In message , at 14:30:06 on Sun, 14 Jul
2019, tim... remarked:


"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
In message , at 11:11:38 on Sun, 14 Jul
2019, tim... remarked:

Then there's a few phones which need a "5v" SIM, and don't work
with a 3v one. Those SIMs are getting harder to find (some say
that it's only Pound-shop Orange SIMs these days,

Thinks

why would someone pay even as much as a pound for a SIM?

Because that's what the shops charge,

Is it. Higher than I have seen, 50p earlier this week (forget where)

99p is a common price, although Sainsbury's is sticking to £1:

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/webapp/...groceries/home
/sim-cards

and stealing them is a crime.

Yes, very funny

I've paid as little as 1P for a SIM in Tesco, and both I and the
checkout assistant were surprised (the shelf was marked 99p)

My last one was sent to me for free

Some of the networks will send a free SIM as a marketing exercise, it's
unlikely you'll get a retailer to send you a free one.

But they've been trained to believe what the till tells them.

That came with some free data for the first month, so not merely a
bit of plastic needing topping up.

I think my free one came with some credit. AIH that was worthless to
me as I only need it to convert a full sized SIM into a nano SIM.

Sainsbury's Mobile used to have some offers (their project flopped
and they did desperate stuff to try to kick start it).

They didn't do anything differently to others trying to enter the market

Their main difference was self-service handsets on the regular shelves.
Tesco went for shop-in-a-shop, as did CPW in PC World and Best Buy.

their problem was they came to the market too late

Not especially, also considering Tesco was in turmoil after moving
providers from Vodafone to O2. But their demographic was wrong for a
pure PAYG product.
--
Roland Perry

On 14/07/2019 12:01, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 09:55:16 on Sun, 14 Jul
2019, Recliner remarked:
Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 08:21:37 on Sun, 14 Jul
2019, Recliner remarked:
Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 12:29:56 on Sun, 14 Jul


One of the reasons for having a Virgin second-SIM is it authenticates
Virgin wifi (for those also not on Virgin Cable) on the phone.

https://www.virginmedia.com/help/vir...ect-to-london-

underground

I'm on Virgin Mobile, partly for that reason, and find that it
generally
fails to connect to the LU hot spots. It's supposed to connect
automatically, but seldom does.

I think you need the Virgin "wifi-buddy" app running on the phone, but
it's a long time since I tried connecting.

Hoho, it's now called "Virgin Media Connect", and is one of those
Marmite apps with a predominance of 5* and 1* ratings. It's entirely
possible the 1* ratings are because of some fundamental incompatibility
issues, rather than fat-fingered users.

I do have the app, but it still doesn't work properly. I might not be
using
it correctly, of course, but I'm sure it (or the predecessor app) did
work.
I don't really have much need for it, as I'm not usually waiting long
enough in deep Tube stations to be able to use it. And I don't know of a
way of sending and receiving texts via station WiFi.

You'd need a phone and account which had "wifi calling", which might not
exist in a combination useful to you.

Needs Android 5, apparently, which is why it's not on my phone any more.

I'm on Android 9.

Oh, the irony; the reason I bought and am sticking with that phone
(dual-SIM) is the very reason I can't use the second SIM slot for this.

My Android 9 phone is dual sim.

Active, standby or hybrid? Maybe the Virgin trick doesn't work on a
standby basis, and all the hybrid I've seen today are also standby.

If I add in my requirement for a replaceable battery, 32GB, active
dual-SIM, I think that narrows the field to zero.

Accepting a hybrid dual-SIM doesn't help, unfortunately (with 32GB, I
probably wouldn't need an SD card).

Many of the OnePlus handsets are dual SIM and have been for several
years. Both SIMs are active in terms of calls and SMS, 1both can do
2G-4G. You have an easy toggle to switch which one is currently used
for data. No replaceable battery though.

