Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 Review: U Got The Look

October 10, 2022 in Technology

Looks over function and practicality. Here are my thoughts 18 months after buying one.

I was going to write a lengthy review of the second Chromebook I have owned, the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 from the spring of 2021. But there’s no need. I intend to own it until support ends. And overall, I like it. But there are some things I don’t like, and that’s what this review will focus on. I don’t recommend this Chromebook. If you need a Chromebook you can take anywhere, has top specs, leading build quality, and has an ideal, business class keyboard, I recommend Chromebooks by Lenovo and HP. The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 isn’t bad. But it really isn’t good on the road. It’s more like a Chrome desktop (Chromebox) with a great display, that you should keep at home, as I do.

Let’s start with what’s good.

The Galaxy Chromebook 2 has a fine processor, enough RAM for 99% of users, and a fantastic display. The base specs are outstanding. There’s a good Chromebook inside that red shell.
The processor is an Intel Core i3 10110u “Comet Lake.” The storage is a generous 128GB with a micro SD slot for up to another 128GB. It has 8GB of RAM as every laptop should have at the minimum these days.
The highlight of this device is the 16:9 QLED display. It’s a bright 13.3” touch panel with a resolution of 1920x1080. That’s perfect for me. It’s so good, I want Samsung to make an ultrawide desktop QLED monitor. It’s a fantastic low-cost alternative to a 4K OLED.
Also good is the color of the device. The metallic red is matched on the upper and lower halves of the clamshell, despite being different materials (aluminum and plastic, respectfully).
There’s a fan inside, but that’s a good thing, and it is quiet when it turns on.
At 2.7 LBS, it’s light.
And did I mention it looks great on any desk?

And now for what’s not so good.

The price when this was released was $699. I paid that, plus New York state and city sales tax in March 2021. Ouch. Now, I knew going in that once I had this chromebook in my hands, I had to own it until it is no longer supported. That will be the fall of 2028. So cost per year is low, in my case.
Still, it took a while for the price to come down. 18 months after launch, it finally became a good buy.
The keyboard is okay. It’s super low profile with what I think are butterfly switches, so it is very similar to the MacBook pro. That’s not what I prefer. For me, the gold standard in factory notebook keyboards is the Lenovo ThinkPad. I prefer keys with some travel and a springy feel.
The trackpad is not glass. At this price point, it really should be. It’s still good. It works fine. But as you can see in the photos, it has picked up a lot of gloss from my oily fingers. I must admit, once you have a glass trackpad, there’s really no going back, until the next best material is developed.

I should also mention, when one buys the Galaxy Chromebook 2, there is a giant sticker affixed to the left of the trackpad. The only way to remove it is with water and some Goo Gone. It’s awful that Samsung made consumers have to remove that giant sticker from such a great looking device. They should have just included the sticker info on a postcard. I forget what was on the sticker. Nothing important.
The aluminum hinges are fine, but they highlight something that bugs me: the upper and lower halves of the clamshell are different case materials with different weights. The display is wrapped in beautifully engineered red aluminum. The lower half of the device is the same red color, but in slightly flexible plastic. That doesn’t bother me when this device is connected to an external mechanical keyboard. In that mode, this Chromebook is essentially a second monitor or a docked Chromebox. But on my lap, it feels so unbalanced. The heavier, cold metal display half is held up over a warmer, lighter keyboard and motherboard half. In terms of feel, it doesn’t work when sitting in your lap. It feels like two different devices joined together. That makes it a desk machine only in my mind.
Which brings me to my next point. It’s such a desk machine, that I don’t take it outside. I don’t travel with it. It’s not good at what notebook computers are supposed to excel at - portability. This is my Chromebook for home use only. For many, many others, particularly students, this is a deal breaker. Students need a device that can travel well outside with some confidence. This just looks too nice to go outside. And the weight imbalance between the upper and lower halves of the clamshell is something I can’t ignore.
Samsung made sure the speakers of this Chromebook were mentioned in its press releases and marketing. I don’t know why. They are poor, and are under the keyboard. Users should plug in headphones or pair their Bluetooth headphones with this Chromebook. BYOH - bring your own headphones!
And finally (and worst of all) is the built-in camera. It is beyond awful. It shocks me that this device shipped with such a poor camera at $699 in 2021. It’s so bad, the only way I can do a video meeting with this device is to connect an HDMI to USB C capture card and run my Canon M50 in video mode (which by the way, is a fantastic setup that’s superior to any built-in camera by any notebook computer manufacturer). It’s not the resolution that’s bad, it’s the image quality. 720p resolution is fine for web meetings. But the image is cloudy and dark. It would have been a lot better if this Chromebook didn’t have a camera at all. BYOC - bring your own camera!

