Verizon – Page 2 – @DanaMNelson

August 1, 2011

Just a Girl Looking for a Phone

I shared with many of you my decision to leave AT&T as a cell phone customer. This was not an easy decision, as I have been an AT&T customer for a very long time. Once I made the decision to go to Verizon, many people assumed I would jump right to the iPhone 4, which is now also available through Verizon. But as my friend Andrew would say, I’ve decided to make the jump to the “dark side.”

As with many major life changes — like getting fat or going bald — we don’t really actually notice them when they’re happening. I was falling in love with Androids.

How did this Happen?

Out of the blue one afternoon I was contacted by a representative from Verizon seeking my honest opinion. She offered me the opportunity to play with and provide feedback on some Verizon devices. This feedback would be published on my blog and / or the Evansville Business Journal.

Play with tech toys? Naturally I said yes.

For two weeks, I tried out several devices, including two phones, two WIFI hot spots and the Motorola Xoom, using them in a variety of settings that included an out of town conference. Like a coffee lover getting a first taste of Starbucks, I was hooked.

Lightning struck

The device that really took my heart was the HTC Thunderbolt. I really love the way the Thunderbolt phone interacted with me (yes, I did just refer to a phone as though it has human characteristics) and the way it looked and felt while I used it.

Thing is, I’m a heavy tech user. While there are many key features of the Thunderbolt that I like, I had some real issues I could not ignore: Heat and battery life. I heard myself saying several times that if you offered me a Thunderbolt today, I would gladly give up my iPhone . But the heat and battery life issues it turns out are deal-breakers for me.

The Search is on
So now here I am, willing to give up my phone, but not sure what to replace it with. So far Verizon has sent me a Droid Pro and the HTC Thunderbolt to take out for a spin. My local Wireless Zone has been kind enough to let me demo an LG Revolution and a Samsung Charge. All have had good features and some not so perfect for me features.

Yeah, I get all the data on the latest phones as they come out, often even before they come out. I know the technical specs, and what they can do — on paper. But a phone is so much more personal; everyone uses it differently. I need a phone that will go the distance with me, one that will bring up data and run multiple apps, remind me when I have meetings, get me there with good directions AND not run out of juice after just 4 to 6 hours.

I am on a quest to find the perfect phone for me. This girl geek, lover of technology, user of all things new and social is looking for lightning to strike twice.

July 10, 2011

Xoom Test Drive

(This article originally appeared in the Evansville Business Journal )

With less than a month on the market, I was given the opportunity to test drive a Motorola Xoom. This tablet has a lot of veryinteresting features that make it more desirable in some ways than an ipad2. Ifyou’re an Apple fan, and are used to Mac products, you might be more comfortablewith an ipad.

This tablet is comparable in price, processor and screensize. The resolution on the Xoom is slightly higher, and it has a 32 GB microSD, expandable memory that you can’t get with the ipad2.

The cameras arenotable better. While the addition of a backcamera with the release of the ipad2 was a big selling point, it was also a biglet down in the quality of camera. Thefront camera on the Xoom is a two MP and the back camera has a full five MP. Ifthe camera is important to you, the Xoom will win your heart.

Another big benefit ofthe Xoom is its ability to support flash within the web browser. If you do alot of browsing on your tablet, this might be a very important feature for you.Another feature that sets Xoom apart from the ipad2 is the extra ports.

The Xoomhas a micro USB 2.0 and an HDMI out, so if you’re into playing angry birds, youcan connect your Xoom to your 32 inch flat screen, and play some big angrybirds.

While Evansville is not on a 4G network at this time, the Xoomwill be capable of data transfer on this faster network when it does arrive. Ifyou travel, chances are many places you currently go are already equipped withthis faster network.
While we’re talking about the network, you can buy an ipad2 currentlywith no additional contract for a data plan. If you decide you need one you canpurchase it for the month or months you’ll need it. The Xoom isn’t currentlyoffered with a WiFi-only option.

After using this tablet for a few weeks, Ihave to say I really appreciate being on a data plan, as opposed to only havinga device that accesses the information I need when I’m near WiFi. If thenetwork was detected, and I had previously joined to that network, thetransition from 3G to WiFi was seamless.

There are a variety of ways in which I could use this tabletas an e-reader. It came with an application called “Books.” This was verysimilar to the “Kindle” app, which was also available for this tablet.

The Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library has a system online that allows you to checkout e-books. You have to use their application called “Overdrive.” You simplygo to the EVPL website and enter your library card number. You open the bookwith this application, which is very similar most other readers. If you have atablet, whether it’s an ipad or a Xoom, I strongly encourage you to try thise-book borrowing system.

When the iPad was first released, many of the applicationsin the Apple market would work on their tablet. It took some time for thedevelopers to catch up and create a variety of applications that werespecifically for the larger screen, but it eventually did happen. The same istrue in the Android market. There are currently only a handful of apps that arespecifically designed for a tablet on the Honeycomb system, but just as theApple market caught up, I fully anticipate that developers will have the Androidmarket caught up in no time.

Watching TV episodes, like Fringe for example, directly fromtheir website, was done with ease. The sound and video were incredible, and theoverall use of the Xoom as multimedia player left me very impressed. ~~I wasdisappointed to learn that Netflix, at this time, will not play on Android devices. They’re working to remedy this issue~~. You can as of June, watch Netflix on the Xoom! There are still issues with viewing content from Hulu.

My overall experience with the Xoom tablet left me veryimpressed with this device. If you’re that Mac user who’s more comfortable withApple products, and are hesitant to transfer because of the loss of music, besure to check out Double Twist, the itunes for Android, that will seamlesslyimport all your itunes.

June 24, 2011

Review: iphone Shoot Out

A few months ago I was approached by Verizon to test some equipment. I happily agreed. I was traveling to a 4G city and wanted to take it for a spin. At the time they also offered me an iphone 4.

“No thanks I have one of those.”

LOVED the 4G goodies – more about them another time.

After returning the items, again they wanted me to try out an iphone 4.

“No thanks I have one of those.”

“But yours is AT&T. “

So for 3 weeks I forwarded my AT&T iphone 4 to my Verizon iphone 4 and put it to the test. I have been an AT&T customer for a very long time. I know everywhere AT&T drops calls. (And that’s quite a few places.)

For 3 weeks I called, I e-mailed, I texted, I tweeted, I posted on every platform. When I had down time, I played games. I used, really used, that phone.

Not once… yeah, you AT&T people who drop calls while driving down the Lloyd heard me, not once did I drop a call. I went from Newburgh to USI, from the Lloyd up 164 and out Boonville New Harmony all the way to Highway41 and back again. Not once did I drop a call or have a complaint of voice quality.

Using the Wifi, both phones preformed about the same, with the exception of time spent finding a network. I could find and join networks much faster with the Verizon phone. Once connected, however there was no noticeable difference.

The big difference: Not being able to multi-task. On my AT&T iphone I can be carrying on a conversation, put the other person on speaker, and look up an address or event time on the web. With the Verizon iphone you can’t be talking and use over the air internet.

So the big question is:

How much do you value undropped calls?

Everyone, even AT&T employees, know AT&T has customer service issues. But over and over, as I dealt with local and national Verizon people I was always treated with kindness, and respect.

Is customer service important to you? Dropped calls Important to you? Then Verizon is the way to go.

Stuck with At&T?

On a side note; if you, like me, have an AT&T iphone and are “locked-in” to a contract, but want to make the jump to Verizon, E-bay is buying AT&T Iphones flat out. In most cases selling your AT&T phones will more than cover these pesky early termination penalties.