Having received a lot of useful advice from you guys, I placed an
order today for the Virgin Mobile £39.99 package with the Siemens A50
phone!

Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow. Just a few more (daft?) questions:

- Is it the case that ALL incoming calls (calls, text, whatever) are
free to me? I have a feeling that I once read somewhere that certain
types of calls or data uninitiated by me can still cost me money.

- Is the phone number allocated as part of the package or do I have to
call Virgin first?

- If the phone is switched off, does that mean that callers are
automatically rerouted to voicemail to leave me a message?

- What else should newbies be aware of? (Muggers?)

Many thanks!

MM

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 23:28:59 +0100, Mike Mitchell
wrote:

Having received a lot of useful advice from you guys, I placed an
order today for the Virgin Mobile £39.99 package with the Siemens A50
phone!

Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow. Just a few more (daft?) questions:

- Is it the case that ALL incoming calls (calls, text, whatever) are
free to me? I have a feeling that I once read somewhere that certain
types of calls or data uninitiated by me can still cost me money.

Retrieval of voicemail messages normally costs as does receiving text
messages. However, there are normally so many text messages included
in the package and after that having text is normally 10p or less.



- Is the phone number allocated as part of the package or do I have to
call Virgin first?

Normally it's on a sheet inside the package, along with the SIM,

Often there is a registration procedure. If you do this, there may be
some free airtime.


- If the phone is switched off, does that mean that callers are
automatically rerouted to voicemail to leave me a message?

You can normally set the phone to divert based separately on three
criteria:

- Busy
- Off
- No answer

Each diversion can be to voicemail or to a landline phone (or another
mobile if you want). Alternatively you can set no divert and the
caller will get a tone or an announcement.


- What else should newbies be aware of? (Muggers?)

For mobiles:

Don't leave on view in the car when parked or on the front seat if
driving with doors unlocked.

Make sure you keep it charged

Don't drive with it in your hand


If use is rare, keep an eye on topup expiry




Many thanks!

MM

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 23:28:59 +0100, in uk.d-i-y Mike Mitchell
strung together this:

Having received a lot of useful advice from you guys, I placed an
order today for the Virgin Mobile £39.99 package with the Siemens A50
phone!

Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow. Just a few more (daft?) questions:

- Is it the case that ALL incoming calls (calls, text, whatever) are
free to me? I have a feeling that I once read somewhere that certain
types of calls or data uninitiated by me can still cost me money.

Not sure on that one, I don't think so though.

- Is the phone number allocated as part of the package or do I have to
call Virgin first?

Yes, if you bought a complete package rather than a sim free package.
Although some providers release the number after registration most
will supply the number with the phone.

- If the phone is switched off, does that mean that callers are
automatically rerouted to voicemail to leave me a message?

Depends on what you set call divert to. You can turn all diverts off,
divert to another number or divert to voicemail. You can divert after
a few rings, or a lot of rings.

- What else should newbies be aware of? (Muggers?)

Lock the keypad. I get people ringing me because they sit on the phone
and randomly ring people!
--

SJW
A.C.S. Ltd.

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 23:39:39 +0100, in uk.d-i-y Andy Hall
strung together this:

- Is it the case that ALL incoming calls (calls, text, whatever) are
free to me? I have a feeling that I once read somewhere that certain
types of calls or data uninitiated by me can still cost me money.

Retrieval of voicemail messages normally costs

OK so far.

as does receiving text
messages.

Where did you get this information from? I think you may have been
misled.

However, there are normally so many text messages included
in the package and after that having text is normally 10p or less.

That sounds about right for some packages for outgoing texts.
--

SJW
A.C.S. Ltd.

Lurch wrote:

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 23:39:39 +0100, in uk.d-i-y Andy Hall
strung together this:
as does receiving text
messages.

Where did you get this information from? I think you may have been
misled.

I have a few Orange phones, and don't recall ever being charged to receive
texts, just to send them.
My son has a US mobile(Verizon), and he pays 2 cents a message to receive
texts, more to send them.

"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message
...
Having received a lot of useful advice from you guys, I placed an
order today for the Virgin Mobile £39.99 package with the Siemens A50
phone!


Do you have the option to return the phone if not happy? I'll be a Pain in
the A**e and tell you this after you've bought the phone.

