put on the right way during manufacturing. i’ll check that as well.
@carl669 One other thing to check, inspect your right side motors for fuzz or pet hair. It will easily wind stray things around the shaft and slow the motor down enough to make it fall off to that side. It’s easy enough to pop the prop off and remove the offending junk and be back in business.
@djslack thanks. but, this was right out of the box, so i’m thinking that’s probably not it. i’ll still check and make sure there’s no offending material there.
@carl669 it might just have a shit motor then and you might need warranty assistance
FakeSpot gives it an “F” (75% fake reviews) and a reweighted review of 0* (not sure what that means, but it’s not good). Price is attractive, but $30 is $30 and if it’s crap it’s crap.
Bought one of these last time. Love it! /buy
/giphy reminiscent-fittest-operation
Better than most other nano drones.
this thing was a piece of junk. Not only did it not fly but the app was garbage and would immediately crash when I attempted to connect to the drone with it. At least I didn’t spend too much money on it I suppose…
Seems to work okay, once you get it calibrated. Impressive image, for an inexpensive unit. I don’t know that I would say ‘meh’. It’s a’aight.
Not to shabby for the price.