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.

What Should I Do With My Old Computer?

Recently, I decided it was time for me to get a new computer. My iMac was going on six years old, and while it still surfed the web and typed up documents fine, it was more than a little slow when it came to photo or video editing, which are some of my hobbies. I saved up the money and will soon be the owner of a new MacBook Pro with Retina display. The question I had to ask myself, and that I've been asked by others many times before is what to do with the old computer?

There are definitely options. First, think of anyone you might know who could use it. Anyone who doesn't have a computer at home who might like one? What about local non-profits? Is it still usable and would it be the kind of donation they'd accept? Churches, clubs, etc. can sometimes (but not always) accept donations of old electronics. If you do give your computer away, make sure it's wiped clean of your information first. There are many ways to do this depending on the kind of computer you have, but if you're not familiar with the process, take it to your local computer repair facility. Better safe than sorry with your personal information.

If you can't think of anyone who'd want it, you can try selling it. While most computers devalue quickly enough that you won't be able to get much for them, there are people who will buy old and even broken computers to use for parts. Mind you, you won't usually get much for it, but a little bit of extra cash never hurts. Again, be careful to wipe your computer of your old data, but it's not uncommon to see people selling their computers at garage sales, eBay or even Craigslist.

If niether of those options appeal to you, you can always recycle it. Please, no NOT just throw it in the trash! Many (if not all) of the parts of computers do not biodegrade, and they also contain some things that can be bad for the environment if they break or leak. Call your local computer repair shop and/or recycling facility to see if they accept old computers for recycling. Sometimes there are fees involved, but making sure your compuer stays out of the dump is worth it.

Practical Tip of the Day:
No matter which way you choose to dispose of your old computer, make sure you have a backup of your information before you wipe it off your old computer. This will ensure that even though you have a new machine, you don't have to start over with all your files as well.

How Fast is 4G?

Now that you know what 4G LTE is (click here if you don't) let's take a look at how fast it is. Is it really worth upgrading your phone to get it? Will you get it everywhere? Will you actually notice a difference in speed?

The biggest problem with answering "How fast is it really?" is that it changes. There are several factors that could affect the speed of your wireless data, regardless of whether we're talking about 4G, 3G, Edge, or any other kinds. While 4G is often said to have speeds of about 100 Mbps (Megabytes per second), it's still subject to the same limitations as all cell phones. First, do you have coverage? There's not much point in having a 4G enabled phone if you live in the country and rarely go to major cities for example. At this point most cell phone carriers are just starting to have 4G coverage in major cities.

Second, if you do happen to be in a major city that has 4G coverage, your speed could also be affected by how many other people around you are using 4G. If you've ever gone to a convention, sports game, or any other large gathering of people, you may have already noticed that it's difficult to access the Internet on your phone when you're in a crowded place. That's because your phone is only one of thousands trying to connect to one tower.

Lastly, there are differences in speed based on the carrier you're using. Some carriers claim faster speeds (but less coverage), and others claim more coverage (but slower speeds). It all comes down to if you're actually going to be able to use it to it's full advantage. Is 4G really that much faster than 3G? In a word, yes, but that's only in theory.

Practical Tip of the Day:
When looking at a new cell phone, also make sure the provider is right for you. Most cell phones are available at multiple providers, so looking at your provider's coverage map for both phone and data plans as well as their advertised speeds can help you decide if a provider's right for you. If you live in a major city, speed might be more important since coverage is almost guaranteed, but if you live in a rural area, coverage may become an issue.

What is 4G LTE?

It seems that if you want to make sure you get a good cell phone nowadays you need a degree in mobile communication technology! 3G? 4G? LTE? Hot Spot? 16GB? 32GB? Droids? iOS? Anyone else here getting a bit confused and overwhelmed?

It would take far too long and boring an explination to explain all the terms to look at when picking out a cell phone, but since "4G LTE" has been being thrown around without explination a lot lately, I thought it would be nice to humanize it a bit. 4G LTE is a description of how a cell phone accesses the Internet. 4G stands for "fourth generation" and just means that it was developed after the 3G standard.

Each generation of technology (usually) is better than the last, and 4G is no exception. Actual speeds will vary depending on several factors I'll cover in a subsequent post, but it is generally accepted that 4G is faster than 3G. Faster at what? Internet access speeds will affect how quickly you can open up webpages, post photos to the Internet (like Facebook), stream movies from Netflix, and a slew of other things. Think of it as how fast your car can drive; If you have a slow car, it'll take longer to go places and do things.

LTE is just a description of what type of 4G network it is. LTE stands for Long Term Evolution, and if you forget that in two minutes, no one will fault you. There is another type of 4G used in the world called WiMAX, but unless you're planning a trip to South Korea any time soon I wouldn't worry about it, most major countries in the world either have or have plans to roll out LTE networks in the near future.

Practical Tip of the Day:
Some cell phone carriers are starting to offer wireless cards you can plug into your computers. Plug it into the USB port on your computer, and even if you're not connected to the Internet either physically or through a Wifi hotspot, you'll still be able to access the Internet. This is ideal if you travel for a living or go on a lot of vacations!

What Are Flash Drives?

Flash drives, thumb drives, jump drives. All these different names mean the same thing! It used to be, long long ago (all the way back in the 80's, and yes, I'm being sarcastic) that if you needed to share information with another personal computer you could put it on a floppy disk. Then you could put it on a different kind of floppy disk; These ones weren't really floppy anymore, but they were very similar. Fast forward a little bit and you get to compact disks- CDs for short. Then came DVDs, and then finally, the flash drive.

These are usually about an inch to an inch and a half (about the size of a thumb, hence being called "thumb drives" sometimes). You stick the smaller metal end into the USB port on your computer. If you don't know if your computer has this port or where it is, look at all the holes in the machine, usually on the back, but sometimes on the side or front as well, and look for something that looks similar. It is extremely likely that you have a USB port on your computer as they've been standard for quite some time now.

Once you plug it into your computer, you'll be able to find it using the same technique you use to find files on your computer, and you'll be able to manipulate it in the same ways as well. Flash drives are like mini-hard drives in that they allow you to store files on them, manipulate files on them, and remove files from them as well. They are very handy when you need to share files that are too large to send in other means like email or cloud storage. For example, my husband recorded a video that was too large to send in either of those methods so he put it on the flash drive, brought it to his brother, plugged it into his computer, and then copied it over. The entire process (minus driving time of course) took less than two minutes.

Practical Tip of the Day:
When you go shopping for a flash drive, you'll find yourself overwhelmed with options. There are cheap ones, expensive ones, fancy and plain ones, large ones, small ones, etc. The most important factor in picking out a flash drive is how much storage it offers. If you noticed in the picture I placed above, the flash drive there says it has four gigs. (A "gig" is a unit of measure for computer data.) It is important to think about how much space you'll need before heading to a store. Will you be storing large video files or just transferring small word processing documents? Once you've picked the size, that will help narrow down your choices. Everything else is secondary. They make ones that connect to your keychain, ones that look like movie characters, ones that are as small as your thumb nail, and the list goes on and on!