Siemens SK65. Don't Buy It. What Tandy and DSE Don't Tell You

The most important fact is it's a discontinued model overseas and Siemens
have gotten out of the mobile phone market and dumped it with BenQ.......






My Overall Opinion

If you think you might have been tempted to purchase the Siemens
SK65 for 130 dollars in DSE and Tandy don't. it's not the great
bargain it claims to be. For one thing it's already a discontinued
model overseas. The standby time for this phone is claimed at 300
hours. Well I can tell you for a fact it's a lot less then that,
a lot less then 30 hours to be precise. I really have to wonder
when a product is put forth onto a relatively unsuspecting public
and true, I ended up buying one because I had gotten tired of the
Nokia 9210i I was using.

Anyway my initial hype is now a somewhat less then it was at the
initial purchase. I have since found what I think are a few bugs
in the software of the phone and any initial happiness with this
is now well and truly gone.



What The Bug Actually Is

When you enter phone contacts into the memory you are given the
opportunity to input extra details such as the address, email,
URL, and country information for all your contacts. So I thought
I'd put all this to the test. I hooked the phone up to the computer
and copied all my phone numbers from the SIM card to the PC. This
took a relatively short time to occur and all was well. I added
all the information such as address and extra contact information
to the numbers in the database then I sent all the numbers back to
the phone to update the internal database.

Now according to the manual all the extra information should have been
carried over and visible in the phone when I click on a number but all
the fields were left blank. Several attempts were made and yet no joy
so I suspect it was either a bug as I suspect or something as simple as
a printing error in the manual, yet if that were the case why have all
those data fields in the contact list if they don't work.



Overall Conclusion.

I'll be ripping the SIM out of this and popping it back into the Nokia
to use. At least that phone did everything it claimed to do.

John wrote:

> The most important fact is it's a discontinued model overseas
> and Siemens have gotten out of the mobile phone market and
> dumped it with BenQ.......

That's fairly emotional language to describe the sale of the
Siemens mobile phone business. As I understand it, BenQ will
be supporting Siemens customers from their German office for
years at least, and the design team is now under BenQ's
umbrella.

> My Overall Opinion
>
> If you think you might have been tempted to purchase the
> Siemens SK65 for 130 dollars in DSE and Tandy don't. it's not
> the great bargain it claims to be. For one thing it's already
> a discontinued model overseas. The standby time for this phone
> is claimed at 300 hours. Well I can tell you for a fact it's a
> lot less then that, a lot less then 30 hours to be precise. I
> really have to wonder when a product is put forth onto a
> relatively unsuspecting public and true, I ended up buying one
> because I had gotten tired of the Nokia 9210i I was using.
>
> Anyway my initial hype is now a somewhat less then it was at
> the initial purchase. I have since found what I think are a
> few bugs in the software of the phone and any initial
> happiness with this is now well and truly gone.
>
>
>
> What The Bug Actually Is
>
> When you enter phone contacts into the memory you are given
> the opportunity to input extra details such as the address,
> email, URL, and country information for all your contacts. So
> I thought
> I'd put all this to the test. I hooked the phone up to the
> computer and copied all my phone numbers from the SIM card to
> the PC. This
> took a relatively short time to occur and all was well. I
> added all the information such as address and extra contact
> information to the numbers in the database then I sent all the
> numbers back to the phone to update the internal database.
>
> Now according to the manual all the extra information should
> have been carried over and visible in the phone when I click
> on a number but all the fields were left blank. Several
> attempts were made and yet no joy so I suspect it was either a
> bug as I suspect or something as simple as a printing error in
> the manual, yet if that were the case why have all those data
> fields in the contact list if they don't work.

I'm not familiar with the SK65. But on recent model Siemens
phones that I am familiar with, they distinguish between the
Phonebook (stored on the SIM, and covered by GSM 11.11) and the
Addressbook (stored on the phone). Your "extra information"
cannot be stored in the Phonebook (a SIM restriction), if
that's what your default book is set to.

> I'll be ripping the SIM out of this and popping it back into
> the Nokia to use. At least that phone did everything it
> claimed to do.

I've found my Siemens phones to be almost bug-free, unlike other
brands.

John

AND A FURTHER UPDATE AS OF 23-01-2006

Rang Siemens customer service here in Australia
and the service was shocking....

They put the blame for the problem onto Outlook Express which I
don't even use. So they score a big fat 0 for customer support.
The fact I mentioned that I DO NOT use Outlook was mentioned
yet they kept circling around this for nearly 10 minutes......

I could tell the guy was reading off of a script too because he
lacked the capacity to think beyond one line of text so don't
count on Siemens call centre people to offer any real form of
technical support..

