Nokia 6280 - Problems, Problems, Problems

[Hands0n]

I was seriously considering the Nokia 6280 on T-Mobile's Flext + Web 'n Walk until I spent some time with my local mobile phone dealer, who's advice I tend to trust reasonably as it has borne out when checked. He gave me a big steer away from the 6280 - but being a stubborn chap I persisted. To cut a long story short, he advised me to go do some digging around the Internet before coming back to him. If I absolutely insist, then he will sell me one :-)

Having done my bit of research .... I rather think that a Nokia 6280 will be one of the last handsets that I would ever consider ..... unless the situation with it changes, by which time there will be other more interesting handsets on the market.

Read on ...

The Nokia forum thread for the 6280 is buzzing with users from all over the world complaining about the handset resetting and other problems. The bulk appear to be on the 3 network - but there is also talk appearing later on in the thread which relates to the 6280 on Vodafone also. Other networks may follow as the thread matures - 3 had exclusivity on the 6280 briefly and that may explain the reason why the bulk of complaints relate to the handset as supplied by them.

One disgruntled owner posted the following ....

Nokia is well aware of the problems with the 6280, a friend of mine works for Vodaphone and has been told that nokia is working round the clock to solve the problems with the phone. This type of problem should of been solved by now OR a recall of the phone. watchdog have been in touch and they told me that they have had thousands of emails, phone calls & letters regarding the nokia 6280. so hopefully will be on TV soon. very bad news for Nokia. well i am NOT going to get another nokia phone as this is totally unbeliveable for this problem.

Another wrote .....

Hi all, Just to let you know, I've just called the Nokia Support Department (0845 045 5555 - options 1 then 1 then 1 if you are a Club Nokia member) The nice guy said that:
Nokia were aware of the problem with the 6280, however there is no fix available at this time.
I should call again in a couple of weeks.
There is no suggested date of a firmware release.

I complained about the issues:

1. Phone (intermittently) resetting itself when changing profiles
2. Phone (intermittently) resetting itself when Downloading video clips
3. Phone (intermittently) resetting itself when playing games
4. Phone (intermittently) resetting itself when playing certain tracks through the media player
5. Dust under the cover - It's imrpactical taking it to a Service Dept every 3 weeks to get cleaned
6. That other owners have reported the issue to Watchdog which is of great concern to

the reputation of Nokia

And another wrote ... (which suggests version and mobile operator firmware mods + branding can be a root cause - 3 are really taking some flak for this)

Hi, I have a 6280 on Vodafone with firmware version 3.6. This by no means fixes the issues everyone is having as i still have many of the issues that everyone else has. This includes the reseting issue, the reseting of profiles so it reverts to default ring tone, completly freezing etc, etc. What with all the problems with this phone i can't understand why we can't have the original firmware that nokia designed for the phone installed, i can't be that different from the operators version.
Its all very well saying call nokia but whats the point if they can only install the firmware that the operators have released?

Finally a later firmware is released but ...... as one hapless soul found out

Hi Everyone

Just an update on my 6280 and upgrading the firmware issue.

I have a 6280 V 3.36 on the three network

I called my local nokia service centre and they said, "no probs, bring the phone in and we can upgrade the firmware to 3.60"

Excellent so far,.....

However when the phone is connected to their computer they cannot upgrade the software, a phone call is made to nokia tech support and they advise the following

"Yeah we know about that problem, the V3.36 firmware on the 6280 is faulty and will not allow the handset to be upgraded by a service centre computer!, it needs to be sent off to a level 4 repair centre (whatever that is!)

So in short if I want to fix my problems with the spurious resets and other problems I have to send my phone off to this level 4 centre and wait for approx a week!.

And ........ from the same poster .....

Hi Karim

Thanks for your message, I'm afraid I have already tried contacting Nokia in the UK directly, with frankly little joy.

As you can see from my post ( 149 of 242 ) on this thread, I tried calling my network provider, they said I could return the phone to themselves or directly to nokia.

