More Cell Phone Rants
My wife told me that she needed a new car charger for the Nokia 6102 I got for her from Cingular. Huh? I thought all Nokia phones used the same charger–at least that’s been the case for as long as I’ve been familiar with Nokia phones. Apparently not. With the newer “small” flip phones, Nokia went with a smaller connector so none of the car chargers (or other chargers for that matter) will work on that phone. At least it comes with one, but why do mobile phone manufacturers do this crap? Why can’t they standardize, at least within a manufacturer? Oh yeah, it’s because they want you to buy more accessories. It’s all about the benjamins.
Meanwhile, I’ve had my own cell phone problems: with my little Nokia 6230. The handset speaker has developed this strange buzzing sound that comes and goes. It’s annoying enough that I want to get it fixed. Since I bought the phone less than a year ago, it’s still under warranty. Cingular has an Exchange By Mail (XBM) program that people have had fairly good luck with. So I call them up. Turns out that the Nokia 6230 isn’t being sold anymore due to firmware problems. XBM gives me two choices: the Motorola V551 or the Siemens S66. Both of these phones are inferior to the Nokia 6230 by a longshot. And I wouldn’t be caught dead with either a Motorola or Siemens phone either. I want a Nokia!
When I called XBM, I asked if I could get a Nokia 6102 instead. In some ways, it’s actually an inferior phone: no bluetooth and no MMC slot. But it’s a flip phone and after playing with my wife’s for a little bit, I think I wouldn’t mind carrying it around. It’s a Nokia phone. XBM said no.
Meanwhile, I’m reading on Howard Forums that people, after several calls, managed to get XBM to cough up a Nokia 6682 to replace a Nokia 6230. Now that would be kind of a cool phone to have, though it’d be a big phone. Of course, I’m used to carrying around a Nokia 9500, so what’s another big phone in my pocket? Maybe if I feel like calling Cingular again, I’ll see if I can get that same kind of deal.
