I mentioned earlier the ways that the data can be imported from your old Sidekick from TMobile's webpage to the new Sidekick 4G.
Before transferring your service, place the SD card currently in the SK 4G into the old Sidekick and save your photos onto it. Next is download the utility to send your other info to the SIM card, and do the transfer. I didn't do it this way, but it could easily be a headache-free way to transfer your data.
What I did was a bit different since I was told to use synchronize when importing my data but it never worked for some reason. TMobile's site has a page called MobileLife. Go there and follow the prompts to upload the CSV or VCF file and then click synchronize. You may need to compare what's on the old SK with the info on the website. Then update and synchronize every now and then. If you transferred the pics as transferred above and put it back into the new SK, you're in good shape.
Next was a little troublesome for me for some reason. Use the USB cable to transfer your Notes from your export from the computer to the new Sidekick. You'll see a menu of choices, one of them is to use the SK as a mass storage device. Choose that. Your computer should detect the SK and set up a drive in My Computer for you to make the transfer. Then copy the files from the export directory onto that drive. In my case, it set up the SK as drive E:.
Some of you may have used Intellisync to do the transfers. Customer Service may be able to help if all else fails. I did a bit of research on this as well before doing my transfers.
Showing posts with label sidekick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sidekick. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
T-Mobile Sidekick 4G Review
The newer Sidekick 4G seems to follow in the footsteps of its predecessors that used the Danger OS formerly owned by Microsoft. And who can forget the 3-4 day data outage that cause a lot of problems and inconvenience for many people? The keyboard was a great advantage. Its built-in AIM client when the vibrating part was set right, was quite strong. In some cases, strong enough to vibrate itself off a table. I would venture to say it was strong enough to generate a few comedy bits...
"But officer, this big thing vibrated my car right into the pole..." We all know not to text and drive. In some cases, it felt kinda like a joy buzzer, making you look like when you're shaking hands with someone who had one.
If you were waiting for a relay phone call, you could easily put it under your head or chest and the vibrating could wake you.
On to the Sidekick 4G. The Android OS was a nice change including the touch screen. The trackball is still there, but not as a rolling, but as an optical. Just roll your finger over it. Some other basic features were kept like the Menu and other keys. It doesn't vibrate as strongly as the old Sidekicks did, but it's still a good vibration. The screen doesn't do a 180 degree flip, rather, you're pushing it upwards to open to show the tactile keyboard underneath. I'm a little worried about some people who tend to open their screens a little hard, thus possibly breaking the little plastic piece in back. The thing is probably a bit tougher than it looks. Rather than hold down the lower right button to put it into sleep mode, you tap the power button. Turning it off, hold it down and press "Power off" when the menu pops up.
The number of applications available, more free than pay, are quite a few. Some look better than others. One of the first things I installed was the AIM program. Next thing I noticed was that the vibration wasn't much of a vibration. Just a quick "boomp." Kinda felt like someone fell over and died unless I missed something in the setups. I looked around for other AIM and other IM clients and came across Meebo. It used a longer vibration time, about the same as the old Sidekick. But its buddy list isn't that great.
The included browser was pretty nice, and a little looking around netted me Firefox, Opera, and some other browsers. The browser had a couple bookmarks that you couldn't delete. A workaround was to create a folder, move them into that folder, and delete that. You can even uninstall and delete an app that you downloaded, but the included apps you can't quite remove.
Other included apps were Maps with GPS directions, Calendar, an office kind of editor, Files access on the SD card, front and back camera, YouTube, TV, and a whole lot more. One big thing is the YouTube application also includes captioning support, as evidenced from when I watched an Annoying Orange video.
Battery power seems to be a bit short, unless I recharged it wrong when I got it. It uses a standard Samsung EB504465VA 1500mah battery. The USB connector isn't the standard size connector but a smaller size one. Next post in a week or two will tell how to put your exported data back in.
The Sidekick 4G isn't exactly a smartphone killer, but it does the job for those who don't heavily use their phones like others do. But of course, there's always the pads, tablets, and netbooks out there.
"But officer, this big thing vibrated my car right into the pole..." We all know not to text and drive. In some cases, it felt kinda like a joy buzzer, making you look like when you're shaking hands with someone who had one.
If you were waiting for a relay phone call, you could easily put it under your head or chest and the vibrating could wake you.
On to the Sidekick 4G. The Android OS was a nice change including the touch screen. The trackball is still there, but not as a rolling, but as an optical. Just roll your finger over it. Some other basic features were kept like the Menu and other keys. It doesn't vibrate as strongly as the old Sidekicks did, but it's still a good vibration. The screen doesn't do a 180 degree flip, rather, you're pushing it upwards to open to show the tactile keyboard underneath. I'm a little worried about some people who tend to open their screens a little hard, thus possibly breaking the little plastic piece in back. The thing is probably a bit tougher than it looks. Rather than hold down the lower right button to put it into sleep mode, you tap the power button. Turning it off, hold it down and press "Power off" when the menu pops up.
