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OT: Robust Nokia Mobiles


JST

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For Ladoga last year I loaned Fridge a Benefon Esc - old now, but built on a stainless steel chassis and as near to bombproof as any phone I've ever seen. (You'd expect that from a phone costing over a grand when new :o )

Fridge was unable to break the main phone, so he settled for just snapping off the antenna instead :lol:

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  • 3 months later...

Just spotted there is now a whiz-bang phone which claims to be completely dustproof and waterproof to IP67 - which translates to immersion 15cm to 1m.

http://www.buy-mphone.com/acatalog/airo-a25_sim_free.html

No idea if it is any good or not and I wouldn't buy one because none of the whizzy facilities would work here so it would be a bit wasted, but I thought it might be of interest to some LR owners :)

I bought a Samsung M110 in the end and while I don't really like the user interface, it has been both dropped and splashed and seems to be fine though I have drawn the line at the "drive-over" test! What I didn't find out till after I got it is that only half the Bluetooth features work on my Parrot handsfree - apparently "Bluetooth is not Bluetooth" and there are different standards but I didn't find THAT out until I was trying to get to the bottom of why all the useful features of the handsfree didn't work properly :rtfm:

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if you want an indestructable phone for offroading, dont want any fancy gizmos, fancy ringtones etc etc etc then get a really old nokia 3210.

had mine for years, it went through the washing machine 3 times on a standard 60C wash with fairy non bio (just dried it out on the radiator and recharged the shorted out battery over night), i ran it over on my drive, i ran it over at frickley and had to dig through about a foot of clay to find it and just washed it of in a puddle, dog buried it in the garden a couple of times (made a nice change from the sky remote) and it carried on working fine.

it isnt supposed to be waterproof etc - but it certianly didnt mind getting soaked and everything worked after being dried out and recharged.

i dont think my viewty will put up with the same abuse.......

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I have the Samsung Sold (m110) - they are on ebay brand new for £57 unlocked.

Had it for 3 months, but only use it for off-roading - just swap the sim card over for the weekend.

Whats not been said is that the JCB phone is very very simple, it doesnt even have a basic camera

From my experience, as robust as the samsung is, its not the most user friendly, its like stepping back 10 years, quite slow, but it does have blue tooth and a basic vga camera, one of the most irritating keylock features going..... but it does have a one hell of a good battery life with a nifty torch built in as well.

My thoughts:

Get a super fandango phone on your renewal, spend £60 for a tough phone and swap sims when needed.

Ive not broken mine, its been swimming a lot - dam megasquirt

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a few years back ericsson did a shockproof waterproof dustproof mobile ( I was working for them at the time, and we submersed it in a glass of sparkling water and rang it a few times with vibrate enabled (dont ask why), it was called the R310 - and it was a good phone.

it was sometimes called the shark fin phone see below and you will see why - although in these daft times you will probably get an asbo for carrying an offensive weapon :lol:

ericsson-r310-1.jpg

if you dont want to pay for a jcb take a look on ebay for one of these ?

These come from an era when ericsson actually made phones and decent software - as opposed to oem the HTC stuff and running windows on it :angry:

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I have a JCB phone - and have been very impressed by it's robustness. However, I do miss the things like web browsing and had thought about buying a more feature rich phone to use sometimes.

I think the Airo is about as close as it gets to my requirements. With a bit of luck one of the networks might adopt it as a contract phone - otherwise it will have to wait a year or so to be cheap on eBay.

Si

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  • 2 months later...

I don't tend to be very 'hard' on my phones in that none have yet been dropped in the loo or ran over in a muddy field, however use in rain and with muddy or oily hands always worries me. This has recently been exacerbated by concerns over my new -£40 iPhone (that's minus forty pounds - the phone was free and I sold my old phone for £40 :D )

Anyway, back on-topic: I have just been experimenting and have found that the iPhone works very well when sealed in a plastic bag (Don't vacuum seal it though! )

I was worried that the touch-screen would either respond to the touch of the plastic bag (which it appears not to) or not respond to finger touches through the plastic (which it appears quite happy with). The sound is ok too.

There are multiple waterproof covers available on eBay for less than £20, ranging from simple to exotic - so I may well get one of those when my current bag wears out..

