This whole 3G performance thing on the North American version of Nokia's
5800 XpressMusic is shaping up to be one of the great made-for-TV gadget industry dramas of the year.
First it didn't work, then we found that
it kinda did, and now Nokia has put out a totally cryptic statement that clarifies little about what's going on (likely because they don't know either, if we had to guess). In a nutshell, they're acknowledging that "some" NAM 5800s are having issues, they're investigating why, and owners are advised to contact Nokia Customer Care. Here's where it gets crazy, though: they go on to say "only NY and Chicago affected, in Dallas and Miami the devices are working OK. The investigation is ongoing on the device itself and the network used in these cases." It's possible that there's a very specific combination of equipment being used in these two markets that's causing the 5800s to choke, but in all likelihood, it has more to do with the spectrum in use -- in which case, the problem is probably far more widespread than just two cities. If this shakes out to be a hardware issue and Nokia's gotta send 'em back to the labs to get retooled for a few weeks or months, are they better off canning the model and moving on?
posted Mar 2nd 2009 12:23PM
They haven't said anything to the pre-orders. When i called them they just told me it would be sent out sometime this week by the order you ordered them in.
i got two of them and i send one back and the other is still working if you go to the store its so much better than you get to look them in the eyes, when you hear sorry where all sold out of the 3g 5800 but we have lots of the non-3g 5800 :) nokia needs to stay away from the USA with they sick smelly phones!!
Yeah, i would but online is my only option i dont live near a flagship.
Some people are trying to be internet Marauders with this 5800 situation, they have prob returned it already but still want to rant. Its funny but the ones who cry the most prob have a Iphone.
Sounds like another ATT network problem/limitation pushed off as some form of manufacturer defect.
If all the devices are poor 3G performers across the board regardless of network, that is one thing. If the issues are only isolated to certain cities, that could mean another.
It's also possible that the 3G radios are a bit more sensitive than other phones of similar caliber and without a robust ATT 3G network they'll perform sub par, but I'm leaning more towards a poorly constructed wireless network courtesy of MaBell.
I would agree with you Kathy but, I have a N95-3. It worked great, when I first got it. Around the time of the iPhone 3G it started to drop calls like crazy. And when going from 3G to 2G it would go crazy. The caller on the other end couldn't hear me but, I could hear them. The only option to stop this was to turn off my bluetooth earpiece and turn off the phone. It would do it without the earpiece also. I drive for a living and at night, so this was fun. I went out and brought an iPhone 3G and received hardly any dropped calls. And it was the device causing mayhem on At&t's network and supposed to be bad for reception. The areas in question have been tweaked by At&t lately due to capacity issues, I think. Can't blame At&t for that as long as their native handset work ok. People bash At&t for the network but, how many other carriers let you bring your own device, only 2 major carriers. And how many have unlocked handsets able to be used on their 3G? Oh only 1 major carrier. So, do we have another model to compare them to? NO!!
On my N95-3, I waited for a software upgrade that never came. They have only given out about 2 upgrades for the handset. While the N95-4 has received several since. When I called Nokia and told them my problem. Guess what they advised as a solution? Upgrade to a N95-4. I spent over $600 on the device in question and this is the response. It wasn't even a year old. Oh and I wouldn't mess with the 5800 now. In case they decide to scrap it like they've done others in the past. The N78 for example. I love Nokia products and, I realize that any device can be buggy but, they have 'THE WORST' customer service. Non at all!
Somewhat of a fanboy but, I actually keep it real. At&t is the closest thing to an open network that we have.
I recently travelled from Scandinavia to NY to attend a family wedding some weeks ago and my wife's 5800 worked perfectly roaming in London (where we changed plane) but stopped receiving 3G & data as soon as we landed at Newark (N.J.) so (thankfully ) she could'nt check her e-mails for a 3/4 days.
So did my HTC touch HD, which however started to receive 3g data again in Manhattan when the automated roaming choose a different carrier from AT&T (Verizon), My work's phone , a Samsung Omnia, had no problem with any american carrier.
I hink that if a phone works perfectly all over the world and has some troubles only in a specific country, whith a specific carrier and in a couple of particoular cities, maybe the issue should be looked for in that carrier network instead that in the device itself.
Or what?
I wonder what primary band Miami and Dallas use for 3G (i bet 850)...I wonder what primary band New York and Chicago user for 3G (I bet 1900).
So, I'm thinking the issue is with the 1900 band and the corresponding radio. Poor Nokia, they really should have tested this prior to shipping.
I really should have used some ?'s
No, you shouldn't have, as all you did was state your guesses, state your bets and state your thoughts. No questions asked; no question marks needed.
Actually, when Nokia first started doing 850 bands, I remember them having another device in the past that had a bad signal on 850 bands. I think that was GSM though. I think it's software related though. Probably a network preference or signal preference issue.
Man, I'm so glad that I gave up on Nokia. On one hand they say that they want to "break" into this market, but every attempt seems like another failure. C'mon Nokia, either give up altogether or do it right for once. These delays, functionality problems, and limited support are all a waste of ours and your time and money. Can you hear me now...?