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Pros and Cons of Refurbished Cell Phones

If your cell phone breaks or gets stolen and you don’t want to spend a fortune on a new phone, purchasing a refurbished cell phone is always an option. Refurbished phones are pre-owned, so they are significantly less expensive than new phones. However, you also run the risk of spending money on a phone that isn’t high quality, or that will break shortly after your purchase. Here is a list of pros and cons to buying a refurbished cell phone to help you in your decision.

Pros

The biggest advantage for most people in buying a refurbished phone is the savings. Purchasing a cell phone when you are not renewing a contract can cost you hundreds of dollars. Refurbished cell phones can be 50 percent or more off the retail price of the phone.

Refurbished cell phones are also environmentally friendly. Rather than sending these used cell phones to landfills, they are being recycled and thus avoiding contributing to environmental damage.

Finally, if you purchase your refurbished cell phone from a reputable company, you should be able to get a 90-day warranty period. So, if your phone malfunctions within three months of your purchase, you’ll be able to return it for a new one.

Cons

However, sometimes the cons of buying a refurbished cell phone can outweigh the pros. These phones have already been used or returned because of malfunctions. They could have physical defects, such as scratches or nicks, or internal defects, like the speakerphone or camera not working. Additionally, the 90-day warranty protection is significantly less than the one-year warranty protection you receive when purchasing a new phone.

Filed Under: Internet, Mobile Technology, Software Tagged With: cell phone, Mobile phone, Science and Technology

How to Read Reviews Before You Buy

Reviews are a fantastic way for you to learn about something as well as how well it works before you actually buy it. However, before you count on the information in any such review, you need to know who is writing it, why they are doing so and what they are actually telling you. It may sound simple, but the fact is, it is not always as easy.

What to Look for in Reviews

Take the time to investigate a review before you use the information in it to help you in your buying decision. Being an informed buyer is important, but it is up to you to make sure you have all of the facts before you buy.

Who is writing the review? If it is professionally written, there are guidelines providers must follow to ensure you know if a product or service being reviewed is something the writer is being paid for.
What is their working or using experience with the item? Have them used the item in question? Are they just using information from another review? Learn what actual hands on experience the reviewer actually has. This tells you how valid the review actually is.
Determine why they are writing the review. Sometimes, a person will make claims that are not true or accurate. He or she may spend a lot of time talking about the “poor customer service” but fail to give examples. Anger fueled reviews are not helpful.

You need reviews. They can help you to make good buying decisions. However, know what you are ready before you use the information contained in these reviews to affect your investment.

Filed Under: Internet, Mobile Technology, Software Tagged With: Art, Review, Writing

Should You Buy Refurbished Products?

Image by Aameerule via Flickr

Refurbished products are becoming more readily available than ever before. These products are not brand new, but they are often taken back in by professionals and fixed. They may be a great way for you to get what you want for less. Before you buy, know what to expect.

Tips for Making Good Buying Decisions

If you plan to buy refurbished products, know what you are buying. It is a good idea to spend at least a little time planning for the investment. There are several things to keep in mind before you do make that purchase of something refurbished.

Realize the refurbishing does not always extend or offer a warranty on the functionality of the product. Find out if it comes with any guarantee that it will work the way you expect. Do not assume this is a part of the process.
While the system may be up and ready to work, this does not mean that all of the working components within it are new. In fact, even when it is working well, there is still a reduced lifespan on those components. That could affect its overall life expectancy.
Know whom you are buying from before you make the purchase. What you may not realize is there are numerous situations in which you think the manufacturer is refurbishing the product when that is not the case.

Refurbished products do cost less. They are often a great investment, in fact. Nevertheless, it is a good idea for you to spend a bit of time knowing what you are buying and whom you are buying it from before you commit to the purchase.

Filed Under: Household Technology,, Internet, Software Tagged With: Apple, Hardware, Trade

How to Play the Popular Angry Birds App

SAN ANSELMO, CA - MARCH 18: An image of the p...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Angry Birds is one of the most important activities in modern society, up there with the ongoing quests to eliminate cancer and feed the hungry children of the world. While not everyone has the chops to work their Android tablet well enough to eliminate the pigs and save the world from their evil, piggish tyranny, and many people have chosen to answer the sacred call. Indeed, they’ve answered the bird’s call, and flipped the bird more times than a New York cabbie.

