Bob’s Blog

I can’t seem to find a damned WordPress based music player, so I’m just going to post it here and you can check it out however you wish.

Paradigm

I got an e-mail from my spam filter that I had a comment to a post on my blog here and I remembered that I haven’t posted in forever and a day. Sorry.

The last time I updated was in March about getting a netbook. A LOT has changed since then. The long and the short of it is I had emergency surgery on my intestines, had a bunch removed, and decided that I want a Mac, so I bought a 13″ MacBook Pro and I absolutely love it. It’s got everything I wanted and more. Yes, it was expensive and some would say overpriced, but for what it can do and for hopefully how long I’ll have it, it was worth every penny.

I don’t really have much going on right now, but anything I do update on I usually put on LJ or Twitter first. You can see my Twitter feed on the right side of the main page, so you’ll always know what I’m up to… if you care.

I was testing Windows 7 again today and it really is a lot like Vista, which means if you dislike the UI of Vista, you’re probably going to dislike Win7. I was very mad at first that the Quick Launch taskbar was removed (I use mine all the time; I have 30 programs on mine right now), but you can add it back in, though it’s a pain in the ass:

http://mintywhite.com/tech/windows-7/windows-seven-7-restore-quick-launch-toolbar/

I know that MS wants to make Win7 as minimalistic as possible, but did they really have to remove the Quick Launch OPTION from the Toolbar options? Now it’s a power user command.

I really wonder what it’d take for me to become a Mac convert on days like this.

I have been debating, for quite some time now, about making “the switch” to OSX from Windows. This isn’t because of OSX at its core, believe it or not… it’s because of the hardware. The MacBook line of laptops are, in a word, gorgeous.

However, they’re costly. It’d cost me roughly $1600 to upgrade to the 13″ MacBook with a Windows license.

That’s a lot of frickin’ money for just an all-aluminum chassis of awesomeness.

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My favorite band, Live, has put together a music video contest that I just had to enter. They filmed a bunch of footage back in July when they were filming their DVD release and they posted it on the internet for us to edit our own video together.

Here’s my take on it:

I added my ZuneCard to my homepage, under my Twitter feed, because I thought it was kinda cool. I had to change to a new WordPress theme in order for all the content to look right, but I like this theme better than the old one anyway.

Best SNL Video to date.

I don’t update this nearly as much as I update my blog on LiveJournal, but I wanted to post the snow pics that I’ve got there and on Flickr, because I can.

The black car is actually on a cement island in the middle of the street.

The cement island seems to be "the place" to park cars. I'm guessing so they don't have to drive up the two hills to get to the parking lot.

Snowing.

Icicles on my kitchen window.

Anyway, I update my LiveJournal page way more often, but I’ve provided a link to it and I also have my Twitter updater piped to here, so you can always know what’s going on.

I went on a business trip to Kiev, Ukraine, a few weeks ago and tried to document the more interesting things that I found as I was being shuttled from meeting to meeting for 3 straight days. I have no idea which cathedral is which – I thought they were gorgeous pieces of architecture and wanted to document as many as I could without getting in trouble. Cameras weren’t allowed inside a lot of them, so that’s why there’s more outside pics than inside ones.

(continue reading…)

I’d like to preface this by saying that I am not an Apple fanboy. I don’t own a Mac (I have a homemade PC with Vista on it) and I’ve never owned an iPod (I have a Zune and before that, a Dell DJ), so the concept of buying an Apple cell phone is a bit odd for me. However, I don’t have any allegiance to any specific cellphone makers – I just want the best cell phone for me.

(continue reading…)

My WordPress blog has some serious power behind it! I’d almost consider changing my website around so that the blog points straight to givnin.com, but I do enjoy having a main page where I can post whatever the hell I want, plus keep this blog page with everything else! I guess this isn’t so bad after all.

Even though he doesn’t know it, Paul’s website at screwtheman has seriously made me open my eyes to the powers of the internets. Thanks Paul!

This is a test to see how the embed coding works for videos… and an excuse to post a Live video on my site.

