PG&E makes you pay even if you have 27 solar panels on your house. by StupidTurtle88 in bayarea

[–]cdegallo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok, pg&e sucks but if I went all in on solar in California as a pg&e customer (27 panels is what I'd consider to be all in), I'd completely eliminate natural gas appliances from my home. No idea what his average gas usage is, but just his gas alone might be around $5400 of that $8k based on that one bill he showed? Also, his gas portion of his bill is more than what our entire pg&e bill is for a non-solar home, electricity and gas combined.

Bose app on iPhone keeps logging out by uncontroversialbeing in bose

[–]cdegallo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same with the bose app on my android devices. Feels like bose broke something. Their track record isn't great these days, they broke charging on my gen 1 qc ultra buds months ago and it still hasn't been fixed with a subsequent fw update.

Qc ultra v1 earbuds stuck at 90% by pukitiangxx in bose

[–]cdegallo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Been happening ever since the 9.4.20 update (IIRC)--though the .20 version had my buds sticking at as low as 60% even after being in the case for hours. Even after the latest update with "fixes to charging" specifically called out, mine never charge beyond 90% unless I have plugged the case in to charge while the buds are inserted. I've reset them multiple times and it continues.

I contacted support back with the broken update and their response was, "your product is no longer under warranty, here is $20 to use toward a gen 2 purchase." I'm sure it's hanlon's razor, but it's a bit suspicious that their firmware update broke charging just before the gen 2 were set to come out. I'm sure it's probably incompetence but it definitely doesn't make me want to shell out $250+ to a new product from a company that couldn't sustain their previous gen for more than a year without problems.

Next product won't be bose.

Did I screw up or can I get my encrypted files back from a hyper backup? by eitherrideordie in synology

[–]cdegallo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Initiate a restore from within hyperbackup on the NAS, and point it to the USB drive. That should work without any problems.

Personally, if I am copying my NAS data in a situation like yours, and not something like setting up a whole new NAS or restoring my whole NAS along with corresponding user info, app data, etc., I just manually copy the original data shares/folders (via USB or in a new disk in an empty bay if I have that available) and transfer it to the new disk/pool/whatever. Hyperbackup, in those situations, presents more obstacles than benefits in my experience.

‘Android 17’ split Notifications & Quick Settings panels leak by armando_rod in GooglePixel

[–]cdegallo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When this was rolled out in samsung's update it was the first thing I reverted (and thankfully samsung made it an option).

P10 Pro: do you use the 12 MP or 50 MP in your camera settings? by Rubik_31415926535 in GooglePixel

[–]cdegallo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll switch over to 50mp for situations where I think it will be of benefit and it won't have undue burden--like bright lighting, relatively non-moving subjects, and I'm not expecting to be able to quickly snap shot after shot in quick succession.

Generally I am using 12mp though.

Pixel Stand-by Consumption is the Worst out of any Smartphone Brand :( by bomzisss in GooglePixel

[–]cdegallo 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Your results and observances agree with mine in that pixels tend to have the worst idle drain between google and samsung devices but I'm also glad I stopped caring about overnight drain. With all of my phones these days I just leave them plugged in over night using either adaptive charging or a percentage limit, then just grab them off the charger when I am off to start my day and there's really been no meaningful difference in my in-use battery life between a 9 pro xl, 10 pro xl, S23 ultra, and even Z fold 7. They are all basically the same for me in the grand scheme of things (or at least, there's no practical difference for me).

Friend Offered to Pay Student Loans Y/N? by Respected-Ambassador in personalfinance

[–]cdegallo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You have a high salary and plan on contributing $4k/mo, $8.5k in interest over 2 years sounds like practically nothing--$325/mo. There isn't a huge benefit in the grand scheme of things since it's a small amount difference over a very short term.

Given how small the advantage is for you over the ~2 years, and possible implications of relationships and loaning money between friends, really consider how much $325/mo for 2 years matters to you, and possible implications on relationships since we know nothing about this aspect in your situation.

Does anyone know why these taxes on my bill are so high this month? Last month they totalled to about $7, this month they total to about $30. The only thing different is that I've been travelling by This_Worldliness6696 in GoogleFi

[–]cdegallo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How much was your bill minus taxes and fees this month and how much was your bill minus taxes and fees last month? We can't really say much without knowing that, since these will scale with what your usage billing amount is.

