I think that If I had lost my phone worth $130,000 I would go crazy. Well, it seems as though if you have the €85,000 ($131,000) price tag to pay for the Nokia’s 8800 Arte Pink then you arent worried about money. For the price you get a gold coated handset with 680 white and pink diamonds designed by none other than Peter Aloisson.

Sadly enough, if $4 per gallon of gasoline seems like a pinch to you, it would be hard to imagine how you’d feel if one of these diamonds were to fall out? Regardless of the showy exterior, this Arte Pink phone still has the same specifications as a standard Nokia 8800. Why would you spend that much? Go figure!

Well, Today as I watched the new iPhone being unveiled and the Typepad mobile app for it, I wondered whether WordPress would have an iPhone application. After that I thought about it, does anyone actually use their cell phone to blog? I personally blog from a handheld or PDA on some occasions but mainly I sit at my desktop. Here are what I find are some challenges of blogging on your cell phone:

1) Small Keyboard : I mean, unless you have slender and tiny fingers that wouldn’t give you cramps but if you’ve got a regular sized hand then long posts can definitely take a while to type and may contain errors

2) Smaller Screen : Smaller screen means that you will have to scroll around quite a bit if your screen doesn’t auto-adjust a web page. You may also get frustrated with not being able to look through your entire post on one page.

3) Pictures : If you wanted to attach a picture or create a picture to add to your blog post then it may get hard to do so when you only have access to your phone’s memory.

Well, Just wondering, I have my desktop which is what I use most often but then I use my PDA’s if I dont have my desktop near me. Do any of you use your cell phone to blog and if so, what kind of cell phone?

So, I know that I have promised video posts before but this time I want to really give it a shot. I have seen many bloggers talk about The Flip which makes it really easy to record video on the go and upload it to a service like YouTube. Well, I have been trying to get my hands on one and hopefully I should be able to soon enough.

The idea with video posts is to make it interesting. The fact that I go to school and my drive can take an hour, I usually see quite a few things happening on a daily basis and hopefully Ill be able to record that for my visitors viewing pleasure. I also remember that a few months back I had promised to do a video post and I did record a video post too however nothing seemed to work out well as the sun was in my eyes and lighting was a big issue so I wasn’t able to post that.

Well I have seen John Chow carry around this Flip camcorder and record video on a daily basis which then allows him to gain more visitors. If many of you have seen his blog lately, the ability to upload video allows him to create updates much more conveniently and has increased his page views by two fold. I would really like to try this out for myself considering that I can probably try experimenting with better lighting or be able to find some interesting videos to post here.

Hopefully I can get my hands on a Flip but in the mean time, I guess the videos will have to wait or my production of videos will have to get better. Have any of you incorporated videos? If so, what did you guys use?

I am really tempted to find out how all this will work. I know that many people switched over to AT&T and I wonder if they are happy with their service. I have had AT&T ever since I had my first phone and I like their service. I’ve also heard that the plans will be changed too and im hoping they get cheaper but it all depends. The new iPhone is said to start at 199 now with a two year contract but that all depends on what is announced.

I guess we all have to wait and watch and see how things turn out. What are your opinions about the new iPhone, anyone interested? I can tell you that I certainly am!

A few days ago I went down to Fort Bend Toyota/Scion and test drove the new 2008 Toyota Highlander. I met with R.J. Rideaux, who helped in getting me into their only 2008 Highlander on the lot. The Highlander has been redesigned for 2008 and has been one of the best selling SUV’s. These Highlanders sell so well, that it was difficult to find one on the lot and the one we found was a wonderful blue Limited that was more on the higher end. The vehicle had an MSRP close to $41,000 and had several added options including the JBL Navigation/Audio system. Lets take a look at the 4 dimensions of this review: exterior, interior, cargo room and the drive. There is also a video at the bottom!

