Random cellphone babbling thread #1

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Hey...between Wed. and Sat. I only have time to get online while I'm at work...and when I'm at work, you have no idea how little I try to do.

Thanks for the refresh though...

The Samsung T409 actually looks like my old Samsung E715...which was my favorite phone I've ever had. If things work out, I might have to upgrade.

 

I'm not a fan of Samsung phones, GSM or CDMA. Not after the extremely premature death of my faithful T809. Yeah, it was a prototype... but don't get me wrong, it has the same hardware than every single production model that was dropped on the shelves, so WTF?

All the UMA compatible phones - the SDA, the T409 and the 6086 all are f****** ugly. But between a Winblows Mobile dumbphone (anything with Winblows in it is dumb), and a very boring Samsung with absolutely nothing special, and a ugly-arse Nokia clam, give me the Nok anytime.

And while we're at it, 3GSM (alias WCDMA) is actually based on Qualcomm's CDMA protocol. GSM is doomed to fade away.

Anyway, I'm getting an old LG VX-10 this week, so expect a field test somewhere this weekend or the next week.

 

Field test: LG TM520 on Telus Mobility

Battery life: Rated for 4.5 days by the book. Pure standby with no use at all was superior to the official ratings by roughly a day.

Signal: Roughly shoulder-to-shoulder with my VX3200, which basically means great. Unlike the VX3200, there is no option to force the phone to switch into analog mode instead of digital. Analog can be forced for either 10 minutes or the next call. Of course, the phone will automatically switch to analog outside the digital footprint.

Sound quality: Outgoing audio is crystalline (for cdmaOne, that is), and the earpiece is loud aplenty. Incoming audio, OTOH, is incredibly bad. This is a known problem that will be fixed with a firmware update. Ringtones are WAY too quiet. *EDIT* Flashed firmware from v06 to v10, and it fixed the bad incoming audio issues. Calls are now crisp and clear on both ends.

Form factor: Clamshell

Phone and keyboard feel: It's more squarish than my SCP3100 and VX3200, but it's just the right size for my hand. Opening and operating it with one hand is perfectly viable and comfortable.

Screen: 128x128 internal monochrome LCD, 96x24 external monochrome LCD. External screen displays date, time, signal strength and the network icon (D for Digital, 1x for 1xRTT, you get the idea), battery, vibrate and message icons. Just beneath the external LCD is a huge red LED that you can't miss when getting a call/message. Both screens have a aqua-green of some sort backlighting, and the keypad has puke-green LEDs.

Camera: This phone was made back when phones were PHONES, not fancy pieces of bling, so no such thing.

Customization: The phone has poly ringtones and is wireless web capable, but I haven't tested tones downloading. Uses 1xRTT for data (supposedly, since I never see my phone in 1x mode).

Wrap-up: A good vintage LG phone, and while it lacks up in the feature department, it makes up in the performance. I didn't liked the menu layout which was pretty counter-intuitive. You get used to it, but this layout is pretty confusing, like accessing games via the PIM (phonebook) menu, for example. Basically, there is THE menu via the Menu key, and there is another menu via the PIM key.

Whatever. LG, I want what you smoked when designing this phone's firmware.

Final score: 7/10.

The bottom line: Ugly, but delivers.

 

How long did you have it before it died? My brother has had the T809 ever since T-Mo introduced it and it still works fine...I was playing around on his phone durring his wedding the other day.

I have a T629, which is the upgrade of the T809, and it's worked perfectly for the past year.

 

The freegames started after seven or eight months - the phone would freeze, randomly reboot, reject my SIM card, fail to recognize a microSD card, the MP3 player crashed the phone,buttons were getting conky, stuff like that - and the final death maybe a month or so later, so roughly nine months. TBT, I don't know whenever it's really a hardware issue or a firmware issue. My bro is off to Victoria for a couple of days, and I asked him to drop by and see a friend of mine to borrow the box and cable so I can plug the "dead" T809 in my laptop and determine the exact cause of death. Firmware issues could probably easily be fixed, but as for hardware... I'm not exactly an expert with electronics.

