Posted by JK
Yes I know Brix!!
But that was my opinion and my needs for a phone.
My email can wait till I want to see them..
It very fast also faster than normal email by 3 seconds YAY!!!
Posted by brix25
LOL@KBR. There's an interesting discussion on another thread about the bad service that Vodafone 3G gives theircustomers. Anyone have comments on Vodacom 3G?
Posted by JK
SLOW!
Posted by brix25
I wanted an opinion on the service as a whole. Never used it myself... Is the data rates really slow and to what would you compare the speeds?
Posted by JK
no no no data speeds are super fast, VIDEO is slow...
Posted by brix25
@KBR786: Streaming video?
Posted by Rhino8
@brix, i fink he meens vid calls, made one the othe day wiv moto and had sum delay.
@blueberry you can acces some email frm ur phone. Outlook can be set up with pop3 so if im on the net i can acces my mail,and if i dnt hav a pc wiv me,or am to lazy to conect my laptop,i use my phone.
Posted by brix25
Talking of pop3, anyone successfully set-up their K700's for Gmail Pop3? MyPhone has a field for SSL/TLS encryption and I marked it off knowing that Gmail uses it. So filled in everything and try to connect but the phone say "wrong account"... What am I to do.
Posted by coolapostle
Hi Guys, greetings from Nigeria. Are there CDMA Fixed Wireless networks in SA? Apart from telkom and the Mobile networks?
Posted by brix25
There are as yet no rival to Telkom due to a host of factors...we were supposed to have had a rival to their fixed line service years back but a bad Minister of Communications and in-fighting amongst the winning consortium for the fixed line licence scuppered plansfor competition to the monopoly of Telkom. It is one of the least liked companies in SA.
Posted by Rhino8
We dnt even hav a proper mobile data network. Voda aint up to shit tonite. Whats mtn charge 4 data at da mo?
Posted by brix25
Called their customer care this morning and the lady on the other side of the line said they were having problems with the GPRS network...she also told me they would still be charging R2/Mb for the foreseeable future. Who cares about MTN if they ain't got anything to offer?
Posted by rapidblue
Yip, I work in Vodaworld. Blackberry allows you to receive e-mail in real time - ie. as soon as someone sends you an e-mail it pops up on your Blackberry (like a SMS would). Also, you pay a flat rate which allows you to send and receive as much e-mail as you like at no additional cost! This is great if you and your buddy both have Blackberries - e-mail each other as much as you like (at the speeds of SMS) without being charged per message. We have two models available - 7100v (R2899) and 7290 (R3799).
Posted by rapidblue
Oh and by the way, yes, both are Vodafone branded.
Posted by brix25
Are we going to see more branded phones from Vodacom? If this is the case customers will resist this move. Certainly would not have bought my phone if it was branded all over.
Posted by Rhino8
Voda got probs wiv gprs, always. Never a dull moment. But ya,its cheap.
Posted by rapidblue
We have 6 new phones coming in with Vodafone branding - this gives them access to the Vodafone Live! portal. All personal preference. I must admit, I've had problems connecting to GPRS at night in Jo'burg. No problems connecting to 3G though.
Posted by brix25
@rapid: I take it you're reffering to 3G phones/devices? If they start branding normal 2.5G phones people will resist it...My K700 was only slightly branded with Vodacom images that I can't remove but otherwise they haven't done what European networks are notorious for...branding a phone in such a way that's it looks ugly....The SE F500 which is a case in point.
Posted by Rhino8
We all got probs wiv gprs. And its slow. Whats pricing on 3g handsets?
Posted by ihejirika
Hi folks! Keep d flag flying.
Posted by brix25
@Rhino: Don't know if they're selling 3G phones without a contract... Read on another thread that a V800 on Vodafone costs £400... That should give you an idea of what it would cost in SA.
Posted by rapidblue
We're getting about 6 2.5G phones and about 3 3G phones (Vodafone branded). A E1000 costs R4999. Still quite expensive though. Can buy it cash and use 3G on prepaid - no need for a contract. Price should drop when new handsets are released later this month.
Posted by brix25
@rapid: R5000 is ridiculous for the E1000. While on the subject of 3G are users restricted to the Vodafone Live portal or can you still surf normal wap sites?
Posted by Rhino8
@ brix
I cant see the advantage to voda if they restrict us to the vodafone portal, as very little sa users will use that.
Posted by brix25
@Rhino: they have to ringfence their 3G subs to recoup some of the money it took to set up 3G.