  

Exterior
The new Highlander shows significant signs, of improvement. I am not saying that the old design was “boring” but it had gotten old after around 5-6 years of production. The new design gives the Highlander a more aggressive look and stance. When you look at the new Highlander, you can easily see either a male or female owner. The Highlander is longer than the previous Highlander and looks more expensive than it is. The new headlamps and rear lights also work well for the Highlander adding to its elegance. The rear hatch also features a nicely finished aluminum rectangle with “Highlander” inscribed in it. Overall, the exterior has seen a drastic improvement

 

Interior
The interior was very luxurious in this vehicle. Yes, it did have the optional leather, rear view camera and the beautiful 8″ LCD based Navigation system, but even still, the Highlander’s interior is very upgraded. The center console has plenty of storage room and the glovebox is average in size. The controls in this vehicle were well laid out and seemed that Highlander buyers of older age will not be complaining about the size of the controls. There are two cupholders in the Highlander in the front and that seems plenty to me. The Limited also featured a 3.5″ information display that displayed the time, outside temperature and the current A/C settings.

  

There is also a conveniently placed conversation mirror, so that you really dont have to turn around to check on your younger passengers in the back seat. The gauges are also very clear and easy to read. The seats felt very comfortable and would not be a hassle for long drives. There was enough leg and headroom for the front passengers. I did sit in the second row seating and there was still plenty of room for 3 adults however, the 3rd row seating is only for children as many have claimed previously. Toyota has created the 2nd row such that you can convert it from two separate “captain chairs” to one that seats 3 individuals. “Captain Chairs” mean that each seat will have its own armrests and this setting allows easier access to the third row.

  

Cargo Room
Although I have never previously reviewed cargo area, I was able to find some great pictures that show you the versatility in cargo capacity for the Highlander. The third row does take away quite a bit of the cargo room as you can see, but if the third row isn’t your concern then there is plenty of cargo room with the third row folded down. There is even more cargo room with both the rows folded down. Either way, the longer body style has accommodated the third row seat well, leaving room for cargo.

Drive
All Highlander models are equipped with a 3.5L V6 (the same as the V6 Camry and Rav4) that produces 270hp and 248lb ft. of torque. This combination delivers 18 city, 24 highway and 20 in mixed driving. The numbers are impressive and the drive certainly matches those numbers. The Highlander is very smooth from the get go. Since I was driving the Limited, it was equipped with the rear view camera and that made it very easy to watch for obstacles in your path. Put the car in reverse and the 8 inch LCD shows you what is in the rear surrounding area. Step on the gas a little and the Highlander’s V6 does not hesitate to accelerate and does so with 0-60 time of around 6-7 seconds. The drive is very comfortable and the Highlander isn’t difficult to manuver at all.

The 3.5 inch center information display that I mentioned earlier is also placed such that the driver does not need to take his/her eyes off the road. The steering wheel is equipped with bluetooth phone controls, audio controls as well as A/C controls making it very easy for the driver to change settings while not taking their eyes off the road. The braking in the Highlander is also exceptional and is equipped with ABS and traction control. Even at high speed with the radio turned off, it was almost impossible to get a sense of the road noise considering it was a very windy day. Even road noise was minimal when driving on the highway at 65mph. While driving on the highway you will notice that the Highlander does not have a blindspot which is very comforting to the driver as in some SUV’s it is quite a task to notice vehicles in nearby lanes.

Conclusion
The 2008 Highlander is the perfect blend of performance and luxury and delivers that in an appealing package. The Highlander has received top marks for safety and the drive quality was better than average. With room for 7 and a very well performing 3.5L V6, the Highlander is sure to meet the demands of every consumer. Thank you once again to R.J and Fort Bend Toyota/Scion for the opportunity!

  

Source: Toyota, Edmunds, Video Courtesy of TestDriveVideos

It seems as though Best Buy is not being honest with its customers. As is in most electronic stores, there are kiosks that are said to be connected to the retailers website however, Best Buy was sued in May by the Connecticut attorney general’s office for using a falsely created in-store replica of the actual BestBuy.com to take advantage of customers by having them pay a higher price than the actual Best Buy website.

