the lencurrie life

My New iPhone 4 – My Review

lencurrie — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:51:08 +0000

I haven’t been posting much lately and for that I apologize, truth is that I haven’t had 30 seconds to sit down and write anything worthwhile in quite awhile due to my photography side-business mostly, but also with a new computer, painting, as well as getting my new iPhone which I wanted to talk about today.

This sucker is hard to come by, in fact when it was first announced up for sale in Canada last month I’ve heard that they only had about 30 or so in total to sell around PEI (nice…). Whether that’s true or not remains to be seen, but since I knew that I wouldn’t see one in stores for quite some time we decided to purchase it from Apple directly from their online store. The cost we paid?? (get ready for this..)… approx $750 each.

Yes, very expensive right? Well.. I would tend to agree and disagree – but let’s get on to the review portion.

PRICING

So as I said, we paid full retail for the 16gig iPhone 4. Total price came to just over $1500 for 2 of them. Very expensive indeed, however – these suckers are VERY much in demand and from what I can tell on ebay, last years model 3gs is still going for around $500 or so. It was announced on June 9th, 2009. At that time you could have purchased the phone for pretty much the same price as the iPhone 4 is going for now. So what does that mean?

Well, if you bought an unlocked phone at that time say for the same price of $750. It would have depreciated in value $250 over 15 months, or $17 a month. Not really that bad considering how badly most electronics depreciate these days.

Another bonus of ordering from Apple directly is that the phone comes “unlocked”. This means that I can go to whatever carrier I want and activate my iPhone, contract free. I’m pretty darn satisfied with my current network so I am in no rush or need to switch carriers – however when it comes to resale value – this helps as when/if I sell this on eBay, I can sell it to a MUCH broader audience than one which is locked to a carrier.

Roaming? Obviously for the same reasons I stated above – I can head on down to the US – pick up some sort of pay-as-you-go SIM card and activate it temporarily while I’m oot and aboot travelling. You can’t do this with a locked iPhone or locked any-phone. Another plus.

My monthly bill I’ll have to get back to you on as I haven’t had it long enough to realize any differences yet.. (I haven’t gotten a bill).

USE

In a word. Awesome. I love this silly thing. I’m a graphical person by nature anyhow and have always gotten a kick out of the best graphics and the “eye candy” so to speak so it goes without saying that I’m very smitten with how smooth the iPhone is and the “retina” display is unbelievable.

I’m still looking for the really useful applications and always on the lookout for more, I do like the fact that there literally is an app for everything. I wanted an application which I could share a grocery list with Liz – yep.. “there’s an app for that”. That way if I notice something that we’re missing out of the fridge? I just enter it in my iPhone and Liz gets a copy of it.. whomever goes to the grocery store first has all the items on their phone. I can do everything from trade stocks to find a Texas truck accident lawyer if I needed to. It’s amazing and the 250K applications for it put it at a huge advantage to the competition (Android).

PHYSICAL

This was very important to me as I bought my last Blackberry. I wanted to make sure that I could put it in my pocket and not have to worry about it being a big nuisance or being too large for my pockets. I was actually very surprised when it got here to find out it was not a heckuva lot bigger than my Blackberry Pearl. It was about 1/2” wider and 1/4” longer.. I put it in my pocket and it made no difference, but that leads me to my next point.

I was scared sh1tless of scratching the screen! I knew (from my buddy Tony) that I wanted to get an Otterbox case but until I ordered one and it got here, what was I supposed to do? Both Liz and I decided that we would try to leave on the protective films that come on both sides of the screen since we were able to use it just fine with those on it, the only problem was that mine started to come off a bit as I pressed the main button a bunch of times. I hurriedly bought the Otterbox cases but in the meantime I wrapped my iPhone in yes…. plastic wrap. No.. it wasn’t the best protection I could have used, but I just wanted to have something on the silly thing until I got the proper case.

Now that I DO have the proper case.. I find it a little bigger and bulkier.. but that’s to be expected I think. it certainly protects it 360° and so far I like the case. I am currently using a belt clip but I can’t see me using that much.. we’ll see.

