The Gadgetry Thread

[John Austin]

Since the crash, Nokia has announced the Lumia 1020 which is going to have a camera that has 41MP on it.  Other that that, specs are similar to the other Lumia phones. 

[glfpunk]

I had a Lumia 920 and really liked it but I was waiting for a new Lumia that wasn't as thick as the old one.  I like the sweet camera on this thing but man is that gigantic camera thing in the back ugly as sin.  I don't know if I can get past it. 

[John Austin]

Yeah, outside of the 1020's, the newer Lumias aren't as thick, but to get wireless charging you have to purchase an add-on, despite having NFC.  Personally I love the 920, I don't mind the thickness, though having to handle other people's phones is weird since that thing is so thick compared to others. 

[Red is Dead]

managed to get a free upgrade to a 4s from 3gs. holy crap on a stick, the difference in speed between the two is immeasurable. and theres no breakdown in comms with the 4s either.

 

Glad i upgraded, most of my apple frustration has gone now.

[glfpunk]

Yeah it's a big difference. I had a 3GS I bought and took the camera out of so I could have it at work and it was a piece. Not as big of a difference between the 4s and the 5 though so the 4s will serve you well.

[The Natural]

Hope this is the best place for it.

 

I got a Samsung HD ready 19 in TV yesterday and when the engineers came out to fit it, they gave me a free HDMI cable. Looking at my TV settings on the Xbox 360: its 1080i, Widescreen and HDMI. I was playing Batman: Arkham City on it yesterday and there’s a difference between it on this TV and my really old one.

[Travis Sheldon]

So Google dropped the Chromecast yesterday.

Price is $35, which includes a 3 month Netflix promo that makes the Chromecast cost more like $11.

I already have a PS3 for streaming Netflix, Youtube, etc..., so the content streaming from a Chrome browser interests me the most.

We only have one HDTV in the house and I already have 3 devices with streaming to TV capability, but I am intrigued with what the android community will come up for this device.

http://youtu.be/A4PYFSNolew

[supremebve]

So Google dropped the Chromecast yesterday.

Price is $35, which includes a 3 month Netflix promo that makes the Chromecast cost more like $11.

I already have a PS3 for streaming Netflix, Youtube, etc..., so the content streaming from a Chrome browser interests me the most.

We only have one HDTV in the house and I already have 3 devices with streaming to TV capability, but I am intrigued with what the android community will come up for this device.

http://youtu.be/A4PYFSNolew

I also have multiple devices that stream to TV, but for $35 I'm probably going to buy one.  The part I'm most excited about is the ability to stream from the chrome browser(keep your minds out of the gutter...syke).  I'll be able to watch the facebook UFC fights, the special features on HBO Go, and it probably won't be long until Google Play has all the media I've ever owned stored in the cloud.  Did anyone read that article comparing the tech giants to The Wire?  Google once again is Marlo making Microsoft and Apple look like dinosaurs.

 

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/07/what_went_wrong_at_microsoft_all_the_clues_are_in_the_wire.html

[Travis Sheldon]

And now it looks like Google has dropped the Netflix promotion.

Resellers are getting a good profit on eBay and Amazon marketplace for the Chromecast, now.

[supremebve]

And now it looks like Google has dropped the Netflix promotion.

Resellers are getting a good profit on eBay and Amazon marketplace for the Chromecast, now.

The crazy thing is that $35 is still more than half the price than any competing products on the market right now.  I'll probably pick one up so I can watch the last season of Game of Thrones with the enhanced features on my big screen without having to unhook other components in order to plug my laptop in.  I still can't understand while you can't access the enhanced features on the HBO Go Apps. 

[Travis Sheldon]

I went to Best Buy to check on trading in DVDs for $5 coupons toward Blu-Rays and while I was turning in the DVDs I spied a Google Chromecast being looked at by a couple of employees behind the counter.

I enquired about the device and was told it was a return, I asked if it was "open box", but it was sealed and they let me purchase the Chromecast.

It works as advertised.

I checked streaming through my  phone using youtube, no surprise it worked fine.

Next I went to my office PC and checked vanilla Hulu through the Chrome and it worked.