So now I have Google Maps, proper email, web browsing and phone (etc) when I am out walking/cycling etc, i.e. in situations where I can't guarantee things staying dry. :)

It works for me ;)

Roger

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I don't tend to be very 'hard' on my phones in that none have yet been dropped in the loo or ran over in a muddy field, however use in rain and with muddy or oily hands always worries me. This has recently been exacerbated by concerns over my new -£40 iPhone (that's minus forty pounds - the phone was free and I sold my old phone for £40 :D )

Anyway, back on-topic: I have just been experimenting and have found that the iPhone works very well when sealed in a plastic bag (Don't vacuum seal it though! )

I was worried that the touch-screen would either respond to the touch of the plastic bag (which it appears not to) or not respond to finger touches through the plastic (which it appears quite happy with). The sound is ok too.

There are multiple waterproof covers available on eBay for less than £20, ranging from simple to exotic - so I may well get one of those when my current bag wears out..

So now I have Google Maps, proper email, web browsing and phone (etc) when I am out walking/cycling etc, i.e. in situations where I can't guarantee things staying dry. :)

It works for me ;)

Roger

waterproof is a problem - a ziplock bag would probably solve that - so good tip thanks ! but for iphone protection - the defender covers (yes really) from otterbox are getting good reviews - the only problem is the difference in price in the usa vs the uk and a $60 shipping from the usa - so your forced to buy in the uk :angry: (if there is enough interest maybe a group buy?)

They seem to do covers for all sorts of phones, pda's, laptops etc etc

http://www.otterbox.com/iphone-cases/

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I have an AquaPac for my phone which is a waterproof submersible phone/radio bag with a clear front cover which you can use the phone inside, it has a clear front cover so you can see the display and is flexible to allow you to press buttons etc.

Now I have the Samsung Solid I tend not to use it but always carried my old phone inside it when in the boat.

Downside is the audio was not that great as the plastic of the 'pac mutes it a bit, also a 115hp 2 stroke outboard six feet behind me doesn't help either :) also it is no use at all for a flip or slide phone.

Edited to say looking at http://www.aquapac.net/ukstore/erol.html now says there is a case for a flip phone though I can't see how it would work :huh:

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i had 2 sony erricson k900i phones one after the other 12 moinths each because i dropped them off roofs and in puddles etc and they just kept working... just got a £400 sonyerricson c905 for christmas though and it does not look half as durable so i think for under £50 i will buy one of the samsung m110 solid phones for work and playing out on sundays!!

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I seem to remember one of the sonim XP phones was also available branded as a Land Rover Product...

Same as a Sonim, only it leaks :lol:

I bought the Samsung for much the same reason, its cheap enough to put in harm's way and not cry too much if it doesn't live up to its claims but so far so good :)

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  • 10 months later...

To dig up an old(ish) thread there is a new "tough...ish" Nokia released recently, the 3720. I have just ordered one but it seems a useful combination of something that doesn't look too much like a Lego tank, a reasonable price, IP54 sealing and a reasonable range of the features I wanted - usable camera, bluetooth for the handsfree, an FM radio, and a torch.

After much window shopping I've come to the conclusion that what I actually need is something I can accidentally drop in a puddle or on a garage floor and then pick up and wipe off, rather than something I will intentionally go diving with and then drive over afterwards. The new LR S1 phone is interesting but stupidly expensive SIM free, so for anybody who "handles without care" the 3720 may be worth a look. Toughphones seem to be growing in popularity - my current Samsung M110 is ok its just a bit too basic.

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  • 2 weeks later...

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/237130/indestructible_land_rover_phone.html

Its been mentioned, but no links to it. I think its based on the sonim XP (?) but has a few more features. Does seem expensive and I know its a bit gimicky - with the landy badge and all that, but it does seem to get reviews as a tough phone. You can get unlocked ones on ebay.

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Well, up until recently the most I'd ever paid for a phone was £5.

Last year my phone at the time got a soaking and packed up. No great loss for the phone, but I lost a lot of photo's.

So I splashed out (so to speak) on a Samsung B2700. It was advertised as being waterproof to IP57, and tough.

I've had it a year, it's been run over twice, knocked off the edge of a 20 foot roof, been dunked twice and had a 30t rated snatch block dropped on it.

First time it got dunked, I forgot it was in my pocket as I was fastening chains around a wagon in the middle of a river, chest deep.

The phone worked fine.

Then later in the week, as I was telling the lads how good it was, my pal picked it off the table and dropped it in my fresh pint.

Still worked.

It's also got a micro SD card, so even if the phone was to pack up, you shouldn't lose your pics/video's.

Bought it new and unlocked off ebay for about £130.

Compared to the price of some of the other rugged phones, I recommend it.

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Otterbox Defender is good protection for iPhone - Google will find you video of a real test of a first floor drop onto concrete. I've been using mine for a year and it has been effective against splashing and dust too. £26 on Amazon UK.

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