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Ask a Geek Girl: Wanting a Basic, Dependable Phone For Dad

GeekSugar — Wed, 13 May 2009 06:00:48 -0700

Need help making a major gadget purchase or got a burning techie question? Join our Ask a Geek Girl Group and spill it! hyzenthlay20 recently asked the crew:

I'm trying to help my dad choose a new cell phone. He's a total gadget-head, but admits that he doesn't need/wouldn't use a smartphone. He'd love a reason to have an iPhone, but all he really does is talk on the phone. He needs a phone with a speakerphone, bluetooth, voice dialing, and great call quality. He doesn't need internet, or data, or email . . . And he's loved his RAZR for the past two years. We're looking at the Motorola MOTO, but it gets mixed reviews, although people on their reviews seem to agree that it is similar to the RAZR. He was saddened when we realized that there are no RAZRs available anymore (except for the pay-as-you-go option). He'd like to go with either AT&T or Verizon. Does anyone have any ideas?

To see my suggestions, read more.

Dear hyzenthlay20, first off, it sounds like your dad is lucky to have a savvy consumer (and geek) for a daughter! I recently told another reader with similar needs to check out Verizon's LG VX8360. It offers the bells and whistles of text, picture, video and voice messaging, but also offers exceptional battery life and has a good reputation. Usage time is up to 316 minutes and standby time is up to 641 hours (I am sure that will impress dad!). You might also check out Verizon's Motorola Adventure V750, a basic push-to-talk phone with Bluetooth, camera and some fancy music options. It's the same shape as your dad's beloved RAZR, and has pretty good reviews. I encourage you to take dad to your local AT&T or Verizon store, scope out the most knowledgeable salesperson and express he wants a replacement for his RAZR. It's an incredibly common quest and they will likely have two or three different models that may suit dad's needs. Of course, if he really wants an iPhone, he should treat himself!
Happy shopping,
geeksugar

Do you have a basic cell suggestion for hyzenthlay20? Share it here!

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Ask a Geek Girl: What to Look for in a Camcorder

GeekSugar — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:02:09 -0700

TeamSugar user PeachyKeen19 recently wrote me asking for advice in buying a new gadget - a camcorder.

A video camera is definitely something you don't want to buy without guidelines, and PeachyKeen19 needs one that can take great quality video for short films and have the whole package: great audio and video. It also needs to be up-to-date and simple to use (just how I like my gadgets).

To see my suggestions for great camcorders, just read more

The first thing you should decide is whether you want a camera that has an internal hard drive, one that uses memory cards, or one that uses tape, (some even have a combination of the three). The simplest option is using mini DV tapes - just pop it in your camera and go (you get about an hour of video with each tape). I also recommend getting a non hard drive camera because it's a pain to get the footage off the camera, and then you have to store that video on your computer.

If you do go with a hard drive camcorder, be prepared with a lot of space to store your footage. However, if you go with a camera that takes tapes, you can archive the tapes and not worry about cluttering up your computer's hard drive.

I wouldn't worry about audio too much, since it's generally good across the board with name-brand cameras; what you should worry about more is video.

My specific choices? Sony has cameras that work great in low light and give consistently good audio and video. I like their Mini DV Handicam ($300), which uses tapes but is not HD.

If you're really looking for the best picture quality, go with an HD camera. Even though you may think HD is too high-end for now, you should consider it; even if you're not watching your footage on an HDTV, the picture quality will still look amazing. Plus, it's a future-proofing option and you won't regret not upgrading later.

For entry-level HD cameras, I recommend Panasonic; check out the HDC-SC9, which uses SD memory cards (which are pretty cheap themselves); at $800, it's much more than my previous rec, but it may be worth it if you want the visual quality.

Good luck and happy shooting, PeachyKeen19!

Ask a Geek Girl: What Do I Do With My Old iPod?

GeekSugar — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:45:01 -0700

For this installment of Ask a Geek Girl, TeamSugar user amers230 asks what she should do with her old iPod, now that she's received the new iPod of her dreams:

As a special surprise for my birthday my parents bought me the new iPod I've wanted for forever. Now that I have my 80GB Classic, I have no use for my 3-year-old 20GB. Thing is, I'm not sure what to do with it now. I'm asking around to see if any friends or family want it, but no one really is interested. I could just sell it on eBay for five or ten bucks, but I was really wondering if anyone knows of some sort of donation center.

To see my answer, just read more.

I'm glad you're asking about recycling your iPod, since you'd be surprised how many people just toss them in the trash and end up polluting the earth. Thankfully, I have a couple donation options for you. First off, Apple offers a free recycling program throughout all of their retail stores in the US. Just drop off your old iPod to your nearest Apple Store, and in addition to saving Mother Earth, you'll get a cool 10 percent off of your next iPod purchase.