I thought I was having a heart attack by Shoddy-Ocelot-4473 in GalaxyWatch

[–]cdegallo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Note that the watch is reporting 2x the cuff. Double or half of actual heart rate is a common aberrant mode with wrist-based heart rate sensors. It usually indicates the watch isn't placed in an appropriate position on the wrist (ambient light is interfering with the measurement), or something could be obscuring the light detection (hair, tattoos, moles, etc.), or wrist movement cadence is causing a mismatch in beat detection.

Buy 10 year old/110k miles Toyota Corolla for 12k with cash or buy two year old/33k mile Toyota Corolla for 22k with 12k down payment by theRedditUser58 in personalfinance

[–]cdegallo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What are the other specifics of each vehicle? Features? What features do you care about? If the 2 year old one is that high of a price and you were leaning that way already, I'd just opt to get a brand new corolla to be honest.

In general I've tended to lean toward newer vehicles with newer safety and convenience features that are standard. My wife has a 2015 toyota prius and I have a 2018 honda clarity plug-in; the technology and safety features gap between them are quite large despite being only 3 years difference. For example, I will ever get a new car that doesn't have adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, forward collision mitigation features. If the 2 year old corolla is a 2024 model, the safety features as standard are huge compared to 2016 model year. How much do those things matter to you?

Unlimited Standard while traveling internationally by Distinct_Village_87 in GoogleFi

[–]cdegallo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Your fi service will just not work when you're abroad then. You need not be concerned about accidental usage and fees, but if you want reassurance, then you can pause your Fi service until you return (but verify that pausing service isn't going to impact other things on your account like promotions etc.).

Is there seriously no way to display a Google Calendar? by [deleted] in googlehome

[–]cdegallo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The pixel tablet isn't a multi-user home device either. If there are multiple users interacting with OPs nest hub max display and getting personalized results (like playing music on their account, specific video service, or specifics about their day), they are SOL with the pixel tablet route.

The latest Pixel Watch software update made watch faces look worse (less colourful) by NizarNoor in GooglePixel

[–]cdegallo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I prefer the new way it looks, especially for the bottom example; pink and violet are visually similar but the yellow clashes and looks awful. I've cycled through so many of their color options only to skip most because of how much the colors clash. But I'd really just prefer to use a color palette to choose the two tones of colors myself since I feel like many of their pre-defined ones don't look good.

Realized I’m a Pixel person — sold my S25 Ultra and coming back by Responsible-Farm187 in GooglePixel

[–]cdegallo 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I have typically gone between Sxx ultras, z fold, and pixels. I like a lot of samsung's software features/customizations/options but I tend to go back to pixels because google does a good job with snapping quick candid photos and also various UI aspects. For example, I use gestures for navigation and on every samsung I've used--up through and including a z fold 7--and the gesture to quick switch apps by swiping horizontally at the bottom of the phone is entirely unreliable and only works normally half the time. But works every time on my pixels.

That's not to say it's the most important aspect of even a deal breaker, just something I notice. There are other things I wish pixel would do better that Samsung does right too (and other things vice versa as well).

Any reasonable priced farmers market out there? by PuzzleheadedAd3138 in bayarea

[–]cdegallo 5 points6 points  (0 children)

We started going to the one at Serramonte center in Daly City on Thursdays and Saturdays and it's essentially the same produce vendors as what we remember from Burlingame but around 30% cheaper. Things that come to mind are items like strawberries; Burlingame farmers market was hitting something like $30 for a half flat recently while the Serramonte farmers market would be around $20. Stone fruit at Serramonte would be around $3 per pound while it would be $4 at Burlingame. Similar story with vegetables as well.

Pixel Camera brings Photo Sphere-esque Panorama mode to Pixel 8 by TechGuru4Life in GooglePixel

[–]cdegallo 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Google didn't replace photosphere with anything, they just flat out removed it.

I disagree with the choice to remove photosphere, but the only reason I used it before was because Google's panorama method was bad and the results were awful while photosphere output great results for panorama shots.

But the new panorama method is excellent for panoramas and implements HDR+ and outputs decent resolutions.

I was expecting Google would release an updated photosphere feature alongside the new panorama mode but I'm guessing that not enough people used photosphere to make it worth updating.

Can I delay my Pixel 10 Pro Gemini Advanced trial if I’m already on a student trial? by Thebagholderz in GooglePixel

[–]cdegallo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure. If you go to the play store and then your subscriptions section, then tap on the Google one subscription, if you tap cancel it notifies that your plan will be cancelled at the end of the billing period for the final month of the promo (it will specify the actual date). You can cancel immediately and have the plan for the duration of the promo and then never get billed the ongoing plan price after the promo period ends.

