alcatel OT-S853

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U
Underground
j1Q
28 Dec 2006

Thanks KnightRider... the Alcatel noobs salute you! :)

Well, as I posted before, my phone was made in Mexico... there were several numbers on a sticker under the battery and if I'm not wrong, there were 15 digit codes (or less) spaced each 3 digits... I found a 188 in the beggining... is it the firmware version?

Well, minutes ago, I dropped the phone to the technical support, so now, I'm using my crappy Moto C261... lol... They will give me a test result the next year... lol... the next wednesday. I also mentioned him to check the firmware version.

I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

Happy New Year!

K
Knight Rider
mAJ
27 Dec 2006

No that should not be an issue... what is the movies full file extension? Mail me if you want to remain annonymous, maybe I can try to see if it works for me.

Mail at un112@msn.com.

l
luke
mf4
27 Dec 2006

Hi I can't make my phone play a 3gpp video that I have put on my miniSD card (1gb). It says map empty...

I can play my recorded videos and I have tried to put my "movie" into the folder that the recorded videos are in.

Can it be because of the size of the "movie", 27mb ?

K
Knight Rider
mAJ
26 Dec 2006

Wow a lot of comments and questions again I see... remember people you can mail me at un112@msn.com for all your remarks and such...

Maverick: The phone can tape videos of up to 30 seconds without a memory card... but if you do have a memory card and you have selected "Memory card" as your default save folder the phone will record up to 10 minutes! The phone supports 3GP format for recording plus 3GP and mpeg4 for video playback. You can convert video with easily available software you can download of the internet or certain movie makers, there is also a very simple and basic video converter on the Alcatel PCsuite disk included in the package.

In theory yes this phone supports audio and video streaming through EDGE, have not tried it myself though as prepaid customers do not have EDGE here.

Star: When you say your bluetooth does not work at all... do you mean it can not send files... that is normal is this bluetooth only does what it is supposed to do in the first place... work with handsfree sets and not sending files. Also... what is your firmware version... it sounds like you have an older version of the phone. The charger issue is clearly a fault of the charger... most likely it got a power surge and died, that happens...

Sebirumbi yakubu: Expect the S860 to appear sometime spring next year, but it is already available in Asia.

Underground: Again what is your firmware version? As this is really sounding like outdated software issues.

Webdude: Indeed memory card problems can occur if the memory card reader is not compatible with the memory size or speed, but may I ask you why do you use a reader in the first place? Just install the usb driver for the phone and it works perfectly... all files transfered are read perfectly.

You are right about the camera, the shots look pretty nice for a 1.3 Mpix device, heck it beats some cheap 3.0 interpolated camera's. But I still think the images could have been a bit more bright... like my old OT735, that had a tiny little CIF camera, but man could that thing shoot great images in dark surroundings, that was one amazing little phone!

AlcaRick: Hook up your phone to your PC, create a new folder on the memory card called "games" or whatever you prefer... then simply copy the jad and jar files of the game you wish to that folder. And that is it! Unhook the phone from your computer and launch the games by browsing to them with your phone... Some games are not compatible with the phone and they will not launch or not work properly... but that's something that comes with mobile games I am sorry to say... also... ALWAYS virus scan the files before uploading them to your phone! Older firmware versions of the phone might not be able to launch the games directly of the memory card, you need to transfer them to phones internal memory first and try again...

For more answers to your questions mail me at un112@msn.com!

Happy Holidays to all Alcatellers!!

A
AlcaRick
j1P
26 Dec 2006

Hi, pls...anybody can tell me how to upload java games to my OT S853 by the usb cable?? thnks a lot

w
webdude
Sig
26 Dec 2006

if anyone have problem with dark picture when using the came it will be a good idea to activate the night setting - it's hidden under "white balance" in camera option menu or you can press a few time on 5-key during camera mode to change settings

the camera in Alcatel OT-S853 and Alcatel 757 take much better pictures compared to sony erricsson k500 and k608 - especially indoor or at night time (k608 also good picture in full daylight but at night there are too much noice).

I don't think alcatel phones (including the OT-S853) crashed more the sony erricsson phones I had owned. the k608 often crashes then browsing the net or file transfers just like OT-S853 but the good thing about alcatel phone is that alcatel phones usually quickly restart by them self - on a sony ericcson you need to wait approx 10 min if you are lucky or remove the battery. From my experience is it a good way to avoid the crashes is switch the phone on/off daily

w
webdude
Sig
26 Dec 2006

I hope Santa was kind to you Underground when your mobile was stupid to you at the xmas I also experiences some memorycard problem then I first got my Alcatel OT-S853. the phone wouldn't read the files I transferd to memorycard with card reader - the phone could read some of the files and I had problems reading the memory card in my card read if I have tired to take some pictures with camera - the files the just rubbish under windows. I later discovers the same memory card problem with normal sd cards for my digi cam. So I read in the manual to cardreader that it only supportted sd-memory cards up to 128 MB - the memory cards I problems with was on 512 MB - so I bounght a new usb2 card reader - and all the memory card problems for both alcatel and my digi cam.

