Need a basic simpke novile phone.

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Need a basic simpke novile phone.

Post by zcar12 » Sun Jul 30, 2017 1:12 pm

I asked my son to get me a mobile phone. What did he get? A samsung Galaxy, The only use I have found for this phone is as a paperweight. I find it totally useless for my needs. When a call comes in and one is somewhere where it is sunny or light is bright, I cant see the screen well enough to press the icon to take the call.

I need the most basic of phones, one where a call comes in and one has to just press a button or two to take or reject the call. I dont need any apps or want to take photos. And preferably one with a longish battery life since I do not use a mobile that often. Any recommendations please?

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Re: Need a basic simpke novile phone.

Post by dollysprint » Sun Jul 30, 2017 3:32 pm

I think Nokia reintroduced one of its early phones 3310 or something like that. I empathize with the simplicity thing though, I do have a smart phone and it has proved useful in the last 3 years dealing with Police and Criminal Justice depts but the battery life is appalling and you are contactable via every media going, email, whatsapp, text, hardly anyone actually rings though!

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Re: Need a basic simpke novile phone.

Post by scoobyh123 » Sun Jul 30, 2017 10:09 pm

As Dave has suggested, Nokia have relaunched the 3310, it's a bit different to the 90s version but now has a colour screen and a very basic camera. Best of it all it's only a tenner! :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cheap-3310-NE ... 3076688399

However, if you're like me and getting to the point where your paws don't work as well as they once did and going slightly Mutton Jeff too then a Doro might be a better choice. There's this one i picked at random for it's simplistic look :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DORO-PHONE-EA ... Sw-29ZXNlw

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Other Doros on ebay here :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Mobile-Smart ... bile+phone

Should keep you amused for a while Nick just looking at them all! :shock:

I've got my own (ongoing) gripe about mobiles at the moment as well. Back in november last year i was due an upgrade. To be honest i didn't really want one as my 1st gen Moto G was still working fine except for one thing - the battery life or lack of!

Anyway, i succumbed to all the glitzy sales talk, kept the call package i had, paid a couple of quid a month more and upgraded to a Sony Xperia XA.
Now, besides the fact that this phone is about as well supported with accessories like dedicated car mounts/docks, cases etc as Rovers are with main dealers these days, it's had 2 serious faults in the time i've had it.

First one was the USB port, it wouldn't transfer data at first and then it wouldn't even charge.

Sent off to what i believed was Sony UK (but i've recently found out is a 3rd party repair "specialist" that although it has repair centres in Kent and northamptonshire, the call centre for verbal support is in Egypt! :shock: ) and duly repaired.

When i sent it, i put it in a large Jiffy bag folded over 3 times to give as much protection as possible.

When it was returned to me, it was sent loose in a cardboard box (stupidly the paperwork was in a bit of bubblewrap outside the box inside a polythene bag.)

Since it came back it's been "hanging", keypad/buttons unresponsive, very slow, getting incredibly hot (my guess is 60-70C based on years of experience with thermal control systems), turning itself on/off at will and the last straw was when it not only stopped recognising the SD card but deleted the contents which were all photos except for some system files the phone had put on there.
Most photos if you lose them, it's annoying, an inconvenience - most of the photos i had on there were sentimental and became moreso when the subject of them curled up his paws 4 weeks ago. :cry:

Obviously i've sent the phone back to them (again triple wrapped in a JOffyBag) and they are now trying to worm their way out of it!

As such i'm incredibly angry with Sony, their tird party repair service (SBE UK https://sbeglobalservice.com/uk/ ) and even more furious because they're saying my phone is Beyond Economic Repair (BER) because of "physical damage".

Allegedly this physical damage is a scratch on the power button (woopety-doo, won't stop it working!) and if any other physical damage is present, the balance of probability strongly suggests it occurred when they sent it out to me in the cardboard box with no packing round it except a polythene bag!

They've offered me a "Functionally Equivalent Device!" (i'd rather have one that works to be honest! :roll: :lol: ) as detailed below :


Repair quotation
Valid until 23/10/2017
Exchange device Your device is beyond economical repair. We offer you a functionally equivalent device.
122.12 gbp
Shipping and Administration
12.31 gbp
Total
134.43 gbp

Stupid thing is, EE will sell me a "Good as New" Xperia XA for £109.99 (£24.45 cheaper!) with free delivery. As the poxy thing has failed twice inside 8 months, do i really want another?

