vB Easy Archive - My Nokia 6610 review

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My Nokia 6610 review
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Posted by: bruder

Nokia 6610 Review
Paid: Free (with $200 worth of rebates)
Previous Phone: Nokia 8260 TDMA
Purchased from: www.letstalk.com
Provider: T-Mobile

Packaging:

Phone came in a small box that includes a wall charger, a
wired headset, 6610 phone, battery, SIM, 6610 Manual,
T-Mobile Welcome Guide, "Players Guide" (a quick start
small booklet for using various T-Mobile features-
AOL instant messaging, regular messaging, email,and alerts.

Installation and Setup:

Installation of the battery, and SIM card were a breeze.
Initial settings of date and time were also very simple
given my previous experience w/ Nokia's menu system.

Look and Feel
The phone has a cheaper "look and feel" than my Nokia 8260
The phone is lighter, and the plastic casing looks and feels
a bit flimsy. Most disturbing, is that the plastic cover
which snaps on the back of the phone doesn't fit tight.
When pressing on one side of the cover, it moves a little.
The loose backplate causes the phone to make a soft squeeking
noise when buttons are depressed.

PC-Phone COnnectivity

I want to use my notebook PC running Windows 2000 to setup
the phone book on the 6610. I downloaded and installed
Nokia PC suite software for Windows. I didn't see any software
available for Mac/Linux.

I want to use the IR port (Intra-red) on my computer to connect
to the phone. Initially I tried pointing the IR port on the phone
to the IR port on my PC, but it didn't work. I remember a
post where someone said that you need to set the port speed to
115 kbps, so I opened Settings/ControlPanel/WirelessLink on my
PC.

Click Hardware
Click Properties Button
Click Advanced Tab
Click Speed Limit, then select 115.2
Click OK

Then, on the phone, I needed to activate Infrared connectivity.
to do this, go to
Settings->Connectivity->Infrared->Activate Infrared Settings

Now the IR connection is automatically established.

On my PC, I see a "New Hardware Found" dialog (I'm not sure why,
I didn't think I need to install a driver to make this work.)
On the dialog I choose see compatible devices. Then I see a choice:
6610 IRcc
or IRcc Modem

I select 6610 Ira and the driver is installed. (but I want to install the
modem too?)

Using the Phonebook-
I'm setting up the phonebook using PC Suite. The T-Mobile Welcome guide suggests
using the SIM card memory for phonebook entries. They say that this allows
you to see the incoming caller's name when using caller ID. However,
when I change the memory type from phone to SIM, the I see an alert
that indicates that only one # per phonebook entry will be moved. This is a big
disadvantage. They should allow multiple #s to be stored in the SIM. When I store the
# in the phone's memory, I can still see the caller ID. Now I must weigh the benefits
of storing in the SIM (portability) vs. losing information.

Headset
My old Nokia phone (3260) included an earbud headset w/ a dangling microphone.
It plugged into what appeared to be a standard 3mm connector, but was in fact
Nokia connector (only works w/ Nokia headsets).

I almost always used the headset w/ the 3260. It worked very well and was very easy
to put in my ear. The microphone works well, and if needed, I could hold the mic up
to my mouth.

The only disadvantages of my old headset are:
1. It's wired, so I ended up storing the phone w/ the headset wire wrapped around the phone.
2. It stopped working after about 12 months.

The new headset has a much larger horizontally oriented multi-pin connector that plugs
into the base of the phone. It also includes an earpiece that's attached to a mount that
you must fit over your ear-lobe. A short boom mic protrudes about 2 inches from the headset
and toward the mouth.

A big disadvantage w/ the new headset is that it's much more difficult to put on. THis is
important to me, since I always use the headset, but don't always wear the it. I'm not looking
forward to fitting the headset onto my earlobe while driving. Wearing of glasses or
sunglasses exacerbates this problem.

Another issue w/ the new headset is that it's more difficult to plug into the phone. So, if
you're on a call, and want to swich to the headset, you need to fuss w/ a multipin connector
as opposed to just inserting a single 3 mm jack.

Speakerphone
The 6610 has a built in speakerphone. I'm very impressed with this feature. I didn't think
that I'd use it much, but I do. The volume is reasonable, and is even useful in a moving car.
The speakphone is also useful for checking voicemail.

Battery Life
the battery life doesn't seem to be very good -- but then again, this is my first phone w/
a color display.

RF
I can't comment. T-Mobile's coverage is definitely not as good as Att TDMA in my area.

Audio Quality
Seems pretty good. Volume is good, and distortion and artifacts are minimal.

User Interface
I think the Nokia UI is great. It's very intuitive and easy to use.

Ring Tones

I hate the stock ring tones that came w/ this phone. They are all jingles that might be suitable
for a 12 year old, but not for me. I need to download some simple professional ring tones. Anyone
know where I can find some?

Overall Summary

I give the phone a 7 out of 10 points. I'd really like the phone if the headset used a standard jack.

Posted by: mnkyboy

Quote:

Originally posted by bruder
Nokia 6610 Review
Paid: Free (with $200 worth of rebates)
Previous Phone: Nokia 8260 TDMA
Purchased from: www.letstalk.com
Provider: T-Mobile

Do you have a update? Any new comments?

Im looking to upgrade my Nokia 3390, and im thinking about getting this phone. Hopefully I can get it for free, or a resonable price thru T-Mobiles upgrade program. They said I could get the 3595 for free, but I would rather get the next model up.

Let me know if you or anyone else has new comments about this phones, since youve been using it for the past month or so. Thanks.

BTW, i cant find any US reviews thru google.com. Lots of UK reviews.