April 16, 2018

Casio Gzone Type S

This was my first cell phone, and I used it for at least 4 years. The end of it was when I got some sticky stuff on it and decided to trust the waterproof claim and wash it under the faucet. In spite of all the heroic stories I had heard about this phone, this fairly mild water exposure was the end of it, and this was my occasion to upgrade to a smart phone, a Samsung S4.

The Gzone Type S was introduced as a product in May of 2007. A peek inside confirms that it is a GzOne Type-S, and that it uses a BTR211 battery (3.7 volts, Li-Ion, 1050 mAh). It has been in continuous use for about 3 years with the original battery and seems as good as the day I first got it, holds a charge for about a week. The published rating is 3.38 hours of talk time and 7 days (170 hours) of time on standby. It is crude and clunky by todays standards, but has proven to be almost indestructible, which is why I chose it.

There have been other GzOne models. The Type-V preceded mine, and in some ways I liked it better. And in fact the reviews say that the Type-S was a downgrade in several ways. In particular it lacks analog roaming which could be an asset in wilderness situations. It uses the slower 1X system (CDMA2000 1xRTT) instead of the faster EVDO network, which all may be moot today with 3G and 4G networks.

The "handle" on the Type-S is actually a loop antenna, which I have thought would be ideally suited to attaching a lanyard. They day it is suited for the "extreme sports enthusiast" and there you have it!

Here are links to the manuals:

The GzOne Type S came in black or silver (mine is black) and in many discussions is described as being made by UTSTARCOM Inc. and having undergone military testing (MIL-STD-810F), which includes impact, sand and dust, fluid contamination, gunfire vibration, and even exposions. It has a VGA resolution camera (not that I have ever cared much), which was a step down from the 2 megapixel camera in the Type-V. It does offer bluetooth support, but I have never used it.

The internal display is a 1.8 inch 176 by 220 pixel display with 65,000 colors.

The radio is a dual band CDMA 800/1900.

The phonebook will hold 500 entries.

New tricks with my phone

There are multiple text entry modes. I had been using Abc mode, which is a real pain. It turns out t9mode is just the thing and it figures out the word I want without multiple pushes of the same button.

Also, amazingly enough, I can send email from my phone (though I am waiting to see if Verizon charges me for it). This may be a way to get pictures from my phone (a friend sends me pix-flix messages now and then).

They say one way (the only way?) to get pictures out is to send them one by one to my-cell-number@vzwpix.com, then to look at them go to www.vzwpix.com

Unlike most phones, this thing has no SD card slot (SIM card slot) so there is no way to get photos out in that way. This could be viewed as a plus since a slot would compromise the water sealing no doubt. There are some ridiculous tutorials online telling you to use the non-existent SD card to transfer contacts or photos.

Have any comments? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's Favorite Books / tom@mmto.org