MB mythbusters!

[difenbaker]

hi there,

here's a list of common urban legends regarding cellphones... would you say that all of them are true? Or all of them are false? Or some are and some are not?

1. that a stronger battery will result in a stronger signal.

2. that you should always turn off your phones in gas stations.

3. that a slow charger will make your batteries last more. (endurance).

4. that one in every 5,000 colored screen has a tendency to develop dead pixels.

5. that a cellphone is bad for doctors, that's why they prefer pagers

6. that a phone can be made into a bomb.

7. that a phone can cause impotence or cancer

8. that a phone when turned on during a flight can cause the plane to crash.

9. that smoke (from a cigarette or car exhaust) is bad for the phone.

10. that being dipped in rain water, the phone has a bigger chance to survive, than being dipped in a beach.

11. that LCD's will give out or conk off after 5 years of continuous use.

12. that the bigger or taller the person, the smaller he wants his phone to be. Then the shorter or skinnier the person, the bigger he wants his phone to be.



cheers!

[brad]

1. True
2. False, though it is a good idea as some old batteries can spark
3. If you mean longer on the one charge, false, but continual use of a fast charger will shorten the batteries overall life
4. False, on mobile phones it is much higher than that
5. False, it is just that cell phone use is banned in hospitals
6. False, though a phone can be made into the DETONATOR for a bomb
7. Unproven, we will know in another 20 years or so
8. False, but it is a good safety precaution
9. Smoke is bad for everything
10. True, as salt water has a huge corrosive effect, whereas rain water is purified
11. Depends on the quality of the LCD, but it won't completly 'conk' out
12. Hmm, I hope you are talking about the overall size of the person, and not just one aspect...

[oneclick]

1. that a stronger battery will result in a stronger signal.

A stronger battery will make the phone last longer, I think that only thing that will make the signal stronger is the location of the phone. If it's near a cellsite then it will be strong.

6. that a phone can be made into a bomb.

I've heard that there are some websites which teaches you how. But I haven't seen this yet.

7. that a phone can cause impotence or cancer

I think that some studies were done - because of the amount of radiation emitted by phones, but there's no evidence to prove that they cause cancer or impotence.

10. that being dipped in rain water, the phone has a bigger chance to survive, than being dipped in a beach.

Not just phones, but any electronice device is bad in salt water.

12. that the bigger or taller the person, the smaller he wants his phone to be. Then the shorter or skinnier the person, the bigger he wants his phone to be.

cheers!

I know of some 'short' guys with 9500's as their phones, so in a way, this is true.

tnx-1clk

[brad]

A stronger battery will make the phone last longer, I think that only thing that will make the signal stronger is the location of the phone. If it's near a cellsite then it will be strong.You will get a stronger signal with a fully charged battery.

[stephanie]

1. that a stronger battery will result in a stronger signal. * I that a stronger battery will make your phone last longer, or compensate faster the signal when it's low or have gone. But a phone's signal strength still lies on how well it gets it from a cell site.

2. that you should always turn off your phones in gas stations. * watched this on the discovery channel - it's false. Maybe if the battery is faulty or very very old with loose enough contacts to make it spark, only then will it be dangerous.

3. that a slow charger will make your batteries last more. (endurance). * yes, trickle charging is better than quick charging.

4. that one in every 5,000 colored screen has a tendency to develop dead pixels. * LCD's have been known to develop dead pixels. Laptops, phones, PDAs, and monitors are all known to have this from time to time. But I have no idea if it's on every 5K.

5. that a cellphone is bad for doctors, that's why they prefer pagers * I dont think that it's bad physically. The reason why phones aren't used is because it interferes with lab equipment and pacemakers - and pagers do not.

6. that a phone can be made into a bomb. * there was a case of some exploding batteries, in the news before - but I dont think it was a phone that did it.

7. that a phone can cause impotence or cancer * I read some tests that was conducted before about this, but there's no definite conclusion so far.

8. that a phone when turned on during a flight can cause the plane to crash. * false. I have a friend who's a pilot, on very very old planes, maybe this is true. But in modern jets - phones are harmless.

9. that smoke (from a cigarette or car exhaust) is bad for the phone. * I dont know about this one.

10. that being dipped in rain water, the phone has a bigger chance to survive, than being dipped in a beach. * I think that no matter which water it's dipped in - water can still cause short circuits and corrosion.

11. that LCD's will give out or conk off after 5 years of continuous use. * my 6150 is still alive and kicking.

