I recently switched away from the $30/month "secret" plan from T-Mobile prepaid, and switched to the $70 postpaid (normal) plan with T-Mobile. While I was waiting for the new SIM card to arrive, I still wanted to use the WiFi capabilities of my Nexus 5. For some reason I decided to turn off mobile data. Well after my prepaid plan was done, my phone was no longer able to connect to the T-Mobile service at all. I took my phone to the T-Mobile store in my neighborhood, and there was a guy names Charles who gave me lots of help. He helped me for a couple of hours before giving up, but then he helped my find the number to call Google and get help from them. They set me up with a warranty order, and I received the new phone the next day.
I'm thrilled with both T-Mobile and Google for the great service I was given. It was a pain to go through the experience, but they were both so helpful that it made it almost pleasant. I was very impressed!
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Friday, March 14, 2014
So much for the secret plan
Due to the discovery that I get a 10% discount on T-Mobile through a program at work, and also the fact that I want to add data tethering to my phone, I am finally going to switch back to a post-paid plan. I liked the low price of the $30 plan, but with only 100 minutes I feel somewhat isolated. Right now I don't have a roommate, and as an extrovert I really need to be able to reach out and talk to someone, on a regular basis. Without the cost of DSL or Cable internet, it's easier to justify the $70 T-Mobile plan. I didn't realize that I'd need a new SIM card, so I actually won't have a phone for a few days. I'm planning to skate by with my old FreedomPop hotspot to deliver my texts and emails to me. The SIM card will cost me $10, but then my monthly plan will only be $63 after the discount. I'm pretty happy with that.
Monday, March 3, 2014
CenturyLink cancellation dance
I have (almost) always received a great deal from CenturyLink. But to get those deals, I have always had to be in the position of calling to cancel my service. I don't even remember the initial offer I received, it's something my old roommate negotiated on my behalf. He was doing a lot of SEO work, and needed bandwidth. So when he saw a special price for 40 Mbps service and a chance to get away from Comcast (about which I had been whining a lot), he contacted Qwest (who was later acquired by CenturyLink) and got me a sweet deal.
Well after that offer ended they jacked my price up to something that I was not willing to pay, so I called to see if I could negotiate something better. When I did that, their Customer Service department told me there was no way to continue the special offer, so I told them I wanted to cancel. Then when I got to the department that handles cancellations, they told me they actually could continue the offer. I think that covered the first two years. But now the interval seems to be getting shorter every time I call. Also the last time I called I had to downgrade to 20 Mbps service.
I currently don't have anyone renting from me, and my own personal use is just for Facebook, email, and the occasional Hulu video. Video streaming uses a lot of data, but I normally record the shows on my DVR anyway. It's not like there will be a large void in my life without that. For the low data use, I still have my FreedomPop hotspot which gives me 500 Mb for free every month. Also being in grad school means I spend a lot of time at the library and various coffee shops, where they have free WiFi.
The vast majority of my personal internet use is on my mobile phone. I can add tethering for $15 per month. That would suffice for now. Whenever I rent out my extra bedroom again, I will consider Comcast and CenturyLink at that time. The only reason I would need tethering would be for streaming video. Since I have 5 GB of data available to me each month, I could watch a couple of videos here and there, but it's not really worth $15 to do that. I actually opted out of Amazon Prime for Students before I was charged, so I'm not going to be streaming that. If I sign up for Netflix again, it would mostly be for use on my phone anyway, but I am not planning to do that in the near future either. I really don't have time for anything more than the shows I record on my DVR and the occasional Redbox rental anyway.
This blog is just me venting about my experiences. I plan to call CenturyLink during my lunch break, so I guess I will soon know what they are willing to offer me this time.
