Worst phone ever?

[dee]

Hi all.

Everyone make these threads about the best this and that. What is the worst phone that you have ever used. Can be for any reason.

Mine.. Prob the Motorola Timeport(triband) I dont even want to talk about it... it makes me shiver.!

[Michael]

Worst I ever reviewed could be the Philips Fisio 820.

To quote one of my favorite people in the world:
But in the end, I hate this phone. If it had a good display it would still be only passable. With this display, which I would gladly trade for the display from a old 3000 series Nokia, I loathe it. Under no circumstances would I suggest you buy one.When I first posted the review it said something about "I wouldn't even buy this phone for $5 for use as a kid's toy", but removed that little rant a day or two later.

But god, what a bad phone that thing was.

[Sid]

Motorola V3688+.

'Nuff said.

[DEViANT]

What about that Siemens-Bosch thingy (is that right)? Apparently it had the world's most nasty, buggy firmware ever and doing something like pressing a button whilst it was sending a text message could make it hang. Can't remember it's name - just as well.

There was also just some plain bad moves like the Siemens SX45 which was just a bad implementation of a PDA and phone such that neither part worked particularly well.

The V3688/3690 wasn't so much bad as just so lacking in features it was laughable (no predictive text, bad phone management, poor battery life, etc.) and apparently it's build quality was so bad that the screens frequently failed as the foil connection snapped.

[gangstar]

Yeah, deviant, that phonw with the orange see through case. That sucked big time.

[Sid]

Originally posted by DEViANT
The V3688/3690 wasn't so much bad as just so lacking in features it was laughable (no predictive text, bad phone management, poor battery life, etc.) and apparently it's build quality was so bad that the screens frequently failed as the foil connection snapped.

It was simply the UI that made me hate it. If you had a missed call then the phone would inform you, but when you pressed "OK" it wouldn't take you to the missed call list. Instead you'd have to go through many menu's every time you wanted to check a missed call.

Also, if you had 2 missed calls from different people it would only show the number of the most recent missed call!

Not to mention the issues Deviant already talked about.

Ok, I'm sure there are worse phones out there, but none that I've had before have been *that* bad.

[Carrotslayer]

Alkatel...in general!!

[dee]

Originally posted by Sid
It was simply the UI that made me hate it. If you had a missed call then the phone would inform you, but when you pressed "OK" it wouldn't take you to the missed call list. Instead you'd have to go through many menu's every time you wanted to check a missed call.

Also, if you had 2 missed calls from different people it would only show the number of the most recent missed call!

Not to mention the issues Deviant already talked about.

Ok, I'm sure there are worse phones out there, but none that I've had before have been *that* bad.

That is PRECISELY the same crap that moto of mine gave me. I hated it. Also if you recieved a sms it would only give you the number that sent it, not the name. IT sounds silly but this meant you would have to hunt through your phone book to see who sms'd u.!:eek:

[Sid]

Originally posted by dee
Also if you recieved a sms it would only give you the number that sent it, not the name. IT sounds silly but this meant you would have to hunt through your phone book to see who sms'd u.!:eek:

Oops. How could I forget that one....
:(

I'm just glad to see that their new phones are great compared to their earlier ones.

[mpressive]

Hey man! Lay of the v3688. Thats a cool phone... yes it has a *very* cr@p UI but the phone itself wasn't so much worse than what the other manufactures had in the UK at the time.

The missed call thing was absolutly annoying, but you could have set a shortcut to missed calls (as I did). Yes, it didnt have predicted text, but as far as I know, nor did any other phones at the time of the v3688 release.

The text/phonebook linkup thing was very annoying and is the only reason I have stopped using my v3688 now, but once again, at the time it was released in the UK, I think it was just the Nokia's having the showing the name.

And you have to admit, it did look very sexy... still does.

The defence rests (for the moment).

My personal worst phone had to be the SE T68i. Was brilliant for the first week because of its features, but after that it just became hell to live with. Kept crashing, was tooo slow, buttons wouldn't respond. It was probably my handset at fault, but nether the less it was a T68i.

[mpressive]

actually, I could be wrong about my "other phones didnt have it" stance.... I just had a look in my 'tech cupboard' and found the box for the v3688 - still mint and with with the receipt inside!! I bought it in Mar 1998 on OrangeUK. I think there were better phones out around then... but I still love my v3688.

[Sid]

Originally posted by mpressive
My personal worst phone had to be the SE T68i. Was brilliant for the first week because of its features, but after that it just became hell to live with. Kept crashing, was tooo slow, buttons wouldn't respond. It was probably my handset at fault, but nether the less it was a T68i.

Hey man! Lay of the SE T68! It's only one of the best phones ever made.

How many other phones had colour screen, bluetooth, ir, themes etc back in 2001?

[gangstar]

To me the worst phone ever is the 3310. It was a good phone, don't get me wrong, but I had it for two years and it done my head in. It kept crashing and freezing and I had to endure it through my brother buying a T610. Me a 3310, my bro, a colour camera, polyphonic phone. Gave me hours of heartache.

[dee]

Originally posted by gangstar
To me the worst phone ever is the 3310. It was a good phone, don't get me wrong, but I had it for two years and it done my head in. It kept crashing and freezing and I had to endure it through my brother buying a T610. Me a 3310, my bro, a colour camera, polyphonic phone. Gave me hours of heartache.

