SPV M500- seemingly endless list of problems

[Guest confused and hungover]

M500- seemingly endless list of problems

I've had this phone now for 12 days. I have had the following problems;

Freezing up, seemingly at random. Sometimes it just won't turn on in the morning. The little yellow light flashes, my C500 can detect it as a bluetooth device but there's no life from the phone. Taking the battery out and putting it back in again seems to get it working, but about 50% of the time it will hard reset itself.

one in ten times, taking the usb cable out causes it to hard reset itself.

Sometimes it just hard resets itself.

For three days it sent sms messages twice [possibly a conflict with pocket plus] it hard reset itself and the problem seemed to go away.

If walk past it and cough, it hard resets itself.

Gprs connection can be at times random. Now it works perfectly but before the last time it hard reset itself, could only connect 50% of the time.

Hard reset cycles. twice now, the phone has gone into cycles of hard reseting, I.e., it goes through all the reinstallation, all by itself, then when it's finished... It hard resets again. The first time this happened I called orange premier, [the "we'll bring you a new phone in 4 hours if yours stops working" people] they arranged to deliver me a replacement phone, as promised, in 4 hours. Three and a half hours and about 18 hard resets later, the M500 made a cheerful bleeping noise and started working again. I didn't want to cut into the 3000 Euro limit for replacement phones so I cancelled it.

The second hard reset cycle was Monday night. This time I just left it to do it's thing and by morning it seemed to be ok again except...

Since the last hard reset cycle, the phone is completely unable to send or receive sms messages. The only way I can send an sms is if I sync it with jeyo. Not very practical if you're ON THE BLOODY TRAIN!!!

Anyway, this isn't a whinge or a cry for help,I just thought you might like a giggle at my expense.

I'm going to orange tonight to pick up a new phone. I'm pretty sure I just got a dodgy bit of kit in the first place.

Cheers,

C&H

[slightly disgruntled M500 owner]

[Guest rameses]

Oh I'm so glad I ordered my M500 yesterday. :)

(Not an Orange one though, I've got fed up of waiting and have opted to go for an ETEN 8) )

[Guest Disco Stu]

Keep the thread updated C&S.

I hope you get a properly functioning replacement and this is not evidence of a bad batch out there.

[Guest confused and hungover]

Keep the thread updated C&S.

I hope you get a properly functioning replacement and this is not evidence of a bad batch out there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i really hope it's just a one off... it's such a cool phone, and if i get a string of dodgy one's, orange don't have anything else that comes close that i can swap with.

ah well, we'll wait and see eh?

[Guest peekie]

its not only the m500 that has problems , the qtek s100 has them as well as did my m1000 , i get freeze ups , crappy pictures , ect . could be why qtek keep on releasing updated roms , you cant really compair the c500 to the m500 both have many + and -. if you let your c500 battery empty , after a charge it works agin , do the same with a m500 and its a hard reset you see, always back up your shortcuts to your games ect and should that happen its only a matter of copying them back to the windows start menu folder :) :D

[Guest confused and hungover]

yeah, i mean, i have everything backed up through active sync, so i can always restore everything. but i'm pretty sure there is a hardware problem in my phone, the freeze ups i can live with, it's the knowlege that my M500 could hard reset itself at any minute that is making me swap it.

and the inability to send/receive SMS. anyone hear of that before? MMS i can understand but SMS????

[Guest Dade]

M500- seemingly endless list of problems

I've had this phone now for 12 days. I have had the following problems;

Freezing up, seemingly at random. Sometimes it just won't turn on in the morning. The little yellow light flashes, my C500 can detect it as a bluetooth device but there's no life from the phone. Taking the battery out and putting it back in again seems to get it working, but about 50% of the time it will hard reset itself.

one in ten times, taking the usb cable out causes it to hard reset itself.

Sometimes it just hard resets itself.

For three days it sent sms messages twice [possibly a conflict with pocket plus] it hard reset itself and the problem seemed to go away.

If walk past it and cough, it hard resets itself.

Gprs connection can be at times random. Now it works perfectly but before the last time it hard reset itself, could only connect 50% of the time.

Hard reset cycles. twice now, the phone has gone into cycles of hard reseting, I.e., it goes through all the reinstallation, all by itself, then when it's finished... It hard resets again. The first time this happened I called orange premier, [the "we'll bring you a new phone in 4 hours if yours stops working" people] they arranged to deliver me a replacement  phone, as promised, in 4 hours. Three and a half hours and about 18 hard resets later, the M500 made a cheerful bleeping noise and started working again. I didn't want to cut into the 3000 Euro limit for replacement phones so I cancelled it.

