The big phasedrei raffle!

Over at phasedrei they are having a big October raffle, with a ton of cool Apple-swag! I’d love me a brand new iPod Touch or AppleTV, so I’m taking the time here, to answer their little questionnaire:

1. What was the biggest problem, you ever had with your PC or Mac? Were you able to resolve it? If so, how?

If I remember correctly, the biggest mechanical problem (besides dropping my MacBook from two meters and the ensuing hard drive replacement) was the death of the cooling fan of my previous desktop PC. The system did not have any sensors, so this fan went out and I did not notice. This culminated in the overheating of the processor. Solution: buying a new one.

2. Which is your favorite program, for either PC or Mac, and why would you recommend it?

I guess this would be iPhoto of the Apple iLife suite. I love how easily it lets me organize my photos and it is perfect for the little retouching I do. I’m not a pro photographer and anything more expensive (Aperture/Lightroom) would be a waste with me. Furthermore: iLife comes free with every Mac.

3. Which functionality of your PC or Mac don’t you want to miss and why?

I have both, so for every device in that category, this is practically the same. Their ability to hook up to a network and go online is essential for me. I wouldn’t want to miss that for any reason. Searching stuff, getting news, communication. Another one is of course the ability to store and process all my digital life. Music, photos and videos.

4. Which (Apple-) product would you love to get as a gift?

For being the newest to the family, I’d really love one new MacBook Air, those are just gorgeous. As for the raffle: I really would love to get the iPod Touch (but the AppleTV is just as hot of a product).

Go over to http://www.phasedrei.de/blog/gewinnspiel-ipod-touch-shuffle-itunes-guthaben-und-vieles-mehr and get in on the raffle before midnight!

Over at phasedrei they are having a big October raffle, with a ton of cool Apple-swag! I’d love me a brand new iPod Touch or AppleTV, so I’m taking the time here, to answer their little questionnaire:

1. What was the biggest problem, you ever had with your PC or Mac? Were you able to resolve it? If so, how?

If I remember correctly, the biggest mechanical problem (besides dropping my MacBook from two meters and the ensuing hard drive replacement) was the death of the cooling fan of my previous desktop PC. The system did not have any sensors, so this fan went out and I did not notice. This culminated in the overheating of the processor. Solution: buying a new one.

2. Which is your favorite program, for either PC or Mac, and why would you recommend it?

I guess this would be iPhoto of the Apple iLife suite. I love how easily it lets me organize my photos and it is perfect for the little retouching I do. I’m not a pro photographer and anything more expensive (Aperture/Lightroom) would be a waste with me. Furthermore: iLife comes free with every Mac.

3. Which functionality of your PC or Mac don’t you want to miss and why?

I have both, so for every device in that category, this is practically the same. Their ability to hook up to a network and go online is essential for me. I wouldn’t want to miss that for any reason. Searching stuff, getting news, communication. Another one is of course the ability to store and process all my digital life. Music, photos and videos.

4. Which (Apple-) product would you love to get as a gift?

For being the newest to the family, I’d really love one new MacBook Air, those are just gorgeous. As for the raffle: I really would love to get the iPod Touch (but the AppleTV is just as hot of a product).

Go over to http://www.phasedrei.de/blog/gewinnspiel-ipod-touch-shuffle-itunes-guthaben-und-vieles-mehr and get in on the raffle before midnight!

The big phasedrei raffle!

A mobile love story.

The guys over at the German LG Blog are giving away one of the company’s Optimus smartphones. All we have to do, is answer a small questionnaire and link back to the blog.

Here goes:

• How important is the design of a mobile phone with your purchase decision? 

With the technical specs reaching an equilibrium throughout all the manufacturers, the design of a mobile phone becomes more and more important, but if those specs are not up to par, no award winning design would enthrall me into buying it.

• Which feature, in your opinion, should not be missing in a mobile phone?

The use of fast data transfer standards (3G and up), that lets you use the expensive data plans, we’re paying for. GPRS is a thing of the past. Furthermore, I’m still a fan of hardware keyboards.

• Before buying a new mobile phone, do you look up information in forums, blogs and test reports?

Absolutely. I’m not buying a pig in a poke.

• Do you write SMS or email with you mobile phone?

Yes, I do.

• Are you interested in Apps and/or games?

Of course, the ability to easily get those small third party applications onto my mobile phone has become most important.

• Do you have flat rate plans for voice calls, messaging or data?

I have a weird combined plan, which is a flat rate for data, voice calls within the carriers’ network and a certain amount of free short messages.

• Do you surf the internet with your mobile phone?

Yes.

• Do you use social networking services like Facebook and Twitter on the go?

Sure. They’re a major reason for me, to own a smartphone.

