Masterpiece of Engineering!! (Nokia 6510)

Member Name: Bob Barley

Product:	Nokia 6510
Date:	20/07/02 (3428 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent design, WAP (+GPRS)

Disadvantages: Ehm... Software isn't quite perfected yet

Even though I've only had the 6510 for a short time I can tell you it's a truly excellent phone. In my time I think I've had around 9 different mobile phones, and I'd have to say that this one is the best. In pretty much every way it's like an 8310, but there are just subtle little differences here and there which make it... well... just better :)

1. Names
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This is pretty much the same as on any new phone and the same as on the 6210 as well. You can add, edit or delete numbers etc from your phone book here. Also set up voice tags, caller groups and copy numbers from the phone to the SIM or vice versa, which is a useful tool. On the 6510 you get a little progress bar whilst it's doing it :)

2. Messages
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This is very much the same as on most new phones too. As well as the usual Write Message, Inbox, Outbox and Archive you get to make your own personal folders. The phone stores up to 150 text messages and 50 picture messages apparently. Personally I haven't managed to fill it yet :)

3. Call Register
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This is a useful tool that let's you see who you've received calls off, who you've called and who you've had missed calls off. You can also find out how long you've spent on the phone, although at times this can be misleading because if your phone has WAP then all dialups get added to the total call duration.

4. Profiles
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These have been around for ages. They let you set up personal profiles for ring tones and message tones. So you can change it instantly by pressing the power button and selecting a profile. It's useful at times when you're in school perhaps or at work, being able to change to a discreet profile so as not to annoy everyone :) Profiles on the 6510 can also be timed to you can set certain profiles to activate at certain times. The 6510 can hold 5 new ring to
nes which must be downloaded or sent across via infrared or a data cable because it has no composer.

5. Settings
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Very much the heart of any phone. This is where you can set up the time, call settings, Phone settings, accessory settings; GPRS modem settings, security settings or restore factory default settings. I won't go into any of that because there's just too much to mention :) Needless to say though the phone isn't short on features. FINALLY, Nokia have added an auto keypad guard to the phone, so the keypad automatically locks after a certain time.

6. Games
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Ah where would we be without games eh? This phone has a selection of Snake II, Pairs II, Space Impact and Bumper.

7. Calculator
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If you don't know what this is I'm very worried ;)

8. To-Do List
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This let you store information on a to-do basis funnily enough. You can set priorities so you have an order for things to be done in. Fairly useful little tool.

9. Calendar
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The calendar uses a monthly view, has most of the usual things as on the 8310. You can set up meetings, birthday?s memo's etc so you are alerted to particular events stored in the calendar's memory. The phone can store up to 500 calendar notes apparently.

10. Infrared
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This lets you use infrared to connect to another phone or infrared cable which is connected to a computer. Many newer phones come with this feature. You can send calendar notes to other compatible phones, and even better, you can connect to your PC and use the phone as a modem for your computer or download ring tones etc to the phone. You can also make a complete backup of your phone, so if anything were to happen you have a copy of all your phones settings stored on your PC.

11. Radio
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This is a new feature only avai
lable on the 6510 and 8310 as far as I know. Let's you listen to FM radio stations. Pretty handy actually, I use it whenever I'm out somewhere so I can listen to music :) 6510 doesn't come with the HDD-1 headset you need to listen to the radio with, although I found that it will work with a traditional hands free kit anyway.

12. Extras
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This is where an array of useful features are housed.

Voice Recorder: You can store up to 3 minutes of voice/noise whatever onto the phone. Useful when you're on the go and need to make a note quickly.

Wallet: This is a new feature on the 6510. You can store details in there such as credit/debit card details, passwords etc. Then when you're using WAP you can get the details out of the wallet quickly and easily. It means you don't have to go spending ages typing passwords or long numbers in again. It appears to be very secure. If your phone was stolen the thief couldn't access your wallet on the phone unless they know the code you need to enter to access the wallet, which you can change to whatever you want.

Also on the phone comes a countdown timer, stop watch and voice commands.

12. Services
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From here you can access WAP. I've had three phones with WAP and this one seems to be the best so far for handling WAP. As well as the traditional WAP where you dial up to access it, this had GPRS WAP. Simply data is sent straight away so you have instant WAP with no dial up time. This can only be used when you're on contract and you're charged per KB of data sent instead of how long you're connected.

So that's a simple breakdown of the phone. In many way's it's extremely similar to the 8310. If you already have an 8310 I wouldn't recommend getting this phone as you wouldn't notice worthwhile benefits, especially with the £300+ price tag!

However if you have
an older phone, 3210, 3310 etc and were looking for something new I'd highly recommend this phone. I got it on an O2 contract so the phone didn't even cost me anything!

The phone looks a little more stylish than the 8310 as well. The text/graphics on the screen are less blocky and you get 7 bars for the signal and battery indicators.

Top phone...

Summary: