Tag: Samsung Galaxy SIII

New Samsung Galaxy III

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cell PhoneLeave a comment

samsung galaxy s3

My new Samsung Galaxy SIII from FreedomPop finally arrived via FedEx today. I am very happy with it because it actually installs the apps. The Refurbished Samsung Galaxy SIII (white one) that I bought from NoMoreRack now Choxi would allow me to install apps, but it just didn’t install all the files, only 1 file. It also didn’t allow me to tweet pictures. I did have some sound issues, but that cleared up after some tweaking with the settings.

This new phone actually installed Terraria and Minecraft PE and I can actually play the games without any problem. Although, now that I had to start over with the new phone, I have to start new worlds and characters, but that’s ok, I didn’t really have that much time invested in the game on the white one anyway.

What really pisses me off is that I spent $99 on this phone from NoMoreRack, and it turned out to be a piece of dog poop and I lost my money because I broke the phone before I could send it back for a full refund. I should have handled it differently and just sent the phone back and gotten a brand new one from FreedomPop instead. Oh well, it’s a learning experience.

The only issue that I am having with this new phone is the call quality. I mean, it’s a phone, you would think that a phone would be able to make phone calls and the call quality would be excellent since that’s it’s main purpose. They do offer premium voice quality for an extra $3.99 every month with a free trial, which I have activated only because what’s the point of a phone if people can’t hear you? My service was unlimited voice and text for $5 a month and unlimited data for $15 a month, so you get what you pay for with the voice. I’ll gladly pay $4 more so people can actually hear me talk.

I’m sure this phone will last me a long time, just as long as I don’t lose or break it.

Update: Ok so I’m having a bit of an issue with this new phone. First off, it rebooted once, and I started to freak out because that’s what my HTC One V was doing, which is why I had to buy a new phone. Then it just started shutting off on its own. The other night as I was going to bed I went to look at my phone one last time and it was off. I tried to turn it back on but it wouldn’t come on. It showed that the battery was completely drained, which I knew for a fact it wasn’t dead. I kept trying and it would show the battery as being dead, but then it would come on and show that the battery was 3/4 full, then it would show me the Samsung logo, then it shut off again. I was really freaking out. It was a good thing I saved the battery from the other one that I bought from NoMoreRack. I switched the battery and I haven’t had an issue with it turning off or rebooting on its own since. So basically FreedomPop sent me a bad battery.

The other issue I’m having is that when I called my aunt when I first got the phone, she told me that I was breaking up, so I had to call her on the landline. I noticed they have for $3.99 more per month an upgrade called Premium voice, so I bought that, but little did I know it has nothing to do with the issue that I am having. phone bars This is my problem, I have no bars in the house. If I ever want to call someone, I have to go outside and make sure I have enough bars, and when I was talking to my aunt, I WAS outside, and I was breaking up out there. So that means that I have to not only leave the house, but walk to Albertson’s where the cell tower is to be able to talk to her. I mean, I could just call her on the landline, but I have a cell phone for a reason lol. I’d like to be able to call people when my partner is using the landline.

So those are my problems. I solved 1 problem, and I tried to solve the 2nd problem at $4 extra per month, but now my problem is bars. Ugh! I can’t win. The only way I will have good service is if I have Verizon or AT&T. My phone is FreedomPop, but it uses the Sprint network, which apparently doesn’t give me any bars. I can’t afford anything else. My voice and text is $5 a month, now $9 a month with the premium voice. I guess like everything else in my life, I’ll just deal with it.

The Jig is Up

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cell PhoneLeave a comment

jig

I got my Jig today to fix my bricked Samsung Galaxy S3 phone, and it didn’t work. My phone is still bricked and there is nothing I can do to fix it. We went to a cell phone repair place, but they don’t fix operating system or software problems, they fix hardware problems, like if you dropped your phone and the glass broke or whatever.

Since I have no other alternative to getting my phone fixed, I decided to just call FreedomPop and tell them what happened and that I need a new phone. They connected me with the sales dept who sold me a new phone for $169 plus shipping and tax and it ended up being $200. The refurbished one I bought from NoMoreRack was only $100 with free shipping, but this one is (hopefully) brand new, so I won’t (hopefully) have the same issues with tweeting pictures or having issues installing apps. They didn’t say when my new phone would arrive, but I have an order number, so I guess I can call. She took down my email address and an alternative email address, so perhaps I will get an email soon with the tracking number.

