The Nokia 9500 is the latest in a very long line of cult devices, which probably started way back in 1984 with the Psion organiser. Though Nokia don't go out of their way to advertise the link, the direction that they have taken with the Nokia Communicator has a lot to do with the success of ... Read review
This USB cable can be used with software to transmit picture, sound, video and Contacts ... more
List entries between your phone and your PC. High Speed Transfer 2-Way (Much Faster Than Bluetooth) Transfer Photo's&Video between your handset and PC. Transfer ringtones (MP3&Midi) between PC and your handset Backup your phonebook entries. View&Edit SMS messages with your PCBrought to you byU-BopThe Accessories Boutique
Postage & Packaging:Free! Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
This USB cable can be used with software to transmit picture, sound, video and Contacts ... more
List entries between your phone and your PC. High Speed Transfer 2-Way (Much Faster Than Bluetooth) Transfer Photo's&Video between your handset and PC. Transfer ringtones (MP3&Midi) between PC and your handset Backup your phonebook entries. View&Edit SMS messages with your PCBrought to you byU-BopThe Accessories Boutique
Postage & Packaging:Free! Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: Extensible, programmable, capable - more than just a phone Disadvantages: A little large and usually very expensive
The Nokia 9500 is the latest in a very long line of cult devices, which probably started way back in 1984 with the Psion organiser. Though Nokia don't go out of their way to advertise the link, the direction that they have taken with the Nokia Communicator has a lot to do with the success of the Psion product line.
The philosophy has not changed since 1984 - the aim has always been to produce "a full-featured microcomputer in ... ...system, EPOC, together with Nokia and Ericsson. The group was rebadged to "Symbian". It is this operating system, several versions along, that powers the Nokia 9500... and the aim still has not changed. The 9500 still aims to be that "full-featured microcomputer in your pocket".
As its heritage would suggest, the device is still programmable. OPL runtime and scripting environment can be downloaded and installed. ... more
The Nokia 9500 is the latest in a very long line of cult devices, which probably started way back in 1984 with the Psion organiser. Though Nokia don't go out of their way to advertise the link, the direction that they have taken with the Nokia Communicator has a lot to do with the success of the Psion product line.
The philosophy has not changed since 1984 - the aim has always been to produce "a full-featured microcomputer in your pocket." Psion marketed the idea quite successfully up to the Psion 5(MX), pocket-sized clamshell devices with a black-and-white touchscreen, a keyboard that was just large enough for touch-typists, a word-processor, a spreadsheet, a fully-featured programming environment making use of an interpreted language called OPL, and enough processor power to play MP3s... just about.
There, the idea appeared to stagnate, and the Psion 5 became the last in its line. But Psion had an ace up their sleeve. Separating into three groups (Psion Computers, Enterprise and Software), the software group managed further development of the Psion operating system, EPOC, together with Nokia and Ericsson. The group was rebadged to "Symbian". It is this operating system, several versions along, that powers the Nokia 9500... and the aim still has not changed. The 9500 still aims to be that "full-featured microcomputer in your pocket".
As its heritage would suggest, the device is still programmable. OPL runtime and scripting environment can be downloaded and installed. Personal Java and MIDP software run happily on the 9500. There's even a C++ developers' kit, if that's your sort of thing. For a geek, therefore, the sky is the limit, and it's tempting to regard the 9500 as the long-awaited upgrade on the Psion 5 - finally, a colour screen! 32 megabytes of RAM, 80 megabytes of internal memory, an MMC card slot for further expansion, Bluetooth, WiFi internet access, and inbuilt GPRS - what more could any self-respecting geek ask for?
Well... there are still a few problems. For example, the processor is slow - just 150 megahertz. To put this in perspective, that's less than five times as fast as the Psion 5MX processor, which ran at just 36 MHz. The designers have good reason for keeping it slow - the Psion 5MX used to last between two weeks and a month on a single pair of AA batteries, and the Nokia 9500, with the much greater power drain required by the mobile telephone features, has to last at least a week for realistic use to be possible. The decision worked, in that the battery life of the 9500 is more than adequate unless you listen to MP3s or watch videos over a period of several hours (but if you do, carry a charged spare battery). On the other hand, the user interface of the 9500 gives a disappointing first impression as a result. Loading programs is slow; the screen refreshes stickily, the screen blanks in whole or part to white, and you begin to wonder what's wrong. Then the program you loaded flashes up on screen, and everything returns to normal.
