Monthly Archives: July 2008

What does your cell phone say about you?

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Cell phones, like the clothes we wear, have the ability to broadcast a powerful message about us. A recent study carried out by the Interactive Advertising Bureau on behalf of its members showed that depending on what we pull out of our jacket pocket the moment that ringtone rings we can be judged by our colleagues, friends and even those who casually happen to notice us.

Based on a survey of over 30,000 online users the following emerged:

Blueberry Pearl – Power player and heavy hitter. The cell phone of choice of the corporate junkie who takes the office with him. Mark of success and status item of corporate board climbers.

Palm TREO 650 Smartphone – up-and-coming businessman. Not yet a Blueberry league but definitely one to take seriously. Travelling salesmen and self-made businessmen definitely go for this one.

Sony Ericsson W600I Walkman – the phone of choice of party animals. This one is for those who cannot be parted from their music no matter what. A mobile sound system as much as a phone this shouts out that you are fun, fun, fun, ready to drop everything and play hard at a moment’s notice.

Motorola MotoRazr V3XX Grey – the traditional toy of the slick and the clued up. Take this baby out of your pocket and it screams nightlife, bars, parties and a knowing lifestyle that knows few limitations. This is definitely a lifestyle choice phone and the equipment of choice for bad boys and girls.

LG KE770 SHINE – The phone that straddles two worlds. Slick and sophisticated yet tough and rugged. Those who have this phone are men and women who are comfortable in most places and want to send a message that they are their own person choosing to be where they are.

Nokia 7370 TRIBAND GSM Cell Phone – This baby is the choice of echo warriors everywhere. Men and women who have this phone are more likely to respect the planet, recycle their rubbish and use text and email and digital storage over paper.

The point is that whichever phone you get the choice depends on your inclination and reflects a little of our lifestyle. Our cell phones are unlocked, feature-packed, up to the moment and, most important, they come at unbeatable prices.

So check us out. Experience the freedom of an unlocked phone and enjoy the experience.

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Unlocked mobile phones help you look cool

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You are in a cool spot of town enjoying a drink with some friends when your mobile phone goes off. You reach into a pocket or a bag to take it out. At that moment what happens next will depend exactly on the kind of phone you reach in and take out.

Have something that looks like a brick and gives the impression that it belongs to a museum and whatever hard-won effect in the cool stakes you had managed to create up to that moment will evaporate in an instant. More than that, the mobile phone you take out has the power to enable others to make judgements about you.

This is why a cool, unlocked mobile phone at the right price can give you the ability to send a strong powerful message to anyone who sees it without breaking the bank. The reason it needs to be unlocked is that only an unlocked mobile phone such as the ones sold by ThriftyComputer gives you the freedom to escape the slavery of being bonded to a single carrier.

It’s your phone, you decide who you want as your carrier. Buy it, sign up for the service and go from there. Careful you don’t pay over the odds. At ThriftyComputer we specialise in offering unlocked phones which combine great style and great prices. That way your cheap mobile phone will be cheap in price but not on looks.

Once you have a phone that’s unlocked you can just drop the SIM card of your carrier in and away you go.

So check out the many unlocked cell phones we have to offer at great prices and enjoy a thorough, 21st century lifestyle experience.

So check us out. Experience the freedom of an unlocked phone and enjoy the experience.

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Would you like unlocked cell phones?

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Unlocked mobile phones to suit your style

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When it comes to mobile phones they are a combination of work tool and lifestyle accessory. This mans that there is nothing to stop you from actually having more than one depending on the situation and, of course, your budget.

Are you, for instance, a sporty type with a rugged lifestyle? Then any of the LG phones with a toughened, smooth metal look would be perfect for you, sending a powerful, stylish message every time you take it out to make a call.

Do you want to be taken seriously in the world of business? Do you want to send the message that you are a power player, one who enjoys the fast pace and likes mixing it with the boys? Then the Blueberry Pearl is your status symbol of choice, though, to be honest, any of the Blueberry phones would do just as well.

