Anti-glare Screen Protector Review

You can check out my video review of the Rasfox Anti-glare at http://www.youtube.com/user/ahbitheman1

I was able to obtain the screen protector for $12.99 USD on ebay. This was a lot cheaper than other alternatives such as moshi ivisor (http://www.amazon.com/iVisor-Anti-Glare-Protector-Macbook-Unibody/dp/B0029TSTT4) or powersupport's screen protector (http://www.powersupportusa.com/product/show/anti-glare-film-for-macbook-pro-15) which are approximately $30 even on ebay. While the Moshi screen protector is easier to apply, this is because it does not actually fully stick to the screen. Instead, it is slightly raised with only the sides attached to the screen. The powersupport screen is almost exactly like the one I have yet the one I have is half the price. Application of the screen is harder but when done correctly, no air bubbles are visible and you have a strongly attached film over your screen.

The Results

The anti-glare properties do indeed work well. I no longer can clearly see my reflection in the screen in even minimal lighting. The rougher surface area is similar to the unibody of the macbook itself and so is less prone to fingerprints and scratches. The only downfall is the typical red, green, blue small dots seen when viewing a white screens. I highly recommend this add on if you work in well lighted areas as well as outdoors but if you are doing photoediting and video editing where colour is important, you may just have to deal with the glossy screen or perhaps upgrade to the 15 inch model and add the extra high-res matte screen finish. Nevertheless, 13 bucks in a great price for the results!

4/5 Stars

Cellphone Retention Plans In Canada

Cellphone plans in Canada are among the highest in the world. We all know this when looking at our phone bills. This is due to multiple reasons including our large land mass and small population. Either way, the big three (Rogers, Bell and Telus) still make tons of money while we are forced to sign 3 year contracts and well over $70 for voice and data plans.

Hopefully this is something you already know about, but from my experience, few people do. If you have been a customer of the big three or the cheaper companies owned by the big 3 (Fido, Solo, and Koodo), you can likely renegotiate your plan by calling them and asking to speak to the retention department. In many cases you can only access this retention department by calling in and asking to cancel your contract. When I negotiate with them, I typically just call Rogers (my cell phone provider) and tell them that I was talking to a retention agent but got disconnected. This usually works and allows me to bypass having to pretend I want to cancel. NOTE: Don't do this on a Sunday as retention is closed on that day.

There are many strageties to how you can negotiate with your cell phone provider but the best way is to be kind, calm and knowledgable. Understand what things they can offer you before even calling. The best way to do this is to access this thread on redflagdeals.com (http://forums.redflagdeals.com/merged-hot-deal-rogers-wireless-customers-111887/)

This particular thread is for Rogers customers but there are other threads for Bell and Telus. People typically post their plans and what their providers can offer them. You can also join the site and post yourself to get any particular questions you have answered by the many people there.

It should be noted that many of these deals require you to sign a 3 year contract, but honestly, you'll never get any better deals without this method unless you have some crazy corporate plan. Furthermore, if the plan you negotiate is good, you can easily get out of that 3 year contract and actually sell your plan and make a profit!! Therefore, the whole locked in 3 years isnt that bad.

Also, another tip I should mention is that if you do plan to get a retention plan and are eligble for a new customer upgrade on your hardware device (that is, you get the new customer pricing on a new phone) DO IT. As even if you don't need the phone, you can sell it on Kijiji or Craigslist and make a profit which can then help pay off future bills. The highest and easier phone to sell is the Iphone 3GS 32 gig but you'd have to sign a data plan to do this so this step is not a great idea if you don't want a data plan.

An idea of what retention can do for you. Here's my plan

250 Daytime Minutes (Unlimited weekends)

Unlimited Incoming Calls

Unlimited Text Messenging

Voicemail

Caller ID

Unlimited Evening Calling starting at 5pm

6 GB data plan including tethering

100 Canadian Long Distance Minutes

Total Cost including Ontario tax = $45.25 (it was under $45 total but Rogers just increased 911 fee by 25 cents)

Hope this helps some. READ that thread link posted above!!

UPDATE: A new forum with more details on what to say has been started on Redflagdeals.com. Read the first few pages. Its helpful!

http://forums.redflagdeals.com/rogers-wireless-retention-plans-933329/

Pros/Cons of Macbook Pro 2010 and Tips

Here are a few positives things I realized while using the macbook pro:

1. Always been a PC user and hated the idea of macs, but the 13 inch MBP is actually one of the best computers price wise out there for its specs and design (especially with student discount). Can't say the same for the larger screen models

2. Run's fantastic. I do however have a solid state drive (SSD) in it so it's not fair to truly compare to other PC's. OSX is easy to use and the multi touch features are a huge way to improve time usage.

3. Bootcamp to install Windows is great. Nothing beats have 2 OS's at your disposal on one machine.

4. Battery life is superb. OSX can give me 8 hours with actual usage (I bet I could squeeze 10 if I tried turning off bluetooth and diming the screen more) and Win7 64 bit gives me about 4 with probably max at 5 hours. Most PC laptops with a true processor and not an ultralow voltage one will advertise 4-6 hours but really only give 2-3 with actual usage.

5. Graphics are great and suitable for gaming. I can run COD4 at 1280x800 resolution (which looks great) and its more than playable.

6. It just looks great and is silent unless running intensive apps or lying it on your covers or something for a while. It's true you pay a premium for apple products but they look and feel great (only pc laptop that can compare is the sony vaio z but thats a whole other price range).

7. High resale value as it's EASY to sell apple products.

Some negatives

8. Lacks core i processor though they did that for solid reasons which I'd have to agree on. You can find articles online

9. Glossy screen but most laptops have that

10. The lack of inputs is very frustrating. Two usb ports hasn't hurt me yet but I think it will later down the road and mini display port proprietary technology is something I hate apple for.

11. I notice that due to the aluminum casing the laptop is pretty cold almost everywhere except for 1/4 of the bottom of the laptop where the processor lies. When it gets hot only that 1 part is actually hot. Understandable but a little weird.

Tips

Don't buy apple care from apple or anywhere except like ebay. At apple its like $299 on ebay its $100. Same goes with accessories. I tried to buy a screen protector and hdmi adapter from apple. Quoted me at $100 bucks. Went on ebay and bought both for $25 (not the same brands but both do the same exact job anyway).

You can use cracked software as easily as you can for a PC. And you can also download torrents.

DO NOT buy a SSD (if you choose to add one like I did) from apple. The one they use is shitty and it's cheaper if you choose one yourself and just do it. It's extremely easy to do. I've had no experience upgrading a drive except for my PS3 lol and I did it all easily.

This post was originally to answer someone's question that they had personally msged me. I decided I should share it with the rest of the world!

Check out my youtube channel featuring video of results with my new Corsair R120 SSD and my macbook running COD4

http://www.youtube.com/user/ahbitheman1