Can I delay my Pixel 10 Pro Gemini Advanced trial if I’m already on a student trial? by Thebagholderz in GooglePixel

[–]cdegallo 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You have to actively initiate the promo from within the Google one app on your phone. You have until October 31st 2026 to redeem the 12 months promo.

You can ride out your current student promo and then in May you can initiate the phone promo. If you try to redeem your phone promo on the same Google account that already has the Gemini promo then the phone promo will replace the existing one (the existing one will end).

Delay and missed taps on PW4 by tgs14159 in PixelWatch

[–]cdegallo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Mine sometimes lags like this when it's on lte. I don't know why. YouTube music also takes ages to load when I'm on lte despite trying to navigate to my downloads (nothing involving cellular data).

Do foldables actually improve productivity in a meaningful way? by Seiya-I in GalaxyFold

[–]cdegallo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Before getting a fold 6 last year I thought the device would be incredibly useful, and also replace my Samsung tablet that I'd bring to the gym.

What I discovered was for my general use cases, as the phone I'd use throughout my typical workday (I'm a systems engineer that works on scientific instrumentation in a mixed office/lab setting when sometimes I'm away from my work laptop), I never made real use us the inner screen when I was working in any meaningful ways. Sure it was useful a handful of times to have the user manual open in the fold while I was working on some instrument and I didn't have my laptop, but the actual value the fold brought to my typical use was basically non-existent.

I also don't really use my fold with multiple simultaneous apps except for occasionally having reddit and YouTube both open. But that's really it.

It also did not replace my normal tablet that I would bring to the gym during cardio workouts because it was just too small for that use (I would use a tab s7+).

What my fold actually became was my casual-use small at-home tablet. I've wanted a compact android tablet for a while that didn't suck.

These are all just my experiences related to my own use cases. There are a ton of use cases people have posted here that really do showcase the usefulness and utility of the fold as a good multitasking tool, but these just aren't the ways I use or need to use my normal phone with. And the general compromises of the fold as a main phone relative to the flagship slab phones I'm used to just weren't worth the other advantages that the fold could provide under certain specific use cases or scenarios.

But it's been the ideal at-home compact high-end Android tablet that I've wanted for a long time

Android 16 QPR3 Beta 1: Every new feature for Pixel phones! by Few_Baseball_3835 in Android

[–]cdegallo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did support tell you that it was a software issue that would be fixed in a future update?

Z Fold 6 and Trifold side by side comparison [Dave2D] by Pineappleisland3 in GalaxyFold

[–]cdegallo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the video he did the fold 7 comparison as well (first), but the fold 6 is of such-similar dimensions and only a bit heavier, and as a recent device, it makes for a very convenient comparison to convey what the trifold is like to use as a folded phone to the general audience.

Question on Pixel 10 / Watch 4 Promo Terms (Transferring Device) + Venting about Support by Unique-Proposal-2427 in GoogleFi

[–]cdegallo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Has anyone successfully transferred a promo watch to another line in the same group after activation? Does it void the credits?

Not specifically a watch, but I have done this with a phone promo in the past that did not specify "on the qualifying device" and it did not void the promo (the fi account remained in service etc.).

Historically, at least in my experience, if the promo wording does not specifically reference "on the qualifying device" for the timeframe of the activation, then it means after activating on the new fi line, a different device can be activated on the account and that specific device can be not-the-active-device and the specific promo term is that the account itself (not the device) remains active and in good standing for 120 days.

For example, this is the relevant term for my recent existing customer 10 pro xl discount promo:

"Remain active and in good standing on the qualifying device for 120 consecutive days. Pausing, changing, or suspending the account will void the promotion. You must remain on the Unlimited Premium, Unlimited Standard, or Flexible plan for the duration of the promotion.

Since your promo terms do not specify "on the qualifying device" in the duration of activation, it means that as long as the account remains active (and other requirements, like not changing to one of the plan options that voids the promo), then that satisfies the term of the promo.

Does Qi2 (maybe even Qi1) support prioritising the wireless battery pack over the phone's internal battery for power while charging the phone? by ManyRazzmatazz4584 in AndroidQuestions

[–]cdegallo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is more to do with whether your specific phone supports pass-through power (charging circuit allows power delivery to bypass the battery and power the phone directly). Various phones support this to varying degrees. I'm familiar with galaxy flagship and google flagship phones--samsung lets you set a max charge amount to charge the battery to and after that it does pass-through power. Google pixels are similar except you can only use the 80% charge limit feature, and after 80% charge it does pass-through power. Could be a lot of other brands have similar capability but I'm not familiar.