Siemens A50's not a good phone (but probably fine if you'll be taking a
sledgehammer to it in 2 weeks). The Nokia 3310's a great phone, I generally
get mine (and so far a few for the family) from the clearence offers on The
Link's web site. They're refurbished phones, but safer than buying from
e-bay and have a one year guarantee. And you can trade in an old phone for a
tenner (if you have one). Only bad thing is it's on O2 (I prefer Orange as
i) they'll match any other tarrif, so you can have the virgin one and not
pay to get your answer phone and ii) they have no voucher expiry time, so
you put in £20, you get £20 out and can receive calls for a year if that's
all you want to do).

Be warned, I recently got my father one of these (he also hated mobile
phones), and after 2 weeks with it, didn't know how he'd managed all these
years without it!

Mike Mitchell wrote:

Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow. Just a few more (daft?) questions:

- Is it the case that ALL incoming calls (calls, text, whatever) are
free to me? I have a feeling that I once read somewhere that certain
types of calls or data uninitiated by me can still cost me money.

All incoming calls and texts are free*, and on virgin, so is voice mail
retrieval (most operators charge for this - virgin don't)

*The exception would be if you take it abroad and "roam" - making and
receiving international calls like this will obviously be more
expensive. Since the caller does not however know that you are abroad,
it would be unreasonable to expect them to pay for the international leg
of the call. Hence in this case you would pay a part of the cost of the
incoming call.

- Is the phone number allocated as part of the package or do I have to
call Virgin first?

You will get a credit card sized bit of plastic with the number and some
other useful information on it. It also has the SIM embedded in it. You
will need to snap that out of the card and insert in into the phone.

- If the phone is switched off, does that mean that callers are
automatically rerouted to voicemail to leave me a message?

You can choose. Going to the voicemail menu will allow you to set
options for how it works. You can also record your own personal greeting
(rather than your caller getting a digitised "You have reached
0790******" type message.



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 22:50:39 GMT, (Lurch)
wrote:

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 23:39:39 +0100, in uk.d-i-y Andy Hall
strung together this:

- Is it the case that ALL incoming calls (calls, text, whatever) are
free to me? I have a feeling that I once read somewhere that certain
types of calls or data uninitiated by me can still cost me money.

Retrieval of voicemail messages normally costs

OK so far.

as does receiving text
messages.

Where did you get this information from? I think you may have been
misled.

However, there are normally so many text messages included
in the package and after that having text is normally 10p or less.

That sounds about right for some packages for outgoing texts.

I used to have a tariff that charges for receiving texts, so I'm not
misled. Some do and some don't.




..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 00:32:18 +0100, in uk.d-i-y Andy Hall
strung together this:

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 22:50:39 GMT, (Lurch)
wrote:

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 23:39:39 +0100, in uk.d-i-y Andy Hall
strung together this:

- Is it the case that ALL incoming calls (calls, text, whatever) are
free to me? I have a feeling that I once read somewhere that certain
types of calls or data uninitiated by me can still cost me money.

Retrieval of voicemail messages normally costs

OK so far.

as does receiving text
messages.

Where did you get this information from? I think you may have been
misled.

However, there are normally so many text messages included
in the package and after that having text is normally 10p or less.

That sounds about right for some packages for outgoing texts.

I used to have a tariff that charges for receiving texts, so I'm not
misled. Some do and some don't.

I don't think any of the newer tarriffs do though, not in the
mainstream anyway. Unless you take it abroad.
--

SJW
A.C.S. Ltd.

Lurch wrote:
strung together this:
receiving text messages....normally costs

Where did you get this information from? I think you may have been
misled.

Yes & No. Reverse billed SMS is around but you are unlikely to encounter it
unless you have a habit of voting for contestants on tv reality shows. You
pay the standard message price to send your vote (MO - mobile originated),
then pay the premium to receive the confirmation (MT - mobile terminated).
This varies from 10p to 150p under various revenue share agreements. There
are no current consumer tariffs, or pre-pay deals where receipt of MO SMS is
charged for.

It can get quite complex to bill premium SMS when done internationally.

--
Toby. (ex telecoms billing dev.)

'One day son, all this will be finished'

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 01:15:02 +0100, in uk.d-i-y "Toby"
strung together this:

Lurch wrote:
strung together this:
receiving text messages....normally costs

Where did you get this information from? I think you may have been
misled.

Yes & No. Reverse billed SMS is around but you are unlikely to encounter it
unless you have a habit of voting for contestants on tv reality shows. You
pay the standard message price to send your vote (MO - mobile originated),
then pay the premium to receive the confirmation (MT - mobile terminated).
This varies from 10p to 150p under various revenue share agreements. There
are no current consumer tariffs, or pre-pay deals where receipt of MO SMS is
charged for.

That's still sending a text. Receiving one is the opposite of that,
but for free.
--

SJW
A.C.S. Ltd.