Here are some photos of the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 next to a Chromebook I highly recommend, the Lenovo Flex 5i.

So to summarize, the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 is a good choice if you can adhere / agree to a couple of key points. First, you have to own it to the end of life (July 2028) for maximum value for the dollar Second, you have to acknowledge that there are Chromebooks with the same specs for less (like the Lenovo Flex 5i). so if you get this, you are partially getting it for the great looks and the much better than average display.

Want to stick with Samsung? Then check out the newer Galaxy Chromebook 3, er the Galaxy Chromebook 2 360. It doesn’t have an backlit keyboard, but it has a USB A port the Galaxy Chromebook 2 doesn’t. And while the display isn’t quite as sharp, it has a more comfortable shape (it’s taller to show more lines of text). It also has a more comfortable keyboard and consistent plastic feel inside and out. It’s clearly marketed at high school and college students. It also has a slower Celeron processor, half the RAM and not much storage. And yet, I think it’s the better Chromebook overall. It should have been called the Galaxy Chromebook 3. But I suspect that Chromebook is coming two years from now.

The Anker 726 and 735 GaN Chargers Take Device Charging To The Next Level

May 28, 2022 in Technology

I am not paid to promote anything. This is not sponsored content. I just wanted to share because one thing has really simplified my life for gadget charging. I have a laptop (Chromebook), a tablet and a phone. And the one charger I need is a GaN charger.

I still have this weird one from Brasus, the GaN2 Pro, and it's perfectly fine, if just a couple of centimeters too long to stay stuck in every AC outlet around. For example, in my home, in my office, in a hotel room or on Amtrak, it stays plugged in. In a plane outlet, in between seats, too close to my leg or knee, it does not. It’s just a little too rear-heavy.

But the Anker 726. Damn. Charges an iPhone in about 20 minutes, or 2% per minute. If you are viewing this post on a laptop or desktop, it is about life-sized in the photo below. And with 65 Watt output, it can keep a Chromebook, Windows laptop or MacBook charged, plus a tablet or phone.

Need a USB-A port with those two USB-C ports? Check out the Anker 735. This is the new road warrior.

Here’s the Anker 735 next to the Baseus GaN2 Pro. Both run cool. Both deliver quick, 65 Watt charging. The Anker is just a little shorter, for better balance in outlets.

And for my cables, the next level is pastel silicone, also from Anker. It can quickly charge iOS devices, Android phones, plus MacBooks, Chromebooks and Windows laptops. Even flashlights now have USB-C charging ports. These cables will not tangle, and each includes a silicone wrapping strap. They're available as a USB-C to USB-C, or a USB-C to Apple Lightning cable, in 3 and 6 foot lengths, and in 7 colors.

Don't Buy A PS5 Until It Shrinks In Size And Price

November 12, 2020 in Technology, Culture

Fellow gamers, you will not heed my advice, but I have advice. Do not give Sony what it wants. Do not buy a PlayStation 5. Not this year nor next. See if you have the patience to wait until at least 2022.

The PlayStation 5 goes on sale in North America today, and as you know, the thing is huge. It’s an 1990s VCR.

Demand is high. Supply is low. The supply chain is under stress due to the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. And Sony decided it was a good idea to make it worse (for consumers, not them) by setting up a lottery for the chance to be among the first to buy a PS5 in the US. Jim Sterling explained all of that perfectly.

So here is my advice, hold on to your PS4. Give it some love. Got a PS4 Pro? Why not upgrade the hard drive to a Western Digital or Samsung SSD? I got this Western Digital Blue 4TB SSD and I love it. Yes, the load times are only 1 second faster, but I now have all my games on a single, non-spinning, internal drive. The PS5 can’t do that yet. In the years ahead, I suspect you’ll be able to get a PS5 with 4TB of storage. But for now, it has just 667.2GB of internal storage. And that’s for PS5 games only. All your PS4 games should be stored on an external drive. Since I like Western Digital, why not a rugged WD “Black” external drive?

