Simple Living

For over 2 years I was on a Verizon Postpaid family plan paying about $140 plan (about $153 including tax) for 2 lines with unlimited data. Prepaid 2 lines @ ~$93/month I did the math and realized Verizon Prepaid offers a similar deal for much less and opted for the 16GB for my main line and unlimited for my second for a total of $90 a month (about $ 93 including tax). That is roughly a savings of about $60/month, which is quite significant! Limitations of Prepaid There are three (3) limitations: Video streams at lower 480 resolution, not that it matters on a small screen. Cannot use data while on the phone. No Disney+ for free Honestly, I bought Disney+ for a low price so that's not a big deal and I'm not too concerned on low video resolution as I stream mostly on WiFi.  The only one that is a slight pain is inability to use data like search the web while on a phone call.

I've owned my iPhone 6s since 2016 and it's served me well.  However, with the impending iOS14 and the decaying battery life, I'm planning on upgrading and evaluated my options as follows: iPhone XR iPhone SE iPhone 11 iPhone 12 Replaced the Battery Feb 2020 Initially, I planned to make a decision after the release of the iPhone SE in April, but decided to replace the battery on my 6s to give me more time to decide and also prepare the 6s to become my backup phone. It's almost like a new phone with the brand new battery and the phone can last me the full day again.  Before that I was constantly having to recharge within 1-2 hours or have a battery pack on hand. iOS 14 Second to the poor battery life, is the impending iOS 14 release that may skip the 6s.  If it does, I have no choice, but to upgrade and this is the main driver for my choosing to upgrade.  So I'm anticipating this may happen in September when iPhone 12 is possibly released. Long Term

I've owned an Apple iPad 2 for almost 8 years and still love it.  While I probably should have bought a newer iPad, I wanted to give an Android tablet a try and for $50 the Amazon Fire HD8 (2018 Model) was too tempting. When you accept the fact the HD8 is a 'budget' device you can appreciate that Amazon made just the right sacrifices in terms of screen resolution, speed, capacity and other design elements to make it a great deal at $50. Google Play Store is a Must! However, there was one absolute must and that was installing the Google Play Store to allow usage of Chrome, Youtube and a few other Apps.  Without Google Play, the HD8 is quite lacking in usability. But with Google Play, the HD8 is amazing! I've used the device for only a few days and am quite satisfied with the purchase.  I'll take it on several upcoming business trips to see how it goes.  Hopefully, it's advertised 10 hour battery life holds true on the long flights ahead. HD10 Initiall

I went ahead and did it and purchased an Armani AR0585.  Again!  I used to own this exact same model several years ago and foolishly sold it.  Having regretted selling it because it was the perfect beater watch, I decided to get it again and was fortunate to purchase it at about the same price I sold it for; plus in better condition!  For $65 this is an awesome watch!  Armani doesn't make watches like this anymore. Original Post from 2014: Armani AR0585 -- 2014 Post Specs 43mm dial 23 mm lug Quartz Movement (Miyota OS20) Battery SR927W (395/399 equivalents) Chronograph 3 registers @ 3,6,9 dial positions 5 ATM (50 Meter) water resistance Stainless steel, deployment clasp Comparable model is the AR0527 (rubber strap instead of metal bracelet) Domed vs Flat Crystal One of standout traits and things that make the AR585 spectacular is its use of a domed crystal.  While this makes it more susceptible to chips and scratches; especially if it hits a hard surface.  I

The Apple Airpods have been around for a number of years and they are now selling the 2nd Generation.  I've had my 1st Gen for about 5 months now (December 2018). Overall, I like them primarily due to their convenience.  I derived this based on 5 categories: Good Battery Life Ease-of-Use Build Quality Average Sound Quality Form Factor The Good Like most Apple products, the Airpods are well made and designed to work perfectly with most other Apple products.  They sync with my iPhone effortlessly and they can last me several days (roughly 8 hours of listening time daily). The Not So Good Where the Airpods suffer is on sound quality, while decent, they don't sound as good as wired headphones.  Even the standard wired Apple Earbuds sound better. The other problem is form factor.  While it fits in a small case that is very portable, it lacks any way to latch onto anything and I'm constantly paranoid I'll lose them; I did purchase a case with keyring, bu

I bought a new leather watch band for my Apple Watch.  The original rubber watch band was irritating my skin after prolong use and at times making the watch almost unwearable. Overall, this leather band has made a marked improvement in the comfort and wearability of the Apple Watch and is absolutely a great deal at about $10 on Amazon. The only error I made was I own a dark grey watch and the end links for this strap are silver chrome, but it's barely noticeable to me.

I've owned an Apple Watch for almost 2 years.  I purchased my Series 2 on April 2017 and wore it regularly for most of 2017, but for some reason stopped in 2018 and switched back to traditional wristwatches.  Starting around Oct 2018, I began wearing my Apple Watch regularly again and have been wearing it almost daily ever since. I. What brought me back to the Apple Watch? Convenience.  I found the value of an Apple Watch is it's well integrated with the Apple ecosystem and I can rely on it as my main access point for alerts, messages, phone calls, music controls and useful info.  In a sense, the Apple Watch functions like a tiny data dashboard. I only need to take out my iPhone if I need to search the internet, send/receive messages or access certain apps.  Otherwise, I can go through most of the day never having to take my iPhone out of my pocket. They've also made some enhancements in the interface.  I'm now able to click an icon on the top to get back to the