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated my blog on this site (15 July, apparently) and I wanted to find a better design for the page to include my Twitter feed, plus just freshen the design up a bit. I also found a kickass bookmark that links me straight to a blog update page, so I don’t have to manually go to the site, log in and do all that BS – this is one click goodness. I can also add photos, quotes and videos. Watch out, YouTube!

I love the internets.

Part of this I posted to my Live Journal blog and I’m starting with that here:

“I just got back from the mall in Bellevue, WA to check out the iPhone 3G. There was a line at the Apple store, but none at the AT&T store; I’m assuming that’s because they were sold out. The AT&T store did have two display units, so my wife and I got to play with them side by side.

The plastic back is nice; it does fit great in your hand. The tapered sides help with that a lot. I also like the metal buttons over the plastic ones of the previous iPhone.

Other than that, however, that’s where the love stops. We both still find it hard as hell to type on the touchscreen, I have to press icons on the home screen multiple times to activate apps and my other big issue: when you’re in Safari and turn the phone sideways to switch to landscape mode, it takes either several seconds to switch or you have to turn it back to portrait, then try turning it back to landscape again. That annoys the heck out of me. I was hoping that the second motion sensor would have helped that, but I guess not. I was also thinking this issue might have been addressed if the processor was actually running at its full capacity (620mhz), but the OS seems to run exactly like the iPhone 2G, which means it’s probably running at the same 412mhz speed as the iPhone 2G.

The iPhone is a gorgeous looking phone, and AppStore has a ton of potential, but I think our money is on the Bold.”

On top of that, a LOT of the apps that are available through AppStore are stupid and pointless and I’d never use them. The ones that are somewhat good are either available for the Berry, or are available via bookmark through a website. Basically, right now, the AppStore isn’t worth a hill of beans, but it’s got HUGE potential.

Then there’s the other things.

Non-replaceable battery. The iPhone has about a 5 hour talk time… a LOT less on 3G when surfing the internets, using GPS, using the iPod side for audio or video… it KILLS the battery. Since you can’t just pop in a new battery like the Berry, you’ve gotta either live by a wall socket, have a car charger or just not use the nice goodies when you’re out and about and what’s the point of having a phone (I really want to say toy) and not be able to use all its features without being afraid of it dying on you? At least if my Berry dies, I can pop the battery out and put a new one in. Sure, it’s like $30 extra, but that’s peace of mind that just can’t be beat.

The iPhone doesn’t do MMS, so if you snap the cutest pic of the kids and want to send it to Kristian, you have to e-mail it. I’m sorry, but just about every low-end phone has MMS capabilities now. On top of that, the iPhone still has no zoom and no flash. The Berry Bold has the same 2mp camera, but it’s got 5x digital zoom, a flash and MMS, so you CAN take a pic and send it to whomever you want.

The status light is a huge deal for me. I don’t sleep with my phone near me; it stays in my computer room. When I’m drumming, it rests on a speaker head. When I wake up and come into my room, all I have to do is look at my phone from across the room and if the light is red, I’ve got a message and I need to check my phone. If there’s no light, then I’m fine – nothing to worry about. With the iPhone, there is no status light, so I’d have to mess with it every time I want to check for new messages. I’ve gotten used to that feature and love it and honestly, can’t live without it.

I already said it, but the touchscreen is VERY hard to get used to and I’d like to think I can handle most computer stuff pretty good. Typing on a flat glass surface does nothing for me and I really think that the swiping, pinching and scrolling would get old really fast, but that’s just me. The Berry has a keyboard that’s set up like a real keyboard, making my orientation period really small. I like that. You already have a qwerty on your Blackjack, so there’d be no orientation time with you. You’d be banging out texts and e-mails with the best of them!

The Bold is a texting, e-mailing machine. Period. Yes, it can play audio and video, but it’s mainly a great phone with e-mail and texting the priorities for business people and people that want to be in contact with other people. The iPhone is a multimedia machine that’s trying to be a texting and e-mailing machine, mainly for corporate use to try and finagle marketshare from RIM and I really don’t see it happening any time soon.

