iPhone 3GS vs iPhone 3G vs Palm Pre
Posted on June 9, 2009
Filed Under Shopping, gadgets | 1 Comment
I found this great comparison table and thought I’d post it here.
The year’s two most-anticipated smartphones have finally been unveiled and while the race is close, Apple has already taken the lead with its revamped iPhone 3G S and newly-priced iPhone 3G. But can Palm’s do-or-die smartphone catch up to Apple? We compared the phones below to see where they stand.
Features 
Both the Palm Pre and Apple iPhone 3G S can put most of their competitors to shame. However, when stacked next to each other, the iPhone 3G S sports just enough extra capabilities to give Apple the lead over the Pre. Among them are the ability to natively record and edit video, geotag video, guide you via its digital compass, and remotely wipe your phone’s contacts and drive if lost. (The last feature requires a $99/yr. MobileMe account.) It can also make international calls via AT&T’s GSM network. In addition, the iPhone 3G S is compatible with over 50,000 apps from the Apple iTunes Store. With only 18 apps to its name, the Pre has the insurmountable task of catching up to Apple, a feat that even Google’s Android hasn’t achieved. (For a detailed look at the Palm Pre’s capabilities, check out our previous Palm Pre feature here.)
Winner: iPhone 3GS
Voice/Data Plans
If you’re looking to keep your monthly cell phone bills low, Sprint is the clear winner. For $70/month you’ll get 450 anytime minutes and unlimited data usage including unlimited picture and text messaging. Meanwhile, AT&T customers can expect to pay a premium for the right to own an iPhone. To begin, AT&T requires a $30/month data plan. Next, you’ll need a voice plan of which the cheapest is $40/month for 450 minutes. Unlimited text messaging adds $20/month, which brings the monthly total to $90. In two years, you’ll spend $1,680 on Sprint versus $2,160 on AT&T, not including the price of each phone.
Winner: Sprint
Customer price gouging
Unfortunately, if you’re a current AT&T or Sprint customer, your upgrade options are both expensive and confusing. Current AT&T/iPhone 3G owners will be able to purchase the iPhone 3G S at the announced price only after fulfilling an 18-month requirement with AT&T. However, certain customers might qualify for an “early upgrade price” in which you’ll pay $399 for the 16GB 3G S and $499 for the 32GB 3G S. If you don’t want the two-year contract, you’ll need to pay the full price, which is $599 for the 16GB 3G S, $699 for the 32GB 3G S, and $299 for the 3G model. Likewise, Sprint will charge its current customers $299 or $375 for the Palm Pre depending on how long customers have been with Sprint. In other words, if you’re a current AT&T or Sprint customer you’re better off waiting until you qualify for a discount or staying with the phone you have now. Unfortunately, these price hikes are common amongst all wireless carriers and not just Sprint and AT&T. We recommend contacting AT&T and Sprint directly to find out your upgrade options.
Winner: Verizon & T-Mobile customers
Value
At $99, the iPhone 3G is among the most affordable smartphones you can buy. However, don’t be mislead by its price drop. AT&T is still more expensive than Sprint and after a two-year contract the Palm Pre is significantly cheaper ($380 less) than the iPhone 3G.
Winner: Palm Pre
Conclusion 
On paper, the Pre’s features and affordability appear to all but destroy AT&T and its pricey iPhone alternatives. However, the iPhone and its OS have had two years to evolve and despite a few flaws (no MMS support till end of summer, no expandability). Additionally, new iPhone 3.0 software (a free update due for release on June 19) looks likely to raise the bar yet again for the entire smartphone industry. As a result, the iPhone remains the undisputed champ of the smartphone market.
Value-wise, you’ll save some money with the $99 iPhone 3G. It’ll lack some of the iPhone 3GS’ new features such as video recording, the built-in compass, and longer battery life over Wi-Fi, but the iPhone 3G will receive the same (free) iPhone 3.0 software update as its bigger brother and it will run the same apps as the iPhone 3GS. Sure, AT&T will make you spend more money on a yearly basis, but you’ll avoid the first-generation bugs bound to show up on the Pre and enjoy a smartphone who’s had two years to mature.