Siemens A50's not a good phone (but probably fine if you'll be taking a
sledgehammer to it in 2 weeks). The Nokia 3310's a great phone, I

All phones are subject, to the individuals taste, I don't like camera
phones, but I don't say camera phones are crap. You pay your money and
take your choice. He might be ok with a A50.

Dave

--
And you were born knowing all about ms windows....??

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 00:06:58 +0100, "L Reid"
wrote:

"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message
.. .
Having received a lot of useful advice from you guys, I placed an
order today for the Virgin Mobile £39.99 package with the Siemens A50
phone!


Do you have the option to return the phone if not happy? I'll be a Pain in
the A**e and tell you this after you've bought the phone.

Yes, Schadenfreude is another dish best served cold!

Siemens A50's not a good phone (but probably fine if you'll be taking a
sledgehammer to it in 2 weeks). The Nokia 3310's a great phone, I generally
get mine (and so far a few for the family) from the clearence offers on The
Link's web site. They're refurbished phones, but safer than buying from
e-bay and have a one year guarantee. And you can trade in an old phone for a
tenner (if you have one). Only bad thing is it's on O2 (I prefer Orange as
i) they'll match any other tarrif, so you can have the virgin one and not
pay to get your answer phone and ii) they have no voucher expiry time, so
you put in £20, you get £20 out and can receive calls for a year if that's
all you want to do).

It is all I want to do. I'd still use a BT phone box if one happens to
be where I am when I want to make a call and am not at home.

Be warned, I recently got my father one of these (he also hated mobile
phones), and after 2 weeks with it, didn't know how he'd managed all these
years without it!

That is what I am afraid of! Once a mobile phone virgin, I shall
quickly be turned into another airwave marauder, like the rest of the
country. However, I gave up smoking, so I can give up the phone!

MM

Andy Hall wrote:
On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 23:28:59 +0100, Mike Mitchell
wrote:

Having received a lot of useful advice from you guys, I placed an
order today for the Virgin Mobile £39.99 package with the Siemens A50
phone!

Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow. Just a few more (daft?) questions:

- Is it the case that ALL incoming calls (calls, text, whatever) are
free to me? I have a feeling that I once read somewhere that certain
types of calls or data uninitiated by me can still cost me money.

Retrieval of voicemail messages normally costs

Not on Virgin Mobile.

as does receiving text
messages.

Only premium rate ones.

However, there are normally so many text messages included
in the package and after that having text is normally 10p or less.


That is for sending.



- Is the phone number allocated as part of the package or do I have
to call Virgin first?

Normally it's on a sheet inside the package, along with the SIM,

Often there is a registration procedure. If you do this, there may be
some free airtime.


- If the phone is switched off, does that mean that callers are
automatically rerouted to voicemail to leave me a message?


Yes.

You can normally set the phone to divert based separately on three
criteria:

- Busy
- Off
- No answer

Each diversion can be to voicemail or to a landline phone (or another
mobile if you want). Alternatively you can set no divert and the
caller will get a tone or an announcement.

Not on Virgin mobile you can't. Diverts are to voicemail or nothing.



- What else should newbies be aware of? (Muggers?)


Unlikely you'd be mugged for your Siemens A50...

For mobiles:

Don't leave on view in the car when parked or on the front seat if
driving with doors unlocked.

Make sure you keep it charged

Don't drive with it in your hand


If use is rare, keep an eye on topup expiry

L Reid wrote:
"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message
...
Having received a lot of useful advice from you guys, I placed an
order today for the Virgin Mobile £39.99 package with the Siemens A50
phone!


Do you have the option to return the phone if not happy? I'll be a
Pain in the A**e and tell you this after you've bought the phone.

Siemens A50's not a good phone (but probably fine if you'll be taking
a sledgehammer to it in 2 weeks). The Nokia 3310's a great phone, I
generally get mine (and so far a few for the family) from the
clearence offers on The Link's web site. They're refurbished phones,
but safer than buying from e-bay and have a one year guarantee. And
you can trade in an old phone for a tenner (if you have one). Only
bad thing is it's on O2 (I prefer Orange as i) they'll match any
other tarrif, so you can have the virgin one and not pay to get your
answer phone and ii) they have no voucher expiry time, so you put in
£20, you get £20 out and can receive calls for a year if that's all
you want to do).

I agree, I think I'd have got the Nokia on Tesco mobile for the same
money and near identical call charges.

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 23:28:59 +0100, Mike Mitchell
wrote:

Having received a lot of useful advice from you guys, I placed an
order today for the Virgin Mobile £39.99 package with the Siemens A50
phone!

Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow. Just a few more (daft?) questions:

- Is it the case that ALL incoming calls (calls, text, whatever) are
free to me? I have a feeling that I once read somewhere that certain
types of calls or data uninitiated by me can still cost me money.

- Is the phone number allocated as part of the package or do I have to
call Virgin first?

- If the phone is switched off, does that mean that callers are
automatically rerouted to voicemail to leave me a message?

- What else should newbies be aware of? (Muggers?)

Many thanks!

MM


I have now received my phone! And I am extremely disappointed, though
not surprised. What a flimsy, lightweight little thing it is. The back
cover was so hard to remove in order to fit the SIM and the battery. I
am 58 and my fingers don't work quite like a sixteen-year-old's. And
then neither the quick start guide nor the full manual gave any
indication of how *far* to slide in the SIM. I rested it first in the
outline with the cutout matching the cutout in the outline. Who knows?
Then, having inserted the battery and replaced the crappy little
cover, thinner than a French letter, I switched it on. It said: Insert
SIM. Then it was even harder to remove the cover. This time I slid the
SIM into the slot (God knows how it could ever be removed again if it
had to be). And this time the phone worked!

But what a little incy-wincy device! Ugh! I hate it already. I had to
rush into the sitting room to hold my real BT phone for a minute or
two, a decent size for a man's hand. These mobiles are horrid
k-e-r-a-p! Oh, why will no one buy my house so that I can get that
sledgehammer?

Very unhappy, very demoralised, very much poorer - but I suppose it
will serve the purpose intended. Now I know what it means to lose
one's virginity. It's an ugly business. I'm not kidding. I hate it.

MM

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 12:16:57 +0100, Mike Mitchell
wrote:



It is all I want to do. I'd still use a BT phone box if one happens to
be where I am when I want to make a call and am not at home.

You don't mind paddling in wee on the floor of phone boxes?


Be warned, I recently got my father one of these (he also hated mobile
phones), and after 2 weeks with it, didn't know how he'd managed all these
years without it!

That is what I am afraid of! Once a mobile phone virgin, I shall
quickly be turned into another airwave marauder, like the rest of the
country. However, I gave up smoking, so I can give up the phone!


Doubtful. far more addictive than nicotine....... :-)

You do realise that the phone is the syringe and the airtime the drug?
:-:





..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 16:20:19 +0100, Mike Mitchell
wrote:



I have now received my phone! And I am extremely disappointed, though
not surprised.

Why am I not surprised either? :-)

What a flimsy, lightweight little thing it is. The back
cover was so hard to remove in order to fit the SIM and the battery. I
am 58 and my fingers don't work quite like a sixteen-year-old's.

The main target market is 8-20 year-olds and they replace them every
few months as they go out of fashion.

And
then neither the quick start guide nor the full manual gave any
indication of how *far* to slide in the SIM. I rested it first in the
outline with the cutout matching the cutout in the outline. Who knows?
Then, having inserted the battery and replaced the crappy little
cover, thinner than a French letter, I switched it on. It said: Insert
SIM. Then it was even harder to remove the cover. This time I slid the
SIM into the slot (God knows how it could ever be removed again if it
had to be). And this time the phone worked!

But what a little incy-wincy device! Ugh! I hate it already. I had to
rush into the sitting room to hold my real BT phone for a minute or
two, a decent size for a man's hand. These mobiles are horrid
k-e-r-a-p! Oh, why will no one buy my house so that I can get that
sledgehammer?

Logically, if you get the sledgehammer, you should find a buyer
forthwith. Parkinson's law.


Very unhappy, very demoralised, very much poorer - but I suppose it
will serve the purpose intended. Now I know what it means to lose
one's virginity. It's an ugly business. I'm not kidding. I hate it.

MM

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 23:28:59 +0100, Mike Mitchell
wrote:

Having received a lot of useful advice from you guys, I placed an
order today for the Virgin Mobile £39.99 package with the Siemens A50
phone!

Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow. Just a few more (daft?) questions:

- Is it the case that ALL incoming calls (calls, text, whatever) are
free to me? I have a feeling that I once read somewhere that certain
types of calls or data uninitiated by me can still cost me money.

Retrieval of voicemail messages normally costs as does receiving text
messages. However, there are normally so many text messages included
in the package and after that having text is normally 10p or less.

Voicemail on Virgin is free (in the UK, part of the old one-to-one tariff!),
the person leaving the message pays!
Receiving is also free, while in UK.

