Old cell phone

Inkara1

Inkara1

Well-Known Member
Today at work at RadioShack, a little old lady came in with this phone because she was having a hard time getting it to make a call, and wanted to see if maybe the battery was going out. It's an old analog cell phone that I'd never seen before, and since Verizon's slowly but surely switching all their cell sites to digital, the phone probably won't get a signal for much longer. Also, it's not a battery we would carry in the store, and even if I could find one we could order, it would probably be kind of expensive. Meanwhile, if she was willing to sign up for two more years with Verizon, I could get her a whole new phone for $14.50 or so after tax, while keeping her same calling plan and phone number. I made sure to mention this.

So she went for it and I sent her out the door with a Nokia 3589i phone. It's technically a discontinued model, but it's still a perfectly good phone and we've got a bunch in stock. It does digital, so it will still work a few years from now. So I made some good money off it, and actually did the customer a favor at the same time.

So, much to my surprise, later in the day, an old man came in with the same old Audiovox phone, looking for a new battery. I sent him out the door with the same Nokia phone I sent the old lady out the door with.

It just took me a while to get over how weird that was, having never seen that phone before and then seeing it twice in one day and turning that into two cell phone sales for me.

I did a little research on the old Audiovox just a little bit ago, and I found out that not only will the Nokia still work in a year or two (Nokia phones have a good reliability reputation), but it will let you talk for three times as long on a full battery charge and it will stay on/standby for 16 times as long.
 
There is nowt wrong with that phone Ink...

I've just had to relinquish this...

http://www.cellular.co.za/phones/motorola/archive/motorola_c520.htm

The Motorola C520 in April!!! Now only available in Turkey and Czech Republic!

I now have this...

http://www.infosyncworld.com/hardware/mobilephones/image/43.html

The Motorola C350... which has recently been discontinued... as it has no photo or video function... I got it as I don't need or want that shit... and its silver... :blush:

I miss my C520... there was nothing wrong with it... :mope:
 
Hey Inky,
What do you recommend for a Samsung A540 that worked for a week after being submerged in water for a split second (by the wife)and then just quit except that the display shows the word "emergency" .Disconnecting the battery does nothing ,beyond that I'm at a loss as to why it worked fine for a week and even took a charge fine . I can get a refurbished for $99 cdn and since I've still got just under a year left on my contract I may have to do that ,eventually ,but money is tight until I get my income tax back.I know its toast ,but I needed to vent.
 
Here's my 2 cents... :p

Its got emergency only dial... lack of network coverage by the sounds.

Its either the network's fault or your arial's bust... If you reckon its the network then call their customer services... if its the arial... I dunno... my sisters used to be the same... a nice sharp slap against the hand usually did the trick, reconnecting what ever had come lose. Not one to let the insurance peops know about but effective! :D
 
ClaireBear said:
Here's my 2 cents... :p

Its got emergency only dial... lack of network coverage by the sounds.

Its either the network's fault or your arial's bust... If you reckon its the network then call their customer services... if its the arial... I dunno... my sisters used to be the same... a nice sharp slap against the hand usually did the trick, reconnecting what ever had come lose. Not one to let the insurance peops know about but effective! :D
Click to expand...


It won't power up/down and none of the functions work i.e. phone book ,light, dialing etc....
 
A.B.Normal said:
It won't power up/down and none of the functions work i.e. phone book ,light, dialing etc....
Click to expand...

My second 2 cents...

Its FUCKED... water in the works... thats the technical term btw... see what Ink says but :shrug: not much you can do other than give it a going over with a hairdryer if the covers are removable... on low heat... but that is a last resort!
 
A.B.Normal said:
Hey Inky,
What do you recommend for a Samsung A540 that worked for a week after being submerged in water for a split second (by the wife)and then just quit except that the display shows the word "emergency" .Disconnecting the battery does nothing ,beyond that I'm at a loss as to why it worked fine for a week and even took a charge fine . I can get a refurbished for $99 cdn and since I've still got just under a year left on my contract I may have to do that ,eventually ,but money is tight until I get my income tax back.I know its toast ,but I needed to vent.
Click to expand...
Displaying the word Emergency means the SIM (subscriber identity module) card that goes uner the battery has shorted but now the whole things gone.....I don't mean to be negative but I hope you ensured it because water damage isn't covered by any warranty and taking a hairdryer to it is about as much use as a screen door in a submarine :(

/me used to work for a cellphone company
 
Raven said:
Displaying the word Emergency means the SIM (subscriber identity module) card that goes uner the battery has shorted but now the whole things gone.....I don't mean to be negative but I hope you ensured it because water damage isn't covered by any warranty and taking a hairdryer to it is about as much use as a screen door in a submarine :(

/me used to work for a cellphone company
Click to expand...

Hey! The hairdryer works!!!! My C520 had a sad accidental trip down a club loo once... (Don't ask!)... I gave it a "blow job" and it pepped right back up!