• Would you be able to survive a month without your mobile phone?

For better or worse, my whole life is concentrated within my mobile phone, so it would definitely be hard, but not impossible. As long as I still have my other ways for communication. ;D

The guys over at the German LG Blog are giving away one of the company’s Optimus smartphones. All we have to do, is answer a small questionnaire and link back to the blog.

Here goes:

• How important is the design of a mobile phone with your purchase decision? 

With the technical specs reaching an equilibrium throughout all the manufacturers, the design of a mobile phone becomes more and more important, but if those specs are not up to par, no award winning design would enthrall me into buying it.

• Which feature, in your opinion, should not be missing in a mobile phone?

The use of fast data transfer standards (3G and up), that lets you use the expensive data plans, we’re paying for. GPRS is a thing of the past. Furthermore, I’m still a fan of hardware keyboards.

• Before buying a new mobile phone, do you look up information in forums, blogs and test reports?

Absolutely. I’m not buying a pig in a poke.

• Do you write SMS or email with you mobile phone?

Yes, I do.

• Are you interested in Apps and/or games?

Of course, the ability to easily get those small third party applications onto my mobile phone has become most important.

• Do you have flat rate plans for voice calls, messaging or data?

I have a weird combined plan, which is a flat rate for data, voice calls within the carriers’ network and a certain amount of free short messages.

• Do you surf the internet with your mobile phone?

Yes.

• Do you use social networking services like Facebook and Twitter on the go?

Sure. They’re a major reason for me, to own a smartphone.

• Would you be able to survive a month without your mobile phone?

For better or worse, my whole life is concentrated within my mobile phone, so it would definitely be hard, but not impossible. As long as I still have my other ways for communication. ;D

A mobile love story.

Maybe I'm in luck? Blog parade on m4gic.net!

Over at M4GIC.net they're giving away one new, 6th generation iPod nano and all you gotta do is answer some questions about your use of MP3 players in general and so will I:

• Which devices did you use - before your very first MP3 player - to listen to music on the road?

Well there were three different Walkmans (tapes) and one MP3-CD-capable Discman. Those Walkmans were from AIWA and really good, esp. the last one.

• When did you buy your first MP3 player (if you already own one)?

I dug out my Amazon invoices and found, what you're asking me here. I bought my very first MP3 player (flash based) on August 31st, 2001. Nine years and one month ago!

• Which MP3-Player was your first (brand/model)?

It was, of course, a Sony (not knowing any better) "New Walkman NW-E 3/s" (see Amazon link for picture). It had 64MB of storage for 60minutes of music (or less, if files had higher than 128 kbit/s bitrates).

• How many MP3 players have you already owned?

Only two actually, four years ago I bought my first (and still in use) iPod and in between my mobile phones doubled as MP3 players (as they do today, when my iPods' battery is drained).

• Which features of a MP3 player are important to you?

It should hold most of my music collection, for I'm not big on 'intelligently' syncing playlists all the time and I don't know, what I might want to listen to. Furthermore, navigating this library should be hassle-free (which it can be, if the control scheme is all wrong).

• What feature of the new iPod nano does appeal to you most?
  

Its wearability ;o)

in answer to: http://www.m4gic.net/blogparade-mp3-player-ipod-nano-g6-mit-touchscreen-gewinnen/

Over at M4GIC.net they're giving away one new, 6th generation iPod nano and all you gotta do is answer some questions about your use of MP3 players in general and so will I:

• Which devices did you use - before your very first MP3 player - to listen to music on the road?

Well there were three different Walkmans (tapes) and one MP3-CD-capable Discman. Those Walkmans were from AIWA and really good, esp. the last one.

• When did you buy your first MP3 player (if you already own one)?

I dug out my Amazon invoices and found, what you're asking me here. I bought my very first MP3 player (flash based) on August 31st, 2001. Nine years and one month ago!

• Which MP3-Player was your first (brand/model)?

It was, of course, a Sony (not knowing any better) "New Walkman NW-E 3/s" (see Amazon link for picture). It had 64MB of storage for 60minutes of music (or less, if files had higher than 128 kbit/s bitrates).

• How many MP3 players have you already owned?

Only two actually, four years ago I bought my first (and still in use) iPod and in between my mobile phones doubled as MP3 players (as they do today, when my iPods' battery is drained).

• Which features of a MP3 player are important to you?

It should hold most of my music collection, for I'm not big on 'intelligently' syncing playlists all the time and I don't know, what I might want to listen to. Furthermore, navigating this library should be hassle-free (which it can be, if the control scheme is all wrong).

• What feature of the new iPod nano does appeal to you most?
  

Its wearability ;o)

in answer to: http://www.m4gic.net/blogparade-mp3-player-ipod-nano-g6-mit-touchscreen-gewinnen/

Maybe I'm in luck? Blog parade on m4gic.net!

