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Nokia Lumia 620, Windows' Dumb Smart Phone Question

1inabillionmistake — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 07:33:19 -0800

Hi all, anyone know if: Will the Lumia 620 work with At&t's no data plan service (we could just swap sim cards?), aaand, will the phone's wifi still work for web-browsing anywhere with a signal? Thanks Everyone! I guess a little more. I'm looking for a phone for movies/mp3 but no data plan, is this my best bet? Thanks again.

merry christmas and happy calling me everyday for help

acidic — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 18:56:09 -0800

My mom wants to switch from iPhone to either Android or Windows. What's best for her needs, and which phone should she choose? My mom, who has an iPhone 4S but wants to try something new, spends a lot of time on her various devices but is not tech-savvy at all. For instance, she has never personally synced her iPhone and can only find websites using the google search box, not with a URL I suspect that the new Windows phones would be easier for her to use, but I want to be certain. She currently uses her phone to:

- Negotiate freelance assignments over email. I'd love to load her resumes and rate schedules onto her phone, preferably in an editable format, allowing her to attach them to emails without waiting to go home... but it needs to be super-simple.
- Make calls; she uses several thousand minutes a month. Call quality is very important.
- Input pinyin Chinese. Very very important, because she is an interpreter/translator.
- Listen to the radio; she likes the selection of Chinese-language stations on the Tunein app.
- Occasionally listen to podcasts, music, etc. This is very much a work in progress.
- View traffic conditions, and use maps for walking around unfamiliar cities. She has GPS in her car so she doesn't need turn-by-turn navigation.
- Light web surfing, no social media.

She has 2 Yahoo accounts and 1 Gmail account (also a work in progress) and maintains calendars for separate purposes on Yahoo web and the phone itself. She uses Windows XP on her computer (sigh) but we're updating to 8 once the new hybrid tablet/laptops come out.

She is, unsurprisingly, attracted to the look and feel of the new Windows phones, but I need to make sure that those phones are great for business and bilingual purposes. In addition to the Android/Windows debate, I need phone suggestions. We're on AT&T and she has an unlimited data plan. Samsung is not an option; I don't want to cause a derail, but she has her reasons and they are non-negotiable. So, if you recommend Windows, should she get the HTC or the Nokia, and if you recommend Android, which non-Samsung phone is best?

I would especially appreciate opinions from those who have used both Windows 8 and Android phones!

Share the cell data?

usermac — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 19:29:03 -0800

How best to share my Internet connection from my Nokia E63 S60 to my iPad? I have Walmart Family Mobile which includes very reasonable Internet access rates and want to share it. WFM is rebranded T-Mobile USA. Actually I'd like to buy a pocket modem to share the cell data and use this with another line but hey, they don't offer it.

Looking for a fantastic high end cell phone

parakeetdog — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 09:31:06 -0800

Help me find the best high end unlocked cell phone that can be used with Tmobile (U.S.) I'm shopping for a high end unlocked cell phone. My price range is up to $700.

I currently have a Nokia N97 and like it a lot, but want something fun and new.

I was very close to purchasing an unlocked Galaxy Note, but am re-thinking that purchase.

I need the cell phone to have the following:

-Most important: I want to use this as my music device in my car. My car is older, so I don't have blue tooth controls in the car. I need to be able to change songs using a tactile device. My Nokia came with a little inline remote that allows me to change songs and answer the phone.

-At least 16GB (prefer more)

-Large screen

-Easily change profiles. I want to be able to have separate profiles for work, home, and bedtime, so that the phone functions differently in terms of rings/texts depending on my location. (Huge added bonus if the phone could use its GPS to figure out where I am and automatically adjust.)

I am aware and am willing to put up with Edge speeds on Tmobile since I dislike ATT and don't want to switch. I would also consider changing companies to Verizon or Sprint and buying a locked phone from them if it met my requirements.

N900 Repair Advice

jeffburdges — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 10:25:57 -0800

Any thoughts on repairing my Nokia N900? I've noticed my N900 occasionally losing phone functionality, giving the message "All telephony functions, including emergency calls, are disabled due to a communication error. To recover, you might have to reboot the device." over the last month. Annoying, but rebooting fixed it, until now.