The second hard reset cycle was Monday night. This time I just left it to do it's thing and by morning it seemed to be ok again except...

Since the last hard reset cycle, the phone is completely unable to send or receive sms messages. The only way I can send an sms is if I sync it with jeyo. Not very practical if you're ON THE BLOODY TRAIN!!!

Anyway, this isn't a whinge or a cry for help,I just thought you might like a giggle at my expense.

I'm going to orange tonight to pick up a new phone. I'm pretty sure I just got a dodgy bit of kit in the first place.

Cheers,

C&H

[slightly disgruntled M500 owner]

I have two M500's and my colleagues have them also. Not had any of the problems you reported here.

[Guest confused and hungover]

I have two M500's and my colleagues have them also. Not had any of the problems you reported here.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i'm certain its just a one off.... i think it might even have something to do with the, um... live 8 concert and er... the stairs. *cough*

[Guest confused and hungover]

went to orange this morning.... very long and predictabley orange-esque story. i'll post it monday.

posted from my M500... at the beach, somewhere by the north see.

:?: :??:

[Guest confused and hungover]

Ok….

I went to orange Saturday morning armed with my phone, it’s box and all accessories. I explained to a rather dim looking girl with a very short attention span exactly what the problems were I had been having with the phone. She took it off me to have a look, fumbled around with it for a minute or so then asked me how to turn it on. :shock:

I told her again about how it hard resets itself at random and how it no longer has an SMS inbox or the ability to send or receive text messages. She said

”so the main problem you are having is that you can’t send a text”?

I said “um, no… the main problem is that it hard resets itself.”

“so it switches itself off”? she said.

I took a moment to explain what a hard reset is at which point she became distracted by something shiny so I just left it. she said it was OK and that the could exchange the phone. they didn’t, however, have an M500 in stock. She said it would be better for me if I called my insurance people as they could exchange it in 4 hours. I said that yes, I had already done this but they could only offer me a reconditioned phone and that I didn’t want this as my phone was only 14 days old, what I actually wanted was a NEW phone. “oooooh, but we don’t do that”. Said the orange lady as she watched two pigeons fighting over a crisp outside the window. “orange only ever replace phones with reconditioned units”. I said that this was just not acceptable to swap my brand new phone which has been faulty since I got it, for some dodgy old second hand phone which has probably been dropped down the toilet.

I asked her what Orange’s DOA period is, she said 48 hours. I told her that that was bo**ocks, that under European law there is a 5 day period in which I can demand an refund or brand new replacement, and under Dutch law this period is debatable up until something like a year (I need to check that). She didn’t hear any of this as she was listening to a conversation between 2 gay men in the corner of the shop, arguing about the new Samsung ladies phone. :exclaim:

I asked to speak to the manager. To be honest, I think she was pleased to get rid of me.

The supervisor guy came over, he was the one who signed me up for this phone in the first place, he was very reasonable and explained that oranges DOA period is actually 8 days, but as I was now reporting it on the 14th day, I was only entitled to a refurbished unit. At this point I new I had them, I asked him to check orange CS records for my account and sure enough, it was logged that I had reported this exact fault the previous week, (good bless my drunken Sunday morning urge to call people), therefore within the DOA period by one day :)

They had no choice but to exchange the dodgy phone for a brand new unit, in its box with all accessories. I was well chuffed, and I felt I was on a roll, so I brought up the subject of dust under the screen of my C500…. I pick up a replacement C500 tomorrow.

By the way, the replacement M500 works perfectly… none of the problems listed above have occurred yet, and this one just kinda feels different, like its better put together, the stylus slots into the side with a satisfying clunk, the battery cover stays on better and the ‘on’ button makes a little click when pressed.

Anyway, long story over. I’m gonna get back to my Harry potter book.

Cheers

C&H

[Guest tonijj]

Oh my....You should have just stripped for that girl in order to get her attention :D

The same thing happend to me with Vodafone, they didn't even know how to display the menu on my Qtek 8010 (spv500)

Anyways, I've been thinking of changing my c500 (just writing all the names of the phone so everyone understands which one I have :) ) to a M500, so my obvious question to you is of course, is it worth it? Or should I just stick to my spv500?

My concern/thought is that the m500 might be too big.

Would like to hear your thoughts C&H

Cheers

[Guest confused and hungover]

Anyways, I've been thinking of changing my c500 (just writing all the names of the phone so everyone understands which one I have :) ) to a M500, so my obvious question to you is of course, is it worth it? Or should I just stick to my spv500?