I am pissed off at myself, but at the same time I’m kind of glad this happened because if this phone has been giving me problems, why should I have to keep using it? I’m sure most people don’t put up with the little things, like not being able to tweet pictures, or installing apps that won’t install any actual files. And why should I have to put up with that if I’m paying for the phone and the service?

Anyway, I’ll be glad when it arrives. I’ll have a new phone number, but when the new phone comes I can call them and request them to transfer my old number onto the new phone. I say old as if I’ve had it for years, but truthfully I’ve only had that number for a few months since I bought it. I’ve already had 1 phone number change this year, I don’t want to have to tell everyone the number changed yet again. It’s annoying lol.

I bricked my phone

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cell PhoneLeave a comment

I did a very stupid thing tonight. I bricked my phone. I know, shame on me. I deserve everything I got from it lol.

What happened was, I bought my phone from NoMoreRack a couple of months ago for $99. It’s a Samsung Galaxy S3 phone and it was refurbished. I was having issues with it not allowing me to do certain things, and I found out that it wasn’t allowing me to do certain things because when it installs apps, it doesn’t install them properly. I tried installing Terraria and it works just fine on my Nook, but not on my phone. I went into the files and saw that the folder wasn’t even there for it. It had installed 1 file in a folder called obb, but it didn’t install the rest of the files in the data folder. I zipped the files up on my Nook and put the zip file on OneDrive and downloaded it and unzipped it and it wouldn’t unzip it. I used File Manager and went into the root settings for rooted devices only and checked the root explorer and checked change system folders and then unzipped it on my SD card, then copied the files from my SD card over to the data folder and it worked, and suddenly I was able to play Terraria on my phone.

So here is what has brought me to this point. A couple of days ago I got a notice that it had downloaded the file for my phone upgrade, it’s actually my root upgrade which is called Philz Touch 6. I went into the root by turning off the phone, then turning it back on while holding the power, home and volume up keys all at the same time, then letting go of the power button when I saw the blue text, then letting go of the home and the volume up button when I saw the little android guy. I noticed that the root is an old old old file, like from 2012 or 2013 or whatever. I figured if it is trying to install the latest version, but it can’t because it refuses to install the files, then perhaps I can do it manually like I did with Terraria. Cause you know, things like that always work out lol. The upgrade went off without a hitch, except for when I went to reboot the phone and it wouldn’t turn back on.

Naturally when something like this happens you go to the message boards and you go to the phones website and yadda yadda. I went to the phones website thinking I’ll just go ahead and buy the same phone from them, but they didn’t give me the option. In fact, I couldn’t find any way for me to even buy a new phone even as an upgrade. I had to email them to tell them that it wanted me to install an upgrade to the phone, and I did, and now it won’t turn on.

jigI continued doing more researched and found a video on YouTube of a guy who had a similar situation that resulted with a bricked phone. He bought something called a Jig on ebay and in the video he plugged the jig in and it turned the phone on into download mode. He made a 2nd video, but I haven’t seen it yet. I was so impressed that I went to ebay where he said he bought his and I bought one too. It’s just a little thing that plugs in where you charge your phone and it was only $5.59 including the shipping, and it is coming from Santa Ana which is basically in Los Angeles. The estimated delivery is Monday, but I’ve gotten things next day from Santa Ana, so I’m keeping my eyes crossed that it comes sooner. If it works, great, if it doesn’t, well, at least it wasn’t $20 or $100.

I’d be curious how it’s supposed to work though. I mean, the phone bricked when I went to reboot after installing the root. Won’t it do the same thing? One of the message boards said to install Samsung Kies and that would fix things, even in what I would call dos mode, but it’s like root mode. It is supposed to check your phone to make sure it has the correct firmware installed, so if I can get it on in download mode, then perhaps I can plug it in to the computer and it will undo what I did and fix whatever the problem is. I sure hope so, because I honestly can’t afford to put another $200 on my credit card. Maybe in 6 months, but not right now.

