Random thoughts.... [Tech Edition]

Kind-of want a Kindle Fire 8.9 HD to replace my TouchPad..... but not sure if it's worth it over the Nexus 7.

I would personally prefer the N7 mainly because it is not tied to any specific service and is likely to be well supported with future updates.
 
I would wait to see if those rumored other Nexus devices come out. If I do replace the Fire, I want something a bit bigger, and would always go for a Nexus when feasible.
 
Had some issues recently with a frequency converter (electric water heaters cause interference!) (because the boiler is European and it needs 230v 50Hz to run). I don't know if this is permanent or not, the display is missing a few lines which is think is related to the intermittent power issues. Can this be fixed or am I screwed?

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Question for you savy laptop folks. I need a laptop for a work project. Dedicated, won't move a lot. It will have to run VMWare and other project specific software in XP. Must have a serial port or a docking station with a serial port. I'd rather not use a USB-to-serial if I can. What would be a good laptop for this task? Checkbook is open but I am trying to keep it under $1k.
 
Re: Random thoughts.... [Tech Edition]

Question for you savy laptop folks. I need a laptop for a work project. Dedicated, won't move a lot. It will have to run VMWare and other project specific software in XP. Must have a serial port or a docking station with a serial port. I'd rather not use a USB-to-serial if I can. What would be a good laptop for this task? Checkbook is open but I am trying to keep it under $1k.

A 15 inch ThinkPad or Latitude would serve you well. Might have driver issues if you want XP but likely not...Lenovo and Dell know that quite an number of business users will run XP.

The docking stations on both systems should have a serial port. The last 15 inch Dell to have a serial port was the D830
 
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A 15 inch ThinkPad or Latitude would serve you well. Might have driver issues if you want XP but likely not...Lenovo and Dell know that quite an number of business users will run XP.

The docking stations on both systems should have a serial port. The last Dell to have a serial port was the D830

Thanks, I will look into these.
 
I can confirm that the Latitude has a serial port on the docking station, and that it works properly :)
 
Damn. I have nearly a year left on my contract, and I just found out I'm getting a work iPhone Monday. Damnit. I had no problem signing up for a "special" deal from Amazon where my $200 phone was free and the catch was a $250-higher cancellation fee. I had no problem because I had my last phone for 4.5 years, so I had no idea I was going to get promoted twice in the mean time, and now get a company phone.

Do I keep the personal phone? It seems silly to pay $75/month for a phone I won't use much as a phone. I know I'm going to be disapointed by the iPhone if for no other reason than the tiny screen. :(

I wish I would have known ahead of time so I could have asked them to just pay for my phone for the remaining year.
 
Re: Random thoughts.... [Tech Edition]

Damn. I have nearly a year left on my contract, and I just found out I'm getting a work iPhone Monday. Damnit. I had no problem signing up for a "special" deal from Amazon where my $200 phone was free and the catch was a $250-higher cancellation fee. I had no problem because I had my last phone for 4.5 years, so I had no idea I was going to get promoted twice in the mean time, and now get a company phone.

Do I keep the personal phone? It seems silly to pay $75/month for a phone I won't use much as a phone. I know I'm going to be disapointed by the iPhone if for no other reason than the tiny screen. :(

I wish I would have known ahead of time so I could have asked them to just pay for my phone for the remaining year.

is there any way you could beg IT to let you BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)? You'd likely have to accept device restrictions that IT sets up via Exchange ActiveSync but you'd get to use the phone you want and avoid being stuck with a tiny screened iPhone 4 right before the (marginally) larger screen 5 comes out.

I'd say it's at least worth a shot. A lot of companies have chosen the iPhone though as the new BlackBerryesque standard so you MAY be stuck, especially if your IT department doesn't use Exchange ActiveSync to manage the iPhone.

I definetly know people who pay for a personal phone while keeping their crappy yet mandatory work phone around...just depends on how badly you want to resist moving.
 
It seems silly to pay $75/month for a phone I won't use much as a phone.

