Stress-Testing the Verizon G'zOne Cellphone 112
abkaiser writes "You can dunk it under water. Put it in the oven and crank up the heat. Drop it, smack it, treat it like the hunk of plastic that it is. And yet this is a cellphone. I got my hands on the Verizon G'zOne (pronounced 'G-Z-One'), a phone designed for high-abuse environments. Come for the test methodology, stay for the photo of a cellphone cooking in an oven."
High abuse environments... (Score:4, Funny)
Oblig. ATHF (Score:5, Funny)
Hip College-Age Guy on TV Commercial: Dude, you're getting an OoGhiJ MIQtxxXA! [ooghij-miqtxxxa.com]
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The Wrath of Ally (Score:2)
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Smile when you use the G'zOne...
Why use the oven? (Score:1)
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I wonder how resistant the LCD is to cracking (Score:3, Insightful)
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I dropped my Treo in a parking lot after taking some hefty back-pain meds... When returned the next day, the LCD was cracked but the left side worked.
I have to cut-and-paste text messages then add carriage feed returns so I can read the text...
$100 for new screen
$200 for new (replacement) treo
$300 for new treo version
Too cheap and lazy to upgrade or fix it now...
Re:I wonder how resistant the LCD is to cracking (Score:5, Informative)
When I broke the screen on my sony ericsson T610 about a year ago, I was given a quote of about $200 for a new branded screen - I went to my local asian-run backstreet electronics store and got a new generic screen installed for $30 including labour (although labour is nothing, I could have installed it myself). Anyways, it was hugely cheaper than a branded part, and brighter than the original to boot! It's been working flawlessly since then.
Re:I wonder how resistant the LCD is to cracking (Score:5, Funny)
Siemens A65 (Score:2)
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I'll never spend a lot on a phone. I only need Voice and SMS, the rest is unnecessary crap. I don't even need a color display.
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Tough phone, crappy server (Score:2)
Dotted already (Score:4, Informative)
Clearly the most ridiculous name for a phone yet (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Clearly the most ridiculous name for a phone ye (Score:2)
Special permission? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Special permission? (Score:4, Insightful)
how about stress testing the server? (Score:1, Redundant)
Network Mirror (Score:1, Redundant)
Who needs it? (Score:2, Funny)
Yet another user for... (Score:2, Funny)
So they're building things like they used to. (Score:4, Insightful)
For the record, I washed AND DRIED my Motorolla v70 a few years ago (in the pocket of my cargo pants).
I had to replace the antenna, and the microphone made me sound like crap, but it worked.
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I've had mobile phones for a long time now, never has one performed like this. Neither did your v70 by the sounds of it!
I hate to disagree with you, but there's plenty of very old electronics in my house and I'm not going to put any of it in the bath.
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I hate to disagree with you, but there's plenty of very old electronics in my house and I'm not going to put any of it in the bath.
Depends on how old "very old" is. A couple of times now I've taken old tube radios, removed them from the case, removed the tubes and anything else removable (dial cord, etc.) and plunked them in the dishwasher. Run them through a wash-only cycle (i.e., no drying) with no detergent, then stick 'em in the oven at 200F for a few hours. Does an excellent job of cleaning off all the gunk that old radios tend to accumulate, and it doesn't hurt the electronics a bit (although any paper labels on the chassis w
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Re:So they're building things like they used to. (Score:4, Interesting)
After it got retired, I passed it to my son for use as a kiddies toy, and it took years of that abuse. Never really checked to see if it worked, but then realised it had a bunch of numbers in it I needed. Powered it up after 3 years of being a toddlers toy (hate to think the abuse it experienced), and everything worked perfectly.
Menu was snappier than most of the current batch of phones as well. And battery life was considerably better. Progress, eh?
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In general it seems to be the "solid block" phones that can survive the most punishment, most dual-screen sliding/flip phones are quite easy to damage.
I have a Nokia 6020 now (I got it on renewal of my
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Any relation (Score:3, Funny)
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waterproof caps (Score:2)
Phil
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Phil
Verizon (Score:2)
Damn!
My phone is always in the oven (Score:2)
All a more durable phone means to me is I kill more reps with it when I throw it at them.