Gangstar HOW can you say that?:) :)

Seriously, I loved my 3310. As robust and tough as nails. A solid phone, with a lack of features but nice to have. Linkable sms's ringtones, screen savers. I liked mine. I really gave it hell but it kept going strong. and still is. The only prob is that horrid battery. charge it to much or to little and its wasted!

[LondonKid69]

I am gonna try and put this into perspective, as it was 1995 or so and things have moved on. But even the thought of this horrible phone makes me mad now.

The worst phone I ever owned was a Motorola Flare on One-2-One. It was small for its time, had loud ringtones and a reasonable screen.

BUT - it had appalling battery life even then, had UI that defied any common sense, had a very quiet earpiece, managed to cook my brain slightly, and the earpiece itself and my ear hated each other that any call lasting over 3 minutes actually hurt my lobe. Since it was my only phone, cell or otherwise,, this was a problem.

As far as things go now, when Samsung bring out a phone with bluetooth (gasp!) and symbian (double gasp!) then I'll be very happy.

Best phone for me was an Ericsson T20. Six days of battery and so cute!

[cdover]

Originally posted by LondonKid69
and symbian (double gasp!) then I'll be very happy

Well there are already a few Samsungs that are Symbian...just no bluetooth.

[DEViANT]

None that have been released anyway.

I was also under the impression that Symbian (Series 60) OS phones had to have Bluetooth as a requirement (ignoring Communicators). A bit like Microsoft demanding Pocket PCs running their Windows 2003 OS must have transreflective TFTs, 206Mhz+ ARM processors and at least 32mb RAM.

I still stick by the worst phones being some of those older Philips and Motorola models - that said, both manufacturers have come out with some proper stunners in recent times (Philips less so) - the V500 is a pretty packed phone and very well specced for the money.

[Deadman]

Siemens a35(doesn't have normal phonebook,no calculator,awful plastic,low reception,non-graphical screen,no received calls,10missed and 100 dialed numbers,no alarm clock).

[Sid]

Originally posted by cdover
Well there are already a few Samsungs that are Symbian...just no bluetooth.

No Samsung Symbian phones have been released to the market yet. The D710 will supposedly be out soon but I'm not holding my breath.

[mundets]

The worst phone that I've ever used is a Panasonic GD68...........the SMS system is HORRIBLE and it's REALLLLLY SLOWWWWW

[gangstar]

I kniw it's off topic, but does the D710 have Bluetooth?

[dee]

Originally posted by gangstar
I kniw it's off topic, but does the D710 have Bluetooth?

Yeah as far as I know.

[AyeDee]

well all i will say iz that the 3310 was a gr8 hit in its time
and btw
i dont think there is ANY phone that remained popular for such a long time
(untill 2001 or 2002 whatever)

AyeDee
"where there is a will ................................... I want to b in it"

[cdover]

Originally posted by AyeDee
AyeDee
"where there is a will ................................... I want to b in it"

Haha!!

[AyeDee]

well i havnt had much experiences but siemens c35 is the worst one i came across

ooooh did that phone used to make me ANGRY :mad:

smal screen ,useless buttons ,hopless GUI and once u reach anywhere u forget what u were supposed to do

but the thing iz lets c which phone makes it to the top of this list

"worst phone ever"

AyeDee

[cdover]

Originally posted by AyeDee
well i havnt had much experiences but siemens c35 is the worst one i came across

ooooh did that phone used to make me ANGRY :mad:

smal screen ,useless buttons ,hopless GUI and once u reach anywhere u forget what u were supposed to do

but the thing iz lets c which phone makes it to the top of this list

"worst phone ever"

AyeDee

Eheh. I had the c35i! Which is pretty much the same. For me it wasn't the worse, but still bad. The battery was appauling, lasted a day if you were lucky.

[AyeDee]

4 me it was the worst coz as i said i hav tried out very few phones

bie 4 now

[gangstar]

Well, there is nothing really wrong with the 3310, just that I personally hate it. Everytime I see it, I cringe. I had it for two years and I've just got so sick of it. Sorry to disrespect any 3310 users/ex users but I detest that phone!!!

[difenbaker]

For me, it was the T68i, the RF of the phone was just pathetic!! What good is having all the nice features if the thing can't even be used as a phone?

[dee]

Originally posted by difenbaker
For me, it was the T68i, the RF of the phone was just pathetic!! What good is having all the nice features if the thing can't even be used as a phone?

You are treading on thin ice if you say that to Sid!:D

But come on what phone had a 4096 color screen, BT, Ir, was tri-band and everything else more than two years ago. There were not many!

[DEViANT]

Originally posted by dee
You are treading on thin ice if you say that to Sid!:D

But come on what phone had a 4096 color screen, BT, Ir, was tri-band and everything else more than two years ago. There were not many!

Just as a correction, that phone only had a 256 colour screen, which was a bit crap to be fair (it wouldn't display any particularly complex pictures and was low resolution) and yes, I agree it had a lot of stuff back then, but at that point the 7650 was also out and I still liked the 8310 a lot (which I consider to still be one of the best Nokias ever made).