U
Underground
Pvs
25 Dec 2006

Hi ppl, it's me again... well, it's ironic... my phone played me bad... soooo bad... :'(... 2 hours before Xmas...

** Well, at 9:30 p.m. I accessed to the Song Player feature... went to the External Card folder (where I had all the MP3s, midis, pics, applications and movies)... and found only 1 folder (of 5) that I created named "My Images" without MP3s to play... I was looking for the "My MP3s" folder, but couldn't find it. The weirdest part is that I found the MP3s in the General folder (where all the media files are listed)... It means that the files were existing... but hidden.
** Okay, something was going wrong... then I turned it off. After a few minutes tried to turn it on again... and the phone freezed, showing me the white screen with the Alcatel logo and the web site address... pressed all the keys trying to unfreeze it... nothing... well, had to take out the battery.
** Turned it on one more time... freezed... same screen... damn... "patience man... oooohhhhmmmmm...", I said. After 5 minutes... finally accessed to the stand by screen... phew! finally!! woohoo...!!!
** Woohoo??? wait... where is the SD Card logo? whaaaat???? NO EXTERNAL CARD LOGO!!!! Entered to the menu, and tried to access the ext card... and found a message like "Do you want to format the media card?"... DAMN!
** Well, well... a lot friends told me not to buy an Alcatel... but my answer was "This phone is different from the others, it's a top line"... wrong... same thing... turned the phone off, card out, card in... turned on... NOTHING... NO EXTERNAL MEMORY PRESENT.
** At this time, had to make a call... down key to access the contact list... and guess what... NO ITEMS FOUND IN THE DIRECTORY!!! All my items were deleted!!!!... unbelievable... but still had a last chance... maybe were hidden in the twilight zone of the phone... as the MP3s...
** OMG... what have I done to deserve this??? The Xmas time was close, and had to run to my sweet home... while driving, decided the next step: to install the PC Suite to retrieve the "hidden" info in the phone, reset, and restore it.
** Hours before, after the greetings, gifts and fireworks, tried to install the famous PC Suite... at 3/4 of the installation process, encountered an error... searched the Alcatel website and downloaded some patches and figured out that the problem was user permissions related. Fine... program installed.
** At the PC, everything was fine with the external card... all the folders were shown... cut and paste to all the data into my PC...
** Next step: the "Backup and restore" application: copied the audio, video and images from the internal memory of the phone to my PC... fine...
** Final Step: "One Touch Synchro" application to make the backup of the calendar, 2DO and contact registers into Outlook... The 2DO and Calendar registers appeared in seconds in Outlook... but the contacts list... everything was lost :'(
** After unplugged the USB cable from my phone, the SDCard logo appeared again... had access to everything... but I still miss my +150 contacts list...
** An hour ago, after venting my problem with a friend, he told me that there are some issues with high end phones, specially those with external memory cards... if you charge them with tons of music, videos and images it produces a sort of memory overflow that causes crashes, lost of info and headaches... it happened to his V3i and another friend's W800...

Okay ppl... you're warned... make a backup of your info periodically... you don't want to lose it... right?... be careful overcharging the phone with media... (I had 215Mb of 256Mb on the ext card and 9Mb of 10Mb in the internal mem)

To finish this looooong input (sorry for boring you) have to tell you that my phone is made in Mexico... where yours come from? And found a long code (under the battery) beggining with 188... is that the firmware version?

Hope you're having a nice Xmas day... Good night (ooops... good morning, it's almost 5:00 a.m.) :)

S
Star
iGf
25 Dec 2006

Mery Christmas to all!

I got my 853 in July and I already regret bying it:
1. It sometimes resets itself while you're typing an SMS (and of course the SMS is gone) so you have to start all over again(really annoying)
2. The bluetooth doesn't work
3. It sometimes reads the external card and sometimes doesn't
4. Plus all the other problems described by Underground, except for the bluetooth (as I said, mine doesn't work at all)
5. The charger will no longer charge - don't know whether it's the phone or the charger, and frankly I don't care. All I know is that I was left without a phone for a week while away on a business trip. If you guys are planning on taking your 853 on a trip, make sure you get a second one of any other brand, just in case.
Bad, bad choice...

