Hi all,

I gave daughter a SGS8 I was given by a good friend a few years ago now
and it has served her well, it's just that the battery is nearly dead
(meaning it has to be on life support in the train or from a mobile
battery most of the time), she can really only use it handsfree and the
USBC socket is duff, meaning she can only charge it via wireless. ;-(

So, is there a equivalent spec phone (especially the camera) out there
that has a replaceable battery (Galaxy XCover Pro?) or should she send
it to be refurbished, or just buy a refurb / SH S8 / S10 from the likes
of CEX and have a 2 year g'tee?

Similar sort of question re my SGS7 that also has a weak battery but
otherwise ok. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

T i m <individual@spaced.me.uk> wrote:
> So, is there a equivalent spec phone (especially the camera) out there
> that has a replaceable battery (Galaxy XCover Pro?) or should she send
> it to be refurbished, or just buy a refurb / SH S8 / S10 from the likes
> of CEX and have a 2 year g'tee?

Look at Fairphone - replaceable everything. You'd need to confirm the
camera performance as I couldn't really say what an old Samsung might
compare with.

Fairphone 5 has just been announced, but a FP4 or FP3+ might also meet the
bill.

Theo

On 13/09/2023 00:15, Theo wrote:
> T i m <individual@spaced.me.uk> wrote:
>> So, is there a equivalent spec phone (especially the camera) out there
>> that has a replaceable battery (Galaxy XCover Pro?) or should she send
>> it to be refurbished, or just buy a refurb / SH S8 / S10 from the likes
>> of CEX and have a 2 year g'tee?
>
> Look at Fairphone - replaceable everything. You'd need to confirm the
> camera performance as I couldn't really say what an old Samsung might
> compare with.
>
> Fairphone 5 has just been announced, but a FP4 or FP3+ might also meet the
> bill.
>

Thanks for that Theo.

There seem to be mixed reviews re the Fairphone range. Some suggesting
they are a 'good idea' but maybe not so well implemented, as in audio
quality and customer support etc?

For us I think it's a 'No one get's fired for buying IBM' but with
Samsung, not that I personally have had any other smartphone to compare
them to.

After my old Nokia I was supplied a SGS2 then S4 (both still working)
then S7 and finally an S10, that was borrowed back before I got to use
it because I was in no rush to move from the S7.

Daughter and the Mrs have hand-me-down SGS8's and they are both still
running, all be it they have been knocked about (before we got them).

I would happily consider something else but am torn back to 'the devil
you know'. ;-(

Cheers, T i m

On Tuesday, 12 September 2023 at 18:22:41 UTC+1, T i m wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I gave daughter a SGS8 I was given by a good friend a few years ago now
> and it has served her well, it's just that the battery is nearly dead
> (meaning it has to be on life support in the train or from a mobile
> battery most of the time), she can really only use it handsfree and the
> USBC socket is duff, meaning she can only charge it via wireless. ;-(
>
> So, is there a equivalent spec phone (especially the camera) out there
> that has a replaceable battery (Galaxy XCover Pro?) or should she send
> it to be refurbished, or just buy a refurb / SH S8 / S10 from the likes
> of CEX and have a 2 year g'tee?
>
> Similar sort of question re my SGS7 that also has a weak battery but
> otherwise ok. ;-)
>
> Cheers, T i m

When I upgraded to an S23 Ultra about six months ago, Samsung offered a trade in for my SGS8 (also with a tired battery and a duff earpiece) for more than I could buy one refurbished, so back it went, although more sensible would have been trade in my mates J3 (worth perhaps a tenner) and keep the SGS8, which has a useful pulse and blood O2 monitor.

The trouble with having a battery compartment is that it compromises the IP68 rating, and if water gets in too bad,.

My Nokia N8 survived a very brief dip, but only because I had the tools to quickly extract the battery. My Motorola Elite suffered terminal corrosion from a little sweat leaking in when in my pocket on a hot day.

>
> Long > short it turned out it was previously his sons phone and he
> 'could have dropped it in a puddle'. He would only return 50% of the
> cost because he said he had no way of knowing if I had got it wet ... me
> with a 5000 and 100% eBay feedback history ... ;-(
>
> Lesson learned.
>
> Cheers, T i m
>

And the lesson I learned is that you are better off going through the
eBay return procedure rather than dealing with the seller - then you get
a 100% refund.

