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My Nokia e71 has been through alot, it is without a doubt one of the best phones I’ve ever had, surviving an underwater adventure in Mexico which knocked it out for three weeks but coming back and working like a champ.    It’s been almost two years since I got it however, and since submerging it in the swimming pool at Puerto Vallarta I have been looking at options for upgrading.    For a time, I was ready to jump ship from TMobile to Verizon and get a Droid or a Droid X, and even considered an iPhone on ATT’s shady network  (shudder).   When I found out about the TMobile G2, momentum swung back to TMobile, and remained that way as news broke of the Nexus S.   Yesterday, while reading about the buzz created by dual-core devices at the recent 2011 CES, I discovered the LG Optimus 2X, and was sold almost instantly.   The decision has been made – although I will have to wait 4-8 weeks, I am officially holding out for this one.

First, I’ll break down what I perceive as the weaknesses/dealbreakers for the (now former) contenders:

iPhone 4 on ATT – well that’s easy.   After briefly owning an iPhone 3g in 2008 (which turned out to be a lemon), and having what was undoubtedly the worst customer service experience of a lifetime, there is no way I will ever patronize ATT again.

iPhone 4 on Verizon – two reasons:  a)  CMDA vs GSM is a no-brainer, and b)  long term  contract + outrageous monthly fees

Droid / Droid X / Droid Pro on Verizon – long term  contract + outrageous monthly fees

HTC Evo on Sprint – long term  contract + this phone just seems too big

TMobile G2 on TMobile – I was really tempted to get this one and would have paid full price to have an unlocked, contract free set, but ultimately decided against it due to the lackluster processor (Qualcomm MSM 7230 at 800MHz)

Google Nexus One – when I found out about the lame processor in the G2, I seriously considered getting a new Nexus One by becoming a certified Android Developer ($25), however I just couldn’t bring myself to get this as it is now one year old technology.

Google Nexus S – Really nice phone, however it is lacking some key features – HDMI, removable SD card, and by the time it hit the market I had my eye on dual core processor phones, which brings me to the winner:

LG Optimus 2x – this thing is just a beast: dual-core Tegra 2 1Ghz processor, full 1080p TV-out via HDMI and video capture through an 8 megapixel primary camera plus a 1.3 megapixel cam for face-to-face calling, 4-inch WVGA display, 8GB of on-board storage (expandable with up to 32GB of microSD) and a 1,500mAh battery.  Battery capacity is a potential issue given all the aforementioned shizzle this phone is running, but that’s a risk I am willing to take.

I’m sold.  Only question is should I hold out for the rumored launch on TMobile in February, or pre-order now from CellHut.com, unlocked for $519?

Ever used Sharepoint for a public web site?  If you answered yes, then you have felt the pain.   The only thing worse than Sharepoint – is Sharepoint for public web sites.

Here’s why.

If that isn’t enough to convince you, consider this.

Sharepoint:  round peg, meet square hole.

I’ve been tweeting about Starbucks’  “Reserve” El Salvador Montecitos Estate Pacamara for several months, so it’s time to blog about it.

El Salvador Montecarlos Estate Pacamara

If you are a regular reader, you’re already aware that on most days, when available, I refer to myself as “powered by iced kona“.   Starbucks Reserve coffees, brewed on the Clover machine at their Kendall Square location, are a part of my daily routine.    “Grande Iced Kona please…:”  Unfortunately the Kona is a seasonal bean, only available between April and September.    For several weeks last fall, I tried a new coffee almost every day, but nothing measured up to the bold, nutty, crisp Kona reserve – until the El Salvador Montecarlos Estate Pacamara was introduced in late October.

Let me be clear – this isn’t a Kona knockoff- the El Salvador is more like the evolution of Kona.    Where Kona is nutty, Pacamara is cleaner and lighter, while still bold – with strong sweet citrus tones.   This is a great coffee, particularly when brewed on the Clover.   I have also tried it at home in my Cuisinart grind-n-brew thermal, but its not quite as good.   Until Kona returns later this spring, the El Salvador is my go-to.

Last week it was the fuel pump in my car.  This week it was the dryer in the basement, which meant a two-day research project  into the minutiae of home appliances, with an emphasis on energy efficiency.   For the most part, prices on these things are the same at every store.   The variable was in attitudes and levels of customer service among potential vendors.

"Home" Appliances courtesy Geddy Bruschi

Research started on ConsumerReports.org, where I indentified the top brands (LG, Bosch and Frigidaire) then quickly moved on to the usual suspects:  Home Depot (Woburn), Lowe’s (Woburn), and Yale Appliance & Lighting in Dorchester.

Home Depot was up first.   Overall very good experience, the salesperson was friendly and knowledgeable, no pressure, quick to point out the pros and cons of different models with no bias or preference.   Very matter of fact  – the dude was honest, seemed genuinely interested in what this consumer’s needs were and how Home Depot could meet them.   Leading contender at the end of the visit was an LG middle-of-the-line gas-powered model for about $610.  (Gas Dryers run about $50-$100 more than the corresponding electric models, but gas will save $ on energy costs over time)

Next stop was Lowe’s.    First enquired about how much more the gas version of a Samsung model I was interested in would run, the salesperson spent about 10 minutes rooting through their databases to no avail.   Finally she asked one of her colleagues who instantly told her $80, which was a little surprising – as if he memorized these types of numbers.   From that point the experience at Lowe’s went straight downhill.   Aside from coming across as uninterested in general, the pair of salespeople tried to steer me towards a Whirlpool, saying it was “the highest rated brand”.  Really?  According to Consumer Reports, that would have been LG.   In all my online research, which was quite extensive, not once did I see any mention of Whirpool as “highly rated”, so who knows where that came from.     To summarize, the Lowe’s experience was lame.   Seemed like they didn’t care, didn’t provide accurate or honest information.

Yale Appliance and Lighting in Dorchester was the wild card.   I passed by this place hundreds of times on my commute so thought it was worth a look, especially after checking out their reviews on Yelp.  Bottom line is that Yale Appliance is in a completely different league than Home Depot and Lowe’s.   The entire experience was refreshing – no pressure, very informative, practically every detail of this experience was perfect.

Upon arrival, I was greeted by a concierge who asked if I needed any help from a salesperson.   At that point I was just looking around, so I declined and was told politely that if I did need a salesperson to just come back to the concierge desk.   After checking out the merch, decided that talking to a salesperson would be a good idea.  Went back to the concierge and was given a restaurant-style pager and was told it would notify me when a salesperson was available to answer questions.   After about 20 minutes, it went off and the pitch got underway.    First of all, Mark (the Yale salesperson) provided an overview of the differences in types of dryers, pointed out that often there are incentives for buying a washer at the same time, not all of which include pricing.   At the end of the process, I was provided with three written price quotes for 3 different dryers as well corresponding washer/dryer combos, which are good for 30 days.   Mark also included printouts of the product pages for each unit from their respective manufacturer web sites (Bosch and 2 Frigidaire models) as well as his business card, noting the reference numbers on each.

As of today I am still doing research, and haven’t made up my mind aside from knowing that I won’t be buying anything at Lowe’s.   However, the customer service experience at Yale Appliance was so exceptional that I just had to blog about it.