M
Maverick
nw{
24 Dec 2006

Greetings from Bulgaria!
I have some questions about it:
1.Is it true that this phone can make only 30 sekonds movie with or without memory card?
2.Which videoformats suports it and how can I convert them, if it's possible?
3.Is it true that with EDGE the phone can launch TV programs!
Maybe i'll buy it,cuz it's the best design i've ever seen! For me Alcatel makes the most beautyful phones by now!
Thanks in advance!
Merry Christmas:)

u
underground
Pvs
23 Dec 2006

Hi ppl,

Greetings from Lima, Peru - South America. I'm one of the XXXX happy owners of this awesome phone. :)

Lemme share you some comments abt this phone:
- The sound is fine, 10x better than any phones I owned before... but compare it with a Sony Ericsson W600 and you'll notice that the Alcatel needs a bit more of improvement.
- Not sure abt my firmware version (Not sure if it's the last, but the third world countries always are the last to receive the goods... for example, this phone was launched 15 days ago... :S). The phone takes more than 1 minute to show the icon "OK" while loading the SIM Card, in some cases the menu takes 5 or 10 seconds to refresh... Are those bugs of my old firmware? How do I update it myself?
- Days ago, tried to connect to a Nokia bluetooth headset and it request me a password... wth?
- The pictures taken by the camera are pretty dim/dark... need to take care of the light location to take good pics.
- While accessing to the calendar feature, it takes me to the "To Do List or Birthday List" if the following appointment is in two monts, I have to return manually to the current date... how can I set it up to show me -by default- the graphic mode calendar and pointed in the current date?
- The remote control is faulty... everything button/function works fine but the play/pause/answer/hang button... it doesn't do anything. Have to take it to the technical support to change it.

Well, that's all, just needed to vent... lol... it's a great phone with great features and affordable price (US$. 220) but with a few acceptable issues.

Thanks for your feedback.

Merry Xmas! :)

b
billy
iGg
23 Dec 2006

hi everybody,i like the model,but not my device. many questions: its not possible to send pictures or sounds,and very dificult to recieve,only from some brands(never from nokia).no two: the phone is switching off accidently showing-battery too low,althou the indicator shows full. no three: its impossible to browse the notebook while talking.why?

K
Knight Rider
mAJ
23 Dec 2006

Usually the card will only be "destroyed", ejecting it while a read or write is being done could damage the cards memory sectors and render it useless even formatting won't help you if that is the case. But in the worst case scenario the device that is reading the card (the phone in this case) could freeze or black out too... but its not likely that that will happen... at least it should not. This is not just for this phone in particular but all devices that take external memory cards could react like this... remember the old days when you would eject a floppy disk from your computer while it was reading and then the next time you discover the info on the floppy was erased... well its the same idea here. But if the phone is not reading the card... in other words you are not accessing the card in any way, it should be fine upon removal.

s
saver
nHd
22 Dec 2006

are you serious that the phone is being destroyed or the card is destroyed

N
Nelson
M66
20 Dec 2006

Just make sure that the phone is not reading the memory card if you take the card out. Otherwise the phone will be destroyed.

K
Knight Rider
mAJ
20 Dec 2006

Yes it is Hot Swap, but if the card is being read on the moment you eject it then it will be "damaged".

S
SaveR
nHd
20 Dec 2006

is it hot swap the miniSD of the S853.Can i get out the card while the phone is ON and the then to put it back?

K
Knight Rider
mAJ
19 Dec 2006

LOL good work Nelson, could not have said it better myself!

N
Nelson
M66
19 Dec 2006

Bilbo, I have researched the SE K750 manual and found this call barring feature on page 30:
The following calls can be restricted:
 All outgoing – All outgoing calls.
 Outgoing intl – All outgoing international calls.
 Outgoing intl roam – All outgoing international calls except to your home country.
 All incoming – All incoming calls.
 Inc. when roaming – All incoming calls when you are abroad (when roaming).

So, from there you can conclude that this model does not support call barring feature that K300 have.

Anyway, I'm sorry that I only mentioned page 26 of the S853 manual because during that time I am thinking only of barring Outgoing Calls but I should have been including page 27 for the "barring incoming call feature". Sorry for that.

Let me clarify that on page 26 of the S853 manual you can bar/restrict certain number for the outgoing call while on page 27 you can bar certain number for the incoming call. All you have to do is just to copy your sim card directory to your mobile so that you can still have your contacts then (this is just an example) put my number, 0922-3982663, to your sim card. Next step is activate the "Except Sim" of the bar outgoing or incoming call feature of S853. If you have done this, then, it will be me who can call you can be called by you.

This what you can read in S853 manual:

Page 26:

Outgoing Calls The following configurations are possible:

 Except SIM Outgoing call to number not included in your SIM directory are
barred.

Page 27:

Incoming Calls The following configurations are possible:

Except SIM All calls from numbers not in your SIM directory are barred

I hope that with this I have helped you. Please tell me.

Knight Rider might have more for you. Merry Christmas.

B
Bilbo
NF8
19 Dec 2006

Nelson: my old SE was a K300i. It was possible to create a list of numbers where only these numbers could get through and all others were barred. I'm sure that your friend's K750 should be able to do this as it has more features that the K300i.

Nelson & Knight Rider: guys, I've checked p 26 of the manual but I still can't get what I'm looking for.
Here's where I've got to so far: Call log > Call settings > Call barring > Incoming calls and here I only have options "All" and "If abroad". Not sure what I'm doing wrong here but it looks like I can only bar all incoming calls or none at all and even if I activate "All" it comes up with Service error.

Please, can anyone help?

Cheers.

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