63 posts from 2006

The short story is that the Blackberry has much better versatility, functionality, and usability.  I found the Dash to be great eye candy, but unable to do the things I wanted it to do due to software limitations and issues.  For example, the Dash wouldn't sync with my work laptop because of the brand of firewall we use.  My Blackberry has absolutely no issues syncing with my laptop.  The Dash can only run one Java application at a time.  The Blackberry is able to tab between numerous applications.  The Dash's standard browser is slower than molasses, even when connected to WiFi.  My Blackberry, which is not WiFi-enabled, loads pages faster than the Dash ever was on WiFi.

I chose Blackberry over Dash and have not regretted the switch for one moment.

The long story is below:

Yod got a Blackberry Pearl for his birthday in October and we have been happily using it for mapping and information lookups anywhere we go.  It is great, but it has some drawbacks I just can't work with.  

Blackberrypearl

I don't like the pearl (trackball) and I don't like the SureType keypad.  I use a Logitech trackball both at work and at home, so I figured the Pearl would be second-nature.  However, you have to push down on the pearl (which does not have an "easy" push) to select items and try not to spin the ball while doing it. 

The SureType makes the Pearl a smaller phone by putting two letters onto each input button, rather than having a full QWERTY keyboard (that is the "standard" keyboard - look at your keyboard and the top 6 letters from left to right spell out QWERTY, hence the name).  The logic circuits in the phone then try to match what you are typing to known words... which is fine if you are using known words, but a pain in the rear as you have to select through menus and finally choose the letters one by one to type out the non-standard word.  This kind of defeats the purpose of having a QWERTY keyboard at all as it would be faster to have a standard phone pad. 

My experience with the Pearl left me wanting a different phone.

So, what am I looking for in a mobile device?  I am famous for forgetting meetings and appointments.  I usually put them into my work calendar so I get the Outlook pop-up reminders, but that doesn't help when I'm not at work.  I wanted a device that had easy-to-use calendaring with pop-up reminders.  I also wanted a device that would be able to play with my AOL MusicNow, since I can't use it on my iPod. 

Tmobiledash

Yod and I went into the T-Mobile store to see if they had any protective sleeves (aka phone condoms!) for his Pearl, when I noticed the T-Mobile Dash.  It was on super-special and I could have one for $100.  Wow.  This phone had it all - I could sync it to my work system, have a personal calendar, and install AOL MusicNow to have tunes when I wasn't at my computer!  Eagerly, I brought home my device, thankful to Rebecca G. at the Roseville T-Mobile store for all her help!

I really wanted to love this device.  I really did.  However, it was a menace from day 1.  The phone is beautiful, slimline, and vibrant.  The photo quality was superb.  All the "creature comforts" were well thought-out, but, in the end, it came down to function.  The T-Mobile Dash simply was a beast to work with.  I have WiFi at home and at work; the Dash was told to look for WiFi and simply didn't.  The Internet Explorer crashed, didn't load half the sites (like, oh, IMDB) and was overall very very slow.  There was no discernable difference when running on WiFi or the T-Mobile data network!  With T-Mobile's data plan, SMS (text messages) are NOT included.  They cost $.10 each message (in or outbound), and each of the features I wanted to use (Instant Messaging, Mail notification, etc.) required a text message to either authenticate or notify.

I tried to install some of the add-on programs available, and the only one that really worked was the gmail applet.  Opera, which did run faster than the standard IE browser, would error out the second time I tried to use it.  The first run after install would be perfect; the second crashed and had to be killed.  Oh, and anything you installed on the phone went on as a Java applet, and you could only have one running at a time.  Gmail, Google Maps, and Opera were all considered Java applets, so any link sent in gmail had to either be copied/pasted into Opera (after closing gmail), or I had to pray that it was a link IE would open.  To top it all off, I couldn’t sync it to my work computer due to the firewall not playing nice with Windows Mobile devices.  BULL PUCKEY!  I put up with it for 3 weeks, and then in frustration said NO MORE!

I went back to T-Mobile to return the Dash.  In California, you have 30 days from the purchase date to do so.  Unfortunately, I had already "used" my upgrade credit from T-Mobile, so they couldn't simply roll me back to my old phone and pretend like my Dash experience never happened.  I was already on contract for another 2 years and I either had to use the upgrade credit on an exchange for a new phone or wait for another year to upgrade my phone again under their upgrade credit program.  Rebecca G. was able to save my upgrade credit, but I had to use it before my 30 days expired.