The number of applications available, more free than pay, are quite a few. Some look better than others. One of the first things I installed was the AIM program. Next thing I noticed was that the vibration wasn't much of a vibration. Just a quick "boomp." Kinda felt like someone fell over and died unless I missed something in the setups. I looked around for other AIM and other IM clients and came across Meebo. It used a longer vibration time, about the same as the old Sidekick. But its buddy list isn't that great.
The included browser was pretty nice, and a little looking around netted me Firefox, Opera, and some other browsers. The browser had a couple bookmarks that you couldn't delete. A workaround was to create a folder, move them into that folder, and delete that. You can even uninstall and delete an app that you downloaded, but the included apps you can't quite remove.
Other included apps were Maps with GPS directions, Calendar, an office kind of editor, Files access on the SD card, front and back camera, YouTube, TV, and a whole lot more. One big thing is the YouTube application also includes captioning support, as evidenced from when I watched an Annoying Orange video.
Battery power seems to be a bit short, unless I recharged it wrong when I got it. It uses a standard Samsung EB504465VA 1500mah battery. The USB connector isn't the standard size connector but a smaller size one. Next post in a week or two will tell how to put your exported data back in.
The Sidekick 4G isn't exactly a smartphone killer, but it does the job for those who don't heavily use their phones like others do. But of course, there's always the pads, tablets, and netbooks out there.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Repairing a Sidekick II
Anyone have two Sidekick IIs that work to an extent? I had an SK2 with a working unit but bad screen and another with a bad unit and good working screen. In this case, you need a T6 torx screwdriver and a place to keep the screws. Avoid the hex drivers, as they won't do the job. They will damage the screw heads and make it nearly impossible to remove. Finding the T6s may be difficult, though I found mine at a local computer store. Ebay will have them, but you may not find them at your local hardware store. If your SKII is still under warranty, this will most likely void it. So, do this at your own risk.
Most importantly, make sure the units are turned off.
Remove the four buttons on the four corners of the unit. Remove the screws underneath.
Open up the screen halfway to reveal two screws and remove those. These two hold down the screen turning unit.
Carefully remove the upper and lower bumpers, making note of how they went on. Remove the SIM card as well. Make note of which SIM card you normally use in a working SK and keep it separate from other SIM card(s).
You should now be able to carefully pop off the upper part from the lower part. Be careful of the screen assembly, as it can fall off. Put aside the lower part and carefully remove the screen from the upper part.
Now put it back together, screwing in the screen assembly first. You should be able to turn it on test it a bit. If all goes well and you can turn it on and use it, you've done a good job. Now turn it off and put the rest of the screws and buttons back on.
Repairing the bad unit yourself may be more a hassle due to all the tiny electronic parts in there. There's not much in the way of parts you can use except for the little vibrator motor on the upper left corner in the lower unit half under the circuit board. There's a lot of tiny surface mount parts including LEDs under the keyboard and other places.
I've not done this yet with an SK3 or SK ID. Remember to do this at your own risk. I can't take responsibility for mistakes if you do it wrong.
Most importantly, make sure the units are turned off.
Remove the four buttons on the four corners of the unit. Remove the screws underneath.
Open up the screen halfway to reveal two screws and remove those. These two hold down the screen turning unit.
Carefully remove the upper and lower bumpers, making note of how they went on. Remove the SIM card as well. Make note of which SIM card you normally use in a working SK and keep it separate from other SIM card(s).
You should now be able to carefully pop off the upper part from the lower part. Be careful of the screen assembly, as it can fall off. Put aside the lower part and carefully remove the screen from the upper part.
Now put it back together, screwing in the screen assembly first. You should be able to turn it on test it a bit. If all goes well and you can turn it on and use it, you've done a good job. Now turn it off and put the rest of the screws and buttons back on.
Repairing the bad unit yourself may be more a hassle due to all the tiny electronic parts in there. There's not much in the way of parts you can use except for the little vibrator motor on the upper left corner in the lower unit half under the circuit board. There's a lot of tiny surface mount parts including LEDs under the keyboard and other places.
I've not done this yet with an SK3 or SK ID. Remember to do this at your own risk. I can't take responsibility for mistakes if you do it wrong.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Deaf Scams via AIM
Did anyone get an AIM message from someone claiming to be an FBI agent, law enforcement officer, etc? It most likely is a scam. They will often offer you something like this if you work for them online;
- cash every month or week, usually nearly $1,000
- a new vehicle
- pay for vehicle registration, typically a few hundred
- have you fill out an application which most likely you will send to a completely different address
They may say something about helping other deaf. Don't fall for this scam. You will most likely lose money and be a victim of ID theft. Report it to the people they were trying to fraudulently represent.
