New phone

[shirlton]

Had new phone today. Samsung Galaxy. Just took me 2 hours to find out how to lock the key pad so that it doesnt do anything daft while its in me pocket on the plot. beginning to wish that I had kept the old bog standard nokia. When they offered me 250 mins for the same price that I was paying for 100 well I couldn't say No could I.
I suppose I will get the hang of it eventually but don't think it will be used to its full capacity.

[shirlton]

[elvis2003]

I'm no expert but have had one for a few months now so can poss help if you get stuck. they are great,mostly,annoying that they need charging every single day,a factor that would have put me off getting one had I known.

[Squash64]

Have you got a new number now Shirl? If so, will you let me have it please?

[shirlton]

No Betty have kept the same number.

[fitzsie]

I've done exactly the same as you ! I have an old slide Samsung which is simple to use and on a pay as you go. My average monthly bill is about £10 so when I offered a contract for 250 mins talk, unlimited txts & 500 mb for the cost of £10 a month with a Samsung Galaxy Ace I decided to take it.  I thought it would be a good introduction in using a Smart phone but it has come at a cost !!  ;D
The amount of times my phone rings and I don't get to answer it as I forget to swipe ( tapping doesn't work !) Trying to end a call when I couldn't find/see the option.  I could go on but it is has been a slow learning process.
Benefits are a few already, being able to go online to check for an address when we got lost and being able to check the bank account when not at home. Have also acquired some useful apps to use, ie Rightmove as we are currently househunting.
Battery life is rubbish, if you use it often then it needs recharging on a daily basis.
Anyway, I'm sure we will learn lots more. Have fun !!

[jesssands]

which model have you got?? I have the galaxyS2 and my hubby has the S3.
I have had mine for about a year now and altho its a bit larger than I would like, I love it. I like being able to surf the net, buy stuff on ebay etc from my phone away from home too. Sometimes its better than having to boot up the lap top if its just a quicky.
Both have excellent cameras at 8mg too.
As someone mentioned battery life.. I use mine alot and when I am on a late shift, sometimes it runs out before I get home BUT.. I bought a bigger battery fot it, was about £6 on ebay, makes the phone a little bit thicker but they give you a new back to house it and its sturdier than the original and now last twice as long.  ;D

Samsung Galaxy gets thumbs up from me  ;D

[BarriedaleNick]

Essentially these are all mini computers - people like me love to play around but most people will never use all of the functionality and that's fine - just use it for what you want to do and check out spme apps.  Unfortuantely I know can't operate my phone without my reading specs so if I am stumped if I dont have em on me.

[galina]

Is there a way you can put the SIM card into the Nokia?  You might have to unlock it to do so.  But I am not an expert - just what I needed to do to change to an old phone of OH's and keep my number and SIM.

Perhaps I misunderstood and you are just having a hard time getting used to the new phone, but you want to use it  :)

I hope to inherit OH's smart phone when he gets a new one with his work contract.  They are brilliant, just like having a computer.  The screen is small, but no issue - I am very shortshighted and just take my glasses off  ;D  There are lots of hotspots around too these days.  I have been reading many A4A messages on his smart phone over the holidays on hotspots.

Persevere if you can Shirl, smart phones are great.  Although I have no complaints at all about my old Nokia - it just works so well and stands up to anything. 

[MervF]

I have had a Galaxy Europa GT-I5500 since the end of March and really like the phone but operating it needs a bottle of paracetamol.   The instruction book is far from comprehensive.   I do not make many calls on mine but the battery life is very poor.   The other day I made a call which was menu driven - press 1 for this, 2 for that etc and had no idea how to access the keypad.   I emailed Samsung Saturday and they replied on Sunday how to access the keypad but there was nothing in the instruction book.

[Deb P]

I have had a Galaxy Europa GT-I5500 since the end of March and really like the phone but operating it needs a bottle of paracetamol.   The instruction book is far from comprehensive.   I do not make many calls on mine but the battery life is very poor.   The other day I made a call which was menu driven - press 1 for this, 2 for that etc and had no idea how to access the keypad.   I emailed Samsung Saturday and they replied on Sunday how to access the keypad but there was nothing in the instruction book.

Dunno about your phone but on my iPhone I just tap the screen during a call and the options of a keypad, speakerphone etc come up for me to select. A lot of these phones do not seem to come with paper manuals anymore, just online versions. I actually printed off the iPhone one when I first got it (it filled a large file!) but as usual my kids were the best source of info and showed me loads of tricks (like shutting down open apps so the battery life is improved).

As I too need reading glasses I find most pages I need to enlarge when I have my contacts in, but there are some pages online that resist this! ???

I went from the most basic Nokia to an iPhone, so understand the learning curve required, but I have learned to love mine now! However, because I got mine second hand from a friend who was upgrading, I use a Giffgaff sim card and buy a £10 goodybag which gives me unlimited internet and texts, and 250 minutes a month, which also suits my kids as it would cost a fortune otherwise with the number of texts they use and the amount of data they download via YouTube etc..... ::) Most people seem to buy packages where the phone itself is free, but we have had bad experiences with two different providers where our bills were astronomical because they refused to put a limit on phone use so that our teenagers couldn't knock up large bills, or raised them without telling us!

[jesssands]

do you know what network giffgaff use Deb?
only out in the sticks here we have trouble connecting with certain providers.
It does sound a good deal tho and enough for me when my contract ends. I guess you have to get your phone unlocked before you can chamge tho ??

[shirlton]

Am slowly geting used to it

[Borlotti]

My mobile is kept in the kitchen drawer.

[Deb P]

do you know what network giffgaff use Deb?
only out in the sticks here we have trouble connecting with certain providers.
It does sound a good deal tho and enough for me when my contract ends. I guess you have to get your phone unlocked before you can chamge tho ??

Giffgaff was apparently set up by ex O2 employees, but uses the O2 network. I have been using them for a year and have only had one morning without service due to a fire at their servers or something. Yes, you need an unlocked phone, and they do Ordinary and mini sims for iPhones as well. You get monthly statements emailed which analyse your usage and tell you what your best goodybag is and what you would have spent using other providers:my teenagers would both use over £50a month on Internet usage alone! I heard about them via my son whose friends had got them at school, I confess I had never heard of them before!