Travel Technology - Is there an alternative to the 6310i?

In the beginning (1996) I owned a Nokia 2110. (Well in the real beginning I has a Motorola carphone with the cradle for the MicroTac - but that's from another universe!) It was replaced with a Nokia 6110 (1998), then the 7110 (the worst 'phone ever produced, go my money back on that one!), the 6210 (green and silver), and now the 6310 (2002).

All but the 2110 fit in the same car kit.

I use my phone as a phone. Don't care for colour, video, polyphonics, video.

I do want:
Infrared - so it can talk with my notebook Bluetooth - to work with the portable HF Triband Fax capability Legible screen - I use it in the car Voice command

The 6310 is a model nearly 2 years old, but is there anything on the market that is worth looking at before I replace my current one?

I have the 6310i and am very happy with it. Two alternatives are the Nokia 3650 and the Siemens S55. A friend of mine has the latter and is very happy with it. The 3650 has great RF performance from what I have read. The Siemens probably has slightly less battery life and RF performance than the 6310i but still quite good (based on reviews I have read). The S55 is color, etc. Also much smaller than the 6310i. That all being said I am not aware of anything on the market that has Bluetooth and surpasses the 6310i in RF performance and battery life. It is a great phone.

[This message has been edited by GadgetFreak (edited 10-01-2003).]

I too don't see any compelling reason to replace your 6310, probably the best business phone in the Nokia lineup.

Still have a mint-condition 2110i, the only phone I've owned which tells me the location of the cell tower I am connected to http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

My current SE T610 has decent RF and battery life, good functionality, a pretty good interface, and a screen which is absolutely unreadable on a sunny day. It is also missing Ericsson's usual battery life 'countdown' readout, and programmable soft keys.

Best option is to go for a phone that has an easy to upgrade carkit when you get a new phone. Nokia's new pop-port phones should be suitable, so will SonyEricsson phones, they just release a new phone holder for each phone, you can keep the electronics.

Another option is to get a bluetooth carkit and a phone that supports bluetooth handsfree.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ScottC:
Best option is to go for a phone that has an easy to upgrade carkit when you get a new phone. Nokia's new pop-port phones should be suitable, so will SonyEricsson phones, they just release a new phone holder for each phone, you can keep the electronics.</font>

And that's the rub - all the new Nokias have the same electronics for the carkits, you just have to buy a new cradle if your handset has a different shape. Of course, the 5-year old carkit from the 6110 is now obsolete!

Thanks for the replies - it seems curious that this end of the market is so poorly catered for. My 6310 should last another 6 months or so, by which time it will be 2 years old.

Hopefully by then, the ideal replacement will be available.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by monahos:
My current SE T610 ...snipped...and a screen which is absolutely unreadable on a sunny day. </font>
I had a look at the SE, but just impossible to use the keys in a car, and "bingo" on the legibility on a sunny day. It's (almost) always bright sunshine here in Brisbane! http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by willyroo:
I had a look at the SE, but just impossible to use the keys in a car, and "bingo" on the legibility on a sunny day. It's (almost) always bright sunshine here in Brisbane! http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif</font>
Well, it wasn't so sunny this morning, but my part of Brisbane is now bathed in sunshine!

Nokia 6600 (http://www.nokia.com.au/nokia/0,,41286,00.html) is coming and may fit your bill. Has Bluetooth, tri-band and according to Nokia a bright colour screen. Also lot of other things you probably don't need but could be fun to play with while consuming HP's at the QC while awaiting your next flight.

The upcoming Nokia 6220 (http://www.nokia.com.au/nokia/0,,36910,00.html) has most of your desires but doesn't look like it has Bluetooth.

It's good to see that Nokia are expanding the range of tri-band phones. I might be able to retire my dual-band (900/1900MHz) 8890 soon.

Looks like you might be best to hang onto the 6310i for a little while longer.

There is supposed to be a newer device using the same connector/cradle format as the old 61XX and 63XX series. No news yet.

The 6600 has the same ouputs as the 3650/7650. I played with one last week, nice phone. MUCH better display than the 3650. More compact than the 3650, just a tad wide.

Any NOKIA device with internal USB (USB OTG) will use the pop port connector... Personally I think the idiot who spec'd this connector should try to use it... Difficult to plug things in one handed or in dim light.

Just landed a new contract with a fantastic company - and it includes a shiny new 6310i.

Life's good!

The replacement for the 6310 platform is still TBD (CeBit is this week, I still doubt it's getting announced as folks I've spoken to have been mum on when we may see this device)

Word now is that with the proliferation of Bluetooth carkits, the original Nokia connector format for cradles may have seen its last phone http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/frown.gif

Will let you know what else I hear.

I actually just replaced my 6310i with a 6820. Has all the bells and whistles of the 6310i plus a few extras. I use both the bluetooth and IR connections, to update my schedules and operate my cordless headset. Great phone. Found it in SIN for less than the price I could find it in the US. It has all of the features you want, plus it has a nice flip out QWERTY keyboard for text messages or making notes to yourself without having to do the thumb tango on the keypad.

Willyroo's issue is the same as my dad has... A Nokia carphone kit is in use http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

Now I'm close to getting my dad to get his kit replaced for a Bluetooth one...

Just got a 6600 and am VERY pleased with it. Call quality and RF are both absolutely excellent and a large improvement from what I'm used to out of Nokia. The Treo 600 isn't bad but the 6600 is a very very big improvement. It's the best phone I've used in a long time as far as voice goes. Display is incredible and the camera is pretty good... I wouldn't mind a full keyboard but that would drastically change the formfactor. Opera is very nice as well... overall a HUGE improvement over the 3650.

I think I would appreciate the 6600 more if they fixed the performance issues over the 3650 (the Java MIDP2.0 implementation is broken as far as performance goes)... Quad band RF would have been REALLY nice, I'm using a Mot V600 in some US areas to get GSM850... There is talk of a 6600 tri-band with 850/1800/1900

I do want:
Infrared - so it can talk with my notebook Bluetooth - to work with the portable HF Triband Fax capability Legible screen - I use it in the car Voice command

The 6310 is a model nearly 2 years old, but is there anything on the market that is worth looking at before I replace my current one?

I went to Finland via LHR recently and used my 6310i without any issues at all in both LHR and Helinki. The IR, Bluetooth and Triband were features I used the others I'm unsure or untested by myself. You may also want to check out the new communicator that was announced:

http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,,54106,00.html

If this link doesn't work go to nokia.com and check the europe listing of phones.

-Stephen