Nikon d5000 vs Olympus E-P1

Eventually, I’d like to graduate away from my Droid’s (awesome for a cellphone) camera to a grown up camera. The Droid can do just about everything a point and shoot can so I’m really looking at an SRL type camera.

Here’s why I need your help:

I’ve narrowed it down to the Nikon d5000 and I was all happy and excited with my choice because I know quite a few people with the Nikons and they seem to love them….

And then I met the Olympus E-P1 at Bestbuy. And now I’m curious, has anyone bought, tried, owned any of this series of cameras? Because from what they told me they seem like a pretty cool option!

Please weigh in with your camera hints, tips, tricks, horror stories… anything you think might help or you wish you’d known before you bought.

Dell: Love the Laptop Loathe the Service.

Having worked at a call center, I’m usually as patient and understanding as possible because heck, we’re all human.

Today was not one of those days. In fact, I’m sure I should like a huge bitch.

A little context:

I am not a stranger to tech trouble. I seem to have a touch that just… just doesn’t help technology last. Phones, ipods, laptops, computers, GPS devices. . . I seems to have some touch of trouble for them all.

This time the trouble was the AC Adapter not being recognized by the computer. Talked to the Dell tech support people, they said it was a mother board problem and sent out a Fed Ex box and person to pick it up and whisk it way to be repaired. 5-10 business days without a laptop, no biggie. ( I’m not in school currently and I have my precious precious Droid.)

Days pass. . . and I hear nothing. Yesterday I really started to feel like it should have been home already. Today I called Dell and they said it had been delivered.

Um, let me look around. . . um, no.

They insist that Fedex says it’s been d- (something, I can’t fully understand between the crummy connection and the language barrier.) I start to think maybe it’s on the truck set to come out or maybe it’s sitting in the office of the apartment complex. I call the office, they say no package. I call Dell back- they say it’s been delivered. I get the Fedex number and it’s been delivered somewhere other than my home. So says their site. (Normally- when I’m not home to get packages there is a note on my door saying so and the office also knows and it’s sitting in it’s own little stack.)

No note. And no one seems entirely sure where it is. . . I hang up and go down to the office to find the box burried, facing the wrong way in a stack of boxes for one of the other residents. Like the stack got wheeled off the truck without a thought or a care and left.

Whatever, the important thing is I have my laptop! The crushed box and gouges on the box by some miracle seem to have not damaged its case! Whew, bullet dodged there!  I’m excited to have my computer back because the tiny screen of the Droid was getting old and not all YouTube videos are viewable on mobile devices is frustrating when there is cuteness you could be seeing! Turn it on and bam.

The same error message I sent it in to have fixed… is still there.

I look at the papers that came back with it– NOTHING WAS DONE!

I called tech support back, I was no longer the patient, polite, understanding client. I was the angry, irritated customer who just wasted their time to get nothing accomplished! Same song and dance, but finally, a glimmer of intelligent life! For a moment it seemed the laptop would be fixed without a new round of mailing it off… But no, the same error screen popped up telling me the adapter wasnt the right one….

A week later, laptop is still busted, I’m waiting on a new box to send it back and do it all again.

Tech guy? He promised this time they would fix it AND only ship it back to my home. AND notify me when it was being sent home.

I’m frustrated, I’m sad, and I want to have the hours I’ve wasted on this back.

Laptop is traveling

For the next couple weeks my laptop will be on an adventure all by itself.

The power cord isn’t charging the laptop and isn’t being recognized as the proper AC adapter. Poor lil’ Dell has to spend some time in the shop getting fixed.

Those of you who know me, are probably more shocked it has gone a whole year without needing repair. I seem to have an effect on technology.

Jump to the Droid

Not all that long ago I was asking questions about the Droid phones, got a lot of great advice, but then was given a free Black Berry (Crack Berry as most know call them) so I used that… for all of two weeks. (Give or take.) Then Dad came up with a plan, to get a Droid- and it’s “buy one get one free” friend so that I could learn it and teach him… and be tech support. Which, is pretty darn awesome! I already had the unlimited internet plan thingy because I had the Crack Berry so, yay for that….

Now originally I wanted to wait to get the Droid until “the bugs got worked out” however, there don’t seem to be many problems with the phone! The guy at the store (Verizon) said that it’s their most popular phone but also their *least* returned phone! Which is pretty darn cool.

I love the phone, have had some problems being heard on it, not too sure if I’ve just hit the mute button accidentally but, the speaker volume goes up enough I could even just hold it in front of me and carry on a conversation — without having to click over to speaker phone. I put a rather obnoxiously pink case on mine- Dad has the same phone so I didn’t want to use the same case and get the phones mixed up. So yes, I have a pink droid.

Dad hated the Black Berry- it was more for businessy uses and admittedly took me 12 hours of non stop toying to get it figured out. It was a great device and in some ways was simpler than the Droid- because there were fewer choices for aps! The Droid just works. It’s styled to run more like a computer!

OH!!! MOST IMPORTANT! (I totally forgot because my family and I all have google products now- woo!)

You MUST have gmail.

Not clear to me if you can use other email accounts on the phone- I would think so. But when you get the phone it’ll prompt you for a gmail account. Which for me, rocks! Facebook ap seems to work fine now that I spent a little time with it… still some kinks I don’t fully enjoy on the Facebook ap but, it’s Facebook. Contacts with your Droid auto sync with your google contacts and if you so choose- Facebook as well! Which is nice because I have photos for about 85% of my contact list already without begging them to send them to me! However, it seems photo wise that Google overrides Facebook– fine by me! Kurt looks cuter in his Google picture anyway!

Other random thoughts: The Black Berry is more business with a little fun, and the Droid is FUN with some business. Getting used to the screens and keyboards takes a bit- but- most new phones do. I had a LG TOUCH before this so the touch screen seems glorious as… it actually WORKS. I’m having a heck of a time finding a Twitter Ap that I like, the camera has some lag but- c’mon people it’s a 5MP CELL PHONE camera.

Personally, I’d say if you’re looking between the Crack Berry and the Droid- go for the Droid. It’ll take some time to get used to but it’s well worth it!

Also- Crack Berries are called Crack Berries because they are addicting. Droids are equally so!

Link to Verizon who I have been blabbering on about this whole time.

Let’s talk tech: Phones- Smartphones

Ok tweeps here’s the deal:

I need a smart phone. My job will have me working 12 hour shifts, not to mention the fact that I’m hoping to work more than one job. For many reasons, I’m looking into getting a smart phone. I don’t want to leave Verizon, so I’m aware that (for now) rules out the iPhone and all the other cool things about other networks. Move on from this point please because I’m not changing this anytime soon.

Currently the top contenders for phones are:

Motorola Droid: Clicky to go to their site to read up on the phone.
BlackBerry® Curve™ 8530 smartphone in Smoky Violet: Clicky to go to their site to read up on the phone.
BlackBerry® Tour™ 9630 smartphone: Clicky to go to their site to read up on the phone.
BlackBerry® Curve™ 8330 smartphone (in Pink?): Clicky to go to their site to read up on the phone.

Downsides I personally know of:

I’ve had a lot of trouble with touch screen phones, the screens glitch out and stop working. I know from friends that the trackball on the blackberry sometimes stops working. The Droid has a 5.0 mega pixel camera while the blackberries are either 2.0 (step back from the phone I have now) or a 3.2 (what I have now).

I know Amber (@tomboy_femme) loves her black berry, I’ve played with the one my Dad has, seems ok. But then @Longmonster told me to stay away from the crackberries!

So people of the internet, what have you experienced?