Err, let me think on this.................... OK, i've thought................... HELL, NO!!! A millions times "NO"!!!!!

Hope that was somewhat amusing and interesting, the bottom line is i'm now in a quandary - do i find myself another "Smartphone", buy it and use it, keep "nursing" my old Moto G along or cut my losses as far as Smartphones go and just get myself a Doro as well?
The main deciding factor is i don't get a signal at home. As such i depend on WhatsApp for messaging and a smart enough Smartphone to use Wi-Fi calling where it picks up on the Wi-Fi signal from the home broadband and routes the call over t'internet until it "breaks out" into mobile network territory.

Also i do like my camera, sat-nav, youtube and occasional internet use on the phone so i suppose that's that part of the decision made for me.

Best start saving my pennies though as the one i want i'm going to have to pay for and it's about £150 for a new one. However its much-hyped twin brother with a different brand is a lot more! In fact, comparing those two phones it turns out the cheaper one is slightly better which is a bonus!

Hope that helps with your decision making Nick! :wink: :D
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Re: Need a basic simpke novile phone.

Post by zcar12 » Mon Jul 31, 2017 4:24 pm

Hi Dave, thanks for the links. i showed the first link to my son, who promptly said "2G is being phased out" So I looked at the Doro link. The phone is locked to EE and their signal where I live is very weak. Best reception in my area is Vodaphone, followed by O2. So both phones are non starters for me.

I no longer have a problem with hearing as last year, I had an operation to correct my conductive deafness. I waited 43 years for that op which was a complete success so it is now noise that bothers me more.. I was stunned when a surgeon offered to do it for me. Came home after the operation to find I had won top prize on a local lottery, very handy as the previous month, I splashed out on a new bay window. 2016 was a wonderful year for me.

Don't have a problem with "fat fingers" although I have made several posts recently that suggest otherwise. Its just me not paying proper attention.

From what you say about your Doro phone and EE, it sounds like you would have enjoyed shooting yourself in the foot more. At least the pain and frustration would have gone away by now!

Thanks again.

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Re: Need a basic simpke novile phone.

Post by scoobyh123 » Mon Jul 31, 2017 5:21 pm

Here you go Nick - Doro phones on Vodaphone :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Mobile-Smart ... 5573.m1684

Where i live the signal is weak at best on all networks, non-existent if Uncle Sam is playing with his toy aeroplanes!

I don't actually have a Doro Nick, just thinking of maybe getting one as it's a simple phone and i don't really want most of what's on a Smartphone, apart from the things i listed that i use(d) on my Xperia XA and still use on my old Moto G until i decide what to do or get any sense out of Sonys repair agents.

Glad you finally got your hearing sorted out too Nick. Lately i've noticed i don't hear too well in my right ear. When i was a sprog, i remember my mum telling me her natural father was deaf in his right ear as a result of being bombed and tank driving in both World Wars.
My mum was also deaf in her right ear, as she said from an infection caught in a swimming pool when she was about 7 years old.
I could argue i'm going deaf in my right ear from working on heavy machinery, particularly big diesel powered generators (imagine a 2000bhp V16, 69L twin turbo-diesel starting up 3 feet from your head! :shock: ) but it seems a bit odd to me that two of my ancestors were also afflicted in the right ear!

My problems with a touch-screen phone are simply down to my meds giving me the shakes sometimes. However i think i'd have more problems with a "button" phone and actually pressing them on other days! :roll:

Hmmm, shoot myself in the foot - that's not such a bad idea! They'd have to amputate and give me a prosthetic then! :wink: :D
Cheers,
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Re: Need a basic simpke novile phone.

Post by zcar12 » Mon Jul 31, 2017 8:49 pm

Dave, I misunderstood what you were saying about the Doro phone.My son put me on the Three network over a year ago and I have not had to top it up yet.

A V16 69 litre diesel generator starting up three feet from your head must be an awesome experience! One that I am happy to forego.

Have your ears been tested and are you sure that you do not suffer from conductive deafness? Conductive deafness is where the sound is unable to reach the inner ear because the bones in the middle ear do not transfer the sound to the inner ear. This can be caused by many conditions and can be easily cured today. Nerve deafness is caused by a long exposure to loud noise. The high frequencies are the first to be lost and the only solution is hearing aids.