So scratch any hope of fixing what seems like a very obvious
software flaw in this phone and no wonder the model was
discontinued and dumped onto a very unsuspecting market......

John wrote:

> Anyway my initial hype is now a somewhat less then it was at
> the initial purchase. I have since found what I think are a
> few bugs in the software of the phone and any initial
> happiness with this is now well and truly gone.

One of the many strengths of Siemens phones is the ability to
upgrade the firmware yourself. If you feel that you're
competent to do so, visit

http://tinyurl.com/7kpbc

check your variant, and your existing firmware version, and then
download and install the latest.

$129 is a very good price for this phone if it's unlocked.

John

John Henderson wrote:
> I've found my Siemens phones to be almost bug-free, unlike other
> brands.

I agree 100%, i have a 5yo ME45 Siemens and its simply the best mobile
phone i [and others] have ever used.I have had Nokia, Samsung,
Motorola, NEC and other brands too.

I am so impressed with it [people comment on the clear/static-free
transmission] that i purchased a car kit for it about 12 months ago, i
wont be parting with it any time soon.

Still on origonal battery, never turn it off, only charges in the car
and been drop tested heaps of times.Pulls in a strong signal even out
of the booster car kit.

Looking foward to its 10th birthday!

Sad to see Siemens finish like this.
>
> John

John wrote:
> The most important fact is it's a discontinued model overseas and
> Siemens have gotten out of the mobile phone market and dumped it with
> BenQ.......

So what?
You sound like you were born only yesterday...
Whether you like it or not- Australia IS and has been a dumping ground for many, many years.
Not only for goods.
Ordinary people have become millionaires here because they have realised Australians are happy to accept second grade of goods and services.
What- you don't like this phone?
Why don't you buy mobile phone made in Australia "for Australian conditions"?
Truth hurts?
C'mon- get real and stop whingeing.
Cheers

John Henderson wrote:

> John wrote:
>
> > Anyway my initial hype is now a somewhat less then it was at
> > the initial purchase. I have since found what I think are a
> > few bugs in the software of the phone and any initial
> > happiness with this is now well and truly gone.
>
> One of the many strengths of Siemens phones is the ability to
> upgrade the firmware yourself. If you feel that you're
> competent to do so, visit
>
> http://tinyurl.com/7kpbc
>
> check your variant, and your existing firmware version, and then
> download and install the latest.
>
> $129 is a very good price for this phone if it's unlocked.
>
> John



Not sure if it is unlocked but updating the firmware was the very
first thing I did..... But the thing that annoys me with the addressbook
database is still going on.......

And the battery life is appalling.....

John Henderson wrote:

> John wrote:
>
> > The most important fact is it's a discontinued model overseas
> > and Siemens have gotten out of the mobile phone market and
> > dumped it with BenQ.......
>
> That's fairly emotional language to describe the sale of the
> Siemens mobile phone business. As I understand it, BenQ will
> be supporting Siemens customers from their German office for
> years at least, and the design team is now under BenQ's
> umbrella.
>
> > My Overall Opinion
> >
> > If you think you might have been tempted to purchase the
> > Siemens SK65 for 130 dollars in DSE and Tandy don't. it's not
> > the great bargain it claims to be. For one thing it's already
> > a discontinued model overseas. The standby time for this phone
> > is claimed at 300 hours. Well I can tell you for a fact it's a
> > lot less then that, a lot less then 30 hours to be precise. I
> > really have to wonder when a product is put forth onto a
> > relatively unsuspecting public and true, I ended up buying one
> > because I had gotten tired of the Nokia 9210i I was using.
> >
> > Anyway my initial hype is now a somewhat less then it was at
> > the initial purchase. I have since found what I think are a
> > few bugs in the software of the phone and any initial
> > happiness with this is now well and truly gone.
> >
> >
> >
> > What The Bug Actually Is
> >
> > When you enter phone contacts into the memory you are given
> > the opportunity to input extra details such as the address,
> > email, URL, and country information for all your contacts. So
> > I thought
> > I'd put all this to the test. I hooked the phone up to the
> > computer and copied all my phone numbers from the SIM card to
> > the PC. This
> > took a relatively short time to occur and all was well. I
> > added all the information such as address and extra contact
> > information to the numbers in the database then I sent all the
> > numbers back to the phone to update the internal database.
> >
> > Now according to the manual all the extra information should
> > have been carried over and visible in the phone when I click
> > on a number but all the fields were left blank. Several
> > attempts were made and yet no joy so I suspect it was either a
> > bug as I suspect or something as simple as a printing error in
> > the manual, yet if that were the case why have all those data
> > fields in the contact list if they don't work.
>
> I'm not familiar with the SK65. But on recent model Siemens
> phones that I am familiar with, they distinguish between the
> Phonebook (stored on the SIM, and covered by GSM 11.11) and the
> Addressbook (stored on the phone). Your "extra information"
> cannot be stored in the Phonebook (a SIM restriction), if
> that's what your default book is set to.