And FFS, the T809 was a *high-end* phone, while the T629 is a *mid-range*, so the T629 is NOT an *upgrade* of the T809, it's a *downgrade*.

-------------------------------------------------

Note to all new Nokia phones owners:

Nokia is recalling 46 million defective BL-5C batteries manufactured by Matsu****a between December 2005 and November 2006.

Those batteries can short-circuit while charging, causing it to overheat and dislodge. There are roughly 100 reported occurences so far, and no injuries or property damages were reported.

This is not a major problem, but Nokia has decided to replace the affected batteries.

The BL-5C batteries were used in the following Nokia phones: Nokia 1100, Nokia 1100c, Nokia 1101, Nokia 1108, Nokia 1110, Nokia 1112, Nokia 1255, Nokia 1315, Nokia 1600, Nokia 2112, Nokia 2118, Nokia 2255, Nokia 2272, Nokia 2275, Nokia 2300, Nokia 2300c, Nokia 2310, Nokia 2355, Nokia 2600, Nokia 2610, Nokia 2610b, Nokia 2626, Nokia 3100, Nokia 3105, Nokia 3120, Nokia 3125, Nokia 6030, Nokia 6085, Nokia 6086, Nokia 6108, Nokia 6175i, Nokia 6178i, Nokia 6230, Nokia 6230i, Nokia 6270, Nokia 6600, Nokia 6620, Nokia 6630, Nokia 6631, Nokia 6670, Nokia 6680, Nokia 6681, Nokia 6682, Nokia 6820, Nokia 6822, Nokia 7610, Nokia N70, Nokia N71, Nokia N72, Nokia N91, Nokia E50, Nokia E60.

Remove the back faceplate of your phone, and check the writings on the battery - it should clearly be written BL-5C. If your phone DOES have a BL-5C, power off your phone, remove the battery and check the back on the battery. Above "Made in Japan", you should see a 26 character idenfication code. If your code does not contain 26 characters, then you are not subjected to this recall.

To check if your battery is part of the defective 46 million and affected by the recall, enter your 26-character identification code on this page. You will then be notified if your battery is part of the recall. If it is, Nokia will begin the procedure to replace the defective battery. I don't really know how the procedure goes, because my 2610's battery was not part of the recall.

Just thought I'd pass the info along...

[ August 14, 2007, 20:21: Message edited by: Disciple of The Watch ]

 

What?!? Well, if that's true, the dude at the T-Mo store lied to me.

I remember him telling me that they pulled the T809 off the shelves and replaced it with its upgrade - the T629.

 

Either that or he's a f****** moron. As for the T809 being high-end VS the T629 being mid-range, here's the official quotes from Phonescoop:

T809:

T629:

A lesson to take to heart, Kit: Always do your homework before going out and buying a phone (check for reviews, opinions, stuff like that), and never trust a salesperson - don't forget that the more expensive the phone they sell you, the more commission they make. Salesperson also don't like to sell near-discontinued or discontinued phones. I know the drill, trust me - two years working for Robbers taught me a lot.

 

The king gets a revision? N95-2 / N95 8GB rumours.

Possible key features:
- 8 GB internal NAND memory
- 1200 mAh battery
- Improved slider and design
- Bigger resolution (352x470?)
- 128 MB RAM?

But no additional microSD slot. BTW, the N95 supports microSDHC cards, currently 4 GB. 6 GB and 8 GB microSDHC cards should be out later this year.

Looks like I have to switch phones again, if this beauty is for real that is. It is almost too good to be true if they fix about all the flaws of the original model.

Also the US version of the N95 should be out soon (September 2007), one that will work with the US 3.5G frequencies that is. It has at least some design improvements when compared to the basic N95.


Edit: Updated some minor details after reading through the draft user guide.

[ August 22, 2007, 16:03: Message edited by: Erod ]

 

The new N95 8GB was announced today (along with some other models). What a huge disappointment it is.

