Another post that’s been languishing in the drafts folder throughout 2015… Tidied up a bit and whacked out!
Choices, choices…
I love gadgets. But I don’t like parting with the hard-earned so I have a couple of choices:
- Steal
- Research
I don’t fancy incarceration and I’ll generally admit if I get long-changed so the first option isn’t really an option.
Research
Both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because more often than not I end up very happy with purchases I make. A curse because I can easily spend more time researching something than I’m likely to end up using whatever it is I’m thinking of buying.
Ok, that’s exaggerating. Slightly.
Internet reviews. Blogs. Trusted sites. I’ll search out and read the lot.
The mantra
I’ve no idea if this is an attributable quote. If not, I claim ownership :-) I’ve rarely regretted ponying up for a high quality item as they tend to last, they’re more satisfying in use, and are often more fixable.
Technology can be a frustrating exception to this as the pace of change is such that buying not-quite-top-end, but slightly more often, can be a better bet than the Rolls Royce option.
Phones
I only bought a smartphone in late 2010 as impending building work meant I thought I’d want to take photos of stuff we may need to show my better half before making a decision.
It was a reasonable phone for the time (an HTC Desire) and proved its usefulness but lack of storage space held it back from long-term adoration. And, IMHO, 3G internet is so slow it’s almost worse than no internet so I barely ever used it.
I finally decided to replace it in late 2014. Which meant more research.
Hmm, everything’s got BIG. The iPhone6 was due out soon but, although I love my iPad, I prefer Android because it’s so much cheaper.
Cheaper
I’m lucky enough to have the cashflow to buy a phone outright and have the cheapest possible plan afterwards. No forty-quid-a-month locked-in-for-two-years plans for me.
In the end buying up front is at least a couple of hundred quid cheaper and more if you forget to change plans after the lock-in period. Which I would.
I can’t bring myself to shell out four or five hundred quid on a phone though. Just doesn’t seem like good value for me.
Androids
The Nexus 5 seemed to have it all … but was soon to be replaced by the Nexus 6/X/whatever-it-was-going-to-be-called and unavailable (in black 32Gb form) from google’s store. The OnePlus was also an attractive option but near impossible to buy with it’s annoying invite-only scheme.
Fortunately someone at work had a OnePlus and a quick try in my hands confirmed it to be too big for my needs / pockets. A try with a MotoG (almost the same size as the Nexus 5) was more successful.
In the end I bought what I guess is one of the last Nexus 5’s available. Black. 32Gb. Vanilla Android.
The research paid off: it’s the ideal phone for me.
Almost too large (the compromise I accepted), enough storage and fast. A revelation compared to the old HTC.
I really rather like the what-seemed-like-a-gadget wireless charging (which is a bit of luck as the only serious disadvantage of this phone is its weedy battery - it only just gets me through a day of moderate use).
#happy