Mobile phones & tablets thread

[Dave B]

It did make me wonder what sort of customers they deal with normally though...

I used to manage stores for one of their rivals, and the short answer is "a-holes".

they must get "but what am I go to do!?!?!?!?!?!" quite a lot. He apologised a few times and I was almost tempted to say "Did I complain? Did I ask for a replacement? No! Shut the **** up and book my phone in and send it off to get repaired!"

Quite. The worst customers are the "I know my rights" brigade, who invariably don't, but once saw an episode of Watchdog. Or the "I'll take you to court" threats which immediately require me to only deal with them in writing and therefore guarantee they won't be helped instore.

Obviously 99% of customers in any given day were perfectly fine, but even now it's the 1% of morons who stick in the memory.

[Daniel]

Quite. The worst customers are the "I know my rights" brigade, who invariably don't, but once saw an episode of Watchdog. Or the "I'll take you to court" threats which immediately require me to only deal with them in writing and therefore guarantee they won't be helped instore.

yeah, reminds me of a forum I post on, something small goes wrong with a car and people are talking about rejecting the car..... Whoa whoa whoa! Step back for a moment here! You've had a small problem with a car which could be sorted in a day or two and you're wanting to reject it why?

[airshifter]

And to continue the circle of the conversation, it comes back to the basic premise:
Are you happy with your phone?
I sure am.
I transitioned from BB to iPhone a while back
and I don't plan any changes on something that works very well for me and my family,
and yes, and with a cost that I am willing to pay.

Cheers to the tech-geeks and entrepreneurs out there that are in the forefront of technology and are giving us the possibility
of owning and using the cell phones we choose to buy.

I salute you!


It's Friday, okay?

This aspect is what amazes me about the phone debate. People act as if EVERYONE should want the same phone and OS, regardless of which their choice is. We have countless other products that the tech, options, opinions, uses, etc are wildly varied, but none of those provoke the wars that phones do.

We own both products and I find both a very good value, just for differing reasons. And really all the haters and/or fanbois in the world won't likely change the decision on the next purchase.

[CaptainRaiden]

My Ativ S has been playing funny buggers of late. At the moment it's not charging properly, not connecting to my PC and every once in a while it does a reset. Wasn't too bothered about the reset tbh, but not charging properly was getting annoying. Took it to Phones 4 U and the guy said started apologising for not being able to just replace it on the spot because I'd bought it over the phone. I wasn't bothered tbh, I popped the sim in my Lumia 800 and moved on with my life It did make me wonder what sort of customers they deal with normally though, they must get "but what am I go to do!?!?!?!?!?!" quite a lot. He apologised a few times and I was almost tempted to say "Did I complain? Did I ask for a replacement? No! Shut the **** up and book my phone in and send it off to get repaired!"

Tsk tsk, Daniel. This wouldn't have happened if you had only bought an Apple. They would have replaced your device with the latest one, added in a hot fudge sundae and thrown in a foot massage for good measure.

[CaptainRaiden]

This aspect is what amazes me about the phone debate. People act as if EVERYONE should want the same phone and OS, regardless of which their choice is. We have countless other products that the tech, options, opinions, uses, etc are wildly varied, but none of those provoke the wars that phones do.

We own both products and I find both a very good value, just for differing reasons. And really all the haters and/or fanbois in the world won't likely change the decision on the next purchase.

Then don't bother with this thread. Simply block people or stay away. OR better yet, make a new thread where only positive comments are allowed.

What really grinds my gears is folks swearing they don't have allegiances towards one specific brand, but then spend insane amounts of time on the forum defending that very brand. Or in fact get touchy at the slightest mention of their device. Then there are backhanded sarcastic jibes, for no good reason out of the blue, at people who prefer the rival brand or who quote benchmark scores. My reply to Daniel above is not quite in the same vein, but is a similar example. If you don't care either way, don't bother with such threads. If you do care, then stick to it and own up. Decide.

Then there are those with the annoying meathead bully jock mentality, where simply being ignorant about tech details is supposed to be cooler and anybody who knows more than you is branded a geek/nerd/fanboi.

[henners88]

Do lighten up henners. The only one getting wounded up here is you with your two page essay earlier.