When you usually walk into an electronic retail store, you may find a price in store that is different from what you had seen on their website. In this case, if you were at Best Buy, you may not be able to use the kiosk computer to find that price, but a price higher than what you expected to pay.

An article in the LA Times states the experience of one shopper:

Last week, Simi Valley resident Leigh Murphy, 53, went online in search of a new DVD player. He finally settled on a Toshiba model that he found on Bestbuy.com, marked down from $79.99 to $71.99.

He decided to stop by the store and buy it there instead.

“I just assumed the same price would be available,” Murphy said. “That’s why I didn’t order it online.”

He found the DVD player at the store without difficulty, but it was selling for the full $79.99 price. Murphy asked a salesman about the discrepancy. He said he’d found it online for less.

The salesman guided Murphy to one of Best Buy’s in-store kiosks, which displayed a page virtually identical to the website Murphy had seen at home. He called up the Toshiba device and, lo and behold, no more markdown. It was going for the full list price.

Murphy, an engineer, wasn’t sure what to make of this. So he returned home and went back online. Once again he visited Bestbuy.com, and once again the DVD player came up at the reduced price of $71.99.

So Murphy purchased the player online and then returned to the store to pick it up. But the experience left him wondering.

“It seems like they have one website online and a fake website that’s available only in the store,” Murphy said.

The in-store kiosks make customers believe that the price they saw online is no longer available. Best Buy’s spokeswoman, Sue Busch, says that “Individual store prices may vary from market to market” and that “Bestbuy.com is the national price.”

I have experienced this same issue as I noticed that the store was connected to a website other than “www.bestbuy.com” however the website looks identical to what a consumer would see on their personal computer. When David Lazarus of the LA Times asked a Best Buy salesman about this issue, the salesman was in the dark, as most customers are.

“Every day we get at least one person asking why he can’t find a price he saw online,” the salesman replied.

I said I was looking for a DVD player I’d seen online that was selling for $71.99. I said it wasn’t on the kiosk site.

“Here,” the salesman said, “let me show you a secret.”

He switched to a different screen, typed in his employee I.D. number, and the real Bestbuy.com came up. “Try now,” the salesman said.

I asked why the real website wasn’t available to everyone.

He shrugged. “I wish I knew.”

Hopefully Best Buy will not only correct this issue but be punished for indulging in unlawful practices by deceiving customers into paying more than they should have. Although during my experience, the sales person did take my word on the price difference, that may not always be the case on bigger ticket items such as TV’s or appliances.

Source: LA Times

I recently went down to Gillman Honda of Fort Bend which isn’t too far away from where I live and met with Miguel Galeana who was very kind in getting me into the newly redesigned 2008 Honda Accord.

The Accord is available in several trim levels starting in the lower $20,000′s, with the EX-L nearing the lower $30,000 mark. I drove the LX-P with a sticker of $22,795. The LX-P is one of the lower end models but is very well equipped. The Accord has been known for its benchmark Honda reliability and excellent ride quality and I was eager to see how well the new Accord performed, so lets take a look.

  

Exterior Design
The Accord has received a major face lift from the earlier models and the new design is very elegant yet has a broad appeal to it. Since its launch, it is apparent that the Accord can appeal to a larger audience as it blends luxury and sporty appeal in one package. The LX-P version has body colored door handles and power side mirrors and sports a chrome exhaust tip. On the outside, the bold shoulder line of the Accord is very prominent and yet it doesn’t take away anything from the family car symbol that the Accord has come to begin.