***UPDATE: After calling them and waiting on hold for 20 minutes, I was allowed to cancel. Perhaps it's because I never brought up Comcast. I told the rep that I was planning to use my cell phone, but I never mentioned the $15 tethering fee. Perhaps he would have counter-offered if I had mentioned a dollar amount. But I really am tired of having to watch my bill like a hawk because of the way they jerk me around on the price. So for now, it's goodbye and good riddance. I can live without DSL until I find a new renter.***
Well after that offer ended they jacked my price up to something that I was not willing to pay, so I called to see if I could negotiate something better. When I did that, their Customer Service department told me there was no way to continue the special offer, so I told them I wanted to cancel. Then when I got to the department that handles cancellations, they told me they actually could continue the offer. I think that covered the first two years. But now the interval seems to be getting shorter every time I call. Also the last time I called I had to downgrade to 20 Mbps service.
I currently don't have anyone renting from me, and my own personal use is just for Facebook, email, and the occasional Hulu video. Video streaming uses a lot of data, but I normally record the shows on my DVR anyway. It's not like there will be a large void in my life without that. For the low data use, I still have my FreedomPop hotspot which gives me 500 Mb for free every month. Also being in grad school means I spend a lot of time at the library and various coffee shops, where they have free WiFi.
The vast majority of my personal internet use is on my mobile phone. I can add tethering for $15 per month. That would suffice for now. Whenever I rent out my extra bedroom again, I will consider Comcast and CenturyLink at that time. The only reason I would need tethering would be for streaming video. Since I have 5 GB of data available to me each month, I could watch a couple of videos here and there, but it's not really worth $15 to do that. I actually opted out of Amazon Prime for Students before I was charged, so I'm not going to be streaming that. If I sign up for Netflix again, it would mostly be for use on my phone anyway, but I am not planning to do that in the near future either. I really don't have time for anything more than the shows I record on my DVR and the occasional Redbox rental anyway.
This blog is just me venting about my experiences. I plan to call CenturyLink during my lunch break, so I guess I will soon know what they are willing to offer me this time.
***UPDATE: After calling them and waiting on hold for 20 minutes, I was allowed to cancel. Perhaps it's because I never brought up Comcast. I told the rep that I was planning to use my cell phone, but I never mentioned the $15 tethering fee. Perhaps he would have counter-offered if I had mentioned a dollar amount. But I really am tired of having to watch my bill like a hawk because of the way they jerk me around on the price. So for now, it's goodbye and good riddance. I can live without DSL until I find a new renter.***
Friday, February 28, 2014
Amazon Prime - Student
Last fall I started grad school. My employer reimburses a nice chunk of it, so I figured now is the time to get my MBA. It keeps me pretty busy. About the same time, I signed up for the free trial of Amazon Prime for Students. It does not include the video streaming, but I don't have time for that anyway.
Well now it's time to renew. I had dropped Netflix because I didn't want the distraction, but now when I renew with Amazon I will have to pay for it, and it appears to include the video streaming. I guess I will just have to find some time. Hopefully they have Doctor Who, since that was my favorite Netflix series and I only made it into season 2.
$40 per year does seem like a pretty awesome deal. So if you have an email address with .edu at the end, you could get yourself a great deal on Amazon Prime membership.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Being forced
Last night my MBA cohort started a new class. For some reason the professor brought up Windows 8 and he said that he liked it. He asked the class if anyone was using it, and one (of 27) people are using it. He asked her if she likes it, and she said that she does, but she had to get used to it.
That made me think of an initial complaint I had about my Nexus 5. It appeared to only have two home screens. On the Nexus 4 there were five home screens. But after complaining I realized that most of the shortcuts were just things I used occasionally and the additional home screens were really just additional clutter. So I adapted to using the apps menu for most of the apps, and only put shortcuts on the homes screen for things I used frequently. Now at least everything I use occasionally is in alphabetical order. My calendar widget, as well as shortcuts for Facebook, Gmail, Gas Buddy, and other apps I use regularly are still on the main home screen.
Well after installing some new apps, I learned the Nexus 5 will add more home screens as needed. So it turns out I could have recreated what I had on the Nexus 4, but now I am accustomed to the less-cluttered way and I actually prefer it.