Winner: iPhone 3G
iPhone 3GS vs iPhone 3G vs Palm Pre
 |
 |
 |
|
(includes 450 mins voice) |
|||
(least expensive) |
|||
(at thickest) |
|||
(850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz) UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100MHz) |
(850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz) UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100MHz) |
||
(turn-by-turn) |
|||
300 hours standby |
300 hours standby |
*New subscribers only.
Source: http://dealnews.com
Free Indian music sampler from Amazon (6 Tracks)
Posted on June 2, 2009
Filed Under Free, Hot Deals | Leave a Comment
Check it out!
Six Degrees Free Indian Music Sampler
Students and teachers can fly to London or France for $30 from STA Travel
Posted on May 15, 2009
Filed Under Hot Deals, Shopping, Tips | Leave a Comment
http://www.pitchengine.com/statra…vel/11746/
Students and teachers can fly to London or France for $30 STA Travel is offering $30 round-trip airfare to London and Paris while supplies last.On Wednesday, May 20th, the tickets includes taxes and fees will go on sale 1-800-360-9273. You can choose a round-trip flight on Virgin Atlantic or American Airlines to London or Paris from any of these cities:
New York City Boston Washington, D.C. Los Angeles San Francisco Seattle London Paris A couple more rules: You have to be under the age of 26 and/or a currently enrolled student or teacher. A valid ISIC/IYTC/ITIC identity card is required to purchase a ticket and is available for $22 if you don’t already have one.You can only get the discount by calling or visiting an STA Travel retail branch, and you have to mention the promo code $30OFF when purchasing.
how to get the student card
http://www.isic.org/sisp/index.htm?fx=istc_info
More details:
STA Travel is offering $30 round-trip airfare to London and Paris while supplies last. But not yet. Calm down.
On Wednesday, May 20th, the tickets (whose totally ridiculously low price includes taxes and fees) will go on sale, so call them right away in the morning at 1-800-360-9273. You can choose a round-trip flight on Virgin Atlantic or American Airlines to London or Paris from any of these cities:
* New York City
* Boston
* Washington, D.C.
* Los Angeles
* San Francisco
* Seattle
* London
* Paris
A couple more rules: You have to be under the age of 26 and/or a currently enrolled student or teacher. A valid ISIC/IYTC/ITIC identity card is required to purchase a ticket and is available for $22 if you don’t already have one.
The ticket is non-refundable, but don’t go buyin’ ‘em up and not usin’ ‘em. That makes you mean.
You can only get the discount by calling or visiting an STA Travel retail branch, and you have to mention the promo code $30OFF when purchasing
Another link with details: http://www.pitchengine.com/statravel/30-roundtrip-airfare-to-london-and-paris-from-sta-travel/11746/
HP Laptop Battery Recall
Posted on May 14, 2009
Filed Under gadgets | Leave a Comment
This might help you get a new battery for free
NEWS from CPSC
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
| Office of Information and Public Affairs | Washington, DC 20207 |
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 14, 2009 Release # 09-221 |
Firm’s Recall Hotline: (800) 889-2031 CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772 CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908 |
HP Recalls Notebook Computer Batteries Due to Fire Hazard
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.Name of Product: Lithium-Ion batteries used in Hewlett-Packard and Compaq notebook computers
Units: About 70,000
Importer: Hewlett-Packard Co., of Palo Alto, Calif.
Hazard: The recalled lithium-ion batteries can overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers.
Incidents/Injuries: The firm and CPSC are aware of two reports of batteries that overheated and ruptured, resulting in flames/fire that caused minor property damage. No injuries have been reported.
