Gadgets

[theoriginalblurker]

I've been feeling the need to update some of my gadgetry.  Nothing phenomenally expensive in mind, just looking at my camera, mp3 player, and phone.  Right now I have the following:

Camera:  Canon S330 Digital Elph

I adore this camera.  The only thing I would like to improve here is a little more Mp, and addition of redeye reduction, which are included in all the new Elphs.  I really like the feel and size of the 330, and so I plan to stay with the Elph.  I'm looking at the 750, but I could be persuaded to go for another Elph model.

mp3:  iRiver iFP-700

I am very happy with this player, but I would like to increase my storage to 2GB.  The T-10 looks like a good match for me.

Phone:  Motorola E815

Meh.  I'm not unhappy with this phone.  Mostly I hate Verizon's user interface, and the way they lock their phones.  Unfortunately, they have great coverage and great sound, and I've had very good luck with their customer service, so I'm not looking for a switch.  I just want a cooler phone.  ;)  My two year contract is up, so I can get $100 off of my next phone with another 2 year contract.

Thoughts from the gadgeteers?

Comments

[dirkcjelli.livejournal.com]

You may wish to wait for the Android phones to start coming out, if you don't update your geek gear that often.

[mcroft.livejournal.com]

My guess? Android will be a dog's breakfast of functionality contributed by companies that can't compete with what they have, and a tiny fraction of very vocal users will wonder why everyone doesn't immediately adopt it, since it is perfect.

Give it a 4-8 years and it will be semi-decent, but all of the innovative features will have been duplicated by commercially viable creators.

forgot to add...

[mcroft.livejournal.com]

... if anything like what was promised is ever shipped at all.

[greeneyes-rpi.livejournal.com]

I don't update often at all, but I'm not sure I want to wait for Android. Knowing Verizon, they'll lock it down somehow. Bastards. ;)

[mcroft.livejournal.com]

E815 predecessor V710 drove me to Cingular, mostly because of the Bluetooth bait-and-switch. Verizon is at RIAA levels of "treat your customers like criminals", so no amount of better coverage would make me stay with them.

[greeneyes-rpi.livejournal.com]

I realize you guys have had very bad service from them. We have not experienced this.

[gentlyepigrams]

The service wasn't the problem. The problem was them crippling their device. It wasn't a problem for me for a long time, until I found out how much I was going to have to pay to get photographs off my phone because I might (omg!) steal make a ringtone from music I already owned. :-/

Service issues were mostly with Verizon's DSL, which is a separate issue.

[gentlyepigrams]

And I see in the review that the phone you have also has the file sync disabled. If you want to use the camera in your phone, you'll eventually run into the same problem I did.

[mcroft.livejournal.com]

we pretty much hit the jackpot. To be fair, the coverage was pretty good. However, "we're going to totally screw up your internet service for month because we're too incompetent to set it up the way we told you we would and we can't fix it" was after we'd decided to not voluntarily do business with them again.

The phone decision was on the basis of them telling us the phone had an advertised feature, then having several in-store clerks tell us that we could get the feature if we waited two weeks for an update, and getting past the return-date. We didn't even want to load hand-made ringtones, we just wanted to sync via bluetooth. We weren't really a threat to their precious revenue stream since we weren't in it. The one time I tried to download a free ringtone from them, the process was so bad that I gave up.

We did have it worse than you: they learned by the time they sold the E815 to tell people that it wasn't a full (aka working) Bluetooth implementation. They didn't get sued over the E815 like they did the V710. Having been so thouroughly burned by them, there's not much they could do to get back my trust.

So, yeah, if you want to do anything outside of what they expect you to do, you will meet their incompetence, lies, and greed. If you want a phone to make calls, they're not bad, but in that case, they'll give you some el cheapo phone for free.

YMMV (many people's does). I'm glad we don't have to have them as our local phone provider anymore. Good riddance.

[drangelo.livejournal.com]

Personally, I'd suggest a Variable Power Pool. I know it can be a bit expensive, but the costs can be reduced by taking Limitations, usually Foci and Activation rolls and such. And really, there isn't anything better for all-around functionality and flexibility.

What? You asked the Gadgeteers to comment.

[greeneyes-rpi.livejournal.com]

Dear Sir:

I find your ideas intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

[la-directora.livejournal.com]

I recently bought myself this camera, which I've really been enjoying. It was the camera I took with me on my bike ride, and my trips to Barbados and New Mexico. I was amazed at some of the great shots I managed to get with such a small little camera. Very happy with it.

For MP3 players, I can't stress enough that the iPod is the forerunner in the market FOR A REASON. I have two of them, and love love love them. And if you are at all into walking and running, getting the Nano with the Nike Plus gadget is good for hours of fun. :)

For phones, all I know these days is Treos and iPhones, so I'm not much help there. But I've been very happy with my Treo on Verizon, even with the features they lock out. (Though I have been able to successfully move photos from phone to camera via Bluetooth, though I can't synch that way.)