Re-entering cellphone infor

November 21, 2005 5:53 PM

When getting a new cell of the same brand (Nokia) and not switching companies, why do I have to re-enter all my phone numbers and settings? Isn't there an automatic way to copy all this stuff to my new phone?
posted by Brandon Blatcher to Technology (19 answers total)

Go to a store for your company, and they should do it for you.

At least, they did it for me when I bought a new phone from them. But be warned, the automatic transfer can result in weird formatting differences.
posted by metaculpa at 5:54 PM on November 21, 2005

I use Sprint, and I've been able to take both phones into the Sprint store, and they will transfer all the data at no charge. Not sure how other providers would handle it though.
posted by sanko at 5:54 PM on November 21, 2005

Does your phone have a sim card? If it does and if you save your numbers onto the sim card all you have to do is put your old sim card into your new phone.
posted by Kimberly at 5:57 PM on November 21, 2005

Verizon charges $10 for this service.

We never stop working for you(r money)!
posted by slhack3r at 6:10 PM on November 21, 2005

Last time I got a new phone (Sony Ericsson, replacing a Sony Ericsson, though it wouldn't have made a difference if I was changing brands) with Orange (UK network) they offered to transfer all my numbers over in the shop; they've got a machine which reads everything on your SIM card, and can transfer it to a new one. (In the end, though, I didn't do it; I've got Bluetooth on my computer, so it was easy to transfer everything over that way, using iSync. If you're not on a Mac, I'm sure there must be some other programme you can use which performs the same function.)

Verizon charges $10 for this service.
Jesus. You need to change mobile companies ...
posted by Len at 6:22 PM on November 21, 2005

Response by poster: Anyone have any experience with Cingular in this matter?

This seems like more work than it should be.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:36 PM on November 21, 2005

The suggestion to copy it using the SIM is spot on.

You should be periodically backing up your address book to your SIM as well, so if the phone goes kerplooie you'll still have your numbers.
posted by kindall at 6:39 PM on November 21, 2005

Cingular-specific. Yep, everyone's right. Back up your numbers onto the sim card, put the card into the new phone, and presto. If you're having trouble or not sure, get the Cingular rep to help you. Some phones pick up the new data better than others.
posted by desuetude at 6:46 PM on November 21, 2005

I moved from an N-Gage to a 6680 and I used Bluetooth to transfer contacts one at a time. The 6680, however, has a tool so that contacts can be moved to my next Nokia phone in a big batch.
posted by krisjohn at 6:47 PM on November 21, 2005

Jesus. You need to change mobile companies ...

Jesus. How many phones do you think he goes through? Wouldn't the economic cost of researching/comparing phone companies end up > $10?

To Brandon Blatcher: Yeah, just go into Cingular's nearest soulless storefront and ask them to do it.
posted by electric_counterpoint at 6:56 PM on November 21, 2005

For just a one time transfer, I would also go to the nearest Cingular store to do this for you. If you plan on upgrading a few times, or if you just want to have a separate backup, you may want to google a USB data transfer cable for your phone.

DataPilot (demo here) sells the cable and software in one neat, phone specific package, although I think it's a tad expensive.

You can't get this CellStik USB backup device another three weeks, but this seems like an elegant solution.
posted by marc1919 at 8:04 PM on November 21, 2005

Response by poster: Is it wrong to think the Cellstik and DataPilot are totally hot?

Damn, they don't seem to do Mac. Cell phone teasing bastards.

Evidently my old phone (Nokida 6340i) does NOT have a swappable SIM card, but does have some data device for coming the data to a PC (No Mac, WTF?!) or another phone.

My new phone is a Nokia 6010, which seems to be a step backwards (it was a gift). Maybe I need to change that.

Can anyone reccomend a Nokia phone that works with Cingular that works well with the Macintosh program iSync? Or any phone that goes well with iSync?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:58 AM on November 22, 2005

Regarding the SIM card method, even if you have saved your numbers on the phone itself, on Nokia phones you can move the contacts onto the SIM card and then use them on the new phone. The caveat is that depending on the card you may lose some of the data (addresses, long names etc).
posted by keijo at 2:09 AM on November 22, 2005

Can anyone recommend a Nokia phone that works with Cingular that works well with the Macintosh program iSync? Or any phone that goes well with iSync?

Apple says these should work.

If you find one you particularly like, double-check their support forums to see if there's any rough spots in support.

Links care of HowardForums, the Bull Goose Loony of celphone sites.
posted by Orb2069 at 4:35 AM on November 22, 2005

DataPilot works like a bandit, and can be used to make regular backups of your cell phone memory contents just in case, too. I bought the "universal" package (which comes with cables for most popular phones) and have backed up my cell phone (LG) and my wife's (Nokia.)

When I moved to a new phone, it took me less than a minute to transfer all phonebook contents. Easy, if a tad pricey.
posted by enrevanche at 5:34 AM on November 22, 2005

Also, you can buy a data cable---Nokia appears to use the same data cable on most of its phones, but check to be sure---and backup your old phone to you computer then reload onto you new phone. I like this option because exporting my Outlook contact list to the phone is also dead simple.

Don't buy the cable from a store. I got an off-brand one from ebay for about a quarter of the price my carrier wanted for the Nokia cable retail.
posted by bonehead at 6:13 AM on November 22, 2005

Sorry, I should mention: Nokia gives away the software you need to use the cable. It's here; the package you're looking for is called "PC Suite".
posted by bonehead at 6:17 AM on November 22, 2005

Nokia 6630 and 6680 come with the "Transfer" tool, it can connect to any Series60 mobile and transfer old settings, applications, contacts, messages... everything. Very handy and quick. I used it to transfer up from my 6600 to 6680.

Another solution would be to use Nokia PC Sync tools or iSync (if your on a Mac).
posted by Nik_Doof at 9:01 AM on November 22, 2005

BitPim! Also, you can purchase data cables cheaply on ebay. I got an extended battery and data cable for $12, and BitPim is free.
posted by Jonasio at 8:38 PM on December 8, 2005