I then called nokia with my club nokia membership details and the guy was really friendly and tried to help, he said nokia were very aware of the "dust under the screen problem" but said nobody else had complained to them directy about the spurious resets of the phone when switching between profiles and at other random times when using the music player etc, however he did suggest I visit my local nokia service centre.

My last post was relating to the visit to the nokia service centre when the staff confirmed they had the updated firmware available for the 6280 and would be able to reflash my phone, which subsequently proved impossible without returning my phone to a level 4 centre. The service centre manager was again very kind and helpful but said that I would be looking at a week to 10 days without my phone, she said she could have given me a loan handset but they didn't have any suitable for using on the three network.

Hence my decision to raise these issues with Watchdog, if nothing else perhaps it will encourage those users who are experiencing problems to get in touch with nokia, so something can be sorted out.

I am not knocking nokia, I have used their handsets exclusively since the late '90's, but I do dispare when problems arise that nobody is able to solve.

You can trawl through the full thread at this location --> here

[Ben]

Oh dear

Well, firstly, thank you for taking the time to compile that information.

I was unware of the scale of the problems still persisting with the 6280 to this day. I remember Bleubean returned his 6280 on Three, but that was some time ago now and I'd assumed everything would have been promptly sorted out.

I feel for Nokia. They looked like they were having a massive revival when the NSeries was announced, and when they finally came up with a Series 40 3G handset you've gotta hand it to them - we were all impressed. However, being the biggest is clearly taking its toll now. They just aren't dynamic enough to get their act together on 3G. I'm still on my SE W900i and I've never been happier with a handset, and that's something coming from somewhat of a Nokia fanboy.

So, I guess it's buyer beware on the 6280 for now. Lets hope the N80, sticking to their until-now successful S60 formula, can somehow save the Finnish from falling from grace. Though already the thought of returning to S60 is making me roll my eyes...

[getti]

i had one on 3 and sold it on. Mine had reboot problems but more than that was the bad build quality.

After having the phone in my room for 30min and making 1 call there was already dust on the screen behind the cover.

In total i had the phone for 1 week and i had to take the front off 4 times to clear the dust out.

Was not impresed

[Hands0n]

Further reading from the Nokia website where they created a specific thread relating to the well known 6280 problems

But then one can create as many threads as possible - the answers do not seem to be forthcoming for the 6280 owners, other than get those handsets back to your mobile operator and select something else. Once they and Nokia have a warehouse full of unwanted 6280s they may actually get the message and stop faffing around the Customer with "Oh, we've not had any complaints about the 6280 before".

As one of the disaffected closed off

"Nokia, after all my experiences over the years with quality products, the 6280 seems like a bad 'un."

[Hands0n]

Had an interesting conversation [today] with the chaps at the Bluewater T-Mobile store (a franchise not T-Mobile themselves it seems). Their 6280 handsets are coming with firmware V3.6 fitted - I got the guv to pop one open and check it out (*#0000# gets the display up if you want to check yours).

I asked about returns on the 6280 and he and the other assistant said that they "have not had any come back" to them - now I'd almost expect that response, but its offered here for what its worth.

Of course, the only sure way of finding out is to take one for a drive for a few days - but that means setting up a contract, which means a Credit Check being performed and if you get too many of those within a short period (i.e. 3 mths) it could ruin your credit rating for a while.

In summary then - there is a very definite risk with the quality of the firmware of the 6280. Certainly 3 seems to have the lions share of problems, and this could be attributable to them having first go, having a launch version of the Nokia firmware and clearly having some problems and issues interworking with Nokia in respect of getting firmware upgrades with 3 branding incorporated. Other mobile ops now have the 6280, and these are reportedly not immune to the well documented issues of that handset. The latest version of the firmware - at the time of writing this - is 3.6 and that is what T-Mobile (at least) are shipping. Some reports on the Nokia website suggest that 3.6 does not solve all the problems - but it is not clear if this is restricted to an individual mobile op or if it is across the range of them.

As always the "Caveat Emptor" [or Buyer Beware] applies - very strongly to the Nokia 6280 handset.