  

Interior Design
The Honda Accord is very well equipped and that is very noticeable once you step inside the new Accord. The cloth seats are well appointed and the rear passengers have a fold-up center armrest. I was highly impressed by the impressive leg room that the Accord provides not only to the driver and the front passenger, but also to to the rear passengers. The rear is comfortable enough for three adults without there being a need for more space. Speaking of room, the head room in the Accord is exceptional. In previous models, it could be said that the head room was not ample, but Honda has taken the advice with the new Accord. The drivers view of the interior is well designed. The LX-P had steering wheel mounted audio and cruise controls which was very handy.

 

The controls for the windows and power mirrors are well laid out and pretty straight forward. The speedometer and tachometer are clean and easy to read. Another thing you will notice is that the Accord has a lot of storage located in the glove box but also in several places in the center console. One thing that bothered me is the location of the Auxiliary input jack which was located deep into the center armrest. Focusing on the center console, you will be pleasantly surprised. The audio and A/C controls are large and easy to use and the best part about the center console is that you do not have to look down for a display. Honda has intelligently placed the display of the new Accord where the driver will only have to glance over to see the time, audio information and a/c settings.

The feel of the cloth seats and the buttons is not cheap at all compared to the Camry and the Accord has once again become the benchmark for the family sedan market. Furthermore, the cargo space in the Accord is fairly large and most people would be surprised at how large the trunk actually is. Also, looking at the EPA mileage estimates, you will be pleasantly surprised. The 4 cylinder provides for 21 city, 31 highway and 24 in mixed driving whereas the V6 is not far behind with 19 city, 29 highway and 22 in mixed driving. Those numbers mean that you won’t feel like you were robbed when you leave the gas station.

The Drive
The Accord is available with 3 engine options – the base 4 cylinder (as tested), the upgraded 4 cylinder or the available V6. The test vehicle was equipped with the 4 Cylinder which produces a respectable 177 horsepower where as the upgraded 4 cylinder produces 190 horsepower. The V6 is comparable to the Camry in that it produces the same 268 horsepower as the Camry. Being that the vehicle was a 4 Cylinder, the acceleration was quite smooth and gear shifts were unnoticeable.

Both the 4 cylinder and the V6 use a 5 speed gearbox that is also available in manual for the LX or LX-P models. The drive of the Accord was very comforting and engine noise was minimal. The audio system is equipped with speed sensitive volume control (SVC) that worked very well in reducing road noise. The Accord was quick to turn and although it did seem longer than average, I am sure that it would not take someone long before they became familiar with the vehicle. There were also no blind spots while switching lanes and the Accord was quick to reach to highway speeds without any hesitation. The drive in the city was also very smooth and comfortable and the seats made the drive even more enjoyable.

Conclusion
I think that Honda has hit a home run with the new Accord and that soon you will see several of these new Accords around you. The Accord is very well equipped and beats the Camry in terms of bang for the buck. The interior is well appointed and the ride matches the luxury of the exterior. The 4 cylinder was plenty powerful, but those of you looking for the extra kick should look into the V6. All in all, its a great vehicle and I think that prospective Accord owners will be very pleased! Once again, thank you for reading and thank you to Mr. Galeana at Gillman Honda of Fort Bend for the great test drive!

  
  

How Does it work?
The tool actually sits in your toolbar as you can see above and once clicked on, it will start to collect data from the page you are viewing. It then creates the performance, components and statistics reports. I have provided some screenshots of the different features below.

            

YSlow Features
Aside from the Performance grading scale, it has a stats tab that lets you see how your page size varies when you have a visitor with an empty cache compared to a return visitor. There is also a component tab that lets you see every component present in a website. There is also a tools section that contains things such as JSLink by Douglas Crockford and two separate components that let you see all the CSS and JavaScript present on a page.

