On 17/07/2019 10:30, Recliner wrote:
Roland Perry wrote:

I just went to Amazon to look, for my LG phone. A choice of 13 products,
every single one "Currently unavailable".

Presumably because your phone is ancient? The assumption is that people
buy accessories when they first buy a phone, not when they unearth one in
an archaeological dig.

Ooh, that's a bit strong..! What's wrong with old phones, anyway..? As
long as they work, keep on using them, that's what I say. Besides, a
case may well have been bought with the phone, but has worn out. I've
replaced phone cases many times.


--
Ria in Aberdeen

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Recliner Wrote in message:
And if they're not available, it's easy
to carry a small power bank separately in a bag.
Except at some plane stations as I discovered last year
The normal rule is that you can carry one small power bank in a carry-on
bag, but none in checked-in luggage. But after the recent fire on board a
Virgin plane, perhaps that will be tightened up?

IMX, they're not very strict about that - I have two very slim
batteries that are always tucked into my little leather messenger
bag that's always with me when I'm travelling (has my passport,
headphones, Iqos e-cigarette etc.), and another small one that's
in the "plugs and cables" bag that's in my trolleybag, and I've
never been prevented taking all three onboard.

(And not because they don't notice - on Sunday I transferred into
a domestic flight at Beijing and the famously strict Chinese
security staff noticed the battery in that latter bag in my
suitcase - I'd entirely forgotten it, having already declared the
two in my shoulder bag (Chinese regulations demand all batteries
are declared and individually inspected.) They just passed it
through the x-ray again and sent me on my way with all
three.)


As it was, despite being a tedious 26-hour voyage to get here
(storms closed Beijing airport on Saturday night, so quite a lot
of that was spent sitting on the tarmac at an alternate waiting
for the storms to pass (and to refuel)) , I haven't actually used
any of those batteries yet - as is usually the case these days,
even the fairly terrible Ukraine International can manage to fit
USB charging ports on their aircraft, so I had no need. Thank
the Lord I loaded my phone up with Netflix downloads before
leaving, though...


(When I finally arrived domestic airside at Beijing and missed my
connection, I'm delighted to say that I had no trouble at all
using my mobile boarding pass at the customer service desk to get
a seat on the next flight. This is remarkable for two reasons -
firstly that it's the first time I've ever been able to check in
online to a Chinese domestic flight at all, the requirement to
have a Chinese ID number finally having been dispensed with, and
secondly that I didn't actually have a through ticket, so they'd
have been entirely within their rights to make me buy a new one
for the next flight with seats on sale. So China Southern
Airlines deserve a shout out for excellent customer
service.)

--

In message , at 15:59:49 on Wed, 17
Jul 2019, MissRiaElaine remarked:
On 17/07/2019 10:30, Recliner wrote:
Roland Perry wrote:

I just went to Amazon to look, for my LG phone. A choice of 13 products,
every single one "Currently unavailable".

Presumably because your phone is ancient? The assumption is that
people buy accessories when they first buy a phone, not when they
unearth one in an archaeological dig.

Ooh, that's a bit strong..!

He's got out of bed the wrong side again.

What's wrong with old phones, anyway..? As long as they work, keep on
using them, that's what I say. Besides, a case may well have been
bought with the phone, but has worn out. I've replaced phone cases many
times.

I agree. And it's when a phone is getting older that replacing the
battery becomes a thing, and that includes work-arounds like these
power-bank-cases.
--
Roland Perry

On Wed, 17 Jul 2019 15:59:49 +0100, MissRiaElaine wrote:
On 17/07/2019 10:30, Recliner wrote:
Roland Perry wrote:

I just went to Amazon to look, for my LG phone. A choice of 13 products,
every single one "Currently unavailable".

Presumably because your phone is ancient? The assumption is that people
buy accessories when they first buy a phone, not when they unearth one in
an archaeological dig.

Ooh, that's a bit strong..! What's wrong with old phones, anyway..?

For a 'dumbphone', not a lot.

Using a smartphone once it no longer receives security patches isn't
something I would do personally.

On 17/07/2019 16:15, David Walters wrote:
On Wed, 17 Jul 2019 15:59:49 +0100, MissRiaElaine wrote:
On 17/07/2019 10:30, Recliner wrote:
Roland Perry wrote:

I just went to Amazon to look, for my LG phone. A choice of 13 products,
every single one "Currently unavailable".

