Time for another post of mixed subjects…. Random Leakage begins… NOW!
Nokia E71
As with Kapgar, I also received a Nokia E71 for review from WOM World. Here are my thoughts on the two weeks that I’ve used this device.
It’s been sometime since I last used a Nokia phone. I was with AT&T then [before they became Cingular and morphed back into the AT&T they are now]. The phone used the older TDMA protocol and I was all excited about being able to text and send an actual email message from it. That was over five years ago. For the last 2 1/2 years, I’ve been using a Treo smartphone. So sending email and texting is kids play now. But one of my biggest complaints about my phone is the size, specifically the thickness of the phone. The Nokia E71 is not thick at all. It’s very svelte and it lives by the statement “Thin Is In!”
Thin and Shiny…. very nice.
I enjoyed carrying around the E71 and it felt good in my hands. Call clarity was great as was the ease of use in making calls and accessing my list of contacts on my AT&T prepaid SIM card. Data-wise, it was very nice to have a phone that was 3G capable. Even nicer was to have a phone that also had WiFi on it. After connecting up to the free wireless access at Starbucks [I get 2 hours a month before getting charged], I was able to browse the web at nice broadband speeds. Typing on the tactile keyboard was very comfortable, with only a few mistyped words – even when texting at fast speeds. The keys felt good on my fingers and it wasn’t awkward at all.
Battery life was very good. I could go almost three days on a charge. The charger that came with the phone was European, so I had to use an adapter to plug into the 120V U.S. plugs. Charging took under 4 hours, which is about average. The screen was set to dim every minute or so, requiring a key press to bring it back to life. After a few minutes of no use, the keys would lock, which is nice if you have the phone without a case in your pocket, not accidently calling someone while you are walking around.
There were some beefs I had with the phone. The biggest and most glaring is not being able to charge it from USB. I am a firm believer that any phone that is made today needs to be able to charge when it’s plugged into a USB port. I can’t tell you how many times over the years that phone chargers got left behind in the hotel room. On the usability side, the browser was awkward to use, taking me several times to remember where the GO TO URL setting was. Bookmarking a site was also a bit cumbersome, but I got to know that route after several sites.
Overall, I liked the phone and it was made very well, had great voice quality, speedy data on both 3G and WiFi and the keyboard was very adaptable. All Nokia needs to do is add USB charging and update some of the usability of it’s web browser and they’ve got a winner on their hands. Thanks to WOM World for allowing me to test and use this phone. I hope to have a Nokia N97 to use sometime in the near future. [very BIG hint]
Chinese Democracy
When a band takes 17 years to release an album of new material, you are expecting some sort of masterpiece to hit the stores and every single man, woman and child will flock en masse to plunk down their $13 to experience this astonishing work of brilliance. Instead, we were given an album of 14 new tracks that vaguely sound like the Guns N’ Roses we knew from 1991, with some over-produced melodies and tongue-in-cheek references by the lead vocalist in his struggles to release a new album.
If it wasn’t out of pure curiosity, I would have given up on this after the last four promises of a release date. But thanks to my curious musical mindset, I wanted to hear what this had to offer. First, I had to erase any expectation of hearing the riffs of Slash. Slash has left the building. Instead, we have multiple guitarists [Richard Fortus, Bumblefoot, Buckethead, Robin Finck] filling in with their axe work to help make this epic album something worth listening to. And to be perfectly honest, the work is noticed. And it’s not bad, almost expert in execution. Even if over-production took over, so be it. Musically, this album isn’t bad. Vocally, it’s lacking and sometimes in a big way.
Now Axl Rose has a very distinctive voice. It’s one of those voices and styles that stand out. But as with Slash on guitar, don’t be expecting the vocals that made Appetite for Destruction the debut smash it was. Oh, this is Axl… there’s no mistaking that. But his vocals are beyond raw. They are trying to do different things that shouldn’t have been done. Don’t expect to hear “Night Train” Instead, expect a few train wrecks like “Catcher In The Rye”, “Scrapped” and “Madagascar”, just to name a few. Embarrassing is the best way to define these over-produced messes of music.
Not all is lost. There are some bright moments mixed in here: the title track, “Better” “Street Of Dreams”, “There Was A Time” and “I.R.S” sound good and well put together. Axl and his collection of randomly put-togethers figured out how to make some decent tracks.
I’m not saying I hate this album. I actually think it may grow on me over time, but after the first ten spins, it’s still not grabbing me the way their original efforts did. If you are curious in the least bit, go out and give Axl and Geffen some money. Otherwise, spend it on another artist.
Sirius and XM: Together
I’ve been a Sirius subscriber for almost three years now. My wife bought me a radio and gave it to me before Christmas in 2005, making sure I was ready for Howard Stern when he moved from restrictions of terrestrial radio to the uncensored airwaves of satellite radio. XM wasn’t even an option for me.