Or better yet, as I said, wait. Two years from now, around Black Friday 2022, the PS5 will cost less, be smaller, and have a lot more games. You know that.

Ask yourself, have you really played all there is to play on the PS4? Star Wars Squadrons has been released. The Outer Worlds is not to be slept on. Cyberpunk 2077 is coming. Disco Elysium is coming. The Witcher 3 is still possibly the greatest game of the generation. Red Dead Redemption 2 is too long and too complicated, but it might be the best “slow” video game ever made. Slow down. Play the games you missed.

And now that Sony has bought Crunchyroll, maybe you can catch some anime you missed, if you’re into that.

The PlayStation 4 is still the streaming hub of your home. It runs Peacock, ESPN+, Pluto, Netflix, YouTube, Hulu and so many other platforms.

Also ask yourself - just how committed are you to the PlayStation? What do you love most about it? For me, the PlayStation is not just a game console. It is a portal to Japanese culture. It is the most Japanese electronics product in my home (well, aside from my Canon MK6 Mk II camera and my Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy rice cooker).

The PlayStation 4 brought some incredible Japanese games to the West. Here’s a partial list:

Persona 5 / Persona 5: The Royal. Persona 4 might be one of the greatest video games ever made, up there with Super Mario Brothers 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. Persona 5 is not as great, but still highly satisfying for a JRPG.

Devil May Cry 5

All the recent Resident Evil remakes - Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3 and Resident Evil 4 (coming in 2022)

Nier: Automata. Shockingly thought-provoking and deep for a JRPG. So stylish, too. And each time you replay it, it gets better.

Tales of Berseria

Valkyria Chronicles (Remastered)

Earth Defense Force 4.1 & 5. It’s stupid. It’s fun. It’s Earth Defense Force.

All the Yakuza games. They have been remastered and there is a new Yakuza game to play in 2020.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Ghost Of Tsushima. (OK not produced by a Japanese studio, but it’s a faithful samurai movie)

Pawapuro / Power Pros 2016. The most fun baseball series for the PlayStation? You’ll have to memorize the Japanese menus, but translations are available. I’m a Carp supporter, which makes it easier for me to get into something that isn’t American baseball.

Akihabra’s Strip 2. Okay, just kidding, but if you wanna get a little weird. Defeat vampires by beating the crap out of them while stripping them naked in the sun. If only the fighting was enjoyable.

Girls Und Panzer: Dream Tank Match. Wanna get more weird? Anime girls piloting WWII combat vehicles in war games. Nothing controversial. It’s not just Nazi war machines, I hear.

Upgrade your PlayStation 4 Pro. Keep it weird. And wait two years to buy a PlayStation 5. If I break my own advice, I will post an update here.

It's Time For New York State To Own Its Electric Power Grid

April 19, 2020 in Economics, Technology

Here’s another post that sat for months as a draft. No reason to sit on it, other than being distracted and engaging in video game playing and beer drinking.

I have always felt that utilities should be public. Healthcare should be nationalized and treated as a public utility. Internet access should be a public utility. And I think residential and commercial electric power should be owned and maintained by taxpayers. I think it’s incredible that New York Governor Cuomo flirted with that idea last summer after a poorly handled transformer fire caused a localized blackout on Manhattan’s west side.

In this no-longer-young century, we have had several pandemics and several failures in our infrastructure. We need a new commitment to rebuild, and that includes making important pieces of infrastructure public. That includes our power grid.

Does Con-Ed know where the bodies are buried? How in the world does this corporation keep it's license? And by the way, wasn't Trump going to spend trillions on a massive infrastructure program, which would, at last, give us a 21st century power grid, among other modern wonders?

LG V500 ("G Pad") 8.3 Review

December 10, 2013 in Technology

Forget the Q-Pair app (although if you're the kind of person who must have both your phone and tablet tunred on when you com home after a day at work, it does work well). And you should also probably forget the IR blaster (I haven't bothered to play with it yet).

Yes, never mind the extras. The LG V500 (unfortunately named the G Pad) is simply a gorgeous tablet. But with a $349 retail price, is it worth $100 more than the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.0 or Nexus 7? I would argue that depends on how much it seduces you, and how long you intend to keep it. I know what I've decided. It took just 30 minutes with the tablet to make up my mind. Here's what you need to know.

