Reviews Written By: A1P4W2GLRCUVYEprovided by Amazon.com |
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 | Samsung Behold t919 Phone, Brushed Espresso (T-Mobile) | |
 | "If T-Mobile weren't limiting the phone so much it would probably get at least a 4 star rating..." | 2009-06-10 |
| Normally, I only review things I really love, but I felt so disappointed in this phone/T-Mobile regarding this phone, I feel prospective buyers may want to know this stuff. I wish I would've. PROS: 1). The phone looks/feels snazzy and I didn't have many issues with the actual touch screen, like a lot of people seem to claim they do. I thought it was perfectly operational and I preferred the touch screen Qwerty keyboard to that of the iPhone, just for the record. Samsung makes good, sturdy, straightforward products, which I enjoy. 2). The 5 megapixel camera. Although sometimes switching settings could be a pain, when you want to take a fast night shot or something, but that would probably be the case with most phones/cameras. However, the pictures come out great! 3). It reads up to a 16GB MicroSD card, which is nice for storing those 5 megapixel pictures, along with enough space to store music that'd last you a few days, if you were to listen to it straight through. 4). You can play videos, although it took me awhile to find the exact resolution, file type and size to get it to play and look/sound decent. 5). Phone call quality is very good. CONS: 1). T-Mobiles coverage/service, how they limit the phone (from 3rd party applications, such as google maps), they don't allow tethering (using your phone as a modem for your laptop when you aren't around WiFi) and how they really don't ever solve anything for you when you call to get something fixed--at least not with this phone. To their credit, after talking to 3 different people (all of whom had to be told every issue I had with the phone at least twice), I was able to get them to cancel my service early for $50 instead of $200. And also, I never had many issues with T-Mobile before "upgrading" to this phone, to be fair. 2). The GPS! The main reason I bought this phone was for the GPS. They offer it on this phone through Telenav for an additional $9.99/mo and it worked for me maybe a total of 4 times in the 7 months I had this phone. I called many times to see about getting it fixed, they all told me to do the same things and basically came to the conclusion that "it is not very user friendly unless you are in a bigger city". There was silence on the other end of the line when I said, "I live in Boston." I also tried it on many visits to Manhattan, THE big city, just to see if it would work and the same thing would happen: it froze at 96 percent and then gave the error, "need better sky view." When I took the issue to Telenav's customer service, they were at least honest and said, "it just doesn't work well with that phone." Go figure. Then why offer it with the phone? 3). The web! I was expecting to get a full HTML browser because that is what they say this has, but it actually does not. I don't even know what you would call what it has. However, since the GPS was not reliable, I soon realized that I could go to mobile MapQuest to at least get out of being lost, or find my way somewhere in a pinch--just with directions though, no map. That is, if the 3G network would actually work! 4). The 3G network! Really, I got "cannot connect to server," or some kind of error like that almost 3 times daily. When you pay extra for the internet and the phone is not capable of connecting to existing WiFi connections, that is not something you want to have happen that often. 5).The internal email client. I set up my gmail account on there and it would rarely connect. Also, if you read a full message, or send an email message from your phone, it uses megabytes from your data plan, which is just lame. 6). Not entirely sure what this was about, more T-Mobile than the phone, but it was so frustrating! My mom, who was one of "my faves" couldn't call me. For about 3 months she would get a "not a working number" message when she would try to call me. I spent HOURS on the phone with T-Mobile trying to figure this out and they kept trying to blame it on my mom's carrier, but she used a land line and she could call my sister, who also had T-Mobile!? Very strange. To wrap this up, the phone itself is not a bad phone, but I think paired with T-Mobile it isn't the best duo. Especially when you go to message boards for the phone and people in other countries, who have this phone with a different carrier, can do all sorts of awesome things with it. I guess all American carriers limit their phones, I am sure it has to do with investors/advertisers who pay to have their products used on the phone, but since switching to Verizon, I can say there are at least alternatives for the 3rd party applications they don't allow. I hope this wasn't too rant-y. I tried to be as fair as possible. | ||
 | Lenovo IdeaPad S10-1208UW Netbook (1.6GHz, 512MB RAM, 80Gb HD) (White) | |
 | " 2 Words. LOVE IT!" | 2009-04-06 |
| Okay, I didn't buy mine on Amazon and I got the pink one, but everything else is the same and I want people to know how great I think these little netbooks are. At first I thought, "a pink computer? So not my style." But it's not oppressively pink, it's actually really nice and I like it. I don't know anyone else with a mauve computer, which makes it kind of fun. I promptly upped my memory from 512MB to 1.5GB (super easy access to install/uninstall memory!), but this netbook ran smoothly with 512 as well, I just use a lot of larger programs for various things, so I always max out any machine with as much memory as it can hold. The keyboard is great as far as I'm concerned. I'm petite, have small hands so once I got used to it (a couple of days), I found I liked it better than a larger laptop keyboard. It is also very quiet, which I very much appreciate. The screen is awesome, really clear. Some pages I go to I need to push F11 to get rid of my search bar & all that, to see the whole picture or something, but this really never bothers me. Especially not when I'm sitting in an airport with my tiny 2.5lb fully operational netbook on my lap that I can barely feel sitting on my legs! And if the