And of course I will be back here when this jig arrives so I can update you on my progress, so stay tuned…

FreedomPop Debit Card Issue

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cell Phone, GadgetsLeave a comment

freedompop

Last month I bought a refurbished Samsung Galaxy S3 from Nomorerack (now Choxi) that I thought I could use with Virgin Mobile to upgrade my phone, but unfortunately for me, Virgin Mobile doesn’t allow their customers to buy unlocked phones as upgrades. If you want to upgrade your phone, you have to buy a Virgin Mobile phone or buy it through them.

My new phone is with a company that I’ve never heard of called FreedomPop. I signed up with my debit card as my payment card and everything was fine until the bank decided that my debit card had been compromised and blocked my card and issued me a new one. When my new debit card arrived, I tried changing it on the FreedomPop website so I could be charged for the next month, but unfortunately, it wouldn’t change. I used my phone to try to change it and it didn’t work, so then I went to my Nook HD+ tablet and it didn’t work, so then I went to my computer and again it did not work. I Googled the issue and found nothing that would help me.

Over the last few weeks I’ve been desperately looking for a resolution, I’ve even called them… TWICE! I called them when my account had 7 days left, and they told me they would contact me by email in 48 hours to let me know that it worked, but instead the email I received was a questionnaire on how they did. Yeah, that didn’t work for me, so I called them again and I gave them the ticket number and told them what happened and begged for help since I had 5 days left. They told me to call the bank because it must be my card and I told them that it can’t be because I’ve used my credit card and I’ve also used my PayPal debit card, and neither of them worked. So the person on the other end put me on hold and came back and said that this is an issue on their end because more customers have had to deal with this. Damn Skippy it’s a issue on your end! 24 hours passed and not an email and not a phone call. I decided to just give them another 24 hours, but still nothing.

Today, I checked my account on my phone and it said I had 3 days left, so I opened up Firefox and went to the billing page and added my credit card number, not my debit card number, and it FINALLY worked! YES! So I immediately added $30 to my account.

You know in the movies when the bomb is about to go off and the timer is going and it is 1 minute, then 30 seconds, then 20, then 15, then 10, then 5, then you start counting down 5, 4, 3, 2 and then they cut the correct wire just before it goes to 0 and the bomb doesn’t go off? I feel like that just happened, but I had 3 days left rather than 3 seconds.

The thing about FreedomPop is, if they couldn’t fix this issue, all I had to do was call them and tell them to just put me on their free plan until they could fix it. I mean, it’s not like I really need to pay for my account since I rarely call or text anyone, and I hardly ever use the 4G LTE or even 3G. I’m basically always on the WiFi with this at home. So really, it doesn’t matter, but I just like having the peace of mind knowing that I can have unlimited phone calls and texting just in case I ever come out of my shell and decide that I can’t shut the f up and have to call everyone and their mother. You know, just in case.

Anyway, if you are having an issue like this with FreedomPop, try a new browser and try a new card, if that doesn’t work then call them and keep calling them until they fix it. If they can’t fix it, then just go to their free plan.

Minecraft Pocket Edition Issues with Samsung Galaxy S3

On By Michel McDonaldIn GamesLeave a comment

Screenshot_2015-04-30-11-51-40

I blogged the other day that I was having issues with Minecraft PE on my new phone, but I didn’t really get into what the problem was. I bought Minecraft PE on the Google Play Store about a month or 2 ago for $6.99. I have a app called Google Rewards that reward me in actual cash for surveys, and I don’t even have to wait a month for it, I can use the money to buy Android apps.

So I bought Minecraft PE specifically for when I’m not home and I am having Minecraft withdrawals. The struggle is real people LMAO!!! Of course when I bought it, I intended to only play it on my Nook HD+ because of the bigger screen, but as it turns out, I don’t bring my Nook to doctor’s appointments. My old HTC One V smart phone was a bit small, but it installed just fine and I have played it there with no issues. When I bought my Samsung Galaxy S3, no bueno! It installs, as you can see from the image above, but it just won’t play. Let me show you the screens that I get screen by screen.