Yes, as you say, it seems odd that your mum was also deaf in her right ear. My mum was also a bit Mutt and Jeff. Turns out she suffered from Otosclerosis, a condition that leads to a furry growth on the bones of the middle ear, causing said bones to stick together. I inherited the condition.

It may be worth your while to ask your doctor for a hearing check. You may well be eligible for a free hearing aid on the NHS. I was given two and they cost me nowt, including a lifetime free supply of batteries. I can see a time coming when these things will no longer be free to those who need them. Private companies charge a bundle for these things. I was quoted £4000 and that was 10 years ago. So get in there while you still can. When you can again hear sounds that you have not heard for years, its a very positive experience.

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Re: Need a basic simpke novile phone.

Post by Tenesmus » Mon Jul 31, 2017 10:59 pm

scoobyh123 wrote:
Sun Jul 30, 2017 10:09 pm

I've got my own (ongoing) gripe about mobiles at the moment as well. Back in november last year i was due an upgrade. To be honest i didn't really want one as my 1st gen Moto G was still working fine except for one thing - the battery life or lack of!

Anyway, i succumbed to all the glitzy sales talk, kept the call package i had, paid a couple of quid a month more and upgraded to a Sony Xperia XA.

Sent off to what i believed was Sony UK <snip>
Why didn't you go back to the supplier (EE?)? It's their responsibility under the Sale of Goods Act.
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Re: Need a basic simpke novile phone.

Post by scoobyh123 » Mon Jul 31, 2017 11:39 pm

I can't remember from my time on "3" if you need to do a top up every so often to keep the SIM card active Nick - be worth checking! I know with T-Mobile and Virgin, if the SIM card isn't topped up for a certain period (6 months i think it was with them) that it is deactivated.

To give you an idea of the size and sound of those generators Nick, watch this video :

https://youtu.be/OEzGZAMyTwM?t=3m20s

It's the commissioning start-up (after a year!) of a hospital back up genny of the same spec as those i used to work on. Takes a bit of cranking so i've started the vid about 3 minutes in so you get to hear the start up and running - at least you can turn the volume down! :lol:

From your descriptions there i'd say it was nerve deafness because of the high frequency losses although there are times when i have trouble hearing any frequency at all in my right lug'ole so maybe a combination of both or something completely different. I nearly booked a hearing test because of my phone line dropping out recently but didn't when i realised it was the phone and not me!

That said it's not great and getting worse so i'll talk to my vet next week - already booked in for the annual poke and prod session, off to see Nurse Dracula in the morning to donate some of my hard-earned claret for medical science. The vet will give me the results next week.
Tenesmus wrote:
Mon Jul 31, 2017 10:59 pm
scoobyh123 wrote:
Sun Jul 30, 2017 10:09 pm

I've got my own (ongoing) gripe about mobiles at the moment as well. Back in november last year i was due an upgrade. To be honest i didn't really want one as my 1st gen Moto G was still working fine except for one thing - the battery life or lack of!

Anyway, i succumbed to all the glitzy sales talk, kept the call package i had, paid a couple of quid a month more and upgraded to a Sony Xperia XA.

Sent off to what i believed was Sony UK <snip>
Why didn't you go back to the supplier (EE?)? It's their responsibility under the Sale of Goods Act.
I've tried that Pete and they're trying to wash their hands of it as well! :shock: :evil: :x
Next time i ring them i'll insist on speaking to one of the managers rather than the front line call handlers. Then i'll point out exactly what you've just said, also that because the phone is supplied as part of the contract and a portion of the line rental each month goes to pay for the phone, in effect the phone is financed and therefore the finance company is also liable under some three-way law i can't remember the name of now. I know it's mainly invoked on home improvements, car purchases etc but it still applies to other goods as well.
Cheers,
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Re: Need a basic simpke novile phone.

Post by zcar12 » Thu Sep 07, 2017 3:22 pm

I did nothing about solving my mobile phone problems but decided to leave the problem in the hands of whatever gods may be. I am way behind the times with all this new technology. And I just cant be bothered any more with new fangled gadgets. KISS!

My birthday this week and what do I get given for a present? A new mobile phone. This one has 2 button, one to the end the call and another to receive it. Not a problem in bright sunlight where one needs to press a symbol on a screen and cant see well enough to do that. I dont really need or want a phone but family would prefer me to have one. So to keep the peace, I go with the flow. But the more I can simplify my life, the better I like it. and the happier I feel.
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Re: Need a basic simpke novile phone.

