I have a Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone. At least that's what they call it; I call it a dumbphone as from purchase it has had problems. When you first turn it on, it is supposed to set your home location, but this dunce said I live in the next town, not mine.
In any event, I have built up almost two years of hatred for Samsung, google, the hemorroid, I mean Android, operating system, and AT&T. I'm not a technician, but I can make other things work, while this dropping just doesn't get the job done.
My contract is up next month, and I plan to slap this thing with a 12 pound sledge and put it out of our misery.
My question is should I remove the battery first, or should I let it become part of the Samsung crepe? I know LI batteries should be recycled, but I'm not sure this thing even has a battery as it frequently complains of running out of power in those few moments when it isn't making strange sounds or missing phone calls. It keeps getting worse; I think they are pissed of because I decline to install upgrades for their Apps, and have taken to trying to delete every App that pops up to annoy me. Most of them whine that if I delete them some other Apps may not work, even though I don't want either, and quite a few can't be deleted as they are protected by Gaggle, Samsung, or Hemorroid.
I have the same phone and it behaves fine. It sounds like you should go back to the store you bought it from and have them show you how to set up the location awareness feature and remove the dumbness from your phone. If it's AT&T you got it from, then you have my sympathy.
BTW - The phone is OK. Carrier provided apps are there because your carrier insists they stay. Google owns the Android system and their stuff is baked in, just as Apple is in the Iphone and Microsoft is in the Windows phones. Since it's a Samsung phone, their apps are baked in too.
The phone has a battery which is lithium ion. You slide the back off to get it, and yes take it out and recycle it if that's what you want to do. Instead of destroying the phone sell it. There are pleanty of companies that will pay money for it.
I can also say it's not the Android OS that's the problem. I've had a ZTE Awe here for 9 months and it works great, very happy with it.
As for the battery and smashing the phone, if he really wants to get rid of it, he should just sell it on Ebay. Should easily get $100, $200+ for it. That of course is assuming this isn't a troll.....
In our town, we used to put recyclables in an opaque bag; while trash went in a bin. Now they have given us a different colored bin for recyclables, so no more opaque bags. Always we have had to take LI batteries to a recycling facility, in our case, Home Depot.
In any event, my disposal is driven by emotion, not economics, and I'll take great pleasure in the absolute destruction of this evil device. Did I mention that new Apps mysteriously appear, while old ones disappear, and when they use words like Dongle, I know I am not dealing with adults.
"Not@homeNot"@home.net wrote in news:tLWdnX7cN4FMr7nJnZ2dnUU7- snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:
I feel your pain.
LOL -- I did *exactly* that when the contract ran out on my Samsum flip-phone some years back.
Trust me on this: remove the battery first. The sledgehammer blow will rupture the cells. And it will start to get hot. Really hot. As in, maybe start a fire hot. Don't ask me how I know this.
If you search Amazon or probably I mean Ebay for a particular model phone, it tries to get you to sell yours and even says what they have been selling for. Since I bought mine on ebay, a 100 dollar phone for
50, after 18 months it was still selling for 48. I don't like mine either. It's 35 or 40 now iirc.
There's also a popular site called Swappa where used smartphones sell for markedly more than on eBay, largely because all phones are required to be fully functional & not carrier-blocked. I'm planning to use it to sell off the iPhone
3gs that my father's girlfriend's kid tossed in the recycling bin now tha t I've replaced the broken screen.
Besides, putting it up for sale is a kindness for folks like me that can' t afford a remotely recent smartphone by a good manufacturer otherwise, esp ecially since replacing stock Android with CyanogenMod will probably fix any issu es it has. Someone else destroying a tech device we can't afford (and would fe el incredibly lucky to get) is way more frustrating than all but the worst O S issues anyway. :-)
You could even just spend the half-hour it'd take to jam CyanogenMod onto it yourself, since that would almost certainly fix the problem and is quite easy to do these days. It sounds like a nice enough phone to be worth the effort .
Not doubting your experience, but I've had both AT&T contract and prepaid phones continuously since 1994 and never had one single problem with any of the phones or service. The thing I like most is that every customer service call has been to an intelligent, friendly and US-based person. I have told them flat out, that I appreciate their good service. One time they even volunteered to send me a new phone at no cost and no contract extension, but mine was fine and they just applied a credit to my account. Wasn't calling with a complain or anything -- they just volunteered it. Also, because I had 3000 minutes banked, one suggested switching from the $70/mon plan to $50/mon (2 phones). Can't complain about anything with AT&T.
