Well, it was a quarter of the price of an iPhone but there are little niggles with Android 2.1 of the Orange San Francisco.
The Google Calendar applicaion is quite useful and I view one personal and one shared calendar on the phone. The shared calendar (owned by another Google account) can be updated but updates made to that calendar by other means didn't show up correctly on the Google Calendar app on the phone.
After a bit of a search it seems to be that the calendar data cache needs to be cleared on the phone.
On the phone go to Menu/Settings/Applications/Manage Applications/Calendar....then clear data.
I have a feeling this may need to be done regularly but we shall see...
UPDATE
This seems to be fixed if "Background Data" and "Auto-sync" are set on in "Accounts & sync settings".
Sunday, 30 January 2011
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
Fixing a faulty Netgear DG834G
We seem to have problems with broadband routers.
I've had 3 break.
The Linksys broke with the "classic" wired port not working fault due to overstressed capacitors around the PSU area within the unit itself. I chucked that one as I saw little chance of replacing all the capacitors without breaking the board.
The 3Com that replaced it eventually had a failed "brick PSU" and had a number of other aspects I wasn't over pleased with so I bought a Netgear DG834G.
The Netgear has been generally fine but when moved it wouldn't start working again. A bit of a Google (combined with the number of online sellers of Netgear PSUs) suggested that it was the PSU.
A few pounds spent and the Netgear has a new PSU and is working fine.
So if you have come here by Googling "Netgear DG834 lights up but doesn't work" or similar. It is worth buying a replacement power supply, it is likely to be the fix you want.
I understand the original PSU goes a bit low output which is how the unit seems to work but just doesn't.
Best of luck !
I've had 3 break.
The Linksys broke with the "classic" wired port not working fault due to overstressed capacitors around the PSU area within the unit itself. I chucked that one as I saw little chance of replacing all the capacitors without breaking the board.
The 3Com that replaced it eventually had a failed "brick PSU" and had a number of other aspects I wasn't over pleased with so I bought a Netgear DG834G.
The Netgear has been generally fine but when moved it wouldn't start working again. A bit of a Google (combined with the number of online sellers of Netgear PSUs) suggested that it was the PSU.
A few pounds spent and the Netgear has a new PSU and is working fine.
So if you have come here by Googling "Netgear DG834 lights up but doesn't work" or similar. It is worth buying a replacement power supply, it is likely to be the fix you want.
I understand the original PSU goes a bit low output which is how the unit seems to work but just doesn't.
Best of luck !
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
A useful tip for the Palm Lifedrive - deleting Blazer autocomplete
From a bit of Googling last time I wanted to clean up the autocomplete
The two files that contain web addresses and history and which can be removed are:
"Blazer BF-History" and
"Blazer URL Autofill"
These files are stored on internal memory. They can be deleted using a file manager like Filez (freeware).
http://www.freewarepalm.com/utilities/filez.shtml
Blazer will recreate new clean files the next time it's opened.
The two files that contain web addresses and history and which can be removed are:
"Blazer BF-History" and
"Blazer URL Autofill"
These files are stored on internal memory. They can be deleted using a file manager like Filez (freeware).
http://www.freewarepalm.com/utilities/filez.shtml
Blazer will recreate new clean files the next time it's opened.
Saturday, 27 November 2010
Free unlock codes for Orange San Francisco (AKA ZTE Blade)
I'm still very pleased with the Orange San Francisco Android phone but I'm a little less pleased with the Orange data charges and I'm considering getting a foreign SIM for when I go to France on holiday so I was interested in getting the phone unlocked.
There were various cheap unlocks on ebay but I came accross a link to a free unlock code generator site.
http://www.nextgenserver.com/calculator/
I put in the IMEI code and it generated an 8 digit number.
I put a Vodafone SIM in the Orange San Francisco and it asked for an unlock code. I entered the 8 digit number and the phone was unlocked and registered with Vodafone.
I've yet to get the data connection working on Vodafone as it was just an experiment and that SIM doesn't have cheap data on it.
The lack of APN settings (I guess) prevented the phone from signing in with Google for the mail and it complained about that.
When I have a SIM with data that I actually want to use I'll experiment with APN settings. There were none in the list with the Vodafone SIM in so I guess the Orange APN settings come with the SIM.
When I put the Orange SIM back in everything worked but I had to enter my Google password again.
I've seen no signs as yet of any malware on the PC as a result of my visit to http://www.nextgenserver.com/calculator/ if there prove to be any issues I'll update.
