Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Which will you buy?
On 09/17/2012 09:54 AM, Alex Stanley wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu wrote: >> >> >> I like the larger screen but there are plenty of smaller ones but I >> suppose stuck in the boonies you can't exactly "window shop" like I >> can at places like Fry's or Best Buy. > Out here, AT&T is all about fewer bars in rural places. Verizon's coverage is > good, but US Cellular has absolute blanket coverage out here, and their > customer service is great; we've been with US Cellular for about 16 years, > and we're not about to change. They were a little slow to hop on the Android > bandwagon, but they're up to speed now. If I'd waited a few months, I'd could > have gotten an S3 instead of an S2, but the HTC Desire's running out of app > space was driving me crazy. > > US Cellular appears to be a mid-west only service. I can't even access their web page which is a bit odd. I got my first cellphone in 1993 and then there were few carriers and I was on Cellular One, an early west coast company. They got bought by AT&T Wireless who got bought by Cingular and then AT&T bought Cingular. These companies are all run by the "get rich quick" types or what we used to call the "gold rush" mentality. They're often salesmen who gambled on an emerging technology even if they don't really understand it. Many of those types are CEOs. Good reason why the Hindus made them the third rung on the caste system. :-D 3G and 4G are built on the back of WiMax which is a wide area broadband that was designed to bring broadband to rural areas, farms, etc where laying fiber or even phone lines wouldn't work. It is part of why analog TVs went dark because those lower channels are being used by companies and emergency networks now. Those lower frequencies propagate better over wide areas than the higher UHF frequencies. That's why one could often get VHF channels 2-6 with just rabbit ears. At the house I mainly get "E" on the phone which means "Edge" and on some phones will say 3G. 4G shows up as "H" for HSPA and I do sometimes see that. If I had the tower right behind as there should be by now it would be "H" all the time. The acid test was going on my walk in the neighborhood and even with 3G there was no dropouts on the streams when I occasionally would get them on a walk using Verizon. The neighbors were worried about kids playing near the towers while they are probably irradiating them more with their wifi routers in their homes. :-D If you want to talk about large phones, my nephew's company got a cell phone in 1984 when they were the new thing. I recall attending his brothers wedding here and my nephew had this box with phone handset, antenna and a handle on it.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Which will you buy?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu wrote: > > > > I like the larger screen but there are plenty of smaller ones but I > suppose stuck in the boonies you can't exactly "window shop" like I > can at places like Fry's or Best Buy. Out here, AT&T is all about fewer bars in rural places. Verizon's coverage is good, but US Cellular has absolute blanket coverage out here, and their customer service is great; we've been with US Cellular for about 16 years, and we're not about to change. They were a little slow to hop on the Android bandwagon, but they're up to speed now. If I'd waited a few months, I'd could have gotten an S3 instead of an S2, but the HTC Desire's running out of app space was driving me crazy.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Which will you buy?
On 09/17/2012 07:39 AM, Richard J. Williams wrote: > >>> Whoa! Guess I'll keep my Nokia shares at least for a >>> while, after all... >>> > Alex Stanley: >> Out of those, I'd buy the Galaxy S3... >> > It all depends on what you need a phone for. Since I'm at > a computer desk all day I don't need much else to > communicate. Almost any phone will send and recieve phone > calls if I step out to the parking lot for a break. And, > almost any smartphones can browse the internet for mail > and snap a photo. > > It all boils down to security - how much are employees > allowed to use on the company network for their personal > communications. > > Actually, I find cell phones to be a distraction and I > don't like talking on phones, unless it's an emergencey. > That said, if I get another phone it will probably be the > Nokia Lumia 920 for the camera and video capabilities. > > 'Why Android has a reason to be paranoid' > http://tinyurl.com/99bl3hv > > "A Windows tablet that works seamlessly with Microsoft's > Exchange email system and Office applications would be a > godsend for corporate technology managers, who have been > bending over backward to put their CEO's iPads -- > 'executive jewelry,' as one analyst puts it -- onto their > company's email and security systems." > > 'Microsoft unveils Windows 8 for public test' > http://tinyurl.com/82pqg7e > > "With the rise of texting, instant chat and transcription > apps, more people are ditching the venerable tool that > once revolutionized the telephone business, displaced > armies of secretaries and allowed us to eat dinner more > or less in peace. The behavioral shift is occurring in > tandem with the irreversible fading of voice calls in > general, prompting more wireless carriers to offer > unlimited voice minutes." > > 'The Death of Voicemail?' > http://tinyurl.com/8rc3dz8 > > Bingo! That's why the newer low cost plans with less phone minutes and higher data bandwidth. I had 450 anytime minutes with Verizon but used only 30-40 minutes a month and rarely every around 60. I was paying $40 for those minutes and another $30 for the data. The new plan only has 100 minutes of talk, unlimited texting and 5GB of data. My data use was often only around 1/2 GB a month but depending on what I'm doing I might use more. Netflix is watched on the phone via wifi anyway and in fact their new app has setting to just use wifi. The new phone also won't use carrier data if I'm connected to wifi. BTW, the data plan is no contract, just month to month. So I can drop it anytime or change the plan. Not everyone needs a smartphone but they're getting cheaper and plans cheaper so more people are getting them. Android is way outselling everything else. That's why Apple and Microsoft are pissed. But they're "old world" business plans with closed source software. Unless they change they're doomed.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Which will you buy?