Lost in translation (Score:4, Informative)
And strip half the features and change twice at much. Guess that's what took two years.
(Link to original phone. [kddi.com])
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Good luck with that - it's not a GSM phone :-)
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Warranty? (Score:2)
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I think any major corporation that says "We stand behind our product" is really saying "We stand behind you, please bend over, this wont hurt a bit".
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What's with these names? (Score:1)
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Ericsson R310s (Score:2)
Party trick - set it to "vibrate" mode, drop it in a pint of beer, and phone it - instant cocktail shaker!
Completely gortex'd up phone. You can find them on ebay here in the UK for about 50 pounds now and again, old stock people are dumping...
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My solution for the 'tough phone' thing is get a good quality phone with voice dial, and keep it in the pocket of a decent Goretex coat. Hook it up to your bluetooth headset (You can get ones with proper over-ear mufflers and boom mics with windshields if you check professional suppliers) and it works perfectly.
The one problem I see with phones designed for outdoor pursuits is that more often than not you're out of range anyway. If you need connectivity, get a sat phone, most po
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outdoor theatre gigs - so phone gets dropped from ten feet up a scaffold tower, falls into puddles, works outside when pouring with rain, knocked against all sorts of hard unforgiving surfaces, rattles around in land rovers, that kind of thing. Good call on the tucked away phone for weather proofing - something I will investigate in future, but shock proofing and good for all weathers definitely a must. I think these new Japanese phones might be useful for sure.
Signal is usually not t
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The quest for an indestructible communications device continues eh?
I will never buy another Verizon-brand phone... (Score:2, Informative)
Then the time came to pick a "free" phone for work, and unfortunately I chose the Pantech PN-215, a "Verizon brand" phone. While it was more or less s
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Verizon has made it their policy to lock down the filesystem of every device they get their greedy mitts on.
I agree with your general sentiment, but I'd like to point out that not every Verizon phone is completely locked down. In the past few months, I have purchased both a LG-VX5300 and a Motorola Razr V3m from Verizon. The LG is not locked down at all and I was able to sync phone book, add ringtones, transfer pictures, etc. using Bluetooth and BitPim. The Razr V3m, on the other hand, is completely locked down and can't connect to the PC at all without buying some software from Verizon.
This is pretty ridi
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Not all that innovative (Score:1)
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Stress test? (Score:1)
Why? (Score:4, Interesting)
Hey, if you're a telco that intentionally cripples the bluetooth features on its phones to the point of uselessness and still sells it as bluetooth even after a class action lawsuit, you've already created enough of a high abuse environment for me as a customer to never want to ever return.
Citation for my gripe: http://support.vzw.com/capability/bluetooth_popup
"Bluetooth is a wireless networking technology designed primarily to replace cables for communication between personal computing and communication devices. For example, Bluetooth technology allows you to use a wireless headset to place and receive calls."
So what self respecting
My #1 use for Bluetooth is file transfer to store media on my 1G of built in storage on my phone as I would a USB HD, but transferable without the cables.
I switched from Verizon to Cingluar a couple years ago and have been happy to transfer files from my desktop to my cell to my laptop or other peoples computers for years now. I can also plug it in and use it as I would a USB HD. But since I am in SF and so many techies here use MacBooks, because MacBooks lets Pros work like they want, it's just easier to have BT file transfer. BT is also great for syncing my Apple Address Book and iCal to my phone, infact, it syncs multiple computers via blutooth to my contacts and calendar. Verizons crippleware requires you plug in a USB cable and use proprietary software to do this. My Motorola and Mac just use iSync, which comes with my Mac from Apple with OS X for free.
I tried switching to HELIO last month, but I found out after subscribing that their bluetooth was HEADSET ONLY. I unsubscribed within 30 minutes, that's how long it took me to get home and find that my workstation and handset could not talk to each other... my workstation could see the handset but the file browser was "FEATURE NOT AVAILABLE ON THIS DEVICE" and they wanted me to install some proprietary software/spyware. Not suprisingly, HELIO uses Verizons and Sprints networks. I'd be willing to bet $500.00 that there is a contractual arrangement for use of the Verizon network that requires HELIO (EARTHLINK) to cripple Bluetooth to headset only.