Screenshot_2015-04-30-11-51-40Screenshot_2015-04-30-11-51-56

Screenshot_2015-04-30-11-52-03Screenshot_2015-04-30-11-52-11

So the first screen you see is the main screen when you first load the game. You click the Play button, obviously. The next screen is supposed to show your worlds, if you have created any, so you click the world, but since it’s new to my phone, I haven’t created any yet. So I click NEW at the top right corner and you get the 3rd image above. You can choose survival or creative, you can hit advanced and go through that menu. Once you hit Create World, you should see a world come up on the screen and you rush to get your shelter in order to stay alive, but instead, I’m seeing the 4th image. No bueno!

Screenshot_2015-04-30-12-06-45Screenshot_2015-04-30-12-09-31I’ve researched the issue, and one admin of a website mentions files, or the lack of rather. I went into the file manager and sure enough, in every folder where I see the word Minecraft, there are zero files. And there are several folders too, but what’s odd is that it shows that there are 44.38mb total, 14.69mb is application and 29.50mb is SD card app. Then of course the data, which should show a number since I tried creating a world, or 20.

I know people are going to suggest that I clear the cache and clear this and clear that, but trust me, I have done that. I have even copied the files from my Nook and even copied the worlds from my Nook to the Samsung phone and they still don’t work.

Just so you know, this is NOT a huge issue or deal. I can still play this game on my Nook HD+ and my PlayStation 4, but it’s just the idea that something won’t install that bothers me. I can’t upload images to Twitter and I’m not sweating over that one, it’s just that I don’t have an addiction to tweeting pictures as much as I have an addiction to games.

I am still researching every time I remember to and I’m hoping I can find out how to fix it because it does bother me that I bought something that I can’t even use on ALL of my Android devices.

Once again I am using a Samsung Galaxy S3 with Snapdragon. It’s a refurbished phone that I bought for $99 from Choxi (formerly Nomorerack). I’ve tried all the tricks I’ve seen in the message boards like uninstalling it and reinstalling it, unmounting the SD card, installing, then remounting the SD card. I’ve tried rebooting, then installing. Nothing works because it is not installing specific files, remember the empty folder? Every folder that has the word Minecraft in the title is empty on the device and on the SD card.

If anyone has answers, please comment. In the meantime, I’ll continue with Minecraft for PS4.

New Samsung Galaxy S3 Phone with FreedomPop Service

On By Michel McDonaldIn TechLeave a comment

phones

My new Samsung Galaxy S3 came a couple of days ago. I was going to activate it as a pre-paid phone with Sprint, but the Quick Start card that came with the phone was from FreedomPop. It said FreedomPop on the Nomorerack (now Choxi) website, and I dismissed that since I figured I would activate it with Sprint. Anyway, check out the difference from my old HTC One V (left) from Virgin Mobile compared to the new phone (right). Huge difference!

The sound quality was HORRIFIC when I made my first phone call to our landline lol. Well, first of all there wasn’t any sound at all. My partner could hear me just fine, but with a ton of static, but I couldn’t hear him at all. We hung up and tried again and it was still bad, but I figured out how to turn the mic volume down and suddenly he could hear me just fine, and no static. I called my aunt and it sounded like she picked up the phone, but there wasn’t anyone on the other line, and then the line was dead. I called her the next day and the timer was going, but I couldn’t hear anything. I figured perhaps she could hear me, I just couldn’t hear her, but when I called her on my Virgin Mobile cell phone which is still active for another month, she told me she could barely hear me at all on my new phone. She said it sounded garbled. Ugh!

By the way, my aunt has a Samsung Galaxy S2 and she told me that when she turns her head, no one can hear or understand her. This is supposed to be the crème de la crème of phones, so why do they suck for making phone calls?

Today I went to the FreedomPop website to get help. I found out that this is a common issue. Well shit, why is it that I always seem to get something that has a common issue? I installed Minecraft PE on the new phone and for some odd reason it wasn’t installing specific files, and guess what? It’s a common issue. So here I am with this awesome phone that I can’t make calls with.