If you sign up to pay by monthly direct debit, you can use the phone abroad
and pay big time to make and receive calls! (but you get free itemised
statements which you can use to claim back calls from your employer!)


- What else should newbies be aware of? (Muggers?)


A good reason not to agree to pay by direct debit, if you only have 10 quid
of pay as you go call credit that is all you can lose. If you are on
contract you may be charged thousands if you delay in notifying your
supplier.

In message , Mike Mitchell
writes
Having received a lot of useful advice from you guys, I placed an
order today for the Virgin Mobile £39.99 package with the Siemens A50
phone!

Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow. Just a few more (daft?) questions:

- Is it the case that ALL incoming calls (calls, text, whatever) are
free to me? I have a feeling that I once read somewhere that certain
types of calls or data uninitiated by me can still cost me money.

- Is the phone number allocated as part of the package or do I have to
call Virgin first?

It should come with the phone


- If the phone is switched off, does that mean that callers are
automatically rerouted to voicemail to leave me a message?

You will probably have to set up your voice mail and have an access code


- What else should newbies be aware of? (Muggers?)

Spam texts which invite you to reply to a number which costs ££ a minute


Many thanks!

MM

--
geoff

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 17:27:09 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 12:16:57 +0100, Mike Mitchell
wrote:



It is all I want to do. I'd still use a BT phone box if one happens to
be where I am when I want to make a call and am not at home.

You don't mind paddling in wee on the floor of phone boxes?


Be warned, I recently got my father one of these (he also hated mobile
phones), and after 2 weeks with it, didn't know how he'd managed all these
years without it!

That is what I am afraid of! Once a mobile phone virgin, I shall
quickly be turned into another airwave marauder, like the rest of the
country. However, I gave up smoking, so I can give up the phone!


Doubtful. far more addictive than nicotine....... :-)

You do realise that the phone is the syringe and the airtime the drug?
:-:

I've already spent a fortune just in the past few hours mucking about
with it and doing test dials to my fixed line (BT) phone.

This gadget must be the most functionally perverse, arcane and
unintuitive piece of kit I have ever acquired, and I speak as one who
has six computers and three hundred computer books. The user guide
(the long version) is useless at answering the questions I have. So is
the Siemens website. I have already called the Virgin Mobile help desk
twice, They were still very friendly and helpful. But this phone's
functional design is terrible. It looks neat, sure. But if we think
setting up a video is hard (and I don't, particularly), this phone's
complex menu system is like trying to fix the Hubble telescope with a
robotic arm on the top of Everest. As for the rocker-type
multifunction buttons (press the right-hand end or the left-hand end),
well, I am just flabbergasted that the designers thought these were a
useful feature.

At least I have found out how to (a) make a call, (b) leave a
voicemail, (c) retrieve a voicemail, and (d) set the ring tone. If
they can produce a phone like this with all the bells and whistles I
do not want for £39.99 all in, imagine how cheaply they could produce
a far more basic version with the extras removed.

MM

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 22:27:33 +0100, Mike Mitchell
wrote:



I've already spent a fortune just in the past few hours mucking about
with it and doing test dials to my fixed line (BT) phone.

This gadget must be the most functionally perverse, arcane and
unintuitive piece of kit I have ever acquired, and I speak as one who
has six computers and three hundred computer books. The user guide
(the long version) is useless at answering the questions I have. So is
the Siemens website. I have already called the Virgin Mobile help desk
twice, They were still very friendly and helpful. But this phone's
functional design is terrible. It looks neat, sure. But if we think
setting up a video is hard (and I don't, particularly), this phone's
complex menu system is like trying to fix the Hubble telescope with a
robotic arm on the top of Everest. As for the rocker-type
multifunction buttons (press the right-hand end or the left-hand end),
well, I am just flabbergasted that the designers thought these were a
useful feature.

There's one fundamental point that you are missing and that is that
you are more than 8 years old. ......




At least I have found out how to (a) make a call, (b) leave a
voicemail, (c) retrieve a voicemail, and (d) set the ring tone. If
they can produce a phone like this with all the bells and whistles I
do not want for £39.99 all in, imagine how cheaply they could produce
a far more basic version with the extras removed.

MM

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 22:27:33 +0100, in uk.d-i-y Mike Mitchell
strung together this:

I've already spent a fortune just in the past few hours mucking about
with it and doing test dials to my fixed line (BT) phone.

They're like that!

