Choosing the Perfect Laptop for College

This sponsored post was written by Maggie Durango, a freelance writer and occasional guest blogger.


With high school graduation season now over, thousands upon thousands of graduates are preparing themselves for their transition into starting a college education. For parents, this means a lot of driving, paperwork and, most importantly, shopping. We all want our child to have everything he or she needs in order to be happy and make it through college, but at the same time we want to locate the best deals to save us money.

When it comes to picking out laptops, money is always a big concern because they can get pretty expensive. Besides cost, there are several other factors to consider before purchasing your college student a laptop.

1. The Student— This should be the biggest determination as to what kind of laptop you get. It needs to be catered to the needs of your student. Consider weight and durability, as the computer will probably be lugged around between classes, the library and dorm room. It will also need plenty of storage space to keep all their papers and projects safe.

But also consider your student's major. Different majors require different software and computer specs in order to get the full experience. For example, students seeking degrees in print or magazine production, graphic design and photography may need a wide, high definition screen for proper editing abilities. Any majors that are business or communications related will need presentation and data processing software.

While a lot of this important software is available for separate purchase, you get a much better deal when it comes in a package with a laptop.

2. What Others Say— While you can't always trust reviews on some products, laptops are one of the few items that tons of people like to talk about truthfully and in detail. There are thousands of websites and blogs specifically for laptop reviews that you can peruse once you have picked out a few computers of interest.

3. About the money issue...The most prominent brands you may be aware of are most likely to be the ones that are most expensive. And by shopping in retail locations like Best Buy, you will be paying a retail price much higher than the actual cost of the laptop. Your best bet is to shop online, as the prices tend to be a lot lower. Many manufacturers offer student discounts if you order directly through them.

It also never hurts to have connections. Maybe your kid went to school with someone who likes to build computers, and you can buy it for relatively cheap. Or you could also get a discount through someone who works in a retail location selling computers. For example, Apple has a Friends and Family discount that they offer, but just don't openly talk about.

Picking out laptops is like picking out the best college or university. The best decisions are informed decisions. By doing your research and looking at all the factors that have an immediate impact on your child, you can confidently make the right choice so your child will have the most fulfilled experience possible.

Type A Parent Conference Recap w. Fresh Produce Photos & #TeamLeticia Video

Attending Type A Parent is so refreshing.  Maybe it's the mountain air that surrounds Asheville or the fact that it's like the Cheers of blogging conferences. Maybe not everyone knows your name but after meeting on the patio, you become fast friends.  

Here are some conference highlights:

• Spending time with friends from near and far
• Watching Susan accept the Bloganthropy 2011 Award for her use of social media as a tool for philanthropic work that involves raising awareness about Army of Women and a partnership that provides post-masectomy breast cancer survivors with lymphedema sleeves.  Susan's speech was powerful, heartfelt, and moved most of the room to tears.  It was a joy to celebrate her wonderful work with delicious cupcakes sent by the always thoughtful Kristen.
• Teaching others about the collaboration. Splash Creative Media has become more than just a bunch of us working together- we realized that our work has turned into a real business.  How great to work with people who share the same vision and have fun together while executing it!  Partners Kelly and Jessica were incredible panelists while Grace did an amazing job of live tweeting our session.  The Splash team will be speaking on How to Write a Kick A$$ Pitch at BlogHer.  Look for us on Saturday afternoon!
• Discussing a collaborative effort with the DC Moms.  It's going to be awesome once we get all our ducks in a row.
• Overindulging in delectable fresh, local, and organic meals.  Fried green tomatoes = yum!
• Donning crochet legwarmers made by @1Momof5 and neon proudly procured by @ColoradoMom while trash talking our way to a second place finish at the UbiSoft Clever Girls Collective Smurf Dance PartyDance Off

Check out #TeamLeticia shaking it like a Polaroid picture!  Yes, we had our own hashtag and we’re ready for our next competition!

Thanks to Lolli fellow #TeamLeticia member for the video and crochet legwarmers!

Through it all, my Fresh Produce wardrobe took me through long days with comfort and style.  I can’t thank Fresh Produce enough for their assistance in helping me break away from my usual black at conferences. I was endlessly complimented and even stalked during each of the five days I was there by those who extra chances to win the Pintuck Dress I'm giving away.  

