What powers your Plex Media Server?
Setting up a Plex server and foregoing expensive subscriptions has been one of my best decisions. I save hundreds of dollars every year and my media consumption is no longer dependent on the whims of fickle companies. There’s just one downside: I’m obsessed with expensive server hardware. So I have to ask our readers, what powers your Plex media server? Is it a fully-featured mini PC, a humble NAS device, a crappy old laptop, or something else?
Would you ever buy a car without Apple CarPlay or Android Auto?
If you’ve been on “tech” social media over the past few days, you’ve probably noticed an old debate resurfacing: Would you consider buying a car that doesn’t support CarPlay or Android Auto? As the popularity of new car brands like Tesla and Rivian continues to rise despite using in-house software and no smartphone mirroring, it’s reasonable to wonder if these features are real dealbreakers. For my money, I really need CarPlay in my car at this point. While Tesla and Rivian have excellent in-car interfaces, and I understand there are business reasons for keeping things in-house, CarPlay and Android Auto are way ahead of the average automaker interfaces. The industry as a whole just hasn’t kept up with Apple and Google here.
What color is best for a smartphone?
For a long time, smartphones were really only available in one color: black. Slowly, white and silver started to enter the conversation. Thankfully, many phones now come in a variety of colors. The newly announced Pixel 9 series comes in black, gray, off-white, green, and pink. The iPhone 15 series comes in black, blue, green, yellow, pink, white, silver, and navy. That’s a lot to choose from, but which color is your first choice? Or does it not matter at all given the need for a case?
How often do you use Apple Pay or Google Wallet?
These days, you can do all sorts of things with your phone. You can control your smart home, open car doors, or pay for goods without carrying a physical wallet. Virtual wallets like Apple Pay, Google Wallet (formerly Pay), and Samsung Pay are incredibly convenient—as long as they’re accepted where you shop. Tap-to-pay is pretty secure, which is important. This begs the question: how often do you use Apple or Google Pay?
What was your first Android phone?
It seems like a lifetime ago that I was the proud owner of the original T-Mobile G1 (HTC Dream) Android smartphone. I absolutely loved my HTC Nexus One, but I’ve replaced it with the Galaxy Nexus, LG Nexus 4, Samsung’s Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition, Nexus 5, and many others. For most people, their first Android was probably the Moto DROID. With a brand new Google Pixel 9 coming soon, I’m curious: what was your first Android phone? Did you like it?
How are you a geek?
At How-To Geek, we focus primarily on computers and smartphones. But there are plenty of ways to fly your geek flag, whether it’s through board games, book series, TV shows, bird watching, or something else. What’s your favorite way to geek out?