This gadget must be the most functionally perverse, arcane and
unintuitive piece of kit I have ever acquired, and I speak as one who
has six computers and three hundred computer books. The user guide
(the long version) is useless at answering the questions I have. So is
the Siemens website. I have already called the Virgin Mobile help desk
twice, They were still very friendly and helpful. But this phone's
functional design is terrible. It looks neat, sure. But if we think
setting up a video is hard (and I don't, particularly), this phone's
complex menu system is like trying to fix the Hubble telescope with a
robotic arm on the top of Everest. As for the rocker-type
multifunction buttons (press the right-hand end or the left-hand end),
well, I am just flabbergasted that the designers thought these were a
useful feature.

Sounds rather typically like a Siemens. One of my phones is a Siemens
S55, it's the most useless piece of crap I've ever owned. Siemens seem
inept at providing functionality.

At least I have found out how to (a) make a call, (b) leave a
voicemail, (c) retrieve a voicemail, and (d) set the ring tone. If
they can produce a phone like this with all the bells and whistles I
do not want for £39.99 all in, imagine how cheaply they could produce
a far more basic version with the extras removed.

That'd be something that my old Nokia 6610 was good at, basic,
intuitive and performed well. Actually, all Nokias are like that. I
use a phone with all the extras for 'out of hours use' and a phone
that 'performs as required' for work use. No-one seems to have
combined the two yet!
--

SJW
A.C.S. Ltd.

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 21:44:47 GMT, (Lurch)
wrote:



That'd be something that my old Nokia 6610 was good at, basic,
intuitive and performed well. Actually, all Nokias are like that. I
use a phone with all the extras for 'out of hours use' and a phone
that 'performs as required' for work use. No-one seems to have
combined the two yet!

What kind of "out of hours use"? I'm intrigued...


..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 23:01:12 +0100, in uk.d-i-y Andy Hall
strung together this:

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 21:44:47 GMT, (Lurch)
wrote:



That'd be something that my old Nokia 6610 was good at, basic,
intuitive and performed well. Actually, all Nokias are like that. I
use a phone with all the extras for 'out of hours use' and a phone
that 'performs as required' for work use. No-one seems to have
combined the two yet!

What kind of "out of hours use"? I'm intrigued...

Erm, not that kind. It's a phone the customers don't have the number
for, so I can hide in the pub without being pestered, but the calls
from friends and family still get through! And it looks better in the
pub!
--

SJW
A.C.S. Ltd.

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 22:07:33 GMT, (Lurch)
wrote:

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 23:01:12 +0100, in uk.d-i-y Andy Hall
strung together this:

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 21:44:47 GMT, (Lurch)
wrote:



That'd be something that my old Nokia 6610 was good at, basic,
intuitive and performed well. Actually, all Nokias are like that. I
use a phone with all the extras for 'out of hours use' and a phone
that 'performs as required' for work use. No-one seems to have
combined the two yet!

What kind of "out of hours use"? I'm intrigued...

Erm, not that kind. It's a phone the customers don't have the number
for, so I can hide in the pub without being pestered, but the calls
from friends and family still get through! And it looks better in the
pub!


Hmm. I didn't think that your part of the world was a posing type of
place - more one of honest to goodness farming and the like.


..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 23:18:37 +0100, in uk.d-i-y Andy Hall
strung together this:

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 22:07:33 GMT, (Lurch)
wrote:

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 23:01:12 +0100, in uk.d-i-y Andy Hall
strung together this:

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 21:44:47 GMT, (Lurch)
wrote:



That'd be something that my old Nokia 6610 was good at, basic,
intuitive and performed well. Actually, all Nokias are like that. I
use a phone with all the extras for 'out of hours use' and a phone
that 'performs as required' for work use. No-one seems to have
combined the two yet!

What kind of "out of hours use"? I'm intrigued...

Erm, not that kind. It's a phone the customers don't have the number
for, so I can hide in the pub without being pestered, but the calls
from friends and family still get through! And it looks better in the
pub!


Hmm. I didn't think that your part of the world was a posing type of
place - more one of honest to goodness farming and the like.

I try to stand out from the crowd! I'm not from round these parts
though, Sheffield born and bred me.
--

SJW
A.C.S. Ltd.

Mike Mitchell wrote:
On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 17:27:09 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 12:16:57 +0100, Mike Mitchell
wrote:



It is all I want to do. I'd still use a BT phone box if one happens to
be where I am when I want to make a call and am not at home.

You don't mind paddling in wee on the floor of phone boxes?


Be warned, I recently got my father one of these (he also hated mobile
phones), and after 2 weeks with it, didn't know how he'd managed all these
years without it!

That is what I am afraid of! Once a mobile phone virgin, I shall
quickly be turned into another airwave marauder, like the rest of the
country. However, I gave up smoking, so I can give up the phone!