text on some pages is too small for you, Ctrl +/- will help you out there. It's AWESOME for traveling. You can take it anywhere without hassle (or shoulder/back trouble), but I would recommend getting some sort of accidental damage warranty, because if they are easy to move they are easy to drop. However, these little netbooks are tough, sturdy little machines. I was actually shocked at how solid mine felt for how light it was. The battery life for longer travels probably isn't the greatest, but you can buy longer lasting batteries if this really doesn't work for you. I usually make it through one whole flight with my battery, then just charge it at the next airport if I have a connecting flight. I am able to carry around the power cable and the netbook easily in one small bag, so I really haven't found the need to up the battery. The processor isn't as beefy as any laptop anywhere, so don't expect it to be, but for me and probably most people (and I am a fairly hefty computer user), this is a great way to do some work, chat, surf the web, pay bills, do homework, write (I use Final Draft 7 on it without any issues), write music (runs Finale 8 just as well as anything), shop, play Facebook scrabble (haha), watch movies online, etc., easily on the go and inexpensively. My only complaint, I wish it would come with MS Office or something, because WordPad stinks. However, Google documents makes it possible to go without it, usually, if you have access to the internet. User-friendly tip: I wouldn't even bother with the Norton Antivirus it comes with. Uninstall that CPU sucker straight away and download AVG Free (or buy it, if you want!). It works just as well and you barely know it's installed. | ||
 | Blankets: An Illustrated Novel | |
 | "I really enjoyed this!" | 2008-06-26 |
| I'd never read a graphic novel before so I was pleasantly surprised at how well the story was conveyed through pictures. Sometimes I thought there were too many words even. I could really identify with the "story" even though many critiqued that there was no story. It's a 580 page book--theres story! Whether you enjoyed the story is a whole different... story. Wow, this is not going at all as planned. Anyway. I think it's definitely worth the few hours it takes to read. I read it once straight through and then read it again just looking at the pictures. I would own this book and read it from time to time, gladly. | ||
 | Motherhood and Hollywood : How to Get a Job Like Mine | |
| "Something to hang on to" | 2008-05-26 |
| A couple of years ago, after joining the millions of other fans who were years ahead of me in discovering Everybody Loves Raymond, I became addicted to the show in syndication and subsequently, addicted to Patricia Heaton's work. Thanks to some good old-fashioned googling, I found out she wrote a book, promptly ordered it, received it and read it cover to cover in about 4 hours. A year later I read it again. A year later (today) I spent my Sunday reading it for the 3rd time. It's one of those easy, effervescent reads you hang on to and read when you need a little dose of optimistic cynicism, which seems to realistically remind you of what's important in life -- even if you're an actor, especially if you're an actor. Plus, it always gets me to brush my teeth; never a bad idea. | ||
 | Motherhood and Hollywood : How to Get a Job Like Mine | |
| "Something to hang on to" | 2008-05-26 |
| A couple of years ago, after joining the millions of other fans who were years ahead of me in discovering Everybody Loves Raymond, I became addicted to the show in syndication and subsequently, addicted to Patricia Heaton's work. Thanks to some good old-fashioned googling, I found out she wrote a book, promptly ordered it, received it and read it cover to cover in about 4 hours. A year later I read it again. A year later (today) I spent my Sunday reading it for the 3rd time. It's one of those easy, effervescent reads you hang on to and read when you need a little dose of optimistic cynicism, which seems to realistically remind you of what's important in life -- even if you're an actor, especially if you're an actor. Plus, it always gets me to brush my teeth; never a bad idea. | ||
 | New York City Ballet: The Complete Workout, Vol. 1 and 2 | |
| "Nearly immediate results, helps with everything!" | 2008-01-15 |
| Though I have taken many dance classes, including ballet, I still found this challenging the first few times I did it. I felt and saw results (mostly in my legs/glutes) after completing volume 1 for the first time! I did Vol. 1 a total of 3 times, one week before I went snowboarding and my balance has never been better on the slopes and because my legs were stronger, I wasn't nearly as sore after my first day boarding as I normally am. This workout is relaxing and strengthening at the same time; I have incorporated both volumes into my regular routine of pilates, yoga and running and I would highly recommend this to anyone! | ||
 | The Plot Thickens : 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life | |
| "Getting into the "inner lives" of characters" | 2008-01-14 |
| First of all, I love the quotes at the beginning of every chapter. Specifically, "Begin with an individual and find that you have created a type; begin with a type and you find that you have created--nothing." - F. Scott Fitzgerald. Though I am fairly new to the type of writing I have been doing for the past year, as each day passes I can't tell you how true that quote has become in my life and work. Noah Lukeman has brought to life a book that really gets into the "meat" of characterization. He focuses on specificity, details, motivation, awareness of enlightening questions for and about characters, situations and circumstances, inspiring an intense journey to be taken with characters. He presents questions that most probably don't even consider in their own lives and perhaps should. Getting to know my characters so intimately through his suggestions, helped me create characters that stand out. They each have a specific voice, no matter how large or small the role they play in the work itself. This book absolutely added an extra dimension to my character writing. I'll never part with it! | ||
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