Nokia Lumia 1520

Nokia Lumia 1520

It seems like it has been forever, but I am back and recovering very well. I have been away for a while because on Feb 14th, 2014 I feel very ill and have been down in the dumps ever since. I have been working hard with my condition and have also just been able to just take in tech for what it is actually worth. Thanks to my friends and family who help me get through these very tough times for me and thanks to my kids even more for being so awesome and supportive and also trying to help me through this. Without them being fearless and giving me the courage sometimes, I don't know where I would be. But those of you who are fans, thank you for your patients and your things of that nature, as today we get right back into the thick of things. I am really behind on some things, so please bear with me.

This week you go all Microsoft. I know its an interesting thing to do to come back on, but, they have been in the press lately and I see a lot of good things headed their way. This week I touch on the best phone the have to offer (carrier wise), the phone with the best camera......still (sorry Samsung that s5 is not worth the upgrade), the best Windows RT tablet and some other Microsoft goodies if you haven't been keeping an eye on them. So without further delay, let's get right to the best Windows phone you can get right now (carrier wise).

Lumia 1520 in middle of Nexus 7 and Nexus 5

Okay so here is the deal, I don't do contracts so I buy all phones unlocked (anyone that knows me can contest to that) and I don't do Verizon Wireless. With that being said, I have not had a chance to check out the Nokia Lumia Icon and honestly I probably will not. The Nokia Lumia 930 is not out yet, which is the successor to the Lumia 920 (one of my favorite phones of 2012), so I can not say how that is. So with all of that out of the way, the best Windows phone you can get period (to me) is the Nokia Lumia 1520. Here is the deal with this phone: 6 inch phablet with a full 1080p display which is about 366 or 367 ppi, has gorilla glass 2, a micro sd card slot that supports up to a 64gb micro sd card, can get you 4g lte, 16/32 gb on board storage and 2gb of RAM. If you can not find the 32gb version, don't fear, get a 64gb micro sd card and with windows 8.1, you will be able to save apps and games to the sd card.... like Android USED to do.

There is also NFC on board, bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP and micro USB 2.0 though. The camera is a brilliant 20 mega pixel shooter (its not the Lumia 1020 with 41 megapixels, but it is nice though) Carl Zeiss optical, with image stabilization, autofocus, and dual LED flash. PureView technology, dual capture, geo-tagging, face detection, panorama. And as far as the video recordings go, you can record in1080p@30fps with video light, and stereo sound recording. The phone as of now runs Windows Phone Black (Windows Phone 8.0 Black) and will soon upgrade to windows Phone 8.1 in the very near future. Those of you in the know, can get Windows Phone 8.1 on your phones now, and I can say it is a lot to look forward to. Windows Phones have come a very long way.

Packed on the inside of the phone, is a Qualcomm MSM8974 Snapdragon 800, with a Quad-core 2.2 GHz Krait 400 CPU and an Adreno 330 GPU. The battery is an awesome 3400 mAh battery, and honestly in my tests it ran all day long with charging being needed around bed time. Not bad for a phablet with a full 1080p display. That’s all the internal geek stuff, but how well does the phone work and perform for everyday use is what many people want to know. Well if you have never used a Windows phone before or have been interested in switching from iOS or Android (or the others that are out there), then this phone is a great start. The good thing about Windows phone is that your user experience will be the same just about if you go with a Lumia 520 or a Lumia 1520. The problem with a lot of Android devices is that they are all really good or great but this phone doesn't have what this phone has and this one doesn't have what that one has. Its more than just size that matters, its the user experience and the UI. Samsung goes Touchwiz on just about all of their mobile products, but if you picked up a Moto X or Moto G, that’s either a blessing or a curse. On Windows Phone, the Lumia 520 is a 4 inch phone whereas the Lumia 1520 is a 6 inch phablet, the main difference. I mean there are other differences inside like RAM and camera and specs like that, but you can’t go wrong with any Windows Phone if its your first or your tenth.

