Which Data Plan Do I Need?

Smartphones brought with them the idea of wireless data for the masses. Being able to access the internet when not at home was not new when the iPhone came out in 2007- business people had been doing it with their Blackberries for years before then- but since then it is now a given than phones can access the internet anywhere, and increasingly common for laptops to be able to do so as well. With this, people have increasingly been asking "Which data plan do I need?"

Here are the main things to consider when looking at data plans:

1. How much data you need- The first thing to do is consider how much data you need. Will you be streaming Netflix regularly or just checking your email every once in a while? Different uses use different amounts of data. The only way to really know how much data you use is to do it and adjust (you can usually increase your data service later, but not decrease it), but you can find a good file-size estimate here on What Size Flash Drive Should I Get?
2. Coverage in your area- Next, shop around for coverage in your area. Cheap data does you no good if you can't connect when you want! Compare their coverage maps, making sure you're looking at data coverage and not voice coverage. Additionally, most major carriers will have separate maps for the different speeds of data- LTE, 3G, Edge, etc. If you're not familiar with these terms, How Fast is 4G? may help. Use these maps to narrow down to carriers that will give you the most coverage in places you'll be spending most of your time.
3. Price per gig- For this, compare the price per gig for the remaining possible options. Buying "in bulk" will generally get you a better deal per gig, but don't fall into the trap of paying for more data than you'll honestly use. Look at your budget and what you can reasonably afford.
4. Speed of download/upload- At this point you'll have narrowed it down quite a bit and there will likely only be two or three contenders. At this point you may need to do some digging, but look at their data speeds. The higher the number, the better the speed generally speaking, though there are lots of nuances that can affect that. You'll also see two sets of speeds: upload and download. Upload is when you're putting information up into the internet, and download is when you are taking information down into your device.

After all these things have been considered, if two services offer the same price per gig of data, and have roughly the same coverage, go with the cheaper option.

How Do I Keep My Electronic's Battery Healthy?

It happens to phones, laptops, tablets, and everything else that uses rechargeable batteries (which seems to be increasing with every year). At first everything is fine, but slowly... eventually... you notice that the battery just doesn't seem to hold a charge as well as it used to. Maybe you used to only have to plug your phone in once every couple days, but now you have to charge it multiple times a day. Maybe your laptop used to never dip below 60% between uses, but now you get low-battery warnings regularly. Here are some tips for maximizing your electronic's batteries:

1. Check your settings- There are many things you can turn off, minimize that will help save on battery usage. Similar to how a car that's laden with weight uses more gas, a computer with lots of things turned on will use more electricity.
1. Turn off unneeded settings- New devices will often come with certain settings turned on by default to help maximize your user experience, but you may find that they're not needed for what you use the device for. For example, many devices come with bluetooth turned on. Bluetooth is a wireless technology used for connecting to different devices like wireless keyboards, your car, or wireless headphones. (You can read more about bluetooth here: What is Bluetooth?) 

   

   If you see this symbol, it likely means bluetooth is turned on for your device.

2. Dim your screen/keyboard backlighting-  Most electronic screens nowadays have the ability to adjust their brightness levels, and some computers even have light-up keyboards to make it easier to type in dim lighting. While these make it easier to use the device, they can also use a lot of battery power. Set your screen brightness as low as is comfortable for you, and if your device has it (Apple products like iPhones, iPads and Macs have this, for example) turn on auto-brightness so the screen automatically brightens and dims according to the amount of light around.
3. Put your device to sleep/turn off as needed- Not using your device for awhile? You can turn the screen off by either clicking the lock/unlock button (for mobile devices), or you can put your laptop to sleep by simply closing the lid. Depending on how long you'll be away from you computer, you may choose to turn it to screensaver, put it to sleep, hibernate, or turn it all the way off. You can learn more about which option is best for you here at When should I turn off my computer?
2. Don't completely drain it- Completely draining a battery (to the point the device shuts off) is bad for the battery, and while doing it once or twice likely won't have any noticeable effect on it's long-term lifespan, repeatedly doing it will put unnecessary wear on it. Think of it like exercising- you go until you're tired, but not until you pass out from exhaustion.
3. Don't be afraid to use it either though- On the other end of the spectrum, some people get laptops, but then leave them plugged in 99% of the time because they're afraid of using the battery. This can be just as harmful as the battery can "forget" how to hold a charge. Using the exercise analogy again, you don't train for a marathon by sitting around conserving your energy for weeks before.
4. Avoid extreme temperatures- "Don't leave electronics in any conditions you wouldn't leave your child." Both extreme heat (leaving it in the car for hours in the middle of summer) and extreme cold (leaving it in the car overnight during winter) can have detrimental effects on your battery. The optimal operating temperatures for lithium ion batteries- the kind used in most rechargeable electronics- are the same temperatures that you'd feel comfortable in. Because of this, also be mindful about using laptops on beds where blankets and pillows will retain heat and warm up the laptop unnecessarily- use a surface that wicks away heat like a wooden desk or plastic stand. You can read more about other weather dangers here at Hidden Winter Hazards for Your Electronics.