Dumping the droid.

So I have to say, I pretty much hate Lollipop. My Note 4 ran fast and smooth on KitKat, but because of the Stagefright vulnerability, I had to update. Now I don't like my phone anymore. I still owe a lot of money for it, but I think I might sell it anyway.
I'm also getting a promotion and will be getting a work phone, which will probably be an iPhone 6. I have never owned an iOS device, so it might be a learning curve. But I'm so frustrated with Lillipop that I'm okay with that. I'm more motivated to learn a new system now.
As long as I can install Google Voice on the work phone, I don't really need a phone of my own. If I get fired, I will just pickup a cheap Android at that point.
So even if I sell the Note 4 for less than I owe, by dumping my T-Mobile plan I will still make out better in the end. I think this is the most sensible thing to do, but I am going to wait until I actually have the work phone and make sure I can use it the way I want to use it.

Okay. End of rant.

I was thinking of keeping both phones, but I've been trying not to need a personal cell phone anyway. All of my experiments with VOIP were attempts to accomplish the same thing. So now there is a way to do that by using Google Voice on my work phone. Problem solved.

I've completely given up now. I admit it.

Last week I decided to get a new phone. My Nexus 5 was a great little device, except I had to replace it under warranty twice. Google was great about that. It didn't cost me a cent, but it was inconvenient. My warranty expires in a couple of months, so I decided it's time to upgrade. I've had my eye on the Galaxy Note family for a long time. I have big hands and large pockets, so I like the phablet concept in general. Last week I bought a Galaxy Note 4 from T-Mobile and I'm making payments on it (my pockets are big, not deep). To get the device protection insurance, I also had to sign up for JUMP, but I don't mind.
But get this. My first GN4 was defective too! It wouldn't stay connected to cellular data, so I had to take it back and they gave me a new one. Now that I have a working phone, I love it. The big screen is great to take to the gym. I get on the elliptical and put on Netflix. It's truly awesome. I still have unlimited data from T-Mo so I don't have to worry about charges for going over. Worst case scenario they will throttle my data speed, but that's okay.
I'm even considering getting rid of Google Voice, but I still want to see what Google is going to do with it down the road. Plus that's the phone number everyone has for me. So I need it as a forwarding service.
I've been going without a case for over a week. The UPS man is going to be dropping one off today, so I just need to make it through the afternoon without dropping it. Samsung sent me a 50% discount code so I used it to buy their case. I might get an extra battery too, but so far I don't think I will need it. The battery life on this phone is pretty astounding!

It sucks not having a phone

Earlier this week my Nexus 5 started acting odd whenever I would press the power button. Sometimes it would reset the phone as if it was stuck; sometimes it would shut off the screen, but then the lock screen would pop up again. It was pretty annoying.

Well today I sat down to eat my lunch and when I picked up my phone, it was off. That has been happening all week because of the tendency to shut down when I press the power button to shut off the display. But this time when I pressed the power button, nothing happened. I tried several times and held it for longer and longer durations, but it would not power up. So I finished my lunch and took it back to my desk. I connected a power cable and "Google" came on the screen for a couple of seconds, but then turned off for three seconds and restarted again. It continues to do this two seconds on, three seconds off repeatedly in a continuous cycle.

So I got on live chat with Google support, and Micheal D is setting me up with a refurb to replace this one. Hopefully they are in stock so I can get it tomorrow.

This is the second time I have needed a replacement. I miss my Nexus 4. That thing was perfect except for the lack of LTE.

I don't know if this is a Lollipop problem or something else. But I guess that's one more reason to dislike Lollipop. I guess Lollipop has a couple of nice features, but I still prefer KitKat overall.

I guess as long as this replacement phone lasts another year I'll be okay. I am done with grad school in November and then I'll have more disposable income again. Maybe I'll get a phablet at that time.