A Sane Smartphone

I have so many things I want to write about and so little time (and energy) to actually write them.  You know how it goes.  However, I really want to get this information out to those who can use it.  This is a big deal as far as technology goes.

Right now, you can get a very nice Android smartphone with a very inexpensive plan.  The data is "unlimited" and there is no contract.

Prices:

LG Optimus V Android Smartphone: $120

Virgin Mobile Beyond Talk Monthly Plans:
$25 - 300 minutes, unlimited data/text
$40 - 1200 minutes, unlimited data/text
$60 - unlimited everything

Plan Details:

This is *not* your typical phone plan.  Please understand the following before jumping to conclusions:

1) The anytime minutes (for phone calls, of course) are actually used any time you talk.  There are no free nights or weekends.

2) There is no contract.  You are free to quit whenever you wish, without penalty.  Even so, it is possible to set up automatic monthly payments so you don't have to babysit your account.

3) You must pay the full price for the phone.  It is not subsidized by the plan because there is no contract.  This is the same hardware as the Sprint Optimus S and other Optimus One variants, which come cheap or free with more expensive plans that use contracts.

4) Look at all the details (extra minutes, foreign calls, etc...) before making your final decision.  I'm only a consumer, and I may not have all my facts straight.  These things are subject to change, as well.  Don't blindly trust anything I'm telling you here.

Technical Phone Details:

Okay, but the phone's a piece of junk, right?  Not at all:

1) The LG Optimus V uses Android 2.2, which is Google's custom version of Linux for mobile devices.  This version of Android has a significant speed boost over 2.1, so it runs much smoother than older phones with earlier versions.

2) The phone display is 3.2 inches, diagonally.  This is small compared to many of the newer smartphones.  I like it because those larger phones look ridiculously large.  This is a cell phone, not a tablet.

3) The display resolution is 320x480 pixels.  This is less detailed than most new smartphones that usually have 480x800 resolution.  However, this is not as not very noticeable due to the small screen size.  Additionally, this means that the graphics hardware doesn't have to work as hard to make things run smoothly.

4) The CPU (processor) runs at 600 MHz, and uses a single core.  Most new smartphones run at 1,000MHz and some even have two cores now.  However, the real-life impact on speed is not as noticeable as the numbers make it sound.  This is because the CPU is rarely the bottleneck for demanding tasks.

5) The phone has a dedicated GPU (graphics processor) which means that the CPU doesn't have to handle the graphics work.  This allows the phone to run much smoother than other phones without dedicated GPUs.  The Optimus V (and brothers) use the Qualcomm Adreno 200.  Much faster GPUs are very common now.  However, I have a very high-tech 3D video game on my phone that runs very smoothly at the highest graphical settings.  Don't let synthetic benchmarks fool you.

Note: Angry Birds is the only application I have used that will sometimes (on a few levels with many moving objects) run slowly on my phone.  I believe this is due to the fact that it uses very inefficient physics calculations.  I don't believe it is a graphics issue.  I have other, much prettier games that run very smoothly.

6) The phone uses 512MB of RAM, which is actually a very standard amount for even the newest smartphones.  This means the phone will be able to handle heavy workloads without stuttering.

7) The phone has 512MB of internal storage, and it comes with a 2GB microSD card.  This is plenty of storage, even for me.

Other Considerations:

1) You don't have to purchase the phone from Virgin Mobile.  You can get it from anywhere.  (I got mine from Be Intouch Wireless.)  After it arrives, call VM and ask them to activate it.  If you want to port over a number from your previous provider, be ready with your credentials (pin, etc...) for that provider.  You should not have to call your old provider first.

2) Don't get the Samsung Intercept unless you *really* want the slide-out keyboard.  It's thicker and slower.  It only uses Android 2.1 and it doesn't have a dedicated graphics processor.

3) The phone actually comes with a screen protector already applied.  DO NOT REMOVE THE SCREEN PROTECTOR AFTER YOU OPEN THE BOX!!!  Simply cut off the tab in the upper-right corner with a sharp knife, and you will save yourself the trouble of buying extra screen protectors and applying them yourself.  The image on the front can actually peel off separately; look at it closely and you will see what I mean.

4) Virgin Mobile's customer service seems good so far.  I had an issue with billing on their website when I first signed up.  After I e-mailed them, they replied back within hours to let me know my problem was resolved.

5) The phone can actually be set up to make VOIP calls to any phone using Wi-Fi.  This requires a bit of work and technical expertise, and it's just a tad laggy.  If you like to tinker, however, this can save you from using up anytime minutes when you're on your home network.