It's not really a problem - one just has to remember not to close the programs one uses most frequently. There's enough memory for that approach, and it's harmless. But it's disconcerting on first viewing. The web browser on the 9500 can suffer from similar speed issues - you're really better off restricting your web-based activities to pages designed for PDAs and embedded browsers as much as possible. Although it will render full pages, with a few exceptions, it's not a small job and the 9500's CPU isn't quite fast enough to make it appear effortless.
There are a few other interface issues, as well. None of them are show-stoppers, but some are strange enough to make one wonder what Nokia were thinking of. For example, the 9500 does not have a touchscreen. Fair enough - but try a Psion 5MX one day, if you ever have the opportunity, and then imagine a similar interface on the 9500. As a further example, when closed, the 9500's various features are navigated using a strange little stubby joystick-type button. It looks quite simple, but in reality, the action of pressing down on the button usually wobbles it far enough to one side or another to toggle some action or other, so that instead of reaching the address book, you're in the "Camera" menu and have to navigate back to the main screen to continue.
The 9500's software suite, however, is fantastic. Powerful, effective, and to the point. There aren't many gimmicks here, and perhaps not quite as much user testing as might have been indicated, but what's there usually turns out to be just what you need. The calendaring software operates with SyncML, so corporate types will probably find that it's compatible with their calendaring solution. The email software is capable of IMAP and secure SMTP with authentication. The word processor, presentation and spreadsheet software all work as they should. There's even a freeware SSH shell for those UNIX administrators who just can't unplug. It's not all pretty, but it works. I can attest to this - I took the 9500 on holiday with me, to Malta. I had a little left-over work to do before I could relax, so I sat at a cafe, finished the work, connected to the Internet via GPRS and emailed it to my workplace as a .doc file attachment in Word format. That's connectivity... the fact that it had taken me hours of swearing at the pages of settings to set up the device before leaving England isn't quite incidental, however. Equally, I've used the Internet via WiFi from it on a regular basis - it's fairly painless to set it up, and as a result, the 9500 has enlivened many a fantastically dull meeting.
Some find the device indispensable; others find it a pain in the neck. It's all down to what you really intend to do with it. Are you planning on making a lot of phone calls? Are Java games a big factor in choosing your mobile telephone? If so, this is probably not the phone for you.
Do you intend to attach GPS to it and use it as an in-car solution? Do you write a lot of text, or travel enough that the 9500 could be useful for you as a sort of inexpensive ultraportable?
Which leads us to the cost. I bought mine on an 18 month contract with Vodaphone, for an upfront cost of just over 200 pounds. Not bad, but to accept an obligation like that, it's worth being sure that this really is the device you want. As a low-spec ultraportable, the 9500 isn't expensive, and it is of course also much smaller. Though it's still affectionately known as 'the Brick', it's really a convenient size - any smaller and touch-typing would be entirely impossible (as it is, you'd better have very small hands or be willing to consider a Bluetooth keyboard).
Try it. See how you feel. Probably the best advice I can give is simply to underline that I'd hate to lose mine - as a frequent traveller and a techie with servers to administer, that added connectivity has made a big difference to the way I work.
Advantages: Wi-Fi connectivity Disadvantages: No touch screen, slow handling large files, no T9 predictive text
Introduction
The Nokia 9500 mobile phone is a pretty clever communicator device from Nokia. And once you've had a good look at it you'll find that it's as much a PC as a mobile phone. It is around 2 cm shorter than previous Communicators, and so when you hold it, it feels less like a brick and more like a normal phone than older models in the series.
Business Features
When you open it up and switch on, there's a qwerty keyboard with a very large ... ...absence, and you wonder how Nokia could have left out such a run-of-the-mill, but very handy, feature.
While you can reply to texts externally, the email is read only ad you'll have to open up the phone to write a response and to send.