You see this is why its silly to refuse to read another persons post and then make a statement like this ^^. My post was long, perhaps too long but there was nothing in it that suggests I was wound up or frustrated. I repeat some of my previous opinions and back them up with examples, discussing how I think Apple are moving forward in regards to iOS 7. I discuss how I feel Apple are coping in today's market with how they may fair in the coming months and share my recent experience using the Samsung Galaxy S4, to which I was highly impressed. I also discussed how far I think Android has improved as an OS since I last used it. Positive stuff, no disdain or frustration because the brand of my phone is under scrutiny.

All of this you would have realised had you bothered to take 3 or 4 minutes to read what I wrote. Its all there in black and white. Its very disappointing and a waste of my time adding to this if the flow of discussion is dictated by several individuals intent on only one aim. I think all the accusations of iPhone owners taking um bridge here and affecting the thread has been settled in the last few posts as the content is bordering on juvenile IMO.

My interpretation of this thread is to discuss mobile phones and tablets, with the aim to discuss technology, new releases and opinions from our own experiences. The mobile market is not exactly running short of subject matter to discuss in terms of innovation at the moment with many new things coming in. I'm not interested in brand wars or watching others mock choices because they feel its light hearted amusement in their own selfish way. I don't see why myself and airshifter should be bullied off a thread and instructed not to post on it because others want to use it purely to mock Apple and their marketing and patent ethics. Lets share our experiences and discuss what we like and want to see coming to our mobile devices. If it really is a point of no return and we gentlemen really can't have a little respect for each other, then the thread really has run its course. Sad when you consider this topic is something that doesn't come to an end as technology develops by the day. A thread like this can be interesting and useful, for example when Mark asked about a simple to use phone for his mother.

I've tried to suggest this before, but can we try and get this thread onto a flow of a more positive nature and try and put brand prejudices aside? Come on guys and gals there's no point getting frustrated over a mobile device is there?

[airshifter]

Then don't bother with this thread. Simply block people or stay away. OR better yet, make a new thread where only positive comments are allowed.

What really grinds my gears is folks swearing they don't have allegiances towards one specific brand, but then spend insane amounts of time on the forum defending that very brand. Or in fact get touchy at the slightest mention of their device. Then there are backhanded sarcastic jibes, for no good reason out of the blue, at people who prefer the rival brand or who quote benchmark scores. My reply to Daniel above is not quite in the same vein, but is a similar example. If you don't care either way, don't bother with such threads. If you do care, then stick to it and own up. Decide.

Then there are those with the annoying meathead bully jock mentality, where simply being ignorant about tech details is supposed to be cooler and anybody who knows more than you is branded a geek/nerd/fanboi.

Rather comical and juvenile all in the same post. If we were loyal to one type over the other, we certainly wouldn't have both Apple and Android products in our home. My point is simply that both have strong and weak points, and those points may well be the primary driving issues with those that choose one over the other on a loyal basis.

I know that this thread originally started with the intent of hating Apple products and that some seem intent on making that the threads primary goal, but others actually have input on either and/or both types without bias.

As for this:

Then there are those with the annoying meathead bully jock mentality, where simply being ignorant about tech details is supposed to be cooler and anybody who knows more than you is branded a geek/nerd/fanboi.

Since I have to assume that is directed at me, I'll invite you to view the post counts of you and me on this thread. Being you have over 6 times as many posts as I do, and being that the vast majority oppose Apple products in any form, who is the one playing bully here? I'll openly admit I don't dig much into tech details regarding phones for the simple reason that I don't care. I won't ever build my own phone and as such any phone capable enough for my needs fits the bill for me regardless of whether it uses a genie in a bottle or an 8 core processor. My comments concerning "fanbois" has nothing to do with tech, but the numbers of obvious brand biased people, many who have never used both types of phones long enough to really give them a fair review IMO.

Now I could reduce myself to altering peoples screen names, digging at one brand phone, or applying shallow stereotypes to any that oppose my view. But my response to Race's post was to echo his sentiment.... if the end user is happy, why should anyone else get their blood pressure up over it?

