Super Shiny New Technology

[OkamiKodomo]

Is the S5 the one that's waterproof? That'd be kinda useful! Especially for those klutsy people who drop their phones into the toilet or something. lol

I bought a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 a few months back. Awesome camera (14MP!), and it uses a thin-tipped stylus so I can draw and write and actually touch where I'm aiming. Those normal styluses just can't do that. Not only that, but it has a program called S Note and I can transfer story notes between the phone and my Galaxy Note 8 inch tablet.

It's a degree of false advertising to call any phone waterproof. Not even the military-standard designs are 100% waterproof. They're water resistant, usually with depth and/or time limits. Lifeproof Cases for some of the smartphones have a water resistant rating of 6.6ft under water, and 30 minutes. So you could drop it in the swimming pool, and so long as you went right in after it, your phone would be safe. If it goes deeper than 6.6ft, the water pressure becomes too much for the seals on the case, and will begin to seep through.

The GS5 has gaskets on the charge port cover and around the battery, so that water can't get into some of the most vulnerable parts of the phone, but it's only resistant for thirty minutes. A quick dunk in the toilet, and the phone theoretically should be ok, but the headphone jack is still exposed. Accidentally setting your phone in a condensation puddle on a table top, or using it while it's raining, putting it in your pocket (most people don't realize you shouldn't keep electronics in your pockets; your body perspires, and the moisture can accumulate inside the device, causing corrosion on the circuit boards) or bringing it into the bathroom to listen to music while you shower (also something you shouldn't do with your phone or MP3 player, for the same reason you shouldn't put them in your pocket) should all be ok.

I got a new phone too. I haven't played with it much, so I am not sure what all it can do that the other one couldn't, and I haven't taken any pictures with it yet. My old one got dropped one too many times and the charger was not working without extreme effort - as in balanced just so with a giant hemostat clipped to the connection to keep weight on it.

We see a lot of charge port failure in our repair center. One thing that can cause it, apparently, is using the phone while it's plugged in, or using poor-quality chargers with it. I did not know either of these things, until I started working in the business.

@DK: I've disassembled (and reassembled) 4 different smartphones in the course of my tech training, and I was AMAZED at how small the parts are. The camera for an LG-G2 is a square centimeter around, and about 4mm thick, and it has a 13MP resolution.

@Iwa_Hoshi: You can find phone cases for some smartphones that have a bluetooth keyboard. I've seen them for iPhones, and Galaxy S4. They have them for the tablets too, which I plan on getting once I get the Tab 3

@Yarwel: Green and black screen or is it full color? Who is your service provider? What brand logo(s) does it have on it? I would love to track down what it is!

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

We see a lot of charge port failure in our repair center. One thing that can cause it, apparently, is using the phone while it's plugged in, or using poor-quality chargers with it. I did not know either of these things, until I started working in the business.

In my previous job (this is about 6-7 years ago, so pre iPhone, and pre most smartphones) I ended up having to write instructions, with pictures, telling people how to plug their phone chargers into their phones! We had quite a few staff with Sony Ericsson phones. The charger connected with two little clip things, and was surprisingly sturdily made. You lined it up with the right slots in the base of the phone, pushed it in and the contacts connected. Simple enough, except there were about half a dozen little slots on the base of the phone, and it was possible to actually push it in the wrong ones so one of the little clips went over the phone contacts and shoved them back into the phone. Hey presto - one non-charging phone. The instructions were done after we'd had about 4 like that fairly close together, and we still got the occasional one after!