Finding a suitable headset.

Sometime last week, a good friend of mine, wanted me to come up with a reasonable solution, for using Skype between two parties and sent me shopping for a webcam and two headsets. She didn’t know whether her old headset was in working condition or if she’d be needing it at all and so I offered to take one of the fresh ones. I had already thought about buying one, but never came around, to actually do it. More and more friends started using Skype in the last couple of years, but I just didn’t want to talk into a built-in or external mic and hear them through speakers. I’m not a big fan of letting someone (inadvertently) in on a conversation, that’s between two people. Another reason, of course, is TeamSpeak - it would be nice to hear and talk to mates on Battle.net, while slashing through swarms of Zerg.

So there I was, getting one of the new headsets, HS-400 by Creative, out of its box. I should have known from this first step, I wouldn’t grow old using this headset, but I needed to try and stall the inevitable – an exchange at my local tech dealer. The one thing that put me off was its bail. It doesn’t go all over and around your head. It’s one of those, running around your ears and neck. Obviously I failed at examining the packaging thoroughly, but I’d give it a try anyway. After getting my ears through the loops, which is not as funny as it sounds, I was greeted with nice enough sound and mic quality for the intended use – voice chat, but after a while, the thing began to hurt my neck and ears. Being in need of wearing glasses, doesn’t particularly help with this sort of headset.

Although the HS-400 is a nice enough headset - for a very reasonable price and Creative knows, what they’re doing, since they’re in the audio-business for as long as I live – it just wasn’t for me. So I had to return it and look for a replacement.

I still didn’t want to spend a fortune, but it had to fit my head and needs as a wearer of glasses. So I ended up with the ARES² by SpeedLink, which only cost 5€ more. The comfortable earcups are not an understatement, they really are. The bail enacts just enough pressure to hold the ear-enclosing cups in place and they do not hurt me, wearing glasses, at all. Overall sound quality is really nice, nothing gets to high or too low for my taste, but I’m hardly a trained listener, so I can’t tell you if it rivals headphones for ten times the price. According to my chat partners the (not detachable) mic seems to be just as good, they’re getting my voice clear and crisp.

There is only one thing left, I wish I could get rid of. The cable. But Bluetooth Stereo-headsets are pricey and mostly come with the same neck bail, I still don’t want to wear.

Which headsets do you use?

Sometime last week, a good friend of mine, wanted me to come up with a reasonable solution, for using Skype between two parties and sent me shopping for a webcam and two headsets. She didn’t know whether her old headset was in working condition or if she’d be needing it at all and so I offered to take one of the fresh ones. I had already thought about buying one, but never came around, to actually do it. More and more friends started using Skype in the last couple of years, but I just didn’t want to talk into a built-in or external mic and hear them through speakers. I’m not a big fan of letting someone (inadvertently) in on a conversation, that’s between two people. Another reason, of course, is TeamSpeak - it would be nice to hear and talk to mates on Battle.net, while slashing through swarms of Zerg.

So there I was, getting one of the new headsets, HS-400 by Creative, out of its box. I should have known from this first step, I wouldn’t grow old using this headset, but I needed to try and stall the inevitable – an exchange at my local tech dealer. The one thing that put me off was its bail. It doesn’t go all over and around your head. It’s one of those, running around your ears and neck. Obviously I failed at examining the packaging thoroughly, but I’d give it a try anyway. After getting my ears through the loops, which is not as funny as it sounds, I was greeted with nice enough sound and mic quality for the intended use – voice chat, but after a while, the thing began to hurt my neck and ears. Being in need of wearing glasses, doesn’t particularly help with this sort of headset.

Although the HS-400 is a nice enough headset - for a very reasonable price and Creative knows, what they’re doing, since they’re in the audio-business for as long as I live – it just wasn’t for me. So I had to return it and look for a replacement.

I still didn’t want to spend a fortune, but it had to fit my head and needs as a wearer of glasses. So I ended up with the ARES² by SpeedLink, which only cost 5€ more. The comfortable earcups are not an understatement, they really are. The bail enacts just enough pressure to hold the ear-enclosing cups in place and they do not hurt me, wearing glasses, at all. Overall sound quality is really nice, nothing gets to high or too low for my taste, but I’m hardly a trained listener, so I can’t tell you if it rivals headphones for ten times the price. According to my chat partners the (not detachable) mic seems to be just as good, they’re getting my voice clear and crisp.

There is only one thing left, I wish I could get rid of. The cable. But Bluetooth Stereo-headsets are pricey and mostly come with the same neck bail, I still don’t want to wear.

Which headsets do you use?

Finding a suitable headset.