Blackberry8700g

2 comments

After a little convincing from Yod, we decided to bite the bullet and get a Blackberry 8700g.  Some of you might know, this as Paris Hilton's current phone, though had I known that before I got the phone, I may not have purchased one in the first place (yes, I hate Paris Hilton, due in no small part to Yod saying she's "even more beautiful in person" when he met her, and the fact that she is famous for nothing more than being a spoiled brat with no morals).  But I digress... 

Aside from the lack of camera and that I don't think AOL MusicNow will work on the phone, it is perfect.  I love getting my email, talking on IM, and surfing the web from my phone.  The side click-wheel design fits perfectly with my thumb use, and the phone feels natural in my hands after only a few days (I got it on Thursday and it is only Sunday).  Sure, I miss some of the prettiness of the Dash, but I'll take flawless execution of programs and useful function over eye candy any day of the week and twice on Sundays!  Granted, this phone cost $150 more than the Dash, but the data plan is $10 less per month, I don't have to pay for text messages to use the phone functions, and best of all, it works!!!

If you're in the market for a new phone, I would caution you to steer clear of Windows Mobile technology.  It is buggy and a pain to work with.  You will save hours of frustration if you simply say no to Windows.  Sure, it's gorgeous, but if you're like me, you want your phone to actually work, not just look pretty.  And, if you can wait a few months, the Blackberry 8800 Crimson will have a camera, built-in GPS, and WiFi capabilities.  That will be my next phone!!

How are you ringing in the New Year tonight?

Playing, drinking, and eating!!

Who's your 'blog crush' on Vox?

CareaBearaSara

What's the best present you gave this year?

I'm not sure.  I (and my siblings) all went in on an iPod for my dad. His comment: Yay now I can join the 21st century! I (and the rest of my family) all went in on a gift certificate for my dad's girlfriend for a day spa excursion.  Her comment: I'm going to use this TOMORROW!!  But, by far, the most gleeful and happy present I gave was to my brother.  I got him as a stocking stuffer a Ninja Remote from ThinkGeek.com. I could see the schemes cooked up in his noggin as the possibilities of TV warfare were endless! 

I also gave my boyfriend a ring.  Before you say "awwww, how sweet!", let me show you the Ring I got.  It is the perfect gift for my beer-guzzling b/f!!

What were your New Year's resolutions for 2006?  How did you do?

Normal ones - lose weight, finish my class, be nicer and a happier person.

How'd I do?  I've maintained a little weight loss (about 10lbs) yay! and I did finish my class - yay! but I'm not sure about the being nicer and happier.  Perhaps Yod can answer that one.

By now, everyone pretty much accepts global warming (or global climate change) as fact.  I just watched a special about the top 7 ways that life as we know it will cease to exist.  This 2-hour long program went through star death, including our star, black holes, gamma storms; intelligent machines; killer asteroids; killer volcanoes; war; killer disease; and finally ended on the Political Statement one - global climate change.  Of the 2-hour program, this last one got 30 minutes. 

Now, I'm not going to say that global climate change isn't serious or it is a myth.  You can see the effects of pollution on the air and on humans.  However, not once in those 30 minutes was a solution brought forth.  Not once.

Anyone who knows me knows that if you have a problem that you want to address, for me to take it seriously, you better have a solution in mind--even if it is just a working solution.  That proves that you have thought about the problem and are not just raising the flag; it proves that you are also committed to finding a solution.  This program was just another alarmist propoganda device to tell "the world" that we're going to destroy ourselves if we don't "stop it".  I don't know about you, but there aren't many viable solutions and alternatives to how we are living today.

There are plenty of things that we can do that would be inconvenient, and others that would be less convenient but viable, but the recurring message from this program is "someone" should do "something".  And as I yelled at my TV, "So, smarty, what are YOU doing?" over and over as each snippet of interview played across the screen, I realized that, while plenty of people are worried about the future, and some are willing to perhaps do something, most everyone is waiting for "science" do to "something" to save the world from extinction due to trapped heat cause by increased greenhouse gasses.

