Gadgetty Girl

I got a new phone. I didn't really need a new phone, but I really wanted one. I tend hoard birthday and Chanukah presents. Maybe "hoard" isn't the right word -- more like delay the gratification. I'll say to TheHusband that I don't want a present for a birthday or two, but then cash in on a bigger present -- quality over quantity, I guess. I didn't get a birthday or Chanukah present knowing that I wanted a phone with internet capability. I don't need a phone that can check the internet, I just really want one, and I've wanted one for about 3 years.

Well, a couple of weeks ago I got one. I've played people's iPhones and had phone envy, so I seriously considered getting an iPhone. But I didn't want to switch to AT&T. Their network in the DC area is okay at best, and I've been generally happy with Verizon. In fact, I've had a Verizon wireless account since 1996. I have had various Palm OS-based products for over 10 years now. One of the most valuable products for me is Epocrates -- a program that provides basic information on drugs (a la the PDR), but it has an excellent drug-drug interaction database that I consult frequently. I used to carry a PDA and a cheap cell phone, but about 5 years ago I got a Treo 650 (bought used on eBay), but I never had the data plan ($45/month was too rich for my blood). When that one died of a terminal interaction with a parking lot, I got the Treo 755P but still no data plan.

But I really wanted to be able to check the internet anywhere in my house, so when my "new" Treo started dropping calls, freezing, and generally being annoying, I decided to "use" my delayed presents and get a new smartphone (apparently they aren't called PDA phones anymore) with a data plan. TheHusband was amenable to this so I immediately started my research. One of my coworkers got the Palm Pre (Sprint) last summer, and I liked what I saw. I played with a friend's iPhone and liked that too. I immediately dismissed any Window-based smartphones (look, I'm a Mac-head, Palm-user at heart). Serendipitously, Palm launched the Palm Pre Plus -- a new Palm-based smartphone for Verizon. I decided on that one, especially because I wanted to stick with Verizon wireless.

Then TheHusband expressed interest in getting a smartphone for himself. After I picked myself up from my faint, I dragged him right off to the Verizon store. The visit to the Verizon store just cemented my desire for the Palm Pre Plus, but TheHusband was undecided. Since we could get the rebate automatically if we bought it online, I thanked the guy behind the counter and we left. I felt bad that he didn't get credit for the sale, but I am so bad about sending in rebate paperwork that buying on line made sense. After much cogitation and decision-making, TheHusband decided on the Samsung Rogue for himself. He didn't care so much about the internet, but he wanted something with a keyboard so texting me back wouldn't be so annoying. He wanted to be able to put in his own ringtones, which his old brick-like phone (dated 2000) wouldn't let him do. He wanted to be able to input contacts. He didn't care so much about Wi-Fi, which was a deal-breaker for me.

I love my new phone. It does everything I want. It's cute. I can surf the web in before I go to bed. I have some objections to it -- I do not want to store my contacts and appointments in the "cloud". Neither Google nor Palm needs to know that much about me. I am a casual user -- I don't use the phone for business purposes. I can't check my work email with it, which is fine by me. I found a program that allows me to sync my phone to the old Palm desktop program that I've been using for years. I miss a couple of the PalmOS games that aren't available (yet?) on WebOS. I used an encrypted software program to store passwords and other importnat information. I loved that program. It does exist in a WebOS version, but instead of syncing to my own computer, apparently it syncs to the comapny's central server instead. Ummm, no, I am not putting my passwords and other important information on some random server. Nope, no way, no how. I will wait for a time to see if that company comes to its senses and comes out with a PC desktop for syncing, otherwise I'll find another encrypted program.

TheHusband doesn't love his. he likes the phone except for the volume. He has incredibly acute hearing, but the speaker on his phone sucks. SUCKS. If he can't hear it, then it is just too soft. He even has trouble hearing the damn thing ring. So he will be heading to the Verizon store tomorrow to see if the phone has a bad speaker or if that is what you get with the Rogue. We are still within the 30 day trial period, so exchanging it for something else won't be a big deal. I won't be sorry if he trades it in, to be honest. He decided to call the phone "Sarah" after Sarah Palin, because she's such a rogue. I have been tempted to stomp on the phone simply because of that.

I'm in love

It's all TheHusband's fault. And I am not referring to him. I'm in love with an artificial "brain", because TH has built me a new computer. This is the 3rd computer he's built for me, and it is the smartest, speediest, and cutest desktop computer ever. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we went to MicroCenter the other day to replace my wheezing and intermittently blind laptop with something a bit more reliable and less capricious (and non-portable).

The only part of my desktop that I picked out was the case. A computer has to look decent, besides work well, right? Right? I HATE putty-colored electronic equipment and believe that whoever came up with that beyond boring beige color should be forced to live in a house with putty colored walls, ceilings and floors. My new case is black and silver and has an emblem that looks like an ancient Roman helmet. Being a former classicist, that immediately attracted me. As for the innards -- I left that completely up to TheHusband and joined ThePinkThing in the aisle that had the black light, so we could admire our t-shirts and shoelaces...


Look, innards!!!

The computer has a 500 GB SeaGate hard drive, because TH will only use SeaGate or Western Digitial drives, having had unfortunate experiences with other brands. The chip speed is 2.67 GHz, which is about 50,000 times faster than the aforementioned wheezing laptop. It has a bunch of RAM (beats me how much), and a DVD writer, and multiple card-reader (for those little camera card thingamajigs). It has USB ports galore, and probably some other important features that I have no clue about. Mind you, this computer is not being used by a gamer/artist/photographer/etc, so all this computing power is probably wasted on me. But, boy, it zips along, and I'm having fun. Barring any dreadful accident to it, I suspect I will have this one for at least 5 years.

My new toy

My main computer, which is a 2.5 year-old Dell laptop, hasn't been acting quite itself lately. Sometimes when I boot it up, I get nothing. Nothing, you ask? Well, almost nothing. You can kind of see ghostly icons that are fractured and liney, but nothing works. It has always had video problems. For a while, everything had a bizarre greenish blue tinge, which was especially disconcerting when we were watching Shrek. And then it really began to act up when we got home from Ohio on Sunday. I now approach it with extreme caution. Will it boot up? Will it crap out in the middle of something? Will I throw it out the window? I have an old Macbook that someone gave to TH, but it has a dead battery, and it is pretty slow. Plus, I am out of Mac-practice, since the last time I owned a (working) Mac was about 11 years ago.

We decided to replace the Dell with a desktop -- speedier, cheaper, sturdier, and the innards can be swapped out as needed (easily, TH says). TH will even build it for me. Yay!

On Tuesday night, we went to the local MicroCenter. We like MicroCenter. They have all sorts of fun stuff in there. TPT likes the aisle where they have the black light thingamabobs that real geeks put in their computers to tart them up. She came over to tell me excitedly that her white shirt turned purple in there.

Anyway we bought a case (boring black), a bunch of innards, and a new keyboard. But the best thing of all is my new toy. TH had a $70 rebate for any HP product but it had to be used by 6/26. Since we were going to be retiring the laptop, we needed a travel computer of some sort. So we bought a netbook. I've been lusting after one of these for months, and with the rebate, it became ridiculously affordable. We bought a HP Mini 1137NR, and it is so cute. TH is not particularly impressed ("it is a cheap slow laptop"), but it is feather-light and connects to the web much more reliably than the Dell ever did. I am typing on it now, as we speak.


Here you see all of my currently working computers (plus a bonus cell phone), including my old monitor which is just waiting for the desktop to be hooked up to it. The new toy is the cute one in the front.