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Thread ID: 117646 2011-04-27 11:10:00 Solid No-Nonsense Cellphones Winston001 (3612) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1197740 2011-04-27 11:10:00 I'm sure I've asked this before :D. Anyway, the theory is that the market drives product design. So why are modern cell-phones made with easily scratched/bent screens, tiny buttons - no buttons at all, no waterproofing, batteries which fall off, and easily broken cases?

I have a rubberised Sanyo SCP 7050 which I can bounce off the floor. Hardcore.

I know we live in a wonderful wired world but many many people still do physical work. Plumbers, electricians, builders, farmers, forestry workers, wharfies et al.

Surely there is a huge massive demand for strong phones - yet they are barely visible as an option.

I'm sure I could find something but my point is, if you browse cell-phones on the net or in a shop, they are all light-weight stuff. Why?
Winston001 (3612)
1197741 2011-04-27 12:11:00 Perhaps you have asked this question before but not this actual question. First I would ask what the phone is being used for then I guess you might even ask will said phone survive being left in a washing machine if you are doing the washing and forget to take it out of a pocket?

Or if said Plumber, Electrician etc leaves it under his/her Ute and backs over same so it becomes flat. Should it survive?

Can you find a phone that will survive either event on the net or anywhere? Forestry workers work with very heavy machinery. Do you want said phone to survive being run over by a D6 or something a little heavier?
Snorkbox (15764)
1197742 2011-04-27 12:31:00 LOL nothing so adventurous. I recall Pctek asking for a similar phone for her husband a while ago without much luck. I know a plumber who dropped his phone in a puddle for a few seconds and was very annoyed it died.

Just something robust which would stand up to a physical workplace. Heck most humans still do physical work, its only in developed countries where we dominate in white-collar jobs. And yet cellphones are ubiquitous even in poor countries.

My question is why manufacturers do not make and heavily promote strong phones? There simply has to be a market for them while still selling millions of smart phones as well.
Winston001 (3612)
1197743 2011-04-27 15:52:00 Because they can charge a lot for stronger ones.

i would agree we do need more cheaper, stronger phones for people in the work force. My Uncle has a Ericsson w508, the same one I had before I washed it :p (and bought a galaxy to replace it :stare:)

The Ericsson takes one hell of a beating. Idk how it survives really.

$400 for a solid phone that doesn't have much to offer other than solid is a bit over the top. I guess thats why most tradesmen take the chance of their $100 phone getting wet and dying than buying a $400 one that might not be as tough as planned ;D
The Error Guy (14052)
1197744 2011-04-27 20:03:00 We are talking of the market not responding to what we see as a need,

I wonder with so many diabetics about, they don't have restaurants catering for them, all you can get is sugar riddled tucker in a restaurant.

Slightly off topic 007, my apologies.
Cicero (40)
1197745 2011-04-27 20:55:00 I would love a nice shiny new phone, my Sanyo 7400 is looking decidedly worse for wear. The rubber protection around it attest to the hard life it leads. As a tradesman it dropped often from my pocket while up a ladder or it got crunched upon while crawling under houses.
It went through the wash and then the drier which knocked it back for a couple of days, had me thinking it had gone then early one morning it let out a beep and came back to life.
Still going strong. What could I replace it with?
tut (12033)
1197746 2011-04-27 21:41:00 There's plenty of Samsung Rugbys on Trademe. There are supposed to be pretty hardy.. paulw (1826)
1197747 2011-04-27 22:41:00 The new Motorola Defy (store.telecom.co.nz) is apparently fairly rugged. Demoed by dropping it into a fishbowl! Will take a drop on the floor too...

But not cheap (unless you go contract), at $799...
johcar (6283)
1197748 2011-04-28 01:12:00 Keep it in a pouch helps.

Not likely to fall then.!
Cicero (40)
1197749 2011-04-28 01:42:00 johcar, it's scratch-proof and waterproof but not shock-proof, so while I wouldn't stress out too much if you do drop it, I wouldn't do it deliberately! Siobhan Keogh (16063)
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