The point I am trying to make is that Windows Phone is just about the same user experience on the smaller device as it is on the bigger ones. That is great, but it also bad as well. The thing that makes Android so great and why people say iOS is so boring is because, with Android, if you don’t like something, change it. There are skins and ROM downloads and things like that to make your phone truly yours. Different phone sizes from different phone makers all with different strokes for different folks. iOS is what you see is what you get and that is where Windows Phone tries to be different. Windows Phones range in size from 4 inches to 6 inches and to me that is a step in the right direction. Now don’t get me wrong, HTC and Samsung makes Windows Phones as well, with their takes on the OS, but overall its the same experience in the end. So what makes the Lumia 1520 the best?

I have had 5 Windows Phones since 2012, the Lumia 520, the Lumia 920, HTC 8x, Lumia 1020 and the Lumia 1520. Out of all of those phones the 1520 is the best because it hits everything that I was looking for right in the middle or over exceeds what I was looking for but also kept the same user experience at the same time. What I mean by that is, the Lumia 520 is the best cheap phone you can get, with 4g speeds and micro sd support. I just don’t care for the screen. The size is not bad, but it is a little small for my hands over time. The 920 or the 8x are great phones overall but both don’t have micro sd slots and I wish the camera was a little better and the 8x is thinner than the 920. The Lumia 1020 has the best camera period, but at times just feels like i’d rather have the 920 with a better camera. And that is where the 1520 comes in, it hits all the right spots that i am looking for just right. Micro sd slot, bigger in size, good form factor, great price, feels good in the hand and not to bulky (it does look huge though) and a great camera.

That’s why if a Windows phone is your next purchase, I say go with the 1520, you will not be disappointed. The only real problem with the Windows platform is apps. There are apps and games that most of us play on iOS or Android and they are just not there on the windows platform. You could always just go into the browser, but you could do that as well on the other platforms. But what about the games then? Well that is the problem and also support from other products like if you have Phillips Hue or Belkin WeMo or a Pebble/Pebble Steel watch or even a Nike Fuel Band. There is no native support these items (not to say there is not any support, because there are third party developers who do make great apps for these products out there) and honesty, until Windows Phone actually takes off here in America (in other countries Windows Phone is putting boots to asses), there will probably not be anytime soon. But if you're like me, who is hopeful of the Windows platform and love the change that is Windows Phone compared to Android and its ad galore platform or the boring iOS world that is Apple, or just love good tech in general and/or want something different, then Windows Phone is for you and this Lumia 1520 is a grand slam.

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Everything You Get

Xbox One

The Xbox One aka OZ

     The all mighty and powerful "xbone" as they like to call it. Spearheaded by all the gripes and complaints, DRM issues and just a flat out bad presser (when they had it and E3), is the "xbone" really a "bone" at all? This is my review of the Xbox One.

Sony Always In There Somewhere lol

     The Wonderful World of Oz. Such a beautiful place and a road paved in gold! Ahh, what a place. This my friends is Microsoft. A place where your gaming needs can come true and everyone who is anyone has one sitting right in their homes (Xbox 360 that is). But alas, what is this a new OZ powered by a graphical powerhouse and speeds that would make Usain Bolt look like a snail riding a turtle? Why would anyone not want to go there? Well even in the Wizard of Oz, Dorthy wanted to go home (or back to reality) and that is what a lot of Xbox fans wanted to to do, go back home....and play games (without issue that is). So maybe Sony's new toy (PS4) is home and Oz is Microsoft's home away from home. Is the Xbox One really that bad? I can honestly say as of right now, no not really. It's actually quite awesome. So awesome in fact, I have left "home" and moved to "Oz". If you didn't catch that, that means I have moved to an Xbox One. In this review I will explain why and what I hope to get out of my new accommodations and what you as gamers or people who are interested should know.

     First thing you should know, the always on thing is true and not true. So while connected to your internet, everything looks good and runs like it should. If your a person like me who lives on pinning things (quicker access to things you use most) to your start screen or pinning them on Xbox 360 into "my pins", then you should know that Xbox One (X1) has their pins to the left of the main start screen. No big deal, its easy as hell to get to. The problem is that when your not connected to the internet or for some reason lose connection, then your start screen (well start up screen in general) looks real bad. The pins on the left and the items on the right of the start screen just fade with the internet. I have not seen if the system still works or not (which I am sure it does) but the things that make your X1 come to life are gone, when the internet does not exist. So your internet does not always have to be one or your X1 always connected, but the internet sure does play a big part. The difference on the way the games look are also noticeable but then again it depends on your TV. I game on a plasma and plasma's just look the best as far as color reproduction and those blacks are amazing (oh and the refresh rate). But gaming on the plasma and looking at NBA 2K14 (yes the GAME RIGHT THERE) on the X1 and then on the PS4..there are small differences. To me, PS4 looks better. But when looking at the same game on the LED on PS4 and then on X1, those differences become the same (to me).

