The cell phone has definitely enabled us to capture spontaneous moments in our lives that we probably would not have been able to before. Everyone has a picture or two that is so funny or important that we need or want to download them onto our computers for later use. Not that the quality is so good that it will allow us to print them out and use them in a picture frame for instance. But how about pictures we took of the leaky roof, or the fender bender, or even just a silly picture we would like to share with others?
The norm used to be 1.3 megapixels, but is slowly becoming 2 megapixels. Now, I was a bit skeptical that .7 megapixels would not make a difference, but after seeing some pictures taken with my wife’s LG VX9900 “Envy”, I was pleasantly suprised. Obviously, it’s not your 5 megapixel digital camera, but good enough to download and print a 4×6.
So how do you go about downloading these off your phone? There are several methods that you can follow. The easiest is to use your wireless carriers download service. You create an online account which allows you to download your pictures straight from your cell phone! You can edit your pictures and then pick the ones you want to print out. With Verizon Wireless’ service, you can have them sent to the closest Verizon Wireless store and can pick them up on a later date. Pretty convienent, but you must pay a monthly service fee and pay for the pictures you print out.
Most cell phones allow you to send them via email. This is great if you have one or two pictures you want to print out, but a pain in the rear if you have more than that to print out. The process is very tedious and doesn’t allow you to send all of them at once.
What I have recommended to customers is to purchase a data cable. You can purchase them at any wireless store and range from $35 to $50. Yes, a bit spendy to download poor quality pictures, but you can also use the data cable to transfer music or ringtones on your phone. So a good investment if you are a gadget freak and need to do this sort of thing from time to time. The process is pretty simple if you are somewhat knowledgeable with computers. You must download the specific driver for your phone so your computer recognizes your cell phone. After that, your computer treats the cell phone as an external hard drive. Drag and drop pictures, music, data, and other goodies from your phone to your computer and visa versa.
The last method would be to take your cell phone into a wireless store and have them download your pictures for you. Most stores have data transfer machines used to move your contact information when you purchase a new phone. Some charge a fee but some do it for free as long as your not in there every week getting those pesky cell phone pictures from cell phone prison!
