Messaging:
Messaging is excellent. T9 dictionary entry is supported; the general interface is similar to all colour-screen Nokias. The (pencil) key becomes useful, allowing slection of blocks of text (it acts as a "shift" key) and cutting and pasting. The Clear key works as backspace. As noted earlier, the keypad hinders messaging not in the slightest.
There were rather serious bugs in a previous version of the firmware: custom dictionary entries did not persist through reboots, and certain words could cause the messaging application to automatically quit. These have been solved by 4.0437, RH-51 dated 15-09-04. Note that software versions are different for the 7610b, which uses RH-52 software.
The 7610 also supports e-mail, and attachments. There is also a built in instant messaging application, though this seems to require operator support. There are third party icq/aim/msn applications available.
MP3:
The Nokia has MP3 support out of the box (and even has .ogg support with the correct freeware), but it cannot play stereo sound. This is immensely irritating for those without iPods. This is true even if a pop-port headset with two earbuds is used, sound will emit from only one earbud. This would not have been so much of a problem if there had been a headphone port, but this is absent. Playback quality is acceptable in that one ear, although it will win no awards. Playback through the internal speaker is understandably worse, although the bass reproduction is actually reasonably good. Do not plan on using this device as an MP3 player.
Symbian:
The Nokia runs Symbian OS 7.0s, on a series 60 platform. This is probably the best reason for buying it, as it means that the phone doubles up as a PDA. This is especially true because series 60 devices have been out for quite some time, and many of the programs which worked in older devices will work on the 7610. However, this compatibility is not guaranteed: check our software guide for compatibility information and recommended software.
The phone can do anything you wuold expect a PDA to be capable of doing; the only drawback is that there is no touchscreen, but nevertheless data entry can actually be faster using the T9 dictionary; the only real problem is the impossibility of making rough sketches, although it is still perfectly possible to *store* a rough sketch - simply take a picture!
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| Psuedo-Task-Manager | Auto-Keylock | Fun Symbian Applications |
This also means that certain software deficiencies (by design, or otherwise) can be easily corrected by 3rd parties. A very good example of this is auto-keylock functionality. This was widely available on previous Nokia phones, but not on any of the Symbian phones. The solution is a freeware keylock program which works perfectly.
It must be noted that the Nokia 7610 is also probably the fastest of the series 60 Symbian phones currently, at 104Mhz, but the mere fact that it is a modern operating system means that things like RAM availability suddenly become important. This does mean that occasionally you will find that you have to close all other programs to make a program run. "Task Manager" functionality is notably absent from Nokia software, but is again available as third party freeware.
An important part of this is the Nokia PC Suite, and the problem, of course, is that it is only Windows XP compatible. Mac users are out of luck. (Although, possibly, they may be able to install software and copy files from their devices using a combination of bluetooth sending and FExplorer. Anyone care to comment on this issue?)