It seems silly to pay $75/month for a phone full stop :dunno:


More on topic, using your own device is worth a shot but may be trouble. In many cases IT wants do avoid having a heterogeneous set of devices to keep maintenance simple.
 
It's more trouble keeping the personal phone. I did for a while and it's just frustrating having two phones. Plus, after 3.5 months, you've already paid the early termination fee just in service cost.
 
It seems silly to pay $75/month for a phone full stop :dunno:

Welcome to 'merica. Sorry...if I was confusing, I meant $75/mo for the phone's PLAN (lowest amount of minutes I could get with 2gb/mo data, no texting plan). Sometimes, conversationally in the US, the phone's plan and the phone itself are spoken about as a complete unit, as many people renew their contracts to get a new free-subsidized phone, or similarly will upgrade their phone and extend their contracts.

I know keeping two phones it retarded, but it's simply a better phone, and IT won't let me use it. I mean, I could use our webmail system, but that's not really practical.
 
Welcome to 'merica. Sorry...if I was confusing, I meant $75/mo for the phone's PLAN (lowest amount of minutes I could get with 2gb/mo data, no texting plan). Sometimes, conversationally in the US, the phone's plan and the phone itself are spoken about as a complete unit, as many people renew their contracts to get a new free-subsidized phone, or similarly will upgrade their phone and extend their contracts.

I know keeping two phones it retarded, but it's simply a better phone, and IT won't let me use it. I mean, I could use our webmail system, but that's not really practical.
You might still be able to set it up. What I did with my current company is add the e-mail account to my iPhone and set up a Google Voice number to forward calls to both private and company cell and then put that number into my Outlook details and signature. Only thing I had to do to the phone is add an unlock password, then again your IT might be much less relaxed than mine.

So the wife's 4s had a weird problem, TERRIBLE speed on wi-fi. It would show 1-2Mbps connection on my wireless while my 4 and the iPad was running on 60 or so. After changing channels, resetting network, resetting the phone and turning off 802.11g support on my WAP it didn't really help. So we dropped by a genius bar and now she has a new phone :)
 
Who cares if you have a better phone, you don't have to pay for a phone plan, there's no strings attached. Besides no illegal drug dealing.
 
Welcome to 'merica. Sorry...if I was confusing, I meant $75/mo for the phone's PLAN (lowest amount of minutes I could get with 2gb/mo data, no texting plan). Sometimes, conversationally in the US, the phone's plan and the phone itself are spoken about as a complete unit, as many people renew their contracts to get a new free-subsidized phone, or similarly will upgrade their phone and extend their contracts.

There was no confusion, I had exactly that in mind. You pay for the plan and the phone in one sum every month, you can get the same scheme here. I was just saying that $75 for some plan and a $200 phone seems insanely high to me. It seems even higher now that I know you only have low minutes, moderate data and no texts included.
For $75/60? you could get a free iPhoney 4S 16GB (629?/$800 over here), unlimited texts, unlimited calls to landlines and within your mobile network (T-Mobile, not even an el cheapo provider!), 1GB data at 21mbps, unlimited at 64kbps, unlimited wifi from 11000 hotspots in Germany and 50000 hotspots worldwide, and 120 minutes to other mobile networks.
I'm certain there are better deals out there, usually T-Mobile is the most expensive.
 
There was no confusion, I had exactly that in mind. You pay for the plan and the phone in one sum every month, you can get the same scheme here. I was just saying that $75 for some plan and a $200 phone seems insanely high to me. It seems even higher now that I know you only have low minutes, moderate data and no texts included.
For $75/60? you could get a free iPhoney 4S 16GB (629?/$800 over here), unlimited texts, unlimited calls to landlines and within your mobile network (T-Mobile, not even an el cheapo provider!), 1GB data at 21mbps, unlimited at 64kbps, unlimited wifi from 11000 hotspots in Germany and 50000 hotspots worldwide, and 120 minutes to other mobile networks.
I'm certain there are better deals out there, usually T-Mobile is the most expensive.
Welcome to US cell plans... On top of it all unlike many other places we have to pay extra for shared data AND if you want to tether through your phone...
 
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