What's in the box?

LG keeps it simple. The box has the tablet, a universal Android micro USB charger, and a manual most users will never read.

I have to applaud LG for sticking with the micro USB charging / data port. They could have gone the ASUS or cheap tablet route and used a propriatary cable connection, but a micro USB port means that you can use the same charger to power your Android phone or this tablet. It took a while for Android to catch up to Apple's unified power and data connections, but the four major manufacturers, Motorola, HTC, Samsung, and LG have gotten it together. Wearable devices, like bluetooth headsets, Google Glass, and wristwatches, already use the micro USB charging standard. So while we wait for possible universal wireless charging capabilitires, we Android users have a single stanard to charge all of our mobile devices, just as Apple has the lightning connection to unite its lineup.

What makes it run?

The processor is not the fastest, but it is solid for a device like this. It's a quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600, running at 1.7GHz and nearly 2GB of RAM. That's plenty powerful. And the display is top notch. It' a 1920x1200, LED lit display that delivers 273 ppi, more than the Nexus 7's 216 ppi. So it has twice the RAM, and 25% higher resolution as the Nexus 7. Plus it has an aluminum back instead of plastic. Three writers over at Android Central think that's enough to justify the extra $100. I would argue that at the sale price of $299, the extra cost is completely justified.

Performance is simply solid. Some of you care about Vellamo results, so here they are. It's near the top of the current tablet crop.

What makes it special?

A man can hold one of the best tablets on the market in one hand. I admit, I like the 10.1" form factor. It's closer to the size of a magazine. My previous tablet was the ASUS Transformer TF300T. But stepping down to 8 inches was not a rough as I thought it would be. Magazines and books look fine. The LG V500 is light and very portable, like an Amazon Kindle. It's easier to use on a crowded train, and doesn't draw as much attention as an Apple iPad. It's a niche size in between the 7" and 10.1" tablets, and I really like it.

I wish I could say that the battery life is stellar, but I don't yet know for certain. It is not near the Apple iPad perfromance, but to get over six hours at 75% brightness would be nice. Until I'm proven otherwise, I have to say that battery life is about average for a 7 to 8-inch device. Some reviewers have gotten through a full weekend of light use, at low brightness. Needless to say, if you use it to stream HD movies, the battery will not last long. The top of the unit gets the warmest when used continuously.

How is the software?

This is where some fine tuning may be required. LG, like its primary rival, Samsung, is into modifying the Android interface to the point it becomes cluttered with extra features, apps, and custom icons. If you are an experienced Android user, then you probably know that installing a well reviewed launcher can suppress the manufacturer's tinkerings with color schemes and icons. In LG's case, their defaut icons are a little too busy for most people's taste.

The eaiest way to fix this is with a good launcher. No need to root your device. I love Apex Launcher. It lets you revert your icons, appliation tray, and application dock (at the bottom of the screen) to a default Android 4.x appearance, or you can download and install custom icon packs and themes for a completely different look. It's one of the few apps worth paying for, and it can help you make any Android phone or tablet your own. See? It's fixed. It took just a little thought and effort while watching sports on the telly.

But, alas, there is one thing that you cannot get rid of on the V500, and that is the very busy notification shade.

What is going on there? There are shortcut buttons to adjust sound and brightness in the first row, shortcuts to apps in the second, and then slider controls for brightness and sound in the next two rows. Why have slider cntrols wheh we already have useful shortcut buttons? Some reviewers feel that this is a result of LG trying to one-up Samsung in some twisted war between two Korean manufacturers. Some at Andrid Central have speculated (out loud, in their podcasts) that this is a "Korean" thing, in which logical users interfaces get tossed in favor of flashy extras. Korea is different, to be sure, with it's far superior, much faster mobile networks, and wider array of gandgets that consumers can buy (not unlike Japan). But back to this busy shade.

LG first introduced this shade last year on the Optimus G (which is the phone I use, and love, and call the G1, as that was really the predecessor of their current flagship phone, the G2). However, on the G1, the shade is less busy and I've come to to like it a lot. Here is the shade on the G1 phone. It's clean. I have shortcut buttons to adjust the sound level, brightness, Wi-Fi radio, and airplane mode, and below that, my notifications. I think that's an improvement over stock android, and it isn't annoying at all. It's pretty useful.