Let’s get into how to play the game properly on your Android tablet. First off, you have to kill those pigs, and devote your every finger motion to doing so. If those pigs survive, something terrible could happen. You’ll lose points, and you just might lose the love and respect of your family and closest friends. Not hitting enough pigs is rumored to have started the Great Recession back in 2007. Remember that you’re throwing birds, so you have to aim carefully. Place your finger on the slingshot, and pull back. The further back you pull, the farther you’ll launch the bird.

Aim carefully, because your goal is to get three stars or better. Remember also that there are several kinds of birds that can be tapped for their special powers. Rather like Captain Planet, with their powers combined, you can smash glass, blow up stone and even recall your bird like a boomerang- perhaps a birdarang. As you move through the five groups of levels, you’re going to have to kick up your speed of play and your creativity, because your obstacles are going to get hard and complicated.

Filed Under: Internet, Mobile Technology Tagged With: Android, Angry Birds, Bird

How to Save Money on Home Office Equipment

Small business owners who work out of their home can often have a lot of expenses when setting up their home office. The prices for some equipment can be costly, so getting the best deal for your dollar is important.

Equipment such as computers, printers, routers, phones and related accessories does not have to be an undue burden to your budget. You can find a bevy of savings on these types of items from various big name retailers at Offers.com. The best way to do this is to go the site, pick the corresponding category and check out the daily deals. You can locate savings on electronics, office furniture and more with a few simple clicks of your mouse.

You can also save money on office supplies by buying second hand items and recycling others. Your old file folders do not have to go into the garbage, but can be reused by simply adding a white label over the last one. You can also save money by hitting thrift stores and garage sales to find storage containers and other items to keep supplies in. Shopping online is one of the best ways to find great deals. Name brand retailers such as Staples, Office Max, Office Depot and others offer deals that can only be found online, all of which are collected at deal sites like Offers.com. This site can help you to keep tabs of these offers without having to dig through hundreds of Internet search engines for what you need. With a little creativity and proactive attention, you can save money on home office equipment.

Filed Under: Internet, Tips and Tricks 101 Tagged With: Home Office, Office supplies, Staples

3 Reasons Why Professionals Should Choose Android

Image via Wikipedia

Take a look in your nearest electronics store and you will probably become overwhelmed by the sheer number of cell phones available. Never is that more true than for professionals trying to decide which of the various options will offer them the greatest number of benefits. Today, more and more people are turning to a Motorola Android to meet their needs. There are three reasons why professionals should choose Android.

1. No Need for Additional Software
Some other smartphones require the user to install multiple programs onto their computer in order to sync the phone. Android is much simpler. It allows the user to simply drop and drag files and data from phone to computer.

2. No Network Lock

Many iPhones are sold with a sort of lock that prevents the user from moving the phone between service providers. The Motorola Android carries no such restrictions.

3. Price

Staying on top of technology is difficult, especially because it means you have to dish out the cash. Many other brands release updated versions every six months, often at outrageous prices. Not so with Android’s operating system. In fact, there is a variety of android phones available at many different price points, making it a more affordable option for many users.

While selecting a phone for professional use is often based on a wide number of factors, many users find that some phones are simply easier to use. The Motorola Android is simple and intuitive to use and ideal for those looking for a smart phone for business purposes.

Filed Under: Internet, Mobile Technology Tagged With: Android, IPhone, Smartphone

Increasing the Memory on Your Cell Phone

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Okay, we’ve all been there. You’re in the middle of a meeting and there goes…your cell phone…memory. Ouch! Just when you wanted to show off some flashy images, everything slows to a standstill. We’ve gotten so dependent on the brilliance of these devices; we can get pretty stuck when they give out on us. How can we avoid this type of excruciating cell phone dysfunction?

Whether you’ve got prepaid plans or a long term contract, cell phones have a limited memory capacity. The way to increase your cell phone memory is to free up space that’s being taken up with old information. Clearly you’ll never be able to play all those incredible videos unless you amp up that cell phone memory. Here are few tricks that should help:

Remove extraneous information. Old text messages can take up a lot of space. To weed them out, go to the menu from the home screen and press delete. Also delete media files you are not using.

Get a memory card to add to your internal storage system. Smart phones now have incredible capacity for playing all kinds of power-using media, thus it is hard to keep up with it all without adding additional memory. Memory cards can be purchased to add gigabytes (4 to 8 gigabytes if you want to play a lot of video or music files, which take a lot of juice) to your phone so you can play all the media you want without running slow. These cards are available online or at many drug or electronics stores.

Amp up you memory now—and avoid another excruciating cell phone dysfunction!

Filed Under: Internet, Mobile Technology Tagged With: cell phone, Memory card, Mobile phone