Posted by Rhino8
Well, maybe ill rather get a datacard,and w8 wiv da 3g phone.
Posted by mario2002
I can buy a 6630 for 300£ on ebay and have it brought to SA.Will it work on 3G? And also does anyone know how far is MTN with the introduction of EDGE.I personaly believe 3G won't bring much money nor have lots of users in SA for the next few years.Edge might do better thou.Every GPRS user would'nt mind having EDGE for the same price.Greetings from Jeffreysbay. Mario.
Posted by brix25
@mario: Afaik EDGE has already been deployed by MTN since late last year albeit very hush hush.
Posted by uthetha ituvi
@ mario,
I know that this seems particularly obvious, but ensure the phones on ebay are sim-free or unlocked, unless you know someone in SA with the unlocking software for them. Quite a few on ebay are locked to eg. T-mobile, 02, Vodafone or Orange etc. The biggest trump card that sells 3g here is video calling, but the 6630 requires its stationary docking port for this, whereas the newer 6680 has an integrated forward camera for this. Yes, I know it has just been announced, but it might be worth waiting a few more months before forking out £300. But, of course, this is my opinion, you may not be too fussed with video calling.
Secondly, there are a good few complaints about the 6630 on some forums and at www.gsmarena.com, although one has to sometimes question the maturity and age of SOME of the posters on the latter website...
As regards unlocked UK 3g handsets in SA, I have only brought in Nokia 7600's. In 'phone settings', one needs to scroll down to 'network mode' and select GSM, not 'dual mode', if you are only using standard 2g or 2.5g services from your SA sim card. It's the same here if using UK non-3g sims and networks. Otherwise I have found that it will seemingly prioritise searching 3g signals and hardly have any signal for 2g or 2.5g reception when in 'dual mode.' I would imagine it would be a similar scenario with the 6630 phone settings, but I am not sure.
If your'e just after EDGE, the older Nokia 6220 handsets are going much, much cheaper,(currently £158.95 at expansys sim-free) but obviously no 3g capabilities...
Do yourselves a favour: check out PAYG handset prices from the 3g-dedicated UK network,3, at www.three.co.uk. If we can get loads of these into SA...
I am pretty excited to here about the great advancements regarding 3g in SA! Excellent!!!!!
@brix, currently, as far as I know, the 3 biggest cellphone chain stores in the UK, www.carphonewarehouse.com, www.thelink.co.uk and www.phones4u.co.uk all have the v800's on contract, but yes, they do go for £398 'sim-free' (of course, Vodafone branded etc. handsets...) from www.mobilefun.co.uk. Mind you, watch how the prices drop as the handsets become older in the months ahead...
Posted by mario2002
@ Uthetha Ituvi Buddy a BIG THANKS to you for the info ! I somehow appreciante unbiased advice ! If you ever want to chat with me I am using all the major IM programs + IRC.And ofcourse from my cellphone too.Let me know which one you prefer and I will add you right away.I am into programing (c & c++) stock trading (mostly tec) and forex, I enjoy flying (paramotors), wildlife, diving (scuba), space discoveries and mathematics (I worship calculus) Greetings from South Africa. Mario :-)
Posted by uthetha ituvi
@ mario,
You can use esato private messages or email me at amawanqa@yahoo.com.
I'm afraid the closest appreciation I've had for maths was TRYING to understand formulae to prove attributes of Black Holes and Quantum Dynamics in Stephen Hawking's 'A Brief History of Time.'
Anyway, back to cellphone stuff for this forum. Have you guys ever checked out all the free wallpapers and themes at www.tagtag.com?
You can use wap to download the pics, but it's much easier (and no wap/gprs costs)to just right-click the pic, save it and then beam it to your phone with bluetooth etc.
Tagtag might not be news to seasoned esato members, but I'm sure people that have not yet heard of it will appreciate all the free stuff.
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.
Posted by uthetha ituvi
Oops, forgot the themes are NOT on www.tagtag.com, but pics etc. are.
@ mario, PS: I will be visiting J-Bay again in July, SA's 'waxfoot' capital. The waves at Bruce's Beauties seem to always cause a pilgrimage of surfers from EL and PE to visit the place in the Winter.
Posted by rapidblue
@Brix25 I agree that R5000 is expensive. Not to worry, the prices should drop a lot as the new handsets are released. If you buy an unlocked/open phone from overseas it should work here. Will still be able to make video calls and access the net. The Vodafone Live portal might not work though (depends on the phone). Eventhought the Vodafone branded phones give access to the Vodafone Live! portal, these phones aren't only restricted to it - you can still go to any site you want to
The Vodafone Live! portal is just an "extra".
