Sticky: Toshiba Portege G900 – 10th July 2007 update
A software patch will be available next week for download from the Toshiba Mobile Communications web site that will address issues experienced by some users when attempting to transition from idle mode on the G900 device. The web address for downloading the patch and instructions for installing it will be posted to this forum as soon as the patch is available. Toshiba Mobile Communications is also actively working to provide resolution to other G900 technical matters reported on the Expansys forum. Our thanks again for your patience and all your useful input on this matter to date. |
polar16:16 10 Jul 07 66 Posts Where do I stand...there is known issue with the G900. Would expansys be prepared to wait until this patch is available before I return my G900. I.e an extension on the 21 days normally used for goods |
IMDNME16:41 10 Jul 07 2 Posts Good hint, I received a RMA for refund today, but if this update is coming it might be worth waiting. Of course we need an extended returnperiod. |
fsantospt14:22 12 Jul 07 11 Posts Any updates regarding the G900 update? I read on another forum that someone from Toshiba UK mentioned a Tuesday release (17 July). Is Expansys aware of this? I have my G900 in front of me and Expansys-PT wants me to return it they have a 7-day return policy (even though I think that's again the local law that says 14-days - I have to check with company lawer). It would make sense to extend the return date until the update release as most units (hopefully) will be working and no one will return them. fsantos |
irascian17:35 13 Jul 07 6 Posts On Tuesday Clove told me Toshiba would issue a patch on Thursday (yesterday). Today when I asked where the patch was they started saying "next Wednesday or Thursday" and that the patch would have to be downloaded from Toshiba's site (ie "Go away and stop bothering us. Just because you paid £400 for a phone that disconnects itself without telling you every few minutes doesn't mean it's our problem"). |
Mike F/Stone10:48 14 Jul 07 9 Posts It's a bit much to expect Clove or Expansys to take responsibility for Toshibas ability to issue a patch or to commit to a date on their behalf. Both companies are simply forwarding the information they have as best they can. If you aren't happy, return the device and be done with it |
irascian12:44 14 Jul 07 6 Posts If I weren't stuck in Ireland (effectively now uncontactable by phone, thanks to Toshiba) with the packaging back in England then I would certainly have done that. Fortunately I'm back in England next weekend and I will certainly return the phone then. None of which alters the fact that good customer service (from any company) would have contacted its customers direct as soon as they knew there was a problem (as indicated by the withdrawal of the unit from sale, if what others have indicated is true), or at least followed up on their "Don't return the goods there'll be a fix on Thursday" with an update on why that fix hadn't happened. Toshiba won't get any future business (been burnt first on HD-DVD and now this) but I now have to look at the supplier's customer service and frankly I'm not impressed, even in "oh just put up with it. It's the way the world's going" Britain! Toshiba have shown a lot of precedent here of course. Last year it was their LCD TVs that arrived months after enthusiastic reviews had indicated they'd be available, only for users to discover "banding" problems. Then there were the months late HD-DVD players (five star reviews everywhere) which featuered basic problems like out-of-sync sound with seemingly weekly firmware updates to fix all the problems caused by their not doing even the most basic quality testing before shipping a months-late product. I do think a phone that has had good reviews and been demo'ed for several months, but which just cannot be used as a phone (the longest I've had it actually stay on without requiring a reset is 8 hours overnight, but often it's mere minutes before I find it's gone dead on me with no indication whatsoever as to whether it's live or dead until you physically try and turn the device on) is the crowning achievement though! |
kamph08:36 15 Jul 07 3 Posts irascian, I could not agree more. There will be no more Toshiba devices for me in future. On the other hand, I do think that Expansys is dealing very correctly with these matters. Kind regards, Hans. |
natb13:45 17 Jul 07 1 Posts FYI, sent this mail to Tosh tech support (toshiba@wsceurope.ro) : natb wrote:
Got this reply within the hour(!): Dear Customer, Thank you for contacting Toshiba Support. With regards to your query, please note that this is know issue and in order to solve the problem a software patch will be available for download from the Toshiba Mobile Communications web site forum as soon as the patch is available, probably until the end of this week. We apologize for the inconvenience created. Best regards, |
Ineedtoys01:25 18 Jul 07 547 Posts irascian, Regarding the G900 being "a phone that has had good reviews and been demo'ed for several months" - AFAIK the opposite is true - compared to every other new PPC device I can think of, advance reviews or even leaked photos of the G900 outside of Toshiba marketing department were noticeable by their total absence. That smacks to me that someone's bonus at Toshiba depended on the device being released by target date, irrespective of whether the technical boys could get it working or not. The issues reported in these forums are so numerous and basic, that I'd venture a guess that Toshiba knew damn well the device didn't work properly, which is why none were made available in advance of launch for reviews. The timing was interesting. Maybe the policy from on high was to get it out at all costs, before the iPhone, E90 and Kaiser, and make the mugs (sorry, early adopters) pay and do their testing for them. Certainly in my book, that policy has back-fired, and I'll be loathe to touch, or recommend, a Toshiba product ever again. And given the hassle and costs that eXpansys have had to endure, I would hope they will be looking for redress too.
