(no subject)

[plonq]

Hi everybody,

Bell has forwarded me your names as they have received orders from you ordering the new Motorola E815 cellular phone.  Before I have Bell process these orders, I want to make very clear that these phones are considered Dual-Mode phones, which means that they will work in major centers, HOWEVER, they will not work in very remote rural areas.

If you work in the field or travel quite a bit on the road, this phone may not be the best choice for you.

If you would like to proceed with ordering this phone, can you please respond back to this email that you understand this phone's limitations and would like to continue the order.  If not, then please let me know which phone you would like to change it to.

Thanks everyone, I just want to ensure that you are aware of this before receiving your phone.

[name removed]

Hi [name removed],

My first choice was actually the Sanyo 7300, but it's not available in Manitoba. 

The only other Tri-Mode choice available is the Samsung a860, and my experiences with my current Tri-Mode Samsung cellular phone have been very negative.  More bluntly, this phone is junk.  I routinely hold it up as a palpable object lesson to steer others clear of Samsung cellular phones.  I have opted for the Motorola E815 phone because I am hoping that it won't be as bad as this current phone.  I am hoping that its battery life will exceed three phone calls, and that it will not lose signal every time I get into a car, or an elevator, or close the door to my office.  As I am typing this, it has just dropped to 0 bars of service again.

Anyway, you're probably looking for a simple yes/no answer rather than a rant about something outside your control.

I understand the range limits on the Motorola E815 phone, and I will make alternate arrangements for an emergency contact if I plan to venture out of cellular range.

Thank you,

Plonq

Comments

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your concern. It's refresshing to see that HR cares about our being able to be reached at all times and in all conditions. Not even, I see, to get an actual working phone instead of MotoOhNos latest piece of consolidation garbage. However, if that's what the company wants to give us, then that's what they get. Therefore, please don't be surprised if I do not receive your call if any of the following conditions exist:

- I am out of the city.
- I am driving in a car.
- the battery is weak.
- I am within 500 feet of a car.
- the phone is within 10 feet of human flesh.
- the day ends in 'Y'.
- a nuclear furnace is visible in the sky.

Thanks for another fine decision and for you "Never say die and never think it through" commitment to that decision.

signed, your gruntled employees (who can't be reached by phone).

[felinaeus.livejournal.com]

You guys going through MTS Mobility or through Bell Mobility corporate?

Just curious, as I now technically kinda work for Bell Mobility (sorta. they pay me, anyways).

That is an odd assortment of phones, though. Only the one tri-mode worth using.
Can't do the Sanyo 7300s?

[plonq.livejournal.com]

We're going through Bell Mobility.

I wish that I could do the Sanyo 7300, but they're only offering us three phones, and there is a large note under the Sanyo indicating that it is not available to us in Manitoba.

My cynical take on this is that there are a limited number of each model available, and they want to ensure that the good phones stay with the important people at our head office in Calgary.

[felinaeus.livejournal.com]

nrrg. that sucketh.
If I were upgrading my phone any time soon i'd send you my 7300... but I like my phone.

[lowen-kind.livejournal.com]

Funny you mentioned Samsung as being worthless, as I feel quite the opposite.

I had an old Samsung SPH460 which worked reliably for 5+ years until the LCD screen died. Sprint replaced it with a reconditioned Samsung N400 which is giving me yeoman like service. I've had it over a year now.

It does drop calls/signal strength now and then, but they are in known trouble spots, i.e. Tuckahoe, NJ, which depending on which way the wind is blowing you may, or may not, get service. For the most part, however, I can get pretty good coverage no matter where I am, and the battery lasts for a few hours when talking. Maybe you should look at a new battery, and never put the thing on charge when you only had it off charge for less than 2 hours. Some batteries develop a "memory". To clear it you have to let the battery fully "die", recharge, and repeat the cycle a few times. This should clear any "memory".

BTW, most phones will drop service in a fully enclosed elevator, unless there is a antenna on the building. The elevator is effectively a RF cage that does not allow any RF signal in or out, especially the relatively weak strength of a cell phone. The problem with your office is that is if your office door is metal and you have a metal studded office, the door, and that wall, may be between your cell phone and the closest tower, and by shutting the door you have "blinded" the phone to that tower. If your cell phone's signal strength stay on the high side before you close the door, on your desk, and then drops after you close the door, then I would feel certain that is the problem.

Part of the problem could be where you are and the cell tower spacing.

[plonq.livejournal.com]

This one is also a Samsung SPH-A460. If it was just a case of having it lose signal whenever I shut the office door (which is made of wood), I wouldn't have as much of a beef with this phone.

First I need to point out that my office is located right in the heart of downtown, in what should put me well within the strong reception zone for almost any cell service. While I was sitting here typing this, my phone went from 4 bars of service to zero, then two, then zero again before slowly crawling back up to 4 bars over the next minute. Occasionally it will drop service entirely and sit there beeping pathetically while it searches for a new tower. (Oh look, it just dropped down to 1 bar again).

It loses signal consistently in the car - though never in the same place, so it's not something that I can just attribute to a local blackout area. It will lose its signal while sitting on the counter at home, attached to the charger. And speaking of the charger...

The battery on this phone will last approximately 4 days between charges if I don't make or receive any calls. I plug it in daily when I remember, but if I forget to plug it in over the weekend, I am lucky if I can complete one call on Monday before the battery cuts out. From a complete charge, a 2-minutes phone call will drain one bar of batter life. I estimate that I could get 10 minutes of call time out of this phone before it required a recharge.

I also love when it doesn't ring. More than once I have glanced down at the phone (which sits beside me on the desk at work) and noticed that I've got a new voicemail message since the last time I glanced at it. I have the ringer set to max volume, and I also have it set to vibrate, so between the two it seems improbable that I'd miss hearing it ring.

While I admit that it may be possible I was issued a defective phone, others in the office with the same model have voiced similar complaints. My gripe with this current new issue of phones is that my only two choices are another Samsung, or a Motorola (which, by the accounts of a friend in the industry, are at least as bad).