Doubtful. far more addictive than nicotine....... :-)

You do realise that the phone is the syringe and the airtime the drug?
:-:

I've already spent a fortune just in the past few hours mucking about
with it and doing test dials to my fixed line (BT) phone.

This gadget must be the most functionally perverse, arcane and
unintuitive piece of kit I have ever acquired, and I speak as one who
snip
At least I have found out how to (a) make a call, (b) leave a
voicemail, (c) retrieve a voicemail, and (d) set the ring tone. If
they can produce a phone like this with all the bells and whistles I
do not want for ?39.99 all in, imagine how cheaply they could produce
a far more basic version with the extras removed.

Almost exactly the same price.
The only real saving would be a simpler display, and that would be
a couple of quid at most.
The rest of it is mainly RF kit.
The bells/whistles are nearly all in software, hence "free".
And because it probably wouldn't sell as well, the volume would
be lower, hence it might actually cost MORE.

Mike Mitchell wrote:

I have now received my phone! And I am extremely disappointed, though
not surprised. What a flimsy, lightweight little thing it is. The back

You should be aware people used to pay huge premiums to get that! (i.e.
the smaller / lighter it was the more it cost). That's a bit of a non
issue now though since most are under 100g

(it does mean you can stick it in a shirt pocket and not notice it
though - I always used to find with my previous (larger) phone I often
did not have it with me when I wanted to make a call, simply because the
thing was a pain to carry round unless you were wearing aheavy coat with
big pockets)

But what a little incy-wincy device! Ugh! I hate it already. I had to
rush into the sitting room to hold my real BT phone for a minute or
two, a decent size for a man's hand. These mobiles are horrid
k-e-r-a-p! Oh, why will no one buy my house so that I can get that
sledgehammer?

plug the hands free gadget into it, then you can stick it in a pocket
and forget about it ;-)

Very unhappy, very demoralised, very much poorer - but I suppose it
will serve the purpose intended. Now I know what it means to lose
one's virginity. It's an ugly business. I'm not kidding. I hate it.

I guess about ten days til you are hooked then! ;-))


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

M Junk wrote:

A good reason not to agree to pay by direct debit, if you only have 10 quid
of pay as you go call credit that is all you can lose. If you are on
contract you may be charged thousands if you delay in notifying your
supplier.

Virgin let you set a maximum level of credit/month (default is 100 quid)
they will not let you spend more than the limit via DD (you could pre
pay to go over that if you needed to - or have them change the limit)

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 23:35:55 GMT, Ian Stirling
wrote:

Mike Mitchell wrote:
On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 17:27:09 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 12:16:57 +0100, Mike Mitchell
wrote:



It is all I want to do. I'd still use a BT phone box if one happens to
be where I am when I want to make a call and am not at home.

You don't mind paddling in wee on the floor of phone boxes?


Be warned, I recently got my father one of these (he also hated mobile
phones), and after 2 weeks with it, didn't know how he'd managed all these
years without it!

That is what I am afraid of! Once a mobile phone virgin, I shall
quickly be turned into another airwave marauder, like the rest of the
country. However, I gave up smoking, so I can give up the phone!


Doubtful. far more addictive than nicotine....... :-)

You do realise that the phone is the syringe and the airtime the drug?
:-:

I've already spent a fortune just in the past few hours mucking about
with it and doing test dials to my fixed line (BT) phone.

This gadget must be the most functionally perverse, arcane and
unintuitive piece of kit I have ever acquired, and I speak as one who
snip
At least I have found out how to (a) make a call, (b) leave a
voicemail, (c) retrieve a voicemail, and (d) set the ring tone. If
they can produce a phone like this with all the bells and whistles I
do not want for ?39.99 all in, imagine how cheaply they could produce
a far more basic version with the extras removed.

Almost exactly the same price.
The only real saving would be a simpler display, and that would be
a couple of quid at most.
The rest of it is mainly RF kit.
The bells/whistles are nearly all in software, hence "free".
And because it probably wouldn't sell as well, the volume would
be lower, hence it might actually cost MORE.

I would willingly pay another fiver for a simpler phone! I didn't
realise how complex they are. God knows what features the expensive
ones come with.

