Technology catch-all thread

[chw42]

Just became aware of the One+ phone manufacturer. Very interesting stuff. But I assume those phones aren't available on contracts, so it would actually cost me more money, not less.

 

One Plus Ones have their fair share of issues (lots of issues with screens and their customer service isn't very good). It's a great phone for the price, but in the end, you get what you pay for.

[bmags]

I want to pay for a moto x in full and move to tmobile, but may just wait for contract to end.

 

The HTC experience, while fun for a bit, has soured. I'm not going to get the next one anymore. May even go back to iphone. At least the damn thing could receive group texts without issue.

[StrangeSox]

my wife likes her moto x

[SleepyWhiteSox]

One Plus Ones have their fair share of issues (lots of issues with screens and their customer service isn't very good). It's a great phone for the price, but in the end, you get what you pay for.

 

You get way more than you pay for.

 

Screen issues seem to have been on their earlier builds. Other bugs seem to have been fixed with CM11. Rarely a good idea to be an early adopter/bug tester with any new tech product nowadays anyways.

 

Like I said, I'm coming from an N5 (not impressed with lollipop) and moto x '13 and the OPO blows them away in build quality and user experience at a cheaper price. Also have messed with family and friends' m8, S5 (touchwiz is awful), G3, i6, and the OPO is on par or even better in some respects IMHO at half the price.

 

Thankfully haven't had to deal with their customer service as the vast majority haven't. Worth the tiny risk IMHO

 

[chw42]

You get way more than you pay for.

 

Screen issues seem to have been on their earlier builds. Other bugs seem to have been fixed with CM11. Rarely a good idea to be an early adopter/bug tester with any new tech product nowadays anyways.

 

Like I said, I'm coming from an N5 (not impressed with lollipop) and moto x '13 and the OPO blows them away in build quality and user experience at a cheaper price. Also have messed with family and friends' m8, S5 (touchwiz is awful), G3, i6, and the OPO is on par or even better in some respects IMHO at half the price.

 

Thankfully haven't had to deal with their customer service as the vast majority haven't. Worth the tiny risk IMHO

 

You pay the same for the Nexus 5 and Google's customer service is pretty awesome. I had mine replaced when the power button died.

 

I wanted the OPO when it first came out, but when OP decided that not everybody can buy one and screwed up their marketing quite a bit, my interest wore off. I was even given an invite by someone to get one and I didn't see any reason to.

 

I paid the steep price of $690 for my Nexus 6 and it is the best Android phone I've ever used. Super smooth, good battery life, and a screen that's big enough to eat on. As long as you're ok with the form factor, it's probably the most complete Android phone.

[iamshack]

Been using the new MacBook Pro for about a week now. Very pleased with it overall. Very powerful machine...was able to upload my entire music library (several thousand songs) as well as hundreds of high-res photos from the wedding simultaneously and very quickly.

 

The machine is light, fast as hell, and just feels solid overall.

 

I turned in my work-issued Dell to IT and told them to go ahead and wipe it clean. I will never be using it again.

[bigruss]

Been using the new MacBook Pro for about a week now. Very pleased with it overall. Very powerful machine...was able to upload my entire music library (several thousand songs) as well as hundreds of high-res photos from the wedding simultaneously and very quickly.

 

The machine is light, fast as hell, and just feels solid overall.

 

I turned in my work-issued Dell to IT and told them to go ahead and wipe it clean. I will never be using it again.

Is that company issued or personal? It's pretty nice if you can use a personal machine at work, though there are a ton of security questions around that.

[iamshack]

Is that company issued or personal? It's pretty nice if you can use a personal machine at work, though there are a ton of security questions around that.

It's personal. Our company won't allow us to procure Apple laptops/desktops yet, although they do allow us to procure iPads/iPhones.

 

So how it works is they will allow us to use personal machines, but IT does not "support" them. Basically, this means I can't tap in to the company systems, other than my email.

 

Russ, as far as the security questions, is this specifically regarding company documents/information on a machine which may not be protected by our IT department's particular security protocols?

