<p>Jr high D’s cellphone went through the washer. Doesn’t look like it is going to work.
I am going to look into buying her one off of ebay. Her contract is only 8 months old so I know I need to find an unlocked phone.
Any suggestions as to a sturdy phone.</p>
<p>Another possibility is Wal-Mart. When my cell phone died while still under contract, I went to Wal-Mart and bought one of their “Go Phones” as it was AT&T and worked under my plan. I just swapped the memory cards. Slick, easy and cheap. Not really answering your question about sturdy though.</p>
<p>Those trac phones from wal mart are very frustrating to use though. They have almost no functionality, they dont flip (thus they’ll dial random people from inside your pocket if you forget to lock the keypad), and they dont get good signal.</p>
<p>I would suggest looking here: [Sanyo</a> SCP-8400 Specs & Features (Phone Scoop)](<a href=“http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=982]Sanyo”>Sanyo SCP-8400 Specs, Features (Phone Scoop))</p>
<p>The Sanyo 8400 is merely an example for you.</p>
<p>Vyse, sometimes you dial random numbers even WITH the keypad locked :)</p>
<p>Mine wasn’t a trac phone, but rather was a VirginMobile phone. Just so happened to dial 911 while it was in a cargo pocket while I was sitting in our van.</p>
<p>mom60, who is your carrier? We have T-Mobile, and when D’s phone took a swim, I just got a prepaid Samsung phone from Target (Costco sells them, too), put her sim card in it, and she had a functioning phone. Samsungs are great for teenagers (hers bounces off the concrete garage floor without a scratch).</p>
<p>I dropped my Nokia into our cat’s water dish, and it stopped working (the phone :)). After a couple of hours of drying under vacuum, the phone was fine again.</p>
<p>soudns weird but it worked after a dunking in a hot tub…disassemble phone and battery and let sit in a bowl of uncooked rice. Had to get a new battery but the phone worked…</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>If your daughter is part of a family plan, it may be possible to get her a replacement cell phone from your regular carrier if another family member has had a cell phone long enough to be entitled to a bargain replacement.</p>
<p>It worked for my family once with Verizon.</p>
<p>We’ve had two LG phones go through the washer and dryer. Both work like nothing ever happened. This is a single data point on “what is a tough phone.” OK, maybe two points.</p>
<p>im not good with cell phone terminology. does an unlocked phone mean it can use any carrier?</p>
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<p>We do it all the time. That’s why I still have the dinosaur Nokia.</p>
<p>We have AT and T. Unfortunately no one is due for a phone. The phone in question is a newer Nokia. I have the same phone and I don’t think they work nearly as well as my old dinosaur Nokia did. My last phone lasted 4 yrs till we changed plans. I doubt this newer one will last 2. And I am careful.</p>
<p>The wet phone is my fault. If I had followed the advice of the parents in the laundry thread the phone would be fine. I was doing a load of jeans and walked by her room and scooped up the pair on the floor. The phone was in the pocket. I presently have it sitting in a bag of uncooked rice. It has been 24 hours and it still won’t turn on.</p>
<p>Might have to wait up to 4 days for it to dry out. I have had a few electronic devices become soaked. Either by my clumsy self. Or friends and family. Rull of thumb is to take the battery out. Leave the cover off. And wait for up to 4 days. Would help if you can take the phone apart as much as possible. That would be for the more mechanicaly inclined. Good luck either way !</p>
<p>Used AT and T phones are pretty cheap on Ebay. Since the phone is 8 months old, a replacement is likely less than $40. If you were unhappy with the phone, research AT and T phones on mobiledia.com, then search on E-bay. Be sure to check closed auctions so you know the fair market value of the phone.</p>
<p>OK, my phone didn’t go through the washer, but it did drop into water. I took it out immediately, dried it off, and tried to turn it on – nothing. So, I went home and Googled “wet cell pone” – you’d be surprised how many hits I got! Anyway, I followed the advice of a poster who said to bake the thing – and it worked perfectly. This was several years ago and the phone is still fine. I took the battery out, and put the phone in a VERY LOW oven for about 30 minutes, I think. I also used a hair dryer on low/medium heat to blow air into the various jacks and outlets. Then I let the whole thing sit for 24 hours before trying to turn it on again. (Apparently the thing you’re not supposed to do if your phone gets wet is try turning it on right away!)</p>
<p>thats right, it fries the circuits</p>
<p>My D- godloveher- still has her original cell phone- but let me tell you how many laptops she has gone through!
Why would an otherwise intelligent child attempt to use their laptop standing up?
Anyway- while she went for two years without a computer after that mishap & had to share mine-with me going back to school & her a senior in high school, we couldn’t share one anymore- so I gave her my old one.
About a month later- she had the laptop balanced on her knees while slouched in a chair and drinking a fresh blackberry shake that was balanced on the keyboard. :eek:
She didn’t tell me that the shake had gone completely upside down, until she had already tried to clean it up.
I tried to clean it out, but the keyboard was beyond salvaging since she didn’t unplug immediately and had tried to restart it.
However, all I had to do was get a new keyboard on ebay or somesuch & plugged it in and it worked great!</p>
<p>“Her contract is only 8 months old so I know I need to find an unlocked phone.”</p>
<p>You don’t need an unlocked phone. There are phones on Ebay for every carrier. My daughter bought a new Verizon compatible Nokia for $40.00</p>
<p>When I upgrade, I keep the old phone for emergencies.</p>
<p>Yes - google “wet cell phone.” I dropped my cell phone in a puddle of water - I fished it out right away. Using a hair dryer works - just take the back off and the take the battery out.</p>
<p>Also, if you have in floor vents for your heating system - place the phone on the vent to dry it out that way.</p>
<p>Do you have the packets that come with vitamins, etc. to absorb moisture? Take as many as you have, place in plastic zip lock type back, place disassembled phone in bag and you will see the moisture on the inside of the bag. The packets will absorb the moisture. Or at this point you can go back to the hair dryer or vent.</p>
<p>Worked for my cell phone. Camera works fine, too.</p>
<p>The phone still isn’t working but we have found a solution. My friend had a collection of old phones from her kids. There happened to be the same model as my D’s without a battery. Put her battery in and the phone worked. The screen is cracked but she is happy to have something.
With my older D we did use the packets for moisture and it did work. I think this time going through an entire wash and rinse cycle might have been too
much. Though it didn’t damage the battery. I am going to keep the phone in the rice for another few days and who knows it might still work</p>
<p>Both of our soaked phones went (inadvertently as it turns out) through the dryer. Worked straight out of they machine, and they were nice and warm, too. I’m not suggesting putting phones into dryers on purpose, but…</p>