Some of my thoughts and other things on the Samsung Galaxy S5

Yes, the S5 is here. Like the years and flagships from them before there were more than a few rumors going on about this device. For the most part they were close, but a few were way off base. Although the phone has some nice new features. Most have had a 1000 videos done on them. (a few by me even, but by request) So I thought I would blog about a few things that I haven't seen to much or none at all on them.

So first off when making a call to someone, if you have texted with them and or called, while on the present call it will show the last contact you had with that person. This is a nice little feature, like with the call I made today to my friend Carla. It showed the last text message and the last call. When they were made, a brief bit of the text and the call duration.

Then if you close out and go to the homescreen there will be a small photo of the contact in the upper left hand corner with the time count at the bottom of it.

Now for the case I have chosen for the device, I am using the Mercury Goospery case. This is the same case I used on my Galaxy S4. I love the color and the fit is second to none. The cutouts fit well and accsess to the buttons and charging port are easily gotten to. The one change in this case from the S4 is they desided to leave the cutout for the strap out of it this time. (Thank the maker for that one)

I have had the phone now for a week and keep finding new things and improved things I plan on posting more on it as time permits. I am busy at work and when there are multible new phones launched in the same time frame, I get very, very busy.My next blog I plan on touching in on the new HTC One (M8) and the bugs in the Verizon Galaxy S5. I am hoping to hear more about fixes for both devices. I will also be dropping a review on some holsters I ordered and the result of that order.

So for now I say later gator, the Duck is out.

Speed tests and a Chromebook

So I have been playing around with some of the speed tests that populate the play store. I was wondering how they would really stack up against each other and for the most part the 4 I was using did pretty well. Here are a few screenshots I took this morning as I ran the tests for this post.

This one fared the worst, so I will get it out of the way first. Speed test, found in the play store has one issue that seemed to be a constant. The upload speed was always way off compared to the others. The best I ever gotten for upload speed was just under 3mbs. I would not recomend this app as being "Reliable"

OpenSignal, This was a pretty nice app with a constant performance.It also has a few other features that make it nice and that will have me keeping it on my phone. Not only does it test your signal, but gives you a coverage map as well. You can also submit issues you have with connections.

Speedtest.net, Probably the most popular testing app in the play store and for good reason. They update it often and it is very reliable. It also runs consistent with my next app. I would and do recommend this app regularly.

This is the FCC's official app. The one that they use to test carriers signals with and is the best one to use when you want to call your carrier to complain about your signal. This gives them all the info they need to see if there is actually a problem and which tower you are using. This app also features a nice little bonus, a weekly average. I find that this is a sweet feature.

These last two apps are by far the best I have used. I would like to hear from you if you have any that you like and trust. I would be more than happy to test them out.

Now on to the Chromebook, I picked up the Samsung Chromebook a couple weeks ago. So far I am loving it. Its light weight and very portable. The battery life is fantastic! they say 6.5 hours and I'm getting over 7 close to 8. I will post a full review once I test it out on a 3g network. I am going to be using it on T-Mobile as they are my carrier, but it will be a pre-paid plan as I don't think I will be using this feature much. I don't have Wi-Fi at my home (not much need for it) I have 4.5 GB of high speed hotspot now and for the price of a 2,5GB pre-paid card I can get another 6GB of hotspot from T-Mobile. So that really is the smarter way to go.


As always, The Duck stops here.

Full Month of T-Mobile service

Well its been a full month with TMO and I am happy with the service and my plan... Now that I have it all straightened out that is. The salesman that set up the account made to many errors for being on the job without supervision. 5 errors to be exact. But I got that fixed and we are running like a clock. I have yet to talk to a tech (on any network) that is worth listening to, but the customer service I have received over the phone has been top notch. My bill was as expected no hidden fees or any of that crap. Reception has been awesome as well. I haven't traveled out of my city and wont for a while yet to do a test on roaming. I am surprised by the small amount of roaming data that is allowed with my plan (50MB) but I don't think it will be an issue as there is Wi-Fi everywhere now a days. I am still waiting to hear if the option to move apps to the SD card will be included in the 4.3 update that is coming on the 18th of the month. As I am not updating this blog as often as I use to (been a tad bit busy at work) I will try to give an update when the 4.3 hits my device. I plan on getting a smart watch but am waiting to see which I like better the Galaxy Gear or the Google watch that is being rumored about. Either way it will have to come after I get new glasses... First I must be able to see the watch...right?

So until my next update, may the bad in life roll off you like water off a Ducks back ;-)

The good, the bad and the ugly of my first Two days with T-Mobile

All things must change and I can not help but have a little sadness in switching from U.S.Cellular (USCC) to T-Mobile. I have been with USCC for 91/2 years, and still am. I have only pulled my main line and my best friend over to T-Mobile. But I fear it wont be long before USCC is no more. When a company is doing good and making advancements they get left alone by the sharks. As a company makes more and more mistakes and starts losing business the sharks begin to swarm... Well they must be swarming around USCC by the dozens.

Over the past 3 months or so they have been trying to fix their billing system... but it looks to be a hole that can't be plugged. I went and talked to T-Mobile a few times and checked their coverage in the areas I am in the most. All looked well, so on Tuesday I took it a step further and asked to get a price on start up. Well it was a tad cheaper than I had thought. After getting one S3 and one S4 with 500MB and unlimited data respectively with trade in T-Mobile owed me $37. Now this is with their 4G LTE. Now they don't have LTE in all areas here in Bend but they have it where I spend most of my time. Then I drop down to their regular 4G, which is still way faster than the 3G I have with USCC.