I do disagree with the fact that 3G is gonna take a while to take off. I have customers on a daily basis. There are quite a number of people using it already. There are definitely a lot more 3G data cards out there than 3G phones though. I think this is due to the fact that we only have the E1000 at the moment. This should also change as soon as the new handsets are released. I also think that a lot of people aren't aware of the fact that you can connect your 3G phone to your PC and then connect to the net - basically the handset can do everything the data card can, and more.
Posted by Rhino8
But that brings us back to 2options-->
Bluetooth: slow so the fast 3g connection doesnt meen sh*t
Data cable: inconvenient, and you got wires lying around, what you dont want when you on the move.
Posted by brix25
Courtesy of The Wirelessmonkey: Last week Ericsson, Quallcomm,Transtel and MTN were busy running trials of CDMA2000 and CDMA2000 Evo onThe 800Mhz band. According to the press release this was to show of the technology which requires low power from the base stations and transmits the signal over a larger area. Allthis happened in Jozi.
Posted by mario2002
Sorry buddy.Just correcting something.Bluetooth is not to slow for 3G internet access.I am accessing the Internet for over 2y now on bluetooth (gprs cellphone) i also have the laptop connected to my pc via bluetooth and my videocam joins the network too when needed (sony trv80) I shift pictures around browse the net, files etc. all at 500-700 kbps when the distance increases above 40m between my laptop and pc then the speed drops to about 300kbps. So bluetooth is not the slow link here.. 3g in PE it tops at 350 kbps under 'best conditions' tested with the data card in the middle of the town !
Posted by Rhino8
@mario
Y then cant i transfer files between my pc at work, or my laptop to my fone fastr than 23kbs?
Posted by mario2002
Buddy then is something very wrong with your settings ! What device are you using ? Which software ? I've helped a few people to set up there bluetooth networks and I don't mind helping you too. Usually we chat on a IM program while they set it up.I know is a bit difficult but if done properly it works like a dream.32kbps is the default data control channel.If you only connect at this speed then either one of the devices has drifted from the intendet frq. (needs replacement and happens very seldom) or the software you are using is not intendet for the device you are using ! Try to change the position of the connected items and if the problem persists then one of the above may be the case. Also if you are using certain class 2 devices with SE cells this same problem may come up..Always use a class 1 device for your laptop or pc !
Posted by Rhino8
From laptop to pc i dont have that problem. Only from my k700 to pc/laptop and phone to phone.
Posted by RicK700i
I wish Vodacom would launch pre-paid vouchers that will give us unlimited gprs internet for 30 days for the cost of R50.Last month I've spent R300-R400 on pre-paid airtime for the gprs internet.
Posted by brix25
@Rick: What? Are you downloading whole movies onto your phone?
Posted by mario2002
@Rhino What dongle are you using on your laptop/pc ? My old 7650 seems to do just fine. With your driver CD you should have also got a 'testing' program. Try to install and run it.As I've sad in my initial posting,you are not the only one SE user complaining about a poor bluetooth. :-(
Posted by rapidblue
@Rick700i if you're constantly spending so much, consider getting a 3G 500 contract for R350 a month. You can then also get the 3G data card for R499 (once off).
Posted by Rhino8
Also spend about 400 bucks on gprs on my pre paid account. If settle for a hundred or 150 a month for unlimited gprs access. Dont want a contract for private use. I use my phone too much.
Posted by Tahir Ally
You can also get the Vodafone mobile connect card for about R500 cash on a Family Top Up contract.Available @ all Vodashops
Posted by brix25
I wouldn't mind paying a flat rate for unlimited GPRS access. Right now my bill stands at around R300/month...should be more this month since I start chatting on Yamigo this month.
Posted by Tahir Ally
SonyEricsson K700i is now FREE on Family Top.Available @ all Vodashops.Valid until 6 April 05
Posted by mario2002
Does Yamigo have PTT ?And does it interface with the other major IM programs? How about filesharing ? Do you know/use AgileMessenger ? How does the 2 compare ?
Posted by brix25
@mario: Yamigo supports MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and ICQ messenger. I'm not to sure what PTT stands for. I don't think it supports file-sharing. Go onto their website for more info.
Posted by mario2002
PTT stands for Push To Talk. Thanks for bothering to answer.Want to add me as your buddy ? MSN : marios_cell@hotmail.com AOL : marios cell ICQ : 164112069 YAHOO : marios_cell