Every Berry on the market has an internal IM program called Blackberry Messenger. With it, any Berry can contact any other Berry, on any other network – free. It’s a free service for being on RIM’s servers. That’s BRILLIANT. I can IM anyone with a Berry for free… save minutes and get to the point, fast. Michelle will have one, James has one already and I have a few other friends with Berry’s and we can all IM for free. That’s just awesome.

I’m ranting now, so I’ll stop there, but there’s more. Bottom line: The iPhone is a pretty, cutting edge phone. I want a kickass, rock-stable phone that I can e-mail and text to my heart’s desire and the Berry fits that perfectly.

With that said, it seems that a new kink has been introduced. Boy Genius reported that the OS is still buggy as hell (battery pulls 10 times a day? Eff that!) and that the screen is plastic, as is the silver trim, and as a result, the thing apparently scratches by just looking at it.

On the Crackberry forum, RUMOR HAS IT that RIM has upgraded the plastic screen to a glass screen, but I’ll probably still end up getting a screen cover and body gel thing to protect it, but it’s still a concern to me.

56 days and counting.

I’ve been quiet the last month because I started a new job at Big Fish Games in Seattle and, to be honest, there’s really not much to say. Let’s see…

The iPhone 3G model is coming out in 12 days and I’m totally buying into the hype, but I’m desperately trying to stick to the Bold side of things.

This morning, for example, I was PISSED that the Javelin (T-Mo’s 9000 that looks like a Curve that’ll be released sometime next year)  is going to have an OS update that will allow users to boot their Berry into Safe Mode, to be able to uninstall bad themes or programs.

Are you kidding me?

I was kidding with myself last week that the Bold vs iPhone 3G debate is like the Mac vs PC debate, but that joke just became a reality: Apple wants you to use the iPhone in a specific way and they DO NOT want you to stray from that at all. They’re even doing in-store activations to try and thwart jailbreaking, but I’m sure that someone will find a way around that. Then we have the Bold that, while not as pretty looking as the iPhone, is a workhorse and will do exactly what you need it to do, and fast. You can download whatever the f- you want to, but if you brick your phone, well, you can always reinstall the OS.

I’ve been giving it a lot of thought today and after a lunchtime chat with a friend, I’ve decided I’m going to stick with the Bold. I’d rather brick my unit and have to reinstall the OS than have a phone that won’t allow me to do anything else to it except maybe download some decent apps from the not-yet-proven-but-sounds-good-on-paper theory iPhone.

I’m writing all this stuff down now so that when September 4th comes and I’m standing in an AT&T store, debating about which phone I’m going to get, I can surf to this page and remind myself that I AM GOING TO GET A BLACKBERRY BOLD BECAUSE IT’S MORE OPEN THAN AN IPHONE, DESPITE WHAT ANYONE SAYS.

Oh, and if that’s not enough:

• Status light
• Hardware keyboard
• Removable memory
• Removable battery
• MMS (even though I don’t use it now, I might!)
• PIN Messenger (I’ve got TWO friends that have BB’s now!)
• Multitasking
• IM
• Proven OS and hardware by a company making them for years longer than the iPhone

The list goes on.

One cannot deny the gorgeous screen, UI and simplicity of the iPhone, but that’s where it ends with me. I want a phone that can do e-mail and texting and light web with ease. I don’t need an mp3 player that can surf the web… I need a phone that can receive and send e-mails and texts as easily as humanly possible and has the ability to look at sites like IMDB or Wikipedia for quick knowledge goodness, plus full Google (mail, calendar, etc) integration. The Bold can do that and more.

I really should buy a 4gb microSD card now, just so I have one and can “seal the deal” that I’m gonna get a Bold, but the truth of the matter is that I’m not going to use the Bold for media (I have my Zune 80 for that) and the Bold already has 1gb of onboard memory which will be PLENTY for my custom mp3 ringtones.

Speaking of ringtones, I need to get cracking soon on making my new ones for my Bold; I don’t have the original ringtones I uploaded to my Samsung A900. So much for thinking ahead back then.

