A Brief Inventory of My Cellphones (to be updated)

In Use

• LGE Nexus 5 - my main phone, Bell monthly, unlocked
  
• LGE Nexus 4 - my main prepaid, Bell, unlocked
  
  
  
• Nokia X2-01 - my minor prepaid, Fido, locked
  
  
  
• Sony Ericsson Arc - Fido monthly, unlocked - Roommate T
  
• Motorola G - Fido monthly, locked - Roommate L
  
  
  
• Samsung i757 - Virgin monthly, unlocked - given to friend W
  
• Samsung SGH-S275M - locked to Bell, plan allows sharing - given to friend J
  

As you can see, I have given phones to friends and roommates for their use. I plan to put my Bell prepaid on the Bell shared plan when the tab on it expires in February 2015. Even though the prepaid plan expires on July 15, 2015, it is cheaper to put it on a monthly plan. Since my debt to Rogers is pending (about $1500 left to be paid), the Fido prepaid plan cannot be changed to postpaid (monthly). Out of Use

• Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro - locked to Fido - not in use due to limitations of speed and memory. This phone will have most of its apps removed to improve response times.
  
• Motorola W510 - locked to Fido
  
• Nokia 500 - locked to Mobilicity. Waiting for Wind or Telus someone to buy them out. That isn't happening so I am still waiting. :)
  
  
  
• Samsung A767 - unlocked
  
• LGE GT350 - unlocked
  
  
  
• NTT Docomo Aquos SH-13c - for use in Japan only, locked to NTT Docomo
  

** Information provided will change in the future.

---

Originally posted on GooglePlus circa November 2013
20150107: Moved from Googleplus to Blogspot

Saved: $5 at Future shop and the Source

Problem: I need a better charging system than what I have now which is a NiHCD portable power charger by Black and Decker.

It's only good with non-smartphone devices since smartphone have 1250mAh batteries which means only 75% of the charge will be met before the charger shuts off.

Soutioon:
So I went to Future Shop and found the Aluratek 5000 mAh Portable Charger on sale for $10 plus tax.

All that was missing was the USB to DC cable, which I have since mine came with the Kodak camera I used to use before switching to my smartphones to take pictures in addition to the 101 other things such phones can do.

The only thing I don't like about the new charger is it does not have a second port like the one I originally wanted to buy from the DMAC store for $40, but felt that a better deal was waiting for me.

After looking at the adapters for various cellphones, I realized that they would be perfect with an AC-to-DC adapter.

So I bought a Newtech adapter and polarity adapter that matches both the charger's DC charging socket and the cellphone charging adapters which came with the Aluratek charger.

This means I could use the cellphone adapters with the AC-to-DC adapter and with the USB-to-DC cable.

If I didn't by the AC-to-DC adapter and polarity adapter, then I could have saved about $9 but even after buying it in addition to the charger, I still saved about $5 over the charger I saw at DMAC.

With the USB-to-DC cable and the cellphone adapters, I can charge the charger with my USB AC adapter and have a charger handy if my mobile devices' batteries go flat on me using the cellphone adapters with the cable.

This replaces my B&D charger, iPhone USB-to-iPhone adapter cable and retractable USB-to-micro USB cable at the expense of having the device closer to the charger.

Though it makes sense to keep the retractable USB-to-micro USB cable when charging my Android phone.

With the working phones I have, I only need the iPhone adapter and the Nokia adapter since the other working phones use micro-USB.

Of course, this complicates the number of parts to carry from originally 3 to the 5 pieces I intend to use (charger, USB-to-DC cable, two phone adapters, and the retractable USB cable).

Though, this also means I always have to carry my knapsack to hold all the pieces of my new charging kit.

The old charging kit.

The new charging kit.

Speednet Results for May 9, 2013

Test Date: May 9, 2013 7:12:27 am
Connection Type: Cell
Server: Delta, BC
Download: 3.43 Mbps
Upload: 0.50 Mbps
Ping: 80 ms

[Location removed for privacy]

A detailed image for this result can be found here:


[Ad edited and moved to Reference]

Test Date: May 9, 2013 9:27:11 am
Connection Type: Wifi
Server: Vancouver, BC
Download: 16.47 Mbps
Upload: 2.73 Mbps
Ping: 22 ms

[Location removed for privacy]

A detailed image for this result can be found here:

---

Reference:

Ookla operates Speedtest.net, the ultimate resource for bandwidth testing and related information. Visit it on your computer today to find out why.

Update on my Cell Phone Bills

Fido claims I only owe them $51. However, the last email I got said that my debt is actually $285.
However, it's fifty-one dollars. It took 11 minutes to confirm.

Bell is confirmed $110 by Marc 22 and $15 by March 31. Time taken to confirm: 6 minutes

Virgin is confirmed $85 by March 31. Time taken to confirm: 12 minutes.

All my active accounts with cell phone providers have been updated accordingly.

As for the outstanding debts to Fido and Rogers, I'm anticipating partial payments by the end of the third quarter but cannot confirm how much that I'll be paying by September 6.

Therefore I'll be call blocking them until then.

Can you hear me now?

Phone Etiquette from the Point of View of That Annoying Person Talking Loud/Soft

When I have a cellphone at full volume at my left ear which has 1/8 the sensitivity of my right, the other 7/8 of the sound going to my left ear makes it to the right ear.

However, I am getting about 1/2 the information, which is just enough to understand someone who speaks at "normal" loud enough for everyone to hear so that they keep their distance) in public.

On the other hand, the reason for talking quietly on the phone is to ensure that EVERYONE listening pays closer attention to what you say on the phone.

YMMV

7-11 Speak Out Works On Rogers Phones

Speakout.ca

Today I decided to get a 7-11 Speakout SIM card. Since I have an extra Rogers cellphone lying about, and know that Rogers phones work with the Speakout SIM without unlocking, I decided to register the card with Speakout.

This only took 20 minutes to do and check out the phone settings after registration.

The phone can receive text messages, but unfortunately I could not afford to get a voucher to top up minutes on the phone because the cheapest voucher is $25.

So that means I have my main Bell phone, my Virgin phone, my two Fido phones, and now a Speakout phone.

My two extra phones (Motorola W510 and LG Neon) are on Fido, which means they would need to be unlocked since a Rogers SIM wouldn't work in either phone.

Fido phones are locked because they use the Microcell network, which is owned by Rogers but were originally owned by Microcell when Fido first started out in

The Unofficial Speakout website is at http://www.speakoutwireless.ca/

Howard's Forum has a 7-11 Speakout webpage at http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1432496-7-Eleven-SpeakOut-Wireless-Canada-Useful-Info