Skypephone S2 - is it a lemon?
CJB
Unfortunately I purchased a S2 just before Xmas and am having *great*
problems with it.
Firstly it doesn't really browse the Internet - as extensively
advertised by '3' - most mobile pages are short snippets of text on a
screen so small the characters are unreadable. For a start it is
impossible to go to My3 to check the balance of my account, I shall
have to resort to a laptop to do that - if I can get it to connect to
my account pages (which is an issue belonging to another thread). And
as for accessing my Skype account pages - forget it - so I can't even
do a top up with Skype on the S2.
Secondly frequently any web page displayed gets split into three
overlapping panels - the middle one partly displayed but showing the
central area, the other two, one on the right and one on the left,
smaller and still only partly displayed. At this point the phone then
becomes unresponsive and effectively crashes. I then have to switch it
off and on again to reset it.
Thirdly it doesn't make calls to all Skype users. I tested it for some
friends who have Skype on laptops and it seemed to call them OK - but
not every time. But my brother in the Netherlands has a different
Skypephone and it refused to connect and call him. Monitoring Skype on
my laptop he had a small green tick icon against his id. On the S2 the
icon was a greyed out cross. I tried refreshing the Skype connection
(with the S2 this means switching the phone off and then on again) -
yet no green tick showed against his Skype id. Also everytime I tried
to connect to a Skype user the S2 started to make the connection, then
displayed a square with an ! in the middle with a message underneath
stating 'Divert on' - and then the connection usually crashed as
unobtainable.
Fourthly the s/w driving the S2 is not stable - the phone frequently
freezes - and the back button doesn't work. To get any response I have
to switch the damn thing off and then on again.
On Boxing Day I tried sending a normal mobile text massage to a friend
sitting beside me. She's on CWH T-Mobile. It took TWO HOURS TO FILTER
THROUGH.
And I can't use the S2 with Skype for calling Skype Out nos.
especially those in the UK.
Actually lemon is too good a description for S2 and '3' - cr&p is a
much more suitable word.
Graham.
"CJB" <chris...@gmail.com> wrote in message news:2107138b-500e-452d...@m26g2000yqb.googlegroups.com...
If it is freezing as you say get it exchanged as faulty.
When viewing web pages the "back" button is a little unconventional,
placing the current and previous pages side-by-side in tiny windows,
you won't be the first user to think the display has locked up, it's supposed
to be like that. I think the "back" button becomes a "cancel" button, something like that.
Having said that I have never found an ordinary phone that is satisfactory for
browsing the Web on a tiny its viewport, perhaps you need a Smart-Phone of some kind.
Skype Out? Come on man, 3 are running a mobile phone company aren't they?
They are pretty altruistic giving us free Skype - Skype IMHO,
but if you want the equivalent of Skype Out on your S2 you have to cheat a little,
I have put some notes showing one way of doing just that on this website
www.skypegateway.webs.com my son has been using this for three months and
can call his mates who are not on Skype on their mobiles for 1/4 of the cost of
a "3" call. (5ppm instead of 20ppm)
The !Divert On message is perfectly normal, it's simply a reminder that
your voicemail is active.
Inter-network SMS delays are not unusual unfortunately, the problem
might have been with the other network.
As you might have guessed I am a fan of the S2, it has its faults, the
keypad is just about the most difficult I have encountered, well maybe
except for my Blackberry, but don't get me started on that :-(
--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%
Chris Kirby
>
>As you might have guessed I am a fan of the S2, it has its faults, the
>keypad is just about the most difficult I have encountered, well maybe
>except for my Blackberry, but don't get me started on that :-(
I have issues with the Bluetooth implementation in the S2.
My Landrover Freelander's bluetooth handsfree works fine with my
Orange SPV C500, my wife's Nokia 6700, my son's HTC Hero, but whenever
I try to use the S2 with the car's handsfree, I don't get any audio. I
can make calls and answer incoming calls, but with no audio it isn't
very useful!
--
Chris
CJB
I can't receive incoming calls on Skype.
And when I tried to call my brother in the Netherlands the connection
kept dropping out / disconnecting.
I tried Skype to Skype (my S2 to his non-Three mobile running Skype) -
three disconnects - but at least the re-connections were free.
Then we tried Skype on my S2 to my Skye Out account (with loads of
credit) to his mobile no. - again loads of drop outs, and each re-
connection cost me some Skype credit (actually £3 in all). Luckily
Three doesn't charge for these re-connections - if it did my S2 would
end up in the bin.
He then tried calling my Skype id (as running on my S2) with his non-
Three mobile running Skype - but nothing at all, zero, zilch, sfa.
In view of all the problems with the S2, Three and Skype I am making a
case - currently 4 pages long - of issues with this network, as
reported on the various 3G and Skype forums and these newsgroups,
including an accusation of blatant false advertising by Three.
Additionally a complaint will be made about their rip-off pricing of
20p per minute to UK landlines etc. This will go to Ofcom, my local
Trading Standards Office, and the Advertising Standards Authority.
CJB.