I ended up loving everything I wore.  The Pintuck Dress turned out to be the perfect travel dress.  Comfortable and flowy, yet still flattering and also something that I ran out to dinner wearing without even giving a thought to changing into something dressier.  The bright Sunrise orange Cafe Wrap Dress is probably something I would have originally walked away from in a store.  It seemed almost too bright but I paired it with a great necklace that I've had for ages and was endlessly complimented.  The Rio Malibu Maxi Dress was professional enough for my panel yet casual enough for hanging out with friends in the evenings.  And the dress was the perfect length for my 5' 4" self!  I liked wearing the Bali Shine On Shirt Dress open with a matching blue tank top underneath.  The Basic Leggings in Oyster to match were great for the chilly conference space and the dress was long enough to wear them without later that night out to dinner.

Each of my looks suited me.  While in Asheville I found some wonderful belts made out of vintage inspired prints to give the wrap dresses a different look.  I know I'll be wearing these dresses everywhere throughout the summer, to upcoming conferences, and on vacation.  Someone might need to stage a Fresh Produce intervention!

@JusticeFergie found me in the Rio Malibu
Maxi Dress- my choice for my panel and smallest photo ever!

Wearing the Bali Shine On Dress in Oyster with @PunditMom

@PunditMom spotted me in the Cafe Wrap Dress when I bought her new book:
Mothers of Intention

@UrbanMama snapped this photo of me in the Pintuck Dress
as soon as I got to the hotel!

I found this great belt in a graphic vintage print to go
with the Wrap Me Up Dress I wore home!

If you’re a blogger and you have considered attending Type A, purchase your ticket at the end of 2011 when there is likely to be an amazing discount.  You won’t regret going.  Trust me.  And yes, I’ll be back in 2012.  See you there!


Huge thanks to Fresh Produce who was my conference clothing sponsor.  

A Farewell Post

What?  Did you think I was really abandoning my site?  No way!

This week I bid farewell to The LeapFrog Community.  I've been writing for LeapFrog in one capacity or another for the past 2 1/2  years, an amazing length of time considering that's only one year short of the total time I've been blogging. 

LeapFrog is one of those companies that I always dreamed of working for since I was introduced to the LeapPad about 10 years ago.  The teacher in me recognized the amazing potential that their products had to teach children even before I had ones of my own.

But rather than being sad about not writing for LeapFrog through my weekly community column, I can say that I'm excited to be working with them in a new capacity as they develop new programs.  I can't tell you just what yet...But know it means that it brings some exciting things to you as my readers!

See, I told you I wasn't going anywhere! 

I was a paid weekly columnist for The LeapFrog Community but was never required to share my posts with my readers.  I am appreciative to those of you who found me through LeapFrog's site. Amazon affiliate link contained in this post.

Suitcase Shopping Tips: Features to consider from the always traveling Tech Savvy Mama

Recently I’ve been thinking about shopping for suitcases.  Not only is it summer but I’ve been reading a travel memoir as part of From Left to Write book club and just got home from a fabulous time at Type A Parent Conference in Asheville, North Carolina.

With the many trips I’ve taken throughout the first half of 2011 and the second half looking just as busy, I’ve come to realize that it’s really important to know what to look for when purchasing a bag for travel purposes. 

I’ve been working with KIVA Bags to test out some of their rolling bags during recent trips.  Comparing their bags to others that I’ve personally purchased and traveled with over the years allowed me think about features that can make traveling easier. 

Since a new suitcase is an investment, take some time to research different brands and models to figure out what will meet your needs.  Your needs help determine the kinds of features you need in your new bag. 

Here are some tips for shopping for a new suitcase:

• What kinds of trips will you use the bag for? Family vacations require a larger bag to accommodate clothes for multiple family members whereas business travelers only need to worry about packing for one. 

• How many days do you typically travel? Longer trips require a bigger bag.

• Hard sided or soft sided suitcase?  A hard sided suitcase provides a durable exterior shell but the soft-sided fabric gives a little, often accommodating extra items.

• What about pockets?  Pockets on the inside help provide compartments for organizational purposes for smaller items whereas outside ones allow for easy access to items.

