Banish SMS thumb! (Nokia DKU 5)

Member Name: The Duke

Product:	Nokia DKU 5
Date:	07/06/05 (1568 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Reduces SMS thumb., Helps make your phone MORE useful.

Disadvantages: Tech issues between phone and cable., Cannot charge phone using cable.

The Nokia DKU-5 cable is a cable that enables you to physically link your Nokia mobile phone to your PC and then make use of a software package to keep your phone up to date with new ring tones, wallpapers, applications etc.

I had bought mine from eBay for around £10 inc. postage and packaging, but the phone was never really recognised by my PC. I was unsure what the error actually was, but a replacement cable and a different device driver (courtesy of the nice bloke off eBay) soon sorted that out. Installation of the cable and driver software was extremely easy and straightforward. I don't know if the issue I encountered was something common to all Nokia phones or simply the/my 6610i. Nokia technical support has been no help. At the time of writing, my query to them regarding the cable has been pending for two weeks and I've had no contact from them whatsoever. This does not please me. If I'd paid the full price for the DKU-5 cable from a high street shop (cheapest price I’ve found is £25), I'd be fuming.

The new cable and driver software have worked fine since installation though. The build quality seems decent enough, and the connection between phone and cable seems snug. Using Nokia's own PC Suite, the phone is recognised each time it is connected.

Overall, I've found that using the cable has made me make better use of my phone as I'm no longer having to squint at a small screen or worry about getting SMS thumb by setting up everything using my phone's keypad. The new cable has worked impeccably, but I've no experience of other connection methods (wireless, Bluetooth etc.) so cannot compare ease of use. I would be wary of the DKU-5 cable because of this issue with my phone and makes finding a reputable buyer, especially if you are looking on eBay.

I currently use the DKU-5 cable in conjunction with Nokia's own, free, PC Suite that I think is an excellent piece of software. There are other phone manager suites out there, though, which will probably not be free. There is the Oxygen II application from http://www.opm-2.com and Logo Manager from http://www.logomanager.co.uk. Both these sites deal in software and cables.

The only other reason I can think of that you'd want to connect your phone physically to your PC using the DKU-5 rather than any wireless connections that may be available to you is to charge your phone at the same time. Sadly, the current DKU-5 does not offer this functionality. There are other, third party DKU-5 compatible cables on the market that do charge your phone, but these seem to be more expensive (I've seen one at $75 at time of writing).

The £10 that I paid for the cable (and free software) is paying off. I'm making more use of my phone, and I'm not fiddling around with the phone's keypad. I'm not sure I'd have paid any more than this, but at the moment I am very pleased with the cable.

Note: the DKU-5 cable is only compatible with some models of Nokia phones. To check whether your phone is compatible, go to http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,,72030,00.html

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