Description: The recalled lithium-ion rechargeable batteries are used with various HP and Compaq notebook computers. Models that can contain a recalled battery include:
| HP Pavilion | Compaq Presario | HP | HP Compaq | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
G6000 G7000 |
6720s |
The notebook model is located at the top of the service label on the bottom of the notebook. Batteries that can be subject to the recall will have one of the following bar code labels (^ in the code can be any letter or number):
| 62940^^AXV^^^^ | 65033^^B7U^^^^ 65033^^B7V^^^^ 65033^^BGU^^^^ |
65035^^B7U^^^^ 65035^^B7V^^^^ 65035^^BGU^^^^ 65035^^BGV^^^^ |
67059^^V8U^^^^ 67059^^V8V^^^^ |
Sold at: Computer and electronics stores nationwide, hp.com and hpshopping.com from August 2007 through March 2008 for between $500 and $3000. The battery packs were also sold separately for between $100 and $160.
Manufactured in: China
Remedy: Consumers should immediately remove the recalled battery from their notebook computer and contact HP to determine if their battery is included in the recall and to request a free replacement battery. After removing the recalled battery from their notebook computer, consumers may use the AC adapter to power the computer until a replacement battery arrives. Consumers should only use batteries obtained from HP or an authorized reseller.
Consumer Contact: For additional information, visit the HP Battery Replacement Program Web site at http://www.hp.com/support/BatteryReplacement or call (800) 889-2031 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. CT Monday through Friday.
Media Contact: Sheila Watson at (281) 514-6552 or sheila.watson@hp.com
Photos of recalled batteries
CPSC is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about it by visiting https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx
—
Send the link for this page to a friend! The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC’s work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC’s Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC’s teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270. To join a CPSC e-mail subscription list, please go to https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx. Consumers can obtain recall and general safety information by logging on to CPSC’s Web site at www.cpsc.gov.
Comcast HD FAQ
Posted on May 12, 2009
Filed Under HDTV, Tips, gadgets | Leave a Comment
Straight from the horse’s mouth…
1. How many choices does Comcast offer in HD?
Comcast has over 1,000 HD programming choices at any given time - more than satellite, more than anyone. From movies, sports, broadcast networks, premium channels and our vast On Demand library, Comcast has you covered.
2. What sports and movies are available in HD?
Comcast offers tons of sports and movies in HD from such channels as ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, ESPN, Versus, The Golf Channel, TNT, Showtime, Starz, and more. See your local channel lineup for the full listing of HD channels.
3. What equipment is required?
If you have an HDTV, all you need to do is call Comcast and sign up for Comcast HD service to switch to an HD box.
4. How does installation work?
Comcast will switch out your current box for an HD box. That’s it.
5. Will I get my local HD broadcast channels in HD?
Yes, Comcast brings you ABC HD, CBS HD, NBC HD, Fox HD and PBS HD. See your local channel lineup for the full listing of HD channels.
6. Does Comcast offer HD On Demand?
Yes, Comcast offers over 1,000 HD choices, and most of them are available On Demand.
7. How do I know I’m watching HD?
Your HD channels are different from your ordinary channels. If you are used to watching ESPN on channel 100, ESPN HD could be available on channel 200. Visit http://www.comcast.net/tv/tv-listings/ for the channel line-up in your area.
8. Are more channels coming?
Yes, Comcast is committed to working with each of our programming partners to make available the channels and content you want.
9. How does HD pricing work?
Comcast doesn’t charge additional programming fees for HD channels and content like satellite. If you receive the channel currently and the channel is available in HD all you need is an HD box.
Comcast DVR Review
Posted on May 12, 2009
Filed Under Tips, gadgets | Leave a Comment
Found this great post at pvrblog.com…
Summary
After using a Comcast HD DVR (a Motorola 6412) for a couple months I’m hooked on HDTV. I can’t help but compare the experience to using a TiVo and while this DVR falls way short of the TiVo experience, it works well enough in the basic sense to keep me using it. It has some bugs, but there aren’t many choices if you want your HDTV from anything other than an antenna. I renew my hope for CableCARD support, so that alternate devices could be used.
Introduction
After five years of being a happy TiVo customer (first with standalone units, then with DirecTV units) it was time to finally try out HDTV and to do that meant I had only a couple options in my area: try a cable company HD DVR or a satellite company HD DVR. I’d done the DirecTV thing for the past couple years and their HD offerings were pretty minimal (and required buying a ~$500 box) though they claim they will have the most programming by 2007 when their new satellites are operational. I decided to go with Comcast, since it was simple, cheap, and here right now.
