Maybe goodbye..

[Entwisi]

So my Cosmo stopped charging one night, had been fine for two months, no concerns or quirks I wasn't happy to put up with, woke up one Friday and it was dead, wouldn't charge, managed to get one basic start of a power-up cycle before it fully died. sent it back to Planet and have now been told they have found water ingress and as such its not covered under warranty. it's not been near any spills, the only thing I can think of is it had some rain on it whilst I was using it outside. to replace it is a full new device at 479 USD. I could claim on house insurance but that will affect premiums for next god knows how long so would likely cost me more over time.

so from being excited throughout the year plus that I was a backer and recently at the prospect of getting the dual boot working, I'm now deflated and not sure what to do next. if a bit of rain can kill it I am not sure I want to go again. I love the concept etc but it's now tarnished my desire. a Key2 can be had for ~ 260 quid which is just over half what it will cost me to get back on a cosmo.

I've been using my lads Huawei P10 for last couple of weeks and it reinforced how much i hate on screen KBs.. AAARGGGHHHH!!!!!

Any sage advice out there?

[SwordfishII]

So my Cosmo stopped charging one night, had been fine for two months, no concerns or quirks I wasn't happy to put up with, woke up one Friday and it was dead, wouldn't charge, managed to get one basic start of a power-up cycle before it fully died. sent it back to Planet and have now been told they have found water ingress and as such its not covered under warranty. it's not been near any spills, the only thing I can think of is it had some rain on it whilst I was using it outside. to replace it is a full new device at 479 USD. I could claim on house insurance but that will affect premiums for next god knows how long so would likely cost me more over time.

so from being excited throughout the year plus that I was a backer and recently at the prospect of getting the dual boot working, I'm now deflated and not sure what to do next. if a bit of rain can kill it I am not sure I want to go again. I love the concept etc but it's now tarnished my desire. a Key2 can be had for ~ 260 quid which is just over half what it will cost me to get back on a cosmo.

I've been using my lads Huawei P10 for last couple of weeks and it reinforced how much i hate on screen KBs.. AAARGGGHHHH!!!!!

Any sage advice out there?

Sorry that really sucks but at least to me not unexpected. It is basically a laptop with phone capabilities and the large gaps on the cover (which i think might be speakers), allow for easy water intrusion.

PC also said it isn't water resistant.

I have been looking for a keyboard phone for a long time and i hate BlackBerry style so this is about all that exists with gsm support given all the older stuff i have had had severe faults.

These might help though in your circumstance.

N900 -no mms, no lte
Lg f3q - hard to find and can't handle the large size of current apps with its 4GB of storage. It even had issues when offloading system apps to sd
Droid 4 - only works on cdma in the states

If I have to go back to a normal phone it would be my lg v20, side it has root, second screen, ir, and decent battery.

Edit: I forgot you could look into the fxtec pro1 it is brand new but it costs $$$$!!

[NormMonkey]

Well, every person's situation is different.  You have had a chance to use your Cosmo for awhile before it died so at least you are familiar enough with how well it works for you, which will help you decide if you want another.

For me, I got my Cosmo for two big reasons:

1) awesome physical keyboard.  

Like you I don't like on-screen keyboards.  Trying to do command line stuff with on-screen kbd is quite a PITA even with the Hacker kbd.  With onscreen keyboard I don't look forward to replying to emails, and I'm terse with SMS / WhatsApp messages.
Since shortly after I backed my Cosmo, though, I have started using a Thinkpad bluetooth keyboard with TrackPoint and with 3 BT device memory, so I can quickly switch between my work PC, personal PC and phone, all from the same keyboard.  If you're a fan of TrackPoint like me, this thing is fantastic.  If you hate TrackPoint, disregard.
Unless I'm sitting at a desk, I end up using my Cosmo in two-hand thumb-typing mode anyways, which is barely better than on-screen.

So, for me, I would be happy to have a normal all-screen phone and use my Thinkpad BT kbd when I'm at my desk. Out and about, on-screen kbd might be a good trade-off for not having to open-close the clamshell all the time and not having to deal with apps that aren't so good in landscape mode.

[Aside, I've also noticed that even if I force-rotate, it's not just a matter of redrawing the screen.  Most of the time it reloads the app, so I end up losing my place on a long webpage, or stuff I was typing disappears, or I have to re-enter my username and password for bank apps ... annoying.]

2) Linux.

The other reason I backed Cosmo was to be able to walk around with a reasonably powerful linux device, and not have to bring a laptop, un-suspend it and setup networking.

I'm still not there yet with my Cosmo, because I don't want to wipe my Android install and I haven't found the time to sit down and do it.  My Cosmo is my daily driver, so when I do this I want to take time to get it set up the way I want.  I also don't want to have to decide how to allocate my precious in-device memory, 60G Android / 60G Linux or whatever.  128GB might be a fair bit, but it's not enough to feel OK about wasting space in one mode that cannot be used easily in another mode.
There is also the dual-boot annoyance.  I want Linux, but telephony and messaging aren't good (yet?  ever?) in linux.  Meanwhile, there's a lot that Android does really well, not least of which is phone, SMS and messaging, and I want to keep using my Android for the things it is really good at.  Dual-boot also means that you have to go through shutting down one OS and booting the other, which is annoying if you just want to to something for a few minutes in the other.  While in linux you're not available for phone calls, SMS, etc.  Even if those things actually worked in linux, your records aren't synced.  A SMS conversation in linux won't show up in your Android history.