So on with the good: I have really fast download and upload speeds (24.84 down and 7.95 up) Which beats the crap out of 1.35 down and 0.79 up. Call quality has been great as well. Watching videos or TV shows on the device has been seamless as well. At the store we were in and out in minutes. That was do I think to the fact that when the guy said he was going to train us on the devices we both chuckled. I mean we had just turned in 2 devices that were exactly like the ones we got. Then Carla (My best friend in the whole world) in formed him that I have a side business of teaching people how to use their new phones.

The bad: The sales rep failed to add my name on the account and also failed to put in my zip code for the porting of our numbers. So when I called to find out what was up they wouldn't tell me crap-o-la! So I got ahold of Carla and we got the account all figured out and the numbers ported... and all was fine....So I thought.

The ugly: This morning I am setting at Starbucks as I do on my days off, having coffee and decided to start moving my apps over to the SD card. I use an app called "Superbox Pro" with just a click it will give me a list of apps that can be moved over from internal to external storage. I don't move all the apps over as some work better in the internal storage, so I picked an app and went to move it over and guess what.... No option to move it over. I try another one... Same thing. So I call and talk to a rep at T-Mobile, she in turn passes me off to a tech. The tech tells me that only a few apps can be moved and to try moving "Need for Speed" over as she has that one moved on her phone. I tell her I don't have that app. She says I do, it comes pre-loaded on the device. insert eye roll here So she then tells me that I will need to do a factory reset to get the option to move apps. I ask her if she is sending me an update to the phone so the phone will have the program needed. She says no its already in the phone..... I bite my tongue and am being polite as I can when I tell her "I will bet you money that, that wont do a damn thing but cause me a few hours of work setting up the phone again." Her answer was "Sir I am a tech, this will work" Guess what.....

I'm sorry but I have yet to get a tech in the last year or so that knew which way was up, I'm sure they are out there but I haven't had the pleasure of meeting one.

Now after all this I tell her that I teach people how to use their phones and trouble shoot issues... She then hangs up on me. To make it better I go online to see if anyone else has had this issue with the T-Mobile phone, guess what.. T-Mobile hasn't done the apps to SD card update yet... But that tech told me she had an app moved one hers? Maybe she has a test phone who knows... well she doesn't obviously.

Lets call this a camera test... yeah thats the ticket

So I took a little trip up to see my grandkids.. and I guess their parents as well. All my carry on was tech gear, as I planed on taking a few photos while I was there (and I did). Some didn't turn out so well and some turned out very well. I will post a few here in a minute.


While I was out in the middle of nowhere Washington I was roaming on Verizon towers. I was running with a signal of -104dBm while in the house and had no trouble making and receiving calls and text, although I could not send picture messages, but I was ready for that. I had "Text now" installed and used that through the Wi-Fi to send a few pictures. My daughter was so impressed with my phone that she is nw planning on getting the Samsung Galaxy S4 herself. She just loves the pictures it takes. So now I will show a few that I took while I was away.

This was the "WTH" photo. I have never had this happen while using "Drama shot" on my phone. I call this one "2 1/2 Gabes"

Everyone loves a good panorama shot..here's mine from the trip.

This one was taken at the same place as the photo above.

Grandpa and his buddy

Getting ready for the game!

All smiles playing with grandpa.

Fallowing in grandpas foot steps.(took me 3 hours to get the camera to work right again...)

The only photo in this post not taken with my phone. My favorite family, miss them bunches already.

This photo is saying "You better like this post!"

Thanks for visiting, come back again soon.

Taking a trip, and leaving the farm

Well I am heading North for a few days. Going up to spend sometime with my grandkids and I guess their parents too, but really to see the grandkids. I will be testing the roaming reception which should suck ass not expecting much really as even they have bad reception out in the middle of nowhere Washington. Good thing is they do have Wi-Fi so all should be good. My daughter has started a "Daddy-do" list that I am hoping to complete while up there. So far nothing to big. A shelf, repair some sprinklers and such. I hope I can squeeze that in between playing with Gabe and Melissa....


Still waiting for my carrier to release the Moto X and my phone bill. It is not looking good for them and that's a shame. They were the best out there for me... But they are sinking like a stone. I would hate to see how many customers have dropped them over the last 2 months. I look on their fan page on Facebook and just shake my head. It all comes down to changes they had to make to sell one type of phone... And it has bit them in the lower 40. Iphone lovers I'm sorry but the apple business practices are going to be the death of this company. I will stop there as I really don't want to go on, on how apple runs its business.

I will do a post from my grandkids place but it will most likely be pictures of them.. I will call it "Testing the camera on the S4" That works for me :-)

New toys are on the way

So we have a ton of new toys out and coming soon.

The Nexus 7, LG G2, HTC One Max, Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and a host of Motorola's. There are a few new tablets that are making noise that aren't from "Brand name" makers. Some that look interesting, some that make me want to say WTF?

If you could pick any device to have, no matter pricing and carrier (if that would apply) would you have, or would it be more than one. I myself would love to have the new Nexus 7 and the LG G2. Leave a comment on which you would use and why.


The Moto X is at USCC and a host of others, I plan on checking that phone out today and giving a review on it later this week.


Update on the issues that USCC is having on their billing... Nothing has changed really. I have yet to receive my bill. Call times are still 20 minutes+ and complaints are many. To many of my friends have had it with them and are looking for "Options" I am hanging in there for now, hoping that things will clear up soon. I want to see what these new plans they are going to roll out look like. They will need to be pretty awesome to save this sinking ship.