With mine though I think it just was a bit condensation behind the screen and stuff rather than anything serious as SIM damage...
 
I'm getting to hate these things. I can't hear very well so I set this phone I got here to vibrate because my sport coat covers the phone up thus making it hard for me to hear to it.

Anyway, apparently people with other cell phones can see who's calling. I called one of my dealers and got a message that gave his own cell so I called it because I needed this part yesterday. So I call that and leave a message to call me. I figure he'll call me here at the store. He calls me back but on this cell phone. It was the first time I recieved a call on it in vibrate mode and it happened while I was talking to a customer. It scared the hell outta me and I nearly jumped outta my chair. The customer, who happens to be a good friend, of course laughed his ass off in turn.



Ohhh I hate these things....
 
PostCode said:
Ohhh I hate these things....
Click to expand...

Vibrate is a useful function... very useful! :brow:

Na... me no likey either... when I had to get my latest one... after 6 good years of service from my old "Czech Brick"... all I wanted was a normal phone... something to call and send messages on... and if possible something smaller.. my old phone wasn't called the "Czech Brick" for nothing...

But the bastiche in the shops banging on about WOP or WAP... and GP whats its... videos, camera's zooms... I'm like

"Woah there sonny Jim!... Back up there... all I want is a P-H-O-N-E!"

The 17 year old gimp bursts into laughter... "There's this but they're being discontinued... its still got WAP though"

"Sold!"

I've had it 9 months and its starting to f**k up already! Come back Brick all is forgiven! The C520 was built to last... like a tank!
 
Your phone probably stayed wet inside and corroded some of the contacts. Your best bet is to get that refurbished phone, since the warrant'y definitely void if it got wet. I'm surprised the display says anything at all on it. If you're paying the extra little bit each month for insurance, have them send you a new phone.

Not every phone in North America has a SIM card. Phones on the GSM standard use SIM cards (Cingular, T-Mobile) while CDMA phones (Sprint, Verizon) don't use SIM cards.

Claire, there IS something wrong with those analog phones that got traded in. Analog cell towers are getting replaced by digital. The analog cell phones WILL NOT WORK within the next year or two. The phones I sold those people will actually come in and be useful. Not only that, the new phones are GPS-enabled, which means that if they dial 911 but are unable to talk, they can still be found. They came in looking for batteries for their old phones, and I sold both of them a whole new phone, that will still be able to get a signal next year, for less than the cost of the battery for the old phone, even if I could have gotten a battery at all. I did them a favor.
 
Ouch....you guys are still on Analogue? Also didn't know about the CDMA......american standard sort of thing?
 
Inkara1 said:
The phones I sold those people will actually come in and be useful. Not only that, the new phones are GPS-enabled, which means that if they dial 911 but are unable to talk, they can still be found.
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...provided the towers and emergency services support E911. I've had phones that did that for years, but just recently (past six months) the county decided to spend the money to upgrade the towers and call center to support the new E911 system. A quick search shows its been mandated by the FCC and should be fully in effect by now. I'm sure they've had that in place for quite awhile in CA though.
 
ClaireBear said:
Hey! The hairdryer works!!!! My C520 had a sad accidental trip down a club loo once... (Don't ask!)... I gave it a "blow job" and it pepped right back up!
Click to expand...

Must've been a male phone...:D
 
I get to upgrade on February 14th, and I have no idea what sort of phone to get. I have Verison Wireless, and I'm getting $100 towards said phone.

Any suggestions?
 
Raven said:
Ouch....you guys are still on Analogue? Also didn't know about the CDMA......american standard sort of thing?
Click to expand...
There are some analog towers left, but they're being phased out. CDMA does seem to be a North America Only standard; a few carriers here use that while a few others use the GSM standard. CDMA does data really well.
 
Inkara1 said:
Claire, there IS something wrong with those analog phones that got traded in. Analog cell towers are getting replaced by digital. The analog cell phones WILL NOT WORK within the next year or two. The phones I sold those people will actually come in and be useful. Not only that, the new phones are GPS-enabled, which means that if they dial 911 but are unable to talk, they can still be found. They came in looking for batteries for their old phones, and I sold both of them a whole new phone, that will still be able to get a signal next year, for less than the cost of the battery for the old phone, even if I could have gotten a battery at all. I did them a favor.
Click to expand...

Not disputing that Ink...

What I'm talking about is the life span of said phone... I had my C520 for 6 years before it started to go a tad pear shaped (slipping into French, not holding a charge... bless 'im) I've had this one 6 months and already its showing signs of wear...

Its smaller and silver but its really just a good looking nowt. Mobile manufacturers make their product to suit those idiots who see a phone as an extension of themselves ( :brow: ) changing the damn things every 6-10 months to feep up with fashion... etc.

Me... I figure a mobile phone is for life... but the rate this one's in decline that will be after 6-10 months! :rolleyes:
 
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