• Do you need compression straps?  Compression straps?  Yes, those straps on the inside of the bag.  Sometimes they’re elastic to stretch and clip over contents to hold them in place and other times they are adjustable, helping to eliminate extra space between items. Figure out how you use your compression straps or if you need them at all.

• What kind of warranty or guarantee comes with the bag?  We know bags take a beating when we say goodbye to them as we check them to our final destination.  Normal wear and tear is one thing but mishaps like a wheel falling off, a handle not telescoping properly, or a zipper breaking usually means the death for a suitcase.  Some companies offer lifetime warranties.

• Are more expensive bags better? Not always. More than the price, consider what you need from your bag and find the suitcase that fits your budget based on how often you plan to use it. 

KIVABags 26" Rolling Upright

I’ll be reviewing the KIVA 26” Rolling Upright that I’ve been using for my past two trips and sharing the features that I love that make it a great suitcase for all kinds of travel soon!

This travel post was inspired by The Unexpected Circumnavigation, this month’s From Left to Write book club selection.  I received a copy of the book for review purposes and KIVA Bags provided luggage and travel accessories for me to test during my trips.  I will be writing occasional travel related posts to share my experience using their bags. No compensation was received for working with KIVA Bags and all opinions are my own. This post contains Amazon Affiliate links.

About Cloud Storage and Windows SkyDrive Updates

While at Mom 2.0 in April, I had the opportunity to learn about Microsoft’s free SkyDrive, a cloud based file-sharing service similar to Dropbox or Apple's iCloud (coming this fall), that allows users to store up to 25GB of data. Earlier this week Microsoft announced significant updates to SkyDrive to make it faster, easier to navigate, and usable across different operating systems and browsers, including Google Chrome. 

If I lost you in the first sentence with the use of the word “cloud,” cloud storage is a term that is used to describe internet-based storage.  Cloud applications allow the data to live up in the “cloud,” rather than on your computer’s hard drive.  Google Docs is like Microsoft Office in the cloud.  Flickr allows users to store photos in the cloud.  YouTube is a cloud based video storage.  Streaming NetFlix is like your video library in the cloud.

Here’s what Microsoft is saying about SkyDrive’s improvements:

It’s faster

• Your PC makes it faster- Common tasks like clicking on folders and navigating photo albums will go from 6-9 seconds down to 100-300 milliseconds.  Microsoft took advantage of hardware accelerated graphics to make it fast to skip thru slideshows.

• Video playback is faster – SkyDrive supports new video formats that give you the same great experience in less space so you don't have to wait for a big download

• Pin SkyDrive to your taskbar - With IE9 on Windows7, you can pin SkyDrive to your taskbar for even faster access to the files you want. Create Word, Excel or PowerPoint doc stored in the cloud in just 1 click.

Easier to navigate

• All your content in one place, including SkyDrive groups - Microsoft brought together all your photos, docs, files shared with you and files in SkyDrive groups into one view.  They took elements of the common file system you’re used to on Windows and Mac OS so navigating SkyDrive is more intuitive.

• Quick views - Microsoft updated the look and feel so that it’s just like Hotmail so that you can easily navigate the two

• Information pane - Microsoft removed ads to create room for a pane of information about your files – so you can take actions such as opening a doc in Word or Excel on the desktop directly from SkyDrive.

Photos are more beautiful

• Mosaic layout - Microsoft created a layout that will let your photos fill the browser. This includes thumbnails that reflect the original aspect ratio of your picture. Portraits, landscapes and panoramas can retain their personality even in thumbnail mode.

• Clean arrangement – Regardless of what size screen you have, how big your browser window is, or how many photos you have, SkyDrive always arranges your photos into a perfect, clean square.

• Living, breathing presentation – When viewing your albums, SkyDrive pulses through your thumbnails, letting you experience the contents of an album even before diving in.

• Infinite scrolling - Microsoft no longer has pages in the photo viewing experience; you just scroll the page and quickly see your photos fill in. It looks and feels like a native application.

For additional information about SkyDrive updates, visit Inside Windows Live blog.

Microsoft provided information about SkyDrive for this post.  No compensation was received.

It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights

Because we're super excited for The Muppets to come to the big screen!  

Who cares if we'll have to wait until November 23...I think The Muppets are worth the wait!

