Nokia 9300 / 9300i Communicator

The Nokia 9300 is powered by Symbian OS v7 (Series 80), and is a combined mobile phone and PDA in Nokia's 'Communicator' series. The 9300 has much in common with the more powerful Nokia 9500, but lacks the Wi-fi support and has no digital camera. The 9300 was updated to the 9300i, which does have wifi, and it has the following features:

• QWERTY keyboard
• Tri-band for use in Europe & the US
• Bluetooth, USB and Infrared connectivity
• SMS, MMS and Email messaging
• 80Meg of onboard RAM, plus slot for MMC cards
• Hands-free speakerphone
• Word processor, spreadsheet viewer and editor, presentation viewer and editor

• Weight: 167 g
• Dimensions: 132 x 51 x 21mm
• Screen: 640 x 200 pixels. 65,536 colours (not touchscreen)
• Battery: 150-200 hours standby, 3.5-4 hours talktime

For full details, take a look at Nokia's 9300 page

Availability:

• Available SIM-free from Nokia Shop UK
• Also at amazon.co.uk.

Know another supplier?

Software for Symbian OS phones is normally supplied using a Symbian installation file (with a .sis extension). This is a single file that contains the components needed to get a piece of software installed and ready to run. A SIS file can be run on a Symbian phone (e.g. from the Inbox or via a file manager. It can also be run via the PC connectivity solution that was supplied on the CD with the handset.

Sometimes SIS files are distributed inside a ZIP file (for compression). See the ZIP section of our FAQ for details of how to extract a SIS file from a ZIP file

Assuming you have a SIS file on your PC/Mac (either downloaded from the Internet or on a CD), the ways to install a SIS file onto your handset are as follows:

• Beaming - Beam the file to your handset from your PC using Bluetooth or IR. If you don't currently have the ability to beam files to the handset via Bluetooth or infrared (either from another handheld device or from a PC), then you may wish to purchase an IRDA adapter for your PC (this means you'll be able to install software, backup and synchronise data between phone and PC).
  Beamed files can be found in the Messaging application, in the Inbox folder
• Install via PC - Assuming you've installed the PC connectivity suite that was supplied with your phone, look for the "Install software" option. You'll need to have the handset connected to the PC via serial, Bluetooth or infrared for this to work.
• By email - The alternative, is to email the file that you're trying to install, typically a SIS (Symbian installation file) to your own email account, and then use your phone to logon to your email (details) and download the SIS file as an attachment into your phone's Messaging Inbox.
• Via memory card - You can transfer the SIS file to the handset via the card slot and a PC MMC Memory card reader. Copy files onto an MMC from your PC, and then insert the MMC card into your handset. You'll can then use the file manager to access the file.

There's a wide range of accessories, including spare batteries, cases, chargers, in-car kits, hands-free units, data cables and fascias, available at Carphone Warehouse and MobileShop.

For original spares and accessories, try the Nokia Shop UK

The Communicator is supplied with Nokia's connectivity suite on CD - it's also available from the support area at www.nokia.com.

• Bluetooth connection. From the phone, select 'Desk > Tools > Control panel > Connections > Bluetooth'. Set 'Bluetooth active' to "Yes", then move to the 'Paired devices' tab. You should now be able to search for all Bluetooth devices in range.When you've found your PC, pair with it, and then you should be able to use the Nokia Connectivity package to select the file you want to send to the phone.
  
  If your PC doesn't support Bluetooth, then you can add it cheaply and easily using a USB Bluetooth adapter. We recommend the Belkin USB Bluetooth adapter available for around £15 from amazon.co.uk.
  For details of Bluetooth, see our Bluetooth page.
  
  
• IR connection. From the keyboard, hold down the 'Chr' key and press the right arrow to turn the phone's IR on. Line up the phone with the PC infrared port, and Windows should detect the phone. Then, use the Nokia Connectivity package to select the file you want to send to the phone. For more on IR, see our PC connectivity page
  There are several IR adapters available, including the pictured 'USB-IRDA Adaptor' from Maplin Electronics (Cat no: RV88V).
  
  
• USB cable - This phone can be connected to a PC using a USB cable known as the Nokia DKU-2 Connectivity cable. This can be purchased online at MobileShop or Dial-a-phone. To use this, you will need a dedicated driver available from the Nokia site. Once connected, you can use the Nokia PC Suite to transfer data and back up the phone.
  
  
• Memory card reader. If you don't want to beam files from your PC to the phone, another option is to make use of the MMC card slot in the phone. Get hold of a Memory card reader for around £20 and copy files onto an MMC card plugged into your PC. Find out more on our Memory card page.

Rather than the software that came as standard with the phone, there's a rather useful third-party application called Oxygen II - This application supports Contacts, Calendar, Messaging and file management.
For details of how this works, take a look at our Oxygen page

Scared by the thought of losing your mobile and all of your important phone numbers? the answer is at hand with Mobyko. This is a free service that lets you keep a copy of your contacts information securely online. It's a free service, and works well on Nokia Series 80 phones.
For details of how it works and how to get your data backed up, go to www.mobyko.com.

The communicators support MMC cards for memory expansion. Nokia can sell you their own MMC cards, but their prices for Nokia-branded cards are higher than for standard cards. We've not heard of any incompatibility with non-Nokia cards, so it's worth shopping around to get a third-party card. Here are a few online options:

• Amazon - Always a good choice for reliable delivery at good prices
• Jessops - Stockists of low-priced memory cards and accessories. Worth a look as their own brand of cards, for photographic use, can be cheaper than those on PDA sites TIP
• eBay.co.uk - bid for new cards at low prices!

For more details, see our Memory Card page

Hotmail and AOL use proprietary email systems, as opposed to the more common POP email systems - this makes it tricky to access mail on a mobile device. For email on the move, consider using a standard POP3 provider such as BT Yahoo (see setup details) that offers free email accounts that can be configured on mobile phone email programs.

If you want to access your Hotmail or AOL email, there are a number of options:

• General: Try using a web browser on your phone (such as the Opera browser) to access Hotmail / AOL's service via their webmail interface.
• Hotmail: Use the built-in WAP browser and from 'Services', enter the URL http://mobile.msn.com , and you'll be able to access your Hotmail mail via WAP. There are some complications with this option, which we've detailed on our WAP page
• AOL: We've also been directed to an AOL Mail FAQ that suggests that a suitable email program can be configured to get email access via IMAP (as opposed to POP3). Many smartphones and PDAs support IMAP (check in the email section). For devices that don't support IMAP, you can download one from Handango
• AOL: A posting in our forum suggests another option: Open AOL. Go to AOL Keyword. Type 'AOL Mobile' . Open AOL on your Mobile. Under Get Started, Open 'Sign up now'.

For more help, see our Connected? page

• Infrared - The handset has a 'Modem' option under 'Connectivity'. Selecting this option allows another device (such as a Pocket PC or Laptop) to connect to the Internet using infrared. If the equipment you wish to connect to doesn't have infrared, consider a 'USB-IRDA Adaptor' from Maplin Electronics (Cat no: RV88V).
• Bluetooth - You can also use the communicator as a modem from a Bluetooth PDA, or a PC with Bluetooth connectivity (such as a Belkin USB Bluetooth adapter). For more, see our Bluetooth page.

If you're looking to copy your SMS text messages to a PC, you'll find that the Nokia PC Suite software doesn't support this. The best option is to try Oxygen II - This is an alternative PC Suite and supports copying of SMS, MMS and other message types, as well as a few other things that Nokia suite can't do. Take a look at our Oxygen page

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