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irascian08:34 18 Jul 07 6 Posts I bought my unit only because it had a rave review in one of the monthly PDA/Phone review mags here in the UK which also featured it on the cover, a couple of weeks before it was officially released (I don't have mag to hand, but needless to say I have sent them a tart letter asking if they actually tried using the device as a phone). There were also a couple of videos showing off the device, although admittedly the operator appeared to have trouble operating the unit.
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calvinf11:49 19 Jul 07 13 Posts Further to statements made by Toshiba to eXpansys, can someone from eXpansys confirm that you are still communicating with Toshiba on this and confirm that they are on track to release the update tomorrow? |
I have asked Jane to chase it up. Yoni, |
We have not been informed of any delays, fingers crossed for tomorrow. Yoni, |
calvinf15:18 19 Jul 07 13 Posts Thanks for replying Yoni, appreciated. However, I was hoping that someone at eXpansys would have actually spoken to Toshiba - it sounds to be me more like Toshiba just hasn't been on the phone to you guys for days! so essentially no-one has heard anything about the update... Problem is, if Tosh don't come up with the goods tomorrow - which I think quite likely - I'm sure eXpansys will be receiving a lot of RMA requests - impacting both eXpansys and Toshiba. Unfortunately, going by how uncommunicative Toshiba have been, if a patch does appear tomorrow, what's the odds it's just a short term measure to say they got something out as promised, regardless of whether it fixes anything!! and then they'll issue a new fix in "2 weeks time"...I'd like to be proven wrong, but the call quality on my handset is rubbish, so I'm just waiting to see if I need to get a replacement or a refund.... |
I got the information from our product manager, who is in constant talks with Toshiba. We don't know much about what the patch will fix at this point, but I'm sure we will have that information tomorrow. Yoni, |
shootmenow07:46 20 Jul 07 7 Posts Posted 01:25 18 Jul by Ineedtoys "Regarding the G900 being "a phone that has had good reviews and been demo'ed for several months" - AFAIK the opposite is true - compared to every other new PPC device I can think of, advance reviews or even leaked photos of the G900 outside of Toshiba marketing department were noticeable by their total absence." Yes there was a conspicous lack of extended, hands-on coverage but, as irascian has said, there wasn't a *complete* absence of pre-release demonstration. The one that comes quickest to mind is the video review at 3GSM (with the fingerprint lady) from back in February. Ironically it was locking up back then too. Pre-release models were branded "Satellite" not Portege or left unbranded. |
Ineedtoys12:38 20 Jul 07 547 Posts All the handling at the 3GSM demo was done by the Toshiba rep (and as you say, even that showed the phone to be unstable). As for the T3 article, it's not uncommon for magazine "reviews" to be glorified adverts merely compiled from a press release, without them ever touching the goods. So what I said still applies - there was an abscence of advance hands-on reviews, which is unusual for such a sought after device. To me that says they either didn't have time to give it to a couple of respected pundits (e.g paul@modaco), or they just didn't want us to see how flawed the final product is. |
irascian13:14 20 Jul 07 6 Posts I don't know how many reviews of phones you're used to seeing but I'd count two (the "cover-featured" review I read was not T3 magazine and was a four-page review as I recall) as more than what I'm used to being able to find! As you say the magazines just can't be trusted. |
xrayfizzycist14:52 20 Jul 07 14 Posts To add insult to injury, i notice this phone now has had an approx £20 price drop on the expansys website. Since so many of us have been left with almost unusable phones within this time, i wonder if Expansys would be willing to refund us down to the new, lower price as a goodwill gesture. If not then we could still simply return these handsets, since expansys have kindly extended their return policy until 14 days after the patch (its lunchtime on "d-day" and still not released yet...) and then repurchase them later for the much lower price? |
Positive16:25 20 Jul 07 6 Posts Toshiba has finally posted the patch on their support site, apparently only for the stanby issue, the site give a error when i try to download it, has anyone downloaded it yet? |