SUMMARY

I’m very smitten with my iPhone. My car stereo is louder and better sounding when it’s hooked up to it. Browsing the web is a pleasure on it and so easy, I have even installed a few PDF books on it and can read those too no problem. Podcasts? While I never had much use for them in the past – I find that they are very informative and fun to watch in my spare time (which I don’t have much of lately anyhow).

I love it.. and will keep you informed if my opinion changes!

Alternatives to the iPad?

lencurrie — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:53:21 +0000

So as I await delivery of my iPhone 4 (Liz and I both have one which is now in the Maritimes en route to us ) I was looking through a few flyers last night and I came across an interesting item at Bed, Bath and Beyond. It was for an item called the Pandigital Novel. It was on for $199 but had a coupon on the back for 20% off (I think it did anyhow) so for under $200 you could have this reader.

I’m not sure of the general consensus out there for an e-book reader, but I for one think it’s a pretty slick idea… it is however, VERY tough for me to justify the very expensive price tag of an iPad. The way I see it, these are basically netbooks with touchscreens. Not that there is anything wrong with that, like I said.. I want one. I want one for one basic reason though – reading PDF files.

I don’t know about you, but I find reading PDF’s on the screen of a computer to be a pain in the butt. I can get all kinds of great material online in PDF format, full books, magazines, tutorials, web sites, etc – and to be able to read it on a little tablet while I’m chilling out at home in bed, or on the patio, or waiting for a haircut – whenever I have a spare moment really, would be ideal and I think very beneficial. It certainly doesn’t go on my list of must-haves and there are PLENTY of other things I want to do first (like get rid of my line of credit debt) – but I do like the idea for sure.

There is also another promising device called the Cruz Tablet which seems to be another cheaper iPad alternative and that seems to be getting a lot of attention as well. So all in all, it’s an exciting new technology which appears to be gathering steam. What do you think? Save up for the premium iPad? Or get something a bit cheaper?

- if you want to keep up with the latest on tablets, may I suggest this link which searches the latest information on Engadget for anything “tablet” related.

No Credit Card Debt? Time To Save More Money..

lencurrie — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:07:56 +0000

Wee haw!

So I just got off the phone with Mastercard as I decided that there was really no benefit from me having the fees associated with my card anymore. I was paying $99 a year to have the gold air miles Mastercard, and I was also $35 a year to have the lower interest rate from 19.5% (holy shit!) to (12.9%).

This may seem silly to some as such a small amount ($35) to have a 6.6% difference in interest, but I see it beneficial for a few reasons:

not to carry a balance! I’ve worked hard to get the damn thing paid off, time to keep it that way. If I want to have something, save up for it!
saving $134 a year to have a Mastercard which likely isn’t going to carry much of a balance from here on in seems stupid and a waste of money.
that ridiculous interest rate of 19.9% is scary to me, it will make me very conscious of anything I put on my Mastercard.. saving is very much physcological I’m finding.

So yah, I’ll be doing a budget update soon as well.. but if you don’t carry any balance on your Credit Card(s), maybe it’s a good idea to find out if you’re paying any fees on them as it’s just a waste of money. Oh, and if you have more than one credit card.. you’re stupid.

Free Magazine Subscription – CPU (Computer Power User)

lencurrie — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:37:49 +0000

Free Subscription! I'm in!

I love magazines, I love free – therefore, I love this deal. Found it today and wanted to share with my readers a free 6 month supply to CPU (Computer Power User) magazine. Seeing that I am in the process of building my own PC as we speak I think this is may be a great read to have for sure!

If you love cutting edge hardware, Computer Power User is the magazine for you! Simply enter your contact information and receive a complimentary subscription to CPU! No credit card required, nothing to cancel and no catch!

It just hope it works out better than the free Maxim Magazine subscription we all tried to get but didn’t

Free 6 Month Subscription – CPU Magazine

UPDATE

Oh and because I’m such a gender-friendly guy, I just came across another free magazine offer for the “beauty” in you all ;-)

Loreal Paris is launching a new magazine called BEAUTÉ and you can get their first issue free located here.

