Thursday, January 08, 2004
Microsoft One Note
Deviating from my Cell Phone search thread for a few momements, I just want to put in a plug for Microsoft's One Note, the latest software addition to the Microsoft Office Suite. The concept is so simple, provide a central scratch pad to capture notes, thoughts, links, conversations, etc. The ultimate test I guess if the wortany piece of software is how much it gets used. Let's just say that this ranks in my top 5, and something I rely on every day.
Deviating from my Cell Phone search thread for a few momements, I just want to put in a plug for Microsoft's One Note, the latest software addition to the Microsoft Office Suite. The concept is so simple, provide a central scratch pad to capture notes, thoughts, links, conversations, etc. The ultimate test I guess if the wortany piece of software is how much it gets used. Let's just say that this ranks in my top 5, and something I rely on every day.
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
Continuing saga of the new cell phones.
Dad (me) wanted a smallish cell phone, bluetooth capabilities for remote data transfer and a wireless headset, color screen and kind of wanted some java features.
Wife wanted small, small, small and as long as it made calls, she would be happy. Oh, and it had to be cool to impress her friends!
Older son. Simply put, games and a camera.
Next son wanted games and cool looking phone.
Sony Ericsson T616. Hated the look of this phone at first, now I love it. This is the first cell phone I have owned that I have grown more accustomed to and grown a greater affinty for over time. What I like: Great color screen. Great call quality. Great Bluetooth functionallity. Great sound (with polyphonic sound support). Great joystick control. What I don't like: Have to have the phone in the perfect position by the ear to hear well. Screen gets dirty. Battery life is a little on the low side compared to other GSM phones.
The camera feature works quite well, and although I saw no use for it, I have in fact used it twice when I least expected to take a photo (once even in church).
The phone is an all around winner in my opinion.
Siemens SL56. I love the look of this little beauty, but frankly the keypad is just too small for a man's hands. Reception is good. Battery life is good. Wife likes, that makes me happy.
Siemens M56. Great kid's/teen phone. Flashy looking and great game and polyphonic sound. Son is in heaven. I noticed the buttons on the front are a little on the flimsy side, but he does not seem to care much.
Dad (me) wanted a smallish cell phone, bluetooth capabilities for remote data transfer and a wireless headset, color screen and kind of wanted some java features.
Wife wanted small, small, small and as long as it made calls, she would be happy. Oh, and it had to be cool to impress her friends!
Older son. Simply put, games and a camera.
Next son wanted games and cool looking phone.
Sony Ericsson T616. Hated the look of this phone at first, now I love it. This is the first cell phone I have owned that I have grown more accustomed to and grown a greater affinty for over time. What I like: Great color screen. Great call quality. Great Bluetooth functionallity. Great sound (with polyphonic sound support). Great joystick control. What I don't like: Have to have the phone in the perfect position by the ear to hear well. Screen gets dirty. Battery life is a little on the low side compared to other GSM phones.
The camera feature works quite well, and although I saw no use for it, I have in fact used it twice when I least expected to take a photo (once even in church).
The phone is an all around winner in my opinion.
Siemens SL56. I love the look of this little beauty, but frankly the keypad is just too small for a man's hands. Reception is good. Battery life is good. Wife likes, that makes me happy.
Siemens M56. Great kid's/teen phone. Flashy looking and great game and polyphonic sound. Son is in heaven. I noticed the buttons on the front are a little on the flimsy side, but he does not seem to care much.
My year with Verizon is up and I am on the search for a new cell phone (and possibly provider). To add to the complications, my wife and two of my sons need a cell phone too, so given some of the family plan deals each are providing make for some intriguing and cost saving possibilities. Some history; we have three cell phones today with Verizon. My own phone, a Motorola V60 is on a seperate billing plan. My wife and oldest some both have Motorola 120's, and they are on a separate plan. Combined we tend to spend about $120-$130 per month on the three phones.
My search began trying to figure out if we should stay with Verizon or move to an alternate carrier. There are three viable alternatives in out area, T-Mobile, ATT Wireless and Cinglular. I am leaving out Nextel and Sprint, the first since their phones are like mack trucks, and Sprint seems on the verge of something bad. Started by researching the web and trying to identify if there was good or bad press surrounding each. Also took a quick look at the costs for a family plan with each. Before summarizing my findings, it would be good to know that we live in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. This is halfway between Philadelphia and Scranton if familiar with the eastern side of PA.
First question I needed answered was is the ATT TDMA and ATT/Cingular/T-Mobile GSM networks up to snuff in this area. Answer is, nobody seemed to know. No point asking the sales people, basically they will tell you what they want you to hear. Asked some friends, consensus was that ATT provided "pretty good" coverage, but no one knew if they were TDMA users of GSM users.
Looking over the price of the phones, after deciding that GSM looked like a viable options, it was a no brainer. AT&T had the sweetest deals. So this is the line up:
Me - Sony Ericsson T616 - $50
Wife - Siemens SL56 - $100
Oldest Son - Sony Ericsson T616 - %50
Middle Son - Siemens M56 - Free!!
AT&T service $89.99 / month for all three phones with 900 minutes.
So far, fingers crossed, the AT&T GSM services has been superb in this area. The only place where I get a lower signal is (figures) in my home. I can still make calls BUT it is sometimes sketchy. NO DROPPED calls anywhere yet, though!!
I will write more later about each phones pro's and con's, the reasons we went for this lineup and the PROBLEMS with transferring our local numbers.
My search began trying to figure out if we should stay with Verizon or move to an alternate carrier. There are three viable alternatives in out area, T-Mobile, ATT Wireless and Cinglular. I am leaving out Nextel and Sprint, the first since their phones are like mack trucks, and Sprint seems on the verge of something bad. Started by researching the web and trying to identify if there was good or bad press surrounding each. Also took a quick look at the costs for a family plan with each. Before summarizing my findings, it would be good to know that we live in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. This is halfway between Philadelphia and Scranton if familiar with the eastern side of PA.
First question I needed answered was is the ATT TDMA and ATT/Cingular/T-Mobile GSM networks up to snuff in this area. Answer is, nobody seemed to know. No point asking the sales people, basically they will tell you what they want you to hear. Asked some friends, consensus was that ATT provided "pretty good" coverage, but no one knew if they were TDMA users of GSM users.
Looking over the price of the phones, after deciding that GSM looked like a viable options, it was a no brainer. AT&T had the sweetest deals. So this is the line up:
Me - Sony Ericsson T616 - $50
Wife - Siemens SL56 - $100
Oldest Son - Sony Ericsson T616 - %50
Middle Son - Siemens M56 - Free!!
AT&T service $89.99 / month for all three phones with 900 minutes.
So far, fingers crossed, the AT&T GSM services has been superb in this area. The only place where I get a lower signal is (figures) in my home. I can still make calls BUT it is sometimes sketchy. NO DROPPED calls anywhere yet, though!!
I will write more later about each phones pro's and con's, the reasons we went for this lineup and the PROBLEMS with transferring our local numbers.