Fast forward to present day. Sirius and XM have merged together, creating a single company [still operating on two different satellite systems] with almost 20 million subscribers. As was to be expected, there’s some duplication in programming. You know this is going to change stuff. And it did, with both good and bad results.
The Good
Most of the Sirius channels didn’t change their names. Familiar still are channels like Classic Vinyl, Classic Rewind, 1st Wave, Alt Nation and Hair Nation. This was good because I never understood the XM channel names. Ethyl, Fred and Lucy were confusing to know what kind of music they played. I’m glad they did not make the cut [sorry loyal XM fans]. Some channels did get renamed and it works very well. Channels 4-9 are what I call the decade channels. 40’s on 4, 50’s on 5, 60’s on 6, 70’s on 7, 80’s on 8 and 90’s on 9 are all great efforts in covering six decades of music. I changed my presets to start at 40’s on 4 and then added another preset for Classic Vinyl, so I can channel surf my way through rock and alternative stations while driving. This is a nice change.
The Bad
There’s not too much bad, in my opinion. First on the list is the heavy metal channel on Sirius that was called Hard Attack. It took on the XM name of Liquid Metal. A cheesy name, but at least you know what kind of music you are going to hear. Then there’s all of these specialty channels that got lumped together on different channels. Sirius had the AC/DC and Led Zeppelin channels, which are not bad, but they replaced the Punk channel, which I hope makes a return soon. XM brought over Bob Dylan and Tom Petty, which are ok, but you can hear most of their music on the Classic Vinyl channel. Then there was Left of Center, which was Sirius’ independent artist channel. It took on an XM merged name and is now called Sirius XM U. If you didn’t already know what kind of music they played, this would be a station I would have skipped over. It’s the same music as Left of Center and the same DJs, so at least they didn’t fuck with that. But I still think the name is odd.
Howard is still at channels 100 and 101. Playboy Radio moved from channel 198 to 98, which actually is nice that it’s one over from Howard 100. [there is no channel 99] Sirius subscribers can get the Best of XM, which includes The Virus [Opie and Anthony] Oprah, Bob Edwards and other channels. XM subscribers can get the Best of Sirius, which includes Martha Steward, NFL, NBA and other channels. Howard 100 and 101 are $6.99 a month extra on XM. Ouch! A bit much, but if you only have XM and you like Howard Stern, then you get a lot of programming for that $7 a month.
I am remaining a Sirius subscriber for the long haul, mostly because I enjoy the commercial-free music and the Howard Stern channels. I pay by the year for two radios, which comes out to be around $220. That’s a lot if you compare it to free radio you get on the FM dial, but I think it’s worth it to pay for all of the programming you get.
This Is The End….
… of another edition of Random Leakage. Thanks for visiting and we’ll see you all next time.
Random Leakage #6 by Banal Leakage, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
I’ve had XM for a little over 2 years now, and the changes since the Sirius merge are okay…they don’t really affect me much. Radio Margaritaville is a nice new touch. We haven’t upped to include the Best of Sirius package. Nothing there we want to hear. We mostly listen to Opie & Anthony in the morning, Ron & Fez in the afternoon, and then the rest of the day is a mix of music. Bruce, Buffett and a bunch of the stations you mentioned.
I agree with the need to be able to charge from USB. My current phone does — my son’s doesn’t and that has been a problem for him once or twice. I always have USB cables in my computer bag; I’d rather not have to carry around extra chargers.
I’ve had Sirius for about three years now and am thrilled with the merge! I was really pleased that they decided to make 9 a strictly 90’s channel. It took me like a week to realize that it was no longer “the 90’s til now”. I’m quite pleased with the new gems that I’ve found as well…it just seems more structured and with more options.
b.e. earl – I don’t think I’ve listened to a single show of either Opie & Anthony or Ron & Fez. A good friend of mine likes both and says that The Virus is a good channel on XM. The Bruce station is pretty good and I pass by it often when doing my channel surfing.
delmer – Being without the charger for a phone makes it difficult. My wife’s phone (my old Treo 650) needs the charger. The one benefit is that both our phones use the same charger, so we don’t have to pack two when we travel.
hilly – I didn’t know you had Sirius. And for 3 years now. That’s cool. I agree… the channel listing does seem more structured.
Nice review of the phone. I wish I could get free phones to review! (not that I’d have time to write about it)
I’m not a G&R fan and I’ve not used sirius or xm yet (yeah I know, luddite). So I can add zilch to that. I guess you just made me feel a little better about not being a G&R fan.
*jealous* I have a whole blog dedicated to reviews and no one has sent me a free phone! (my son has gotten two cell phones for review, though). Nice review!
You had a Euro-plug charger? I had a normal one. I’s spessil.
