Andy Wood

I will be the first one to admit it.  I dig gadgets, but not so much as I used to.  Honest!  I always used to be picking up the gizmo that did this or the doohickey that did that.  Now for the most parts it is all about the cell phones!

I got the iPhone on opening days 6/30/2007

What I didn’t like the about the iPhone was that it was on the low as molasses “Edge” network, so I switched to the AT&T Tilt.  This was a windows device and I liked everything about this phone.  I could even use it as a portable boat anchor too.  Yes, it was a little to heavy for me.

I stuck it out with the the Tilt until about November 2008, the fear that I might knock myself out with it was starting to keep me up at night.  I wanted to see what all the hype was about the CrackBerries.  I could see how people get hooked, but I didn’t like that the email was always on and you were forced into a data plan because of it.

About 4 month later, I went back to my favorite makers of cell phones; Sony Ericsson.  The down side of this phone is that when I need the web, it really isn’t there, only the ‘text’ version and sometimes I need the real web and not the watered down version, I also wanted to be able to access my email too, but it wasn’t that accessible.  So

As of today 6/18/2009  (Almost 2 years from when I got the iPhone) I am now sporting a Palm Pre … stay tuned!

I am talking about rechargeable batteries and charger – I got the Energizer Rechargeable 15 Minute Charger.

The first charging test, it took 25mins vs 15mins, but still that is much better than 24 hrs.

Thanks AT&T – No really!

I got the shop at 9.15a today, everything was fine.  Got through about 95% of “before we open” tasks and all of sudden I wasn’t able to access email, no web, nada!

After an hour of nothing, I went to the backup plan and used the cell phone as wireless Internet connection.

Easy to do too.

Now the Internet is back (it wasn’t just me either, the whole plaza was out), we are back on-line and playing a little catch up before New Comics Day.

I got a new gaming setup and I decided to go with the SteelSeries 5H v2 USB Headset. 

It fits nicely to my head and had a cool feature too, a retractable microphone!  I ran into some problems, even asked Amazon to send me a replacement.  Only to have the same problem with the replacement.  This sent me down the ‘google’ path to see solutions.

It turns out that by default the mic is set to 48 KHz vs 44.1 KHz, so by changing that setting.  Problem is now gone.

Swapping from Satellite to FIOS had no hiccups, now time to evaluate the performance.

Via U-Verse

I am so rough on phones, I don’t get it.  It isn’t like I play football with them, but I usually end up dropping them or something, so I got a glove for my new cell phone.

I thought that I would become a crack berry addict like most, but it just didn’t happen for me.  According to some, (mainly the AT&T people at the AT&T store) they claim that I am down grading.  Phftt!

I am going from

	To
Blackberry Bold 9000		Sony Ericsson W760a

It took me 2 days to find a site that had any themes for it and when I finally did, I didn’t like half of them, but I finally got one that was ‘ok’.  Inside of 1 hour, I found  Marvel Zombies theme, the Kill Bill Nurse Whistle ring tone and other for the Sony.  So…

Got one a couple of days ago….

With every wireless device company now trying to compete with Apple’s iPhone, Ontario, Canada-based Research in Motion (RIM) has decided to go another route by simply doing what it does best—sticking to its tried and true Blackberry platform.

The long anticipated Blackberry Bold, exclusively from AT&T Wireless, is the latest in the evolution of the business-minded smartphone, and can be described in a few short words: Bigger, faster and stronger.

While the Bold was originally slated to drop this summer, and is only just now arriving, the good news is that Blackberry lovers and newcomers alike will find that the 3G device was well worth the wait.

My 2 Day Cents worth -

Various minor shortcomings aside, the Blackberry Bold is by far the sweetest smartphone RIM has created. I can see why people become addicted and are called crackberry, so If you’re hooked on so-called “crackberries” or just want to upgrade to a mobile phone that offers the best of best worlds, the go BOLD.

Pros:
• Sleek design
• Speedy 3G network
• Easy to use WordToGo app
• Robust media offerings

Cons:
• Clunky web browser
• Okay photo quality

The Philips VOIP321 is a dual-function cordless phone in the Skype community that offers the convenience to handle traditional landline calls and the latest Skype technology all in one unit. I like the design, it looks and feels like a “old school” phone

We got the Philips VOIP321 phone just a couple of days ago.  The first impression of the phone was: it had a standard look for a phone.  The fact that its base unit is separated from the handset cradle is a plus.

According to the specs on the phone, the Philips VoIP321 uses DECT technology to communicate with the handset, which reduces the chance for this phone to interfere with a Wi-Fi router or other cordless home devices.

It took me a day to figure out how to call someone within my area code, not that big of a deal really.

The voice quality of the Skype calls is actually pretty good, I haven’t done a stress test with it yet, but so far so good.

I have been asked if I can use Skype for faxing, you cannot directly due to the way that the technology decodes and recodes, but I found this.