Positive
- 128 MB RAM
- 1200 mAh battery

Neutral
- 8 GB internal memory (N95 will match this once the 8 GB microSDHC cards are out)

Negative
- 2.8" QVGA display (QVGA on a bigger display than on the N95. Very, very, very pathetic (and a grainy display))
- No microSD slot


This would have been a must buy if they had improved the pixel density of the screen, instead of making it worse and look like a low quality screen. Maybe the next flagship will feature a good screen... But overall, if you are looking into getting a N95, the 8 GB version is the one to go for.

 

Finally emancipated myself from Sprint. With T-Mobile, and so far and quite happy. No more dropped calls in the usual spots...like my house. And the rest of the city.

 

I like T-Mobile. I had them for a few years and was very happy with their coverage and their customer service.

 

Well, I've had an early b-day present in the form of a Nok 6275i, a high-end CDMA phone.

So far, it has exponentially exceeded my expectations - I've always known Nok to be reliable phones, but this one makes all my other phones look like wimps. Not only do I have great reception in my flat - which is something Solo always had problems with - but this one is litteraly a signal pitbull - once it grabs a signal, it refuses to let go. It laughed at my Dead Zone calling test, holding clear calls that didn't even remotly stuttered.

The cam on this one is stepped up to 2MP, and can dish out images up to 1680x960 (or something like that), which is an exponential improvement over the 1.3MP and 640x480 my Sanyo dished out.

There's also a built-in media player, though lacking a microSD card, I can't test it.

Expect a full review fairly soon. One thing I can say right now -- this one was the final - and biggest nail - in GSM's coffin. I am never, ever, ever going back to GSM.

 

Field test: Solo Mobile Nokia 6275i

A small, extremely well-rounded high end phone... with firmware problems.

Modes: CDMA 800/1900 & AMPS 800. The phone also has a functional R-UIM slot (a R-UIM is a CDMA SIM), though it is deactivated.

Battery life: The book rates it for 10 days. With regular phone usage, it delivers the goods. Using all the extra functions like the cam, MP3 player, radio and Bluetooth drain power MUCH faster.

Interestingly, both my 2610, 2125i and 6015i batteries fit with my 6275i. The 2610 battery holds less juice than the rest (GSM is less power-hungry), but it's handy to have so many batteries around.

Signal: The 6275i is a signal pitbull. Once it grabs a signal, it will stubbornly hold it and refuse to let go. The 6275i laughed at my Dead Zone test, holding a digital signal (whereas my SCP-3100 jumped to analog service) and holding calls that were clear and didn't even remotly stuttered. Via a code, it's possible to force the phone to use analog, cdmaOne (IS-95A and IS-95B, Bell and Telus', respectively) or 1xRTT. Field test mode confirms that the 6275i is superior to my other Solo/Virgin/Bell phones.

Sound quality: The earpiece is crystal clear... but maddeningly quiet. Even at maximum volume, I often find myself plugging my other ear so I can hear a little better. Using this phone in a noisy place is definitively painful. The speakerphone, OTOH, is loud aplenty (and sounds surprisingly good), and can viably be used to listen to music/radio, though expect some distortion if the (speakerphone) volume is cranked to the max.

Form factor: Candybar

Phone and keyboard feel: The 6275i is a bit small for my big hands, but it's nontheless comfortable to hold. The keyboard layout is vbery good, I can text and dial with one hand without any problems. The steel frame, smooth plastic parts and huge screen are fingerprint magnets, meaning frequent wiping.

Screen A gorgeous (262,144/18-bit color) and huge (240x320) TFT LCD. I do not miss my SCP-3100's 65,535/16 bit color screen.

Camera: 2 MP. Lens is located on the phone's back, along with a OLED flash. With a good source of light, the 6275i dishes out very good pics. If there are no good sources of light, then the night mode or flash can help, though expect grainy pictures. Video capture is also possible at a pretty good resolution. The 6275i definitively is great to catch pics and videos on the go, though it's no alternative to a real digital camera.

