Like most people born in the 2000s, I grew up surrounded by computers of varying sorts. Whether that be full on desktops, laptops of questionable quality, smartphones (haha dumbphones ha), or whatever inbetween. However, I don't think I got my own device (minus a crappy MP3 player I can't seem to find) until I was about... 13...? Maybe 12? I was given my very own tablet! It was the same Christmas I finally got my hands on a copy of Portal 2, which still had commercials running on TV at the time, just for reference. :P It's been a bit!Handheld devices
Smartphones
Christ, where do I start? I've had so many of the fuckin' things over the years. Every one ends up just like the last -- a slow, buggy mess that can hardly function past a few years. Such is the life of using products designed to fail, eh? Oh well, at least I'm not an Apple fantard.
Manufacturer: LG
Model: K51
Release date: May, 2020
Android version: 10
Stock storage: 32 GB
Status: Working!
This was my first actual phone. Every other phone I've had before, I've never had activated, never had my own number. Hell, I'd been using a tiny brick phone for like... 5-ish years, and it wasn't even really my phone, rather it was my uncle's.
Anyway, I loved it when I first got it. It was massively faster than my previous phone, had way better storage, and a much bigger screen (which was somewhat of a downside?). This was fine for maybe a year. Then, LG skedaddled out of the phone business in April of 2021. Things have been... f-fine. However, they're getting progressively worse as time goes on. Sure, the operating system is still getting updates - as of writing this, I'm up to ver. 12 - but still... wish me luck on getting a new one, eh?
Manufacturer: Samsung
Model: Galaxy On5
Release date: November, 2015
Android version: 6
Stock storage: 8 GB
Status: FRP Locked - Dead
I stopped using this phone, as far as I can tell, in April of 2020, just a month before the K51 was released. As such, I don't remember a lot about the phone itself. Besides that, it was a hand-me-down from my uncle. It was a fine smart device! Heck, for a phone that was 5 years old then, it ran things pretty damn well. Then again, it's a Samsung, of course it's going to be high quality.
Tablet computers
Manufacturer: Kocaso
Model: M746
Release date: May, 2013 (approximately)
Android version: 4.1
Stock storage: 4 GB
Status: Dead
... Apparently you can run Adobe Flash on this bad boy, according to Kocaso's website... That's kinda neat. Would be spiffy if the darn thing... started. Then again, poor bastard's almost 10 years old as of writing this, so I can't shit on it too bad. Besides, who's ever heard of a Kocaso?!
Manufacturer: RCA
Model: RCT6672W23
Release date: 2014...?
Android version: 4.4
Stock storage: 8 GB
Status: Working...?
RCA apparently makes it incredibly difficult to find anything about their products. That, and they have hyper-specific model names! Do you know how long it took me to type that thing, considering how tiny the print is on the back of the tablet? How bad my eyes are? Life is hell. God damn you, RCA.
I have no quarrels with this tablet, besides the fact that it doesn't connect to WiFi for whatever reason. I used to play on this thing whenever I wanted to hide in the attic from my parents. There's a whole bunch of bad mobile games on the poor bastard.
MP3 players
Manufacturer: Apple
Model: MB257LL
Release date: September, 2007
Stock storage: 8 GB
Status: Working! iTunes willing.
Okok, before you jack me for making fun of Apple fans a few paragraphs ago while at the same time owning an iPod, just... wait a second. XD Buying the darn thing has singlehandedly cemented my hate of Apple products. Granted, yeah, it's a pretty old device, but my main issue is with freakin' iTunes! Seriously, how some people can use it as their main source of digital tuneage is mind boggling to me.
The device itself came with a whooole bunch of songs when I purchased it. And had it not been formatted for a Mac, I would've listened to them. Unfortunately, I only have Windows machines. :( However, I did write down every single track that came with it! Could I have probably done it a better way than doing it by hand? Probably. My fingers certainly got a workout that day. Here's a .txt file!
All things considered, the iPod works... fine. Would I have liked a battery that lasts longer than... like... a few hours? Sure. Does it serve its intended purpose of being a decent music player? Yes, it does. And I only paid 60-something bucks for it! Suck it, Apple. :P
Gaming consoles
Manufacturer: Nintendo
Model: Nintendo 3DS
Release date: February 26, 2011
Stock storage: 2 GB
Status: Working!
I got this 3DS back in, I wanna say, early 2020. I got it specifically because I had been desperate to play Animal Crossing: New Leaf ever since the damn game came out. I got it off of GameStop, and if memory serves, it was only a hundred-something bucks. Quite the steal! And since it was a birthday gift for myself, I thought it'd be perfect.
A while (a... very long while...) after acquiring it, I was determined to hack it. This is mostly due to scares revolving around Nintendo closing down the store for it, and me not having the heart, soul, nor cash to purchase physical copies of games. So, after scooting the system over to a much bigger SD card, I hacked it. It was a... hellish process. Mostly due to me missing a step and having to fix my own mistake. XD But I did it! And it worked great!