Well , got my Vodafone e61

[miffed]

... and found I get EXACTLY the same trouble as I did with Three (i.e. Not compatible with all the services ... Vodafone Live! shows as text only , and there is no sign of TV or anything (which is what I bought the handset for !! )
...But , having said that , it is a lovely handset ,Thought to myself "if ONLY Voda offered data at a reasonable price , I might consider keeping it .... but as general internet use would cost a fortune on Voda I'd better send it back "
I then discovered Vodafone forgot to lock it - So i am going to keep it and use my T-mobile W&W sim in it

The problem IMO , when you get a handset like this ( that is not going to appeal to the masses ) , the networks , or at least Three & Vodafone simply can't be arsed to make sure their services are configured properly to work with it can't see what the big deal is , as all the "commercial" handsets have to be "matched up" in this way

Must try harder

seeing as I have W&W on it now , think I'll attempt an over the air firmware upgrade

[miffed]

WOW !! - this is great

Anyone want an SPV m3100 ?

[Ben]

Lmao, you must be enjoying it! So it's a pretty decent handset? How's web browsing?

[miffed]

Browsing is great ! you really have to use the device to appreciate it , buy I'll try to explain - (there are numerous navigation options that I have yet to try , but just on the default setting ), the device is perfect for one handed operation , it sits in the palm of your hand & your thumb naturally rests on the joystick , which moves a pointer around the screen - move close to the edge of the sreen and it automatically scrolls in that direction ( sounds a bit dodgy , but you feel 100% in control )
When you select "history" , instead of getting a list of sites you get "snapshots" of webpages , which you scroll through , with the front (selected) one being magnified as you scroll through them

Not sure if these are standard s60 or s60 v3 features - but for me they do make this device ! I was actually worried how I would adapt to browsing on a non touch screen display , but this really is a joy to use

Nice one Nokia

[getti]

If you dont mind the lack of the camera the E61 is a great phone. I love the way you can press 8 and it gives a thumbnail of the page with a red box you can scroll around whole web pages really quick.

In fact when i was tracking my Macbook pro i used a N93 with the same browser because the mobile internet explorer was so poor

[miffed]

Originally Posted by getti

If you dont mind the lack of the camera the E61 is a great phone. I love the way you can press 8 and it gives a thumbnail of the page with a red box you can scroll around whole web pages really quick.

Yeah , I've noticed this comes up automatically if you start to move quickly too , then dissappears by itself when you stop

The other thing is this device / browser ABSOLUTELY FLIES !! - Considering I have gone from Pocket IE on my SPV at HSDPA speeds - I was expecting to find it a bit sluggish , but the opposite is true ! It feels lightening quick on normal 3G , feels comparable to my 2mb home connection it terms of how long pages take to display properly

[miffed]

Think I'm going to cry tears of joy

just synced my E61 with my iSync mac -Quickly & easy (once I found a profile for it on the net )
Don't get me wron, I have loved using Windows mobile devices - but the one thing that has pissed my off is the fact that they won't sync with my mac (unless I pay for third party software , and at the time I was looking , was not available for intel macs )

Not only did I sync the e61 , but it also synced my 6280 which I had forgotten I had even set up on iSync - in less time than it takes Activsync to start up ! let alone switching profiles and actual syncing !

I am absolutely loving this E61 - the only downsde so far , is the font in the "Today" screen is a little small for my aging eyes ( best get to specsavers ) in certain lights
but other than that - over the moon !!

Still not "flashed" up though - Can't find a PC with both an internet connection and more than 192mb ram , though my old laptop had enough ram , but again , only shows up at 192mb
a copy of XP & boot camp may be the soloution

[Hands0n]

Or Parallells - might be more suitable than boot camp.