My concern/thought is that the m500 might be too big.

Would like to hear your thoughts C&H

Cheers

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

difficult to compare the 2, the C500 is predominantly a phone with some pocket PC function and the M500 is a Pocket PC with phone function. i think the more i use the M500 the less i'm using the C500, i don't find it too big at all... and the extra PPC function more that makes up for whatever difficulties there are in typing a text with no keypad, i'm even getting used to that now :D

[Guest tonijj]

difficult to compare the 2, the C500 is predominantly a phone with some pocket PC function and the M500 is a Pocket PC with phone function. i think the more i use the M500 the less i'm using the C500, i don't find it too big at all... and the extra PPC function more that makes up for whatever difficulties there are in typing a text with no keypad, i'm even getting used to that now :)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, Maybe I should have been clearer with my Q: Is it too big to have in your pocket when having a couple of cold ones at the pub?? :D

It doesnt feel like its pocket size....but I sure am building up that little need for the m500 though :D

[Guest confused and hungover]

Is it too big to have in your pocket when having a couple of cold ones at the pub?? :)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

it fits snuggly in my pocket without a case, but i do worry about that big 'ole screen getting damaged. it usually sits in its case in my bag at the pub

[Guest pdaxtras]

it fits snuggly in my pocket without a case, but i do worry about that big 'ole screen getting damaged. it usually sits in its case in my bag at the pub

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thats just what i've been thinking.. Will it survive my pockets full of keys and change?

I guess a screen protector would sort that worry, although I can still se me crushing the screen like I did on my iPAQ 1910 :cry:

Anyone else (other than Dade and yourself) actually got an m500 that they have been using?

I'm still waiting for Dade to get back to me on the line 2 functionality but I would be interested to here other peoples experiences with them.

[Guest digger]

What is the speaker phone like?

I have heard it is a bit quiet compared to the kind of volume from a C500

Thanks.

[Guest confused and hungover]

What is the speaker phone like?

I have heard it is a bit quiet  compared to the kind of volume from a C500

Thanks.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

it can be a little quiet, but i think it's only quiet because the speaker is at the back of the phone. if you put the phone flat on a table, the sound seems to be amplified and come out of the sides in stereo. kind of.

[Guest Hax]

Anyone else (other than Dade and yourself) actually got an m500 that they have been using?

I'm still waiting for Dade to get back to me on the line 2 functionality but I would be interested to here other peoples experiences with them.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I got my M500 on Saturday and have spent pretty much the whole weekend playing with it, screwing it up, hard restting it and playing with it some more.

So far, the only problem that I've encuontered is that the key lock doesn't work if you have bluetooth switched on (see here: clicky-clicky)

Hmmm - just noticed another "problem" with it - there's some "tearing" with the camera imgaes. It doesn't happen everytime - but I just took a series of "test" images and it was quite prominent. Images attached below:

I was playing MP3's at the time - so maybe it's just a case of the CPU running out of grunt. And that said, it did eventaully start to take "good" photos too and I then couldn't get it to take a bad one again - most odd :s

Other than that, I'm pretty impressed with it so far and have no "major" complaints.

EDIT: Ooops - sorry about the "overly-large" pictures before - just scaled them down a little!

Edited July 18, 2005 by Hax

[Guest dan13l]

I've been using mine now for a good few weeks, and its brilliant. There are a couple of minor issues - the main one being the phone pad keyboard replacement sometimes refuses to appear if memory is low, but I'm told this is an issue with all such devices.

I can't fault the phone though. I honestly thought I wouldn't get on with a phone without a keypad, but I suspect I'd find it hard to go back now.

I just wish I could get a decent case :)

[Guest nowimboard]

Thanks for keeping the topic updated guys! Its's really help full reading all your comments on the phone. Orange are a pain in the arse and i cant get a long enough period to play with the phone so reading your points really help!

DAN31:

Look on ebay for a case. I have been looking on there to see how much M500 are going for (as orange are gonna change me £200+ unless I spend about £3 more on my contract!!!) and i have seen lots of leather and crome type cases going on there!

Please keep the comments comming in!

EDIT: YAY! I Killed a thread :)

Edited August 8, 2005 by nowimboard

[Guest wazi]

Quick history:

SPV original before anyone knew what it even was!

Loved it - even for all it's faults.

Switched to P900 - never got on with UIQ OS and sync'ability.

