Nokia 8310 problems

janet

Has anyone bought a Nokia 8310 and had problems with it? The reason I am asking is because I bought one in August 2002 and have had nothing but hassle with it.

The main fault was with the Menu button which for some reason ceased to operate after about three months. It has since been in for repair four times (on all occasions with the same fault). I was without the phone for two consecutive months, as each time it was returned from the repairers, it had not been fixed.

I would like to stress that the phone has never been mistreated, never dropped or exposed to any liquids. It has spent its entire working life in my pocket (and before anyone thinks otherwise, that's my front pocket and not my back one!) I may have felt like throwing it against the wall on several occasions but I have always resisted this urge.

The O2 store from which I bought the phone then agreed to replace the handset in January 2003. Two days ago, the exact same fault occurred with the replacement. I am assuming that when the O2 store "replaced" my handset, that they did actually give me a new one - but how difficult is it for them to change stickers on the phone and reprogram it with a different serial number?

Two of my brothers have the 8310 and have not had this problem occurring with their handsets (although the volume control did break on one of them which was easily repaired under warranty). To me, however, the 8310 is the greatest piece of doggy doo I have ever owned. I'm going to ask the store to give me a refund today - but I would be interested to hear of any problems other people have had with their 8310.

As I hope to get a different phone, could anyone suggest a decent one? I'm fond of Nokias, despite the problems I've been having, because I like their software and I find the phones very easy to use. I was thinking about the 6310i but this is considerably bigger than the tiny 8310. I've no interest whatsoever in a camera phone. The features I would be interested in would be long battery life (preferably Li-ion or Li-polymer), small(ish) size, low weight, decent range of ringtones, and a telephone book that's as easy to use as the one on my 8310. Are the Sony Ericsson phones any good? Any information would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

janet

P.S. Does anyone know why I can't seem to send or receive text messages to / from a user in Germany? (Just thought I'd throw that one in!)

RicardoSmith

There were a lot of problems with the 8210 but I haven't heard about the 8310. You best bet is to go to the Nokia store in Dawson St, they will know if theres any common problems and replace the phone etc. It may even need flashing with new software, though I don't know where you can get this done in Ireland.

I have a 6310i and from messing around with other peoples 8310 I reckon they are very similar menu-wise. So you'll probably love it. Though personally I really dislike nokia phones I only got the 6310i because it was one of the cheapest options at the time. The 6310i has a resonable long battery life 5-6 days though this is not as long as my old Siemens S25 which it replaced.

I find the menu system on the 6310i very longwinded and many of the most used items are buried in the middle of menus which makes most tasks longer than they should. It drives me nuts sometimes. The 3310 and 3330 menus are far superior. The 3410 has some features/functionality in the menus that the 6310i lacks which I think is a bit odd.

The large blue screen is the best feature of the phone and its also a very slim phone and I find it easier to carry than smaller thicker phones.

Does any one know if a flash update would changed the menus around?

Dizz

Wouldn't really bother witht he guys in dawson street cos they'll just send you up the the telephone store and then if the phone needs a firmware update they'll send ya off to Bray to communicaid. Give them a ring (2040452) and see what they can do.

Dizz

flywheel

if it has had the same fault / been for repair more than 3 times - try asking for a new handset, it is now a recurring fault that isn't being fixed

the telephone store on dawson st. can handle flash updates for regular nokia handsets, thats where i get my 6310 updated, if it's quiet they can normally have it don in an hour, it just needs a cable to flash it.

flashing the 7650 is a different ball game as it needs special opening tools and upgrade equipment

HTH,
BrianG

RicardoSmith

DubWireless -Why did you get the 6310 flashed and what did it change?

flywheel

i originally had V 4.10 which had issues with GPRS over Bluetooth, upgraded to V 4.20 which fixed this

i think V 5.01 is the latest (includes a lot of car kit fixes from V 4.31)

HTH,
BrianG

RicardoSmith

No menu changes or anything like that?

flywheel

not that i noticed - fixes appear mainly related to phone's performance/stability rather than anything to do with the user interface

BrianG

Cond0r

I currently have an 8310, it's the 3rd one i've had. I got the 2 previous ones replace because the software was so buggy, the phone crashed at least 10/15 time per day. Like, i'd be writing a text and all of a sudden it'd crash and reboot itself, and i'd lose the text I was after writing. Overall I like the 8310 but the early software needed a lot of work. Seems to be alright now though.
Just my cents worth.

C.