If you want to donate your old player to charity, I'd check out RecyclingForCharities. Not only can you donate your iPod, but you can also send in your old computers, cell phones, printers, digital cameras, and PDA's to a charity of your choice. Just print out your shipping label and fill out your tax forms (since donating your electronics is tax deductible), and off they go!

Has anyone else donated your old electronics? Tell us what service you used in the comments below!

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Ask a Geek Girl: Looking For the Perfect Camera

GeekSugar — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:00:36 -0700

I love being asked about digital cameras. Not only are there so many options out there in terms of size, color, and features, but I am always on the look out for the next hot camera to drool over! So when I saw cwjam88's question about which new digital camera she should spring for, I jumped at the chance to give my two cents. Cwjam88 writes:

What is a good point and shoot camera? The one that I have says it has "image stability" but it really doesn't, unless it's used in really high-lit places, the images look noisy. Plus is there a long wait after taking a picture to be able to take another one? Which point and shoot takes images quickly, turns on quickly, and doesn't have noisy images?

To hear my take, read more.

I can tell you from experience that the Sony T100 is a great point and shoot, and one of my favorite cameras I've ever owned. I carry this baby around at all times just in case I find a news-worthy shot, and need to capture it quickly. It's face detection and antiblur solution makes shooting in low light, bright light, and everywhere in between easy and also reduces picture noise that can come with low-light situations. The other thing I dig about the T100 is you can edit pics right in the camera which, lets be honest, isn't really that useful if you know your way around Photoshop or iPhoto. . . but it's really fun to play with anyway. Plus, it's really fast in between shots, so you can capture every moment. The price is a little high at $350, but you can find great certified refurbished models for $279, which is a great deal!

Now that I've told you about my fave camera, there's plenty of other options out there that are fast, easy to use, and quite stylish to fit your taste. Do any of you geek-chic camera lovers out there have any other suggestions? Leave them in the comments below. And don't forget to post your tech-related questions to the Ask a Geek Girl Group - your geeky conundrum may be featured on geeksugar!

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Ask a Geek Girl: We're Here to Help

GeekSugar — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:00:40 -0700

When you're down and out, and aren't sure what to do about your techie problems, don't worry - you've got a friend! The Ask a Geek Girl group is here to help. We've been seeing some great questions, as well as some smart, in-depth answers from our many geeky ladies (and gents) cruising the Ask a Geek Girl group to lend their computer and tech expertise.

Just remember, no question is too hard or too easy. So if you want the lowdown on how to upload a picture on Myspace, want to know what the heck a motherboard is, or maybe just want to impress your buds when you show off your YouTube vids on your new Wii next weekend, then let us know! You may see your question featured on geeksugar! And since it's totally painless to join and easy to post a question, learn how when you read more.

It looks tough with the list and all, but it's really a snap:

First of all, join the Ask a Geek Girl group.
Click the pink "Share" menu on the top left side of the page.
Choose "Blog" and “Regular Post.”
Give your story a “Title.”
Fill in the “Body” with your tech related problem or questions.
Click “Next."
Choose the audience for your story to “Ask a Geek Girl” in the drop-down menu
Add keyword(s) (for example: Apple, Microsoft Vista, iPod, hard drive, ect. ").
Change channel to “Technology and Gadgets.”
Fill in tag field with relevant tags.
Click “I’m done” to submit content.

I'm so glad we had this pep talk. No get out there and start posting!

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Ask a Geek Girl: Hard Drive Woes

GeekSugar — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:00:50 -0700

Since we've started the Ask a Geek Girl Group, we've gotten some pretty awesome questions, as well as some really insightful answers from you readers. Great job! Doesn't it feel great to help others? This question, posted by TeamSugar user amers230 about external hard drives is something we all may face at some point.

"A few weeks ago, I finally took my laptop into the Geeksquad to have them fix a few things. While I was there I mentioned it had been running really slowly for a while. I found out I had less than a gig of memory left on my hard drive. The guy told me to get an external hard drive and put all of my stuff on it. Do you have any recommendations on type/brand of an external hard drive? I'd like to upgrade my iPod, so I'm thinking I shouldn't get one with less than 120 gigs of memory, but I'm also a poor recent college graduate who can't afford to spend more than $100 (but spending less would be preferable if possible.) Any good tips on how to actually move my music to the hard drive?"

To see my response, read more.

It's definitely a good move to get an external hard drive, whether you have one or 50 gigs of hard drive space left on your laptop. Traveling around with your lappy is dangerous if your documents and files aren't backed up somewhere, and if you lose it, you are out of luck. Thankfully, external hard drives are pretty inexpensive for the amount of space that you can get . . . you just have to find the right one. I would recommend the Western Digital My Book 160G external hard drive or the eGo by Iomega since they are both small, quiet, and you'll have lots of space for not only your music, but for the rest of your important documents that should be backed up as well.