Techno Source 20Q : Tech Savvy Mama BlogHer Sponsor!

I may be leaving for Type A tomorrow but I’m always looking ahead to BlogHer for the chance to reconnect with friends and meet new ones, share my knowledge through my panel, and work with incredible brands.  This year I’m excited to announce that I’ll be working with Techno Source to share their newest game- 20Q- so BlogHer attendees can have their minds read by 20Q before it hits stores this fall!

Techno Source 20Q arrives in stores this fall but
get a sneak peek from me at BlogHer!

Remember the 20 questions you used to play as a kid with your best friend or with the family in the back seat of the car during road trips?  


The favorite classic has since gone electronic, and now you can play with a new and improved handheld game.  20Q asks players to think of an animal, vegetable, mineral, or other object.  Then 20Q uses its super mind reading powers to figure out the answer in twenty questions or less based on pressing the yes, no, sometimes or rarely buttons.

My 20Q sample just arrived and besides being impressed with the sleek design and how easy it was to use out of the package, I’ve already put it to the test!  So far I’m amazed at how smart 20Q is. While I was trying to get it to guess dog as my answer, it guessed specific breeds of dogs!  My mystical hot pink little 20Q orb features the most “eerily accurate” artificial intelligence (A.I.) to date and has been said to know exactly what I’m thinking. Spooky!

“20Q has left players intrigued and mystified by its all-knowing senses for more than 20 years,” said Robin Burgener, inventor of the 20Q A.I.  “We have created a whole new modern way to play that’s even more magical.  We’re excited to see people of all ages become mesmerized all over again!”

I can’t wait to put 20Q in the hands of Captain Computer and Little Miss Techie who will put their heads together to try to figure out answers that might stump the animated screen! 

I have a feeling that this highly portable game will be coming with us to the pool to play between swim and dive team practices, outside for shady breaks in the hammock, on car trips to the grandparents’ house, and will be tucked in my carry on as I travel to Type A this week!  I already slapped a Mabel’s Label on my new toy so I’ll be sure to get it back!

20Q fits in the palm of my hand so it's highly portable.
Just don't take mine!

20Q will be available for purchase in September for just $12.99.  It is suggested for ages 6+ and will come in pink, red, and blue.  Can’t wait until then?  Play online at www.20Q.net and experience 20Q’s mind-reading abilities. 

As the official 20Q brand ambassador for BlogHer 2011, Techno Source is covering my conference expenses. A pre-release product sample was provided for review purposes.

Severe Weather Emergency Essential Gadgets & Radio Shack Twitter Party (w. giveaway)

Is your family prepared for severe weather when it hits your area?  

In the DC Metro area severe weather can range from snow and ice in the winter to power outages caused by summer thunderstorms. Growing up in California, being prepared meant stockpiling canned food and water in case of earthquakes.  Regardless of where you live and what qualifies as severe weather, it’s important to always be prepared.

RadioShack recently sent me an awesome selection of weather products that are now part of our emergency preparedness toolkit and shared some essentials for severe weather.

5 Severe Weather Preparedness Essentials

Desktop Weather Radio

1.  Weather Radio – A weather radio can be one of the most important items in your weather preparedness toolkit. According to FEMA, a weather radio can provide up to eight minute to move family and pets to a specially constructed safe room or secure locations.  Eight minutes can save your life and provide the crucial advance warning to get everyone to safety. The RadioShack® Desktop Weather Radio with Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) alerts ($79.99) provides local weather and warnings several minutes before other radio and TV broadcast alerts even if the electronic voice takes a little getting used to.  The weather radio can be programmed to monitor a loved one’s location or other locations of interest.

Eton Blackout Buddy

2.  Flashlight – To prepare for power outages, we recommend having a high-power flashlight or other lighting device with long run times in your toolkit, such as the Etón Red Cross BLACKOUT buddy emergency LED flashlight/nightlight or powerful LED beam such as the ICON^TM Flashlight Rogue 2 ($49.99) which has run times of up to 75 hours. 

The Etón Blackout Buddy ($14.99) is a device that we can keep plugged in at all times, even when there isn’t a blackout.  Eton plugs in and recharges from the wall outlet while acting like a night light and has dual features in its compact size.  It will automatically light its 3 bright LEDs so it can be used as an emergency flashlight or act as a single LED nightlight.