My default book is the addressbook instead of using the SIM
because of that very limitation.. I had assumed because the
data fields were present in the addressbook that they would
carry over when I modified all my numbers in the phone
manager software. Alas this is not the case ....

John wrote:

> My default book is the addressbook instead of using the SIM
> because of that very limitation.. I had assumed because the
> data fields were present in the addressbook that they would
> carry over when I modified all my numbers in the phone
> manager software. Alas this is not the case ....

I rarely use it, but I've just tested the functionality you
describe on my S55 using the supplied PC software "Siemens Data
Suite". Addressbook updates done by PC software, and
transmitted back to the Addressbook, work as described, with
added info intact.

I understand that your SK65 equivalent PC software is "Mobile
Phone Manager". I haven't used this, but suspect some
configuration problem if yours fails. It's not an overly
active group, but you could try asking on alt.cellular.siemens
if your news server carries it.

John

1) "Discontinued model overseas..." ... is this necessarily a problem?
Phones get discontinued frequently. A new model lasts about 6 months.

As long as Support is in place...who cares!

2) "buggy".... did you run on another computer ? did you contact Support?
Is your computer possibly the problem? Are the updates on support sites?

I know it's inconvenient but computers and phones etc are not like buying a
light bulb or a toaster.

3) battery life... this can be caused by a number of factors...poor
reception area ....new battery requiring a few cycles to condition...faulty
battery... did you contact Support?

4) Yes I love my Nokia's too...bugs and all.... PC Suite...over the years
and several Nokias.... continues to be buggy..


"John" <nooknook@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:43D5C7CA.D6436A2A@hotmail.com...
> The most important fact is it's a discontinued model overseas and Siemens
> have gotten out of the mobile phone market and dumped it with BenQ.......
>
>
>
>
>
>
> My Overall Opinion
>
> If you think you might have been tempted to purchase the Siemens
> SK65 for 130 dollars in DSE and Tandy don't. it's not the great
> bargain it claims to be. For one thing it's already a discontinued
> model overseas. The standby time for this phone is claimed at 300
> hours. Well I can tell you for a fact it's a lot less then that,
> a lot less then 30 hours to be precise. I really have to wonder
> when a product is put forth onto a relatively unsuspecting public
> and true, I ended up buying one because I had gotten tired of the
> Nokia 9210i I was using.
>
> Anyway my initial hype is now a somewhat less then it was at the
> initial purchase. I have since found what I think are a few bugs
> in the software of the phone and any initial happiness with this
> is now well and truly gone.
>
>
>
> What The Bug Actually Is
>
> When you enter phone contacts into the memory you are given the
> opportunity to input extra details such as the address, email,
> URL, and country information for all your contacts. So I thought
> I'd put all this to the test. I hooked the phone up to the computer
> and copied all my phone numbers from the SIM card to the PC. This
> took a relatively short time to occur and all was well. I added
> all the information such as address and extra contact information
> to the numbers in the database then I sent all the numbers back to
> the phone to update the internal database.
>
> Now according to the manual all the extra information should have been
> carried over and visible in the phone when I click on a number but all
> the fields were left blank. Several attempts were made and yet no joy
> so I suspect it was either a bug as I suspect or something as simple as
> a printing error in the manual, yet if that were the case why have all
> those data fields in the contact list if they don't work.
>
>
>
> Overall Conclusion.
>
> I'll be ripping the SIM out of this and popping it back into the Nokia
> to use. At least that phone did everything it claimed to do.
>

"John" <nooknook@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:43D5C7CA.D6436A2A@hotmail.com...
> The most important fact is it's a discontinued model overseas and Siemens
> have gotten out of the mobile phone market and dumped it with BenQ.......

That's just so shocking. You're surely due for some *LARGE* compensation.

> My Overall Opinion
>
> If you think you might have been tempted to purchase the Siemens
> SK65 for 130 dollars in DSE and Tandy don't. it's not the great
> bargain it claims to be.

You bought it because the sign said "bargain"?

> For one thing it's already a discontinued
> model overseas.

So what?

> The standby time for this phone is claimed at 300
> hours. Well I can tell you for a fact it's a lot less then that,
> a lot less then 30 hours to be precise.

