SonyEricsson V800

Big cheese said:
I did not make the out of box swap because my talk minutes were more than 15minute. (so don't test your phone for more than 15 minutes.....dumb?)
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Been there done that. Thats partly why I still have my call counter sitting on 00:00:00 Though I'm slowly running outa the 7 days provisioned and getting more worried every day that my problems won't be attened too.

I'm sitting on software revision R1S025 which I was informed by SonyEricsson is currently the latest version. So a standard software upgrade will not solve my issues.

I was told all my issues can be fixed. However everyone seems to be treading on eggshells afraid they might violate some contract if they do fix it.

Af for the Mp3 issue. I've tested with six different MP3's all encoded at 128. I tested them both as standard Mp3's and DRM encoded and they seem to be fine. Also I couldn't find a docmented case of such behavior on the SE dev forums. :confused:
 
Take my advice......stay away from any 3G phone for now.

The network is not ready.

Why buy a 3G phone if it has to run on 2G.
 
Big Cheese,

You do seem to have more of your fair share of handset problems, so you've got every right to be cheesed off (if you'll pardon the pun :) )

Battery life, in general, on 3G phones is not as good as 2G phones. Once again though, you seem to get the bad ones.

I'd like your comments on two points you raised:

1) "Stay away from the network". Not to sure what network problems you have?

2) Why you were told to run the phone on 2G? We often ask customers to check the battery life on 2G as it gives us good feedback on potential problems. The phones basically have 2 radios and we can then tell what's eating the battery, if anything.
 
The 3G data card is THE option if you need mobility with your laptop only. I, however, also need my PDA to be able to connect via Bluetooth. So I have to use the phone-as-modem option.

My PDA isn't a phone, and even those that are do not yet have 3G. Tried the E1000 for a month, but I really didn't like it. Fortunately, I dropped it in my coffee. Oops...
 
V3g asked:

I'd like your comments on two points you raised:

1) "Stay away from the network". Not to sure what network problems you have?
BC:I said stay away from a 3G phone. The network is not ready (ie. not enough 3G coverage therefore the battery is used up too quick.) I am tired of the manufacturers and the network operators passing the ball.
Show me then a 3G phone that can last a day in SA.
2) Why you were told to run the phone on 2G? We often ask customers to check the battery life on 2G as it gives us good feedback on potential problems. The phones basically have 2 radios and we can then tell what's eating the battery, if anything.
BC:The only way you can keep the device going for longer than a day is to switch to 2G. What is a 3G phone worth then if not always in 3G mode.
 
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Retnox said:
I just attempted to download and run jbenchmark on my V800. And keep getting an "Invalid application" when trying to do so.
I cleared my internet cache and tried downloading it again.

Any comments?

http://www.jbenchmark.com/
http://www.jbenchmark.com/phonedetails.jsp?D=SonyEricsson+V800

the wap site to download the app is wap.jbenchmark.com
Click to expand...

I did manage to solve this problem by uploading the files via the usb cable.

I wonder if they got corrupted in downloading them via WAP? Or is it another issue with the phone. Can anyone else confirm this?

Big cheese said:
I am tired of the manufacturers and the network operators passing the ball.
Click to expand...
My sentiments exactly. - Though it now seems that Vodacom is actively working on my problem. A fact that I truly appreciate.

Although I probably made enough phone calls - If I were to pay for it - to constitute a small country's military buget.
 
is this phone (v800) network locked? can u use it on any 3G network?
 
Yes it is locked to the Vodacom Network. I really don't mind since I've been with Vodacom for almost 7 years (Aggh! It can't be can it?) Since my highschool days on prepaid.

My brother has chosen MTN, though from personal experience I won't dare and try and get more technical with their helpdesk than how to send an SMS.
(For the rest of you lot this is my personal opinion and should probably not be taken too seriously - Lets not have this degrade into an operator discussion)
 
Big Cheese, thanks for the feedback. Was just concerned you were given wrong info.

I share your sentiments on battery life. Trust me, it's not a networking problem.

About 3 weeks ago, I personally ran an E1000 down using video calls in a few different European countries (UK, France, Portugal) and got the same battery life as in SA. Best I got was about 1H40m.

The newer firmware (93I) was about 20% better than the previous version.

The handsets are maturing. When 3G was launched in the UK, 3G handsets came with 2 batteries!
 
Battery life - I am getting similar battery life to this review

From Website http://www.mobique.com/ -- V800 Review
“On average use, the V800/V802SE – while in 3G mode – was able to provide for approximately 1.5-2.5 hours worth of voice call time and up to 1.5-2.5 days standby time. When a GSM (2G) SIM card was used, the phone was able to provide around 20-30% more talk and standby time out of a single full charge.
The overall battery life on the V800/V802SE will depend on the network mode that it has been on – which can be solely 2G (GSM) or 3G (WCDMA), or a mix of both (i.e. full-time 3G mode but falling back to 2G “roaming” when home network coverage is unavailable). For the latter, when the phone “attempts” to hop back to 3G mode from its roaming state, this can also deplete the battery at a quicker rate than consistently being on its home network (i.e. 3G mode).
Should you ever find yourself in a situation where the phone is hopping back and forth between 2G and 3G networks, which can drain the battery quicker than usual, it is possible to lock the network mode to prevent this from happening (or even if you simply prefer to use either GSM or WCDMA only). This can be adjusted from the “Network Mode” option under ‘Connectivity > Mobile Networks’.”
 