Icon Flashlight

I took the ICON flashlight ($49.99) on a recent camping trip and found that its compact size combined with high power LED beam illuminated dark areas nicely while fitting comfortably in my hand thanks to it’s lightweight aluminum body.  The flashlight also features a high output and lower setting that helps conserve battery power in emergency situations.  Little Miss Techie loved this device so much that she gave me her flashlight as a trade.  Harumph!

Enercell Portable Power Bank

3.  Portable Power Supply – One of the worst parts of power outages is not being able to charge your cell phone to stay in touch with family members and loved ones. Portable power device like the Enercell® 2400Ah Portable Power Bank ($29.99-49.99) can provide 5-8 hours of additional talk time if the electricity is out. An iPod® and iPhone® version is also available.  Note: The duration of the portable power supply has not been tested for excessive Angry Birds play.

Midland GTX10000VP4 50 Channel
GMRS/FRS Radio

4.  Walkie Talkies – Walkie Talkies ensure you are able to communicate with family members, loved ones, or neighbors in an emergency situation in the case of cell phone tower damage or power outages.  The Midland® GTX10000VP4 50-Channel GMRS/FRS Radio (2-Pack) ($89.99) is a great choice for any emergency kit because it has up to a 36-mile range and 28 extra channels to use for communication.  Other features include an SOS siren for sending out distress/locator signals in an emergency situation and a built in NOAA weather radio for weather updates on the go.

5.  Comfort Items – Let each child choose 1-2 items to put in the weather preparedness toolkit, such as a toy, game or personal item to help keep your child/children occupied and calm in the case you have to take shelter for a long period of time. 

GIVEAWAY: Since RadioShack wants your family to be prepared for any kind of weather, they are providing an emergency preparedness kit containing many of the items mentioned above!

TO ENTER: Leave a comment sharing a time when your family wasn’t prepared in severe weather by Friday, July 8 at 12:00 pm EST.  Include your Twitter handle or email address.

For extra entries, complete the above and RSVP for any of the upcoming RadioShack Twitter parties by leaving a comment with your Twitter handle and the date of the party you plan to attend.  Here are the upcoming dates and topics:

• Monday, June 20, 7-8 p.m. EST: Road Trip Gadgets

• Monday, June 27, 7-8 p.m. EST: The Shack’s Guide to Outdoor Activities 

All Twitter attendees will be entered to win several gadgets for portable power from RadioShack by following @RadioShack on Twitter and using the hashtags #RSPowerHour #RadioShackTSM to participate in the party on June 20 from 7-8 pm EST and June 27 from 7-8 pm EST

And there’s more!  As a thank you for attending, Tech Savvy Mama readers will have we also have a chance to win some exclusive prizes including:

• Looxcie Wearable Bluetooth® Camcorder 
• HTC EVO 4G Smartphone 
• 8GB Flip Video Camera 
• Gift cards ranging from $25 - $75

Twitter party fine print: RadioShack will choose and announce winners Twitter party winners by 9 pm EST. You must be following @RadioShack and use #RSPowerHour and #RadioShackTSM in your tweet to be eligible to win! Exclusive Tech Savvy Mama reader prizes will be awarded by 8 p.m. each night.

Giveaway fine print: Eligible comments for this giveaway must be received by Friday, July 8 at 12:00 pm EST. Winner will selected by Random.org and contacted via email or DMed on Twitter. Winner has 24 hours to respond with a US shipping address and their phone number or another winner will be selected.  Leticia- Tech Savvy Mama and RadioShack are not responsible for items lost, damaged, or delayed during shipping.

RadioShack provided items for review purposes. No compensation was received for this post, hosting the giveaway, or sharing the Twitter party information. All opinions are my own.  Images courtesy of RadioShack.

Samsung Focus Windows Phone 7: Intuitive, compact, nicely priced phone (w. giveaway)

If you’re looking for a new smartphone that is easy to use, right from the box, the Samsung Focus from AT&T running Windows Phone 7 is a great choice.

This skinny compact phone has a beautiful screen that feels good in your hand and is the lightest and thinnest of the Windows Phone 7 devices.

