Months later followup:
+
1. Runs fast enough for web, email, etc. for a <$80 phone.
2. Opera Mobile/Mini, Bolt Browser, UC Player, SPB TV, Sports Tracker, Internet Radio, Music Launcher form the core of must-have apps for me.
3. Pretty much gets me 100% free 24/7 TV (SPB), Movies (UC Player), tethering (nokia ovi suite, or manual modem setup), Music (Internet Radio - Shoutcast compatible station), etc. for $5.99 / mo. on the grandfathered data plan. =)
4. Bounces well on floor. Plastic casing and thickness helps.
5. True background Multitasking. Can have multiple apps live and running in the background.
6. MicroSD card slot accessible when phone is on, can easily add thousands of music, videos, etc. to the card simply. No need for app to be pre-installed on PC to manage such. (unlike iPhones with iTunes requirement)
7. Sports Tracker & onboard GPS easily replaces Nike+iPhone combo, and can be bike mounted or used for trekking. (can preload free Ovi maps from PC prior to trip)
8. FM Radio can play over speakerphone, but still needs headphones or any 3.5mm jack plugged into the headphones port.
9. Videos encoded at 640x360 using ImToo, DVDFab, Nero, etc. into compatible MP4 videos look GREAT!
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1. Screen is no-go in sunlight. iPhone 3GS is lightyears more readable. Nuron? Must cup with hand, and pray you can see the screen.
2. Loudspeaker is not loud enough for noisy environments - iPhone 3GS's is much louder. Also, mostly all higher pitched frequencies - iPhone is fuller for sound reproduction over the loudspeaker. (Sounds fine over headphones for both.)
3. Not enough RAM says Opera now and then. Mini's better than Mobile at this. Can't get rid of all the T-Mobile junk loaded into this phone, so there you go.
4. Limited custom firmwares (CFW, dailymobile.se), input keyboards and fonts for multi-languages (nowhere near the support of an iPhone).
5. No 'real' Flash support for most sites that have moved beyond the Flash Lite 3.x support this phone has.
6. Nowhere as smooth or responsive as the latest Smartphones, but for the price and free features like GPS, nowhere as expensive.
7. App market is a joke vs. other smartphones. Either a good thing because it limits you to 'necessary' features, or a bad thing because you've got very few apps to pick from.
8. Locked down vs. 5230 EU/Asia version. eg. No home screen customizations - gotta install CFW to get this.
9. No WIFI.
10. Photo viewing is slow, no organization into subfolders. Then again, 2MP camera isn't a thrill, and just barely ok for the basics. Color balance is screwy.
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That all said, for the <$80 you can get it used on craigslist nowadays, often <$50, and if you have a $5.99 / month data plan, it's an amazing bargain considering that you can tether 24/7 and watch movies & TV, listen to music streaming 24/7 while others suffer huge bills.
Short of the VirginMobile $25/mo. unlimited data plan deal, not much comes close.
Benefit of free GPS means the phone's a keeper even if one moves to another phone - GPS maps can be loaded offline, and GPS still works w/o service! Coupled with Sports Tracker, it's a nice little basic trekking GPS device.
Out of memory notices and no flash means the browser is somewhat limited, so mobile websites vs. full websites must be used at times. Still, email, twitter, fb, chat, banking, etc. can still be done, so it's not quite obsolete.
Ease of getting MP3/Videos/PDFs/texts/files on and off the phone through the MicroSD card is great, and nowhere as limiting as trying to d/l a file on an iPhone to open, then copy to a PC. Pretty much a fat Flash Drive if you have the cable/adapter with you.
Sunlight screen readability shows how 'old' this phone is vs. newer smartphones - will drive you nuts trying to view the screen at times outdoors, and limits it's usefullness.
Tethering on a Mac is pretty straight forward--much easier than a PC (I never had problems with the branded TM506). You just have to input the proper apn in the network prefs--no driver downloads or any other windows bs--osx will automatically fill in the blanks. If anyone has interest, I've gotten isync, nokia multimedia transfer and map uploader to work. I'm too tired to post the instructions now, but remind me, or pm me, and I will.
Can you please provide the instruction of tethering on a Mac?
I am able to tether over BT using Ovi Suite on a PC but I don't have any luck with Mac. I followed instruction here
I am using OS X 10.5.8. I passed the pairing stage no problem. But internet access is totally different story.
In the Bluetooth Setup Wizard, after pairing, I see the following check box:
"Access the Internet with your phone's data connection"
After choosing Continue, I don't see any menu similar to the instruction. It defaults to Vendor Nokia, Type GPRS/3G. Then I leave username/password blank. I tried APN as epc.tmobile.com, wap.voicestream.com. And completed the setup. I don't see any modem being created or any network connection being added at all.
I got an inspiration from a youtube video which the poster said if I run into problem. I can remove the Bluetooth Network device and re-Add it. I did and it works.
Now if only I can make Android tablet understand BT DUN...
Glad you got it to work.
Like you said, Enable Bluetooth on Mac, setup a New Connection, It'll scan for Bluetooth devices, Make sure 5230 bluetooth is active and searchable, create the connection - it'll automatically set model to GRPS. No password, proxy, or anything else needed.
Then, simply visit the bluetooth icon in toolbar near clock, Connect Bluetooth DUN and you'll be online in about 5 seconds.
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Macs can easily share the connection as well through the WiFi on the Mac. Enable WiFI, Create Connection, name it something and give it a basic five letter password if desired. Once that's active, iPhone, Android Tablets, etc. can scan the WiFi for your new connection, enter password if active, and voila! Surfing over the WiFi through your Mac through the Bluetooth connection to your 5230's data connection!