Flash drive prices are crazy affordable these days. I’ve owned two… until tonight… and now I own three.

My first FD I bought in mid-2005 for about $80 and it was a 512mb SanDisk Cruzer. I was so stoked to have 512mb in my pocket and thought “there’s no WAY I’ll need more than this for, like, anything!”

If I remember right, that FD lasted me until Black Friday of 2006, where I bought a 1 gig PNY flash drive for, I think, $80. Same price as the last one, but double the memory. When I got that one, I gave Michelle my 512mb one because she needed one.

About 2 months ago, I ordered Michelle a 2gb Kingston FD from newegg.com for around $40. I was damned impressed with that price and was really considering getting one for myself, but I decided if I was going to upgrade, I was going to do it right and get at least a 4gb one, so I could carry a DVD’s worth of media on it.

I went to Fry’s tonight to check on prices of FD’s, because two weeks ago they had 4gb Sony’s for VERY cheap (if I remember right, they were only $30) and I wanted to see what this week’s sale prices were and on what brands. Believe it or not, some brands suck and should be avoided at all costs.

I was scanning through all the 4gb and 8gb models and they had 4gb and 8gb Patriot Xporter flash drives on sale for $25 and $40 respectively, PLUS a $5 mail in rebate, so for a bit over $40 after everything is said and done and I get my rebate check, I’m the proud owner of an 8gb flash drive. I’m not saying it’s the last one I’ll get (they had a 32gb one for $160 after rebate; normally around $250), but it should last me at least a year or two… if not more.

Oh, and it’s got a 5 year warranty, which is nice. By comparison, Seagate hard drives also have a 5 year warranty, but most have only a 1 year warranty, if that. Sweet.

I came home and loaded over 2gb of media onto it to move to another machine. It handled the task perfectly fine and quite fast. So far, so good.

This article on Daring Fireball raised a damned good point that I have been debating with myself for quite sometime:

“…the iPhone can do more BlackBerry-ish things than the BlackBerry can do iPhone-ish things.”

I’m still torn between which one to get and I really can’t fully decide until the iPhone 2 features are released next month during WWDC (June 9th ~ 13th). Until then, I just keep reading about the two and make rash judgements every day. What else am I going to do until September 4th?

I had e-mailed a friend a big ol’ mail about the different mp3 players on the market, trying to help her decide which one to get and it was full of so much information I thought I’d post it here for posterity’s sake – and get it out of my e-mail box.

Okay, so you want to graduate to an mp3 player! GREAT! There’s a TON of stuff that you need to consider, so I’ll lay it out by brand. There’s the iPod, Zune, Creative’s new Zen and the Sony Walkman line. All 3 have flash based players in their lineup. You do NOT want a hard drive based player if you’re jogging. Period. You’ll jog the hard drive right out of it. I realize you said “don’t be too detailed”, but honestly, you’ll thank me later. This is stuff you really should consider if you’re going to drop at least $200 (plus accessories, headphones) on an mp3 player.

This is a novel, so I’ll try and break it up into bite sized chunks. I tried my hardest to keep my personal opinion out of it (until the end) and just give you the facts so you can make an educated decision on specs alone, which is exactly what you should do. Don’t let other people’s opinions cloud what you need in an mp3 player. I also didn’t cover video nearly as much or well as the audio aspects. You and I have similar goals in an mp3 player and while they all DO play video files, it’s not the priority, but check out the size and shape of each player. I’m pretty sure they all play videos that are 320×240 resolution, except the iPod Touch because it’s got a bigger screen, of course.

