gadget diary

Julie’s gadget diary – Hacking my Samsung Galaxy Note 2

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I recently switched over to a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 so that I could work on a review of the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch (review coming soon). In the past when I had tried to use phablets like the Note 2 and 3 as my primary device, I quickly gave up due to their size. […]

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Julie’s gadget diary – A week with the Samsung Galaxy Note 3

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Back in March of this year, I test drove a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 for a couple weeks to see if a phablet was the right device for me. If you’re not hip to the latest gadget lingo, the term phablet refers to smartphones that approach tablet dimensions. I came away with mixed feelings from my

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Julie’s gadget diary – Back from vacation, how did the Nexus 7 work out as my laptop replacement?

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Last week I was down on Sanibel Island, Florida for vacation. I had the bright idea that I would leave my 13″ Macbook Air at home and use my shiny new Nexus 7 (2013) Android LTE tablet as a laptop replacement. For those of you who are regulars here, you may remember a similar scenario

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Julie’s gadget diary – One month TV detox complete and going on vacation with the Nexus 7 2013

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Yesterday signaled the end of my 30 day self-imposed TV detox. During the whole month of September, we watched zero TV shows. When the TV was on, it was playing one of the DirecTV music channels. It was surprisingly easy and liberating. I didn’t miss it at all. However, according to one of my friends

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Julie’s gadget diary – Apple is boring and I miss Steve

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I really tried to be excited about yesterday’s Apple iPhone 5C and 5S unveiling. As I watched the live stream, I kept telling myself maybe Apple will surprise me again. Maybe there will be “one more thing” to wow me. Maybe… But there wasn’t and it made me sad. Today I visited Apple’s site and

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Julie’s gadget diary – 30 days without TV

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If you look up the term “couch potato” in the dictionary, you’ll probably see my picture. I’ve always loved TV and easily get hooked on shows which I’ll faithfully follow from the premier episode to its finale. I like sitcoms, movies, medical dramas, sci-fi, fantasy, talent shows, some reality shows, etc. At one point last

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Julie’s gadget diary – it’s time to crack open a new journal

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Although I enjoy using electronic gadgets and gizmos, I still love simpler products like journals, pens and pencils just as much. Earlier this week I finished up my latest journal – the 80 page Quo Vadis Habana 4 x 6 inch plain page notebook shown above. I really liked the soft cover and bright white 85-gram paper. Although

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Julie’s gadget diary – check out my new gadget transport system

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How’s this for the ultimate “gear bag”? After years upon years of wanting one, I finally decided to just go for it and bought a 2013 MINI Cooper S Hardtop. I’ve been driving it for a little over a week now and I absolutely love it. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed driving a car

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Julie’s Gadget Diary – 2nd look at Qi wireless charging

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A few weeks ago I published a gadget diary post sharing my experiences with trying to get Qi wireless charging working with my Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3. Long story short, I ordered a wireless charging patch (receiver) and a Nokia DT-900 Wireless Charging pad and it didn’t work. One of our frequent readers (Haesslich) left

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Julie’s Gadget Diary – Qi inductive wireless charging, more trouble than it’s worth?

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My first experience with inductive charging was way back in 2004 when I reviewed one of Microsoft’s SPOT watches. The watches themselves were kind of clunky, but I thought it was so cool that they could be charged just by being placing on a cradle. The fact that no  cables had to be plugged directly into

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Julie’s Gadget Diary – Is the Samsung Galaxy Note II too big?

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How big is too big when it comes to the size of a smartphone? That’s the question I’ve been trying to answer for myself lately. I’ve been using a Samsung Galaxy S III for the past 6 months, but only recently I decided to try a Verizon Wireless Samsung Galaxy Note II. The Note II

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Julie’s Gadget Diary – My quest for an ultimate alarm clock has finally ended

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I’ve been searching for an ultimate alarm clock for what seems like forever. I even have proof that it’s been at least 6 years… I posted a diary post back in 2007 listing my must-have alarm clock features.  Some of which  included: 1. Wake up by playing a tune from a specific playlist in iTunes.

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Julie’s Gadget Diary – Can a Samsung Chromebook replace my Macbook Air?

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In an effort to cure a raging case of tech boredom, I’ve been trying some experiments to see if various gadgets have the ability to replace my 13″ Macbook Air as my go to workhorse computer. I recently tried this with a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Android tablet to less than a stellar outcome. Now

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