It now shows this message once it gets into the boot up sequence, but never actually boots up even without phone functionality. Instead, it continually flashes the little boot up lights and displays this message indefinitely. It behaves the same with or without a SIM card.

I'd imagine the problem comes from some loose connector in the phone itself, meaning I'll need to disassemble it, clean it, and reassemble it. Any opinions on which repair guilds I should peruse before doing so?

Also, I cannot connect to the phone in USB storage mode now. Any suggestions on connecting and/or diagnosing problems using the USB port?

Why can I transfer pics from my phone via Bluetooth to a PC if it's running XP, but not if it's running Windows 7?

Unhyper — Wed, 11 May 2011 08:10:54 -0800

Why can I transfer pics from my phone via Bluetooth to a PC if it's running XP, but not if it's running Windows 7? I have a Nokia C3-01. When I try to transfer files to my PC while it is running Windows XP, everything goes through fine. But if I boot into Windows 7, any transfers larger than about 200 kb will fail at about 20%. If the file being transferred is smaller than 200 kb, it will go through. This doesn't apply if the PC is running Windows XP; XP will accept and happily receive a file of any size.

This baffles me to no end and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to what could be causing this.

Remixed electronics: can I make a working frankenphone out of these two broken 6820 phones?

weston — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 13:17:25 -0800

Help me identify a mystery component from the board of one of two damaged/crippled Nokia 6820 phones and determine if it's possible for me to get one working Frankenphone out of the two. I have two Nokia 6820b phones. One (on the right in this photo) was run over. The LCD and the flip-out keypad were both damaged beyond use or repair, but it seemed to power on and receive calls.

The one on the left hasn't suffered any physical damage, but it's locked to the old pre-cingular-merger at&t network, and was rendered un-unlockable through the keyboard by too many incorrect attempts by a previous owner. Nobody I've contacted seems to be confident in their ability to unlock it (if you have ideas on this front, I'd be happy to hear them).

Recently it occurred to me I might be able to make one working phone out of the two of them if the internals of the crushed one fared better than the outside.

The other day I decided to give it a shot. When I got down to the boards, things looked pretty good: the board of the one that got run over looked essentially like the undamaged phone... except for one thing.

You'll notice that beneath the board on the right in the photo there's a component lying on the paper. You can see on the left where it's supposed to be. There's two obvious pads/holes where the leads are supposed to be connected; it looks like it was lightly soldered there before. There's also some of the surface of the board still stuck to the bottom of the component. I don't *think* there was anything else other than the two obvious leads connecting from it through the board, but there's enough of a pattern and a few tiny holes in the surface that's stuck to it that I'm not completely sure.

Here's a few more close angles of the mystery component. The half-round part of it that sticks out rotates.

So, I've got the following questions:

1) What is this component? It doesn't familiar to me. Is it maybe a tiny odd fan? A little weird directional antenae? Some kind of instrumentation for detecting orientation of the device?

2) How likely am I to be successful at reattaching it without screwing up anything else? What could I do to improve my chances? The pads on the board for this thing are also pretty small. I've never been particularly steady-handed and consequently have found precision soldering pretty difficult in the past. Are there any tips/techniques I should be aware of? Also: soldering is probably only half the job here -- I suspect even if I'm successful at that, it'll be short lived if the component is hanging onto the board by the leads, but I don't know anything about what kind of cement I might be considering that'd be safe and effective at sticking it to the board.

3) What are the chances that the phone will function without this component?

4) Any other ideas or advice regarding this whole enterprise?

Nokia 2730 not working.

Monday, stony Monday — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:21:35 -0800

Today I bought a Nokia 2730; stupidly, I took the battery out before taking it home. Now, even though it says the battery is charged, the phone won't work. Help! Sequence of event:

1) bought the phone, had the SIM card put in, made a call;
2) took out the battery;
3) put the battery back in;
4) phone not working (black screen);
5) put the phone on charge: "battery charging" icon appears, and eventually "battery full" message;
6) but when I disconnect the phone from the charger, it won't work (black screen).