Updated my 5230 Nuron to the 40.x version AWS firmware.
See notes at dailymobile.se forums to get it and install it.
While this is not an official T-Mobile firmware release, it will work for the 5230 if you want something higher than the 20.x version T-Mobile has released. It won't have the 50.x 5230 firmware updated web browser that other 5230 users around the world get on 50.x, but there is a custom firmware over at pnht by Binh that you can use as well on the Nuron.
The difference is that the 40.x firmware is a vendor firmware, thus you can trust it for security and so forth. The 50.x CFW is newer and has the newer, faster web browser update but there might be security risks involved (eg. who knows if the web browser security has been compromised - credit cards passwords, etc might be sent secretly to someone else on any CFW). Up to you.
That said, 40.x is about the same as 20.x in general, but it runs well and there have been no problems on it in the past months I've used it. Very nice and stable with Opera Mobile/Mini, and generally runs about as well as the old hardware can be expected to. No reboots or crashes, so that's good.
Thus, for the $80~ cheapie this used phone has been, not bad at all after all this time. Quite usable for the majority of web browsing and standard phone uses, and ease of tethering to the computer makes it a dream on the $5.99/mo grandfathered T-Zones plan.
Only thing I can think of after this is a new Nokia 701 as a step up from the 5230 for the larger, better screen, and faster, newer web browser.
A new question. Somehow when I installed fring from Nokia Store directly on my Nuron, it removed my Settings icon. Fring works well, but my Settings is now gone! Which means I can't even switch my phone to meeting mode and all other stuffs. I reinstalled V20.2.098, soft reset via *#7880# without success. The phone works well. Please help! I wrote to Nokia support, but there no one answer so far.
Don't know why it would disappear, but if it were me, I'd do a full hard reset on the phone, wiping out everything, then see. If that didn't work, reflash 20.x firmware onto the phone.
Also, ask on the dailymobile.se forums -> S60 5th section. Lots of people there that might be able to help.
I won't say to use other USB cables on your Nuron but I'm using the one that came with the Nuron to charge my Sensation right now. So, yes, it appears to be a standard USB (moves power and data).
While the Nuron was certainly a very good buy for it's time, and still is a good offline GPS unit, my buttons started to die and thus, a new Nokia 603!
For those on a Nuron/5230/5800 looking for a solid upgrade choice, this is it and highly recomended! I'm very happy with mine!
I'm less than fully knowledgeable about all the Nokia models, but I assume the 603 is something available unlocked and looks like it does 3G and up on either AT&T or T-Mobile.
How would you say this compares to other recent models like the 610,700, 701, and C7/Astound?
The 603 is one of the latest Symbian Belle OS models, generation newer than the C7/Astound, and two generations ahead of the 5230. The 701/etc/ which all have the same 1Ghz processor and Belle OS included are in the same lot of 2011 releases - the latest available. Naturally, this year starts off with the stunning 808 announcement with 41MP camera!!!!???!!! =O =O +D, but you'll have to wait and pay $$$ for that.
The 603/701/etc are generally peta-band 3G phones, so you it'll work here in the USA on T-Mobile and AT&T on 3G, and anywhere else in the world! =D (Please check specs with Nokia.com or gsmarena.com prior to purchase, but AFIK, having compared the 603 & 701 before purchase, both will do fine).
While Nokia has Belle OS upgrades even for a 1 generation older C7/N8/etc. series, the slower processor and non-ClearBlack displays are the two drawbacks for the same price range of $230-250 USD (to buy a C7/used N8/new 603). Thus, unless the older models can be had cheaper, it's worth saving just a little more for the 603 upgrade (I got mine from HK thru ebay due to the low price and desire for Chinese/Japanese font support and Chinese keyboard for input).
The ClearBlack is noticably better than the C7/Astound's due to the double-polarizing layer, and significantly better than the Nuron/5230 from 2 generations ago.
Basically, I, like any other tech geek that has owned it all and carry multiple phones, I worried that moving from the 5230 to the 603 would bring drawbacks. Yes, little gui things like the clock is way bigger in digital mode if you put it on the home screen. But honestly, after two or three days, I was so wowed by the Belle OS that I now wouldn't give up the 603 for anything in the world....except a 808 =D (Yes, if I got a new Galaxy IIS free, I'd still sell it for the 603/701/808.) Not because the Galaxy isn't a great phone, but it simply doesn't do the basics of what I Want - I need a physical green button to bring up the dialpad instantly from within any app, I need my FM radio, I need my camera not to be slow due to AF, and I need the stability and security the Symbian OS platform provides. All those other game/entertainment/etc. apps I see others playing on their iPhones and Androids, great, but I'm trying to get work done with my phone. Have the consoles and PC at home for games, and I'm not going to watch 2 hours of Netflixed anything on a larger phone (arms hurt enough trying to hold it up for a few dozen minutes). (Not only that, have the iPhone as a 2nd phone should I choose to play games and such... only using it for reference materials right now....)
And that's the thing. If I had a free Galaxy IIS, might as well sell it for a 603, a $100 Android Tablet for the ebooks, games, and bigger display, and keep the change for dinner.
Oh, and all 603/701/808's are unlocked because they're not US models - Nokia pulled all their Symbians out of the US market last year, so you can only buy them as unlocked imports. Actually, all Nokias generally sold outside the US are unlocked. (US is the only insane country....)
So, 5230 3 out of 5 stars. C7/N8 etc 4 out of 5 stars, 601/701/808 5 out of 5 stars if you had to generally rank them (some features like the N8's camera would make it a 5/5 if you're focused on camera quality, but for overall os+features, that's how I'd rank them side-by-side).
Originally Posted by whacker
Nokia Nuron user thread
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