The clean uncluttered interface demonstrates that Microsoft has done their homework. Instead of shoe-horning XP or Windows 7 into a phone, they've come up with an entirely new interface designed for a mobile phone. Despite being new, it feels familiar to iPhone and Android users.

Navigation

It’s always nice to be able to pick up a phone and be able to get the hang of it right out of the box. The Windows 7 Phone seems was quite intuitive from the start thanks to many nice features.

The "start screen" features different postage-stamp icons/widgets called live tiles. The icons are direct links to applications, but the "live tile" widgets give information directly on the main screen. These include icons for a calendar, a Gmail icon with unread mail count, voicemail status, number of unread SMS messages, and an address book icon that displays a changing collage of friends’ Facebook avatars.

Windows Phone 7 Start Screen

In addition to the home screen with the tiles and icons, swipe to the left and get to an alphabetical menu of all your apps. This is where to go when running apps that aren't on the home screen, change settings, etc. Swipe up and down to scroll though the menu. The user-interface is speedy and the scrolling is quite smooth.

The bottom of the phone has 3 permanent buttons. They are "go back", a Windows icon to take you to the Start Screen, and a Search button that takes you to a Bing search screen. That's one less button than Android phones that typically also have a "menu" button. But it's 2 more buttons than Apple's minimalist approach on the iPhone. I noticed that on some screens lacked a "no" or  "cancel" button. For faster navigation, use the "go-back" button on the bottom of the phone.

Screen Customization

Blue tiles on
start screen

The phone came with a white background and lime green accent color. When it seems that almost everyone is using black, the change to a white background is rather refreshing.  The screens flip away in pieces when starting apps or making selections from menus. It’s a neat effect that has been novel during the two months of testing but one can’t help wonder if this gets old after awhile.

In the theme settings screen, the phone indicates the white background will use more battery- probably because of the need to light it. For those who want to conserve battery life, it’s easy to switch the phone to more traditional black with white text if so inclined.  It's also possible to change the colors of the tiles on the start screen from red, green, blue, to orange.

Syncing Email, Contacts, and Calendars

I set the phone up to sync with Gmail, Facebook, and a corporate Exchange server. It had no problems importing contacts and accessing my mail. It likes to keep your email accounts separate, unlike some systems such as Motorola's "MotoBlur" which promised a universal inbox.  Personally, I like seeing Gmail under one icon and corporate email under another one.  Some phones give you both options. Windows 7 phone seems to keep them all separate. Hotmail is an icon, as is Outlook and Gmail.

An interesting feature of the phone is the contact list, called "People". The address book entries contain pictures that are automatically synced from your online accounts (your email, Facebook account, and/or your corporate Exchange server). When you pull up a friend in the address book, you immediately see their picture and latest Facebook status. The normal contact info like mobile number, home number, email, and even birthday is contained below. One click on the person's address will plot it for you on the map.  

Windows Phone 7 People feature

I synced the calendar with Exchange and it immediately pulled up a calendar from my work account. Unlike one of my Android pet peeves, Windows Phone 7 realized that a meeting location of "800-555-1212" is a phone number, not a map location. Unlike the Samsung Captivate, the Windows 7 phone was able to voice dial address book entries synced from a corporate Exchange server. Google's voice action only wants to search Google contacts. Heaven forbid you might have some _other_ contacts that Google doesn't know about!

Camera

The Samsung Focus includes a 5 megapixel camera with a flash. It also records 720p HD video. Users with older smartphones will be amazed at how much better the cameras on phones have gotten. The camera takes clear pictures. When taking pictures of light colored things, it seemed there was a red cloud in the middle of the pictures. Strange.

When a picture is taken, it can be shared immediately from the screen, eliminating extra navigational steps like on most other phones.   There's also a dedicated camera button that can be used even when the phone is locked.

Windows Phone 7 Pictures Hub

Voice Dialing

I have always been a big fan of voice dialing on phones. Some phone vendors haven't taken this seriously, and others are starting to catch on. Ten years ago, you had to record a name for each person manually.  Five years ago, you didn't have to record the name, but your phone would sit there thinking about whether to call "Domino's Pizza or "Dominic in Palo Alto." 