12. that the bigger or taller the person, the smaller he wants his phone to be. Then the shorter or skinnier the person, the bigger he wants his phone to be. * I dont know about this one - it dpends on who the person is, and what his preferences are.

[brad]

For number 12 - I'm 6"1' and I am using an N90 at the moment, so that kind of goes against that.

[carcomptoy]

8. that a phone when turned on during a flight can cause the plane to crash. * false. I have a friend who's a pilot, on very very old planes, maybe this is true. But in modern jets - phones are harmless.
Yeah actually I think the bigger problems with using cellphones on planes right now isn't necessarily the plane's wellbeing but rather the problem of a cellphone changing cell-towers so quickly that it'll overload the network...Can you imagine if half the passengers were on their phones and how many towers they'd be switching the entire flight?

Obviously, though, there's still risk of interference with the aircraft's electronics...

Anyways, on the whole charging thing, so would you recommend using the older, slower chargers (i.e. Nokia ACP-7U) over the newer, faster ones (i.e. Nokia ACP-12U)?

[Jose_R.A.M]

hi there,

here's a list of common urban legends regarding cellphones... would you say that all of them are true? Or all of them are false? Or some are and some are not?

1. that a stronger battery will result in a stronger signal.

I think thats true...if you increase signal strength the battery drains quicker...and vice versa


2. that you should always turn off your phones in gas stations.

Probably best but considering what turning a phone off will do compared to everything else that is on around the gas station...

3. that a slow charger will make your batteries last more. (endurance).

Never thought bout it...spose so.

4. that one in every 5,000 colored screen has a tendency to develop dead pixels.

Just one?!:p

5. that a cellphone is bad for doctors, that's why they prefer pagers

bad in what way? In terms of health - many studies have not outrightly proven one thing or another...they do help though on keeping notes about patients etc. My uncle uses the pxxx series when he's working to keep track of his patients.

6. that a phone can be made into a bomb.

I suppose anything can be made into a bomb. Its just a casing...

7. that a phone can cause impotence or cancer

Same as 5. Everyone's looking for something to blame...why not see the correlation between increase in cell-mutation based disease and mobilephone handsets (that deliver radiation to cause mutation)? Big debate..as 5.

8. that a phone when turned on during a flight can cause the plane to crash.

I read an article bout this before and posted a thread about it...was quite worrysome. Indeed it does not cause modern large planes to drop out of the sky but perhaps it can cause navigational faults, especially when GSM and CMDA are in close proximity.

9. that smoke (from a cigarette or car exhaust) is bad for the phone.

Never considered it. Perhaps if i stuck my phone in the exhaust pipe of the car some damage could be done.

10. that being dipped in rain water, the phone has a bigger chance to survive, than being dipped in a beach.

Being dipped in a beach normally means sand also which is very annoying. I'd rather not dip it in either but less so the beach. Rain water is probably marginally cleaner.

11. that LCD's will give out or conk off after 5 years of continuous use.

I doubt the battery will last that duration, even if connected to the charger.

12. that the bigger or taller the person, the smaller he wants his phone to be. Then the shorter or skinnier the person, the bigger he wants his phone to be.


Most people generally now want smaller phones.

I think its more about age and practicality of use. A person with larger hands (generally a larger person) would probably want a bigger handset since theres no point in having multiple buttons mashed by your massive thumb.

[waytaminit]

8. that a phone when turned on during a flight can cause the plane to crash.


I remembered this thread rightaway!
http://forums.mobileburn.com/showthread.php?t=9818

That's why my answer to that is a FALSE.

[carcomptoy]

haha yeah I remembered that too...but I also remember the arguing and frustration so I chose not to bring it up:p

@waytaminit: How is it you remember when you weren't even registered at the time of the thread??

[waytaminit]

haha yeah I remembered that too...but I also remember the arguing and frustration so I chose not to bring it up:p

@waytaminit: How is it you remember when you weren't even registered at the time of the thread??

I was a very avid lurker back then. :D

[Jose_R.A.M]

I remembered this thread rightaway!
http://forums.mobileburn.com/showthread.php?t=9818

That's why my answer to that is a FALSE.

Haha! Lol! :D I dont remember typing those at all! lol

Anyways back to Dif's thing;)

[stephanie]

I remembered this thread rightaway!
http://forums.mobileburn.com/showthread.php?t=9818

That's why my answer to that is a FALSE.

That's a very interesting thread. I must've missed it before - while I was still a lurker. ;)