Virgin Lobster 320 - a bargain, but...

shoequeen

Okay, so I got overexcited at getting 200 minutes plus a new phone for £9.99 plus £2.99 p & p. And for £13 it's fine. It's a phone. It does what phones do.

Except...

I keep missing calls & texts cos I can't find the setting for it to beep vibrate or whistle when it knows I got a call or text & I didn't notice.

Can anyone talk me through which button I need to press? Its a little irritation, but it is annoying.

Also (and I may be the only person in the world with this problem?) I would love it if my phone RANG. You know. Sounded like a phone. Can I make that happen? How? I can follow instructions if someone's kind enough to post them

Thanks in advance!

thesaint

In your position, I would...

a. Read the manual supplied with the phone.
b. Phone Virgin on 789 (10p) and ask.
c. Ask on an internet forum.

I would ask here last because these phones are not a popular model, so the likelihood of anyone having one is relatively slim.

shoequeen

Thanks for responding!

The manual was no help. Have been through it cover to cover (then again, when ARE manuals any use???)

Can you suggest an alternative forum? I don't go anywhere techy. Started here cos it's friendly...

Cheers

Mercenary

OK...to access the options go to:
Profiles>press left button with white solid circle to select Standard Mode (or whichever you want)>Press key again to select Edit> choose Ring Tone or SMS Tone> press Left white circle button to select Immobile Data to choose from the provided ringtones (All of which are bad :rotfl:).

If you want to put in your own noises, then you will have to use the CD-ROM to install the PC Sync, then connect the PC to your phone using the USB cable, selecting the PC Sync option in the Toolbox area. When you have uploaded your files to the correct area on the phone, then you have to browse to the My Documents section in the above pathway instead of Immobile Data to access your MP3 sounds for use.

The Vibrate is in Menu>Profiles >Whatever Mode>Edit>Vibration type> ON.

Whatever you do, use the left hand solid white circle key to select and save/delete/edit/etc, and the right hand white hollow circle to return to the previous menu. You will just have to explore and figure it out yourself really as it does actually tell you a lot of this in the manual...just not very well.


hth

spobby

hi there ,didnt no where else to put it.
has anyone got the drivers for this phone
and does anyone know how to unlock it for free?
thanks

spiritdancers

I am thinking about purchasing a Loster 320.
But I am unable to find any decent reviews - e.g. battery life (specs are always wildly optimistic so can't be trusted!)
Obviously some of you have a Lobster. Any comments on what it is like?
I fully appreciate that it is a "budget" phone so I am not expecting the world!
I just want to check that the battery lasts for a tolerable time, that bits don't fall off, that the menus are not too complicated, that it doesn't have random glitches etc etc.
Thanks

shoequeen

spirit dancers - I'm not that chuffed with it, but the things I don't like might not bother you: hopefully you'll get a couple of other responses.

Battery life is about what I would expect - not noticably short and you can take off the power draining backlight settings.

keys & screen are quite big, which is helpful & it is lightweight & small.

but texting is really annoying. there is no way I've found of adding to the dictionary, so if it doesnt know a word you have to enter it each time - it can't learn. It seems determined that Every Word Will Start with A Capital Letter and although I can override that I can only do it word by word. Grrrr!

the phone has nasty ringtones (though i understand you can sort that out if you know how)

the manual is completely useless (but when arent they?)

Like you say: budget phone. These things might not be a problem for you. It's hard to say no at this price!

spiritdancers

Shoe queen
Thanks for the info.
In a surprising twist of fate, my phone has come back to life so the purchase of a new phone isn't so imperative!
But I doubt that my lemming mobile will last much longer with all the abuse it has taken...it seems determined to throw itself into every bowl of water, off every shelf/out of every pocket...I've never known such a suicidal phone!
:eek:
My last phone was a rugged "sports" phone and it never got wet/dropped.

So if anyone else has any other comments about the Lobster I'd appreciate them. :question:

Thanks
Spirit Dancers

Mercenary

As shoequeen says, the texting is quirky. The options for the word come up at the bottom of the screen and you may have to scroll to find the correct one, and yes, the need to switch into non-predictive mode to spell something different is time consuming.

The battery lasts about a week for me, but I have switched off keytones, have key lights only for night, and the backlight is on. I may turn down/off the backlight and see what that does.

It can be programmed to switch itself on or off at any hour of the day/night which is good for me, as I often forget to turn phones off and therefore waste power during the night.

You can load your own mp3 sounds for ringtones and sms (google for sounds) and a certain format of your own pics into it's My Documents folder via the PC Sync utility on the accompanying CD-ROM.
I have managed to put a couple of my pics on to use as screensaver, but the format is specific (and unknown to me) so I just fiddled around with my picture editing software (using save as for Web) until I found something that would show properly. Have no idea how to describe that! :rolleyes:

The SMS tone would have to be something long or the soundfile edited to repeat as otherwise it doesn't make more than the one noise....which isn't helpful in a noisy place.

Otherwise it's ok for a cheap phone

singingshutter

I bought this phone last week from Virgin because I wanted a much smaller phone. The price seemed good at £25 for a simple PAYG phone to which I could transfer my SIM card. After a couple of days the message "earphone plugged in (or unplugged)" kept appearing at random and hampering any attempts to make a call. I took the phone back and it was exchanged straight away with no question. That was Tuesday and I made a call home within the hour and proved that it worked. Today, Friday, I turned on the phone entered my PIN and tried to make a call whereupon I was asked for my PIN again. On entering the PIN I got no further forward and the whole cycle started again. I'm a patient type so I'll probably give Virgin one more go - especially as I like the small size and weight of this unit; only the Samsung M300 appears to run it close on Virgin's listings.

The only upside of this story is that Virgin staff at the Crawley store couldn't be more helpful and polite - a real pleasure to deal with. Let's hope that continues when I return!