[Sid]

I agree that its reception was not good, but I never really had any issues with it. Are the GSM networks in the US really bad? You guys are always complaining about reception, while I'd be hard pressed to name one phone that I had issues with.

[dee]

Originally posted by DEViANT
Just as a correction, that phone only had a 256 colour screen, which was a bit crap to be fair (it wouldn't display any particularly complex pictures and was low resolution) and yes, I agree it had a lot of stuff back then, but at that point the 7650 was also out and I still liked the 8310 a lot (which I consider to still be one of the best Nokias ever made).


Oh, sorry!! :D yeah I suppose the 7650 was out.But still the T68i wasnt to bad

[manav]

Ericsson t28s

[dee]

Originally posted by manav
Ericsson t28s

Naa,,

I used one for a while. It looked cool. Had and still has the smallest battery I have EVER seen!

[DEViANT]

You can understand the complaint though. It was still lacking T9 texting when just about every single other phone under the sun had it. But yeah, it did look cool and was very functional (apart from the T9) in it's day and age. T39m was a much better successor to it.

[dee]

Yeah the lack of T9 eventually drove me away from the phone.

Oh well, I am getting my mom a 6820 tomorrow!! YAY!:)

By the way they are running the Comrades marathon( a world reknown race) here tomorrow, anyone know of anyone doing it? It goes right by my place!

[elasticpants]

In response to the T68i...I hated it too.

I got mine during the end of December 2002 after migrating to GSM from TDMA (AT&T) and had nothing but problems. I was going to Florida in like 3 days and needed a new phone (the display on my Nokia 3360 broke) and jumped on this "new phone with awesome features."

Yeah, bluetooth and IrDA are cool enough to have on a phone, but the RF was ATROCIOUS. Also, I don't know if any other T68i users had this problem, but if I was traveling and went from an area with full service, to a no service area, then back to an area with full service, my phone would freeze when I tried to make a call. I would have that "connecting" bar flying across the screen...I wouldn't be able to turn it off, I'd have to take the battery off. Oh, but I had been receiving messages when the phone was hanging, which meant when I turned it back on and all the messages were finally delivered it would HANG AGAIN. Yikes. So many problems.

And to answer the question about GSM in the US, 850MHz is pretty strong in a good amount of areas right now, but 900MHz isn't. For example with my T68i I got no service in my house, but with my Nokia 3620 I do (I've tested this now, 4 months after I upgraded and it is still the case.)


*breathes* Long post.

[josephlloyd]

I am not sure if anybody else will ever have used or seen one, but the worst phone I ever had was a Sagem MC920. It was the first mobile phone I ever bought, and there were two reasons for the purchase.

The first was the way it looked, which with a bright silver standard cover and rather a curvy design certainly made it stand out from some of the rest of the phones on offer at the time, one of which was the Bosch 509e, the bright orange brick!

The second was most definitely the price, which was a shade under 40 GBP. With a SIM card, I certainly was not complaining. It did have one or two good features, such as 41 ringtones, storage for at least 50 numbers on the phone when no one else had the option, a very powerful vibration alert and an excellent speakerphone, something which Sagem is still very good at today. However, this does not make much of a basis for a phone.

The thing was so basic that there were no games, there was no WAP, and there was no way get anything else. The phonebook was a total nightmare, and involved searching for a free slot before a new name could be entered, and text messaging was possibly the poorest of any phone I have ever heard. For a start, there was no predictive text, but in addition, it was only possible to get a maximum of two lines on the screen, both while reading and writing, I seem to remember. Add to this the fact that there was no way to directly reply to a message, and things could not get any worse. Only they did, since when a message came in, it was only possible to read the number of someone who had sent it, there was no correlation to the address book at all. I had to get quite good at remembering phone numbers whilst I had the MC920. Also, text input was a very slow process. This involved not pressing the number 3 key three times in order to get an 'F', for example, but holding the key down until the required letter appeared. This meant that an average text message took ten minutes to type. This was not the only problem, however.

I left the country for a holiday in America, and did not take my phone with me, as it was only dual-band, and would not have worked anyway. My sister lent to a French friend of hers, who was staying with her at the time so that she could have something to use in case of emergencies as it was only a Pay As You Go, and it completely broke whilst in her care. This was ironic, as Sagem is a French company! My mother then had to deal with getting the replacement sent, which was a lengthy process, but eventually it arrived, and exhibited all sorts of problems, such as turning off at a moment's notice (something to do with the weak connection between the battery and the phone) and having a constant noise like a whirring motorbike in the background whilst I made calls, something which must have been the phone, since everyone complained about it. Eventually, I swapped the handset for a Mitsubishi Trium Mars, and have never regretted it.

This could have put me off Sagem (and French electronics in general) for life, but I changed my mind when my sister got a Sagem MYX-5, which showed virtually no trace of the old MC920, and my current MYX-6 camera phone is fantastic. It has never crashed, never broken, has excellent call quality, lots of games and has the MC920 features of a good speakerphone and being rather inexpensive. I challenge any other manufacturer to make such a convincing turnaround. When my contract is due for renewal next month, there is only one phone on the list, the new MYX-7 with video, which is being offered free on Orange.

