Anyone got a direct line telephone number for Nokia UK Internet Tablet support?

The Nokia Helpdesk is outsourced and have no direct contact with Nokia. The outsourcing company arranged a pick up of my N800 TWO WEEKS ago and I've not got a tracking number to determine if Nokia have now received it.

I called the "Nokia Helpdesk" to find out the latest situation, only to find they rely on an automated telephone answering system tailored entirely around mobile phones - Internet Tablets are not mobile phones, and there is no option in the telephone system menu to get through to a knowledgable operative. So, I press zero until eventually the menu system realises I'm p!ssed off and puts me through to an operator - an operator who doesn't have a freaking clue what an Internet Tablet is. Eventually after much explanation the operator puts me through to some random telephone extension where I leave a voicemail message asking for a reply, but it seems to have been a waste of time - they didn't call back.

Basically, my N800 has disappeared into a black hole and Nokia appear incapable of accepting responsibility. Fscking joke. Milhouse is not happy.

If you send your N800 to Nokia UK, make sure you obtain the full name of the person you speak to, a full reference number, online tracking details and also their inside leg measurements.

My experience of Nokia Support? It's a fcking shambles, Nokia Support is incapable of providing support for anything that isn't a mobile phone. Nokia - get your sh1t together.

Actually I report 2 issues with my touchscreen

1- The LEFT side and the BOTTOM side are softer than the rest of the screen. THere is a 5 mm stripe (all along left edge) and 5 mm stripe (all along bottom edge) where the screen is definitely "spongy". THe rest of the touchscreen is hard. You can hear the difference of the sound physically produced and also in the response I get in my fingers. Analogy: tapping with a knife on a sponge compared with tapping with the same knife on a window.

NOTE: this is an issue, but not PROBLEM. it does not prevent me from typing and the speed of response is the same. But still, one get s a feeling of "unperfection".

2- After UPDATING to the latest OS version, the touchscreen started to emit a acoustic noise when typing with the stylus or the finger:
- when stylus/finger is touching
- 1 second or so after having stopped typing (as long as I type, no noise is produced).

this noise (exactly similar to the one produced by the head of diamond of the vinyl record player touched the record) seems to me of electrostatic source, and cab heard in the headphones. This issue is a PROBLEM. it s annoying.

S

yes, i noticed this static sound in the background whenever some system sound occurs. Eg. whenever a beep or something activates the speakers, there is a hissing background noise as well.


Luke

Regarding the sound, I raised bug #1040 (2 seconds of noise after any audio) when using the original firmware. There has been no improvement with 3.2007.10-7, still 2 seconds of noise.

Does this bug cover the issue you are discussing?

Hi Milhouse,

Yes, I suppose so. I didn't really pay attention with the previous firmware, so I can only say for certain with the 3.2007.10-7 one. Thanks for raising it!


Luke

Well, here's the thing. I bought the unit as part of a review of options for a client. It came out of my fund, so I had hoped to be able to continue to use it, but I'm not going to live or die based on having it. To be honest, if I can find a way to use it WITHOUT using the touchscreen, then that would be my preference. Perhaps Nokia is different from the Tablet PC world, but every unit I've ever returned to a Toshiba or an HP or a Gateway that had a defective touchscreen I or one of my clients have been told that it was the "user" who was at fault. So I'm not keen to spend more money on something that I originally bought for limited use anyway.

The other issue, is the client recommendation. I appreciate that it is now being claimed that future production runs won't have a problem. But I didn't do an evaluation using a future production unit, and I can hardly ask my client to wait while I try to determine if that's correct or not. Which is a pity, because the N800 seems to meet a lot of their needs if I could reasonably assure them that if they bought a large number of units that they wouldn't constantly be sending them in. Particularly since they are based here, and so would have the same problem about not being able to get quick turn around in service.

So, that's the POV I was writing from. I hope that clarifies why I'm reluctant to send my unit in, and disappointed both that there isn't a local Nokia service center and that this problem had not been fixed before the initial production run.

FWIW...

Hello,

Yes, except that this did not happen with the prior OS version. I m 100% sure.

Or could the problem emerge because of the USB cable when updating has "charged" the n800 electrostatically?

I have a friend in Nokia Quality control Management . He s going to grin...

Understood... but in reading many of the complaints I get the feeling that there's a general misunderstanding over how the consumer devices industry works-- especially when the device in question is new.

There is always a risk that the Unknown will impact the first units distributed. Not necessarily the first ones produced, because test launch tends to occur under a microscope. During trial runs the bugs are expected to be ironed out so that consumers won't see defects-- and for the most part that works.

The problems such as those you guys are seeing typically occur when the process has been proven out but some fluke occurs-- in this case, with a supplier. It's not cost effective anymore to do 100% incoming screening so what's called an AQL (acceptable quality level) inspection is performed that balances the expectations of the customer against the needs of production. 95% of the time this is effective-- which is what I base my own confidence on here (not to mention direct experience with thousands of N800s).

Now, what can happen (and did) is that a supplier provides a defective component (touchscreen) but due to luck of the draw the small number of products affected are not found in the AQL sample. Now, AQL sampling is designed to provide a significant level of confidence that you are failing an inspection for the right reasons-- NOT to justify passing it (the default).

Next, that small batch of missed defective products is shipped out to the wild and stocked at various retailers, in all probability widely dispersed. Early adopters, unwilling to wait for the market to shake out such typical occurances, unwittingly buy the initial defective devices. Their next recourse is to congregate in a forum such as this one, creating the perception that the problem is pervasive. However, before they've even done so, the issue has been discovered internally as more are produced and corrective/preventive/containment measures are taken. Early in a device's life there won't be enough in the wild to justify a recall, so cases are handled as they are brought up. If this had happened later, odds are there would be many, many more devices affected and a recall would be more likely.

Now, that's all well and good IF the company involved has a robust reverse logistics system, which Nokia does in the case of phones. However, for reasons unknown to even me, gaps occurred with the tablets. I will make no excuse for this. There are the usual contributing factors, but they should have been addressed. The one comment I will reiterate is that, unfortunately, the tablet was launched just as its original packing factory was being shut down. No doubt that contributed to some issues-- but it also supports my assertion that many defects are "blips" that, once the new factory gets used to the product, will smooth out.

Bad devices happen. I can guarantee you all that there are no more than 5% defectives out there, period, and this is acceptable to most consumer device manufacturers. If that wasn't the case, cost would be significantly higher-- we'd be talking about a $600 USD tablet, not $400. That said, the repair/replacement process needs fixing. I am not happy that you all have encountered problems there. I will do what I can in that area but it isn't much I'm afraid. I suggest you all make as much noise with Nokia as possible, in any reasonable venue. BUT: keep in mind angry rants are counterproductive. You need to keep your complaints objective and fact-based.

Sorry for the "novel". I'm hoping it helped.

EDIT: and please note that I in no way meant a slam at "early adopters"-- I'm one myself.

So if I bought an n800 today, would this specific issue have been fixed by now?

Texrat,

This is an excellent Production approach explanation. However let's not forget another factor based on the consumer/end-user approach: disapointment/frustration is proportional to expectation so variation in quality fulfillment may be artificial boosted.

SP