Cell Phone Woes
March 25, 2008:
This last week, I bought a new phone to replace my ETEN m700, which turned out to have it's share of problems. The up/down buttons didn't work, the GPS couldn't find a single satellite, and the final straw was, while charging, it would randomly stop charging. Not only that, but some of the features I bought the device for, namely WiFi, I ended up not using because I use GSM instead.
That being said, there were a lot of things I liked about the ETEN. I loved the slide keyboard and the ability to browse the web. I like being able to chat and email anywhere I went and, until the GPS died, I like being able to play with that. Up until the charging problem, I didn't feel the need for a new phone at all.
The day after that problem started, I had a deal come across my RSS reader about refurbed iPhones that were only $249 for an 8GB with service activation with AT&T, so I went to check it out. All my friends who have an iPhone and love it. I logged into my "Premier" account, for my county workers' discount, and the phone showed no discount at all. But but there was another phone, the AT&T Tilt, that looked nearly identical to my phone. It had wifi, bluetooth, a slide keyboard, GPS and internet access. It also had 3G capabilities, which my old phone didn't have.
I was so impressed with these features that I bought it without researching it. It came in the mail two days later, and it was everything I had hoped for. The internet was fast, the GPS worked perfectly right off the bat, and it was really nice to be able to navigate up and down again without using the slide keyboard.
But this morning, all that changed. I awoke to see the phone with an odd red charge light instead of the normal amber one. When I tried to turn it on, nothing happened. I did a soft reset, removed and replaced the battery and SIM card, and still nothing happens. The only activity it shows is a red light when the charger is plugged in.
When I researched this problem online, it turns out this is an extremely common problem with this model; 30 seconds of research would of shown me that. I called AT&T and they are sending me another refurbished one. Many sites recommend a third-party modification called KaiserTweak, which prevented my issue in other phones as well as many others. When I get the replacement phone, I will be installing it immediately.
If I researched this phone more thoroughly, I still would have bought it, but at least I would of known about the issue, as well as the fix, and would not have to wait for the next phone to get going on it. Now I am going to have to reload all my contacts and software again.
(Also note I went to an advanced legal writing seminar today, so I tried to be more aware of tying my sentences together. Does anyone feel this entry is easier to follow than previous ones?)
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