[DEViANT]

To be fair, the issue you mention with the phone book is still prevalent in a lot of current models - Samsungs for one, and Ericsson only changed in the last year or so. This is actually a massive oversight because you can easily overwrite phone numbers without meaning to, it's really stupid because Nokia have had dynamic phonebook memory since like 2000.

As Sid said, the Motorola V3688 had a lot of these issues as well (like the text messaging not correlating the number to names).

Yes, the latest Sagems (whilst not what I'd choose) have had great write-ups especially for the price they are offered at, coupled with their outstanding feature-set, good cameras and screens. In that price range, they easily beat comparable Nokias and Motorolas - Sagem offer TFT displays and VGA cameras.

[josephlloyd]

If my memory serves me correctly from my old Ericsson T65, there was a slightly different problem with the phonebook from that of the old Sagem. This was not that it was necessary to search for a slot before adding a new phonebook entry, although it was certainly possible to look at a numerical list to see what order the entries were saved, it was more to do with the differences between phone and SIM memory.

For some reason best known to Ericsson, the phone seemed to want to copy the phonebook from the SIM card onto the phone at any opportunity, and the only way to make phone calls from the SIM card was to go through a special menu option, which was irritating. Once the phonebook had been copied, it was then impossible to copy individual entries to the SIM card. The only way to get anything from the phone to the SIM card was to copy the whole phonebook, overwriting any data which might have been on the SIM card, and, in my case anyway, copying the names with the surname first, so it ended up not with John Smith, but Smith, John. The fact that this could happen proved to be a real problem when I lent the phone to my sister for a short time, and she managed to wipe her entire three years of SIM card entries simply by pressing the wrong button, and ended up with just two contacts which I had left on the phone! It was clearly not a sensible thing to have as a spare for someone who was used to any other make.

I am not sure if the new Sony Ericssons still have this problem. I know that my mother's Samsung E700 had a perfect easy to use phonebook, so maybe that problem has disappeared as well, I am not sure since I have not used any of the older models. In terms of Sagem, I've really enjoyed having the new generation of phones, but compared with something like a Nokia 6230, there is a bit of a problem with things like build quality and thickness! Nice to see that phones are getting better all the time, this is good news for the general consumer as well as for people on this site.

[manav]

well the t28s was ok but do you remember the siemens one? the long one with the 2 ton battery and tui (text user interface???). I just hate the old phones and why I spent so much money on the ;)

[josephlloyd]

I think the one you may be referring to was the old Siemens C25. That was quite a bad phone, the screen was absolutely tiny as well. Nowadays it is a total brick, but they seem to last forever. It was a real joy to see that the C35/C35i was a real step forward, and that the S25 too was completely different, except perhaps in the way it looked. I am quite glad to see that phones have moved on, and certainly the Nokia 6600 is proof of this. I will be getting a new phone next month as a free upgrade on my contract with video recording facility, which was absolutely unthinkable just six months ago!

[manav]

Originally posted by josephlloyd
I think the one you may be referring to was the old Siemens C25. That was quite a bad phone, the screen was absolutely tiny as well. Nowadays it is a total brick, but they seem to last forever. It was a real joy to see that the C35/C35i was a real step forward, and that the S25 too was completely different, except perhaps in the way it looked. I am quite glad to see that phones have moved on, and certainly the Nokia 6600 is proof of this. I will be getting a new phone next month as a free upgrade on my contract with video recording facility, which was absolutely unthinkable just six months ago!

Well so why you use all these motorola and sagem try nokia..!!

[jojoc]

Originally posted by josephlloyd
when I lent the phone (T68i) to my sister for a short time, and she managed to wipe her entire three years of SIM card entries simply by pressing the wrong button, and ended up with just two contacts which I had left on the phone!


Aye, mate, now I remember why my secretary hates her T68i. The same thing exactly happened to her phone...wiped out all her contacts and she had to input everything manually.

[josephlloyd]

There are many reasons why I would never own a Nokia for more than a couple of weeks, but why I would still recommend particular models to friends and family. The first is that I once had a 3310 as a loan phone when the screen on the Siemens C45 I had on my contract went. It was one of the worst phones I have ever used. What made it worse was that everywhere I looked, it popped up! I cannot stand having something which 50% of the population also have, particularly as it, in my opinion, had chronic problems with lack of memory (there was no way to store names or text messages on the phone), charging (the one I had took four hours to charge whereas the Siemens took 90 minutes) and size and weight. I have never been fond of the design either. I used to hate it when it rang, because I was guaranteed either to hear the same ringtone somewhere else that day, or to have everyone else where I was turn round and stare at me. It did have Snake and Space Impact, but these did not contribute to what I saw as major flaws. Ever since then, I have been able to find enough things in every new Nokia model not to make me want to buy it. The 6600 is a good phone, but it is too wide for my tastes, and I simply do not need all the features. The fact that it is rather expensive (as opposed to being free like the Sagem MYX-7), a problem which it seems to share with all its Finnish brethern also means that I would rather save the extra outlay and put to use somewhere more useful than simply getting better phones which, to be frank, I do not really need. I also prefer to have a more independent perspective than a lot of people in Britain certainly, nominating individual models for praise rather than just one particular make.