Am I screwed? What should I do?

Missed Connections

murtagh — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 19:53:08 -0800

JoikuSpot Filter: Everything seems to be in order, but I just can't view any web sites. Please help! I've set up JoikuSpot Premium on my Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. It runs fine, connects to my phone's GPRS. I can see the wi-icon in the top right corner, and the 3G icon that shows that the connection is active. The status tab on JoikuSpot shows packets going in and out.

The connection shows up on my iPod touch, and I can connect to it without any error. The iPod touch also shows up on the JoikuSpot's list of connected devices. But when I try to view any web pages, or refresh the Facebook, Twitter, etc. applications, I get nothing (even after many, many attempts). The wheel just keeps on spinning without any response. After a while it just times out.

Has anyone else faced this problem with JoikuSpot? How do I get around it? (Alternative/better suggestions for tethering my iPod touch to my phone are welcome as well.)

Best Symbian Apps for a Nokia.

Carius — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 18:58:20 -0800

What are some of the best Symbian apps for my Nokia phone? I just bought my first smartphone, a Nokia E63. It is running Symbian S60 3.1 OS. I wondering what are some of essential games or productivity apps I could install on it.

Granted, I know this is no Android or iPhone and I expected the choice of games and apps would be severely limited.

Please share with me your best Symbian apps.

Thanks!

Nokia 5800 will surf, but none of the other apps will connect.

Not Supplied — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 10:16:16 -0800

My Nokia 5800 will surf the internet, but none of the other apps will connect. The first thing I tried was to update the software version, but I get connection error with that.

I had an iphone contract on 02 UK and switched to using this phone...they sent a configuration message with new settings, and that's when the browser started working.

The native maps, google maps, email etc don't work though.

What's going on?

Sync me up!

blacksky — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 10:07:50 -0800

Sync me up! Anyone out there in hive land managed to sync a Nokia 3110c calendar and tasks to a Linux desktop? I've tried msync to Evolution and to Thuderbird/Lightning (using bluetooth). Evolution seems to freeze and get stuck part way through (even with Note syncing disabled - a seemingly know problem), or only sync a partial list of Tasks. Thunderbird/Lightning syncs the calendar fine, but no tasks. Has anybody managed to get this working? What tools did you use? What's the state of the art in mobile syncing in Linux?

Pull the trigger

murtagh — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 21:43:38 -0800

iPod Touch Filter: To wait or not to wait? I played around with my friend's new iPod Touch (third generation) yesterday and I love it. Buying an iPhone is not really feasible in my country at this point, and I already own a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. The 5800 is a good phone, and pretty much matches the Touch feature-wise (as a media player), except that the iPod Touch is SO much better. Wayyy more responsive and better battery life. Not to mention the fact that a lot of useful apps can be installed. Symbian apps are highly disappointing, to say the least.

Here's my question: Should I go out and buy the third generation iPod Touch today (and avail of the free upgrade to iOS 4)? Or would it be smarter to wait for three months to buy the newer model? I don't really want a camera, so if there's any other reason to wait, please tell me.

I've owned an iMac for the past three years (and still going strong), if it makes a difference.

Help!

niyati182 — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:47:30 -0800

i'm trying to transfer contacts from a nokia E51 to a blackberry. i have a mac. i tried isync and it says that the E51 is not compatible. I tried sending the contacts as business cards but the phone doesn't seem to be capable of sending that many at the same time and selecting a couple of contacts is way too tedious. could somebody please suggest a relatively quick way of doing this?

Poor man's Ipod Touch

mecran01 — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:04:22 -0800

I'm looking for a cheap ($50 or less) PDA or cel phone that will sync with either Google Calendar or Ical. All I really want is the calendar/alarm, so when I'm not carrying my laptop I can be reminded of meetings. I was using a Palm zire, but the palm desktop no longer syncs with Ical or the google calendar in Snow Leopard. In the past I was able to import google calendar into Ical, then sync everything up.

