Has anyone else honestly had GOOD luck with the Kin TwoM?
fpd1997
Newbie

I recently purchased a Refurb Kin TwoM off ebay...I havent yet activated it but I did want to pass this along to others (as I was curious about) that I WAS able to take my old Samsung Intensity to a VZW Store and they transferred all my contacts within about 5 minutes! I wanted to make sure that would work first before anything!  Also, I tested out the wifi @ home and Mcdonalds and it connected just fine!..its like a Wifi-Enable Mp3 player right now and it only cost me $40, so hopefully once i fully activate it the actual PHONE will work!  There are a few quirks Ive noticed like others have pointed out..such as the screen lock doesnt actually lock the volume controls on the side....and the browser is awesome for a basic phone but isnt quite as smooth or 'fluid' for webpages like our Ipod Touch is...(but you really shouldnt compare it to any smart' devices that like) Im not sure if its true for all Kin's but I havent been able to play videos offline like Youtube? anyone else have this issue? I also wish with there were some simple Apps like FB / Twitter/ Maps available but I suppose I cant expect too much!

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Re: Has anyone else honestly had GOOD luck with the Kin TwoM?
RTFM
Contributor - Level 1

I know I'm tempting fate by posting this, but yes, I've been quite happy with my KIN TWOm.

I got mine originally in June, 2011. A couple of weeks later, it dropped from the holster on a dirt path and must have hit a pebble or something, because a small section of the screen stopped working. VZW sent me a "Certified" replacement (cost me $99 because of the apparent physical damage), and it has been performing fine for the past 13 months.

Sure, there are some software quirks (It's Microsoft, remember?) but the benefits clearly outweigh those.  Probably the thing I miss most is the lack of any voice recording/command function.  But I love that it has WiFi, and the nice camera and 8GB memory let me take over 400 pictures when my normal camera was stolen on the second day of a trip to Europe.  The Zune music player is nice as well, and the e-mail client, while limited in function, is much nicer than the one on my previous phone.

As for the actual phone functions, I text more than I talk, and the physical keyboard is very nice for that. As for voice calls, I do that pretty seldom, but have not had any problem with dropped calls, volume, etc.

OK, the big elephant in the room is the "black screen" that seems to affect so many people. It's happened to me a few times as well. I think my background as a computer guy has helped me deal with this.  When this has happened to me, it's always been when the device was "sleeping", and just didn't want to wake up. Like maybe it wasn't recognizing the interrupt from the "back" button. In those cases, I've found that holding the button down a little longer, opening the keyboard, or briefly pressing the power button will get its attention. Or sometimes I just need to let the device rest for a minute or two and it manages to untie itself.  There have just been a very few times when I've had to do a cold boot (remove/replace the battery).

You also need to be careful as to how you put the device in your pocket or belt holster. Make sure that you don't position it in a way that the power button can be accidentally pressed when you sit down. There have been a few times when I take the phone out of my pocket and the little power off confirmation box is displayed. If that happens, be careful not to touch "OK" -- unless you want to power off.

Anyway, maybe mine is living on borrowed time, but overall I've been very happy with it so far.

I know there are others who have not had such a good experience, but this thread asked for people who were happy with their KINs, and I am.

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Re: Has anyone else honestly had GOOD luck with the Kin TwoM?
fpd1997
Newbie

Thanks a lot for the reply! Like I mentioned...I haven't yet activated it,

Ive been trying to play around and learn it before it's too late to return

it...I have 30 days so I'll probably activate here very soon. I just

installed the Zune software on my Vista computer last night and once I did

it recognized the phone right away and honestly the whole "drag and drop

files" process is seamless...Im not sure what people are complaing

about...NO it NOT an IPhone or Driod..etc..you cant compare the two, but

Ive added songs with no problem and the FM radio feature is pretty cool

too..I really cannot figure out why or other manufactuers go for a phone

like this again?? I mean it's seriously ALL I need in a phone as cool as

it would be to have apps and all the other smartphone features, we cant

justify spending another $50+ a month for phones! We'll see what

happens...Im also considering a SquareTrade 2 yr warranty for less than

$20...I figured at least I could "buy" more time that way if something

happens to it...anyone have luck with repairs from there?

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Re: Has anyone else honestly had GOOD luck with the Kin TwoM?
dwdowty
Enthusiast - Level 2

It's a good phone.  I recently also got one off of ebay.  HD 720p video recording, 8mp camera, 3.4" touchscreen, innovative but incomplete OS, that isn't boring or look like a ripoff of android/iOS. (mc ran away to win 7 phone and took everything kin with it, boo).

What is really sad, is that if Verizon and the manufacturers actually improved and offered better basic phones over time, I wouldn't be using a Kin.  For example, the Kin 2 (released 2010) far and away a better phone overall than the "brand new" Samsung Brightside released this year. The only thing it has the kin should have came with...document reader.

Anyway, loving the Wifi on this thing, even though the email app and internet browser is kinda weak.  I use gmail, so I just added the mobile gmail site to the browser, because many times the email app fails when syncing by giving me a blank or unreadable message due to incomplatibility issues.