I've never actually owned a Motorola for a period of more than two weeks, but the one I used was a T720, and I was quite impressed with it, particularly as it was made in China. Since I discovered that the Siemens A52 and Nokia 6600 were also made in China, my estimation of their manufacturing capabilities has gone up considerably. Unfortunately I probably will never own another Ericsson or Sony Ericsson model unless they sort the phonebook out and such problems as happened to my sister and 'jojoc's' secretary are not allowed to happen again.

[DEViANT]

You hold a good argument and I always found that Sagems tend to offer an *awful* lot for the money - I almost convinced my brother to get an MYX-6 or MYX-7 but he choose a 3300 in the end because of it's MP3 player. For me, personally, I don't mind paying more for the name (Nokia in my case) and for the exclusiveness (obviously the 6230 is popping up a lot nowadays but only with the hardcore phone users!).

It all depends on what you want - though based on your current contract and the fact that you don't seem to want to spend much more on the phone (which is not a criticism by the way - it's a perfectly reasonable way of thinking if you don't mind the phone that much) I would also put forward these phones for you:

Samsung P400, V200
Motorola V500/525
Sagem MYX series (but you already knew about those)
Sony Ericsson T610
Nokia 3100, 3200, 3300, N-Gage, 7250i

I would expect these phones to be free or cost very little but offer a lot of features. And in order to avoid the contacts issue, choose a phone with synchronisation features perhaps (with Outlook to sync to) - and for that the SE T610 can't really be beaten.

Sorry for going off topic a bit there...

[josephlloyd]

I think all phone choices are very subjective. I saw the Siemens S55 when it came out, and only next month will I be able to afford to buy one on Ebay now that the price has come down to below about 70 GBP. I loved the look of it, and when I saw the specification list at the time (March 2003), my eyes were popping out of their sockets. I owned a C45 at the time, so it was a very logical progression for me. You can see that I have had a lot of Siemens phones, and this is because, on the whole, I have found them to be quite good, and I like the design and user interface. I simply do not find the majority of Nokias to be attractive in the same way (I would make an exception with the 6100, which is a very beautiful phone), and with the price difference, it never seems to be quite worth it. The proof that I do not entirely go by make was shown when I got the MYX-6, having had the MC920, which probably is one of the worst phones ever made, and I have loved it to pieces. It has also never crashed or frozen, and has excellent call quality, which proves that giving a make a second chance is a good idea.

My mother has a Samsung E700, and it is a very good phone, but it is not quite my kind of thing. I prefer the 'chocolate bar' style of phone to a flip phone, and the twiddly noises it makes every time it peforms a function can be a bit annoying (although you can turn them off). I also have noticed that every Samsung lacks a speakerphone, a feature I now consider essential. I am not a big fan of flip phones simply because they feel top heavy when sending text messages and can be a hassle to open when they ring and my arms are full of shopping. I prefer to just press one button rather than miss the call. I would also not have the T610 because of the problems with reception, and the CIF camera.

I quite like the look of the 6230, but I am a bit worried about the possibility of it getting stolen, and having to use that terrible keypad. I have now read two reviews which state that problem. I like the look of the MYX-7, and also will be able to use my Sagem data cable with it. The one thing that is also improved is the slight flimsy Frenchiness, which can be a problem with Gallic phones, but after almost a year, I am still on the original cover, so it cannot be that bad. I have recommended the new Nokia without hesitation to one of my friends who can get it as a free upgrade, and when I told him about it I saw his eyes bulging. It looks amazing, but it is just not my kind of thing. Also, it does not have the lens to cover the camera which the Sagems do. The 50 GBP price difference (which can go towards my S55 purchase) also means that I am afraid I will not be buying Finnish once again.

As this proves, mobile phone choices are incredibly subjective, and it ends up being a question of what someone is comfortable with. No review in the world can entirely inform a potential purchaser of whether or not they will be satisfied with a new phone that comes onto the market, but in the 21 I have written, I have tried to ease this process, which is also what Michael and the others do on the site. In terms of exclusivity, however, I think my Mitsubishi M320 was hard to beat! I've sadly just sold it, which is a shame as it was one of the best phones I have ever had.

[manav]

Aha so there are people in this world who dont care that much about mobile and just consider them as a thing a instrument of communication :D.

(No offence there buddy):D

[dee]

Originally posted by josephlloyd
. Since I discovered that the Siemens A52 and Nokia 6600 were also made in China,.

Err. I last saw on my 6600 that it was made in Finland. And the battery in hungary.

[josephlloyd]

I would have thought that the 6600 would have been made somewhere else as well, until I saw this picture, which was located on this page: http://www.imobile.com.au/phonereviews/default.asp?ID=reviewsjun0403

Correct me if I need my eyesight testing, but does the picture or does it not say Made in China on the phone? I do not disbelief you at all, I am sure your 6600 is made in Finland as it would be the logical place for it to be made, and the last Nokia I saw inside (a 3510i) also had the battery Made in Hungary. Could it be that two different factories, one for Europe and one for Asia-Pacific, are making this phone? Given that it seems to be the in-thing at the moment, I would not be surprised if they had done this to increase capacity so that they can keep up with demand.

