*OFFICIAL THREAD: Nokia 6650 (RM-324 6650d-1bH) NAM 3G 850/1900

Well, just so you know, I ordered it last Tuesday, and they sent me an email yesterday saying it had been shipped. I'll let you know if it works assuming it survives the journey through Hong Kong post. I'm using the Darkness theme right now. I was already using a custom wallpaper, just wanted something with black top and bottom bars for the time and such. Plus it adds interest going through the menu screens :D
 
I was fixing my cousin's N75 (branded by AT&T), and I ended up resetting the (*+3+dial), to my surprise, it deleted many (most) AT&T software. Have any of you tried formatting the phone?
 
I don't think anyone has found any firmware on a 6650 besides ATT and TMobile. So, unless proven otherwise, it has one or the other. If it says TMobile, my guess is that it is still TMobile. Seller may not know.
 
^oh darn razrluvr! kinda sad you had to return it.

kinda makes me wonder if i'll be the lone 6650 owner round here.. it would be nice to have constant support from others and tips in the future..

like how to change the att icon on the cover display when the phone is flipped out. i'd love to replace it with another logo somehow (and how do you keep it lighted?)
 
Hello,
Anyone have a problem with the music player continually searching for song? If I press the button to open the music player the app will search for songs display zero and then start over. It sucks! The only way to turn it off is through the mini display with the phone closed. And the whole time the player is searching for songs which lags the screen!

Thanks,
Tre
 
I purchased this phone about a week ago and thought I'd share my thoughts...

Pros:
- Solid (and stylish) aluminum construction, relatively compact
- Vivid, high-quality internal screen and nice external screen
- External screen allows easy access to some features w/o opening phone
- Very good call quality and ergonomics
- Great battery life
- Strong 3G signal (in my area)
- Customizable themes and backlighting
- Symbian S60 OS
- Many apps readily available
- Free GPS service via Google Maps app
- Slot for Hot-swappable microSD card
- Currently only $50 (with mail-in rebate) when ordered online

Cons:
- Keypad is overcrowded with buttons
- Push-to-talk and volume buttons are poorly-located
- Volume controls are unintuitive
- Some default settings need to be changed
- Flat keys (and crowded keypad) not optimal for texting
- Typical small-ish flip-phone screen not optimal for web browsing
- Learning curve for S60 (albeit small)
- Some major Java apps have verification issues (most likely AT&T's fault)
- Limited RAM (40 MB) may hinder power users
- No USB cable included
- Supplied user manual is light on details

My wife and I formerly had service with Sprint (barf!) and basically used our cells for only talking and texting. Since we weren't interested in extending our contract with a failing company who offers lackluster phones (and my wife wanted an iPhone), we decided to go with AT&T. I was looking for a device to act as my primary phone (no land line), but still offered solid 3G web browsing, e-mail, and texting. Since I don't travel much for work, I felt that a PDA-type device was more of a luxury than a necessity, and was also looking to avoid AT&T's $30/month data plan. Given my needs, I thought that the 6650 was my best bet.

I've been impressed with the phone's call quality/call ergonomics and its battery life. Even with moderate/heavy 3G data use, the phone will still hold charge for a good three days. The charging process is also relatively quick. There is a (slight) learning curve for the S60 OS, so this phone may not be for those who lack technical savvy or patience. Once you learn the ins and outs of S60, your user experience will improve significantly. Some of the phone's features (music app, camera, calendar, stopwatch) can be accessed via the external screen while the clam shell is shut. This handy feature is improved upon by the fact that the touch screen buttons are not overly-sensitive (you can wipe them with your shirt sleeve without activating them). It also lends to the phone's already solid aesthetics. The aluminum exterior gives it a solid, classical look and the customizable keypad backlighting is also a nice touch. While the default OS theme is rather ugly (in my opinion), several free themes are available online. Do your wallet a favor and download the mobile Google Maps app, rather than using AT&T's fee GPS service. While AT&T's MEdia Net web browser is not bad (and has a nice "flip-through" feature that allows you to select between recently-visited web pages quickly), I recommend using the Beta version of Skyfire. (As discussed below, Opera Mini has issues with this phone.) I have not used the music player yet.