Edited December 23, 2014 by iamshack

[bigruss]

It's personal. Our company won't allow us to procure Apple laptops/desktops yet, although they do allow us to procure iPads/iPhones.

 

So how it works is they will allow us to use personal machines, but IT does not "support" them. Basically, this means I can't tap in to the company systems, other than my email.

 

Russ, as far as the security questions, is this specifically regarding company documents/information on a machine which may not be protected by our IT department's particular security protocols?

Ah that makes more sense, is it actually allowed on the network (I would assume not reading the above)?

 

Allowing personal devices on your network is scary for a few reasons:

-Work documents on a personal device (confidentiality)

-No control over security software (could even have nothing on it, whereas all work devices can be managed), when was the last time the device was scanned for threats?

-Technically you wouldn't know whose device it is on the network, is it a contractor? A fulltime employee? An invited or uninvited guest? Could someone walk right in with a device and access the network?

 

Lots of ways to get around those concerns, but it has to be done right. BYOD (bring your own device) is coming, because of employees like you who prefer to use their own machine because the company isn't offering a good enough option. It brings flexibility, and could be quite cost effective (pushing support back onto the manufacturer/seller) but there needs to be work done around it to limit exposure.

 

[iamshack]

Ah that makes more sense, is it actually allowed on the network (I would assume not reading the above)?

 

Allowing personal devices on your network is scary for a few reasons:

-Work documents on a personal device (confidentiality)

-No control over security software (could even have nothing on it, whereas all work devices can be managed), when was the last time the device was scanned for threats?

-Technically you wouldn't know whose device it is on the network, is it a contractor? A fulltime employee? An invited or uninvited guest? Could someone walk right in with a device and access the network?

 

Lots of ways to get around those concerns, but it has to be done right. BYOD (bring your own device) is coming, because of employees like you who prefer to use their own machine because the company isn't offering a good enough option. It brings flexibility, and could be quite cost effective (pushing support back onto the manufacturer/seller) but there needs to be work done around it to limit exposure.

We are allowed on the network. Guests have restricted access to the network.

 

Your concerns are obviously good ones...very interesting.

[RockRaines]

Ah that makes more sense, is it actually allowed on the network (I would assume not reading the above)?

 

Allowing personal devices on your network is scary for a few reasons:

-Work documents on a personal device (confidentiality)

-No control over security software (could even have nothing on it, whereas all work devices can be managed), when was the last time the device was scanned for threats?

-Technically you wouldn't know whose device it is on the network, is it a contractor? A fulltime employee? An invited or uninvited guest? Could someone walk right in with a device and access the network?

 

Lots of ways to get around those concerns, but it has to be done right. BYOD (bring your own device) is coming, because of employees like you who prefer to use their own machine because the company isn't offering a good enough option. It brings flexibility, and could be quite cost effective (pushing support back onto the manufacturer/seller) but there needs to be work done around it to limit exposure.

You could know that, and as soon as it joins you would know a hell of alot of stuff about it, if they have the right tools.

 

I saw a cool demo by a company named Tanium that is getting momentum because of BYOD, the tools are being built around this.

[bigruss]

You could know that, and as soon as it joins you would know a hell of alot of stuff about it, if they have the right tools.

 

I saw a cool demo by a company named Tanium that is getting momentum because of BYOD, the tools are being built around this.

Well like I said you could do BYOD securely, you just need to have the right tools in place for it, and not a lot of companies are there yet. It's definitely coming though, companies want to do everything they can to push support out, whether that's outsourcing or pushing it back to the manufacturer, that type of savings will always entice companies.

[Kyyle23]

Does Amazon have a trade-up program for Kindles? I have one that is 3 years old, and its been through the ringer with my kids. I saw the HD Fire 6 is 79 bucks and want to get it, but I would rather not have 2 of them.

[bigruss]

Does Amazon have a trade-up program for Kindles? I have one that is 3 years old, and its been through the ringer with my kids. I saw the HD Fire 6 is 79 bucks and want to get it, but I would rather not have 2 of them.