--
random signature text inserted here

T i m <individual@spaced.me.uk> wrote:
> Thanks for that Theo.
>
> There seem to be mixed reviews re the Fairphone range. Some suggesting
> they are a 'good idea' but maybe not so well implemented, as in audio
> quality and customer support etc?

I have no personal experience on that score as I've not had one.

They are more expensive for an equivalent phone, but then they are aiming
for a 10 year lifetime (with replaceable parts and software updates) so the
cost per year is lower (assuming they succeed).

> For us I think it's a 'No one get's fired for buying IBM' but with
> Samsung, not that I personally have had any other smartphone to compare
> them to.
>
> After my old Nokia I was supplied a SGS2 then S4 (both still working)
> then S7 and finally an S10, that was borrowed back before I got to use
> it because I was in no rush to move from the S7.
>
> Daughter and the Mrs have hand-me-down SGS8's and they are both still
> running, all be it they have been knocked about (before we got them).
>
> I would happily consider something else but am torn back to 'the devil
> you know'. ;-(

So it sounds like you are limited to either the very mediocre Samsungs with
removable batteries, or a phone with an 'easier' non-removable battery (eg
not having to unglue the screen to change it), or finding somebody to do it
for you.

Or switch to a brand where those things are better.

Samsung doesn't seem to make the phone you want, so you have to compromise
somewhere.

Theo

On 17/09/2023 11:39, Theo wrote:
> eg
> not having to unglue the screen to change it

Although I was replacing a screen, rather than a battery, as I recall
it, with the A22 5G, the difficult part would be unclipping the outer
frame, more than unglueing the back. Unglueing the screen would not be
necessary for changing the the battery, on that model.

The extra expense would be the precut adhesive; I decided to use the
proper ones, rather than trying to re-stick what was left, or use the
double sided tape supplied with the screen assembly.

On 16/09/2023 22:29, T i m wrote:
>
> I bought a s/h phone off eBay that lasted a couple of days and never
> left the lounge, let alone the house before it died.
>
> It was under warranty to the PO so I posted it back to him, who sent it
> back to the supplier who checked it out and sent him photos of the
> insides and water damage.
>
> Long > short it turned out it was previously his sons phone and he
> 'could have dropped it in a puddle'. He would only return 50% of the
> cost because he said he had no way of knowing if I had got it wet ... me
> with a 5000 and 100% eBay feedback history ... ;-(

You can appeal within 30 days of the item being returned, but, if my
experience is anything to go by, do it on a working day comfortably
within working hours - you're more likely to get an actual human who
can actually do something, as described below.

Recently had a similar bad experience ...

Old laptop advertised for a rather highish price, but had a lot of
extras. Made a reduced offer, which was accepted, but when it arrived
it was clear that it had had a 'difficult' history, probably a violent
one, possibly a car crash, or sliding down something like a railway
embankment. The killer problem was that it was shutting down without
warning two or three times a day, apparently due to thermal issues,
which would have meant losing any unsaved work, but it also had damage
to the back of the screen which affected the image, and a
non-functioning DVD. Note: the *back* of the screen, so the original
lid must have been stove in for this to have happened, and 'someone'
must have known enough about its past to have purchased a second-hand
lid and moved the damaged screen across to it, yet *NONE* of this was
mentioned in the description!

Understandably annoyed, but not yet alarmed, I contacted the seller
listing the faults and making a much reduced offer on a Spares or
Repairs basis of less than half the original price and offering to
return the unwanted extras, at which the seller appeared to blow a fuse,
sending me three ranting emails continuing on from one another in which,
rather bizarrely and irrationally, he ADMITTED THAT THE LAPTOP HAD
PREVIOUSLY BEEN RANDOMLY SHUTTING DOWN - in other words, he admitted
misdescribing the item - but accusing me of dishonesty! Still not
unduly alarmed, I shrugged my shoulders, and returned the item in the
same state and the same packaging as it had originally been sent.