Productive Day Of HouseWork

lencurrie — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 23:29:01 +0000

I’m not going to post much right now as I want to get back out to drinking beer on the deck with Liz, but I wanted to just post and say that today was unreal! These are what summer days are all about – didn’t go far from home all day. I did take the dogs for a walk, did a lot of work in the backyard, cleaned up a bunch of gravel and Liz mowed the lawn front AND back! Impressive! Funny part about it, although we didn’t intend to do anything exuberant all day – I ended up getting quite a work out with all the gravel moving and lawn work, and Liz.. wow she won’t be needing any corsets anytime soon the way she sweated today with me!

All in all, a great, great day.. now time to put some of those pounds back on by drinking lots of beer

I Can’t Believe What Time I Was Awake Today

lencurrie — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 21:05:10 +0000

It’s true. I am now officially more of a morning person than I ever thought possible. I do have to throw out a disclaimer though – I know that 1/2 the people reading this are going to say .. “Oh god, that’s not early!! blah blah blah”. You have to understand, for me.. early was 10:30 AM on the weekends. That was seriously me getting up early.

Now it seems, after 8 years of getting up around 7AM every day, my body seems to think that it’s the normal routine and I have no problem getting up at that time.. *sigh* even on the weekends. This is horrible!! I am getting old!! Only old people get up earlier than noon on weekends right??

Ok maybe it’s not so bad, I did get a lot done today and relaxed quite a bit. Read part of a book (review coming later) and did ALL kinds of yard work including getting rid of the huge pile of gravel at the beginning of our driveway. Liz helped quite a bit after she got up and together we had a great day (not done yet though!).

I actually was backtracking through some Lifehacker.com articles and came across an interesting one for people struggling to get up and going in the morning. It’s located here but it points out 10 Ways to Upgrade Your Morning Routine:

10. Save the Morning for Thinking – as soon as you get out of your nice comfy massage table poly cotton sheets or whatever you have on your bed is the best time to do your best thinking. “”Think in the morning, act in the noon, read in the evening, and sleep at night.”

9. Track Your A.M. Habits

8. Put Your Kids on an Itinerary

7. Eat for Better Sleep

6. Choose Your Most Important Task Over Email

5. Trade Coffee Jolts for Smaller Perk-Ups

4. Wake Up Without Any Caffeine

3. Set a Morning Prep Reminder the Night Before

2. Crank Out Some Push-Ups

1. Know Your Peak Performance Times

Some good stuff so take a read over at Lifehacker’s top 10

Guess Who’s Going To The Canadiens Home Opener??

lencurrie — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 19:51:28 +0000

Yes, that’s right.. me. Am I Montreal Canadiens fan? Not a chance.. but who are the playing?? Tampa Bay Lightning! Ohhh I’m getting pretty excited just typing this, it’s going to be fantastic!!

Not only are we heading to Montreal for a few days, but then we are heading to New York City for the weekend! Oh baby!! This is one of those trips that most people keep thinking they want to do, but never get around to it, and now is the time for this kid. Myself and Liz are going along with her sister and her sisters boyfriend, they are Habs fans, but we (read: “I”) don’t hold that against them.

Pic taken the last time we were there

I wanted to write about how we ended up getting the tickets and the hotel and such. First, we used Stubhub.com for the tickets.. unfortunately they were $140 a pop, but really.. can you see the getting cheaper for opening night? I don’t think so – and we were willing to pay that much for them. For those of you whom have never been to a Montreal Canadiens hockey game, it’s a must see.. the atmosphere is absolutely ELECTRIC! One of the highlights of the trip the last time we went to Montreal for certain.. if not THE highlight actually.

The next thing we needed to do was get a hotel room. I’ve used Priceline in the past with great success so we decided to try that again as well. Sure enough, after some research (using biddingfortravel.com) in order to find out what were the 4-star hotels and which were the 3.5 star, we went a ‘biddin.

We ended up getting the Omni Hotel Mont-Royal which is from what I’ve researched is a great hotel (#30 out of 165 on Tripadvisor) and we got it for the price of $100 a night. Perfect! Especially when we went on their website directly after and couldn’t find it any cheaper than $210 a night! Pretty slick sale price if you ask me!

