Pixel bites the dust…
On October 5th 2016, I ordered my Pixel 1 phone. It was announced on October 4th. I was super excited! I’ve always been a fan of Google phones. I had the first G1 that I used forever! I’ve had a few Android phones before the Pixel. (HTC Sensation and Nexus 5). An iPhone was in there for a little while, which felt like I was cheating on Android. I even enjoyed it!
My Pixel 1 started experiencing screen issues a year ago. After calling support, they made me wipe my phone and it seemed to fix the issue until December when it returned. The screen would jump up (the bottom of the screen was jumping up and down). The screen would show snow and become unresponsive. Being a long-term user, I was way out of my warranty. The warranty was almost up the last time they had me wipe my device. Conveniently, it went out after doing all the trouble shooting.
Shopping
It is impossible for me to show up at a store and pick something out if I haven’t researched it a ton. It took almost a month of research and deciding what I wanted to do, before I could settle on a phone. I paid $750 for the Pixel 1 with all the bells and whistles. I was not going to do that again! The pixel 4 is out and the price tag on that was super high! It has horrible reviews!
The Pixel 3 has an epic camera and phone stats, but the price tag is still high! You can purchase refurbished on Amazon, but the reviews are kind of scary. The price is great, but who knows what you will get and what kind of warranty you get is questionable. I also had a hard time deciding if I wanted an XL or basic phone. The XL is big, but how hard is it to use with one hand? (This will be something I regret. My hands are stubby)
Insurance
Most companies offer a device protection plan. T-Mobile has one where you pay $10 a month. Best Buy has one where you pay anywhere from $8 – 10 a month. They cover a lot of stuff and there is a piece of mind there, but I don’t want to pay an extra $120 a year for 2 years of “Piece of Mind”. I want the protection though. The Google Store the phones for a good price and they only charge $89 for 2 years of protection after the MFG Warranty expires. That seemed like a pretty good deal to me. Google has been fast at replacing my phones in the past.
The Big Day!
On January 4th, 2020, I ordered my Pixel 3A XL. The bigger screen was appealing to me and the consensus was 50/50 on how good it is. The order said it would take 5 days to get the phone! I was kind of sad, because I wanted the phone now! I checked my email everyday after it shipped. The phone ended up taking 4 days to get to me.
Anticlimactic.
The phone, case, and screen protector all came around the same time. Backing up the old device and installing the new phone was super easy! The phone is much faster and has some fancier specs than the Pixel 1, but the OS version is the same! Using the 3A is just like using the Pixel. Not much changed, so it wasn’t as exciting as when I switched from the Nexus 5 to the Pixel. I’m so glad that I purchased it though. The phone works, and the screen is snappy! I had the 128gb before, but this one only has 64gb. I’m hoping I can get use to it! 😊 This one is already 80% full and it’s giving me heartache! The first time I used the phone one handed, I found that my thumb had a hard time reaching the “back” button without dropping the phone! AAARGH!! So annoying, but I’m going to get use to it. The battery is the best part. It lasts 20h per charge with my normal use! I’m excited about the phone so far.
Work Update
Work has been busy this week. It was mostly boring until Saturday when I got a call from my boss saying the machines were “super loud” and the server room was HOT! The Air Conditioning stopped working. After shutting off the machines, He called the building maintenance and had them come look at it. When the maintenance guy showed up, he said his boss was up on the roof and noticed an AC was running (in the winter) and he shut it off! WHAT?
We have been in this building for 5+ years and the AC isn’t new! We were busy on Saturday night, out celebrating my Birthday, so Sunday was the only day I could go turn everything back on and get the Domain Controller, Firewall, etc all booted back up. IT work is not what I do on a day to day basis, but I understand a lot of the machines and software. The adventure took 2 hours to get everything working again. With Copious notes and trial and error, I have a better understanding of how things are put together in the server room. Everyone should be able to be up and running in the morning when they get to work.
Great times. More celebration needs to be had, because my birthday is January 13th!