On a different note, the phone has a microSD slot to add memory to the phone. The phone supports up to 2GB microSD cards, and has 21MB of memory.

Customization Tones can be downloaded through carrier, taken pics can be used as wallpapers. DRM prevent using custom MP3s as ringtones, though there is a workaround. The 6275i uses 1xRTT, so data is a bit slower versus an EVDO phone. I often have buisness in the fringe, and since analog is the only network that works in the middle of nowhere, no problem, my 6275i can take care of buisness where an pure digital EVDO phone would fail.

Wrap-up: The 6275i is a stellar phone, no doubt about it. Unfortunately, like it's brother the 6265i, the 6275i is plagued with firmware problems.

Final score: 8.5/10. I had originally given a 10 for this phone, but I faced firmware issues, and while I got a new copy installed, this seeds doubts regarding the long-term reliability.

The bottom line: Flawed beauty.

 

Alright DotW, the Samsung G600. Good or bad?

 

Man, I'm SO sick of Samsungs.

The G600 is Samsung's answer to the Nok N95. If you can live with the fact that the G600 doesen't have 3G, then I guess you could go with the G600.

The N95 litteraly slams the G600. It's your call, though.

 

I ended up going with the G600 for the (reported) longer battery life.

Also, the Samsung was about £100 cheaper for me.

 

Ehhh... Sprint, you're dumb.

Even if you're giving a customer the necessary codes to unlock their phones... unless I missed something somewhere, it's completly useless because Big V/Alltell will NOT allow foreign phones on their network!

As for activating non-Sprint... man, you Sprint employees are in for some serious headaches. Not only will you have to make the system gobble the foreign ESN... you'll have to get the MSL from the original carrier. Oh, a PRL update will be necessary too - otherwise the phone will prefer connecting to it's former network.

Even if all of those are done, the only things that will work are voice calls and SMS. If you're on an unlimited plan and don't need data, I guess it could do. Otherwise, unless getting a firmware update, it doesen't really make sense.

Still.... it's a small step in the right direction.

 

Field test: the fabled iPhone

That's right. Thanks to my boss' contacts at Apple, he landed himself a few of those (it's not even up for sale in Canada yet). He knows from my resume that I'm a phone nut, so he lended me one to fiddle around and test.

Modes: GSM 800/1900. All you 3G lovers... no cigar.

Battery life: I haven't had the phone long enough to determine whenever it meets or not the 10.4 days it's rated for, but my boss says about a week - as plain jane phone use.

Signal: Barely passed my dead zone test.

Sound quality: The earpiece is LOUD, but call quality is less than impressive.

Form factor: Candybar

Phone and keyboard feel: It's actually smaller than it looks on pictures. It's relatively thin and well-sized. I actually was able to operate it with one hand. It's also surprisingly thin.

Screen TFT LCD at a size of 320x480. It definitively looks like a 24-bit color screen.

Camera: 2 MP. The lens is so damn small I missed it the first time I looked at it. It dishes out some good but not great pics. I haven't had time to play with the settings.

Customization: As usual, tones can be downloaded through carrier. DRM prevents using custom ringtones. For wireless web, the phone uses EDGE. Basically, it's no substitute to a desktop, but if you're bored and want to browse on the go, you can. Just don't be in a hurry. And never mind the battery.

Wrap-up: While I always like to poke fun out of lousy old Apple, they did their homework. There's definitively loose ends end that need to be patched, but for a first offering, it's actually not so bad.

Final score: 7/10.

The bottom line: Overhyped and overpriced. A good, but not great phone.

 

The iPhone is MASSIVE, unless they've released new models which are smaller. I think I prefer the N95. In fact, I'll try and blag a free one of them out of Vodafone - threaten to take my big contract elsewhere and they offer me all sorts .

 

I now support the iPhone 100%. Everyone should buy one for themselves, their significant other, their kids, and their pets.

Why and I backing it? Well...the iPhone now has a bunch of microchips that my company makes...so the more iPhones that get sold, the better chance I have to get a good holiday pay out check.