Real Person Review: Mrs. GadgetGuy Spends Three Months with the Galaxy S5 on AT&T

For all the tech that travels through our house, my wife tries to steer clear of experimenting too much with her personal kit. Occasionally I can convince her to take a gadget for a test drive. For the last three months she’s been using the Samsung Galaxy S5, and now it’s time for her to share her thoughts.

What was the last phone you used before picking up the Galaxy S5?

I’m a Samsung person. I own the Galaxy S4 Active and before that the S2.

What are some of your favorite things to do with your phone?

I love the RunDouble App.  It’s the Couch to 5K training app.  It auto plays my music (any playlist I want) and will use GPS to track me.  I use my phone as a stop watch. I love using it to control our Chromecast (No more wrestling the remote away from you). I read way too much Reddit on it.

I tend to live out of my phone these days.  I just need it to work. I never want to wonder if an app will work, that it will open quickly and work easily. I don’t have to worry about it being laggy or slow. I use an iPhone for work (full disclosure – it’s an iPhone 4S GASP!), and I’ve always preferred my personal phone to it. Continue reading “Real Person Review: Mrs. GadgetGuy Spends Three Months with the Galaxy S5 on AT&T”

Set your Calendar! Experts Q&A Episode 2: Android Boogaloo!

experts round table androidThis will be a Hangout on Air event. Link will be provided here before the broadcast goes live.

Our first Experts Q&A was a hit, and now we’re ready to follow it up with our next topic! For this next round table, we’re going to chat all things Android! Phones, Tablets, Apps, Updates, Services. You bring the questions, we’ll bring the experts! Chat with us live while we’re on the air! It’ll be fun. I promise.

Mark your calendars! We’re a GO for Wednesday December 11 at 8pm Pacific. Hope to see you there!

Google Plus event page.

Experts Q&A 1: Live Tiles are the Future! – https://somegadgetguy.com/2013/11/26/watch-our-experts-qa-live-here-bwone-somegadgetguy-answer-your-microsoft-questions/

Ask Juan: Now that I own an RT tablet, will Windows RT disappear?

lumia 2520 20Just got this question from a reader. Jim asks:

As a recent purchaser of a Nokia Lumia 2520 tablet I am starting to get a little concerned about Windows RT folding or at least developers not making apps. Is this real and if so what does that mean for my tabby?

Hey Jim! First of all congrats on the Lumia! It was my Windows Tablet pick of the year!

So here’s the deal.

Windows RT as we know it today probably wont stick around long, and as the owner of a 2520 this is a good thing for you…  Continue reading “Ask Juan: Now that I own an RT tablet, will Windows RT disappear?”

Ask GadgetGuy: Why SHOULDN’T I buy an iPad Mini right now?

ipad miniRoss from Facebook asks:

Hey Gadget Guy… tell me why I shouldn’t buy an iPad Mini, and what I should buy instead, and why it’d be better. I don’t want to admit to drinking the apple-flavored kool-aid, but I love my iPhone, and wanna get a pair of tablets for me and my special lady friend… yeah, we gotta get 2 because we can’t share. hehe…
Thanks!

No worries on “drinking the kool-aid”, I’d be daft to say Apple doesn’t make fine products. The Mini is in an interesting position at the moment however, and buying one now, might not be the best move.

It’s old hardware. It was old-ish hardware when it was released, essentially a shrunk iPad 2. This brings up numerous support questions, like whether it will receive two full proper updates of iOS, as the iPad 2 is most likely done with major updates this year. That and I would fully expect we’ll see an iPad Mini refresh this November. Plus for hardware almost three years old, it’s really expensive compared to the current crop of Android Mini tablets.

And to answer your question about what else to buy, I’d start by looking at the Nexus 7.

Nexus 7 - hero - press siteFor $100 less you get a MUCH nicer true HD 1080p screen, in proper widescreen (so if you watch movies, you don’t lose half your display to letter-boxing). Remember the current Mini isn’t a “Retina” device.

Other things like stereo speakers and NFC might be a wash, but it’s much more current technology.

It’s not out yet, but the LTE variant of the Nexus 7 will likely sell for about $20 more than the least expensive, WiFi only iPad Mini. Ouch.

In conclusion, depending on what you want to do with a tablet, an iPad Mini today would still be a fine purchase. It is a sexy little tablet. However, if you can hold off, treat yourself to more of a Thanksgiving present, you’ll probably get a better “bang for buck”.