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New Fone Farce


Timbo

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It's that time of year again folks, when just as the screen on my trusty Sony phone starts to wear and not respond, my phone provider tells me I'm due a new phone. Popping into store I discover to my horror, that my new phone won't be a Sony as my provider no longer supplies them! What madness is this?
"We have the fabulous new i-phones!" the attractive assistant breathes huskily clutching an i-phone to her bosom.
"You can keep it!" I mutter.
"But it's an -i-phone'!" squeaks the indignant assistant.
"That's why you can keep it. I'd like a Sony please."
"But we have i-phones, everyone wants one."
"No they don't."
"We have Samsung?" says the assistant looking more than a little put out.
"Sony?"
"Samsung!"
"Sony!"
"Samsung!"
"What's the SAR rating then?" I asked.
"The what?"
"The SAR rating. My phone isn't a fashion accessory, it's a communication device I want to check the quality of the antenna."

So while the assistant started ringing supervisors for information I went looking for a new provider, only to get the same rigmarole.
"Sorry Sony are being discontinued."
"But do you have one?"
"Yes but I can't give you one. We've got i-phones?"
"Look, I don't want an i-phone! You couldn't give me an i-phone!"
My Sony phone rings.
"Ooh, you did well getting reception around here!" exclaims the chap behind the counter.
"I know! It's because it's a Sony phone with a good antenna."

My original provider was ringing to say she has called in the manager and so I pop back to the original store. The manager, knows his stuff. He looks up the SAR ratings for the phones they have in stock. I choose a phone claiming to have a better antenna than my Sony.
"Ooh, a pretty Samsung!" pants the lady assistant almost breathless.
"Are you alright love? Do you have an inhaler or something?"

If I was supposed to ring you, please bear with me while I swap phones and directories etc? 

 

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I had none of those problems when I was replacing my drowned blackberry, I just waltzed into a vodaphone shop, said no lots of times to all the bits they wanted to upsell me and waltzed out again having spent £20 on an energizer phone, at the end of a day of use i stick it on charge, and 5 minutes later it goes ping to tell me I have topped up the 10% of charge it used through the day, it does phone calls and texts, it even has a camera and spare slot for an extra sim card, and best of all uses no data (because it only does texts and phone calls) and being made by a battery company it has a huge battery. (apparently there is another bigger model that is built into a power bank, and can keep the phone on standby for several months - https://www.techspot.com/news/78930-energizer-shows-off-phone-18000mah-battery.html - and that one is a smart phone.

even mine is rated at 8 days on standby, thats nearly as good as my old nokia used to manage.

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I like Sony phones, but like you have struggled to replace them on my recent contracts with Vodafone. My previous phone was a Samsung, I was seduced by a "special offer" meaning the then top of the range phone came "free" whilst I would have to pay extra for a basic Sony. It didn't take me long to realise why they were giving the Samsung away. 

When people have asked and posted about signal I have made the point time and time again that the device may be more important than the network. I'm not sure people believed me. 

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Which demonstrates the point, my wife gets a good 4g signal at Horning Staithe using a Sony M4 (not a top of the range phone), on Giff Gaff which I believe uses O2 or on Vodafone. My Huawei get's an OK signal. I can browse the web and push or pull emails but I can't use facetime, skygo or youtube. I have to tether to her phone to do that. 

I can't comment on Salhouse as we never stop there. 

Coverage is gradually improving, though I fear that may stall as providers concentrate on 5g, and phone manufacturers are, very slowly waking up to the need to improve the reception of their devices though Sony are still head and shoulders above the rest in that area. 

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Phew! That's the new phone all set up and ready to go. Transferring contacts was simple and painless. Re-installing software and upgrading hardware was also fairly simple but time consuming. Software and hardware is another reason I don't use Apple products. I use a lot of proprietary software on my computers and phone which in turn requires the latest hardware to run it. 

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