Technology catch-all thread

[Jenksismyhero]

I'm planning to get one of those My Cloud NAS drives for myself for xmas so we don't have this problem in the future. Just sucks to lose so many photos/videos.

[Big Hurtin]

It's broadband not TV.

They have both.

 

https://fiber.google.com/about/

 

[Harry Chappas]

So, I got off the phone with Directv, guess they are doing the standard increase of the bill each month so I have to threaten them dance.

 

After they merged with AT&T their customer service did not do the dance and I pulled the plug and moved to AT&T....AT&T sucks and does not have customer support at all and I assume Direct TV will go this way as well.

 

In 13 months everything is going to Comcast in my house which is sad because I love Direct TV. AT&T wireless is dial up compared to Comcast. My internet has gone back about 10 years after moving to AT&T.

 

AT&T's telecommunications is not strong enough to support the demands.

 

Another kicker for AT&T Uverse though is promoting package choices and then realizing yes I have Showtime but not Showtime in HD. The whole AT&T platform is set up to gouge and f*** over the consumer.

 

 

Edited December 9, 2015 by Harry Chappas

[Big Hurtin]

After they merged with AT&T their customer service did not do the dance and I pulled the plug and moved to AT&T....AT&T sucks and does not have customer support at all and I assume Direct TV will go this way as well.

 

In 13 months everything is going to Comcast in my house which is sad because I love Direct TV. AT&T wireless is dial up compared to Comcast. My internet has gone back about 10 years after moving to AT&T.

 

AT&T's telecommunications is not strong enough to support the demands.

 

Another kicker for AT&T Uverse though is promoting package choices and then realizing yes I have Showtime but not Showtime in HD. The whole AT&T platform is set up to gouge and f*** over the consumer.

I'm seriously contemplating going with Comcast for TV after the football season. It's a shame because it's been a good run.

[Chisoxfn]

Could be flash memory corruption since it's not allowing you to write to the partition...should ask her what apps she was using to do photos...even on my iPhone I use Google Photos...because I take a photo with my iPhone and Google Photos automatically backs it up to the cloud, for free.

What are the space limitations?

[Y2HH]

What are the space limitations?

 

All Google/Gmail accounts automatically get 15gigs of storage, but if you select the "High Quality" option instead of the "Original Quality", it sets everything to 16MP (for photos) or 1080p (for video), and that's unlimited storage.

[Chisoxfn]

Interesting. Is it pretty seamless. I had two years of dropbox free and that was my favorite, but the two years is ending. I have since moved over to Amazon Photos which works nice (unlimited with prime) but the integration isn't as crisp as with dropbox, imo. All this said, I am two weeks into my new iphone (leaving the Samsung world) and holy hell am I happier.

[Whitewashed in '05]

Interesting. Is it pretty seamless. I had two years of dropbox free and that was my favorite, but the two years is ending. I have since moved over to Amazon Photos which works nice (unlimited with prime) but the integration isn't as crisp as with dropbox, imo. All this said, I am two weeks into my new iphone (leaving the Samsung world) and holy hell am I happier.

Unfortunately I see this happening more and more often. I've seen some pretty big Android fans migrate to Apple due to performance and security issues with Android including myself. It's really a shame because Android is a good OS now.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

So my phone is officially dead. Talked to LG and they said it would be basically 2-3 weeks until I get my new phone. Called ATT instead to see if they could do anything better. They told me 2-3 days basically. ATT rep was extremely helpful and nice. It was one of the most pleasant experiences I've had calling support. Excited to finally put this S4 Active back in the drawer and get back to my LG G4.

[Y2HH]

Unfortunately I see this happening more and more often. I've seen some pretty big Android fans migrate to Apple due to performance and security issues with Android including myself. It's really a shame because Android is a good OS now.

 

Android is a great OS that's ruined by OEM's tinkering with it and a combination of having to do too much with too many different components. It also has an inherently sub-par support structure because it's 3rd parties you'd deal with, not Google. If I have an issue with my iPhone, I bring it to any number of Apple stores, and it's taken care of...depending on the carrier/OEM that makes your Android device, you'll probably have to send it in and wait to see what they say...which may be, "go to hell".

 

Personally, I choose to use Apple's iPhone/iOS combined with a number of Google services...I'm not a huge tinkerer these days, I just wan't my devices to work...but that's not to say Google doesn't make some good software.

 

On my iPhone, I use the following:

Google Maps (yes, Apple maps is fine, most of the people I know use it...but it's just not as good as Google maps yet)

Google Drive

Google Inbox

Google Photos

Google Docs

Google Now (Yes, I still use Siri for things like setting timers/alarms, as a matter of fact, that's ALL I use it for, and no, I don't use the 'Ok Google' Google Voice features, though yes, you can.)

