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Topic: Fixing a Razr phone?

Mike Heenan
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1896
From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 12-23-2006 06:57 PM

Don't all cell providers charge for text messages received and sent? I know Tmobile is 10 cents for every one sent, unless you add a $5 a month unlimited text service, or something like that.

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Jason Black
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1723
From: Myrtle Beach, SC, USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 12-23-2006 07:07 PM

I've had my Razr for nearly a year and haven't had ONE problem with it. My wife, on the other hand, has had an issue with one I bought for her on Ebay... it doesn't work right unless you leave it open all the time.. which defeats the purpose of the phone.

I just ordered another one for her because she really likes it...

Sounds like Cingular does suck.. I use Suncom and pay $40/month for unlimited minutes and long distance... Great plan, if you ask me.

Seems like that I read that the Razr was the BEST phone for low signal reception... and it seems like the more towers they put up, the more dead spots I run into...

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 12-23-2006 07:44 PM

quote: Bobby Henderson
Motorola is an American company, right?

LOL. They are Japanese. I love their 68000 processor. It has "blast processing".

quote: Bobby Henderson
Then why in the living hell are they doing something so inexcusably fuck-tarded as selling the only good versions of the Razr in Europe and Asia?

Europe is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay ahead of the USA in cell phone technology. We are not ready for it yet. In fact, this is the ONLY area which Europe can claim they are ahead of anybody in. Europe sucks.

quote: Mike Heenan
Don't all cell providers charge for text messages received and sent?

Yes. Text messages are stupid. That's why there is e-mail. I can call up the person and tell them 1 or 2 sentences faster than it would take me to thumb it in.

quote: Jason Black
Sounds like Cingular does suck.

You are basing that on only a few negative stories presented here. I've had no problem with them so far. However surely you and everyone else must know that every single cell phone provider sucks ass. There is not one single "good" one. When I first got my phone, Cricket customers could not call me for two or three weeks (though I could call them). So Cricket sucks... takes their DNS forever to propagate, so to speak. And I've heard nothing but horror stories about Verizon, T-mobile, Sprint, and all of those.

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Phil Hill
I love my cootie bug

Posts: 7595
From: Hollywood, CA USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 12-23-2006 08:00 PM

quote: Joe Redifer
...every single cell phone provider sucks ass.

Amen to that! I've tried ATT, Cingular, T-mobile, etc and still kept Sprint for the last 7 years cuz they are the only ones that will reliable connect in the hills where I live. Also, I get great service driving cross-country on I-40 and I-10.

But their customer service really sux! HA!

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Lyle Romer
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1400
From: Davie, FL, USA
Registered: May 2002

posted 12-23-2006 09:10 PM

quote: Bobby Henderson
Then why in the living hell are they doing something so inexcusably fuck-tarded as selling the only good versions of the Razr in Europe and Asia?

Don't blame the manufacturers, blame the carriers. The cell carriers spec the phones they want from the manufacturers. When the better stuff is not avaible it's usually either because of network bandwidth or customer support. For example sometimes the european or asian models will have higher resolution cameras. Why? Because the US carriers (especially GSM carriers) don't have they're high speed data networks built out enough and they don't want people picture messaging the higher res pictures because it will be slow.

In other cases, they don't want features included because they think they are too complex for people to use and will bog down customer support lines asking questions. The customer service issue is also the reason why DirecTV never enabled networking ability on their Tivo recievers (even though the hardware and software were there for wireless networking with a USB wireless adapter).

The RAZR is well constructed for what it was meant for. It was designed as a fashion accessory, not a rugged device. I have had one for over a year and it's been dropped several times and it still works just fine and isn't damaged save for some small scratches.

Also, Motorola is an American company, not Japanese.

As to the original question of the thread, the only thing I can think of to do is open it up and see if there are any cracked components (which you will have to remove metal shields to see most of). I'm guessing a capacitory or inductor that affects processor clock speed was cracked. To improve battery life, cell phone processors normally "gear shift" clock speed depending on the task. Probably text entry uses a higher clock speed and is affected by it. Does it have problems using tools like calculator?

If text entry is the ONLY thing that causes trouble there is a slim possibility that the firmware got corrupted at address related to text entry. If this happened it was definitely not caused by dropping the phone. If the firmware got corrupted a T-mobile shop should be able to re-flash the software for you and upgrade to the latest version.

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Dustin Mitchell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1865
From: Mondovi, WI, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 12-24-2006 05:39 AM

Text messaging can be retarded and I've seen several people go way overboard with it; however, used properly its a great addition to your phone. One thing that springs to mind immediately is if I'm in a loud bar sending text messages works better than calling because I wouldn't be able to hear the other person speaking and vice versa. Sending text messages can also be usefull if you are in an area with limited service for your provider. It takes fewer 'bars' to send and recieve texts than to carry on a call. Finally, there are those situations where you can't/don't want to carry on a voice conversation. If you have something very private to tell someone ("Honey, put on the buttless chaps, I'm coming home [sex]

") but can't say out loud (say while your on the bus or during a church service [Wink]

).