One of the first things you need to do before you even start to consider purchasing an mp3 player is figure how much stuff you want to load on it. Most of the “big players” I’m mentioning have do not have removable media slots for upgrading memory, so just know that that’s all the memory you get, which usually means that when you fill it up, you have to start managing your content. I personally HATE that, so I’m trying to personally choose a player that I won’t need to ever get to that point. Video takes a fair amount of space, where an mp3, on average, is about 5 megs in size. If you rip the CD’s and songs to your PC that you know you want on there first, via either iTunes, Windows Media Player or a score of other free CD rippers found online, that’s a good place to start. I’d suggest going as big as you can afford, but again, your mileage may vary. Each CD is about 100mb. That’s a good start.

iPod. World known. Current market leader. TONS of accessories. Sold everywhere. Great battery life. Some people love the wheel that you spin around and around, some people hate it. When you have a bajillion songs or setlists and you have to spin that wheel a hundred times to get to the R’s, it’s a pain in the butt. You’re tied to using iTunes to manage your mp3 player and music library. iTunes also sells music and videos through their store. Most songs are $1, but you can buy better sounding ones for $1.25, but then there’s Amazon’s service, which sells their mp3’s completely free of DRM and any stupid “hackproof” stuff. It is true that the iPod doesn’t have a radio by default, but for $50, you can buy an add-on radio through a nifty clip that’s the size of an iPod Shuffle. I got one for Michelle for Christmas and she uses it every day, so if you do like the look and feel of the iPod, you do have that option. The radio accessory has a clip on it, so you can clip it to your sleeve while you’re jogging. The iPod also has “gapless playback” through iTunes, which is great if you listen to live music or any music that flows from one song directly into another. Personally, this is a huge feature to me and if the next player I get doesn’t have gapless, it’d better be in nano-seconds. Having a 2 second gap between songs is a mood killer.

The Nano comes in 4 and 8gb models and runs either $149 (4gb, silver only) or $199 (8gb, lots of different colors). The iPod Touch is a LOT more money, but they have 8, 16 and 32gb models. You’re looking at $300, $400 or $500, respectively, but the device is MUCH bigger and completely touch screen based. It’s also got e-mail capabilities, as well as a full web browser, wifi connectivity, weather, stocks, to-do lists and more. It’s really an internet device in your pocket that also plays mp3’s and movies.

www.apple.com/ipod
www.apple.com/ipodtouch

The sound quality of the iPod isn’t “the best”, but it’s darned good for what it’s got. There was a blind “sound test” done by CNET after the first Zune came out, pitting the Zune against the then current iPod and the Zune came out on top. Take that for what it’s worth.

The ipod plays these music formats: mp3, AAC, Protected AAC, WAV, AIFF and more that you probably won’t ever be concerned with. You’ll probably only need to worry about mp3 and AAC (if you ever buy media from iTunes). iTunes, by default, rips CD’s to AAC, so switch that to mp3 if you use iTunes as your media library but want your music in the most common format. Trust me on this. You can rip them as high of bitrate as you want (320 is the best – don’t go under 190kbps), but stick to mp3.

Zune. The Zune has become quite a competitor in the mp3 player market, fighting SanDisk for the #2 slot since its release 2 years ago. The new Zune has a “Zune Pad”, which allows you to swipe your finger up and down the little pad to scroll pretty rapidly through the songs on your player. You can also click the directions, so you don’t have to swipe if you don’t want to. The Zune does come with an FM radio. The Zune doesn’t have gapless playback – there is at least a 1 second pause between tracks.

[ED: As of the latest Zune software update, the Zune now supports Gapless Playback and because of this fact, I went out and purchased a Zune 80 and love it. ]

The Zune requires you to use their Zune Marketplace (ZMP) software. ZMP allows you to spend $15/month and you get all access to every single piece of music on there. You can download whatever you want onto your player and it’s yours to keep… until you stop the subscription, then all the music disappears. The Zune has very good sound and even the Zune team is saying that the Zune is a “premium music player”. The flash Zune model comes in 4 and 8gb versions. The Zune plays mp3, aac (but not protected songs that you get from iTunes – only the iPod can play those) and wma files.

http://www.zune.net/en-us/products/compare.htm

Sony. Doesn’t use any proprietary software to put music on it… you can drag and drop through Windows Explorer or use Windows Media Player 11 to sync your music. Bluetooth models available if you ever get BT headphones. Doesn’t have gapless playback, but it’s only a split second. There’s a 4 way toggle on the front and a Play/Pause button, as well as 2 other buttons for Home and Back. Some smaller models have a radio, but the good high end ones do not. Products range from 1gb up to 16gb, but the 4, 8 and 16gb models are the ones I’d recommend that have the newer models available. The Sony has fantastic sound quality. They rarely need firmware updates… they’re very solid devices. The Walkman plays mp3, aac and wma sound files.