And I am glad HELIO crippled their devices in this way without making it clear. I unsubbed, returned my eqpt and went back to Cingular with the only hitch that HELIO was playing games on my number being assigned back to CINGULAR (it took 3 days!!! While Cingular had the number to SPRINT/HELIO inside that 30 minute window) Because I am now just waiting for the Apple iPhone to come out and I will gladly drop cash for that.. ESP since SF will be wifi enabled withiin a year of the phones launch and will be one of the first cell/wifi phones on the market and by far the coolest.
iPhone on Verizon????
HAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHA
HAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA
You'll have to install so many hacks on the iPhone to get it to work like Cingular users will have it work out of the box that you might as well just sign it off as "PWNED to some hacker in Beijing".
So WHY? WHY does any self respecting
Or does the
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That aside I think it's pretty pathetic that because of Verizon's policies the $250 phone in my pocket functions more like a $20 phone.
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Well, for me, it comes down to coverage. I work in the Hudson Valley and travel by train between New York City and Albany nearly every day of the week. Verizon is the only carrier with decent coverage for both my cell phone and EVDO Internet access for the entire trip. Sprint, Cingular, Nextel have very spotty coverage, especially north of Croton-Harmon.
Now, we can argue about EVDO and wireless technology and money-grubbing telco execs forever, but at t
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Thanks, I've looked. There are a number of T-Mobile users among the train regulars, and they drop signal far more often than Verizon users (though it also depends on the phone model). Upstate NY commuter train lore (vaguely confirmed by Verizon employees among the train regulars) claims that Verizon has their towers closer to the river than the other carriers. T
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Agreed about the Kyocera models with VZW. It's still true with the various EVDO models -- the Kyocera K650 card seems to be one of the best. I briefly had an AudioVox cell phone with VZ that was crap; my current Motorola (not RAZR) works nicely.
Tip: if you have to use VZW's EVDO service, save a few bucks by buying from Booster-Antenna.com [booster-antenna.com]. And get their external booster antenna. Much better signal strength == better transfer speeds. Using it right now, actually... zipping along at 90mph along the Hud
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If it's that obvious, they probably have a patent on it.
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That said, I just love how every article that mentions Verizon has to have at least one person griping about how they are such an evil company.
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Additionally, the follow
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Re:Why? -- coverage (Score:2)
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So what self respecting /. user uses Verizon? And if you use it and pay for it out of pocket... WHY???
I do, mainly because of data services. When the cable modem goes out, I can get online at tolerable speeds with 1xRTT, and it's totally free at night or on the weekends. Once I upgrade my phone, I'll be able to get online at usable speeds with EVDO.
EDGE and GPRS are a joke, so no Cingular or T-Mobile for me. That leaves only Sprint, but after the billing nightmare they put me through a few years ago, I'm not going back.
Also (Score:2)
Nextel (Score:2)
I've had this for a few months now (Score:1)
Pronounciation (Score:3, Funny)
That's "gee-zed-one", right?
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Gee-zee One... you know, kinda sounds like "cheesy one"
won't help if... (Score:1)
Price vs features. (Score:2)
That site is bouncing back to slashdot (Score:2)
Except the moron there can't type. I inserted the spaces in the ht tp part to keep from hotlinking.
If the asshats at this website do not want slashdot's attention maybe they should have used a 404.
wget ht tp://www.andybrain.com/extras/gzone-review.htm
--15:15:59-- ht tp://www.andybrain.com/extras/gzone-review.htm
Resolving www.andybrain.com... 64.141.135.25
Connecting to www.andybrain.com|64.141.135.25|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 302 Found
Location: ht tp://www.slashdot.comextras/g
But what about cold? (Score:2)
The real question is will it survive extreme cold. And will it survive sudden chilling or sudden heating.
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oh, geeks, for shame (Score:2)
the guy straps a phone onto a vibrator, and not one comment.
Passes the adorable test (Score:2)
Verizon's next phone? (Score:1)
Will Verizon's next phone be called G'sPot?
MIL-STD-810F (Score:1)
Water Resistance (Method 506.4, procedure I). The writeup says the test was designed to simulate rainfall of 2 inches per hour with a 40 MPH wind. This is fine if you t