What I don't like about this phone can be divided into two categories. The first concerns the function buttons, with regard to placement and the volume control. AT&T crammed WAY too many buttons on the keypad. I find myself constantly toggling the camera when I'm trying to hit the right-hand "select" key above it or the "end" key below the camera button. Also, the location of the push-to-talk button on the lower left-hand side of the screen is annoying. I typically rest my thumb here while talking on the phone and often still find myself hitting it instead of the volume rocker that is located directly above it (another bad placement choice). And speaking of the volume, I find it rather annoying that the volume rocker only controls the phone volume, rather than working as a general volume control (phone volume, ringer volume, alert volume, etc.) You have to go into the Profiles section to adjust the others. This isn't a big deal, but I found it completely unintuitive. I had initially thought that the volume control was broken, and was getting ready to return the phone! Also annoying is that the Power On/Power Off tones are EXCESSIVELY LOUD and there is no good way to get rid of them. The sound can be disabled by hitting a button when they begin to play, but I'm disappointed that AT&T didn't provide a way to automatically disable these annoying sounds. My second general beef with this phone may have more to do with AT&T than Nokia. The digital certifications of many popular Java apps are not recognized by this phone. For example, the Gmail Mobile app asks for verification every time it accesses the web. While this is only a slight annoyance because one isn't constantly sending/retrieving data when composing e-mail, it renders Opera Mini unusable. And that's really sad, because Opera's a great app that I'd love to use. I did not have this problem with Skyfire. Also, I highly recommend changing the power-saving feature time setting on the display. The darker screen is very difficult to read and the default setting (10 seconds) is ridiculously short.

I definitely recommend this phone to moderate users such as myself. Power users who want to run four or five apps at once and/or want a phone that doubles as a PDA will want to go with the iPhone or a high-end Blackberry. Those who want an optimal web-browing experience should go with the iPhone.

Overall, I'd give the Nokia 6650 a 7/10 in terms of features and performance. But if you factor in the price of the phone and the data plan, it's an 8/10.
 
I remapped the PTT button to do nothing and set my keypad autolock period to 5 minutes. The 5 minutes is compromise. After the 5 minutes elapse, the external soft keys lock. I'd rather leave my keypad unlocked and lock the external soft keys as I don't use them, so that's why I call the 5 minutes a compromise. Out of curiosity, why are you looking for a code for the unlock function of the keypad? What mapping goal would you try to attain if you had the code?
 
I'm not sure I would reccommend buying this at a no-contract price. I think that price is pretty standard everywhere around 270. I don't think it's worth that. I'm not saying that it's a bad phone, just that everything except the 3g and call quality just doesn't seem as good as it was on my n82. Plus, the software has a lot of att garbage in it. I have had a bit of trouble downloading files and displaying certain web content and I'm not sure if this is att related or not. My n82 is acting up after encountering water, so I got this as a back up until I can fix the n82 or get an n85. For that purpose at $70, it's perfect. The 3g is really nice, nokia internet radio works well, and the backround slide show option is a cool feature (although it reminds me how much better the n82 camera was). If you just want 3g, I would say this may be a good choice.
 
That is what I'm figuring the deal is.
I guess the only way to really know is for someone to buy one.
But from looking at the auction, the only return option is for exchange, so that would rule out someone checking the phone and then sending it back...

Jon
 
I'd set the PTT button to unlock the softkeys. There are quite a few programs one can access with the flip closed. I get a lot of text messages and I can view all the messages with the flip closed; I cannot do that unless I unlock the softkeys first. I'm sure there is an unlock code, I think I'll play with it this week and hopefully have it by Friday. It is just a lot of trial and error and I'm not sure I have the time for it.
 
Has anyone successfully used one of the (wired, non-BT) Nokia stereo headsets with this phone? An earlier post already mentioned that an old Nokia headset did not work, and I tried one from an old Prism, and the microphone doesn't work (but works fine with the N95 with a 3.5" adapter).

Can anybody help?
 
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