Several people on the message boards on the FreedomPop website said that they could not make a phone call without wifi being turned on, so I thought what if that is my problem? What if I turned OFF the wifi on my phone and see what happens, so I called my Virgin mobile cell phone and it was perfect. I could hear myself on both phones. I can call my new cell phone from another phone and it works with WiFi turned on, but I can’t call out with it turned on. Well, that’s still not right that I have to remember to turn the WiFi off just to be able to make a phone call. Oh and by the way, it was garbled. I could hear myself perfectly fine on the Samsung speaker, but on the Virgin speaker, I could hear myself garbled from the Samsung mic. It’s also too low, and now I can’t find where the mic volume is lol. I can’t win!

I have a Bluetooth watch that I just bought last month and it seems to work with my new phone, but the call quality, not so much. I tried calling my Virgin mobile phone with it and I couldn’t hear anything. Ugh! Perhaps a Samsung bluetooth ear piece might work?

When I first activated the phone on my computer, it told me it was sending me a new phone. I can’t even remember what kind of phone it was, but I figured it was probably something they do for customers who want service, but don’t have a phone, but then again I did activate an actual phone, so I don’t know. I thought that perhaps it was a mistake, but then I got this today.

image

If they actually do send me a new phone and it works, I would be curious to know if Choxi would give me a refund and allowed me to send their refurbished phone back to them. The point of me buying the Samsung Galaxy S3 was to get a kick ass phone with 16GB, not to get a phone that probably only has 1GB, then I’d be back to where I was before with my Virgin Mobile phone. I can forgive the Minecraft issue because I can just play that on my Nook HD+, but I need to be able to make phone calls, and if the Samsung one will just work as a phone, then I’d like to just use that and not a free phone from FreedomPop. I wonder if I can keep both and just use the new one for calls, but the Samsung one for apps and texting and data. I don’t know if they would allow me to have service on 2 phones though, so that’s a good question. I just don’t want to have to go back to a phone with 1GB lol. I bought this Samsung one for a reason dammit!

Ugh, I’m so beyond frustrated. Why does this always happen to me? Why is it that the thing (technology) I love the most, hates me the most? I will definitely be back if/when a new phone comes and I get to speak with someone over at FreedomPop about my issue.

Sashay Away

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cell PhoneLeave a comment

sashay away

Virgin Mobile, I’m sorry my dear but you are up for elimination.

I’ve been using a Virgin Mobile phone for the last 2 1/2 years. The phone was fine for the first year, but then after that it started to suck big time. I can’t use it outside, meaning using the 3G, because it takes forever to load an app or a website. I’ve stopped using it ever since I got my Nook HD+ tablet. Also, I think something is wrong with my phone because all I hear is that annoying auto tune sound that singers seem to be using to make their voice sound like they actually have talent. Also, my phone keeps rebooting, and it never finishes the reboot cycle, it just freezes with the HTC logo.

So here is my solution, I bought a new phone from Nomorerack. It’s a Samsung Galaxy S3 Snapdragon with 16GB storage with 4G instead of just 3G. It said on the Nomorerack website that it works with other services using the Sprint network, but of course it didn’t specifically say Virgin Mobile, and VM just told me that it won’t work because it has to be a Virgin Mobile phone. So that sucks, but on the other hand, I have terrible service and maybe it’s time for a change.

I went to the Sprint website and found out that their prepaid service is only $35 a month, which is what I am paying Virgin Mobile. I don’t even need to bring the phone to them, I can activate it directly on their website. I know Virgin Mobile uses the Sprint network, so I take a chance of having slow coverage, but on the other hand, it’s the same damn price and I already bought the new phone, so what have I got to lose? Well, besides Virgin Mobile.

So now Virgin Mobile, it is time for you to lip sync… FOR YOUR LIFE! Don’t frak it up! Oh wait, you already told me that I can’t use the new phone, so I guess you don’t have to lip sync, but it is time for you to sashay away… next month lol. I’ve already paid for a new month and there is no getting that money back, so I will just have to wait until next month to activate the new phone, and deactivate the VM phone. I really hate doing that, breaking up with a company, I mean it’s not like companies are people, right?

Time for a new cell phone

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cell Phone, Products I Like, TechLeave a comment

image

Call me an excited nerd, because I am so beyond freaking excited to be getting a new cell phone lol.