MM

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 00:55:11 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

Mike Mitchell wrote:

I have now received my phone! And I am extremely disappointed, though
not surprised. What a flimsy, lightweight little thing it is. The back

You should be aware people used to pay huge premiums to get that! (i.e.
the smaller / lighter it was the more it cost). That's a bit of a non
issue now though since most are under 100g

(it does mean you can stick it in a shirt pocket and not notice it
though - I always used to find with my previous (larger) phone I often
did not have it with me when I wanted to make a call, simply because the
thing was a pain to carry round unless you were wearing aheavy coat with
big pockets)

But what a little incy-wincy device! Ugh! I hate it already. I had to
rush into the sitting room to hold my real BT phone for a minute or
two, a decent size for a man's hand. These mobiles are horrid
k-e-r-a-p! Oh, why will no one buy my house so that I can get that
sledgehammer?

plug the hands free gadget into it, then you can stick it in a pocket
and forget about it ;-)

Believe it or not, but the earpiece of the hands free set won't fit in
my lughole! Even that they didn't get right. I don't know whether it's
because older people's earholes get smaller with age, or whether kids
have more flexible ones, but I tried inserting the earpiece (which is
approx 15 mm in diameter) and it just falls out because it won't "pop"
into place.

Very unhappy, very demoralised, very much poorer - but I suppose it
will serve the purpose intended. Now I know what it means to lose
one's virginity. It's an ugly business. I'm not kidding. I hate it.

I guess about ten days til you are hooked then! ;-))

Hopefully I shall a firm offer by then... (:

MM

"S Viemeister" wrote in message
...
I have a few Orange phones, and don't recall ever being charged to
receive
texts, just to send them.
My son has a US mobile(Verizon), and he pays 2 cents a message to receive
texts, more to send them.
In the USA you get charged for receiving anything, texts, calls everything.
However they also have inclusive packages that have thousands of free
minutes as a fraction of the cost of our inclusive packages.

"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
Each diversion can be to voicemail or to a landline phone (or another
mobile if you want). Alternatively you can set no divert and the
caller will get a tone or an announcement.
Don't forget if you divert to another phone you pay for the call being
diverted. You are better off switching off answerphone and any diversion
altogether, you usually do that by dialing voicemail and going through the
menu options

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 09:50:37 +0100, in uk.d-i-y "AK"
strung together this:


"Andy Hall" wrote in message
.. .
Each diversion can be to voicemail or to a landline phone (or another
mobile if you want). Alternatively you can set no divert and the
caller will get a tone or an announcement.
Don't forget if you divert to another phone you pay for the call being
diverted. You are better off switching off answerphone and any diversion
altogether, you usually do that by dialing voicemail and going through the
menu options

It's usually in the phones menu actually, not the voicemails.
--

SJW
A.C.S. Ltd.

Mike Mitchell wrote:
Believe it or not, but the earpiece of the hands free set won't fit
in my lughole!

Tried raking all the old cement and sawdust out?

Even that they didn't get right. I don't know whether it's
because older people's earholes get smaller with age

Yes, they do. It's a condition well known and documented in
medical papers, and is said only to occur in the male sex.
Widely thought of as one of the body's defence mechanisms.
--

ÅØé¹ÅéÒ¹¹Ò·Õ ¿ÃÕ! ¡ÑºäÍà¹çµ

«×éÍá¾ç¤à¡¨¢Í§äÍà¹çµ ÅØé¹à¹çµ¿ÃÕ 2 µèÍ¡ÇèÒÅéÒ¹¹Ò·Õ
ËÁ´à¢µ 16 ¾.¤. 47 ¹Õé
http://www.1million.inet.co.th/
-
ONE MILLION Free for all!

Try your double lucks for over 1 million minutes of FREE Internet.

Just buy any INET package till May 16, 2004!
http://www.1million.inet.co.th/

"Mike Mitchell" wrote in message
...
I would willingly pay another fiver for a simpler phone! I didn't
realise how complex they are. God knows what features the expensive
ones come with.

MM

Sounds like you want one like my mum's. Built like a brick, but has nice big
buttons, 10 digits and an 'answer call' and 'hang up' button. What you want
is one of these: http://www.nokia.co.uk/nokia/0,,32991,00.html

My dad has one (1st mobile at 60) and got to grips with it fairly quickly.
Green button answers, Red hangs up. Simple. Least it was until some sod
nicked it.

AK wrote:

In the USA you get charged for receiving anything, texts, calls everything.
However they also have inclusive packages that have thousands of free
minutes as a fraction of the cost of our inclusive packages.

Not quite true. It depends on your service provider.
I have an ATT Wireless phone - it costs 10 cents to send texts, but
receiving is free. My son has a VerizonWireless phone, and he is charged 2
cents to receive texts. Some US providers offer free calling and receiving
between their own subscribers.
I find that my UK Orange phones are cheaper to run than my US ATTs.
And I have yet to find a way to get SMS delivery reports on ATT.