Then got an XDA2 with TT5 GPS etc

After 2 months got fed up wth their size (BRICKS) and sold em!

Got a C500 in SEP04 - awesome phone. I still love it. Size, battery, versatility.

What a phone - bit crap 4 games but I can live with that.

Tried a C550 - didn't like the feel of it. Bit thick, plasticky and the buttons are a bit poor. Good screen!

Now an M500 has arrived. It will do well to impress like the c500 did!

Got an i-mate skin & screen from www.dataits.co.uk its v.good quality . the fit is OK but not perfect. Main gripe is USB cover is blocked. Just had it a couple of days (strangely the c500 has died won't turn on anymore - do phones have feelings - jealousy perhaps! :) M500 is good so far. good battery 50% after a day of quite heavy use.

My WANTS:

Good slim case - black skin would be nice.

A usb car adapter.

1gb SD

BT GPS

[Guest evans.rhys.gavin]

C+H your a funny guy aye i read your posts and laugh my tits off, especially the long story about the dim girl made me chuckle :) im thinking of getting that m500 but cant think what it must be like to text with a stylus, do you still get T9 support on it ???

[Guest Confused Stu]

I didn't think I'd be able to cope with texting without a keypad - but it's brilliant! You can have a normal keypad on the bottom of the screen and use predictive, or you can have a full QWERTY keyboard on the bottom of the screen (and it still predicts the words!), or you can go for one of three types of handwriting recognition. Type one has the bottom of the screen split into three sections - write a capital letter in the left section, a lower case in the middle, or a number in the right and it'll recognise it. Option two has an entirely open bottom of the screen for you to write a whole word in (even joined up) and it'll pick it up. Option three (my favourite) has no designated section on the screen and allows you to write whole words, sentenses and everything anywhere on the screen! Just pause for a half second and it'll transfer your scribblings onto the screen in proper type for you to start scribbling again. You can change the speed of the pause and you need to strike the balance between too long (and you'll get bored) and too short (you won't have time to go back and cross the t's).

Try to get your hands on one in a shop and spend five minutes trying it. The handwriting recognition isn't 100%, but you can customise it by saying how you do and don't write your letters and this helps a lot.

Also, try pressing the bottom button on the left briefly - voice dialing without having to record voice tags!!! Is there anything this phone can't do? :)

[Guest jimbouk]

I am classic Orange SPV customer. Three years ago had a nokia and an Ipaq. Went for the first SPV as soon as it came out and loved the functions but hated the problems. Despite the issues with the phone, I got used to the OS and couldn't face going back to a Nokia.

Didn't bother with the E100, went to e200 and it was a big step forward in speed and usability. Jumped to C500 as soon as it was launched and absolutely loved it.

Got a bit bored a couple of months ago and was due an upgrade and wanted 3g so got a nokia 6680. HATED THE DAMN THING - slow, awkward, awful menu design.

Managed to persuade Orange to cancel the upgrade as I couldn't get 3g in my office and last week got an M500 instead, despite fears of not being able to get to grips with the lack of keypad (thought I could always stick the sim back in the c500 if the M500 proved awkward).

After a week with the M500 I think it is the dogies bollogies! Whilst the pocket pc phone edition phone fucntionality takes a bit of getting used to after the c500's intuitive phone operating, the on screen keypad is perfect for texting and the on screen keyboard is fine for emailing. With GPRS when out and about and an ebuyer wifi card (£24!!!!!) when at home or near a wifi access point (but watch out for battery usage), the m500 is perfect for surfing and emailing. With a 1 gig memory card and media player 10, it is fine as an mp3 player.

I have only had to soft reset once in a week and I haven't used the C500 once.

Edited August 17, 2005 by jimbouk

[Guest pdaxtras]

I have been using an m500 now for about the last month and all in all I am very impressed with it. I have just come back from a week abroad where it really came into its own. I took about 30 albums and 4 films away with me on the 1GB SD card, took all my holiday snaps with it and did lots of movie footage. The battery life has been astounding on this device for the amount of work I have been sending its way.

One small thing to note is that when taking movies you have to switch the screen orientation to landscape or else you end up with all the movies on their side and I can't find any software that will rotate them.

The only other problem I have with it is that the device has to be on for any alarms to work properly. If you set an alarm without it plugged into the mains then it just sits there and does nothing if the screen has switched off.

The first thing I did when I got this out of the box was remove the usb plastic cover as it just gets in the way and serves no useful purpose. With this removed I can sync and charge with it in a case, and plug the headset in.

So far so good then