Message was edited by: dwdowty for clarity

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Re: Has anyone else honestly had GOOD luck with the Kin TwoM?
fpd1997
Newbie

I couldnt agree more with what you said about the KIN being 1000 times

better than the brightside...which is nothing more that any other basic

phone with a REAL touch screen added, the OS sucks...Ive played with it a

number of times in their stores just to make sure I really didnt want it

first...and I still dont!

The Zune player is awesome too...its as close to Itunes as you can get I

think for a fraction of the cost. The Wifi has been pretty good, though I

havent been able to connect at home now, even though it shows Im connected

to our network..it wont load pages..not sure why Ill have to play around a

little more,,,

I do have a question for you or anyone else...is there a way to set a

default 'home page' on the browser? Also...should I block the Data

capabilities...other than Wifi.. so I dont get charged for it once I do

activate the phone? Lastly, have you been able to play videos from online

on the Kin?

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Re: Has anyone else honestly had GOOD luck with the Kin TwoM?
dwdowty
Enthusiast - Level 2

There isn't a way to set a REAL homepage that I know of.  But if there is a page you always want it to load, you can pin it to apps, and just use that shortcut instead of the browser app.

I would definitely block the data, unless you want data on your plan.  Log into my verizon and click on My Device.  Then go to "I want to..." and find the shortcut for "manage service blocks" under "Plan".  I simply chose "Block all data services".

I have not played with video playback on the phone. I don't really use phones for that.  I haven't heard a lot of praise about the Kin's video playback, but it is capable, unlike any other phone for the same cost and plan.

On the brightside, I dont know why, but it has: half the ram (125mb), an unknown (probably same as intensity III, as its a samsung, so around 480mhz) processor, a smaller and lower res screen, a worse camera, and so on.  But hey, you can load 32gigs of data on it.  So the best things it does is make phone calls, text and act like a giant flash drive.  I do like samsung keyboards, had the original intensity back in the day, but when you add it all up, it's just not worth the cost of the phone.

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Re: Has anyone else honestly had GOOD luck with the Kin TwoM?
fpd1997
Newbie

I just noticed theres no dollar ( $) sign on the keyboard ?? lol..not a

big deal..but odd...

Another thing...does it limit the text messages to only so many characters

and then send the reciever TWO messages? I cant tell for sure but I

noticed after typing slightly longer message that it 'split the message

midway onto another line?

Im still discovering the pros and cons...there are definately little

quirks I;ll have to see if I want to live with lol...(especially having to

delete entire conversations rather than just a few text messages ...thats

really dumb too!

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Re: Has anyone else honestly had GOOD luck with the Kin TwoM?
dwdowty
Enthusiast - Level 2

The dollar sign and other special characters are under the smiley key, which is to the right of the space bar (this thing actually has a classic long space bar, most have a fat short one)

Text messages are limited by the carrier/handset to whatever character limit they impose, but the standard SMS limit since some time in the 80's has been 160 characters.  MMS and smartphone messaging work differently, which is why you may have different limitations or multiple messages.

iPhones also work slightly differently from other types, which is why, in many cases, you will receive a blank multimedia text message instead of "hi, how are y'all".  But that's an iphone issue that they're supposed to be a working on.  So anyone complaining about a phone that cannot receive iphone texts doesn't know what they are talking about.

The message deletion was never a big deal when your history was available on the Kin Studio.  It's just one of many things they should have fixed/upgraded on the "m" model.

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Re: Has anyone else honestly had GOOD luck with the Kin TwoM?
fpd1997
Newbie

Haha thanks for clarifying the $$ sign,,,I never checked there, I only saw

the smiley faces lol.

Yea about the texting...its true what you said..I was so used to our

regular 'basic' texing that apparently its normal for the conversations to

appear this way on newer phones..i guess its just a learning curve

I did figure out the 'Favorite Apps to use as a homepage on the browesr

which works well...Lastly, the Wi fi USUALLY works...For instance, while

testing it, it's connected @ Mcdonalds everytime, yet @ home it shows Im

connected to our network, yet I usually get a "cannot find server" message

and wont load webpages...it did once...but no luck since...has this been

a common issue anyone knows of?

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Re: Has anyone else honestly had GOOD luck with the Kin TwoM?
RTFM
Contributor - Level 1

That "cannot find server" message can be caused by several different things. But in my experience, it usually means that your device cannot get a response from the DNS (Domain Name Service) server used by your internet provider.

I use Verizon's data network on occasion, as well as WiFi when it's available. The most common time I get that message is when the last time I accessed that website was via WiFi and now I'm trying the network, or vice versa. My guess is that the software isn't smart enough to look for a different DNS. In those cases, simply touching the "refresh" symbol (the little circular arrow) at the top of the browser screen usually gets its attention.  I suppose you might see the same problem just going from one WiFi provider (eg, McDonalds) to another (your house).  Anyway, try the refresh touch and see if that does anything.

If that doesn't work, then the next time you're at McDonalds, you might try going into your wireless settings and telling the device to "forget" the McDonalds network. Then try again at home. You can always reconnect to McDonalds next time you're there.

Only one more thing I can think of offhand...the KIN does not support the "n" WiFi standard.  If you have a b/g/n router at home, you'll need to set it to use the "g" standard in order for your KIN to work properly with it.

I don't know if any of this will help, but it was worth a try. Good luck.

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