*Yawn*

> I really have to wonder
> when a product is put forth onto a relatively unsuspecting public
> and true, I ended up buying one because I had gotten tired of the
> Nokia 9210i I was using.

That makes no sense at all.

> Anyway my initial hype is now a somewhat less then it was at the

Not DSE's fault you got so excited over a "bargain".

> initial purchase. I have since found what I think are a few bugs
> in the software of the phone and any initial happiness with this
> is now well and truly gone.

*Yawn*

<rant snipped>

> carried over and visible in the phone when I click on a number but all
> the fields were left blank. Several attempts were made and yet no joy

RTFM. You need to transfer to/from the phone's memory, not the SIM.

> I'll be ripping the SIM out of this and popping it back into the Nokia
> to use. At least that phone did everything it claimed to do.

*Yawn*

"Horry" <horacewachope@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1s07hiu6t0hu9$.1a03w5sdqi6rw.dlg@40tude.net.. .
> On Tue, 24 Jan 2006 16:53:06 +1030, John wrote:
>
>> The most important fact is it's a discontinued model overseas and Siemens
>> have gotten out of the mobile phone market and dumped it with BenQ.......
>
> <snip>
>
> Hi. Is this John D Leister?

Would John ordinarily cross-post to both these froups?

John Henderson wrote:

> John wrote:
>
> > My default book is the addressbook instead of using the SIM
> > because of that very limitation.. I had assumed because the
> > data fields were present in the addressbook that they would
> > carry over when I modified all my numbers in the phone
> > manager software. Alas this is not the case ....
>
> I rarely use it, but I've just tested the functionality you
> describe on my S55 using the supplied PC software "Siemens Data
> Suite". Addressbook updates done by PC software, and
> transmitted back to the Addressbook, work as described, with
> added info intact.
>
> I understand that your SK65 equivalent PC software is "Mobile
> Phone Manager". I haven't used this, but suspect some
> configuration problem if yours fails. It's not an overly
> active group, but you could try asking on alt.cellular.siemens
> if your news server carries it.
>
> John





I'll try ... Your suggestion sounds good

But I ended up typing the data in myself and I'll try another
download / upload with the revised data that is now there........

Either way it is only a minor niggle now and hindsight is
a blessed thing...... Meaning now I wish I hadn't posted
the original question...... It's not as big a pain as it was when
I had first got the phone.

Tom Smyth wrote:

> "John" <nooknook@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:43D5C7CA.D6436A2A@hotmail.com...
> > The most important fact is it's a discontinued model overseas and Siemens
> > have gotten out of the mobile phone market and dumped it with BenQ.......
>
> That's just so shocking. You're surely due for some *LARGE* compensation.
>
> > My Overall Opinion
> >
> > If you think you might have been tempted to purchase the Siemens
> > SK65 for 130 dollars in DSE and Tandy don't. it's not the great
> > bargain it claims to be.
>
> You bought it because the sign said "bargain"?
>
> > For one thing it's already a discontinued
> > model overseas.
>
> So what?
>
> > The standby time for this phone is claimed at 300
> > hours. Well I can tell you for a fact it's a lot less then that,
> > a lot less then 30 hours to be precise.
>
> *Yawn*




Thankyou for yawning..........

I think to claim 300 hours and then have a standby time of
one third of that is a big deal. If this were a Nokia you'd
have all the Nokia fans whining...

"John" <nooknook@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:43D8B4BB.1B03FBCD@hotmail.com...
> Tom Smyth wrote:
>
>> "John" <nooknook@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:43D5C7CA.D6436A2A@hotmail.com...
>> > The most important fact is it's a discontinued model overseas and
>> > Siemens
>> > have gotten out of the mobile phone market and dumped it with
>> > BenQ.......
>>
>> That's just so shocking. You're surely due for some *LARGE* compensation.
>>
>> > My Overall Opinion
>> >
>> > If you think you might have been tempted to purchase the Siemens
>> > SK65 for 130 dollars in DSE and Tandy don't. it's not the great
>> > bargain it claims to be.
>>
>> You bought it because the sign said "bargain"?
>>
>> > For one thing it's already a discontinued
>> > model overseas.
>>
>> So what?
>>
>> > The standby time for this phone is claimed at 300
>> > hours. Well I can tell you for a fact it's a lot less then that,
>> > a lot less then 30 hours to be precise.
>>
>> *Yawn*
>
>
>
>
> Thankyou for yawning..........
>
> I think to claim 300 hours and then have a standby time of
> one third of that is a big deal. If this were a Nokia you'd
> have all the Nokia fans whining...

30 hours is one tenth not one third of 300 hours??