A few days later I received first an email confirming the seller's
receipt of the return, then one that he had referred the sale to
arbitration by eBay. Within about 20 mins of that, and before I had
even read it because I was working outside, they sent another one
awarding the seller £34.50 of my money for misdescribing the item, and
returning the rest! Note that in making this decision eBay made
ABSOLUTELY NO ATTEMPT AT ALL to hear any evidence from myself! Upon
reading this later that evening I was outraged, and immediately launched
an appeal, and was informed that I would hear back within 48 hours. 48
hours later I merely received an email confirming my appeal had been
received by eBay, and that I would hear back within 48 hours, but
afterwards, nothing, eBay appeared to be as dead as a parrot in a dead
parrot sketch. Noting that the matter would lapse if allowed to run on
to 30 days, I suspected they had referred my appeal to the seller for
some sort of comment or reply, but that he was just going to ignore them
and hope the matter timed out.

So I began to look at other options. First I tried to use eBay's online
chatbot to get through to a human, but it was outside UK working hours,
so, if it was actually a human I was chatting with, 'she' couldn't
actually do anything except offer platitudes. Next I contacted local
solicitors, but they couldn't "offer me an economic solution" as their
cost would exceed the sums involved, but one of them suggested that I
contact the Citizen's Advice bureau, which I did. The CAB advised me to
contact my bank, give them the evidence that I had, and ask them to
nullify the transaction. I contacted my bank, who gave detailed
instructions, gathered all the evidence, and was about to send it off,
when I thought that it might be an idea to try the eBay online chat one
last time, but this time within UK working hours. This latter worked,
and finally I was returned the rest of my money.

That the seller admitted his own dishonesty, and then accused me of
being dishonest [when all the known facts could be entirely explained by
his own admitted dishonesty, so, besides being a false and totally
unmerited accusation, if eBay were to just follow the known facts, it
was going to be an utterly irrelevant one anyway and therefore best not
made in the first place] all suggests to me that perhaps he had done
this sort of thing before, and got a better outcome because as with me
eBay didn't take any evidence from buyers whom he had previously scammed
and they hadn't tried to appeal, or he had arranged that their appeals
would time out. However, as my experience shows, stubbornness can
occasionally be a virtue rather than a vice.

One thing still rankles though, I can't change my original feedback
which only mentioned the screen and the DVD, so I can't warn the rest of
the world about this seller's blatant dishonesty.

--

Fake news kills!

I may be contacted via the contact address given on my website:
www.macfh.co.uk

On Saturday, 16 September 2023 at 22:29:45 UTC+1, T i m wrote:
> On 15/09/2023 16:15, notya...@gmail.com wrote:
> <snip>
> > When I upgraded to an S23 Ultra about six months ago, Samsung offered a trade in for my SGS8 (also with a tired battery and a duff earpiece) for more than I could buy one refurbished, so back it went,
> Was this a straight purchase, not on a contract etc?

Pre-purchase (special offer from Samsung) £150 px, storage upgrade to 1/2TB and some percentage off - net result <£1k.

> >although more sensible would have been trade in my mates J3 (worth perhaps a tenner) and keep the SGS8, which has a useful pulse and blood O2 monitor.
> Doh.
> >
> > The trouble with having a battery compartment is that it compromises the IP68 rating, and if water gets in too bad,.
> True.
> >
> > My Nokia N8 survived a very brief dip, but only because I had the tools to quickly extract the battery.
> Lucky.

Part luck, part skill. Even after drying thoroughly with tissues etc. it spent a week in the airing cupboard. Still works 12 yo.

> > My Motorola Elite suffered terminal corrosion from a little sweat leaking in when in my pocket on a hot day.

> I bought a s/h phone off eBay that lasted a couple of days and never
> left the lounge, let alone the house before it died.
>
> It was under warranty to the PO so I posted it back to him, who sent it
> back to the supplier who checked it out and sent him photos of the
> insides and water damage.
>
> Long > short it turned out it was previously his sons phone and he
> 'could have dropped it in a puddle'. He would only return 50% of the
> cost because he said he had no way of knowing if I had got it wet ... me
> with a 5000 and 100% eBay feedback history ... ;-(
>
> Lesson learned.
>
> Cheers, T i m

The only thing I ever bought off Ebay was a Navigation CD drive for my BMW, and even then a mate processed it.

This was tricky to fit, but worked for about three years before it too died (probably 15+yo on demise)