[yaris1001]

I think the worst phone ever was the Motorola V100 (VBOX) I used it for about a week and then put it away very quickly after I got laughed at in the street...... Thats the same thing that I did at N-Gage owners. I want to take the chance to say sorry for taking the piss out of you taco shell.

[josephlloyd]

I remember the V100, it was electric blue, and it was necessary to use the headset to make calls! It must have been better for texting than a normal phone, however. My housemate has an N-Gage original (not the QD), and looks slightly silly when making calls! Added to this is the fact that the 'send' and 'hang up' buttons are in a funny place, and it is easy to see that making calls using the N-Gage in the conventional way is not its strong suit. However, when he showed me the graphics in the games on it, I could see who it was aimed at, and memories of the old Sega Game Gear I used back in the early 1990s came flooding back. Much better graphics and a phone as well! I could instantly see who it was aimed at, but I would prefer to still have the principal critieron for choosing a phone as how it functions for sending and receiving calls. Here a conventional design (or the QD) is much better.

Incidentally, this is even more off-topic, but there seem to be quite a few 6600 owners on this thread!

[manav]

Originally posted by josephlloyd
I would have thought that the 6600 would have been made somewhere else as well, until I saw this picture, which was located on this page: http://www.imobile.com.au/phonereviews/default.asp?ID=reviewsjun0403

Correct me if I need my eyesight testing, but does the picture or does it not say Made in China on the phone? I do not disbelief you at all, I am sure your 6600 is made in Finland as it would be the logical place for it to be made, and the last Nokia I saw inside (a 3510i) also had the battery Made in Hungary. Could it be that two different factories, one for Europe and one for Asia-Pacific, are making this phone? Given that it seems to be the in-thing at the moment, I would not be surprised if they had done this to increase capacity so that they can keep up with demand.

Mine says "Fabrique en Finlande" I think I spelled it correctly

[jojoc]

Many phones in the Philippines come from China (whether Nokia or whatever).

I go this from a phone dealer some years back: that a China-made Nokia would have some added accessories than that from Finaland (or Hungary or Germany). By added I mean an extra battery, for example. Maybe Mundets can back me up on this.

Another thing the dealer told me: Businessmen from Taiwan regularly visit the Philippines to buy the latest Nokia phones and bring them back to Taiwan. There they would copy and produce the Xpress-on covers and start shipping them to the Philippines.

This supports one contention that the Philippines is one of the main "dumping" grounds for the latest Nokia models.

[manav]

Err thats a interesting theory. Hey I thought mundets was a SE user? ;)

[jojoc]

Originally posted by manav
Err thats a interesting theory. Hey I thought mundets was a SE user? ;)
Yeah, Mundets may be an SE user but here in the Philippines at one time or another, he would have dealt with a Nokia.

[manav]

Yeah, same as I had a T610 some time back ;)

[jojoc]

Originally posted by manav
Err thats a interesting theory.

Want another interesting theory? This from my daughter:

She says that phones with interchangeable covers lose their value faster.

[josephlloyd]

It is quite interesting that the factory sticker on the back of manav's phone ('Fabriqué en Finlande') is in French. Even the stickers on the back of phones I saw bought in France when I lived there said 'Made in Germany' or whatever, so why is it different in India?

Given that we have established that Nokia 6600s on the South African, Indian and European markets are made in Finland, but those in Australia and the Philippines are made in China, where does the boundary lie? On the same topic (although a long way off where the discussion originally started), I have noticed that the battery on my Siemens C60, unlike all the other Siemens phones I have ever had, and I have had a lot, is not made in China, but in Indonesia. Does this indicate that wage costs are even lower in Indonesia than they are in China? I asked my Indonesian housemate how long Siemens has had a factory in Jakarta, where they are based, and he says that it is not new, but not very old either. Why the change, when the battery is identical to those that have been made for the C55, A60, A52, A55 and S55 models, and those were made in China?

Sagem are even vaguer about things like that, and the phone stickers just say 'Made in Europe/Made in the EU) on them. The last two Mitsubishi phones I owned had nothing to tell me where they were made at all. Presumably in France, since this was where the old Mars model was made, and the M320 was identical to the Alcatel One Touch 531. No guesswork is needed to work out where their phones come from.

[DEViANT]

Originally posted by jojoc
Want another interesting theory? This from my daughter:

She says that phones with interchangeable covers lose their value faster.

As it's a 'theory' can't really say too much about it but I know that some phones with interchangeable covers held their value really well on Ebay for a fair bit, take the 8310 for example. I admit some phones like the 8910 and 8850 have lasted a long time and hold their value well but that's only because they cost so much in the first place.

Anyway, what does interchangeable mean to you? Do you consider the 6600 as having interchangeable covers? It's not meant to, but you can unclip them. What about the 8850, you can unscrew the covers and clip new ones on.

Also, with my 8310, when I sold it, I clipped a new cover onto it and made more than I originally paid for it back, so whilst an interesting idea, I doubt it makes sense in reality.