[@NickyColman]

Just had a quick glance on the -T-Mobile website there, and the Nokia 6280 has "mysteriously" disappeared. This is surely not a good sign, its only been out a week or two on -T-Mobile.

[Hands0n]

I think its only a temporary situation regarding stock.

According to T-Mobile (see my other posting about the 6280 not being available on their Web 'n Walk service http://www.talk3g.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2376) they have had such a run on the 6280 via the online store that they've temporarily withdrawn it from the website. It is, allegedly, still available in their stores on that tariff.

Also, on Sunday I was in the Bluewater T-Mobile shop (a franchise I think and not one of their own) they were selling the 6280 with Flext + Web 'n Walk.

[@NickyColman]

Ive taken a risk and bought a 6280 on Flext 50 with Web&Walk. And i must say its like a different phone from the one i had on Three. All of the annoying ringtone/wallpaper links are now gone, the phone operates at a much fast speed, themes now completely cover every part of the phone, and there are many new options available.

No problems so far.

[Ben]

Sounds excellent, and well done for trying out Flext! I'd be really interested to hear how you get on with both the phone and Flext so keep us all posted!

[@NickyColman]

Well ive already noticed some subtle changes within the phone. Battery life, altho ive only had it a few hours, seems much better. With my old handset i could only take a few pics/vids then would have to stick it on charge. This is not the case with the new handset.

[Hands0n]

Funny coincidence that , I have just today had a play with my eldest's 6280 on 3 - she has the original buggy version (03.36) of the firmware and can confirm that the faults reported on the Nokia site are reproducible on hers. But as she does not mess around with flipping profiles she does not get affected much if at all. She's delighted with the handset so much so that she refuses to take my advice to get it to CPW for a reflash to the latest and greatest version of the firmware (03.60 at the time of writing).

I think that the physical build quality is very un-Nokia, it is quite flimsy to feel. The slider seems to have more lateral movement than I would have thought reasonable, although it is not vast it does rather distract from the handset quality. Electronics quality is superb, the screen is wonderfully clear and vibrant. Finding the way around the S40 OS was a snap, it is not a world away from S60 or any other smartphone. Audio quality is good, and boy is that loudspeaker loud!! Clear also, unlike my 6680 which gets all cr*ppy at louder volumes.

I am very tempted to go for a 6280 on Flext 35 with Web n Walk and know that I can pick one up at Bluewater instantly, subject to the usual credit checks etc... But it really is the word on the Nokia site that Nokia are producing re-vamped 6280s that makes me hold fire a bit longer (damn, at this rate I'll miss T-Mobile's 25% for life discount!!). But I can confirm that the OS in the T-Mobile handsets is 03.60 (if the shop is to be believed that T-Mobile have standardised on that version) which means that the main bugs should be out of the handset.

Do let us know how you get on with the "enhanced" 6280 on T-Mobile.

[Ben]

I think that the physical build quality is very un-Nokia, it is quite flimsy to feel. The slider seems to have more lateral movement than I would have thought reasonable, although it is not vast it does rather distract from the handset quality.

I'm yet to find a dummy handset of the 6280 on display that is still in one piece. Every single one I have seen in a whole range of shops in Canterbury and Bluewater has been in two halves! Still, I'm guessing that's mostly due to the dummy handset build quality, but it's not inspiring.

[@NickyColman]

So far im much more impressed with the "new" 6280. A lot of the quirks have gone from its UI. Also, -T-Mobile have installed a Web & Walk option in the menu, which when pressed, opens up the internet with this message...

"T-Mobile will soon be launching Opera-mini to enable better browsing of the Internet on your mobile phone. Please return to this page for the latest information on launch date."

[Hands0n]

Hi Bleubean - one of the problems associated with the 6280 seemed to be its [relatively] tiny on-board memory

• Up to 70MB memory
• Up to 6MB internal memory available for video, audio, images, and other files

This allegedly caused issues with the handset becoming unstable for instance when storing a certain number of SMS text messages (sent and received), i.e. when the user is not pruning the message store regularly. Perhaps also when storing media items in the on-board memory.

