How I Feel Battling Between the Carriers

A couple of days ago, my contract with Verizon ended. Instead of upgrading my phone to the latest and greatest, I have decided that it is time to change. With prepaid options all over, prices have really dropped. And my phone bill certainly hasn't.

So, here are the things I am considering for in my hunt for a new carrier.

Phone Options:

My phone options are extremely important to me. I like to upgrade often, and I don't like to be limited by the bands of my carrier. I often had this problem with Verizon. For example, last year when the Nexus 5 came out, I wanted nothing but to buy that phone right then and there. However, I was not able too because it was not allowed on Verizon. For this reasons, I am taking a special look at AT&T and T-Mobile.

Coverage:

Obviously, coverage is important to anyone. My coverage situation is quite unique though. While living in Omaha, coverage from carriers is not much of a problem. However, my home town is quite another story being in the middle of nowhere. Coverage from both AT&T and T-Mobile is virtually nonexistent, with Verizon providing the best coverage and LTE. Sprint has coverage, and LTE is on its way.

Price:

Obviously, price is perhaps the most important factor. I want to either pay the same or less for more. AT&T has a unlimited voice and text with 2 GB of data for $60, $10 cheaper than what I pay now. However, both Sprint and T-Mobile have much more intriguing options. Sprint has an unlimited voice and text plan with 3 GB of data for $45, and T-Mobile has a similar plan for the same price, with 1 GB less data.

The Plan:

Right at this moment, I am having trouble deciding between these 3 carriers. So, what is the easiest way to decide? All of them are prepaid, and all of them work with the Nexus 5. So, my intentions are as so: I plan on testing out all three carriers over the next 3 months, documenting speed tests and comparing coverage.

My Opinion of the Carriers so Far:

Sprint is in the lead. Sprint, while not offering nearly as many phones as I would like (limited sometimes more than Verizon, sometimes less), has the best pricing and coverage so far.

T-Mobile has second, as it provides a much cheaper plan than AT&T.

AT&T is in third, and basically all it has going for it is all the phones I enjoy working with it.


How about you? Do you have a similar situation? Who is your carrier and why?

Picture courtesy of sunnylovesalman

Thanks to xda developer sunnylovesalman, we have a port for the BlinkFeed launcher to non HTC devices. Since I do not have a non-HTC device at the moment to test out this apk, I can't really say how well it works. But I can guarantee I will be using this launcher on my next phone, since I am sure I have a new one in my future soon enough (either Nexus 5 or Nexus X/6, depending on price when Nexus X/6 is released).

This does work on rooted and non-rooted devices from what I am told, but make sure you are using Dalvik and not ART as it is not supported.

So if anyone can, let me know what you think of the new launcher!

Here is the xda link.

That's right, you read the title correctly. The one feature I miss about older smartphones. To this very day, while I love many phones, the one smartphone that will always have a special place in my heart is the Droid 4, my very first phone. What did this phone have that no (quality) phone has had since? A hardware qwerty keyboard.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't mind a virtual keyboard. They work fine, and predictive text has fixed a lot of my issues I had with them previously. But nothing, not even haptic feedback, will replace that quality feeling of tactic response. I had a Blackberry Bold 9930 and the BB Q10, but I didn't like either of them, I missed Android. I wish I still had my Droid 4, just so I could pop my SIM back in and use it for a couple of days.

Now, I value the Droid 4's keyboard even more than before. I use an SSH client for my Java programming class, and working with a touchscreen keyboard just doesn't cut it. At all. The hardware keyboard would be perfect for that particular instance.

If you look online, there is still a market of consumers who want a hardware keyboard on their smartphones, and with the current BB OS, there are practically no quality choices.

What about you guys? Do you miss the feel of a hardware keyboard? Or perhaps is there another feature of older smartphones that miss as well? Share in the comments below.

Do you ever take a certain amount of time and shut your phone off, close the lid to your laptop, and pick up an actual book to read? Ok, you don't necessarily have to read a book, but you get the point. Do you take tech "time outs," and if so, how often?