They have a buy-used program for a lot of devices, Kindles included. That said, you will probably get like $5 for it.

[Kyyle23]

They have a buy-used program for a lot of devices, Kindles included. That said, you will probably get like $5 for it.

 

Yea, i understand that i wont get much. sending it back for refurb is preferable to me than holding on to it until it is unusable and it ends up in the city dump

[bigruss]

Yea, i understand that i wont get much. sending it back for refurb is preferable to me than holding on to it until it is unusable and it ends up in the city dump

I'd do the same thing, unfortunately my old kindle fire wont charge up to 40% so I can't even get the damn thing to go back to factory settings so I could return it. It charges higher but it doesn't read the battery level right, so frustrating (it'll just stop increasing the meter at 25%, but the damn thing will run for days still).

[Kyyle23]

I'd do the same thing, unfortunately my old kindle fire wont charge up to 40% so I can't even get the damn thing to go back to factory settings so I could return it. It charges higher but it doesn't read the battery level right, so frustrating (it'll just stop increasing the meter at 25%, but the damn thing will run for days still).

 

I have charging issues as well, but mine is because my 4 year old grabs the kindle and walks away with it still plugged in. The cord has been pulled out so many times that the charging port is just messed up. I have to plug it in and lean the connected wire on something so it has a little bit of pressure on it and then it starts charging

[HuskyCaucasian]

I've decided I want a new game console (I currently have a Wii). I am debating between a PS4 and XBox One. It will be primarily for sports game like NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB. I do not play first person shooters.

 

Thoughts?

[Y2HH]

I've decided I want a new game console (I currently have a Wii). I am debating between a PS4 and XBox One. It will be primarily for sports game like NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB. I do not play first person shooters.

 

Thoughts?

 

PS4.

 

I know a lot of people with the Xbox1, and none of them like it, all of them wish they had bought a PS4, and the one person I know that has both only plays his PS4 now.

 

And I say this as a person who owned both the original Xbox and 360, and never considered a Playstation until this round of consoles came out.

Edited December 29, 2014 by Y2HH

[Jenksismyhero]

I've decided I want a new game console (I currently have a Wii). I am debating between a PS4 and XBox One. It will be primarily for sports game like NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB. I do not play first person shooters.

 

Thoughts?

 

If you play The Show (the only MLB game on the market) you have to get a ps4. If you're playing Madden and the NBA 2k series you can get either. Long term I think the ps4 is going to be a better investment. It has stronger hardware and better exclusive IMO. The problem is right now it doesn't make sense to buy either one. The game options are still really limited.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

I've decided I want a new game console (I currently have a Wii). I am debating between a PS4 and XBox One. It will be primarily for sports game like NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB. I do not play first person shooters.

 

Thoughts?

 

Your experience will largely be the same on both, but I would choose your system based on what your friends have, and if baseball is your favorite sport, then the PS4 is the only one with a baseball game, and it's an amazing one to boot.

 

I've never owned any version of Xbox in my life, but I'm sure you'll be happy either way.

[RockRaines]

The PS4 just has more room for growth in the future so thats why I moved from Xbox during the PS3 launch.

[chw42]

I have both. I got the PS4 first and someone convinced me to get an XB1. The Xbox has a lot more to offer right now. Better exclusives at the moment and it's a nice media center since you can hook up your cable box to it. I barely play my PS4 right now because I'm playing a lot of FIFA on my Xbox.

 

Both are good consoles, but I'd recommend the XB1 at the moment just based on how many more features you get out of the box.

[Kyyle23]

Anyone still having issues with PSN? a few gaming sites yesterday were still reporting outages

[Y2HH]

All the sudden I can't get flash video's to play. Nothing happens when I click the play button. YouTube works fine. Sites like Vimeo for example...

 

I am running Google Chrome on a new Lenovo Laptop. Any suggestions?

 

Chrome comes with Flash pre-installed, not sure what the issue may be, perhaps clear the cache, make sure an addon isn't blocking, and make sure you didn't disable flash in options.