On 09/17/2012 06:08 AM, Alex Stanley wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "card" wrote: >> >> http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/09/iphone5-spec-showdown/ >> >> Whoa! Guess I'll keep my Nokia shares at least for a while, after all... >> > Out of those, I'd buy the Galaxy S3. I bought a Galaxy S2 a few months ago, > and I'm delighted with it. But, I'm not so thrilled that Samsung keeps making > their phones bigger and bigger; the S3 is bigger than the S2, and the S4 is > supposedly going to be even bigger still. I want a phone that fits in my > pocket, even when it's in a protective case. > > The Galaxy Nexus has a 4.6" screen and with an Otterbox case still fits in my pockets but that's not the way I carry them as I use the holster instead. Maybe look at a different case because the holster overlaps the phone jack. :-( I like the larger screen but there are plenty of smaller ones but I suppose stuck in the boonies you can't exactly "window shop" like I can at places like Fry's or Best Buy. The nice thing about the larger screen (and higher resolution) is that I watched a Netflix movie on it last night which might not have been as enjoyable on a smaller screen.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Which will you buy?
> > Whoa! Guess I'll keep my Nokia shares at least for a > > while, after all... > > Alex Stanley: > Out of those, I'd buy the Galaxy S3... > It all depends on what you need a phone for. Since I'm at a computer desk all day I don't need much else to communicate. Almost any phone will send and recieve phone calls if I step out to the parking lot for a break. And, almost any smartphones can browse the internet for mail and snap a photo. It all boils down to security - how much are employees allowed to use on the company network for their personal communications. Actually, I find cell phones to be a distraction and I don't like talking on phones, unless it's an emergencey. That said, if I get another phone it will probably be the Nokia Lumia 920 for the camera and video capabilities. 'Why Android has a reason to be paranoid' http://tinyurl.com/99bl3hv "A Windows tablet that works seamlessly with Microsoft's Exchange email system and Office applications would be a godsend for corporate technology managers, who have been bending over backward to put their CEO's iPads -- 'executive jewelry,' as one analyst puts it -- onto their company's email and security systems." 'Microsoft unveils Windows 8 for public test' http://tinyurl.com/82pqg7e "With the rise of texting, instant chat and transcription apps, more people are ditching the venerable tool that once revolutionized the telephone business, displaced armies of secretaries and allowed us to eat dinner more or less in peace. The behavioral shift is occurring in tandem with the irreversible fading of voice calls in general, prompting more wireless carriers to offer unlimited voice minutes." 'The Death of Voicemail?' http://tinyurl.com/8rc3dz8
[FairfieldLife] Re: Which will you buy?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "card" wrote: > > > http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/09/iphone5-spec-showdown/ > > Whoa! Guess I'll keep my Nokia shares at least for a while, after all... > Out of those, I'd buy the Galaxy S3. I bought a Galaxy S2 a few months ago, and I'm delighted with it. But, I'm not so thrilled that Samsung keeps making their phones bigger and bigger; the S3 is bigger than the S2, and the S4 is supposedly going to be even bigger still. I want a phone that fits in my pocket, even when it's in a protective case.