I'd be very interested - cos I am seriously considering following your path - in finding out if the T-Mobile variant of the 6280 has these problems also. It could be, I suspect, that the 3 branding ate into the limited on-board memory and thus exascerbated any instabilities. It does rather sound, from what you say, that T-Mobile have been less aggressive with their branding. Although the cynic in me ..........I am somewhat concerned that Opera-mini will reside on this memory footprint and thus introduce stability issues.

[petencl]

Just thought i'd add to this thread. Got a couple of T-Mob 6280s on Flext for me and missus on Thursday. Firmware 3.60 and no probs I can see so far. Slider seems fairly solid to me, will wait and see if it stays like that after a few months of use!

So nice going back to a Nokia UI after a couple of years of not having a Nokia phone - it's certainly something they're best at.

[@NickyColman]

Hands0n, i would probably say that the -T-Mobile variant has more memory than its Three counterpart as my old Three variant constantly had memory issues and ran very slowly. However my new one runs much faster and there is no lag when using the phone.

So far im impressed.

[Hands0n]

Newsflash: I now have in my hands a brand new T-Mobile 6280 on Flext 35 + Web 'n Walk - boy was that a bit of a marathon run getting that

I went to the official T-Mobile store local to me. The manager told me that he could not connect the 6280 on to Web 'n Walk as it was not allowed until approx 7 May when the service is officially opened for that particular handset. That will explain the message that Bleubean gets when he tries to activate it on his 6280 (I get the same).

I explained that I would be quite happy to walk away unless something could be done, which I would, and the manager put his thinking cap on and came up with a scheme. They would register me with an N70 and then exchange it for a 6280 - seemed easy and logical enough, and indeed it was, just adding about 15 mins to the overall buying process.

Shop assistant asked me if I'd like the handset set up in the shop to which I said "Yes" - I hate getting broken stuff home and this is a long weekend of the shop being closed.

She assembled the 6280, powered it up and .................... the handset said that it was IMEI Blocked! Wow Brand new, out of the box, seals intact, in front of me ............ IMEI Blocked. We all agreed that we'd never seen anything like that before And so another handset exchange, and another 15 minutes going through the check in and check out procedure.

Not bad really, 3 handsets on a brand new contract within the first hour and having not even left the shop - can anyone beat that (throws down gauntlet).

So thats it - 6280 on charge, impatience growing exponentially with every minute that passes. It is a rainy day, but a good one nonetheless

[Ben]

Congratulations!

Lets hope these 'new' 6280's that are flying off the shelves are everything that the 6280 was originally intended to be.

Flext is a superb arrangement, especially with the unlimited data add-on, and I'm very pleased to see people 'congratulating' them on their efforts by purchasing. I'd be queueing up for the combo myself if I wasn't so happy with what I'm already getting.

As always I'll be very interested to hear how the '3.6' handsets, and T-Mobile themselves, perform as time goes by.

[Hands0n]

Oh yes, I'd forgotten to mention that the firmware is indeed 03.60, I checked this in the shop before leaving.

Just got my PAC from 3 ....... once the 6280 is charged I'll give T-Mobile's CS a bell.

Reports on the 6280 will certainly be forthcoming .... So, we currently have experience on Talk3G of the 6280 on the 3 network, although I'd like to hear some more recent stuff such as have 3 remedied the faults or are folk living with them on that network (my daughter is happy to bear with the faults in 03.36 firmware!!!). Also I invite comment of 6280 ownership on the other networks, Vodafone, Orange, O2 - how are they doing? Or have T-Mobile stole a march on everyone else by being the last to bring the 6280 to market?

[@NickyColman]

Welcome to The Club Hands0n!!

I must say i admire your will power by letting your handset charge first.....something i NEVER do.


Ive checked my firmware and mine is 3.60. I was under the assumption all -T-Mobile variants were 3.60 and not 3.36? Perhaps im wrong....could anyone clarify??


Anyways, give us your first impressions of -T-Mobile!