Post by scoobyh123 » Thu Sep 07, 2017 4:20 pm

Happy birthday Nick! It's about as simple as it gets, the display problem in bright sunlight is pretty common for most displays sadly, the very basic LCD "black on white" display is probably not available for that sort of phone anymore, or if it is, would make it prohibitively expensive.

On the bright side (or should that be not so bright side, we're heading into autumn so you might be glad to see a colourful display on a cold winters night! :wink: :D
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Re: Need a basic simpke novile phone.

Post by mjc9967 » Sat Sep 09, 2017 9:16 am

Looks nice, Nick. I am after a good basic Nokia - did this one come brand new, or refurbed in some way? I find sellers of older phones often state brand new when they are not and would love to find something like that genuinely brand new.
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Re: Need a basic simpke novile phone.

Post by scoobyh123 » Sat Sep 09, 2017 10:01 am

mjc9967 wrote:
Sat Sep 09, 2017 9:16 am
Looks nice, Nick. I am after a good basic Nokia - did this one come brand new, or refurbed in some way? I find sellers of older phones often state brand new when they are not and would love to find something like that genuinely brand new.
Nokia are making new mobiles with the "classic" feel Mark :

https://www.carphonewarehouse.com/nokia ... 09095736:s

Several to choose from as well! :wink: :D
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Re: Need a basic simpke novile phone.

Post by mjc9967 » Sun Sep 10, 2017 8:36 am

Yes, Dave have tried the "new" Nokia 3310.

Thing is, all the current Nokia basic phones have only 2 network bands that limit its use to UK/Europe plus a few other places. I need phone to work in US as well.

Current Nokia phones are made by some other manufacturer now since the Nokia name was bought by some venture capital outfit, so the legendary robustness and build quality of the past cannot be expected today.

The C2-01 has 4 bands (+3 if you count the internet bands), and is "old" Nokia build, so am hopeful it does the biz. It was released March 2011 so am hopeful some of the ones for sale may be genuine n.o.s. and not crappily refurbed with 5minute endurance aftermarket parts.

If I do find a source of genuine n.o.s of these I will probably buy a few in for future proofing. The days of being able to buy properly durable basic type phones seems to have passed with the introduction of so called smart phones.
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Re: Need a basic simpke novile phone.

Post by scoobyh123 » Sun Sep 10, 2017 9:33 am

mjc9967 wrote:
Sun Sep 10, 2017 8:36 am

Current Nokia phones are made by some other manufacturer now since the Nokia name was bought by some venture capital outfit, so the legendary robustness and build quality of the past cannot be expected today.

The C2-01 has 4 bands (+3 if you count the internet bands), and is "old" Nokia build, so am hopeful it does the biz. It was released March 2011 so am hopeful some of the ones for sale may be genuine n.o.s. and not crappily refurbed with 5minute endurance aftermarket parts.

If I do find a source of genuine n.o.s of these I will probably buy a few in for future proofing. The days of being able to buy properly durable basic type phones seems to have passed with the introduction of so called smart phones.
I think the reason Nokia was bought by the venture capitalists is because they stopped building the solid, reliable phones they built their name on. People stopped buying them because they no longer did what it said on the tin.

The smartphone is a wonderful invention, you have everything in one package - phone, sat-nag, camera, mini-computer for things like fleabay, emails etc.
However there has to be a compromise. First, if they built them to last, they would be the size of a suitcase and twice as heavy. Second would be another suitcase sized battery pack to lug around with you.
Third is cost. Building them to a decent standard at a durable level of reliability would make even the cheapest smartphone something like a grand!

My current/latest smartphone has an amazing Octa-Core processor running at 1.7GHz for each - it's about 5" x 3" x 3/8" in size. Now compare that to the Zilog Z80/Motorola 8080 microprocessor that i cut my teeth on. The chip itself was about 2" long, about half inch wide and 3/16" thick. At the time, i think it was running about 200MHz processing speed.
Not only does each core of the microprocessor in my latest phone run at about 9 times that speed, there are 8 of them!

We've shrunk electronics to a level where i don't believe reliability is sustainable. My previous smartphone died 5 months into its life with a duff USB/charging port. Sent off for repair, it came back and never "felt" right then started throwing nasty faults. Eventually it got so hot it melted the glue between the screen and case so you could physically part the pair of them. Dead at the tender age of 8 months! :wink: :D
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