Unlike the datacards you cant set it to 3G only. I found that even if you're in a 3G area and yjere is a non-3G tower closeby it will default to the stronger signal, even if it means you lose 3G coverage.

Has anyone attempted to test the 3G transfer speeds over the phone?
Bear in mind there were not under ideal conditions (Only 2 bars signal though the phone definately indicated I was in a 3G area)
Also the results are based on memory and not thuroughly documented.

I tried the following:
I connected the phone to a HP laptop. Found a 3G spot (3G icon showing on the phone) and connected.

Test 1:
*99***1# (VLive!)
Connected ok, and managed to open up this page and the Stanford International Speed Test page.
Result - really slow and couldn't run the test. Also tried messing around some oyher sites on the net and couldn't get access to most of them.

Test 2:
*99***4# (Internet.GPRS) - standard vodacom settings for the Z1010
Connected ok, and managed to open up this page and the Stanford International Speed Test page.
Result - I browsed some pages and it seemed ok. Outbound approx 24k though I dindn't get an inbound result.

Test 3:
*99***4# (Internet.GPRS) - standard vodacom settings for the Z1010 (Here I changed the APN on the phone to "internetvpn")
Connected ok, and managed to open up this page and the Stanford International Speed Test page.
Result - Pages loaded in decent time. Outbound test approx 16k, inbound test approx 4k. Results reported I was useing dailup.

If anyone can do a similar test and post their results here I'd appreciate it.

After those tests I got tired of the PC and went to play a game of chess with a friend instead. As you can see I wasnt really trying to do a "proper" test. It was more like: "Oi! I actually have 3G reception here, I wonder how fast it is. Maybe Piro brought out a new strip for megatokyo. and while I'm at it check my emails."
 
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Retnox said:
I'm trying to get hold of the Vodacom Advanced Repair centre.. I don't want to void my warranty on it. http://www.setool.net/ is the only site I know that actually offers you the option to do this. Do you know of any others? (Don't go for the standalone option if you just want to do the one phone.)

Razer0 - I'm also a big SE fan though I seem to be quite happy with the V800 sofar. I'll get myself more memory as soon as I can coz 32 is just not enough.

My gripes with the phone seems to be the following:
* Protected Images (Vodafone/Vodacom)
* Locked data accounts (Vofafone/Vodacom)
* Missing "More" Button (Vodafone/Vodacom) It's an easy way to activate/deactivate bluetooth, infrared etc.
* DRM issue. (SonyEricsson)
* Really red interface (Vodafone/Vodacom) I tried to compensate by useing a really blue theme but it's still a bit of an eyesore. the standard SE interface is much more balanced and of higher quality than the Vodafone one IMHO.
* Bluetooth authentication issue (Not sure whose problem this is - I'm only having the problem with an IPAQ)
* Online Update Utility (Not Sure whose problem this is either)
Click to expand...
Hi rednox. My first posting, but I've been following this group for a while. Also the owner of a v800 now, and trying to get my IPAQ working with it over bluetooth. Did you manage to get this right ?
 
Janspies, The bluetooh connection to the IPAQ is working.
However every time I browse the phone from the IPAQ I get a message asking me if I want to allow the action on the phone. Its an irritation if nothing else. I'll see if I can borrow someone else's IPAQ and see if I have the same issue with it.
What seems to be your problem with it?
 
Retnox said:
Unlike the datacards you cant set it to 3G only. I found that even if you're in a 3G area and yjere is a non-3G tower closeby it will default to the stronger signal, even if it means you lose 3G coverage.

Has anyone attempted to test the 3G transfer speeds over the phone?
Bear in mind there were not under ideal conditions (Only 2 bars signal though the phone definately indicated I was in a 3G area)
Also the results are based on memory and not thuroughly documented.

I tried the following:
I connected the phone to a HP laptop. Found a 3G spot (3G icon showing on the phone) and connected.

Test 1:
*99***1# (VLive!)
Connected ok, and managed to open up this page and the Stanford International Speed Test page.
Result - really slow and couldn't run the test. Also tried messing around some oyher sites on the net and couldn't get access to most of them.

Test 2:
*99***4# (Internet.GPRS) - standard vodacom settings for the Z1010
Connected ok, and managed to open up this page and the Stanford International Speed Test page.
Result - I browsed some pages and it seemed ok. Outbound approx 24k though I dindn't get an inbound result.