I know I’m a bit behind the times here, the unit from Motorola has been out for over a year and was first covered here two years ago. There are several older posts about it, namely how to transfer content to a mac using firewire that I’ll try out later on. At the moment TiVo doesn’t offer a HDTV recorder except for the one that DirecTV offers, and they’re phasing it out as they deploy new MPEG4 content the HD TiVo unit can’t decode.
Is HDTV worth all the fuss?
I’ve seen HDTV demos for years now and I never really saw anything impressive about it. What I’ve figured out is that you can’t really get a sense for how good HD content is if you’re looking at an unfamiliar TV set playing unfamiliar content. The wonder of HD wasn’t driven home to me until I saw a TV show I’d been watching for the past year or so in standard definition. It also helped that I looked at standard def content on my low-end plasma TV for a year before getting HD. After everything was set up and I recorded a few familiar HD shows, I got to see what all the fuss is about. HD programs look pretty incredible, especially those with lots of outdoor shots. I was seeing detail I’d never seen before. After having HDTV for a couple months, I’ve realized that when there’s nothing recorded and I start channel surfing, I keep it limited to just the dozen or so HD channels.
Now that plasma and LCD TVs are starting at $1,500 or so, if you’ve ever wanted to try out HDTV, now is the time to do it.
Some of the good things about the Comcast HD DVR experience
The first good thing about this unit is that it’s fairly cheap. You don’t have to buy any box and they charge $9.95 a month for the DVR service. That’s cheaper than buying a TiVo box and sending TiVo $12.95/month. After turning the unit on, the first thing to jump out was the interface was fairly clean and unobtrusive. The remote is pretty good and did a good job talking to my TV and A/V system, though I couldn’t configure the volume to work with just the A/V volume instead of the TV volume.
Recording shows instantly is just one click without the need to confirm and recorded HD shows are perfectly crisp. There are two tuners which can independently record while you watch something else on the hard drive, so conflicts are infrequent, but just in case there is the equivalent of a season pass priority list that the Comcast unit uses for figuring out what to tape when both tuners are already taping something. One nice feature is the 30-second skip, which I use more often than the default ffw/rwd controls. I didn’t have to enable a hack or anything, it seemed to just be there when I programmed my Harmony remote.
One other nice feature is that the unit tells you how full it is at all times. Whenever you pull up the recorded shows listing, you can see if the hard drive is 27% full or 77% full and you can remove shows after you’ve viewed them to get a sense of how much time is left. HD recording takes up a lot of space, so as a result the maximum HD recording time is about 12-14 hours total.
Now, onto the ways this unit could be improved.
Some of the bad things about the Comcast HD DVR experience
Since this unit has been out for over a year, I’ve heard lots of feedback from readers here and friends that have one. I’ve heard about lots of software bugs, buggy playback, and mixed reviews of the DVR user interface. I’ll break down my biggest problems one by one.
Lag time in the interface
The first bug I noticed was one I heard about: there is a lag between when you push a button, and when something happens. As a result, you get no feedback and you assume that the button push didn’t go through, so you push it again. A few moments later, and two or more button pushes get registered by the device and in some instances that cancels what you wanted to do. It’s infuriating when this happens.
There is loads of research behind this frustration on my and many other users’ behalf — the only acceptable lag time is very short, and beyond that users start to wonder if their device is functioning properly. TiVo does a great job rectifying this by giving you an audio cue that it received the button push, and TiVo also does a good job of putting up temporary “waiting…” screens. The worst experience with my Comcast box was once while I was fast forwarding some commercials during a football game, only to have the play/ffw buttons not work after the commercials were over. I hit play about ten times while I watched 10 minutes of a crucial game fly past before the commands could “take” and return to normal play. The lag was about 20 seconds where no button push did anything as the box was locked in fast forward mode.