On 14/07/2019 14:23, Clank wrote:
"tim..." Wrote in message:
Engineers didn't like creating designs for these ever smaller SIMs. It was a real PITA.
But it was what Marketing wanted

Nonsense! We wanted to create smaller, better, cooler handsets
just as much as "marketing" - and the ridiculous credit-card
sized SIM was a major barrier to that.

whereupon inserting the SIM was changed to require removing the
IIRC for the the phone that I had that took a full credit card size SIM you still had to fit it in under the battery

Indeed, and this was always a feature rather than a bug - it meant
we could confidently design the software stack to assume the SIM
it booted up with would never change (for as long as it was
running.) This mattered when you were coding for a 68k
derivative with memory measured in peanuts, and every byte
counted...

Which was a mistake as SIMs can be changed in other ways that doesn't
involve physically changing the SIMs...

In message , at 13:57:27 on Tue, 16 Jul
2019, Someone Somewhere remarked:
My Android 9 phone is dual sim.
Active, standby or hybrid? Maybe the Virgin trick doesn't work on a
standby basis, and all the hybrid I've seen today are also standby.
If I add in my requirement for a replaceable battery, 32GB, active
dual-SIM, I think that narrows the field to zero.

Accepting a hybrid dual-SIM doesn't help, unfortunately (with 32GB,
I probably wouldn't need an SD card).

Many of the OnePlus handsets are dual SIM and have been for several
years. Both SIMs are active in terms of calls and SMS, 1both can do
2G-4G. You have an easy toggle to switch which one is currently used
for data. No replaceable battery though.

Thanks, I'll bear that in mind. But they are about three times as much
as I'd want to spend.
--
Roland Perry

On 16/07/2019 15:00, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 13:57:27 on Tue, 16 Jul
2019, Someone Somewhere remarked:
My Android 9 phone is dual sim.
Â*Active, standby or hybrid? Maybe the Virgin trick doesn't work on a
standby basis, and all the hybrid I've seen today are also standby.
Â*If I add in my requirement for a replaceable battery, 32GB, active
dual-SIM, I think that narrows the field to zero.

Â*Accepting a hybrid dual-SIM doesn't help, unfortunately (with 32GB,
IÂ* probably wouldn't need an SD card).

Many of the OnePlus handsets are dual SIM and have been for several
years.Â* Both SIMs are active in terms of calls and SMS,Â* 1both can do
2G-4G.Â*Â* You have an easy toggle to switch which one is currently used
for data.Â* No replaceable battery though.

Thanks, I'll bear that in mind. But they are about three times as much
as I'd want to spend.

So the budget is around £200? The OnePlus stuff is good value but
admittedly not cheap anymore (ie for £600 you get what you'd pay maybe
£800-£900 for a Samsung or similar).

What's the desire for a removeable battery these days? I get that
batteries die progressively after a couple of years or more, but until
then portable power banks are higher capacity and more flexible (you can
use them with multiple things!) than a spare battery.

In message , at 15:49:03 on Tue, 16 Jul
2019, Someone Somewhere remarked:
On 16/07/2019 15:00, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 13:57:27 on Tue, 16 Jul
2019, Someone Somewhere remarked:
My Android 9 phone is dual sim.
*Active, standby or hybrid? Maybe the Virgin trick doesn't work on
a standby basis, and all the hybrid I've seen today are also standby.
*If I add in my requirement for a replaceable battery, 32GB, active
dual-SIM, I think that narrows the field to zero.

*Accepting a hybrid dual-SIM doesn't help, unfortunately (with
32GB, I* probably wouldn't need an SD card).

Many of the OnePlus handsets are dual SIM and have been for several
years.* Both SIMs are active in terms of calls and SMS,* 1both can do
2G-4G.** You have an easy toggle to switch which one is currently
used for data.* No replaceable battery though.
Thanks, I'll bear that in mind. But they are about three times as
much as I'd want to spend.