So maybe someday I will even buy a computer with Windows 8.
.
.
.
Oh, I had to stop myself from laughing. I'm not going to be buying a computer with Windows 8 anytime soon.
That made me think of an initial complaint I had about my Nexus 5. It appeared to only have two home screens. On the Nexus 4 there were five home screens. But after complaining I realized that most of the shortcuts were just things I used occasionally and the additional home screens were really just additional clutter. So I adapted to using the apps menu for most of the apps, and only put shortcuts on the homes screen for things I used frequently. Now at least everything I use occasionally is in alphabetical order. My calendar widget, as well as shortcuts for Facebook, Gmail, Gas Buddy, and other apps I use regularly are still on the main home screen.
Well after installing some new apps, I learned the Nexus 5 will add more home screens as needed. So it turns out I could have recreated what I had on the Nexus 4, but now I am accustomed to the less-cluttered way and I actually prefer it.
So maybe someday I will even buy a computer with Windows 8.
.
.
.
Oh, I had to stop myself from laughing. I'm not going to be buying a computer with Windows 8 anytime soon.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Moral debate
I have not had much to post about lately. Life is good. My Nexus 5 is a great phone and has more power than I need. My Nexus 7 (2012) is getting slower but I just have to remember to close the apps that I'm not using and then it works just fine. The one thing I miss is being able to tether on my Nexus 4 without paying for it. There is a new bit of code in the Nexus 5 that tells it to report to the carrier whenever a user tries to tether. So now it can't be done on the sly without paying for tethering. I found a solution online where you add a line to the registry that effectively cancels that reporting command. You have to root your phone to do that, which I've never done before, but it doesn't seem too difficult.
The reason I have not done so is for moral reasons. I was one of those kids who used Napster to download a bunch of songs for free. And at one point I used BitTorrent and other P2P programs to download all kinds of crazy stuff. But then it dawned on me that it was theft. I know some people get a thrill out of seeing how many movies they can pirate, and what else they can get away with, but to me that seems like shoplifting, and I'm getting too old for that crap. I'm a grownup with a job and I can afford to pay for tethering if I truly need it.
For now I am going to keep using a Blu-ray ripper to rip my existing DVD and Blu-ray movies to digital formats that I can load onto my tablet. If I want to watch Netflix then I will just use my phone like I did in the old days (two years ago).
I'm not writing this to preach to anyone. It's just something that's been on my mind lately.
The reason I have not done so is for moral reasons. I was one of those kids who used Napster to download a bunch of songs for free. And at one point I used BitTorrent and other P2P programs to download all kinds of crazy stuff. But then it dawned on me that it was theft. I know some people get a thrill out of seeing how many movies they can pirate, and what else they can get away with, but to me that seems like shoplifting, and I'm getting too old for that crap. I'm a grownup with a job and I can afford to pay for tethering if I truly need it.
For now I am going to keep using a Blu-ray ripper to rip my existing DVD and Blu-ray movies to digital formats that I can load onto my tablet. If I want to watch Netflix then I will just use my phone like I did in the old days (two years ago).
I'm not writing this to preach to anyone. It's just something that's been on my mind lately.
Friday, February 7, 2014
Nexus 8 rumors
There are some rumors floating around about a Nexus 8 being released in a couple of months. If it is real, this is what I would like to see in the new tablet:
The same processors (CPU and GPU) as used in my Nexus 5.
4 GB of RAM.
At least 64 GB of storage. 32 has been plenty for me on my N7, but bigger is better!
8 inch screen
Outside dimensions no larger than the Nexus 7 tablets. Even if it's the same as the original 2012 version. They should be able to reduce the size of the bezel and put an 8 inch screen in the same size tablet.
I also want them to keep the pricing comparable to what the N7 pricing has been. I didn't buy the 2013 N7 because my old one was sufficient. So I want to see some huge jumps in specs and a good price to make it worth my while to upgrade.
This is my wishlist. Any thoughts?
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