If only there were a way to have both things simultaneously.  But wait, there IS!  Here in this forum, folks have figured out how to do the Devuan thing, running linux efficiently within Android, both available simultaneously.  Do your calls and SMS and WhatsApp from Android apps, but do your browsing and coding and IRC and whatever else you love with Linux.  You don't have to repartition, and all your Linux stuff goes on the SD Card, so space is suddenly not a problem.  So many advantages.  Consider that you can use tmux's API for things like SMS and calls, etc. as a bridge to linux.  Tasker may help too.

Best of all, you can do the Devuan linux on Android thing from any phone you can root, not just a Cosmo.  And if you do, then you can pick a phone that doesn't have a potato for a camera.  I mean, the actual hardware is 24MP (supposedly) but until (if ever?) they fix the driver, we're stuck with potato-quality pics.  You can also find a phone with a less limited HDMI output.

(Mind you I still have not set up Devuan yet ... Cosmo is still my daily driver and I'll want to take time and ensure I do things right when I root Android ... also not sure if Google Work Profile works in rooted Android even with Magisk, and I need Work Profile for ... well, for work  )


So, to sum up, for me, if my Cosmo died today, I would probably:
* Look for a phone with really good hardware, including a camera, good HDMI, root-able, etc.
* Use annoying on-screen kbd while out and about, use ThinkPad BT kbd at desk.
.   * If I did this I would probably end up buying another TP BT Kbd or two, just to be able to keep one at home, work and in my bag
* Set up Devuan linux in rooted Android.

[KMM]

Just before I bought my Cosmo I ordered this bluetooth keyboard:

https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/32782607699....earchweb201603_

and it turns out to be a fantastic keyboard, fast BT connection and a touchpad that works well. Ofcourse it´s still a second device you have to carry around, but the next best thing to the Cosmo.

[vldmr]

I would second that. I had exactly this keyboard and a case with small kickstand which allows the phone to be in laptop like orientation standing on table on its own. Another nice thing about my previous phone - LG stylo - was... stylus kept in phone slot. I also like tracpoint on thinkpad/hp/dell laptops, and one of major reasons is because it is easy to use with sweaty/wet hands. So (embedded) stylus is next best thing after trackpoint

Just before I bought my Cosmo I ordered this bluetooth keyboard:

https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/32782607699....earchweb201603_

and it turns out to be a fantastic keyboard, fast BT connection and a touchpad that works well. Ofcourse it´s still a second device you have to carry around, but the next best thing to the Cosmo.

[NVDSYPE]

You have also the 2 exposed USB-C ports, when you make a phone call in the rain, one will be exposed. Really sad to hear that about your CC. What also exist are USB-C port,audio jack protectors, so no liquid or dust can enter.

[NormMonkey]

You have also the 2 exposed USB-C ports, when you make a phone call in the rain, one will be exposed. Really sad to hear that about your CC. What also exist are USB-C port,audio jack protectors, so no liquid or dust can enter.

Water ingress is usually detected by little stickers in various places inside (on the battery, on the PCBs, etc.) that permanently change to a pink colour when exposed to any moisture.

Some of those stickers are really sensitive, intended for use inside devices that are supposed to be IP67 or similar, like most modern cellphones.  

If the factory used the more sensitive stickers in the Cosmo I would not be surprised if they trigger in less than ideal circumstances.  Like, say, if you have your Cosmo in your pocket and it starts raining while you're waiting for the bus and your clothes get wet, and you don't change until you get (home | work | whatever).  Or you go for a nice jog and take your Cosmo in a pocket for music, and it's a foggy morning and you're quite damp by the time you get back.  Or it's raining very lightly and you take your Cosmo out to check bus schedules and a drop or two gets on the keyboard or screen.  Pockets are warm places.  (nevermind that my Cosmo can get quite warm even without being in a pocket, especially when whatever rogue process causes random battery drain)

Considering the vast majority of cell phones these days are fairly waterproof e.g. IP67 / IP68, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the most commonly available water ingress stickers are meant for such devices.

[EDIT] just found this quote here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/mythbusting-m...ion-indicators/

LSIs are not triggered by high humidity, however, if that water vapor is allowed to condense then any water that condenses on the LSI will trigger it. Keeping a cellphone in a humid car overnight is enough to trigger one or more LSIs. A cellphone in your pocket might suffer the same fate.

I wonder if any water ingress stickers are readily visible if we take the front and rear covers off?  The covers are supposed to be pretty easy to remove.  

Wouldn't it be a hoot if they were, and everyone on the forums here checked their Cosmos and we all discovered the stickers have reacted for everyone who carries their Cosmo as a daily driver?

[NVDSYPE]

Thanks a lot NormMonkey for the addional and very useful information. That is more plausible.This worries me because I use my bike for transport.