I want the i8510 but, DUST!

Well, I am using a leather sock case, and the dust still found its way to under my screen. It won't bother you much though, the dust is barely, if at all, visible during normal usage. It is still sad though, that the phone with this much potential is kinda impaired with this little flaw.

I haven't had a problem yet...knock on wood.

in a month of ownership i've literally got 1 single speck of dust under the screen so far...and i haven't (yet) put any sellotape over any holes which is one bit of advice i've seen.
i'd say go for it, get the phone and get a case for it too and you'll probably be ok. I think it's a really awesome phone and i'm fairly sure I'll still think that when I'm at the end of my contract in 17 months time. Unless someone brings out a much better phone by that time, I'd seriously consider keeping it beyond the end of the contract (unless i've knackered it by then)

I haven't had any dust under my screen.

It's a good phone that's getting better all the time.

I keep my Innov8 in this case

http://cgi.ebay.com/Clear-Cystal-Hard-Case-Cover-for-Samsung-i8510-INNOV8_W0QQitemZ220349667932QQihZ012QQcategoryZ20336QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

and sometimes dust and pocket lint will get between the phone and the case but i can easily pop the case off, wipe it clean and the phone looks good as new. Maybe this is why I haven't had the dust problem yet. I also put my phone in my pocket with the keypad down which is why they lint gets into the bottom of the case.

And in my opinion, the dust problem shouldn't be your only concern for buying this phone or not. There are bigger issues such as the phone randomly restarting, spotty GPS connectivity, and battery life (i don't have a problem but some do). All of which could be corrected if Samsung would issue a proper firmware upgrade but they really seem as though they could care less for their customers.

Other than these issues, it is a pretty great phone. It is my first smart phone though so I may not have as wise an opinion as those that have owned Nokia N95ish phones.

mowe wrote:I keep my Innov8 in this case

http://cgi.ebay.com/Clear-Cystal-Hard-Case-Cover-for-Samsung-i8510-INNOV8_W0QQitemZ220349667932QQihZ012QQcategoryZ20336QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

and sometimes dust and pocket lint will get between the phone and the case but i can easily pop the case off, wipe it clean and the phone looks good as new. Maybe this is why I haven't had the dust problem yet. I also put my phone in my pocket with the keypad down which is why they lint gets into the bottom of the case.

And in my opinion, the dust problem shouldn't be your only concern for buying this phone or not. There are bigger issues such as the phone randomly restarting, spotty GPS connectivity, and battery life (i don't have a problem but some do). All of which could be corrected if Samsung would issue a proper firmware upgrade but they really seem as though they could care less for their customers.

Other than these issues, it is a pretty great phone. It is my first smart phone though so I may not have as wise an opinion as those that have owned Nokia N95ish phones.

randomly restarting : not had that happen to me so far
spotty GPS connectivity : too true 😞
battery life : been ok for me so far

I believe the dust is getting in via a hole in the back of the top slider ie. the back of the screen. Because the crystal cover is in two pieces it will not protect against this as the hole is still exposed especially when the slider is open! Some have suggested putting a bit of sellotape over the hole - which I've done - but sadly too late - I already have a noticable build up of dust. This doesn't really notice when using the phone except in strong sunlight. It is a mild irritation though that something which costs this much has such a fault and yet when I spoke the Samsung support they refused to accept responsibility and do anything about it - saying it was cosmetic so not covered by the warranty!

mowe wrote:

And in my opinion, the dust problem shouldn't be your only concern for buying this phone or not. There are bigger issues such as the phone randomly restarting, spotty GPS connectivity, and battery life (i don't have a problem but some do). All of which could be corrected if Samsung would issue a proper firmware upgrade but they really seem as though they could care less for their customers.

Other than these issues, it is a pretty great phone. It is my first smart phone though so I may not have as wise an opinion as those that have owned Nokia N95ish phones.

I agree with this statement completely. I am a long time user of Nokia smartphones but chose the i8510 because of the camera, USB charging and general ergonomics/aesthetics, which I think are better than Nokia has achieved lately.

BUT...

After about 4 months of use, I have lots of dust under my screen
The screen is very difficult to see in bright sunlight - it turns into a mirror!
The battery charge seems very inconsistent - sometimes lasting a day, sometimes 3.

The GPS signal is very flakey
Google maps sometimes causes the phone to restart
USB speed is very slow
Keypresses can be lost when typing quickly
Alarm sometimes doesn't go off

Some of these issues could surely be fixed by a firmware update, but Samsung seem uninterested in supporting this phone. Instead they seem to be working on delivering as many new models as possible.

In short, this phone is a flawed replacement to my N95. I bear with the above problems because I like the bigger screen, more memory, camera and USB charging.

But maybe I should have waited for a newer Nokia. Nokia have much more experience implementing the Symbian OS and seem to be more proactive at maintaining their existing products. Also there is more symbian software specifically aimed at Nokia devices - Sportstracker is a great example. And the Nokia PC Suite is a more mature implementation than Samsung's.

Then there's the iPhone, which I'm starting to believe is the way of the future (aside from it's camera).