I just got a Samsung Glyde from Verizon and I would like to post a review…. THIS THING IS A FLAMING PILE OF SHIT…. I hate it, and would suggest to everyone that purchasing it is a horrible idea and if you do you will be faced with days of aggravation and frustration… I would rather have one of the original brick phones than this. Whoever thought that making the only way to hang up the phone or answer it was by using the touch screen was a moron, esp when the touch screen malfunctions at least 50% of the time if not more… There is nothing more frustrating than calling someone, getting their voicemail and not being able to hang up before their message finishes and spending the next three minutes leaving a voice mail of yourself carsing at your phone because the “Touch to unlock” button doesn’t work… then finally getingt the call hung up only to redial them (unknowingly) when you put the phone back in your pocket….
whall – I was pleasantly surprised at the offer to review this phone. As for keeping you away from being a GnR fan, your welcome.
blondeblogger – You know, I’ve been to your review blog a couple of times. I need to visit it more often. I’ll have to come check out your son’s reviews (and your reviews, too
)
kapgar – Yeah, I was surprised at first, but then once I realized where the phone came from, I wasn’t. Good thing for adapters.
kris – WOW… that’s some review. Not very glowing, I might add. LMAO. Sounds like Samsung didn’t plan this phone very well. You will have to show me this pile of shit on Saturday. So are you taking it back and getting another? A Blackberry Storm? I’ve heard it’s touch screen actually works quite well.
I hopefully will not have it Saturday…. I am going to try and take it back today… Gene has the Storm and it does have actual buttons to answer and hang up the phone. I thought about that but you have to get the data and email plan with that one… which I don’t really want to pay for. I am probably going t find their cheapest phone and go with that again…
kris – I see the average user ratings on this phone are 2 and under, mostly due to the touch screen. An iPhone wanna be. Good luck with the phone.
That 2 is probably out of 10….
Well Verizon will either take this phone back today or I will switching carriers today…
I’ve been pretty disappointed with the XM/Sirius merger, but I was an XM subscriber originally. Most of the XM specialty music stations changed and I haven’t been too happy with the new ones. I really miss Ethel, which was mainly 90’s alternative. Now there’s a similar station, but they are playing a lot more nu-metal crap like Limp Bizkit and Staind and stuff that I really hate. Also, the old school rap station is gone and that was one of the best stations on all of XM. But I do like Kid’s Place Live while driving around with my daughter. That’s a much better kid’s station than XM had before.
Hey Marty,
Nice site. You cover some very interesting topics and do so in a very interesting way. Kudos.
Glad to see someone else who was interested in Chinese Democracy. I’ve been a huge GNR fan since Appetite came out when I was 13, and Slash was the reason that I picked up the guitar and still play a Les Paul to this day.
I’ve got to say, this new CD, while sounding nothing like the original band, has really grown on me. The production is stellar, but as you say, a bit over the top at times. I think looking at it objectively, and not expecting “Appetite For Destruction II,”, it is a great album. Much better than anything else I hear on the radio. I think it would have been more accepted by the masses if Axl had just released it as a solo album and not used the GNR name. Here’s hoping the original band reunites! I would be very curious to see if they still have some of that old magic. BTW, if you haven’t read Slash’s book from last year, it is a must read for any GNR fan. Lots of insight into the peculiarities of Axl Rose’s mind.
kris – Guess I’ll find out what you phone you got tonight and if you are still with Verizon.
brandon – Not being familiar with XM channels, I was always confused with the whole Lucy, Ethyl and Fred names. A friend has DirecTV and they had the XM music channels and after a good 20 minutes or so of listening, Ethyl was the 90’s alternative station. Lithium on Sirius does play some of the nu-metal bands like Limp Bizkit and Staind, but they delve deeper into the 90’s as well, grunge-focused and other 90’s classics (the 90’s are now classic?). Both Sirius and XM lost their old school rap stations, which I thought was a dumb move. I listened every so often, cool to hear Run DMC and Public Enemy.
shane – Hey Shane… welcome to the blog. Thanks for the props.
I didn’t know you played guitar. That’s very cool. Yes, Slash was a major influence in a lot of people’s lives, whether some of us picked up an instrument or the rest of us just enjoyed his masterful playing ability. Admittedly, Chinese Democracy is growing on me a bit more each time. I think for some of us fans, we weren’t expecting an Appetite II, but more a progression/extension of the Use Your Illusion era. I’ve not read Slash’s book, but did hear his interview on Howard Stern earlier this year, and always had a good amount of respect for the guy.
Wow, an extremely comprehensive post this one mate, I loved it. I’ve been dragging my heals about listening to the new GnR album to be honest. The Spaghetti Incident notwithstanding, their old albums are really quite good. Appetite For Destruction especially.
I know in my heart of hearts that this album will be disappointing because I’ll just be comparing it to the old ones. It’s like I need to think of this as Axl’s solo album or something. Then maybe I could listen to it objectively. If I do end up listening to it I’ll let you know what I think.
kevin – As a fellow GnR fan, I know what you are saying about expecting it to be like the older, original stuff. As I told Shane above, there’s some of it that’s growing on me, but there’s also those songs I mentioned above that I really don’t like. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on it when you get around to taking a listen.