[CaptainRaiden]

Rather comical and juvenile all in the same post. If we were loyal to one type over the other, we certainly wouldn't have both Apple and Android products in our home. My point is simply that both have strong and weak points, and those points may well be the primary driving issues with those that choose one over the other on a loyal basis.

I know that this thread originally started with the intent of hating Apple products and that some seem intent on making that the threads primary goal, but others actually have input on either and/or both types without bias.

I have never really seen you saying anything positive about Android or WP or anything else over Apple. So, you claiming to be unbiased doesn't really make sense, as there's an obvious bias towards Apple. Same goes for henners. You both may say nice tidbits here and there, but your number one preferred brand is still Apple. At least I admit that I am biased.

Since I have to assume that is directed at me, I'll invite you to view the post counts of you and me on this thread. Being you have over 6 times as many posts as I do, and being that the vast majority oppose Apple products in any form, who is the one playing bully here? I'll openly admit I don't dig much into tech details regarding phones for the simple reason that I don't care. I won't ever build my own phone and as such any phone capable enough for my needs fits the bill for me regardless of whether it uses a genie in a bottle or an 8 core processor. My comments concerning "fanbois" has nothing to do with tech, but the numbers of obvious brand biased people, many who have never used both types of phones long enough to really give them a fair review IMO.

I never forced anybody not to buy an Apple device or directly mocked their device either, even if others in this thread may have done so. My bone to pick has always been with Apple's pricing, and judging by the company's price reduction of their flagship model and budget iPhone offering recently, it has been a very legitimate complaint that thousands -- no wait, millions of other people have made, and the bigwigs at Cupertino have responded. So, I don't see what the big problem is?

Also, nice form to assume that people haven't used both devices. I used an iPhone 4s for a month before I went ahead and bought the Galaxy S3.

Now I could reduce myself to altering peoples screen names, digging at one brand phone, or applying shallow stereotypes to any that oppose my view.

Yes, but using backhanded cheap shots at people who quote benchmark scores and implying they're nerds is perfectly fine and very mature and unbiased at the same time. Come on.

But my response to Race's post was to echo his sentiment.... if the end user is happy, why should anyone else get their blood pressure up over it?

Then why does the happy end user care two flips about whatever some blood raging benchmark quoting geek has to say about their device?

This is quite a phenomenon. Person A says they're happy with their device and nobody's opinion is gonna make them change their mind. This person then knowingly gets in a debate about their preferred brand, gets upset at the slightest criticism of Apple, defends it hammers and tongs against benchmark scores until kingdom come, calls anybody who knows what processor is in their device, a "nerd" or a "geek". Then when the topic is no longer discussed, takes sarcastic cheap shots at people they may have argued this with before. And when they have to taste the same medicine, panties start flying about, words like fanboi are thrown around and we are in the same vicious cycle again.

[CaptainRaiden]

iPhone sales projections are now so low it

Cheap iPhone release date, news and rumours | News | TechRadar

Apple decreasing the iPhone 5's price, and are soon to launch a budget iPhone.

I would consider this a victory for folks around the world who have been wasting their times on online forums, criticizing this aspect of the company over the past year. Very similar to how Microsoft has reacted rather quickly to the criticisms of the Xbox One.

This proves consumer feedback is still ultra important, and if you complain about something long enough, it will eventually change.

[airshifter]

I have never really seen you saying anything positive about Android or WP or anything else over Apple. So, you claiming to be unbiased doesn't really make sense, as there's an obvious bias towards Apple. Same goes for henners. You both may say nice tidbits here and there, but your number one preferred brand is still Apple. At least I admit that I am biased.

If you actually paid attention, you would know that I carry an Android device as my phone. I've never carried an iPhone. But please continue with your drivel, as it's obvious that unless I bow to the Android gods and condemn Apple, in your mind I'll remain biased towards Apple!


As for the rest of the post, not worth the waste of time other than to mention I really don't care what you buy, nor do I care if you want to spend 500 post trying to convince others that they should buy the same. But the fact is that anyone that wants can express an opinion, and that includes people that prefer the Apple products.

I'm short on time... we are going to stop some Android carrying kids in the neighborhood and bully them into buying iPhones. All those nerds and geeks do it sit around running benchmarks and talking tech garbage. We are going to force them into an OS that works!