Final Score
Well as I said earlier, the tool grades a website based on several performance factors. I decided to put the tool to the test on several highly popular websites including my own blog.
Yahoo – A (93)
Google – A (99)
Ms. Danielle - D (61)
Mr. Gary Lee – F (59)
Derek Semmler – F (54)
ProBlogger – F (50)
DoshDosh – F (48)
ShoeMoney – F (48)
Jeff Kee – F (48)
John Cow – F (46)
Carl Ocab – F (40)
Guy Kawasaki – F (38)
John Chow – F (35)
Enkay Blog – F (35)

I can’t really say how well the tool worked mainly because the only one to pass from my list of bloggers, aside from Google and Yahoo, was Ms. Danielle! Even then, I visited about 25 blogs and websites, and so far only 3 have passed. The tool does give you details on why you actually failed in certain areas and that can help you improve the performance of your blog. I will be looking into this to see how I can increase my grade but until then, I will have to settle for the score I have received. If you install the tool, let me know how well your blog ranks or you can leave me a comment with your url and I will visit the blog myself and let you know! Thanks for reading!

So after I received the Zune from Ms. Danielle I decided to take a few days to play around with it and get familiar with its functions. I would have done the review earlier but I wanted to be completely prepared for it. Just to show you how much preparation it takes, I took 204 pictures for this review out of which 46 were hand picked to represent this product. Now thats called being a “perfectionist.” Anyway, for those of you who wonder what one of my ReviewMe reviews will look like, I would say that something like this review would be a great example. Remember that all the thumbnails can be clicked on so you can see an enlarged version. So lets start off with the packaging of the product.

Product Packaging

      

As you can see, the box is well designed. Inside, it is a very similar setup to that of the iPod because the Zune is located at the center and besides it are the USB cable and a pair of headphones. When you turn the box around you find another compartment that holds the CD, manuals, paperwork and the soft case. The box seems sturdy and is very appealing to look at. Everything inside the box was well organized and the compact design of the box is well made. The Zune also comes with a case in the box which can be seen below:

Product Design
Getting back to the star of the show, The Zune, you will notice that the color is highly unique. This is the brown one and you will notice a green rim that borders the design. Its a very cool touch because some certain angles the green seems to bleed into the brown and creates a great illusion. The exterior look and feel of the Zune is very nice and doesn’t show fingerprint marks at all. I have taken quite a few detailed pictures of the Zune so that you can see how nice it actually looks.

            

The Zune doesn’t feel too heavy in the hand and the form factor of it makes it easier to carry around with you. I haven’t spent too much time around an iPod but I would say that the iPod seems slimmer and lighter than the Zune but you have to note that a Zune has a larger screen and when you first look at the Zune, the larger screen is easily noticeable. The simplicity is where the Zune really wins. When you look at the Top of the Zune (as shown below) you notice that all you have is a hold button and the headphone jack. On either side of the Zune there are no buttons and on the bottom of the Zune the only thing seen is the USB connector. Here are a few pictures of the side and the top

      

Navigation, Menus & Features
Navigation on the Zune is quite simple. There is a directional button in the center which helps you move up, down, right and left and then there is a play/pause button along with a back button that takes you back to the previous screen when pressed. The simplicity in using only 3 keys on the front creates a visual appeal that is quite impressive. The menus are also very well designed and the fact that everything is accessible using the directional center button makes it that much easier to operate. To be honest, I didn’t need the manual at all to figure my way around the Zune. Here are a few pictures of the menus as well as the buttons on the front of the Zune.

            

Feature: Music
Surprisingly the Zune transfers Music from the provided Software very quickly with the provided USB cable. Album art is also provided however I did notice that with some CD’s it would create two options with the same name on the Zune which was a little disappointing but you can always “cut & paste” the files from one folder to the other using the Zune software. I have only transfered 8 albums so maybe this wasn’t a big problem for me but for those who have several more, this could get a little frustrating to have to do all the time. The audio quality is great and the volume rocker goes all the way from 0 to 20. The best level for me seemed to be at 8 however, even if you raised the volume there was minimal distortion. There is a visualization effect that is seen when music is playing which is similar to the Windows Media Player visualizations. You have the option of creating play lists from songs as well as sending them to a nearby Zune. The idea of sending music seems cool however, music that is sent can only be held for 3 days or played for a maximum of 3 days before it is deleted. The Zune does keep a track of music that was received and gives you the option of purchasing the song after it has been deleted. Interesting concept! Lets take a look at some pictures of the Zune’s music playing mode in action. For some of the pictures below, I made it dimmer so that the screen could be seen more clearly.