Personally, every night from 11 pm to 7 am, my phone is set to keep me from getting notifications. I need my beauty sleep too. It can wait till the morning. My alarm clock goes off at 6:58 am. Then the first thing I do in the morning is check my notifications, and almost always, it is not important enough for me to respond. Then the next thing I do is go to class (its an online class that starts at 7:05), and start going through my RSS feeds to see if I missed anything throughout the night.

However, do those 8 hours I spend everyday sleeping really count as a break? No, I don't think so. That's why once a week, I shut my phone off for an hour or 2, stay away from my other electronics, and I take that time to read a book or cook or basically anything I don't need/want a smart device involved with.

Are there any other times that I stay away from my phone? Why yes there is, thank you for asking. When I need to do homework or study, I use the same blocking feature that I use while I am sleeping to keep the world away. However, I do have some people set that if they text/call me, I will be notified.

What about you? Do you ever take a tech time out?

There are many times a day, people see me look down at my wrist to view a notification from my phone. They are often curious, asking if I had a smart watch. It's a great conversation starter. However, some people just ask me why I have one, and that they don't understand the point.

I usually have a few things to say, but my primary purpose for my smart watch is convenience. At my current work, it isn't always reasonable for me to pull out my phone and look at a notification and justify its importance; however, if I simply raise my wrist and look there, how can you not justify it. It makes it easier to find out if a text or phone call is something I need to take right away, or if its just a twitter notification to dismiss.

Another place I use my smart watch quite often is during class. I can still receive my notifications, without my professor yelling at me to put my phone back in my pocket. Again, it is very convenient to own a smart watch.

Perhaps the closest second for my use of my Pebble is its ability to control the music on my phone. It is a very handy feature, and again, it is convenient. If I don't like a song while I'm working out or jogging, it is just a simple button press for me to change the song. I don't have to pull out my phone, wake up the screen, and then go to my music app to change the song.

But how can you justify spending $150+ on convenience someone might ask? I generally answer this with another question: How can you justify that $150 Fossil Watch on your wrist that only tells the time? Often times enough, people resort to silence on this, or they say it is fashionable. And I won't disagree, it does look more stylish than my Pebble.

However, as more and more smart watches hit the market, we have more and more "fashionable" watches. Take a look at the Moto 360? The entire internet cried in lust over that beautiful device, including myself.

That is actually a feature I look for in a smart watch to be honest: How it looks. That is the sole reason why I choose my Pebble Steel over the original, is also the reason why I am looking at getting the Moto 360.

Another thing that I look for while smart watch shopping is battery life. However, I am not too picky like the rest of the internet has been. I only need a day of battery life. Where I enjoy the fact that my Pebble lasts for about a week, I take it off every night anyways, and it would be no problem at all to put it on a charger just like I do my phone. Even better, the Moto 360 supports Qi Charging, so I wouldn't even have to plug it in, just simply set it in the charging cradle.

So, the reason why I have a smart watch? Convenience. What do I look for in a smart watch? Reasonable looks and a decent battery life.

Oh, and one other thing. If someone could produce a smart watch that worked with Windows Phone and Android, I would be grateful.

So last week, in one of my moments of boredom, I felt adventurous, and I thought to myself, "I'm going to make a new watch face for my Pebble!"

This is something I'm going to update every once in awhile, but right now, this is my current tech circle:

Primary Smartphone: The HTC One M8

The One M8. What can I say about this phone that hasn't already been said? It is a great phone and have been using it as my daily driver since May. I love BoomSound, and the stock ROM's BlinkFeed is one feature that I absolutely love and will miss on any other phone.

Backup Phone: Nokia Lumia Icon

Windows Phone has always been my backup phone. It is reliable when I am flashing ROMs on my android devices, so I don't have to worry about me wanting to flash new ROMs on it. Plus, I have always had a soft spot for the UI on Windows Phone.