Additionally, since you mentioned your computer was running slow, have you considered checking your RAM? If your computer's hard drive is a freeway, the RAM is its lanes. The more RAM you have, the more lanes are open to get your data to you quicker. You can get more RAM on the cheap as well. I like shopping at Newegg, since they have fast shipping and great deals.

And finally, getting your music into your new external hard drive is a breeze. Just open your music folder then drag and drop your files into the external, or "Move to" and select your external hard drive.

Be sure to sign up and post your questions to the Ask a Geek Girl group!

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Get Your Brain-Busters in to the Ask A Geek Girl Group

GeekSugar — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:00:29 -0700

Why, why, why, have you not joined the Ask a Geek Girl group yet?

Maybe you have a burning question about the best Blackberry, or maybe you are the one with the advice to give - let's foster a girl-geek community where we have the questions and answers ourselves!

I felt like a proud mama after I read the "What's your geek specialty?" thread - I was wondering the same thing after my geeky girl post yesterday!

Come on in, whether you're a computer programmer with coding questions or a mom who needs to bone up on where to find a Wii or a guide to Facebook - we're all friends here!

Photo courtesy NBC

New Geeksugar Group: Ask A Geek Girl!

GeekSugar — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:10:22 -0800

Even the geekiest of us have technical breakdowns. Who do you turn to when you want to upgrade your RAM, but don't know how? Or maybe you don't even know what RAM is! Just Ask A Geek Girl, of course! In this group, we'll be explaining everything from how to handle keyboard spills to tackling shortcuts on your Blackberry, syncing your Wiimotes and how to get those photos from your SD card to your computer.

Subscribe to the Ask A Geek Girl group and ask us anything - there is no question too easy or too techie. Bonus, your questions may be featured on geeksugar - so you'll get the warm fuzzies for helping out others in a techno bind! Or join one of our other geeky groups. Try it - you'll like it!

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Tech Dating 101: He CC'd Me on an Email to His Mom

GeekSugar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:33:45 -0800

A friend of mine needs some advice: last week, her brand-new boyfriend (we're taking days here, not even weeks) wrote an email list of gifts he wanted for Christmas, sent it to his mom, and CC'd my friend. To be fair, my friend did ask him to send her his Christmas wish list, but she never expected him to send the same list to his mother at the same time.

She's a little freaked out because she thinks this is a sign of him moving too quickly. On the flip side, he is very close to his mother, and maybe he just thought he'd kill two birds with one stone by sending one email instead of two. Then again, now his mom has my friend's email address. . .even though the two are weeks away from actually meeting face-to-face. So of course my friend asks me, "What do I do? Do I reply to both of them? Do I write him back at all?"

I must admit, giving her advice on this problem kind of stumped me. I'm torn between a couple of responses; to see what they are (and help me out!), read more

Potential advice A: Reply all with a short and sweet "Thanks for the heads up!" and let it go. This requires giving the guy the benefit of the doubt, which I'm not quite sure is the right move here, but I think it could be the way to go. See if his mom responds. Chances are, she knows her son well enough to know his intentions. Maybe he's even done it before. The only caveat: if she responds to you, you're stuck. You can't ignore an email from mom, which means being prepared for any kind of wacky proposal, from her asking what gift you're planning on buying him to suggesting going halfsies on something together.

Potential advice B: Don't respond to the email. Address it with him in person as soon as possible. Tell him it made you uncomfortable, and tell him why it made you uncomfortable. You'll have to tread delicately since I'm guessing he doesn't realize what a big deal this is to you. Explain that even though it might have been a to-the-point email, it makes you uncomfortable to be included on the same thread as his mother.

Potential advice C: Run. Fast. In the other direction.

Just kidding on the last one - but help a girl out! What's the best solution to the problem?

Do you have a Love 2.0 question you want answered? Join the Tech Dating 101 because we understand that love and dating are stressful and the Internet and social networking sites can just make things worse. You never know, your question could be featured on GeekSugar! Here's a detailed guide to posting questions or posts to groups if you are new to the PopSugar Community.

Get Your Geek On in Our Community Groups!

GeekSugar — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:02:42 -0800

Got a go-to geek tip, favorite new website or video game recommendation you want to share? Get in on the action in the GeekSugar Community by sharing your knowledge with fellow geeky gals. Find like-minded geek friends in some of our hottest groups.

Tells Us About Your Favorite Websites!	Got a Question? Ask a Geek Girl!	Share Cool Captures Taken With Your Camera
Rant About Cell Phone Etiquette	Show Us Your Favorite Gadgets	Celebrate Vintage Tech and Trends

Here's a detailed guide to posting questions or posts to groups if you are new to the PopSugar Community.