There were various cheap unlocks on ebay but I came accross a link to a free unlock code generator site.
http://www.nextgenserver.com/calculator/
I put in the IMEI code and it generated an 8 digit number.
I put a Vodafone SIM in the Orange San Francisco and it asked for an unlock code. I entered the 8 digit number and the phone was unlocked and registered with Vodafone.
I've yet to get the data connection working on Vodafone as it was just an experiment and that SIM doesn't have cheap data on it.
The lack of APN settings (I guess) prevented the phone from signing in with Google for the mail and it complained about that.
When I have a SIM with data that I actually want to use I'll experiment with APN settings. There were none in the list with the Vodafone SIM in so I guess the Orange APN settings come with the SIM.
When I put the Orange SIM back in everything worked but I had to enter my Google password again.
I've seen no signs as yet of any malware on the PC as a result of my visit to http://www.nextgenserver.com/calculator/ if there prove to be any issues I'll update.
Saturday, 13 November 2010
UK PAYG mobile data cost as at November 2010
I've not found a good "data centric" comparison of the UK mobile networks. I make very few personal mobile calls but I use a fair bit of data. I've also bought an Android phone so I'm very interested in mobile data costs.
Vodafone
Vodafone have recently introduced "Freebee" on pay as you go.
If you top up by £10 you get £10 in credit plus 300 texts and 500MB of web access "free".
The "free" standard UK texts and UK web access expire after 30 days.
I can't find a data bundle to buy from Vodafone.
Orange
Orange have a PAY deal called Dolphin which gives "free" internet and texts.
If you top up by £10 you get 300 "free" texts plus 100MB of "free" internet.
An additional 250MB can be bought for £5 which also lasts a month.
T Mobile
T Mobile don't seem to have any "free" data but their bundles seem quite reasonable
5 day Internet on your phone £2.50 Unlimited internet for 5 days
1 month Internet on you phone £5.00 Unlimited internet for 1 month
6 month Internet on you phone £20.00 Unlimited internet for 6 months
It seems that "Unlimited" has a fair use policy of 1GB each month.
O2
O2 have a similar deal to Vodafone, this is called "Text and Web" and can be activated by calling 2202 FREE or Text TEXTANDWEB to 21300.
Top-up £10 - £14 Get 300 UK texts and 500MB UK data. This seems to last a month.
3
Historically "3" have had the edge on mobile data. The now withdrawn 3Pay tariff had the attractive feature of 150MB of internet which lasted for 3 months with a £5 top up. The current tariff is "Pay As You Go on Three" which also gives you 150MB of internet with a £5 topup but it only lasts a month.
"3" now have a slightly different approach to bundles. A £10 bundle gets you calls texts and 500MB of Internet but once the month has gone, so has the £10 of credit. Alternatively there is the £5 500MB for a month deal.
Conclusion
Sadly Orange seem to have the worst deal for my Android San Francisco so it's down to the unlockers for me shortly.
I have a Vodafone SIM in an old phone so I may change that to have "Freebee" but the credit would build up if I used it regularly.
I'm very interested in the T Mobile 6 month £20 deal. Perhaps I will get that once my initial Orange £10 top up has been used up.
Vodafone
Vodafone have recently introduced "Freebee" on pay as you go.
If you top up by £10 you get £10 in credit plus 300 texts and 500MB of web access "free".
The "free" standard UK texts and UK web access expire after 30 days.
I can't find a data bundle to buy from Vodafone.
Orange
Orange have a PAY deal called Dolphin which gives "free" internet and texts.
If you top up by £10 you get 300 "free" texts plus 100MB of "free" internet.
An additional 250MB can be bought for £5 which also lasts a month.
T Mobile
T Mobile don't seem to have any "free" data but their bundles seem quite reasonable
5 day Internet on your phone £2.50 Unlimited internet for 5 days
1 month Internet on you phone £5.00 Unlimited internet for 1 month
6 month Internet on you phone £20.00 Unlimited internet for 6 months
It seems that "Unlimited" has a fair use policy of 1GB each month.
O2
O2 have a similar deal to Vodafone, this is called "Text and Web" and can be activated by calling 2202 FREE or Text TEXTANDWEB to 21300.
Top-up £10 - £14 Get 300 UK texts and 500MB UK data. This seems to last a month.
3
Historically "3" have had the edge on mobile data. The now withdrawn 3Pay tariff had the attractive feature of 150MB of internet which lasted for 3 months with a £5 top up. The current tariff is "Pay As You Go on Three" which also gives you 150MB of internet with a £5 topup but it only lasts a month.