So the budget is around £200?

More like £150.

The OnePlus stuff is good value but admittedly not cheap anymore (ie
for £600 you get what you'd pay maybe £800-£900 for a Samsung or
similar).

I'd never pay that for a Samsung (or anything else).

Having said that, I've got a locked 8GB Samsung J3 here for a project,
and if the client paid more than £100 for that, they were robbed!

What's the desire for a removeable battery these days? I get that
batteries die progressively after a couple of years or more, but until
then portable power banks are higher capacity and more flexible (you
can use them with multiple things!) than a spare battery.

I suppose if there was a thin power bank I could superglue to the back
of a phone, and have an unobtrusive permanently connected cable, that
might just substitute for having a phone where I can change a normal
battery in under a minute.

But I suspect that the power bank wouldn't do a pass-through for
connecting to the phone's internal storage. How do you suggest fixing
that?
--
Roland Perry

On Tue, 16 Jul 2019 19:49:55 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message , at 15:49:03 on Tue, 16 Jul
2019, Someone Somewhere remarked:
On 16/07/2019 15:00, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 13:57:27 on Tue, 16 Jul
2019, Someone Somewhere remarked:
My Android 9 phone is dual sim.
*Active, standby or hybrid? Maybe the Virgin trick doesn't work on
a standby basis, and all the hybrid I've seen today are also standby.
*If I add in my requirement for a replaceable battery, 32GB, active
dual-SIM, I think that narrows the field to zero.

*Accepting a hybrid dual-SIM doesn't help, unfortunately (with
32GB, I* probably wouldn't need an SD card).

Many of the OnePlus handsets are dual SIM and have been for several
years.* Both SIMs are active in terms of calls and SMS,* 1both can do
2G-4G.** You have an easy toggle to switch which one is currently
used for data.* No replaceable battery though.
Thanks, I'll bear that in mind. But they are about three times as
much as I'd want to spend.

So the budget is around £200?

More like £150.

The OnePlus stuff is good value but admittedly not cheap anymore (ie
for £600 you get what you'd pay maybe £800-£900 for a Samsung or
similar).

I'd never pay that for a Samsung (or anything else).

Having said that, I've got a locked 8GB Samsung J3 here for a project,
and if the client paid more than £100 for that, they were robbed!

What's the desire for a removeable battery these days? I get that
batteries die progressively after a couple of years or more, but until
then portable power banks are higher capacity and more flexible (you
can use them with multiple things!) than a spare battery.

I suppose if there was a thin power bank I could superglue to the back
of a phone, and have an unobtrusive permanently connected cable, that
might just substitute for having a phone where I can change a normal
battery in under a minute.

But I suspect that the power bank wouldn't do a pass-through for
connecting to the phone's internal storage. How do you suggest fixing
that?

Clip-on/piggy-back power banks with USB pass through are available but
you're probably stuffed if you haven't got an iPhone or a Samsung
Galaxy.

In message , at 22:31:47 on
Tue, 16 Jul 2019, Charles Ellson remarked:
What's the desire for a removeable battery these days? I get that
batteries die progressively after a couple of years or more, but until
then portable power banks are higher capacity and more flexible (you
can use them with multiple things!) than a spare battery.

I suppose if there was a thin power bank I could superglue to the back
of a phone, and have an unobtrusive permanently connected cable, that
might just substitute for having a phone where I can change a normal
battery in under a minute.

But I suspect that the power bank wouldn't do a pass-through for
connecting to the phone's internal storage. How do you suggest fixing
that?

Clip-on/piggy-back power banks with USB pass through are available but
you're probably stuffed if you haven't got an iPhone or a Samsung
Galaxy.

Now you mention it, I did once have a case for a smartphone that had
power bank integrated, which meant having a pass-through connector. But
the battery inside that died very quickly (a matter of months). The fact
they are so rare makes me think there's something systemically wrong
with them.