     I am not going to get into the internals and all of that and then more comparing of the PS4 and X1 but you can see more of that HERE. But what I will do is talk about the unboxing and the experience I have had so far and why I choose to go the way of "Oz".

The Unboxing

     This is one of the worst unboxing's I have ever done lol. It took a long time just to get things out of the box, setup and then started. It had to have taken me 15 to 20 minutes. But even so, the unboxing felt like I was getting a premium device/unit. The extra controller that you have to buy (yes the X1 comes with one), the box was simple and easy to get to and it made it seem as if the controller was your weapon of choice to vanquish evil. After taking all the plastic off and protective coverings, the unit described in one word...Huge. Those of you you who were able to know what a VCR is, think of the X1 as that or a Beta Max Player. This thing is huge and heavy. But don't let that scare you. When Microsoft said that they wanted to be number one in the living room, this big black device is big enough to scare the other things (and consoles) away to make that happen. In my living room lives the receiver, the cable box, and the X1. Yes I did connect my cable to the X1 (also the PS4 and the Nexus 7 2013 edition) and it works very, very well. The only thing is, sometimes the commands will tick you off...really bad, but its better than last generations Kinect. 

The Experience

     So far when using the X1, it has been a charm unless I am trying to show someone the features or things like that, then it wants to not work or makes it difficult to operate and people look on as if to say "I think i'll pass". On the other hand, when it works, it works like a charm. I would give the over all system use about 8/10 times whereas last generations Kinect would be around a 5-6/10. Skype works great on the X1, had a call or two on there already. The only thing I don't like about the X1 is the menu layouts and where is the information on how much space I have left on my unit. That's right, there is no way yet, to know how much space you have your hard drive. The menus, are terrible. Trying to find things is like a journey into Minecraft, it only gets better once you dig deep. And dig deep you will just to find this or that. The cool thing is that most of the stuff you can pin to the start screen, but other things like account info and (not profile people) will have you journeying to the center of the earth. It's not bad once you get used to it or if you have used Android devices, then you will be able to pick this up in no time. If you have used a PS4 and are coming to X1, then you are in for a treat (not a good one either). 

     The other thing I don't like is the new controller. Man it is awful. I like the feedback in the trigger buttons, that is actually awesome. The feel of the new controller is ok, but the overall and while playing games, boo! People keep saying they are the same as the 360's and ones just bigger or smaller. I am sorry people, those two controllers are worlds apart like 2K14 on 360 and 2K14 on X1. The PS4 controller in my opinion is way better than the new X1 controller because Sony made the right changes to the DualShock whereas Microsoft seemed like they made changes cause this was a new system. The 360 controller was already worlds better than the PS3 and it fit the hand real nice, as the PS3 controller was to small and button placement was to close together. It seems like Sony and Microsoft made a switch in the controller wars. But again don't let that scare you off as well. To be honest anything negative I have said about the X1, that's just about it. Other than a few minor hiccups here and there, the X1 is a solid next gen console. The only thing now is games and other content (which they both lack) but the end of January (early February) is looking real good for games like Titanfall, Project Spark (which was one of the only things I saw during Microsoft's press event that I actually liked and plan on buying), Quantum Break and of course Halo. Of course these are all console exclusives and I think the coming months are looking real promising. For more games take a look HERE. Another awesome feature is the Sky Drive integration and the Game DVR. The game dvr is awesome because all you do is yell out "Xbox record that" and that game clip records to your hard drive and then you can edit it and upload it to the Xbox One universe or you can save it with Sky Drive. For more check out this VIDEO. The last thing is the Snap feature. The Snap Feature woks like this. So when the Cavaliers go to half time, I play Killer Instinct or finish up 2K14 or maybe Dead Rising 3. But half time is fast at times, I end up missing like 3 or 4 minutes of the game. Well when you say "Xbox Snap TV" (considering you have cable or satellite hooked up) the X1 will slice your game and TV viewing in half and you will be able to watch TV and continue playing your game as well. The multitask feature on the X1 is amazing and these features I love more and more.