[yaris1001]

Originally posted by DEViANT
Anyway, what does interchangeable mean to you? Do you consider the 6600 as having interchangeable covers? It's not meant to, but you can unclip them. What about the 8850, you can unscrew the covers and clip new ones on.
In theory all phones have replacement covers as there are so many different companies making covers/facias/housings for phones even if you "can't" take the covers off such as the entire nokia range. If that makes sense. I have several facias for my 6600 some are really poor and others are as good as the OEM one from Nokia. There are some 6600 facias on Ebay here http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6303571768&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1 and here http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=57254&item=6303574726 personally I can't comment on the quality but they look pretty good to me. I had a close up shot of the covers sent trough and even the vga 3.5mm 1:2:8 looks good. It's just a shame that these arn't "genuine" as he puts it. Just my evening thought

[DEViANT]

Originally posted by yaris1001
In theory all phones have replacement covers as there are so many different companies making covers/facias/housings for phones even if you "can't" take the covers off such as the entire nokia range. If that makes sense. I have several facias for my 6600 some are really poor and others are as good as the OEM one from Nokia. There are some 6600 facias on Ebay here http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6303571768&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1 and here http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=57254&item=6303574726 personally I can't comment on the quality but they look pretty good to me. I had a close up shot of the covers sent trough and even the vga 3.5mm 1:2:8 looks good. It's just a shame that these arn't "genuine" as he puts it. Just my evening thought

Yeah, I've seen those before - they look qute good. But I'm surprised he can sell them as X-press On covers because technically the 6600 doesn't support X-press On. I would've changed my 6600 cover had I been able to get the cover off but last time I tried I scratched the side. Anyway, the latter link you give appears to be to original genuine parts.

[jojoc]

Originally posted by DEViANT
But I'm surprised he can sell them as X-press On covers because technically the 6600 doesn't support X-press On.


You should see the so-called 6600 X-press On covers selling here in the Philippines. It's wrapped in Nokia official packages (with the "Original Nokia Accessories" sign on it) and comes in all possible colors.

[jojoc]

Originally posted by DEViANT
As it's a 'theory' can't really say too much about it but I know that some phones with interchangeable covers held their value really well on Ebay for a fair bit, take the 8310 for example. I admit some phones like the 8910 and 8850 have lasted a long time and hold their value well but that's only because they cost so much in the first place.

What about the 8850, you can unscrew the covers and clip new ones on.

I was at Virra Mall (the shopping mecca of mobile phones in the Philippines) the other day and asked how much I could get for my old 8850. I told the would-be buyers there that I just had the 8850's LCD replaced at the authorized Nokia service center and NOTHING ELSE.

Their comments? That I should have also replaced the 8850's casing so that I could get a higher trade-in value.

"Any casing?" I asked them as I espied they were also selling 8850 covers (black, white, rainbow colors, even Spiderman designs, etc.).

"No," was the answer. "It has to be the original 8850 casing."

Of which they had none.

[josephlloyd]

I can confirm Deviant's story about the 8310 being worth a lot on Ebay, despite the removable covers. One of my friends had just finished a year's contract with his 8310, and I offered to sell it for him. Just by buying a new keypad and a new, unofficial fascia, I was able to get 92 GBP for it last August, which considering the phone was free in the first place was not too bad. My friend was very happy indeed, particularly as the original cover which he had on the phone had actually been run over by a car, but it had survived! If the covers had not been easily interchangeable, I would have probably had to list it as damaged, the fascia was in that bad a condition! My mother also has an 8310, which she upgraded to a Samsung E700 a few months ago, but she is still using the 8310. I am going to force her to sell it to see how the market conditions have changed in a year!

Things like the 8310, 3410 and 3310/3330 seem to be on the market for years. Until this month, it was still possible to get a 3310 with a new contract, and the 8310 was only withdrawn from T-Mobile and Orange contracts very recently. Despite the bewildering array of Nokia models, I suppose there is nothing which can keep a best-seller down. The 6230 has interchangeable covers, and that is a really high-specification phone, whereas the new 2600 does not, and looks like it is reverting to the old 3310 menu system, but with four-way navigation, and is thus very basic. Interestingly, however, the Sony Ericsson T300 came with interchangeable covers, whereas the T310, a barely disguised slight software upgrade, did not. I am not sure if the value of the phones was the reason why Sony Ericsson did that, it was probably cost the majority of people could not be bothered to change them!

[manav]

Originally posted by jojoc
Want another interesting theory? This from my daughter:

She says that phones with interchangeable covers lose their value faster.

Err.. I thought they were the hottest thing!

[Valdo]

But changing your phone's covers will make your phone looks new.... I always changed my OT331's covers so that I wouldn't get bored with its look.

[yaris1001]

Originally posted by DEViANT
Anyway, the latter link you give appears to be to original genuine parts.

DEViANT, as far as I am aware Nokia didn't release a sky blue 6600, just the rose, gold and silver/grey ones. So sadly even those covers are damned good copies.

[difenbaker]

Originally posted by jojoc
Want another interesting theory? This from my daughter:

She says that phones with interchangeable covers lose their value faster.

Maybe she's just saturated by the hundreds and hundreds of 3rd party covers (for nokia) that's available there?

I've used a 6510 and 8250 myself - I can tell you, when the covers are clicked shut, they stay shut. They're pretty solid - even if sometimes you drop the phone. I dont use "class-a" or 3rd party replacement covers though - I use original nokia X-press On covers.