"3" now have a slightly different approach to bundles. A £10 bundle gets you calls texts and 500MB of Internet but once the month has gone, so has the £10 of credit. Alternatively there is the £5 500MB for a month deal.
Conclusion
Sadly Orange seem to have the worst deal for my Android San Francisco so it's down to the unlockers for me shortly.
I have a Vodafone SIM in an old phone so I may change that to have "Freebee" but the credit would build up if I used it regularly.
I'm very interested in the T Mobile 6 month £20 deal. Perhaps I will get that once my initial Orange £10 top up has been used up.
Orange San Francisco
I have had a hankering for a smart (or at least smarter than my Sony Ericsson k530) phone for a while.
I had been looking at the Nokia 5800 but that was persistantly sticking around the £200 mark on PAYG or unlocked.
I liked the iPhone but the cost was too high for something I might well loose.
Recently the cheap Android phone from ZTE (the blade) as sold as an own brand by Orange has been getting good recommendations so I went to have a look in a shop.
It isn't the swishest piece of consumer electronics I have ever held but it looked fine as a phone switched off.
When turned on the screen resolution and display quality is very good.
The touch screen operation is well up to the standard of my iPod Touch and it works well.
On WiFi (the fairest test) it is at least the equal of the iPod Touch in terms of browsing the internet.
Out and about on the mobile metwork performance is more variable.
I've experienced various strange "hangs" in appplications but I think this is lack of connection.
I'm considering getting the unit unlocked from Orange and trying a "3" SIM in it as from the experience of other phones "3" seem to be a bit better round my way.
The other factor is the cost of PAYG data on the network.
"3" used to be the best for this but others now seem as good or better. See another post for more details.
I had been looking at the Nokia 5800 but that was persistantly sticking around the £200 mark on PAYG or unlocked.
I liked the iPhone but the cost was too high for something I might well loose.
Recently the cheap Android phone from ZTE (the blade) as sold as an own brand by Orange has been getting good recommendations so I went to have a look in a shop.
It isn't the swishest piece of consumer electronics I have ever held but it looked fine as a phone switched off.
When turned on the screen resolution and display quality is very good.
The touch screen operation is well up to the standard of my iPod Touch and it works well.
On WiFi (the fairest test) it is at least the equal of the iPod Touch in terms of browsing the internet.
Out and about on the mobile metwork performance is more variable.
I've experienced various strange "hangs" in appplications but I think this is lack of connection.
I'm considering getting the unit unlocked from Orange and trying a "3" SIM in it as from the experience of other phones "3" seem to be a bit better round my way.
The other factor is the cost of PAYG data on the network.
"3" used to be the best for this but others now seem as good or better. See another post for more details.
Friday, 3 September 2010
Recovering a Buffalo Link station
I bought a secondhand Network Attached Storage unit recently.
I have another identical unit which has been fantastic.
This one "played dead" and when reset booted into "Engineering Mode" or "Emergency Mode".
I could find the device on the network (indirectly by the address given by the DHCP table on the router) and it would respond to a ping but that was it.
When trying the web browser interface using the now known IP address nothing happened and the browser timed out and when I installed the "navigator" software on a PC it found it but said it was in "engineering mode".
After more Googling I found a "firmware update" program from Buffalo ( LSUpdater.exe ).
The instructions I found at " http://buffalo.nas-central.org/wiki/The_LinkStation_firmware_flasher " were very useful in applying it.
After changing the web interface language from Japanese to English (!) all seems to be well.
If you are thinking of buying a NAS don't let this put you off. I suspect the one I bought was the victim of a misguided (and unsuccesful)attempt to delete data on it before selling it.
My current one has been great and I've high hopes for this new one as well.
I have another identical unit which has been fantastic.
This one "played dead" and when reset booted into "Engineering Mode" or "Emergency Mode".
I could find the device on the network (indirectly by the address given by the DHCP table on the router) and it would respond to a ping but that was it.
When trying the web browser interface using the now known IP address nothing happened and the browser timed out and when I installed the "navigator" software on a PC it found it but said it was in "engineering mode".
After more Googling I found a "firmware update" program from Buffalo ( LSUpdater.exe ).
The instructions I found at " http://buffalo.nas-central.org/wiki/The_LinkStation_firmware_flasher " were very useful in applying it.
After changing the web interface language from Japanese to English (!) all seems to be well.
If you are thinking of buying a NAS don't let this put you off. I suspect the one I bought was the victim of a misguided (and unsuccesful)attempt to delete data on it before selling it.
My current one has been great and I've high hopes for this new one as well.
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