While the busier shade of the G2 phone and V500 tablet is less practical, at least the displays of those devices is larger, so you can quickly scoll past the clutter and get to what you want to look at in the first place - your notifications.

But LG still made changes in the second year of ther "G" user interface. The lock screen of the G1 phone is customizable. You can choose a wallpaper, a big clock or calendar overlay, and four apps you can quickly launch by swiping over them. Here are two versions of the G1 lock screen.

With the V500 tablet, and presumably the G2 phone, the ability to choose a clock/calendar graphic to the lock screen is gone. You still choose six icons and the wallpaper, but you only get a big clock at the top of screen. A very minor gripe for me, but I just found it odd that after adding so much to their UI, LG would then take something attractive away from it.

What is this menu button doing here?

Well, there is one other thing that is not quite right with the LG setup. They continue to defy the Android standards guide and use a menu button in the lower right of the screen. It replaces any menu buttons that appear in apps. There's no real harm here. It's just LG being different, just how Samsung insists on replacing the Home button with a physical button on all of its Galaxy phones and tablets. I knew this going in, and I don't mind it as much as Android developers do. It works.

What I wish LG added, however, is the ability to long-press the Home button, which brings up recent apps and the option launch Google Now from there. I have that feature on my G1 phone. LG has taken it away (at least for now) on their new tablet. Here it is on my G1 phone.

Any Accessories?

Not really. LG makes them, but they are not yet available in the US (and they might never get here). They are beginning to appear on eBay. And this fine Korean seller on eBay has colored, grippy hard shells that protrect the tablet's aluminum rear plate. I got one in light blue.

A Google Play Edition!

I was about to close this review by saying that this is the best tablet for under $300 (when on sale). I still think that. But lookey here! Google has just released a Google Play edition of the LG V500 running Android 4.4 Kit Kat for $349. It's available in black only, but it's suddenly the best Andrid tablet on the market, at any price.

The Google Play edition strips out all the of the superfulus LG apps, restores the icons and notification shade to stock Android style, and replaces LG's menu button on the lower right to what Google demands, the "recents" button, which lets you quickly go back to a recently used app.

So if you go for this unique, medium sized tablet, you have two outstanding versions to choose from at different price points: $299-$349 for the LG version in black or white, and $349 for the Google Play version in black. It's the best of what Android does in two distinct flavors, and it's my choice for tablet of the year.

Dhalgren's Favorite Android Apps

August 28, 2011 in Technology

After using and loving Andorid for 11 months, I figured I'd add my two cents on the most useful, trustworthy apps to download and use.

1. Flight Track ($4.99). Track flighs and save a list of all the flights you have taken / will take. Flight Track notifies you when a gate or time changes and when the flight status has changed (taken off, landed, etc.).

2. Flight Board ($3.99). A beautiful companion of Flight Track that lets you see the arrivals or departures board for any airport in the style of the big boards at Paris' CDG airport. Flight Board can be used as the phone's live wallpaper, which is really nice.

3. Google Scoreboard (free). It's just a baby, but Google Scoreboard is off to a wonderful start. Select leagues to follow, including all 4 English football leagues and Japanese baseball. Select favorite teams. When a game starts or ends involving a favorite team, you get a notification at the top of the screen. Really nice. But it has growing pains. Often you have to reload data by tapping the scoreboards. The scoreboards are separated by league, like cards in a deck, and Scoreboard does not actively load them all. The app is not yet set up for full background operation. It often loads the scores for the league that currently has games in progress, and neglects the others. So for a user like me who is following a Japanese baseball team, the most reliable notification is the score of the NPB game in progress, which arrives as soon as I turn on my phone at 06:00 or 07:00 New York Time. But I am confident that Scoreboard will be ironed out.

4. Beautiful Widgets ($2.90). Don't like the home screen clock that you carrier put on your Android phone? Or was there no clock at all? Add a beautiful clock, clock + weather, or weather-only widget with Beautiful Widgets. True to its name, there are hundreds of different skins, fonts, and icons to download and use. Widgets are one of the biggest differences between the iPhone and Andorid. And Android users love to customize their phone to make it ther own. Beautiful Widgets is the best app for the money to let you do that.