As for Cingular charging for text messages-every cell phone plan I've ever looked at either has a fixed number of allowed messages included with you having to pay for messages after that or they make you pay for all messages. Most of them have add-ons to their existing plans-300 messages a month for $10.99 or whatever. I will say though if text messages were free before then adding an additional charge is bullshit. I'm sure the contract is written so they can do that but its still horseshit. One more reason to stay away from Cingular.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 12-24-2006 01:20 PM

I agree about the negative comments on text messaging. I use a mobile phone to talk to other people, not type. Texting can be convenient at times, but my needs for it are rare.

One thing's for sure, people should NOT be sending text messages in movie theaters. The display screens on those phones light up like a flash light in a dark theater.

Sure, Cingular sucks. But I also agree that ALL American cellphone carriers suck. Every single one of those bastards has ways of padding a cellphone bill. The trick is you have to read all that fine print and ask lots of questions.

I thought about going with Verizon Wireless, mainly because they have a much better selection of phones than Cingular. But to get some of the services they advertise for their phones you'll wind up with a $100 per month phone bill or worse.

Being able to talk to other people on the same cellphone network for free is the most powerful selling point for any carrier. More people I talk to on the phone are with Cingular than anyone else.

quote: Joe Redifer
LOL. They are Japanese.

I had to look it up to be sure. Actually Motorola turns out to be an American company. Motorola's corporate headquarters is located in Schamburg, Illinois. The company was founded in 1928, in Chicago, originally named the Galvin Manufacturing Corporation. Even though the company marketed various electronic products under the Motorola brand name the company didn't change its name to Motorola until 1947.

Motorola has a number of manufacturing plants scattered around the United States. And they have a few outside the United States as well. Motorola is going to build a cellphone manufacturing plant in India to counter one Nokia is building there.

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Tim Reed
Better Projection Pays

Posts: 5246
From: Northampton, PA
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 12-24-2006 01:57 PM

Motorola made all the good old police radios and handy-talkies. Some of those HTs were a great source for conversion to Amateur (ham) use.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 12-24-2006 02:08 PM

quote: Tim Reed
Some of those HTs were a great source for conversion to Amateur (ham) use.

Humm, I have a Ham in the oven right now [thumbsup]

!

Mark

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Dominic Espinosa
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1172
From: California, U.S.A.
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 12-24-2006 02:43 PM

Indeed, Cingular can be a royal pain.
My ex used to work in a call center for them, probably one of the worst jobs in the world I'd say. I'd rather shovel popcorn for a living...err...Anyway.

When you have the great displeasure of dealing with cingular customer service remember this:
Dialing 0 gets you out of most menus to a live person.
The live reps are supposed to have an average call length no longer than 8 minutes so have _everything_ you need in front of you or they will not care to help.
If you have to repeat yourself more than once they're playing with something and not listening, ask for their group supervisor.

As for your Razr, the transceiver board is probably shot. It will soon stop receiving service and/or powering on/restart for no reason. Check the waranty with Motorola, it usually lasts longer and is more expedient than Cigular.

I've noticed with Motorola cell phones they either last forever or they don't last for crap.
Couple people I know had a v551, still going just fine with more scratches than a cat fight. Mine, sadly, never made it past 6 months.

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Mike Heenan
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1896
From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 12-24-2006 02:56 PM

Lyle romer

quote: Lyle Romer
If text entry is the ONLY thing that causes trouble there is a slim possibility that the firmware got corrupted at address related to text entry. If this happened it was definitely not caused by dropping the phone. If the firmware got corrupted a T-mobile shop should be able to re-flash the software for you and upgrade to the latest version.

I tried what JP said to do with the battery, and that didn't do anything, so I'm thinking this might right or perhaps what Dominic just said... I'll try taking it into one of the shops and seeing if they can help me, as I can't get any of these P2K programs to work

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 12-24-2006 06:49 PM

quote: Bobby Henderson
Actually Motorola turns out to be an American company.

Yeah yeah, I keep getting them confused with MatsuSHITa. All companies that start with the letter M are the same.

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Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 12-25-2006 08:02 PM

Gee, I've never had any of these problems with my Western Electric 500 set:

(or my 2500 set or 302 set or 2554 wall set or 1C2 payphone)

Someone remind me why I would want a cell phone.

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Phil Hill
I love my cootie bug

Posts: 7595
From: Hollywood, CA USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 12-25-2006 08:33 PM

quote: Scott Norwood
Someone remind me why I would want a cell phone.

Hot tip, Scott: There's NO cord to drag behind ya when driving around! [Razz]

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 12-25-2006 08:52 PM

Plus you can dial an entire number in the same time you can dial a 9 on that phone.

As if that isn't enough reasoning, cell phones are digital, and that means they are perfect!!!

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