Test 3:
*99***4# (Internet.GPRS) - standard vodacom settings for the Z1010 (Here I changed the APN on the phone to "internetvpn")
Connected ok, and managed to open up this page and the Stanford International Speed Test page.
Result - Pages loaded in decent time. Outbound test approx 16k, inbound test approx 4k. Results reported I was useing dailup.

If anyone can do a similar test and post their results here I'd appreciate it.

After those tests I got tired of the PC and went to play a game of chess with a friend instead. As you can see I wasnt really trying to do a "proper" test. It was more like: "Oi! I actually have 3G reception here, I wonder how fast it is. Maybe Piro brought out a new strip for megatokyo. and while I'm at it check my emails."
Click to expand...

Hmm, interesting. On Wednesday evening in Stellenbosch I was doing the same test. I was comparing MTN gprs speeds with Vodacom gprs speeds (got 2 simcards that I swop out of my Nokia 6310i). I ran the Stanford speed test a couple of times on MTN and Vodacom
The Stanford speed test consistently gave me around 33 kbps for download on MTN, but on Vodacom (using *99***1#), I got around 8kbps down, and the other 3 times I did not get a result for download.

Edit: Local speeds were around 50-60 kbps on both MTN and Vodacom
 
Ipaq

Retnox said:
Janspies, The bluetooh connection to the IPAQ is working.
However every time I browse the phone from the IPAQ I get a message asking me if I want to allow the action on the phone. Its an irritation if nothing else. I'll see if I can borrow someone else's IPAQ and see if I have the same issue with it.
What seems to be your problem with it?
Click to expand...

On my IPAQ it doesn't ask me for a key everytime (Just first time around).

But I need the modem init details and setup information required on the IPAQ to establish a connection to the vodacom APN.
 
MP3 Feedback

JV5050 said:
Oh, I forgot, I copied a mp3 sampled at 128 to the phone, it is approx 3.5 meg. When I play this file with the mp3 player on the phone it jumps every now and then as if it can’t process it fast enough. One time it actually stopped and said it is unable to play the file, the file was missing and only re-appeared after I turned the phone off and on.

Is any one else having similar problems?
Click to expand...

JV5050 I finally got that MP3 you mailed me. I'll reply here on the board with my results if you don't mind. It would be informative to those with the same problem.

As far as I know there are 2 ways to encode an MP3
CBR - Constant BitRate
VBR - Variable BitRate

I'm not gonna explain the technicalities of these two (Google for it)
In short if you encode a file at 128k CBR it uses 128kilobits for every second of audio. Whereas if you encode the same file at 128k VBR it will attempt to adjust the bitrate according to to complexity of the audio.

JV5050, the audio stream I received from you seemed to be VBR encoded at 128k with a max. bitrate of 576kb/s (2chnls) {Windows reports 478kbps}

The phone doesn't seem to do too well with such high encoded MP3's. I belive only some of the newer Motorola Phones might be able to but this is pure speculation since I havein't tried it personally.

A simple way to see if its VBR encoded is to play it back in winamp and check the kbps window: If the value changes constantly you have a VBR file. If not its a CBR file.

JV5050 - I would suggest you use lame as an MP3 encoder. It can be used with a varity of applications i.e.: audiograbber, cooledit and even video editing programs such as VirtualDub/VirtualDubMod

If you folks need more info. - Just ask.

Edit: JV5050 I tested that same MP3 that has issues on the V800 - It works fine on a Nokia 6230 and it also plays on my SonyEricsson K700i
So this definately points to a software bug. I don't know of a newer software version for the V800.
 
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@V3G,

I was wondering if you could confirm whether a statement made by someone on the Esato forums who is also a member here, and apparently owns/runs a Vodashop, is true.

"64K Sim Cards will now be available by VODACOM.It should be instores next week.This card was made for the new 3G phones and wireless connect card.If you bought a 3G phone or Vodafone wireless connect data card in the past,Vodacom will post you a new 64k sim card for FREE.Stores will not give you one for free unless you LCP/Quicksim. When you buy a 3G phone or wireless card DEMAND for a 64K sim..........Watch mail"
 
Retnox

Thanks for the test and the feedback, unfortunately I already put all my CD’s to mp3 and I am sitting with about 15Gigs of VBR mp3’s. As far as the LAME encoder goes - my mp3’s were ripped by the itunes software that came with my ipod, (apple mp3 encoder) - I prefer this for various for reasons – yes I did use the VBR functionality – should have though that it was the problem!

Looks like I won’t be using my V800 as a mp3 player, fortunately that is not why I got it, I got this phone for its 3g ability to connect to the internet at high speed, which is working brilliantly, also - I have nothing to do with Telkom.

I will live with the battery life issue as these are the first 3g phones out and I am sure they will improve, I only wish the “features” promoted on the sales websites weren’t so misleading in this regard

Thanks again, next week I will be trying to get the V800 to work with a DELL PDA. I will post the results if there is anything interesting
 
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