10-04-2010, 10:12 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 202
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My $320 Mobile Arsenal
A few months ago, my mobile gadgetry was in a pretty sad state. My laptop was a very old Pentium III 933mhz, and my cell phone was a Nokia 6300. The battery in the laptop lasted no more than 10 minutes due to age, and no new batteries could be found. There wasn't much I could do about the situation at the time, as I was in the process of getting married and trying to go to college.
After wanting a netbook for longer than I've been married, my wife-of-5-months finally stopped saying "NO!" and admitted that she'd been saving to buy me a netbook for my birthday, which was much too far away. She told me to pick out the one I wanted and buy it. I found the model I wanted: An ASUS Eee 1005HA with a 250gb HDD, Bluetooth, and a webcam for $270 with free shipping.
Next, it was time to upgrade my faithful-but-very-dumb Nokia 6300. Like a golden retriever, it served me faithfully, but it was time for something new.
I managed to pick up a T-Mobile G1 on Craigslist for $20. The screen was cracked, so I ordered a new digitizer for $30 on eBay. I unlocked it for use with AT&T, rooted it, flashed with Cyanogenmod 6, disabled data (don't have a data plan), and anxiously waited for the new screen. If you don't know already, Cyanogenmod 6 is Android 2.2. 
The digitizer swap had a couple of bumps, but it's crystal clear now!
When the entire project was all said and done, I spent $270 on the netbook and $50 on the phone, which comes to $320. I see the netbook as being VERY capable, as it does everything I want it to. The battery even lasts a full 8 hours!
The phone has exceeded my expectations. With Android 2.2, it runs every app I've thrown at it. Most of my friends are still stuck on Android 2.1, because their carrier hasn't released an update for their phone. Of course, running 2.2 on such an old phone isn't perfect. Occasionally, apps crash, and multitasking is a bit rough.
Still, for $320 for my entire mobile setup, I couldn't be happier!
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Joel Crane
Last edited by Joel Crane; 10-04-2010 at 10:31 PM..
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