I know that Apple has a list of Isync-compatible phones, but when I google different phones I am regaled with stories of glitches, problems, and having to insert custom code to get things to work. Also, I can't afford an Ipod touch.

Are you using a cheap, reliable cell phone that syncs flawlessly with Isync and your Mac?

Is there some other obvious solution I'm overlooking?

Many thanks.

Nokia N900 assistance

zerobyproxy — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 05:12:00 -0800

Any advice for a novice on writing simple programs for the Nokia N900? I have an N900 and really enjoy it. The flexibility of the device is amazing. I am not a programmer and have ZERO experience in any programming language. I would really like to figure out how I can modify my phone by writing snips of code that could add some simple functionality. For example, I would like to be able to swap icons for different applications.

So my question is: Where should I begin? Should I focus on learning any part of a particular programming language (i.e., python) or just focus on something much more basic that I can build upon. Any advice is appreciated.

Where's Waldo?

randomstriker — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:54:43 -0800

How does A-GPS work? It's not working for me and I'm wondering if it's my phone or my provider (Rogers in Vancouver) I have a Nokia E71. With A-GPS turned on, I can't get a fix. With A-GPS off and just regular GPS enabled I can get a fix, but of course it takes much longer.

Would appreciate troubleshooting tips because the call centre drones at Rogers, of course, are no help.

What are the best graphic demanding games i can put on my Nokia e71?

jakubsnm — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 05:36:04 -0800

What are the best graphic demanding games I can get on my Noki e71? Is it possible to put PC games onto the Nokia e71? on the Symbian Operating System? HOW?

Repair or replace my shiny little friend?

notashroom — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:29:36 -0800

Keep my beloved Nokia E-51 or buy a replacement? Any experience with time and cost of Nokia repairs, or input on replacement model options? I'm in a quandary. I have a Nokia E51 smartphone, purchased off Amazon 13 months ago (with a 12-month manufacturer warranty) for USD$270. I love almost everything about this phone, but its sleek metal case makes it a little slippery in my clumsy hands.

I dropped it yesterday and either broke the microphone or disconnected it internally. Everything is still working perfectly except that the other party on a voice call cannot hear me at all. Obviously this is inconvenient, although I can get by for a few days with texting, email, voicemail, etc.

I have a spare phone, an older Nokia, that I could get by with for a short period of time (a week or so), but it won't suffice for use with work email (MS Exchange) and other work functions (documents, etc.).

I have no idea how much it would cost or how long it would take to get it repaired by Nokia. I've heard horror stories about others sending phones off for repair and it being expensive or taking what seemed an unreasonably long time. Do you have any experience with this in general, or with Nokia in particular?

It looks like the price to replace this phone with another E51 is running around $240, only $30 less than I paid over a year ago. Although I think it's great that the phones hold their value on the marketplace, I'm wondering if I might want to go with another model if I replace instead of repairing. I am leaning toward the Nokia E-series and N-series phones, largely because they're the closest to this phone. My factors:

- Nokia reliability. Family, friends, and co-workers have had all kinds of problems with other brands that I simply have not had with Nokia. This is my 5th Nokia phone.

- The Mail for Exchange and document-handling (Word, Adobe, text, etc.) features are extremely useful for my job. Yes, the Exchange server has IMAP enabled and I could use that, but I love the automatic calendar/task synching as well.

- WiFi is awesome for fast internet on the phone.

- The Symbian OS, in this case, S60 3rd ed., which is fantastic for the interface and add-on apps like Google Maps, Opera browser, Flash support.

- I like a nice camera and multimedia functions, but the primary purpose of my phone is as an information management/exchange device, secondary is telephone. Media and games are tertiary.

- I'd rather not have touch screen, slider, or flip phone, though I can deal if that's the absolute best option out there for me.

- I am willing to spend up to $300 for a truly kick-ass phone.

So, what do you think? Repair or replace? And if replace, what's your favorite E-series or N-series phone or your best argument to persuade me I should be looking to a different brand/model?