      
      

Feature: Video Playback
The Zune plays videos too but it is limited to wmv, asf, mp4 and mpeg-4 video formats. If you have different formats such as xvid or divx you would probably need to convert them. Some of the videos such as the .hdmov video I had, was converted by the Zune software itself. The video playback is excellent. I have seen video playback on the iPod but the larger screen makes it even that much better. The screen doesn’t reflect easily and the navigation of the video is easy to use. The quality of the converted video is made perfect for the Zune and that can be seen when the video is played because there is no stuttering in the video or pixelation for that matter. Full screen videos are perfect but widescreen movies are not bad either. In fact, there have been rumors about a widescreen version that should be available end of this year. Not sure how far that is true but it would be a plus. No complaints here though because the video playback was smooth and crisp. Colors were bright and vibrant. Some video playback images are below, once again some images may appear darker but thats because flash was turned off to get a better focus on the screen.

            
            

Feature: Picture Viewer
The picture viewer is a great feature. I think it works really well and the slideshow also does the job its supposed to. The timer on the slideshow can be changed so you can keep a picture on the screen longer. I would assume that Microsoft would consider other file formats for picture viewing but so far JPEG is the standard and rightfully so. Most of the digital cameras today take pictures in JPEG format and I found that 96% of the pictures I had were in JPEG format and didn’t need any converting. The other 4% were either gif or bmp and we all know that BMP isn’t the most effective at producing hard disk space efficient pictures. The quality of the pictures was excellent. I did take several pictures of the menu and of an actual picture being run on the slideshow feature and here they are below. For the curious crowd, the picture you see is a picture of my uncle and myself.

            

Feature: Radio
The radio is a great addition to the Zune and the fact that you can save your favorite stations as presets is a big plus. The design of the radio is simple but it really helps in terms of usability. It couldn’t be easier to use this particular function and you will probably say the same once you see the images. There are three options for the FM radio available and that depends on your location: Europe, Japan and of course the US. Here are some images below however, due to the brightness of the white glow on the screen it may look slightly blurry but that is only because I am using a standard digital camera.

      

Feature: Community
Community means the wifi option. The Zune is equipped with 802.11 b/g wireless however that wireless is only useful for finding nearby Zune users and share files with them. It would have been a real winner if there were other uses for the built-in wifi. The songs or videos sent from one Zune to the other only have a life of 3 days or are capable of being played 3 times, whichever comes first. The same isn’t true of Pictures that are transmitted. The “community” setup is nicely done where you actually have an Inbox, sort of like an email inbox where you can receive files. The wireless option does eat into the battery life quite a bit and after leaving it on for 30 minutes, I did see my battery icon slide down a few notches. Other than that, this is a great feature but only if Microsoft would have done a little more with the built in wifi then this would have really taken over the iPod craze. Here is an image of the community menu; as you can see, I had wifi turned off at this time.

Features: Settings
This is where you can change settings such as turning the wireless on, setting TV output on, using presets for music and outputting your video through the TV out capability. I did have the pleasure of using the TV out feature by purchasing a separate universal A/V cable and that worked out well. Pictures can be viewed at great quality however video output was a little pixelated mainly because of the conversion process the videos go through when you sync the files. I will be encoding my videos using a separate software to achieve better video playback quality using the tv out feature. The TV out feature is definitely a big plus. Other than those basic functions, there isn’t much to talk about in the settings function. Here is an image of the possible options though:

The Case
Although I already mentioned what is available in the box, I want to take a moment to talk about the case that is provided with the Zune. The quality of the case is beyond good however I have seen some people complain about how difficult it can be to get the Zune into its case. I didn’t believe how much of a tight fit it could be until I tried it for myself. The case fits really snug and that is a good thing and a bad thing. Either way, the case is really nice and I like using it but for those with butterfingers, a hard case is recommended. Here are some pictures of how snug the case fits.