 

I feel iOS is a more stable, fluid, well supported operating system, and I feel running a few Google Apps on top of it gives you the best experience of both worlds...without the security/stability compromises that come with Android. No, I'm not claiming Apple is without fault...but iOS 9 has been out a few months, and we've already received the following:

 

iOS 9.0.1

iOS 9.0.2

iOS 9.1

iOS 9.2

[Chisoxfn]

If only pebble could fix their s*** with apple. My free watch has become utterly worthless since I switched over tom android to IOS. I feel bad for anyone that buys the watch since Pebble markets it as being apple compatible when it flat out is not compatible. It is a total piece of s***. Worst f***ing product experience possible.

 

And it was utterly amazing on Android (by the way).

[BigHurt3515]

So, I got off the phone with Directv, guess they are doing the standard increase of the bill each month so I have to threaten them dance.

 

Funny story;

 

Called about 2 weeks ago because we are moving so I wanted to set that up and wanted to know about their "movers" deal and see what deals I could get and the best he was able to offer me was $50 credit for the reinstall they have to do and $50 credit for a HD receiver we wanted to add, so we ended up paying $138 to move and add a simple HD Receiver. Thought that was outrageous so I called them last night wanting to move my installation date to a later date and asked if there were any deals. They gave me this: Upgrade my equipment to the Genie and 2 Genie minis and $15 off my bill that already has a bunch of discounts on it for 12 months, and pay for the installation. Saved over $600 on equipment and installation in total. Then $15 every month for a year.

 

Its amazing how much things change in just 2 short weeks.

[Y2HH]

I've noticed at night my internet speeds, specifically Youtube seems to suffer long load times and constant buffering.

 

Right now, my download speed is registering at 21D/4U

 

Is it Youtube, or my ISP? What causes these issues?

 

Could be a number of factors, from your internet supplier to your modem, to wifi if involved...way too many variables to guess. To debug something like this we would need a lot more information.

[LDF]

I just watched a video on IGN that seemed to stream fine, tried YouTube and still the same issues, in fact I got the blue box under the video asking me if I was experiencing delays, ect. ect.

 

Browsing the internet on my laptop doesn't seem to have any issues, just media streaming at the moment. Again, it's not that I can't do it, just very slow.

 

And I am using home wifi, yes.

 

i hope you don't mind me interjecting. but it is your internet provider. double ck with a neighbor and see it they have the same problem.

second, ck to see if a neighbor who doesn't have your setup, is having the same problem.

and if i understand this it is watching media on youtube via wifi, see if you can get connected to the internet via hard wire see if that is the same problem

 

 

 

[Y2HH]

I just watched a video on IGN that seemed to stream fine, tried YouTube and still the same issues, in fact I got the blue box under the video asking me if I was experiencing delays, ect. ect.

 

Browsing the internet on my laptop doesn't seem to have any issues, just media streaming at the moment. Again, it's not that I can't do it, just very slow.

 

And I am using home wifi, yes.

 

Sometimes these streaming issues come from people trying to use OpenDNS or Google DNS servers instead of the ones their internet provider gives them by default.

 

If you are using 8.8.8.8 (Google), try swapping it to the defaults and see if the issue goes away.

[RockRaines]

I've noticed at night my internet speeds, specifically Youtube seems to suffer long load times and constant buffering.

 

Right now, my download speed is registering at 21D/4U

 

Is it Youtube, or my ISP? What causes these issues?

What browser are you using? On my imac my chrome browser sucks at watching streaming videos as it has constant judder while firefox is smooth as ice.

[Jose Abreu]

I agree that you should check the browser. For me, I don't use Safari, can't watch videos on Firefox, but I can on Chrome. Seems backwards, I know.

[Y2HH]

What browser are you using? On my imac my chrome browser sucks at watching streaming videos as it has constant judder while firefox is smooth as ice.

 

That sounds like a different issue...he's experiencing bandwidth issues, not stutters from processor, etc.

 

You shouldn't be having this issue, either...I can stream in any browser, Safari, Chrome or Firefox without problems on my iMac and it's from 2011.

[LDF]

 

i just thought of this,

 

how bout the ram???

 

[Brian]

My dad just got a new laptop and want Microsoft Office on it for his job, but the only way he can find to get it is to pay every month or annually. Anyone know how he can get it for a one time payment that isn't too expensive?

I got my version cheap through work but he can't use my code.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

My dad just got a new laptop and want Microsoft Office on it for his job, but the only way he can find to get it is to pay every month or annually. Anyone know how he can get it for a one time payment that isn't too expensive?

I got my version cheap through work but he can't use my code.

 

Costco has the one-time license, but it's not cheap. $124.99 for the Home and Student, $179.99 for Home and Business (includes Outlook).

[southsider2k5]

My dad just got a new laptop and want Microsoft Office on it for his job, but the only way he can find to get it is to pay every month or annually. Anyone know how he can get it for a one time payment that isn't too expensive?

I got my version cheap through work but he can't use my code.

 

Best Buy has one time licenses as well.

[bmags]

So twitter really is allowing longer tweets.

[Jose Abreu]

So twitter really is allowing longer tweets.

They are? I don't see it

[Jose Abreu]

Nevermind, I see it's coming out in a few months.