Mobile phones & tablets thread

[janneppi]

The phone is still working fine with two gigantic cracks across the screen, and the spiderweb crack on the top left corner, held together for now with a piece of sellotape.

Am I risking damaging anything inside the phone further, does anybody know? Or is it fine working this way for a while? The screen and digitizer are gonna be changed anyway. I've got to wait until I sort the warranty fiasco out.

My nephew cracked the screen of his ZTE somethinsomething much worse than in the pic you linked a year ago and it's works just fine even if the protective film is pretty much the only thing keeping the screen in place.

[Malbec]

CR, I'd get something like the second jacket. Mine is similar but with thicker covers and better side protection. At £3-50 you can't go wrong even if you won't be winning any style awards.

China's Huawei and ZTE pose national security threat, says US committee | Technology | guardian.co.uk

Interesting article especially since Huawei in particular is getting lucrative contracts in the west to sort out mobile phone infrastructure, they are building Britain's 4G network as we speak. Both companies already market mobiles in the west too.

[janneppi]

Bah, Nokia did that first too.
In the eighties/nineties their weren't allowed to US markets unless they build backdoors for the phone system built in Soviet Russia. It would be fun to know what kind of features KGB wanted for western products.

Talking about features, Apple has learned their lesson from previous models, before they weren't that forthcoming to say that the Iphone's warranty is void if used in below freezing temperatures(0C), this time they've complied to Finnish consumer boards advise and made the temperature limit known beforehand.

[CaptainRaiden]

CR, I'd get something like the second jacket. Mine is similar but with thicker covers and better side protection. At £3-50 you can't go wrong even if you won't be winning any style awards.

I actually bought one today similar to what you've mentioned. It's made of leather and has cushioning. A bit thicker than the official Samsung case because of the cushioning, but still surprisingly fits fine in my jeans pocket. Cost 10 pounds, but almost all GS3 cases are over 10 pounds. The only problem is the hanging flap thingy when it's open, but I guess I'll get used to it after a while.

If it was me I'd definitely go for the first one of the pictures given the option. Never been a fan of putting my phone in a wallet and always choose the slim-est case I can find and clear if possible. If you invest in a good screen protector and choose a case with good corner protection you should be fine. The Samsung S3 and the iPhone 5 are beautiful pieces of product design and shouldn't be hidden too much by clumsy looking cases, even if the design punishes you for accidental handling lol.

I actually agree with that, don't like to hide my phones. But well, really can't afford breaking the screen again.

[CaptainRaiden]

I'm thinking of getting a screen protector as well. The S3's screen is already scratch resistant, so not much advantage on that front, but I'm guessing it would still provide some sort of protection towards big scratches or even some shock, preventing the screen cracking perhaps?

[youtube]YuwteILAgvc[/youtube]

Funny thing is I haven't bought a cover for any smartphone previously in my life, because I never broke one this badly. Now I'm going paranoid and trying to protect the new screen as much as possible. LOL.

Once bitten, twice shy I guess.

[CaptainRaiden]

The iPhone actually performed pretty good in the drop test but I still won't be taking any chances.

They all perform quite good in drop tests and other tests. But as I have learned, at a huge cost, never to take a chance again.

I saw this video a while ago:

[youtube]pnwwz0nyOno[/youtube]

And thought well, the S3 can handle small drops easily. I even dropped it inside the house many times, not a scratch. But I guess outside in the real world and on concrete is a different story altogether.

Strange thing is I must have dropped my previous phone, the Galaxy S2, at least 10-15 times on all terrain, even concrete, and it didn't crack. It's still running fine. The S3 cracked the first time it hit concrete. I'm guessing a design flaw, because the screen does look like protruding above the side casing, which is always bad if it falls face first.

[CaptainRaiden]

Talked with another Romanian Samsung rep again, says future warranty will be void even if repaired at the authorized center.

A friend talked and confirmed with the UK Samsung rep, says future warranty continues or remains if repaired at the authorized center.

Another friend talked with the Samsung rep in Mumbai, India, says future warranty remains if repaired at the authorized center.

The last two is how I remember it has been for phones like forever, and how it should be.

Why is it different in Romania? Is it some EU or Romanian specific law I am not aware of? Does anybody know?

[CaptainRaiden]

If any future warranty is gonna be void anyway, I can try to replace just the front screen glass. Costs just about $20 and Youtube is filled with such DIY videos:

[youtube]W4Gx5fLy0NQ[/youtube]


Best case scenario: I save $190 and learn something valuable in case the screen cracks again in the future.

Worst case scenario: I mess it up, and even if I do, it's only $20 down the drain, and I can still get the screen and digitizer changed ultimately.

[ioan]

Talked with another Romanian Samsung rep again, says future warranty will be void even if repaired at the authorized center.

A friend talked and confirmed with the UK Samsung rep, says future warranty continues or remains if repaired at the authorized center.

Another friend talked with the Samsung rep in Mumbai, India, says future warranty remains if repaired at the authorized center.

The last two is how I remember it has been for phones like forever, and how it should be.

Why is it different in Romania? Is it some EU or Romanian specific law I am not aware of? Does anybody know?

They are trying to screw you over in Romania, that's how they do 'business' over there. I am rather sure that the EU laws are more like what they tell you at Samsung UK.
Just send it over to your UK friend to have it serviced there and be done with it.

[CaptainRaiden]

They are trying to screw you over in Romania, that's how they do 'business' over there. I am rather sure that the EU laws are more like what they tell you at Samsung UK.
Just send it over to your UK friend to have it serviced there and be done with it.

Yep, it is a bit weird. Talked again to some helpful bloke this time and he said he isn't sure about it and will have to ask his colleagues. - I mean they are the authorized service center. They should be on top of these things!

Sending the phone to UK via courier alone will cost me a fortune. So, I'll get it done in India in December when I go there most probably, unless these guys here figure out the meaning of warranty.

I mean software wise I'm not really concerned, because if there's any software problem, I can root the phone and install a vanilla Android OS anytime. But who wants to lose a 2 year warranty anyway?