Then came a mp4 of a Metric show I dl'ed off youtube that resided on my hard drive, it streamed just fine through the Chrome browser.

The only hitch I've found so far with playing through the Chrome browser is the inability to turn off the video feed that plays on the PC while it's streaming. Audio mutes on the streaming browser while it's casting, but video plays along and causes a slight delay. So I had to turn quality to the lowest until I figure out a fix.

For what I want it to do, at the moment, it looks like it will be winner.

[NikoBaltimore]

I am considering the Chromecast though wonder if I really need it.  I recently got a 40" Samsung Smart TV that is flat out amazing.  It has a good amount of apps like Youtube and all that.  I also have the Galaxy S4 making putting my stuff on there rather easy.  I'd need to see what else it offers past what I have already.  For $35 I'll likely get it but not anytime soon.  It would be nice if it would show any app I use on TV, but I think it's only for certain apps.

[glfpunk]

I don't really know a ton about it but for $35 I'm going to get one as well.  Usually I download stuff to a portable HD and play via an Xbox 360 on my TV.  I used to stream and I've used a few different apps but it was always a pain.  I'm interested to see how the Chromecast does.  

[glfpunk]

I'm putting this here since a lot of phone stuff goes in here.  Tmobile has a plan that they don't advertise very well and if you don't talk on the phone much it's a really good plan.  It's $30/month for unlimited data, text, and 100 minutes of voice.  It's a prepaid plan so no contracts and you have to bring a compatible phone or purchase one outright but there's also no fees on the plan.  It's just a flat $30.  Obviously it's only worth looking into if you have decent T-mobile coverage in your area and talking on the phone isn't a big concern. 

 

I had a Nexus 4 that I bought from google so I purchased the sim card activation kit from Walmart and activated the plan and popped the sim card in that phone just as a trial to see how their coverage was around me and I get good 4g signal from Tmobile in my area so I'm going to make the switch. 

[Ace]

I was considering the same with my next phone.

[LooseCannon]

I got my last phone upgrade in 2009.  I hate typing on a virtual keyboard, but I am intrigued by reviews of the Moto X.

[Tabe]

So, because of some Sears screwups, my wife and I ended up with a $280 gift card to them.  We went to the store this past weekend looking to see what might jump out at us to buy and ended up picking up two things:

 

- a 29" Toshiba LED TV

 

- a Nook HD+ tablet

 

I'd been wanting a tablet for awhile.  My wife has a Kindle Fire but I'm not real crazy about it.  Didn't want to spend the dough for an iPad or iPad Mini so I had been looking at the Nexus 7 and actually almost bought one the day it was released.  The small screen size turned me off though.  So I started looking at alternatives and the HD+ seemed like a really good one.  And, so far, I'm very pleased.  The screen is fantastic.  I'm not trying to do anything spectacular on it, mostly just email, web surfing, and the occasional Netflix and for all that it's great.  I just bought a microSD card and will be rooting the device and putting CM10.1 on there.  I've heard that makes it even nicer.  Especially given what I paid for the tablet ($60 for a 29" TV *and* a 9" tablet?????), I could not be happier.

[Tabe]

I got my last phone upgrade in 2009.  I hate typing on a virtual keyboard, but I am intrigued by reviews of the Moto X.

 

Learn the power of swype.  I hate typing on virtual keyboards, too, but swype makes it tolerable.

 

I'm in the same T-Mobile upgrade area as the guys above.  I've thought about getting the $30 plan since I rarely use minutes and could easily restrict myself to wi-fi calling for the limited talking I DO use.  Problem is, both my wife & I want phone upgrades and I'm not real crazy about laying out $1000 or $1200 up-front to get new phones.  Also, my in-laws are on our plan with us and there's not really a cheap (talk & text only) plan that fits them.  We also are considering switching to Verizon.  Not real sure what we're going to do. 