Sony

Just to throw a kink in this whole thing is the Creative Zen. It’s barely bigger than a credit card. It comes in 2, 4, 8, 16 or 32gb flash memory flavors. Uses a standard mini-usb cord to connect to the PC. All the other brands here have proprietary cables, which cost you about $30 to replace if you lose your original one. It’s got a radio. It has an SD card slot so you can put other music or movies on it, but that storage cannot be integrated into the main system memory – it’s in a separate area. Some people like that (they put their videos on the SD cards and switch them out like tapes), some hate it. The Zen works via drag and drop or via Windows Media Player, similar to the Sony. It’s got a glossy front, which is a fingerprint magnet. A case is a must, but if you’re going to be running, a case is a must anyway. There’s an armband for sale through Creative’s site. The Zen plays the following audio formats: MP3, WMA, non-protected AAC, WAV and Audible 2,3 and 4.

Main info page:
http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=16999

One thing to keep in mind: Video. Getting your own personal movies and videos onto any of these devices is a huge pain in the rear. To make a long story short, there are programs you can buy for around $50 that basically go from ripping the DVD to copying it to your device. I’d suggest getting one of these programs if you ever decide to put video on your device. It’s worth the hassle. There is free software available that’ll do it, but they are quite a pain to use and sometimes a pain to find online. Most of these devices all play mp4 video files and a few play avi’s, but getting a program that does it for you will save you time and headaches.

Another thing to keep in mind: Headphones. The headphones that come with these players are very entry level. I HIGHLY recommend, above all else, to invest at least $50 in a pair of good headphones. This is almost a topic for another e-mail. Sennheiser, Sony, V-Moda, Shure… there are a ton of companies that make headphones. Personally (I know, I said I’d stay out of it, but too bad) the V-Moda headphones have been the best sound isolating, musically rich headphones I’ve ever used. Michelle got a pair after listening to mine for less than 5 minutes. They’re $70 at Costco as I write this. Highly recommended regardless of which player you choose.

With all that said, here’s my opinions, so you can stop reading if you don’t care about my personal feelings on this very opinionated subject:

iPod. I don’t want an iPod because I don’t like the clickwheel or iTunes. I shouldn’t be forced to use an app just because Apple said so. With that said, iTunes is the best library and syncing management tool I’ve used. The good thing about the iPods is that there are alternatives to using iTunes to manage and sync your library, but really, iTunes is the easiest. The click wheel, when you have a ton of stuff to scroll through, gets really annoying, really fast. The iPod Touch is great, but it’s a touchscreen unit, which means it’s really hard to use if you’re not looking at it. I’m talking mainly for Play/Pause/Back/Forward. While running, having to stop to look at it to hit a button is retarded – same with driving… and, for me, drumming. I want a tactile button that I can memorize so I can pick it up (or hit it on my back or your arm), hit a button and know exactly what I just did. Also, watching videos on a small screen the size of two postage stamps gets old fast, like on the Nano. Good for short bursts, but I challenge you to watch a Lord of the Rings movie on it. If you’re only watching a sitcom or something while waiting in a store or whatever, then it’s probably going to be okay.

Zune. I was seriously considering a Zune for quite a long time and was waiting for the new Zunes that came out last November. I was pissed that they didn’t include Gapless Playback in their “premium audio device”.. what a load of crap. As noted above, with the latest software release, Gapless Playback HAS been added. The ZMP software was a joke to every single user of the Zune, but they have the hardware tech locked down so much (WAY more than iPod tech) that you can’t use anything but ZMP unless you do some serious hacking that’s just not worth it at the end of the day. That said, the hardware is great and everyone loves it and the software has finally been updated to not suck nearly as bad as it once did.