Nokia: Keep WiFi, kill MEdia Net

caution live frogs — Thu, 07 May 2009 06:25:48 -0800

I upgraded my phone. It has WiFi. It also has AT&T's MEdia Net. I don't have a data plan. How can I make sure it's using WiFi? Nokia E71x just landed. It's an S60 phone. I needed an upgrade, so I went for it. WiFi works fine, I can connect to my home network, but balked at setting up email, etc. as I don't want to get hammered by data rates.

In my connections settings, WiFi is set as priority 1 with MEdia Net as priority 2. What I'd like to do is remove MEdia Net as a connection possibility, so the phone won't use it at all.

So, here are my two questions:

1. Is it possible to completely disable MEdia Net as an access point, so I can use WiFi without fear of getting hit by access fees?

2. Is it possible to do so in a way that will allow me to re-enable it, if I do get a data plan in the future?

Make my Nokia sing like my Apple...

trinarian — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:31:08 -0800

Migrating from an iPod to a cellphone... was the awesome surgically removed though? I recently purchased a new Nokia 3600. There's nothing terribly different between it and other non-Symbian not-quite N-series Nokia phones. As my iPod died at the same time as me buying this phone, I've decided to buy a 16gb micro-SD card and use it as my new music player.

The only problem I've found is the headphone-jack sound quality is terrible with some music. It sounds like somebody has neutered all the bass. It sounds the opposite of what I understand the good effects of audio compression to sound like, with all the awesome and power removed. It's not just when I play it off it's tiny speakers, it's when I use the OEM headphones, or a 2.5-to-3.5mm adapter and run it to a pair of good speakers or headphones. If I play something like Neutral Milk Hotel, it sounds fine. If I play something like Tool, it sounds like a 32kbs RealAudio file played over an analog phone line. Changing the EQ doesn't help. The sound starts to bleed at the "high" volume range.

My speculation is that it's the Nokia media software being set to make things sound good on the built-in speakers, but then not adjusting for what they assume will be low-quality OEM earbuds. I haven't successfully been able to use non-OEM software and I'm very open to recommendations.

So, my question for the hive mind, is this a software problem that can be overcome or a hardware issue? Could it be related to fidelity issues of it being a 2.5mm jack instead of 3.5mm? How do I make it sing like my iPod?

Great apps for Nokia E71

ConstantineXVI — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:41:50 -0800

NokiaFilter: Just picked up a Nokia E71 (runs S60 3.1). Help me cram it's memory with quality apps (free great, paid okay).

Remove duplicate phone numbers on a Nokia E71

qvtqht — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:07:54 -0800

My Nokia E71 ended up with a bunch of duplicate numbers for each contact. How do I remove them automagically? So I got a Nokia E71, and because I first imported my contacts from my SIM card (incomplete, since my old Blackberry Pearl doesn't support exporting to a SIM), I then used Google Sync to import them all again.

Now, I have a bunch of contacts that look like this:

First: Bob
Last: cell
Mobile: 212-555-1212
Work: 212-555-1212

This wouldn't bother me if the Nokia didn't annoyingly prompt me for which of the two numbers to use every time I want to call or SMS someone, even though they are the same.

How do I delete all of the mobile or work numbers where they are the same as the other field?

Also, maybe I could also merge first + middle + last into the first name field while I'm at it?

Using the Nokia E61 on a 3G network in the United States?

roomwithaview — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:01:20 -0800

Is a Nokia E61 able to take advantage of any carrier's 3G network in the United States? I am trying to decide whether or not to get an E61. I know that the E61 works with UMTS 2100, which is deployed in Europe and Asia. But didn't T-Mobile buy the 2.1 gigahertz band in the US at auction a few years ago? The comments in this Engadget Mobile thread seem to suggest that E61s might work on T-Mobile, but I can't find anything conclusive.

Does anyone have a definitive answer? Will I be able to enjoy 3G in the US with an E61? I plan on using it primarily in the DC area, if that makes any difference.

Need a voice recorder ( free is better) application for Nokia e61i

thejeshgn — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 02:10:39 -0800

Need a voice recorder ( free is better) application for Nokia e61i. The built in app comes with too many restrictions.