[LooseCannon]

- a Nook HD+ tablet

 

I'd been wanting a tablet for awhile.  My wife has a Kindle Fire but I'm not real crazy about it.  Didn't want to spend the dough for an iPad or iPad Mini so I had been looking at the Nexus 7 and actually almost bought one the day it was released.  The small screen size turned me off though.  So I started looking at alternatives and the HD+ seemed like a really good one.  And, so far, I'm very pleased.  The screen is fantastic.  I'm not trying to do anything spectacular on it, mostly just email, web surfing, and the occasional Netflix and for all that it's great.  I just bought a microSD card and will be rooting the device and putting CM10.1 on there.  I've heard that makes it even nicer.  Especially given what I paid for the tablet ($60 for a 29" TV *and* a 9" tablet?????), I could not be happier.

 

I bought a Nook HD+ when they went on sale for $150 and it's been great.  Reviews had already described it as a good value tablet, then they cut the price almost in half.  The only drawback for me is the proprietary connector.  Some people might complain about the lack of a camera, but that's not a big deal for me.  The removable media was a major factor for me and one reason why I was never interested in an iPad.  There's some weirdness in that it supports cbz but not cbr (easy to convert) and mp4 but not avi (more annoying to convert).

[Tabe]

The proprietary connector is definitely a pain.  I've also noticed that you can't charge it while it's completely off, which is kinda stupid but I'll live with it.

 

The lack of a camera seems to be more of an issue for my wife than me.  I don't care at all - that's why I have a nice-ish camera on my cell phone.

 

AVIs aren't supported at all, even with some apps from the Google store?  Odd.

 

Sears had the Nook HD+ for $140 when we were there so it was a good value even if I didn't have the gift card.

[glfpunk]

 

I got my last phone upgrade in 2009.  I hate typing on a virtual keyboard, but I am intrigued by reviews of the Moto X.

 

Learn the power of swype.  I hate typing on virtual keyboards, too, but swype makes it tolerable.

 

I'm in the same T-Mobile upgrade area as the guys above.  I've thought about getting the $30 plan since I rarely use minutes and could easily restrict myself to wi-fi calling for the limited talking I DO use.  Problem is, both my wife & I want phone upgrades and I'm not real crazy about laying out $1000 or $1200 up-front to get new phones.  Also, my in-laws are on our plan with us and there's not really a cheap (talk & text only) plan that fits them.  We also are considering switching to Verizon.  Not real sure what we're going to do. 

 

 

As far as full price phones go there's not a better deal out there than the Nexus 4.  You get it straight from the google play store.  It's got a great display, good processor, and really good camera.  Top of the line phone.  The only negative towards it is that it doesn't have LTE.  It's 4g band is HSPA+ but that's still plenty fast in my opinion.  You can get the 8gb model for $299 from google and it's unlocked so it can be used on any GSM carrier. 

[LooseCannon]

I'm kind of tied to Sprint, which I haven't had any reason to complain about.

[Tabe]

As far as full price phones go there's not a better deal out there than the Nexus 4.  You get it straight from the google play store.  It's got a great display, good processor, and really good camera.  Top of the line phone.  The only negative towards it is that it doesn't have LTE.  It's 4g band is HSPA+ but that's still plenty fast in my opinion.  You can get the 8gb model for $299 from google and it's unlocked so it can be used on any GSM carrier. 

 

Thanks for the heads-up.  That might be worth looking into for me.  My wife really wants a Galaxy Note so may have to get a used Note 2 for her or something.  $30 a month for service is really appealing.

[Vincey Greene]

(disclaimer: I work for Sprint. The views expressed in this post are mine alone and do not reflect the views of Sprint Corp, any Sprint vendors, Microsoft, or anyone except Vince Greene)

 

 

I got assigned the HTC 8XT as the device advocate which means I use it a while, show my colleagues around it, and then get it for free. For all the steps Microsoft has made to improve Windows Phone, the lack of a competent Facebook app or any Google apps at all means this is going to be a rough couple of months. I miss my SGS3 desperately already, after two days.

Really is quite a shame, the OS is nice. Aspects of it are far beyond Apple or Android. But when the basic apps are so terrible - or non-existent - it makes it hard to recommend.

[Craig H]

Anyone else with an iPhone 5 find that the battery now dies incredibly fast and the phone gets hot as hell? My battery life used to be incredible, but now the battery wears out quickly and a 10 minute conversation superheats the phone.