gadget diary

Julie’s gadget diary – Darnit, T-Mobile coverage is still weak in my area

gadget diary

Back in 2014, Dave Rees wrote about his positive experience when he switched to T-Mobile. He would regularly suggest that I also try T-Mobile’s Test Drive kit, which at that time provided an iPhone and a SIM card on loan for a week’s worth of testing. In May of last year, I finally ordered my […]

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Julie’s gadget diary – Nexus 6P, favorite gear and more

gadget diary

I was starting to get the feeling that Google hated me. Why? Because I ordered a 64GB Nexus 6P in Frost white on the first day it was available for pre-order and I still haven’t received it while other people who ordered days and weeks later than I did, already have had their phone for days

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Julie’s gadget diary – Vacation tech lessons learned and a few travel tips

gadget diary

Last week Jeanne and I vacationed in the Panama City Beach, Florida area on Seagrove Beach, Florida. I highly recommend it as vacation destination because the beach was the nicest one I’d ever visited and the sand felt as fine as flour. As with most trips, I always struggle to decide which tech devices to

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Julie’s gadget diary – I almost pre-ordered a Microsoft Surface Pro 4 today

surface surface note

Yesterday Dave Rees and I were chatting on Google Hangouts while we were watching Microsoft’s new hardware event. Microsoft announced three new Lumia Windows phones, a preview of HoloLens virtual gaming gear and a new fitness tracking band that all looked somewhat interesting to us. But, what Dave and I were most interested in was

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Julie’s gadget diary – Google is making me sad

gadget diary

Today is the day that Google will officially unveil their new Nexus smartphones. I’ve been looking forward to this day for quite awhile because I decided I that this would be the year that I would buy a Nexus phone. I’ve been wanting the stock Android experience and quick OS updates for a long time,

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Julie’s gadget diary – I’m pre-ordering the iPhone 6s Plus on Saturday, are you?

iphone6splus

A month ago I posted a gadget diary entry about how I have been thinking about switching back to the iPhone. After yesterday’s mega Apple event, I have made my decision and will be pre-ordering the iPhone 6s Plus this Saturday morning. Why am I going to switch from Android and why have I picked the

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Julie’s gadget diary – Should Apple be worried that Samsung Pay will win the mobile payment wars?

mobile payments

Yesterday’s Samsung Unpacked event left me feeling disappointed about their new hardware announcements. However, their Samsung Pay announcement caught my attention. If you aren’t familiar with Samsung Pay, it’s Samsung’s mobile payment application. Like Apple Pay, Google Wallet, Android Pay (not available yet) and CurrentC (also not available yet), it’s a way to use your phone to pay

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Julie’s gadget diary – Why I am thinking about switching back to the iPhone

gadget diary

It’s been almost three years since I put my iPhone 4s in a drawer and switched over to an Android device as my full-time smartphone. Since I made that switch, I’ve used a Samsung Galaxy SIII, a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and my current phone, an LG G3. I’ve also used Android tablets like the Nexus

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Julie’s gadget diary – Test driving T-Mobile day 2

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Yesterday was my first day testing a phone on T-Mobile’s network. I was very encouraged with the speedtest.net results at my house and even in my basement. Considering that I live in the middle of 12 wooded acres with no DSL, cable, etc., it’s surprising that they have LTE in my immediate area. But I just happen

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Julie’s gadget diary – 5 reasons why I think Android devices are better than Apple devices

android ios

Yesterday I posted an article titled: 5 reasons why I think Apple devices are better than Android devices. Today I’m going to take the opposite view and argue with myself by listing the top 5 reasons why I think Android devices are better than Apple devices. Since I’m a bigger Android fan than Apple fan at the

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Julie’s gadget diary – 5 reasons why I think Apple devices are better than Android devices

ios android

When it comes to mobile devices, fans can be very vocal when talking about their favorite. If you dare put down their chosen platform, some people will take it as a personal insult worthy of verbal fisticuffs. I’ve often wondered why we can be so sensitive about our choices when it comes to smartphones and tablets. To add

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Julie’s gadget diary – I’ve been cheating on my MacBook with a Dell XPS 13 (part 2)

dell xps13 100

Several weeks ago I posted the first part of this article where I talked about how I would be using a Dell XPS 13 laptop instead of my 13″ MacBook Pro with retina display and 13″ MacBook Air for a week. To remind folks, I only use Macs at home. There are no Windows PCs to be

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Julie’s gadget diary – I’ve been cheating on my MacBook with a Dell XPS 13 (part 1)

dell

I’ve been a Mac fan for many years now, to the point where we’re an all Apple household with three MacBooks. Jeanne has a 2010 15″ MacBook Pro, while I have a 2014 13″ MacBook Pro with retina display and a 2011 13″ MacBook Air. The MBP has been my main workhorse for Gadgeteer reviews and Photoshop work, and the

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Julie’s gadget diary – January 2015 EDC update

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I can’t believe that it’s been almost 2 years since I posted my EDC setup. Time sure flies when you’re having fun reviewing gadgets! I recently decided that it’s time to downsize the gear that I carry with me everyday because my bag has been gaining weight for awhile now and I’m starting to really notice when I

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Julie’s gadget diary – Working on making the site more enjoyable

gadget diary

We recently had a contest where I asked everyone what they thought about me switching back to a blog style theme instead of the magazine grid theme that we’ve had for almost a year. There were a lot of comments with suggestions on how to improve things further. I’ve compiled a list which I’ve been

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