07-08-2003, 09:00 AM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 3,060
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It's Enough To Make A Grown Man Cry...
I was SO excited recently when T-Mobile decided to let their customers get all the wireless data communication we want for 20 bucks a month. I knew I was going on a trip and was looking forward to really playing with my Pocket PC Phone Edition and gobbling up the megabytes.
My destination, however, was a small corner of Indiana (yep, that place with the corn and soybeans) that is apparently about 87 miles from the nearest T-Mobile/Cingular tower. No data connection. No voice connection. Nothing.
For reasons I won't go into, I had three wireless phones with me with three different carriers: T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint. Not ONE of them could pick up a signal while I was in Indiana. Oh, well, I thought I could at least play with my Pocket PC games and try out my new hp2215.
Except...I had let a couple of relatives use my Pocket PCs and their batteries were completely depleted. Hard resets on four Pocket PCs. Oh, well, I thought I could at least have some fun rebuilding the devices.
Except...ActiveSync decided at that precise point in my life to stop working. No partnerships, no connections, and worse yet, no ActiveSync CD to attempt a reinstall. And the best dial-up speed I could get was a scorching 14.4 kbps, so downloading the needed files was out of the question.
Talk about torture! All my wonderful, beautiful toys and precious few ways to use them. I think next year we'll just visit our Hoosier relatives via conference call!
What sob stories about being "disconnected" can YOU share?
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07-08-2003, 09:45 AM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 7
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What can you say other than.... meh! :microwave:
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07-08-2003, 09:47 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 485
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Dare I ask if you had a backup? A Pocket Backup Plus backup will have you re-instated after a hard-reset in a matter of minutes.
Or was it that you were able to restore but were then unable to connect to anything that caused the most pain.
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07-08-2003, 10:17 AM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,043
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With every PPC I've used there is a reliable, and annoying, reminder which pops up at some point well before hard reset time advising that the unit be powered off to avoid data loss. When my Casio gets below about 5%, it just won't start up for more than half a second until I get it on AC. So what, are your relatives blind? !!! Good grief. Disown them. You'll be better off... unless you take after them and do the same sort of thing? In that case, never mind, it won't make a bit of difference. 
__________________
Gerard Ivan Samija
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07-08-2003, 10:43 AM
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Pupil
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 46
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How big is Activesync - 3, 4Mb?
How do you think we lived when 14400 bps modems were the fastest out there?
Hmph, kids!
cmlp
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07-08-2003, 11:59 AM
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Theorist
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 282
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I hope you learned your lesson. Get Pocket Backup for your PPC's and that won't happen again 
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07-08-2003, 12:49 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Me: "Honey, I need to run to a big city real quick for, uhm... a car part. Yeah, that's it. When we were driving I heard a clicking sound {backing out of the room} and I know exactly what I need. It is only a few dollars {opening door} but they only sell them in big cities. It won't take long {feet in the garage and door closing} to fix but it will take a few hours to drive and get there {now only head poking out} so don't wait up for me. Love you. Bye. {click - and mad dash to the car with all of my devices looking for a live cell.}
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07-08-2003, 01:19 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 276
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Re: It's Enough To Make A Grown Man Cry...
What part of Indiana ?
I grew up in Evansville (S. Indiana) and now live in the Chicago area. I pretty much drive down the whole west side of Indiana and have never had a problem.
This month we drove from Evansville to Destin Fl. There were hours of dead time in Alabama.
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07-08-2003, 01:39 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 31
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That's why I don't have a GSM (TMobile/ATT) or a Sprint phone. Sure they are cool and everything, but look at the coverage map. Coverage disappears for 90%? of the country. They only work in populated areas or major high traffic roads. First time your car breaks down on a roadtrip to the country and you are screwed.
I wouldn't buy a phone unless it has AMPS (analog) backup, it still has the best coverage nationwide. This will change eventually since most carriers are trying to get rid of it, but then we are stuck with two or three networks CDMA, GSM, and TDMA for a while. It would be nice if they all converted to the same, CDMA2000. I'm pretty sure at least AT&T is committed to GSM and eventually EDGE for high speed data.
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07-08-2003, 02:09 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 416
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Brad-
I'm a full-time Indiana guy (although NOT a hoosier), but I've never had a problem... course I only stick to the big cities... It's dangerous to venture into the country!!! Not only is there no phone service, but you never know what kinda crazies you'll meet... this IS Indiana afterall...
__________________
"And then she understood the devilish cunning of the enemies' plan. By mixing a little truth with it they had made their lie far stronger."-C.S. Lewis
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