The new fad is that the phone sends your voice up to the Internet where the brainpower of an entire datacenter can think about the answer and get back to you with, thankfully, the right answer. For Microsoft, it's "powered by TellMe", a leader in voice recognition software, and company Microsoft acquired a few years ago. They are the ones who run the 800 directory listing service. So rest assured, you're dealing with commercial-quality speech recognition here.

Apps

The phone has an App store for downloading new apps. Two big apps that come with the phone are Microsoft Office and Netflix.  

Other apps that are necessities include:

Twitter app

• Twitter and Facebook because a busy social media mom on the go can’t ever be out of touch with her networks
• WordPress to manage content on sites like MyBlogalicious and ChicaLogic so I can be sure that new content is always being loaded
• The Weather Channel for helping me plan our pool trips around the day’s thunderstorms
• Apps for the kids that help them learn wherever we may be and keep them entertained during unexpected long waits.  My phone came preloaded with Smarty Sharky ($1.29— math for ages 3-5), Flashcards (free — interactive way to review all kinds of content), Math 4 Kids (free—math puzzles that make it fun to learn basic concepts), and Giggle Pad (free— interactive puzzle game containing songs, colors, sounds, shapes, and even fireworks).

Other Features

If you set a pin to lock your phone, the phone unlocks immediately after you type the password. You don't have to hit "enter" like every other phone I've ever seen. Nice touch.

The home screen is fully customizable as are the ringtones. I found it funny that the volume was adjustable from 0 to 30. I wonder how much louder 27 is versus 25?  From the volume menu, you can quickly put the phone into vibrate mode. There didn't seem to be a shortcut for enabling/disabling GPS, Bluetooth or Airplane mode. For many people, that's probably not an issue. Overall, the number of changeable settings and options seems to be on the low side. The phone seems to fall between Android (fully customizable) and the iPhone (exactly the way Steve Jobs wants it).

Summary

The phone ran flawlessly and was quite responsive with no crashes or errors. Whether or not you've looked at Windows phones in the past, Windows Phone 7 is definitely worth checking out.  

The Samsung Focus is currently available from AT&T stores or online for $49.00 with a two year contract making it a very nice price for a fully featured smartphone.  Regular price appears to be $99 with a two year contract.

GIVEAWAY: Win a Samsung Focus Windows Phone 7 courtesy of Microsoft! Please note that this giveaway is for the device only and does not come with AT&T service.  AT&T customers can most likely use their SIM card from their current service plan but are encouraged to check with AT&T.

TO ENTER:  Leave a comment about your biggest pet peeve about your current smartphone.  Include your email or Twitter handle in your comment to be eligible to win.  Comments must be left before Sunday, July 10 at 12:00 EST.  

For extra entries, complete the above and do any of the following:

• Tweet this daily and leave a comment with the link to your tweet: Samsung Focus @WindowsPhone 7 review & #giveaway on @TechSavvyMama! I entered 2 win here: www.TechSavvyMama.com

• Follow @TechSavvyMama on Twitter and comment below.

• Follow Windows Phone on Twitter and let me know in your comment.

• Subscribe to this blog via email and tell me you’ve done so below

• Be my Facebook friend and leave a comment.  My new Leticia-TechSavvyMama page is up but under construction! 

• Post the Tech Savvy Mama badge on your site and leave a link to your blog in your comment.  Here is the badge HTML: <a href="http://www.techsavvymama.com"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_wWPy3_-vkD0/ScRLq_qCg5I/AAAAAAAABPU/xvksUxhhE6I/s144/TechSavvyMama.jpg"/></a>

Fine print: Eligible comments for this giveaway must be received by Sunday, July 10 at 12:00 pm EST. Winner will selected by Random.org and contacted via email or DMed on Twitter. Winner has 24 hours to respond with a US shipping address and their phone number or another winner will be selected.  Winner acknowledges that the Samsung Focus Windows Phone 7 giveaway is for the device only and no service is part of the giveaway.  Leticia- Tech Savvy Mama and Microsoft are not responsible for items lost, damaged, or delayed during shipping.

Microsoft provided a Samsung Focus Windows Phone 7 and a SIM card with AT&T service for review purposes.  No compensation was received for this post or for hosting this giveaway.  All opinions are my own.  Images courtesy of Microsoft.