5. Gingerbread Launcher (by Modaco, free). Sprint is great, but the SprintID packs Sprint is encouraging us to use are not. Switching from your customized screen to a SprintID pack wipes out your widgets, wallpaper, and sometimes your settings and shortcuts/folders. Replace the annoying SprintID icon at the bottom of your screen with the standard green Google browser globe, and never accidentally use SprintID again. Unfortunately requires you to recreate your widgets and folders. But it's a one time process. Once it's done, you don't ever hve to see the SprintID icon again.

6. Better Alarm Clock Pro ($1.99). It's an alarm clock that layers over the standard Anfroid alarm clock. Why is it better? Becasue it has a cool LED display feature. Choose the color for the digits from millions of colors. Then dim the screen so your phone can be used as a travel alarm clock. Simply stand the phone upright or horizontally and you have a cool travel alarm that won't light up the room. Better Android is a popular, trusted delveloper. But as of this month, they have been banned from the Market after one of their apps was frowned upon by the Google gatemasters. I hope they -and this app- come back.

7. Tip Calculator ($0.99). Very straightforward. Enter the check amount, the tip percentage (15%), and the number of people splitting the bill. Tip Calculator does the rest.

8. OpenTable (Free). Make restaurant reservations and find new restaurants. Works really well and has a clean interface. App can be moved to the SD card, saving you phone storage space.

9, Opera Mini Web Browser (free). The standard Google browser that comes with the phone is just fine. But if you need extra speed and a cleaner interface, the folks at Opera have built a super fast browser that lets you get into a web page, do your thing, and get out. Very nice when you are in the middle of the Great Urban Race. App can be moved to the SD card, saving you phone storage space.

10. IMDb (free). You see a sign for an upcoming or ongoing film production in the city. Don't make a mental note of the title. Launch IMDb on your Android and find the synopsis and cast in seconds. App can be moved to the SD card, saving you phone storage space.

12. Gauge Battery Widget Pro ($1.98). Android phones eat up batteries, especiually when you have GPS and WiFi turned on, or if you're uploading phone photos to Facebook. Gauge Battery Widget is an attractive dashboard-style widget that shows you how much juice you have left. Very simple and it doesn't eat batteries. The Pro version allows you to customize the color and transparancy of every gauge element.

13. Google Sky Map (free). Point your phone to the sky and identify constellations, planets, and moon phases in a lovely graphic interface. A novelty application, yes. But this is one that people install and then love. Uses the phone's gyroscope and compass to accurately show what is above you (or below you if you point to the floor to see southern constilations. This is one of those apps that differientiates Android from iPhone. App can be moved to the SD card, saving phone storage space.

14. FX Camera (free). Add a toy camera, polaroid effects, and a nice B&W camera to your Android device. Photos are captured in 960x640 resolution, making it an ideal Facebook photo capture app. App can be moved to the SD card, saving phone storage space.

15. AK Notepad (free) Says what it does. Create a text document on the go. Write a list of things to do. Export them to MS Word or an email. Write a blog post, or a restaurant review, or a diary entry on the go. The possibilities are endless. Stores text files to the SD card.

16. Google MyTracks (free) A GPS distrance tool that tracks how far you walk or travel on land (car, bus, train). See your average speed, elevation, total distact, and track on a Google Map. It's a battery hog, but it is the most reiable and accurate GPS tracker I have found yet for the Andorid platform.
App can be moved to the SD card, saving phone storage space.

17. Minimal Reader (free) This stripped down version of Google Reader allws you to put a widget on your screen that displays the titles of blog posts from your favorite blogs and news sites. You set up the RSS feeds and Minimal Reader does the rest. My feeds include DNA Info Inwood News, Curbed New York, Gothmanist, Reuters headlines, and some podcasts. Needs a little work, but because it is minimal, it doesn't clog your storage space with articles. It just shows you the titles of the blog posts, so you choose what you want to downloand and read.

18. Notepad (free) Another plain text editor, but more plain and business like than AK Notepad. Probably better for writing and editing loner notes or lists than AK Notepad. It's free. Why not get it in addition to AK and decide which is best for you?

20. Shoot Me (free) You don't have to have a rooted phone in order to take great screenshots. All the screenshots here were taken with Shoot Me on my stock LG Optimus S running Android 2.2.2. Simply activate, go to the screen you want to capture, and either press a shutter button or give the phone a gentle shake. All photos store on the SD card in a separate Shoot Me folder. Should work on most new unrooted phones. It's definately worth a try.