6) There's a lot of bad information out there, so don't install everything everyone tells you to.  I have some recommendations for apps and tweaks that will enable you to get the most out of your phone, but I'll cover that in a separate post.

Are you ready to take the plunge into the smartphone world?  Do you have experience with Virgin Mobile?  Share your thoughts in the comments.

Gmail is my E-mail

In the past few months, I have witnessed the rapid spread of a terrible disease.  This disease is not physically harmful, but, let me tell you, it aggravates the snot out of me.  It affects users of the internet, and here are the symptoms:

1) The victims are unhappy with their e-mail services and/or e-mail clients.
2) They are unwilling to fix the problem.

Now, there's a good chance you're rolling your eyes right now and thinking, "There he goes again.  He's writing this just for me because we've been over this a million times."  Well, you're wrong.  I am not writing this "just" for anybody.  I personally know a large number of people infected by this virus.  In recent months, the victim count has grown at a disturbing rate.  You are not alone.

So now you're probably thinking, "Yeah, yeah.  I know you're going to tell me to switch to Gmail again."  Not exactly.  You don't have to "switch" to anything.  More specifically, you can enjoy the benefits of a better e-mail solution while retaining your current e-mail addresses.  To find out how, read this quick tutorial:

Manage All Your Email Accounts with Gmail

As the link explains, you can use Gmail to manage all your e-mail addresses without your contacts ever knowing you are using Gmail!  You can even import all your old e-mail into Gmail.  It's super-duper easy; I promise.

Of course, you're probably thinking, "Okay, I understand the 'how,' but not the 'why.'"  Why would anybody want to use Gmail?

Reason #1: Gmail's web interface is the best e-mail client in existence.

Forget Mozilla Thunderbird, Microsoft Outlook, and Apple Mail.  The best software for managing your e-mail doesn't need to be installed on your computer.  All you need is a web browser!  Gmail's web interface has so many great features and options that I can hardly begin to describe them all.  (Of course, the default settings are great too, just in case you don't like to tinker.)

Gmail has an excellent labeling system that is a huge improvement over the typical "folder" systems other clients use.  It also has a robust filter system for automatically managing your e-mail as it arrives.  The search function is fast and effective; I never have trouble finding old messages.  You can also enable hotkeys if you're not a fan of clicking on everything.

Gmail Labs allows you to turn on extra features, including multiple inboxes, forgotten attachment detector, undo send option, and much more.  In addition, there are many browser extensions that you can use to change the way your web browser handles Gmail.

Most importantly, you can access the Gmail web interface wherever you go.  You don't need to install anything!  However, if you're still attached to your current e-mail client, Gmail's service still works fine with the aforementioned e-mail software as well as others.

Reason #2: Gmail (Google) accounts contain many other useful tools.

Your Google account will also come with an awesome calendar that supports all the main features people need in a calendaring system.  These include recurring appointments, meeting invitations that work even with people who don't use Gmail, task management, and more.  Easily access it all from your web browser.

Other features include Google Talk for chat (IM, voice, and video), Picasa Web Albums for photo management, Google Reader for managing RSS feeds and non-RSS web articles,  Google Docs for an online Office suite (yes, it supports common Microsoft Office formats), Blogger for... well... blogging, Google Voice, and much, much more.

Reason #3: There is no better junk filter.

The spam filter is regularly praised by IT experts as being the best of its kind.  I have been using Gmail since it was in its invite-only beta stage years ago, and I think I've only ever had two false positives and maybe five spam messages that didn't get automatically filtered.

Reason #4: Gmail is reliable.

I've never been unable to access my e-mail.  Ever.

If you are concerned about losing your mail, you can back it up automatically using an online service called Backupify.  You can also use it to back up accounts for Facebook, Twitter, and others.  Backupify accounts are available for free until February 15th, so don't wait!

Reason #5: Gmail has a bright future.

Gmail is under very active development; it is constantly being improved.  It integrates well with the latest technology - new browsers with massive plugin support, mobile devices, and various "Web 2.0" applications.  You can be confident that your Gmail account will keep up with whatever the IT industry dreams up next.

I could go on about why I use Gmail, but I'm sure you get the picture.  If you have any questions about Gmail, be sure to drop me a message or leave a comment.  If you already use Gmail, check out this recent article for some advice on getting the most out of your e-mail experience:

Become a Gmail Master Redux

Google also has a list of useful Gmail tips.