I only know a few ways to change my habits that would not severely negatively impact my lifestyle.  Mass transit is out; it doesn't go anywhere near where I work.  Bicycling to work is out; it is too unsafe, for one, and too inconvenient, for another.  Transporting electronic equipment in either sweltering heat or deluges of rain isn't so smart.  I try to eat fresh veggies so I don't have to deal with as much packaging (which takes energy and creates pollution ot make), but there are still items that I must have in suburbia that come pre-packaged and there is nothing I can do about it.

So yes, "someone" needs to do "something"... but there is no magic bullet here.  All options must be both viable and convenient to have world-wide adaptation and a chance at saving our planet from a fate none of us truly desire.  Consumers will consume what companies put forth, so until that "someone" makes it so all companies manufacture products that are eco-friendly-from cars to computers to food to clothing-then nothing is really going to get done, and we will end up dying in the hell we created by failing to pursue, or demand, other options.

To A&E, I say this:  If you don't have a solution in mind, then you are just part of the problem.  Airing a program intended to be a doomsday propoganda device is stupid and short-sighted.  Why not give people an idea of what they CAN do instead of saying what will happen if they, people who have no real power to change the world, don't do SOMETHING?

What's something you did when you were younger that you still haven't confessed to your parents?
Submitted by Bizz.

Something you don't confess to your parents but want to confess to all cyberspace? hehehe

Hmm... well, I haven't "confessed" how or when I lost my virginity (not many have, I'm sure) but mostly because it would involve either someone dying or someone going to jail, and I don't want to get into a he-said-she-said court case.  Suffice it to say, I was 19 and it wasn't my choice.

To: Everyone
From: Me

Merry Christmas... even if you don't celebrate it.  This day is about hope, dreams, love, and family, if nothing else.  May your hopes and dreams come true, your love be everlasting and returned with the same intensity as it is given, and your family be less dysfunctional than mine!  he he j/k family, you know I love you!

What's your favorite holiday movie?

How funny, I was just discussing this last night with my siblings!  My brother-in-law claims that Die Hard is his favorite Christmas movie (it takes place during a Christmas party...) and my brother's favorite was similarly un-Christmas-y (something taking place during Christmas is not the same thing, dammit!).

I opt for the classics.  I love Miracle on 34th Street and It's a Wonderful Life, but my absolute favorite is White Christmas.  It makes me cry every darn time.  That isn't to say I don't enjoy A Christmas Carol or Story or two, though!

How did you find out the secret behind Santa Claus?
Submitted by Carinish.

When I was a kid, we went to my maternal grandparents' house for Christmas.  Since they lived so far away, we would drive from where we lived (Oregon, Arizona, the Bay area) to their house (Sacramento) and would stay for a few days.  One year, their house was full to the brim.  It wasn't a small house, but there were a lot of people in it since all my maternal aunts and uncles and cousins were there.  It was only a 4-br house, so my sister and I got to sleep on the sofa in the living room/piano room--the room with the central fireplace.  This was no hardship since their sofa was soft, luxurious, and about 9' wide.  She took one end and I took the other; our feet barely touched in the middle.

That year, we forgot our pre-made stockings at home, so my grandparents said my sister and I should hang up one of our own socks; that's how they did it in the "olden days"!  Socks hung, cookies, milk, and carrots & sugar cubes (9, of course) left with a note for Santa, we crawled onto sofa and were tucked into bed to await Christmas morning.

For some reason, perhaps it was the small girl socks (that were replaced by much larger grandfather-sized (clean) socks) or the excitement of the holiday, I woke up and caught my grandfather sneaking gifts into the living room and stuffing our makeshift stockings with goodies.  The next morning, my parents tried to convince me that Grandpa was just acting in Santa's stead, helping out as it were, but I didn't believe it.  I think I was 6 or 7.

To my parents' credit, they kept the Santa tradition alive well into my 20s, even though we all knew that Santa was spelled "M-o-m-a-n-d-D-a-d". They would keep most of the gifts hidden until Christmas Eve night, so that when we all awoke (or arrived, once we moved out and didn't stay there on Christmas Eve) on Christmas morning, the "magic" was still there. And, until my mom died, I still received gifts from "Santa" and a slightly singed note left on the hearth thanking me for the milk, cookies, and sugar cubes and carrots for the reindeer (in my mom's handwriting, of course).

Now, I'm looking forward to keeping that tradition alive with my nephew and, some day, my own children.