Smartwatch: Pebble Steel

I can't even begin how much I like my Pebble, but I almost disappointed to say it will no longer be in my tech circle within a couple of months. Did you catch the almost in that last sentence? That is because I intend on purchasing the Moto 360 within the next couple of months, unless the Microsoft Smartwatch is cross compatible with Android and Windows Phone...

Primary Computer: My Custom PC, Marvin

I built my PC last October, and it is my one of my favorites in my tech circle. If you want to hear more about it, take a look at my previous post about Marvin.

Secondary Computer: Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Series

I purchased this about 2 weeks ago, and got it on Wednesday. It has handled everything I have thrown at it, but I haven't done any gaming on it... yet!

Primary Tablet: Google Nexus 7 (2013)

I watched the unveiling of this last summer on my computer, and as soon as I were able to order it I threw my money at it. It has been one of my favorite parts of my tech circle for a long time, but it is now getting dated, and am looking to replace it soon.

Secondary Tablet: Microsoft Surface Pro

Yes, I consider the Surface Pro just a tablet since all I use it for is note taking. I am hoping when I replace this, the device I get will also replace my Nexus 7. Right now, I have the device equipped with the Surface Power Cover and the Surface Docking Station.

Router: Linksys WRT54G2

I purchased this router awhile back, when I got my first computer quite a few years ago. I flashed the DD-WRT software on there about a year ago, and I really enjoy it.

Printer: Epson Expression Home XP-310

My printer is not much to be excited about, but it is part of my tech circle nonetheless. I purchased this printer honestly because it was cheap and it got the job done.

Portable Gaming Device: Nintendo 3DS XL

A 3DS? Why in the world do you have that? Well, like it says up top, it is my portable gaming device. Specifically, I play Pokemon during my spare time to keep them strong, since my friends and I still get together and battle every once in awhile.

Well that's pretty much it for my tech circle, despite a device here and there that I didn't find significant enough to put on my list. What is in your device circle? Let me know in the comments below.

I love computers. They are amazing devices and don't receive nearly enough credit for what they are capable of. Last October, for a class I had, I had the opportunity to build my own PC. Since then, I have made many upgrades and changes. Here is my pride and joy, Marvin.

Marvin, as its current set up.

I'll start with the internals on this beauty of a machine.

Motherboard: ASUS 787-PLUS

Processor: Intel Core i7-4771

RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8 GB x 2

Video Card: EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 2 GB

Hard Drives: 2 x Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 240 GB SSDs
                        1 x Western Digital Black 1 TB 7200 RPM

Power Supply: Corsair CX750M 750w Modular Power Supply

Case: Corsair 550D

Optical Drive: LG Blu-ray Optical Drive

Cooling System: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 92mm SSO CPU Cooler
                            3 x Noctua NF-A14 140mm Case Fans
                            2 x Noctua NF-F12 120mm Case Fans


Fun fact, originally, Marvin's name was THOR because the first case I purchased for my computer was the Rosewill THOR V2 Gaming Tower, but this case was too flashy for me, so I bought the Corsair 550D from a friend for half price. But why the name Marvin, you ask? Well, Marvin sounds like an honest name to me, and Marvin just seemed fitting for a capable but non flashy computer.

And now, for the peripherals:

Monitors: LG Flatron W2361VG 23"
                 Dell E176FPC 19" LCD

Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K95

Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M60

Headset: Sennheisser 333D Headset

Speakers: Unknown (I got them from a friend for $5, and they work)

Controller: Wired GameStop Xbox 360

All these parts were chosen because either a) I got a great deal on them, or b) they serve a specific purpose. For example, I got the controller from my xbox, and I use it for when I play GameBoy/ PlayStation/ GameCube emulators.

There are many things I would like to do to update my set up, for example I'd like another 23" monitor instead of my 19" Dell, and I would love to put a GTX 770 inside Marvin for some better graphics. But, these upgrades will come as my budget flexes.

What are your gaming rigs packing? Leave a comment down below.