Do you want to convey an image of sophistication? A person about town look who is no stranger to the city’s best nightspots? You can do no better than any of the Motorola MotorRazr series designed for a look that says you play as hard as you work.

The question of course is which mobile phone do you go for if your budget does not stretch to having two-three mobile phones simply because you have a multi-flavoured lifestyle. LG comes to the rescue here with their LG shine series which offer a look that ranges from futuristic brushed steel to friendly-but-business like chocolate.

Having decided on which one you have your next question has to be is it unlocked? This is the make or break question because an unlocked phone allows you to pick and choose your service provider plus, let’s keep in mind the fact that you can save money by having just one carrier for your service no matter which phone and look you sport. Simply take out the SIM card for one and pop it in the other.

If you are truly a child of the 21st century whose electronics are part of the everyday lifestyle then your list of criteria when it comes to choosing mobile phones should be, in order of importance:

1. Is it an unlocked mobile phone?
2. Is it a low-cost mobile phone?
3. Is it a mobile phone that complements my lifestyle?
4. Does it have all the features I want?
5. Does the mobile phone offer any expansion opportunities (like an SD memory card)

Provided you run through this list, every time, you are guaranteed to make choices which will have your friends going green with envy.

So check us out. Experience the freedom of an unlocked phone and enjoy the experience.

Are you ready to find cheap computer accessories?

Would you like unlocked cell phones?

Ready to find best priced iPod Accessories?

We have some excellent quality Bluetooth Headsets

Top-quality, competitively priced MP3 Players

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The tyranny of the locked cell phone (and how to break out of it)

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Cell phones are so much a part of our life that we often choose to overlook the fact that they come with a ready-made ball and chain clause. Buy your average lifestyle-aligned cell phone and what you usually have to do when you sign on the dotted life is lock yourself into a carrier for at least a year (maybe two) on a cell phone which is locked and cannot be used with any other carrier of your choice.

In many cases the cell phone you buy remains locked so that you can only connect to the communications grid around you through the closely guarded gateway of the carrier who now owns your soul.

At Thriftycomputer we do not believe in any of this. We, like you, are users of cell phones and we believe that whatever cell phone you buy should be totally unlocked and capable of being used just like a computer or a laptop. No one ever tells you that there are certain ways you can use your own laptop or only certain websites you can access or only a certain ISP you can use and no one should be doing that with your cell phone either.

This is exactly why each of the cell phones we carry is unlocked for your convenience. You want a legendary Blackberry? No problem, Whether you go for the Blackberry quad band PDA Phone (connect anywhere) or a Blackberry Pearl, a Palm Treo Smartphone, a sleek LG or a Motorola Rzr the fact remains that it is your phone, you bought it and no one should tell you what to do with it.

Thriftycomputer cell phones are unlocked so there is no ball and chain. You choose, you buy, you use. The how, when and where is your business and we free you from having to give account of it to anyone.

So check us out. Experience the freedom of an unlocked phone and enjoy the experience.

Are you ready to find cheap computer accessories?

Would you like unlocked cell phones?

Ready to find best priced iPod Accessories?

We have some excellent quality Bluetooth Headsets

Top-quality, competitively priced MP3 Players

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Battery life on your MP3 player

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For most manufacturers, the perfect scenario requires that you play only MP3s encoded at 128Kbps; you’re wearing bundled earbuds; your volume level is at about 50 to 75 percent; the backlight of your screen turns off automatically within 5 to 10 seconds; your equalizer setting is flat or normal; there are no DSP settings (such as the iPod’s Sound Check) enabled; you listen to your music in one, maybe two sessions; and if applicable, you don’t view any photos or videos. Given that these conditions are rarely ever met in the real world, you’ll never achieve the number x in “up to x hours.”