The Creative Zen looks great and feels good, too. They have the 4gb version at Fry’s. I spent a looooooong time picking it apart. It’s a fingerprint magnet, which is one of the reasons why I didn’t go for it. It was a bit buggy when it came out, but they release firmware updates to fix most of that stuff. It seems to be a pretty solid little player. They were one of the first mp3 players to bump to 16, and now 32, megs of flash memory. The prices are pretty aggressive too, which is good. Circuit City and Fry’s carry them, so you can play around with them in stores to get an idea. Fry’s has Ipod’s, Zunes and the Zen. Good mix. I’m still keeping an eye on the Zen, especially if the prices continue to stay as competitive as they are. I dig the upgradable SD card option. I can keep the main memory on the device filled with my music and use the SD cards for movies and tv shows. SD cards are really cheap online through newegg.com and other places.

The Sony is more expensive than any of the other players, but that’s mainly because flash memory is still expensive and also because it’s Sony. You spend more for “better” quality. “Better” is completely subjective, obviously.

In the end, it comes down to what YOU like to use – not anyone else. If you like the iPod’s look/feel/controls/color/flavor/etc over any of the others, then go with your gut. You won’t get a bad player no matter which one you choose. Also, if you don’t like it, you can always take it back! I’d recommend going to Fry’s or Best Buy and play with the various players and pick from there.

It was officially announced yesterday, but I’m posting about it today. Deal.

http://www.blackberry.com/blackberrybold/features/#experience

I must admit: That’s one sexy machine right there and it’s made me waver back towards the BB camp yet again.

I went to AT&T’s website today and checked out the data plans. It’s $20 for iPhone’s data plan and it’s $30 for the BlackBerry Personal plan. Why, you ask? Because AT&T tethers the Enterprise e-mail onto the plan and you have NO choice in the matter – that’s how it works. So, basically, if I want a BlackBerry instead of the iPhone, I’m going to spend an extra $10 a month or $240 over my total 2 year period. I’m not sure how I feel about that at this time. I was talking with my friend James about it (who’s getting a BB Pearl this weekend) and he basically says that $10 is nothing (3 latte’s a week, but I don’t drink coffee that much anymore) if I really want one. He’s got a point.

Still, the iPhone 2’s release is imminent and the WWDC event is next month in San Francisco, so I’m still trying to figure out the best phone before September.

Another thing to consider is release dates. I’m sure the iPhone 2 will be out before the end of June, but no one is sure about when the BB Bold is coming out. There’s going to be an engine version 4.5 for the current BB’s released “this summer” and then the Bold will be released shortly thereafter with a completely overhauled engine version 4.6 and I’m sure they want adequate release time in-between. Kevin from Crackberry.com thinks that the Bold MIGHT be released in September. That kinda sucks because I REALLY didn’t want to be with Sprint one second longer than I had to, but I want to wait and see what the reviews are for the Bold. Again, Kevin at Crackberry.com already reviewed the Bold with very, very positive remarks, but he’s a huge BB crackhead and I want to see reviews from more sites, like CNET, Yahoo!, Engadget, Gizmodo and any others I can find. The pickier the better, like Boy Genius. He’s ruthless and totally honest and I love it… a blogger after my own heart.

Time will tell. I’m too ADD for this crap. Oh well… this is my blog about being unhealthily obsessed with gadgets. So far, so good.

Speaking of gadgets, I got my Zune80 all up and running pretty good and I must say, I’m pretty impressed. The screen quality is great, as is the sound quality and the Zune software isn’t nearly as much of a POS as the earlier releases were. Thank you, government economic relief checks! Speaking of that, the rest of that money is going towards my future cell phone, so thanks times 2!

I had done a bunch of research a few months ago about the new Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 QWERTY side-slider phone coming out with this “revolutionary” Panels interface, which is just a glorified wanna-be iPhone interface skin on top of Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro. No thanks.

Back to the iPhone vs Blackberry debate and, at the moment, right meow, the iPhone is in the lead.

Only 4 more months to go.

Le sigh.