[miffed]

Yeah , had a little play with parallels when it first came out - but the only windows OS I had laying around was w98se ( And it was only the demo version of Parallells
Still pretty good though

The honeymoon period is starting to wear off on the e61 now

If you read the info on the net , you'd think the e61's battery life was pretty good
But my experience is the complete opposite - I have charged it four times since getting it Thursday , "fair enough" , I thought - I HAVE been using it heavily
..... But then , yesterdays experience has changed my opinion a little
I charged it at about 4pm Friday - I did use it quite heavily though , so when I picked it up Saturday morning to find the battery all but dead , I wasnt to surprised ... so I put it on charge and went out at about 9am
Got home at about 11.30am - still charging , so I left it to it and went out again
Came home at 3pm - fully charged (but still plugged in) - unplugged it , put it on the desk , and then didn't touch it for the rest of the day , other than to look at one received text message
Woke up this morning to find that the phone had switched itself off during the night - turned it on to confirm that the battery was dead
So now its back on charge AGAIN .... looked around the user forums , and their consensus is that it is my fault for wanting to use my 3G phone on "3G" , and use push mail etc

I sincerely hope that I have a faulty handset , because frankly , 16 hours (max) standby , is pathetic !

(now where DID i put that SPV with it's "notoriously poor WM5 Battery life .... ? )

[Hands0n]

Originally Posted by miffed

So now its back on charge AGAIN .... looked around the user forums , and their consensus is that it is my fault for wanting to use my 3G phone on "3G" , and use push mail etc

Yea, that is the "conventional advice" ..... to take your 3G handset and switch it to 2G. I'm not allowed to use the language in response that I'd like to. What an utterly ridiculous notion! I even had a Vodafone Shop person tell me that before I walked out with the Z540 PAYT ...... "If you're not using it for video calling then switch it to 2G". Yea right, that'll make sure video calling is never used on a Vodafone network!

I do rather believe that those who visit and frequent this forum actually do want to use their 3G handsets on a 3G network LOL

It does rather sound like you have either a phone or battery fault and I'd be getting that sorted out pronto-like with all the usual "within 14-day" threats to the supplier That is rather pathetic battery life, I think my old NEC e606 could top that ROTFL. Do you want to buy it

[miffed]

Trouble is .... The handset I have got is unlocked

Not sure that any replacement they send will be ...

Can't be doing with this paying through the nose for data lark

So ... my options are

Keep it - try getting a new battery , see if that helps

or

Send it back & tell them to stick it , Buy one on T-mobile !

[miffed]

well , was in Canterbury this afternoon - the t-mobile shop was open .....

So .....

Got my Third E61 now , Realised the Mobile TV thing was a bit much to expect , but in my efforts I have fallen in love with the e61
so Vodafone can have theirs back ! , I now have a 6280 on voda anyway , ao in the event that they ever get 3G coverage in anywhere I spend any time , I'll be able to use that to try mobile TV
So , hopefully it'll be third time lucky with a T-mobile E61 - I am charging it at the moment (100% by the book , am not even going to turn it on until the charging is over ) - hopefully it was a faulty handset/ battery causing the problems I experience with the Voda version
Also heard a rumour that Vodafone "locked down" the E61 to prevent firmware updates ! not sure if this is true, but if it is , i'll be glad to be rid of it ! - haven't switched the new one on yet so not sure if the firmware is up to date on the T-mobile version

[Hands0n]

LOL ... Good luck with this one geezer

[Ben]

Yes, best of luck this time, I think you probably did the right thing - at least this way any issues you do experience will be squarely in T-Mobile's court.

[miffed]

what a difference in battery life !!

Keep my example above in mind (i.e charged at 3pm friday - dead by Sat morning )
Charged my new one at about 4pm yesterday - Put all my stuff on it , played with it most of the evening , set up push mail etc , then went to bed .....
.....Woke up this AM and the battery was full ! Turned the phone off and on again to make sure it wasn't battery meter being dodgy (known problem in these devices ) -here we are at 12pm and it is still full ! - so it looks like the Vodafone model was definately faulty
Got the old firmware though - not a huge problem as I am sure I'll be able to get it reflashed at some pointm- not really an urgent thing though , as it seems to perform a little slower than the Voda one (not that it is sluggish or anything - the Voda just seemed to be lightening quick at everything
Seriously considering outing the SPV now - although there is a temptation to keep it for HSDPA modem use