Presumably because your phone is ancient? The assumption is that people
buy accessories when they first buy a phone, not when they unearth one in
an archaeological dig.

Ooh, that's a bit strong..! What's wrong with old phones, anyway..?

For a 'dumbphone', not a lot.

Using a smartphone once it no longer receives security patches isn't
something I would do personally.

I've given up on 'smart' phones, I don't like the potential for tracking
and the likes of Google et al knowing where I am 24/7, nor having to
charge it every day at minimum. I still use the one I have (Samsung S5
mini) as a portable data terminal for things like 2-factor authorisation
etc. but there isn't a SIM in it any more and it never leaves the house.
In 'flight' mode the battery lasts almost a week, good enough for me.

As for phones, the Nokia 6310i reigns supreme..! I also recently
unearthed my old Nokia 6150, which still works on its 18yr old battery,
which although it uses the battery faster than the 6310i, still lasts a
week on standby.


--
Ria in Aberdeen

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Recliner wrote:
Charles Ellson wrote:
On Sun, 14 Jul 2019 08:21:37 -0000 (UTC), Recliner
wrote:

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.

Maybe due to the 'phone rather than the hot spot ? Of two 'phones
which I use, one needs to log on to LU/Virgin and The Cloud at
stations the first time it is used there each day while the other
seems to do so automatically. IIRC there is a setting in the murkier
depths of the WiFi setup which only exists on one of them.


I've probably not investigated enough. I just don't spend long enough
waiting in deep Tube stations to have much use or need for the capability.
Above ground, I just use 4G data.



Just for anecdata, my iPhone on Vodafone connects without user intervention
to the Underground WiFi. You don’t need to be a VM customer to use it.

In message , at 16:15:25 on
Wed, 17 Jul 2019, David Walters remarked:

I just went to Amazon to look, for my LG phone. A choice of 13 products,
every single one "Currently unavailable".

Presumably because your phone is ancient? The assumption is that people
buy accessories when they first buy a phone, not when they unearth one in
an archaeological dig.

Ooh, that's a bit strong..! What's wrong with old phones, anyway..?

For a 'dumbphone', not a lot.

Using a smartphone once it no longer receives security patches isn't
something I would do personally.

What's the main threat you are trying to avoid?
--
Roland Perry

In message , at 16:49:32 on Wed, 17 Jul
2019, Tweed remarked:

Just for anecdata, my iPhone on Vodafone connects without user intervention
to the Underground WiFi. You don’t need to be a VM customer to use it.

That kind of reciprocal arrangement comes and goes, almost too fast to
keep up. But yes, at the moment some Vodafone plans include the Virgin
Wifi on the tube.
--
Roland Perry

Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 16:49:32 on Wed, 17 Jul
2019, Tweed remarked:

Just for anecdata, my iPhone on Vodafone connects without user intervention
to the Underground WiFi. You don’t need to be a VM customer to use it.

That kind of reciprocal arrangement comes and goes, almost too fast to
keep up. But yes, at the moment some Vodafone plans include the Virgin
Wifi on the tube.

I think you will find all the main networks work with the underground
system. See https://tfl.gov.uk/campaign/station-wifi

On Sun, 14 Jul 2019 10:21:44 +0100
Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 08:39:30 on Sun, 14 Jul
2019, remarked:
Of course back when 2G phones first came out the SIM was on a card you could
switch cards easily in seconds but presumably that was deemed too convenient

I'm not sure how many phones ever took the full size SIM.

Probably all of the early 90s ones because the original 2G SIMs were only
available as a full sized card, there was no facility to pop the chip out into
a smaller form factor without using scissors.

for users whereupon inserting the SIM was changed to require removing the
battery and messing about trying to get some sum postage sized thing into a
tiny slot at an awkward angle.

That's more to do with shrinking phone sizes. It doesn't have to be that

Probably. Shame things have gone in the opposite direction since 2007.

Since when has buying PAYG SIMs for most networks ever been a problem? You
talk
as if they're a rarity.

Ones where the credit rolls over and you don't have to make a regular
calls to keep them alive, aren't quite as common as you claim. The
networks hate them because they tend to get used in "glovebox" phones
were they have all the costs of maintaining the number and the billing
records, for virtually no revenue.

Oh come on, its costs them precisely £0.00 to maintain a number, its simply
data in a database.

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, although I have a very old T-Mobile
SIM which is compliant).

Never realised there were 2 types of chips. Presumably the 5V are the early
types of SIM?