Anyhow - I disagree on that lowering a phone's value, I think it actually increases it. Just think, you don't have to have your phone "serviced" by technicians (in an authorized store) everytime you want to change something or the 'look' of your phone, and you dont have to 'live with' your mistakes too - just in case your phone got scratched or dented. And like valdo pointed out - you also have the option of making your phone look new everytime.


:)

cheers!

[jojoc]

Originally posted by difenbaker
Maybe she's just saturated by the hundreds and hundreds of 3rd party covers (for nokia) that's available there?

I've used a 6510 and 8250 myself - I can tell you, when the covers are clicked shut, they stay shut. They're pretty solid - even if sometimes you drop the phone. I dont use "class-a" or 3rd party replacement covers though - I use original nokia X-press On covers.

Anyhow - I disagree on that lowering a phone's value, I think it actually increases it. Just think, you don't have to have your phone "serviced" by technicians (in an authorized store) everytime you want to change something or the 'look' of your phone, and you dont have to 'live with' your mistakes too - just in case your phone got scratched or dented. And like valdo pointed out - you also have the option of making your phone look new everytime.


:)

cheers!

I myself can't make heads or tails with regards her theory.

I got in touch with Nokia Philippines and got this reaffirmation (from what i previously knew of): Using unauthorized phone covers will void the warranty.

I remember my first Nokia (3210 with blue cover). The package included an extra cover (red). And when I tired of the 2 colors I bought 2 more (yellow and green) from an authorized Nokia center. And when I upgraded to the 8210, I got a very good price for my 3210 (original and all).

In another post I wrote about the phone shops suggesting that I should have also bought an original casing for the 8850 when I had its LCD replaced at a Nokia service center in order to get a good price.

Maybe her theory makes sense.

But then again, maybe it doesn't.

[josephlloyd]

I did not know that Nokia were so strict about the official fascias. However, I do remember a time when I bought an unofficial cover for one of my friends about eighteen months ago as a birthday present, and the thing ruined his phone! The original standard Nokia 8310 fascia had been on the phone when it had been run over by a car, so it was looking a little tatty, so I decided it would be a good present for him. Unfortunately, the power-button on the 8310 is very temperamental (like a lot of Nokias), and the new fascia, despite looking quite nice, managed to stick the power-button down, so the phone could not be used. He had to send it back to be fixed, whilst they would not give him a replacement at the time, so he had to borrow a friend's old Motorola. They did not even give him a new cover to replace both the faulty one and the one which had been run over, so until I sold the phone for him last August, he still had the original battered one on. No wonder I had to buy a new, official style one in order to get that amazing price for it! A cautionary tale for all, I think, although I am not sure whether he invalidated the warranty, as he may have had a third party one from the shop from which he bought the phone. Strange that the phone can survive being run over, but just putting a new fascia on it can break the power button!

[difenbaker]

Originally posted by josephlloyd
I did not know that Nokia were so strict about the official fascias. However, I do remember a time when I bought an unofficial cover for one of my friends about eighteen months ago as a birthday present, and the thing ruined his phone!

.... that's why I'd rather stick to the original or official ones, sometimes - the unnofficial ones are not made right. (or don't fit that well).

:)

cheers!

[DEViANT]

Well, Nokia say a lot of things invalidates the warranty on the phone and frankly, it's all steam-blowing. Apparently, unofficial batteries (ok, this I can understand but a lot of stores and Ebay sell it), non-Nokia MMC cards (which a lot of phone stores sell), phone fascias, dual sim covers, etc. all invalidate the warranty, but the end point is, how will they ever know?

And that's the whole question, because it's just the same as overclocking your PC, no-one will ever find out - even if it 'invalidates the warranty' so you're pretty safe from Nokia and their idle threats.

[josephlloyd]

The trouble is that it is not always possible to easily get official fascias for phones very easily. For example, I tried looking for an official fascia for my Siemens C55 and also my Siemens C60 and could not find any anywhere, apart from on Ebay Germany. Whilst being the predictable place, I suppose, it would be nice to see a couple of genuine ones apart from on the Siemens website, which does not seem to sell them anyway! Half the ones advertised as genuine seem to be fake these days anyway, so it is very hard to tell, and for my own phones I cannot really be bothered to pay the 75% extra or so which is required to buy an original one from a shop when I could get a high-quality, branded, third-party one. Nokia could also have made it a little less difficult to break the power button, and this is not exactly a new problem, as the 6210 used to have problems in that area too.

[manav]

Originally posted by DEViANT
Well, Nokia say a lot of things invalidates the warranty on the phone and frankly, it's all steam-blowing. Apparently, unofficial batteries (ok, this I can understand but a lot of stores and Ebay sell it), non-Nokia MMC cards (which a lot of phone stores sell), phone fascias, dual sim covers, etc. all invalidate the warranty, but the end point is, how will they ever know?

And that's the whole question, because it's just the same as overclocking your PC, no-one will ever find out - even if it 'invalidates the warranty' so you're pretty safe from Nokia and their idle threats.

Rightfully said, which dumbass will go back to Nokia centre with the duplicate plates. I'd first switch em and then go there. There was also this thing about the warrenty getting void by lamination. WTF I would remove it before going to the shop. Simple! ;)