            

Conclusion
The Zune is a great device for those looking to an iPod alternative. It is simple to use and for the money, the features list is quite long. Although, there were some disappointments, there was nothing major from me to not recommend this device. The iPod is a common favorite around town but the Zune will surely be a great competitor for it by the time the new Zune comes out. Lets discuss Pros & Cons.

Pros
+ Large 3.0″ QVGA screen
+ Excellent Video Playback quality
+ Output sound is commendable
+ Wifi File Sharing Capability
+ TV Out Capability
+ Ease of Use

Cons
- Lack of Wifi Connectivity options
- Provided case can be too snug
- No A/C Adapter (USB is for charging)
- Slightly thicker & larger than competitors
- Can’t be used as a file storage device

Here are some more pictures that I had taken but wasn’t able to feature mainly because it wasn’t needed.

            

After the Zune’s long ride from Los Angeles to Texas, it is finally here. If you recall, I won the 30GB Zune from Ms. Danielle about 10 days ago and since then the excitement of having it in my hands was rising on a daily basis. The batteries for my digital camera are currently charging so that I can provide some really good pictures compared to the not so good ones from my cell phone. Either way, it arrived in its original box and inside was of course this magical little device that was pre-loaded with quite a large selection of songs which I believe Michael Kwan uploaded during his moment with the Zune. Anyway, I turned it on and it has surprised me since then. I don’t think I’ve put it down since it arrived and the best part about it is, that I am holding it in my hand as I’m typing. Anyway, I promise some really good pictures and a review that I will do myself. I don’t know if it will be able to match up to Michael Kwan’s review, but I do hope to give some insight into this device.
As you know, I have decided to keep this little device and in its place I am giving away a 1GB Video Player of my own. If you haven’t heard about the contest, do consider entering because its really simple and you can actually increase your chances at winning through 2 additional entry methods that you can see here.

Fired up about FedEx
Ms. Danielle sent me the player through FedEx which is probably the best option to send a package through and I was planning on using FedEx myself for shipping out the player in my contest but today I had somewhat of a bad experience. First of all, its Texas, so we had heavy thunderstorms and rainstorms throughout the Houston area and it was pouring all morning. I was a little worried that the FedEx guy would dump the package in the rain and leave so I decided to stay home to catch him when he arrives. Usually, FedEx or UPS comes to my neighborhood by 11am and thats merely based on past experience. Anyway, the day went on and it was now 5pm so I decided to see the tracking page of the package online and it said

“4:50 pm : Delivered – Left at front door.”

I thought that was weird because nobody knocked or even rang the doorbell so I went outside to look for the package and it wasn’t there! I checked the mailbox and it was empty too. I decided to call FedEx and by this time it was around 5:10 and thats about 20 minutes after the time that it said the package was delivered. They said that in their system it shows that the package was delivered. I informed the lady that it wasn’t there and she said she will contact the driver. I waited on the line and about 15 minutes later the FedEx driver showed up at my house with the package and chunked it into my glass front door and never bothered to ring the door bell. I didn’t see him drive up to the house but I surely did hear the Zune hit the door! So I called up Customer Service and informed them about the driver’s behavior and she took down my number and said someone would get in touch with me.
So far, I haven’t received a call back from FedEx but I was a little disappointed in how the driver handled the package. I have dealt with UPS before and I have even had some UPS drivers willing enough to help put large boxes inside the house. Anyway, that was my short little Fed-Ex-perience! All in all, I am just happy that the Zune wasn’t damaged and neither was the front door!

Well, I hope you guys are looking forward to my unveiling of the Zune since it was last seen and an all out review! Stay tuned!