The only concerns we have are of course the driving when we get there (especially the nutty drivers in Montreal!!) We will definitely have a GPS like the TOMTOM ONE 130?S Automobile Portable Navigator to aid us when we’re there because I know even from the last time I was there trying to drive was pretty crazy.. it’s not exactly a city which is set up very well for drivers.

Now we’re on to trying to book everything for New York. We’re thinking that we’ll get something in New Jersey and just take the shuttle or subway or whatever they have built there to get into the Big Apple for the weekend – I’m really looking forward to it since the last time I was there was only for a day and it was pre-9/11 if that gives you an idea of the time frame.

As always, if anyone has any ideas or suggestions on travelling to NYC, please feel free to comment! I love hearing and reading the and they are more than welcome!

My Thoughts On A Wedding Photo In The Rain.

lencurrie — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 12:53:43 +0000

I’m going to need to knock on every piece of wood around my house as I don’t want to jinx myself, but so far I’ve had nothing but beautiful days for shooting the weddings I’ve done (all 6 of them) – in fact only during the last wedding did I had some rain drops in the morning and a little bit on the drive out, but nothing much to speak of at all. I’ve been very fortunate for sure, but I know the time will come, and when that time does come I’ll have to protect my gear with a bunch of plastic bags or something and Liz will be wearing her favorite women’s rain boots and we’ll be forced to shoot some shots in “inclement” weather.

As much as it will be a challenge, I realize that there’s nothing that I can do about it, so I may as well soak up the experience (pardon the pun) and be prepared and have fun with it! One thing that I love to do before any shoot is research the shots and poses before I even get out there and shoot. Hey, I’ve only been doing this since August 1, 2009..that’s not a lot of time and I really can’t wait till the time that I’m able to just walk into any situation and know what poses and shots I want to take, but until that time I’m going to work my butt off to make sure that the people that are trusting me with their photos are happy. I really admire the folks that can just walk into a shoot and know what they want to do before hand, it’s truly a gift and I hope to develop mine.

Back to the rain on a wedding day, as much as I like something different every now and then and rain would be included – it’s VERY important to have a back up location where you’re not going to get wet. A few shots out in the rain are great, but it’s tough to do an entire formal wedding shoot there. If any of my photographer friends whom read the blog would like to chime in and tell me their experiences, I’d really love to hear your tips, thoughts, experiences.

Boy I really hope I didn’t jinx myself for the next wedding I do in a few weeks

image courtesy Matt Adcock @ http://www.flashflavor.com/

Anyone Know How To Paint Match?

lencurrie — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:42:52 +0000

Upon reading the title of this post you would likely think that this had something to do with my newly painted walls which are being done as we speak, but no.. actually this has to do with something different. Over a year ago I stumbled a bit down the stairs (no, I wasn’t drinking – stop picturing it!) and while I was stumbling I put my hand out to try to catch myself but instead caught a rung in my railing and snapped it in two.

So for awhile we left it as is as it wasn’t really noticeable but lately since I’ve been doing all kinds of other renovations I decided that this little sucker should get fixed too!

I guess what I’m wondering is if anyone out there has any information, tips, tricks, contacts, etc that can match up the color of the other rungs to one that I’m going to buy? Putting it back in shouldn’t be that big of a deal, it’s not like I’m assembling posts to log beds or anything, I just don’t know how to go about doing it.. perhaps some Internet research would be a good idea I just know we got a lot of smart people around here whom I’m sure would be able to help me out here.

What Are Your Favorite Wedding Photo “Props”?

lencurrie — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 19:34:06 +0000

I have to admit that I’m a bit of a fan of certain props for some of the formal wedding party shots. I guess it’s due to the fact that the first wedding I ever shot, the guys brought along some cool hats (pictured left) which I thought really added to the mood and made for great pictures (way to go Kim & Kenny!)

I’m wondering what else is out there? I know for the guys there are a lot of options (and for the bridesmaids as well) such as cigars, hats, canes, sunglasses – but wondering if you folks have seen other ones either at weddings or in photos you’ve liked? I’ve seen umbrellas used when it wasn’t raining (and of course when it was!).

Just trying to get some creative ideas for weddings in the future, I do like painting a good scene