Setting season passes sucks
TiVo does a pretty good job letting you find shows and set passes. As a result, I often tracked 50 or more TV shows. I realized that after two months, I only have season passes set for 8 or 9 shows because the process is such a pain. On a TiVo, you can search pretty easily for shows by surfing around an alphabet and spelling out the name of the show. On the Comcast box, you get five boxes for letters, and they all are set to A. You then have to manually step through the alphabet on each letter to find your show. Pushing “down” 20 times to find “P” takes about 3-5 times as long as simply picking “P” from a grid on a TiVo. The process is such a pain that I rarely set season passes and usually do so from the guide interface, which adds it as an option to the set recording screen.
Since I have so few season passes and I have two tuners, I haven’t run into any conflicts yet, so I can’t tell if the conflict notification/resolution is any good or if it just drops lower priority shows without telling you first.
Small hard drive, so many missing TiVo features
I’ll admit that I’m spoiled. I’ve had a TiVo with 300Gb of storage in it and I’ve had a completely hacked DirecTiVo box that I could stream video from and stream music to. The Comcast box ships with a 120Gb hard drive and given that HDTV storage requirements are so high (about 10Gb per hour), the drive is much too small for an active box. I barely record anything and I’m always above 50% full. It’d be nice if they could bump it up to at least 250Gb, as hard drives are still getting cheaper everyday.
I also miss all the great features from TiVo. Stuff like wishlists matching actors, genre, or even show formats, and all the suggested recording features to help find new shows. I miss having a web interface so I could tell what’s recorded from the comfort of my computer, before I head into the living room to watch TV. I miss the helpful sounds, the fast guide, and all the other great little parts of TiVo.
Conclusion
Don’t get me wrong, the good outweighs the bad but after using a TiVo for so many years, the Comcast box just barely works enough for me to keep using it. If you’ve never had a DVR before, it’ll probably be a great new device. If you’ve got a HDTV and haven’t tried hi def content before, this is a great option.
Thanks to the proprietary nature of business, if you want to record non-over the air HD, at the moment you have to go through a cable or satellite company. Hopefully someday, the cable companies will open up their spec so that software packages like Windows Media Center and hardware like a HD TiVo can record this stuff. TiVo has been saying for a while that in 2006 they’ll be launching a TiVo/Comcast box and I’m counting the days until that happens. Given the great HD channels plus a TiVo interface, I think that would be the ultimate package and get me excited about TiVo again.
Amazon Kindle 2 and DX (Reviews)
Posted on May 11, 2009
Filed Under Gifts, Hot Deals, Shopping, gadgets | Leave a Comment
Amazon has recently released the Kindle DX shortly after releasing Kindle 2. From what I know and have heard from friends, the Kindle 2 is an amazing device. It makes a great gift for people who love to read, or want to be up to speed with the latest in technology.For me, one of the best items was that it can read - so it can help the visually impaired. It also very sexy - only 1/2″ thick! Kindle 2 Reviews! Kindle 2: Amazon’s 6″ Device (more details)
2 for 1 Movie Tickets from Fandango
Posted on May 8, 2009
Filed Under Hot Deals, Shopping | Leave a Comment
This is a great deal for VISA signature card holders!
Fandango is offering a B1G1 free movie ticket for Visa Signature card holders up to $13.50. Thanks gabu
Note, not all cards must have “Visa Signature” designation on them to work. One card known to work with this promotion is Chase Freedom Visa.
http://www.fandango.com/visasignature
Trade in Video Games
Posted on May 7, 2009
Filed Under Hot Deals, Shopping | Leave a Comment
I found this very interesting, and thought I would pass it along to my fellow gamers!
Plus you can get $20 off new releases
Top 5 Things to Do With Expired Gift Cards
Posted on May 7, 2009
Filed Under Gifts, Tips | Leave a Comment
- Don’t throw them away! They have real value…
- Send them to a friend or family member in California. Most gift cards don’t expire in California!
- Trade them.
- Sell them on Craigslist - especially on a CA local site like http://sfbay.craigslist.org/.
- Gift them!
