Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The Quest For a Mommy Friendly Smartphone

For the people who like my facebook page Nicki's Tech Talk, they know I have been looking for a smartphone for my mom. She currently has Verizon and has been using a Samsung Alias for about the last two years. She likes her phone, but she has really been driving home that she needs something that is a little more user friendly in terms of her e-mails being received. I suggested that she start looking into what she might like, but that was kind of a lost cause since she has NO IDEA what she likes. I decided to take her to the Verizon Wireless store so she could see what was out there and what she could actually use. She INSTANTLY walked up to the iPhone! I almost felt like pulling her away because she KNOWS she has no idea how to work an iPhone.

My plan was to start her off with a touch screen android phone with physical buttons since she has that with her Alias. I pointed her in the direction of the Motorola Droid 4. She used it for all of 5 minutes just to figure out how to setup the e-mail and quickly moved on. She then saw the Razr Maxx which I didn't mind because it would have the battery life she would appreciate, the screen was big enough, and it was thin enough where she wouldn't mind. She tried to call me and said it felt like holding a thin brick to her face. After I laughed HYSTERICALLY, she walked over to a little smartphone called the LG Lucid. I really didn't know too much about it, but I said, go for it. She liked the size of it, she liked how the phone sounded and felt when she made a call on it. She then stumbled onto the alarm on the phone. We started to set the alarm and it had a feature to change the snooze time duration. She INSTANTLY started glowing! That feature made her so happy that she was ready to get the phone right then and there.

Just for shits and giggles, I asked her to play with the iPhone 4S, and she definitely liked how the touchscreen performed. She was having a little trouble with the Android keyboard, but when I explained that she could download another keyboard from the android market, she kind of glazed over...lol!

All in all I think it is a toss up between the LG Lucid and the iPhone 4S. I think I may have to side on the Lucid just because I don't think he's quite ready for an iPhone. Plus she should start off small and then work her way up to the big boys. Let me know your thoughts and opinions by either leaving a comment on the blog or by liking my Facebook page and voting on my poll question for which phone she should get. Feel free to add your suggestions!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Asus Transformer Tablet Mix-Up

My aunt is in the market for a tablet, and she asked me about a month or so ago what I thought she should get. I told her she should consider either an iPad 2, or an Asus Transformer Prime. Since she wanted and Android tablet, the Transformer Prime it was since it had the latest Android operating system (Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich). When she brought it up to me again yesterday, I was so excited. To my surprise, I call around to a bunch of different stores to make sure they are in stock, and low and behold I can't find not ONE Transformer Prime.

I take to the internet of course and find out that a new Asus Transformer tablet had been released as of 4/29/12. It pretty much replaced the Transformer Prime (less the Prime of course) with a few new tweaks (better wifi and sleeker design for example). I think all in all, my auntie will be VERY pleased with this tablet! And I hope she lets me play with it first...lol!