Is it also perhaps because the backs of phones increasingly have buttons
and camera lenses/flashes and so on - which would tend to get obscured
unless the case had exactly the correct cut-outs in it.
--
Roland Perry

Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 22:31:47 on
Tue, 16 Jul 2019, Charles Ellson remarked:
What's the desire for a removeable battery these days? I get that
batteries die progressively after a couple of years or more, but until
then portable power banks are higher capacity and more flexible (you
can use them with multiple things!) than a spare battery.

I suppose if there was a thin power bank I could superglue to the back
of a phone, and have an unobtrusive permanently connected cable, that
might just substitute for having a phone where I can change a normal
battery in under a minute.

But I suspect that the power bank wouldn't do a pass-through for
connecting to the phone's internal storage. How do you suggest fixing
that?

Clip-on/piggy-back power banks with USB pass through are available but
you're probably stuffed if you haven't got an iPhone or a Samsung
Galaxy.

Now you mention it, I did once have a case for a smartphone that had
power bank integrated, which meant having a pass-through connector. But
the battery inside that died very quickly (a matter of months). The fact
they are so rare makes me think there's something systemically wrong
with them.

Is it also perhaps because the backs of phones increasingly have buttons
and camera lenses/flashes and so on - which would tend to get obscured
unless the case had exactly the correct cut-outs in it.

Yes, they all have one or more camera lenses and flash, and often the
fingerprint reader too. Plus, most people wouldn't want such a clumsy
device anyway. Phones are slim because that's what the market demands. They
want phones they can slip into a tight jeans pocket, not clumsy bricks more
than an inch thick.

Most people can get through a day on one charge. And if they can't, there
are plenty of places to recharge. And if they're not available, it's easy
to carry a small power bank separately in a bag.

Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 15:49:03 on Tue, 16 Jul
2019, Someone Somewhere remarked:
On 16/07/2019 15:00, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 13:57:27 on Tue, 16 Jul
2019, Someone Somewhere remarked:
My Android 9 phone is dual sim.
Â*Active, standby or hybrid? Maybe the Virgin trick doesn't work on
a standby basis, and all the hybrid I've seen today are also standby.
Â*If I add in my requirement for a replaceable battery, 32GB, active
dual-SIM, I think that narrows the field to zero.

Â*Accepting a hybrid dual-SIM doesn't help, unfortunately (with
32GB, IÂ* probably wouldn't need an SD card).

Many of the OnePlus handsets are dual SIM and have been for several
years.Â* Both SIMs are active in terms of calls and SMS,Â* 1both can do
2G-4G.Â*Â* You have an easy toggle to switch which one is currently
used for data.Â* No replaceable battery though.
Thanks, I'll bear that in mind. But they are about three times as
much as I'd want to spend.

So the budget is around £200?

More like £150.

The OnePlus stuff is good value but admittedly not cheap anymore (ie
for £600 you get what you'd pay maybe £800-£900 for a Samsung or
similar).

I'd never pay that for a Samsung (or anything else).

Having said that, I've got a locked 8GB Samsung J3 here for a project,
and if the client paid more than £100 for that, they were robbed!

What's the desire for a removeable battery these days? I get that
batteries die progressively after a couple of years or more, but until
then portable power banks are higher capacity and more flexible (you
can use them with multiple things!) than a spare battery.

I suppose if there was a thin power bank I could superglue to the back
of a phone, and have an unobtrusive permanently connected cable, that
might just substitute for having a phone where I can change a normal
battery in under a minute.

But I suspect that the power bank wouldn't do a pass-through for
connecting to the phone's internal storage. How do you suggest fixing
that?

The product you want is a charging case; they’re available for some
smartphones but not all. The case has a built-in external battery, and you
can use the case’s usb socket as if it was the phone’s one. However they’re
*considerably* more expensive than a plain external battery of the same
capacity (like ~10x the price).


Anna Noyd-Dryver