Electrickery. Or, chuffin’ technolology.

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Alan H
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Electrickery. Or, chuffin’ technolology.

Post by Alan H »

A bit of history here first to put it into perspective.
I ‘started’ with computers as part of my Electrical Engineering ‘trade’ in about 1978 with a Tandy TRS80, then managed to bypass the Sinclair ZX models and the ‘home’ Commodores, Ataris etc. and learned to program the Tandy, then the Pet, and then into the IBM stuff at college. I also did a bit of PLC programming before getting a QL and learning basic, superbasic and machine code, PLC (ladder) programming and then onto process engineering – so I know a bit about confusers. Sorry, computers. Or maybe that was right the first time.
However, recently Lynn and I decided to go to warmer climes for a nice holiday. Bought her a nice Samsung Duos smartphone to go with my Galaxy Note, Pro and smaller tablets and that should make sure we had plenty of reserve confusing power.
Several ‘proper’ chargers that work on 100 – 260vAC 50/60Hz should sort the 110v Yankee lekky with suitable adaptors.
All went well until my Note decided to overheat and die while being used as a satnav in Kaua’i. Bugger.
Not to worry we’ll use Lynn’s Duos – now fitted with a US simcard in slot 2 for ‘economy’ reasons. Worked fine with home emails and satnav. Ace.
This decided to overheat in Maui airport while waiting for the ‘plane back to Honoulu, was turned off and then wouldn’t turn back on. Double bugger – down to 50% confusing power and now no phone despite having three simcards.
That must qualify as treble bugger.
The Galaxy Pro now doesn’t charge but Lynn’s Tab still does – but slowly – and gets hot. Fobble bugger.
Galaxy Pro now down to 5% battery so not worth trying to switch on.
Down to the Tab then, but that means no phone, texts or emails.
Quintuple bugger.
A last resort backup that I took, was a Sony Vaio that I use for a bit of writing but not internetting and without Outlook on, so no chance of emails, but can (with some wazzing about) limited t’interweb.
So now I can get Kettle Clinic, Sundial, 2 stroke forae (sometimes) ebay (rarely), and that’s about it.
I chuffin’ hate computers.
Good job we also have copies of all the tickets, hotels etc. as hard copies on real paper innit?
I can see next week being 'interesting' sorting communications with the world being interesting.
Anyone in the UK got a large screen Galaxy Note or tablet they need to flog?
Think of how stupid the average person is, then realise that half of them are more stupid than that.
sportston
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Re: Electrickery. Or, chuffin’ technolology.

Post by sportston »

Ah i see the common problem with these devices is overheating usually as a satnav. Been there and done that before!
The problem with the Samsung phones in particular is that they will not work well as a satnav for very long.
I drive a truck for a living and buggered several Samsungs this way. Even when plugged into a good charger they will eventually die.
Sadly, the solution is; don't use them as a satnav.
Now I use a proper satnav, not a phone. I only use my Lumia Microsoft phone as a last resort. That gets very hot if I use it to play Sudoku, goodness knows what would happen if I used it all day as a satnav.
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Re: Electrickery. Or, chuffin’ technolology.

Post by Suzsmokeyallan »

All the smart phones I've seen also seem to suffer from similar overheating issues and severe battery draining as well when used as a Satnav for extended times.
As mentioned by sportson, to prevent this problem I always keep my Magellan up to date and its been very reliable.
Two strokes, its just that simple.

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Alan H
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Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2012 11:50 am
Country: England
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Re: Electrickery. Or, chuffin’ technolology.

Post by Alan H »

The phone was not economically repairable - the socket had shorted and took a (I suspect charge regulating) chip out on the motherboard. Replaced the phone with a new one now.
Tab Pro - same - sold and replaced.
Tab 3 7" - similar, sold and replaced.
Lynn's Mini duos phone, replaced under warranty.
I now use one of these - Image to monitor what's happening when anything gets charged. Shows volts/current alternately.

For the three ill machines, I got £130 sold as working, for spares, and cost similar for two newer, better spec tablets, and just upgraded my phone contract. Some folks will buy air on ebay........ :wth:
Think of how stupid the average person is, then realise that half of them are more stupid than that.
sportston
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Re: Electrickery. Or, chuffin’ technolology.

Post by sportston »

I have found even the cheap satnavs have charging problems after constant use, especially when used in a stop-start environment.
The solution I found was to use a better quality charger. I now use a genuine tomtom charger with my cheap Prodrive satnav. It gives me no hassle. I believe the difference is in the suppression. Cheap chargers perhaps don't soften voltage spikes well enough and also struggle to handle the current demands of a large satnav/tablet. I've burnt out a few of the cheap chargers using a 7 inch satnav... and several satnavs.
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