However.... these have all been pre-smart phones. I may be missing out on something, but I still don't see the reason for me to get a smart phone. I don't need to watch videos, play games, use GPS or automatically send money somewhere.
On the other hand, I would not sign up for Verizon anything (phone, internet, etc...) even if it were free. Only one of 20 cust service calls I have made over the years has been resolved. Most of them are in some godawful location half way around the world. Their service is unbelievable bad here in So Calif. The excuse is always "we're upgrading the service in your area." BS -- they have no "service" in this area to upgrade. LOL!!
20 years ago I got a Trakphone and could never make it work. Customer service hours were 9-5 Mon-Friday. Maybe they are better now.
Back to your question about batteries -- I would mail it back to the manufacturer with a letter explaining the problems and how dissatified you are, and ask for some kind of refund (and specify "not a credit toward purchasing anything.) Probably will get something.
phones continuously since 1994 and never had one single problem with any o f the phones or service. The thing I like most is that every customer serv ice call has been to an intelligent, friendly and US-based person. I have told them flat out, that I appreciate their good service. One time they ev en volunteered to send me a new phone at no cost and no contract extension, but mine was fine and they just applied a credit to my account. Wasn't c alling with a complain or anything -- they just volunteered it. Also, bec ause I had 3000 minutes banked, one suggested switching from the $70/mon pl an to $50/mon (2 phones). Can't complain about anything with AT&T.
n something, but I still don't see the reason for me to get a smart phone. I don't need to watch videos, play games, use GPS or automatically send mo ney somewhere.
The main benefit for me of the smartphone is being able to access the web and email when out of the house. For example, if you're at HD and want to pull up a data sheet on some product, or maybe HD doesn't have it and you want to see if Lowes does, etc. Or if you're expecting an email and want to check it while out. If your carrier supports visual voicemail, that's a big plus too. Instead of having to call in, find you have 5 messages and now you have to go through them one at a time, with VVM, you can see a list of 5 messages right on your phone, who left them, and then just tap to listen to any particular one of them. Texting is also useful, when you need to exchange a short message, like, "running late , be there at 6". I also use GPS once in a while, if I'm in some unfamiliar area. And with a smartphone, you can have any pics you take instantly linked to a PC anywhere, via dropbox. No need to hook up cables to the PC anymore. That's a nice convenience. You also can use the phone on the internet anywhere with wifi, like at home, many stores, restaurants, etc without running up data usage on the carrier network. I can use it to check email or weather while watching TV, for example.
And there are a lot of neat apps available for free too. Like one that shows you where the lowest gas prices are in the area you are in at the moment. Another one turns the phone into a level. Another one a compass. None of the last ones are essential by any means, but they do come in handy once in a while. I think for many people, once they actually have one and use it, they will find uses they didn't even think about.
Another problem is that with carriers and plans, the choices in just a basic phone are dwindling.
net, etc...) even if it were free. Only one of 20 cust service calls I hav e made over the years has been resolved. Most of them are in some godawful location half way around the world. Their service is unbelievable bad her e in So Calif. The excuse is always "we're upgrading the service in your a rea." BS -- they have no "service" in this area to upgrade. LOL!!
I had Verizon Wireless for 20+ years. I thought they were fine with just a few exceptions. One is that they try to slam you with extras when you buy a new phone. I've found out a couple months later that I have insuranc e, when no one asked me about it, I didn't have it before, etc. Friends have reported similar, with pay services being activated when they got new phones for their kids.
The other is that for the last few years, Verizon apparently didn't want me as a customer. I was paying $55 a month for a basic phone. I looked into getting a new one, and the only way I could get a smartphone on their network was with a plan that would have been $85. That's even if I was only going to use the phone for internet access in wifi mode, ie not even use Verizons data network. They insisted you still had to have a data plan, even if you were not sending any data on their network. Sounds like a possible antitrust issue, but they were getting away with it.
So, now I'm at Virgin Mobile Custom. I switched to Zact last year, then Zact recently moved it's customers over to VMC. My bill has averaged maybe $12 a month with Zact, it's going up a bit with VMC, but still under $20.
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