[DigitalEl]

I was playing that addictive mini-putt golf game on my Sony Ericsson T610 when I received an incoming call. Now 8 times out of 10, this would cause the phone to crash, demanding a take out the battery and put it back in reset to get it operational again. However, this time, the phone won't come back no matter what.

The first time you push the Power switch after putting the battery in, you get the l'il Sony Ericsson welcome sound effect, but the screen never comes on. You also get no sound with other button pushes. You can only get the welcome sound once per battery insertion.

I've left the battery out for a week, then put it back in. I've removed the SIM card and tried. The teenagers working @ the T-Mobile brick & mortar just shrugged. The people with T-Mobile's telephone support were also no help.

The phone is out of warranty and I'm using an old-school Nokia 6010 in the meantime... But is there any kind of "secret reset" or something else I can try to get the T610 to work again? It's cosmetically flawless and hasn't been dropped or otherwise damaged. It's just... dead.

Edit: Hell, if this isn't a case of style over substance, I don't know what is. The Nokia gets waaay better reception and has been rock-solid since day one. Sure, it's ugly, but it works. The SE is a POS, but it sure is handsome.

[J_Anderton]

How long have you had the phone?

Is it unlocked or did you buy it with a T-Mobile plan?

If it's still under your contract, you might be able to get it replaced for free or at least take it in to the T-Mobile shop and have them check it out. If they can fix it, great. If not, they should be able to replace it with a new one or a different phone.

Other than that, I have no idea what to do. I had a T616, then sold it. I never had any problems with the phone and never heard of anything like that.

[Altair]

I have the same phone and have never had it do that while playing minigolf. I have had that problem with charging it while it was off and I don't remember how I got it working again. I just kept trying different things.

And yes the SE isn't very good. I've barely had the phone for over a year and the joystick is dieing making it very hard to use the phone.

[DigitalEl]

the SE isn't very good. I've barely had the phone for over a year and the joystick is dieing making it very hard to use the phone.

I just talked to another T-Mobile rep, who told me they've stopped carrying this handset. He specifically mentioned that most people have problems with the joystick.

<sigh> Guess I'm S.O.L.

I was hoping there was some Mac-like "secret" reset, like hit power while holding down 7 and #, which would magically reboot the phone. Guess not.