Today I woke up, got the mail and saw a flier on our screen door for “MetroPCS.” The ad was $29 for 4G phones, and in the picture are the Alcatel One Touch Fierce 2, LG Optimus L70 and Hydro Life by Kyocera. The small writing at the bottom of that side says:

“Phone Instant Rebate Offer: Limited time offer, while supplies last. Requires new line activation or a phone upgrade. Between February 11, 2015 and April 30, 2015 at participating MetroPCS stores purchase and Alcatel ONETOUCH Fierce 2 phone, an LG Optimus L70 phone, or a Kyocera Hydro LIFE phone and receive an instant $120 rebate off of regular price.”

Ok, I’ll bite… The other side of the flier says our best deal ever. $30. Unlimited data, talk, text on the nationwide T-mobile Network. So that means if I went to MetroPCS today and bought a $29 phone, I would say goodbye to Virgin Mobile. Well, I was ready to say goodbye to Virgin because all these years that I’ve had my HTC One V phone has been a living nightmare of only being able to actually access a website or use an app using the Sprint network about 10% of the time. Yes, 90% of the time I have tried using my phone has been a complete failure. I was so ready to leave Virgin and go back to T-Mobile, which used to be what I had when I was using my old Nokia 3390 phone.

I went to their website and typed in the LG Optimus L70 and found that it only has 1.3GB of hard drive space, meaning I would be right back to where I am with my HTC One V which is a 1GB phone, and what a nightmare that has been having to deal with constantly having to clear the cache every time an app wants to do an update. While I was at the MetroPCS website I noticed that they give you an instant $70 rebate, but then you have to fill out paperwork and wait for a $50 mail in rebate. So instead of only being able to pay $29 for a phone, I’m paying $79 and I have to wait, I’m guessing 3 months for the $50 rebate. So basically the flier lied to me, even in the small print. The website specifically saying “In store only” so that means that if I went in the store, I’d get screwed. I can see how the conversation would be, “but your flier specifically says I get a $120 instant rebate” then they make up some kind of excuse as to why I have to pay the $79 and wait for the $50 rebate. No! Screw that!

I remembered that Nomorerack had a sale on their Samsung Galaxy S3 Snapdragon MSM8960 for only $99 and it has 16GB hard drive installed, and I got free shipping. Yes, by me saying “got free shipping” that says that I did buy it lol. So that’s what you see in the image above. My HTC One V on the left and the new Samsung Galaxy SIII on the right. The phone I got says it is CDMA unlocked & refurbished. It’s unlocked meaning I can go to the Virgin Mobile website and add the serial number to swap phones. I’m not sure I will have to worry about any fees, I hope note, but if I do then life’s a bitch and then you die lol.

The thing I am most excited about is the front facing camera. I will finally be able to use some apps I haven’t been able to use because I didn’t have that camera. I’ll now be able to Skype with people who never want to Skype with me and I’ll now be able to take selfies without having to delete about 20 because I couldn’t find the button and ended up taking a blurry picture of my forehead.

What was wrong with my old HTC One V you ask? Well, what wasn’t wrong with it is the better question. It was constantly rebooting on its own. Whenever I would call someone, or that very rare occasion when someone called me, the speaker was so messed up that it sounded like Kanye West trying to sing with auto tune. It sounded horrible, just awful, and so did the phone calls. I couldn’t stand it, but at the same time, I was stuck with it because I didn’t have the money to upgrade to a better phone because they were always like $300 or more.

My HTC One V was nice to have for the first year or 2, but then it just started getting frustrating. I mean, literally, frustrating. I find myself going UGH every time I heard it reboot. There were times I left it at home because it was pointless to bring it anywhere since I could never get it to work right. Oh and don’t get me started on the apps constantly crashing. I have an app where I scan barcodes and have to submit my grocery list every time I go to the grocery store for points to buy prizes, but practically every time I go to use it, I have to reboot my phone and wait for it to allow me to load the app to use it. I do that so it is a fresh reboot, so I don’t have to worry about it rebooting or crashing, but it still does it anyway.

So thank you MetroPCS for your flier and thank you for being so dishonest in your advertising that you drove me to buying a new phone somewhere else and staying with Virgin Mobile.