One other IM scam I've heard about is how the FBI IMs the so-called victims. Maybe the FBI/law enforcement does this from time to time when the victim requests but a lot of the time from what I've seen, they'll use snail mail or the phone. However, when one receives an IM from the "FBI," let them make the first moves. They should have all your info in front of them including your case number and related information.
My own experiences almost exactly mirror Dianarez's experience in her Scamming Deaf via Sidekick blog post. In my case, this other person tried to impersonate a police chief in Ohio. They were very interested in knowing who this person was when I contacted them. If you see ddaservice on AIM, that's the person. Another time it was a business.
One way they get your info is via DeafVP. That's a scammer's paradise right there since all IM info is out in the open. Make it so they have to email you for the info, like I do. When I removed my info, the IMs from them stopped.
Update 3/24/2009:
When posting chat logs anywhere, change your AIM name to something like [name_removed], and remove your personal info with [personal_info_removed]. This way, you're protecting yourself from worse things like ID theft.
Let's get this powerball4real8 idiot OFF the air!
- cash every month or week, usually nearly $1,000
- a new vehicle
- pay for vehicle registration, typically a few hundred
- have you fill out an application which most likely you will send to a completely different address
They may say something about helping other deaf. Don't fall for this scam. You will most likely lose money and be a victim of ID theft. Report it to the people they were trying to fraudulently represent.
One other IM scam I've heard about is how the FBI IMs the so-called victims. Maybe the FBI/law enforcement does this from time to time when the victim requests but a lot of the time from what I've seen, they'll use snail mail or the phone. However, when one receives an IM from the "FBI," let them make the first moves. They should have all your info in front of them including your case number and related information.
My own experiences almost exactly mirror Dianarez's experience in her Scamming Deaf via Sidekick blog post. In my case, this other person tried to impersonate a police chief in Ohio. They were very interested in knowing who this person was when I contacted them. If you see ddaservice on AIM, that's the person. Another time it was a business.
One way they get your info is via DeafVP. That's a scammer's paradise right there since all IM info is out in the open. Make it so they have to email you for the info, like I do. When I removed my info, the IMs from them stopped.
Update 3/24/2009:
When posting chat logs anywhere, change your AIM name to something like [name_removed], and remove your personal info with [personal_info_removed]. This way, you're protecting yourself from worse things like ID theft.
Let's get this powerball4real8 idiot OFF the air!
Friday, June 29, 2007
Lost and Found Pagers
Shortly before Berke Outspoken posted "Data Only Plan? Not Quite!" on her lost Sidekick, I managed to restrain myself rather well from killing her due to her nearly going overboard bonkers about it. I got plans for her next time that happens. Not to worry... I won't hurt her.
Since The Deaf Sherlock posted on this as well, I started wondering about a few things.
The local Washington Post had an article posted June 27 called "The Golden Rule, Slightly Tarnished."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/26/AR2007062602243_pf.html
While the article posts in a hearing slant, this got me wondering... What about other deaf people who lost their Sidekick, Blackberry, Ogo, or other pager? How did you get yours back? Did someone try to call you, IM you, what? Jamie's asked me the "what if" question a few times of what if the person finds, or at least has, her lost/stolen Sidekick, sees her IM name, IMs her, and tries to wheedle a reward out of her?
What sort of settings do you have on your pagers? Is it loaded down with private and personal info, enough for someone to imitate you? I currently have my Sidekick's mobile number forwarded to my IP Relay number.
What did you do in terms of getting it back, the reward if there was one, dealing with your provider, and getting a new pager?
Since The Deaf Sherlock posted on this as well, I started wondering about a few things.
The local Washington Post had an article posted June 27 called "The Golden Rule, Slightly Tarnished."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/26/AR2007062602243_pf.html
While the article posts in a hearing slant, this got me wondering... What about other deaf people who lost their Sidekick, Blackberry, Ogo, or other pager? How did you get yours back? Did someone try to call you, IM you, what? Jamie's asked me the "what if" question a few times of what if the person finds, or at least has, her lost/stolen Sidekick, sees her IM name, IMs her, and tries to wheedle a reward out of her?
What sort of settings do you have on your pagers? Is it loaded down with private and personal info, enough for someone to imitate you? I currently have my Sidekick's mobile number forwarded to my IP Relay number.
What did you do in terms of getting it back, the reward if there was one, dealing with your provider, and getting a new pager?
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