That’s OK. If battery life is your primary concern -and it may be for world travelers- then you’ll naturally go with a player that has at least 20 hours of rated battery life per charge or AA (or AAA) battery, as stated in the player specifications. This figure is rarely ever left out of specs, by the way. The best hard drive-based players last more than 20 hours-such as the Sony NW-HD5 and the Cowon iAudio X5L; the best flash players- such as anything from Sony, Samsung’s YP-T6, and iRiver’s T10- last more than 40 hours.

You may read MP3 player reviews to verify battery life. Factors such as sound quality, features, format compatibility, and looks may overshadow battery life, but when your player runs out of juice, it doesn’t really matter which features it has or how good it sounds.

In the real world, there are plenty of factors that will help drain your battery much quicker than you’d like. For example, while the iPod’s 14-hour audio-only rating is acceptable (the first iPods had 8 to 9 hours per charge), you’d ever get that many hours, and in fact, the average is probably less than 8 hours. It’s not that the battery is dying prematurely; rather, most people use it with the screen on and browse photos, as well as watch an occasional video and they crank the volume up, all of which drains juice faster than you can say ‘recharge’.

Adding to the battery drain is users’ tendency to use big headphones, which draw serious juice and therefore increase noise and distortion

Those who belong to subscription services such as Napster or Rhapsody have it worse. Music rented from these services arrive in the WMA DRM 10 format, and it takes extra processing power to ensure that the licenses making the tracks work are still valid and match up to the device itself. Heavy DRM not only slows down an MP3 player but also sucks the very life out of them. Take, for instance, the critically acclaimed Creative Zen Vision:M, with a rated battery life of up to 14 hours for audio and 4 hours for video. CNET tested it at nearly 16 hours, with MP3s – impressive indeed. Upon playing back only WMA subscription tracks, the Vision:M scored at just more than 12 hours. That’s a loss of almost 4 hours, and you haven’t even turned the backlight on yet.

So when you go for your MP3 check out not just what the functions are but how long the battery is likely to last.

Are you ready to find cheap computer accessories?

Would you like unlocked cell phones?

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We have some excellent quality Bluetooth Headsets

Top-quality, competitively priced MP3 Players

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Caring for your MP3 Player

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Any time you invest a few hundred dollars (or pounds, yen or Euro for that matter) in an electronic device, you’ll want to take good care of it. Whether you’re trying to extend your MP3 player’s life or prevent theft, these tips will help you enjoy a long, loud life with your player.

MP3 players are susceptible to moisture. If you alternate between a humid or cold environment and the great indoors, wrap your player tightly in a plastic bag before you get back inside. This will prevent moisture from invading and collecting inside the display screen. Give the player anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour before you remove it from the bag: you’ll be good to go after this.

You should also store your device in an interior pocket when you’re around water. Playing music while you’re boating at the lake is great, but dropping the device into the water won’t make for a happy ending. And if you store your player in a pocket, you also eliminate the problem of sand or dust getting in or salt corrosion from the seas spray if you are near the seaside.

If your model uses disposable batteries, you should make sure that any batteries you use are fresh and in good shape. The old AA that’s been sitting in Mom’s junk drawer since you were in grade school is much more likely to leak and ruin your player than a brand-new battery.

If you have a Flash player make sure it gets recharged regularly and you also run the battery down from time to time.

For the rugged types who like to enjoy music on the move while jogging, pumping iron or pounding the treadmill there are a number of MP3 player protective covers you should invest in, this becomes particularly important when you have one of the latest iPod video playback MP3 models with their notoriously easy to scratch screens.

Finally, be sensible. MP3 players are perishable and subjecting them to harsh conditions and difficult environments only shortens their lifespan.

Are you ready to find cheap computer accessories?

Would you like unlocked cell phones?

Ready to find best priced iPod Accessories?

We have some excellent quality Bluetooth Headsets

Top-quality, competitively priced MP3 Players

Headsets, Keyboards & Mice