The Decision 

     I know for some this may come as a shocker, even most of my friends were surprised to know that I went with the X1 over the PS4. Well honestly, it was a really hard decision but one I felt was the right one to make. Why you ask, well recently I switched over to Windows Phone and chose the Nokia Lumia 1520 (or Windows Phone 8) and it just made perfect sense. I got tired of the same thing over and over (as iOS and Android go) and just wanted something different but something familiar (as in I had a Lumia 920 last year and gave it up for the Galaxy Note 2, boy what a mistake)(got me again Samsung!! Got me a-damn-gin) that I had no problem using. The review for the Lumia 1520 and the Lumia 2520 are coming soon. I got my son a phone for Christmas (he already had one but not a smartphone) and ended up getting him a Lumia 520 because he has been full time Xbox, so I figured that the connection between the two would be awesome and hopefully he would like it. Well thank goodness he did and AT&T has a great deal on them and plans (shocker I know). My daughter also now has a Windows Phone and I figured that using Microsoft services is not all that bad and that their phones are actually quite good. I am subscribed to a few of their services like Xbox Music and having everything rolled into one neat little package was a big deal for me. Since he has 360, I went out and got a 360 as well and figured we could game together on at least a few things (Minecraft and WWE 2K14). I love Sony, don't get me wrong, but the PlayStation 3/4 moves very well and I have heard that their phones, well not so much. I like getting updates..hence that's why I love Nexuses so much and that stock Android. The thing with the X1 after awhile became easy and I just kind of accidentally fell into the Microsoft ecosystem. Most of the top notch games are going to PS4 and X1 anyway with a bunch of console exclusives here and there, but X1 won over my living room with (what I thought was a gimmick) features that I use everyday that I paid no attention to. 

     The Kinect is the biggest gimmick for Xbox, so I thought, but addition of adding your cable/satellite to the box and.....AND it works together.....very well in fact....I had to go with that and the fact that I have a Windows Phone and the games on their add to my gamer score (well Xbox and Xbox Live games) and Sky Drive and Skype just work so well together, its close but almost comparable to Apple and their ecosystem. Who knows maybe I would have stayed with Apple if they had a console (console worth buying) or maybe I would have stayed 100% Android if Sony's phones and services for them were a bit better. But in the end I went with what I thought was the better overall selection and that's Microsoft and the Xbox One. Sure there are things that it can't do, but there are things that it can do as well. One thing that its definitely doing is helping me and my son game together from far away and somewhat getting us closer together. As far as the X1 goes, its just another piece to the ecosystem that works really well with everything that I have around me. The difference between the PS4 and X1 comes down to preference and real gamers will have both anyway (we do rule however). But for those of you who want to get just one or the other, my advice for you is to make your decision based on what you want the most. Most of my friends have no clue which one to get first, but look at it like this. 1) did you have a PS3 or a 360? if you had a 360 then go to X1 and keep all of your content and gamer score/achievements in tact. If you had a PS3 then go to PS4 for those reasons as well. 2) if you had PS3 but want to switch to X1, ask yourself why and how much of a commitment are you going to make and willing to make for it. Same as if you had a 360 going to PS4. 3) lastly, where are your friends going and do you want to follow them or do your own thing. If the majority of your people are going all one way, then making the transition with them should be an easy one for which ever you decide. For me, I choose X1 because of the features built in it, like game DVR and being able to add on your own external hard drive down the line (I am really hoping to put a 2 or 4 TB onto this thing), Snap Feature, the multitasking and other things (I feel like I am missing something). Should you get though overall, I say, why not?!

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this is what it says when no internet connection is found and you play a game

This is my setting with the Hue Lights when I play Xbox One

Sony Again lol

Fantastic Race Game

That red glove is the one I use when I unbox or get new electronics. Gotta keep them gadgets clean!