One thing I liked about the 9500 is the speakerphone, which is automatically turned on by opening the clamshell during a call. this means you can do all your internet browsing and writing whilst you are talking on ...
cwb1 25.10.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Nokia 9500 Communicator
Advantages: feature filled Disadvantages: the brick size
Ive had a whole series of nokias, i went through 6 in 6months at one point. But my last two have lasted a while. The most recent and my current fone the 9500.
Lets start with the brief downside. Well i say brief, its the sheer size of the handset. Its huge. Yes it fits in your pocket, just about, its uncomfy in your jeans but it gets in there !
Thats about the only bad thing i can think of, and lets face it, if you're thinking of buying one of ... ...size, more what it can do. ....oh actually the camera, its garbage, pointless indeed. Although if you want a camera, buy one. Even the newer camera fones dont have a lense to match even the lowest end of brand digital cameras. So that is more a point for all fones than this model in particular.
Well as with other fones ive owned, i dont use anywhere near enough features. The ones i do use are excellent. Wireless browsing is the best point for me. ...
Daimonde 07.06.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Nokia 9500 Communicator
Nokia 9500 mobile phone that I think is very good shape despite big but mobile phone equipped with a camera, mp3, wifi, and the most easy to use internet via wifi result is the same as the computer and the key to its easy to use, this phone is also equipped with a memory card .
I have been using the mobile phone is almost 1 year because I like the most is the complete mobile phone with wifi for mp3 sound good and we can make the documents in applications ... ...we know the computer.
But not only the 9500 mobile phone is also equipped with Bluetooth and infrared to connect to the computer and can share files between your phone.
9500 mobile phone is like that because I have wifi, so we do not need to use gprs connection enough to find a place that we can provide hotspot to connect to the Internet and the speed internet connection is not lost with the computer because this is like a mobile computer.
To ...
ajun 20.01.2009 (22.01.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Nokia 9500 Communicator
Advantages: Great inside keyboard, + Good Looking Screen Disadvantages: On the heavy Side + Bit To Large
...even come close to the Nokia 9500 Communicator, are the Sony Ericsson P910I, and the Sony Ericsson P900, they are the only phone's that even come close to the Nokia 9500 Communicator, but they are a little less expensive, and they dont have as many applications as the Nokia 9500 Communicator!!!!
This phone has many applications as you can fit on a PC, really it does, i recently purchased a CD which had over 1000 applications especially for the Nokia ... ...it still has the old nokia menu, as in the original Nokia phones. The phone is available via contract, or you can buy it sim-free, but at a costly price of around four or five hundred pounds. This phone is definitley worth having, and the amount of accessories you can get for it is unreal!!!!
This phone is probably the best Nokia has ever made and probably always will be one of the best for many years to come!!!! ...
AMG-A1 24.10.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Nokia 9500 Communicator
Advantages: WiFi enabled; gorgeous keyboard Disadvantages: Bit big; bit heavy
I’ve had a SIM-free 9500 for four months now. Before that I was using a SIM-free 9210 as my main phone. The 9500 is 9% lighter and takes up 15% less volume, though friends and colleagues still call it a “brick”. ;) The hinge of the case feels much stronger and durable. The keyboard is much nicer to use than the 9210’s – the keys have a much more positive action. And there are two shift keys at last! There’s a rocker key for scrolling as well as arrow ... ...you’re viewing the web.
Bluetooth and GPRS are easy to configure and work well. WiFi is also easy to set up and use, though it does eat the battery a bit faster when it’s enabled. The supplied apps work well after a short startup delay the first time you launch them. The web app is a major improvement over the 9210 version, normally managing to squeeze pages into the width of the display. Browsing works well – the phone browser identifies itself ...
ljay 13.03.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Nokia 9500 Communicator
Look & Feel
Durability & Robustness
Battery standby time
Value for money
Range of features
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The Nokia E90 is the latest mobile phones after Nokia comunicator in 9500.if I compare with the Nokia9500, Nokia E90 certainly very different .because nokia E90 already have the latest technology, which all shortage of nokia9500 in the goldbergraw provided nokia E90 .it has 3.5G and 3G technology, GPS features, Camera. physical dimension of nokia e90 looks smaller than nokia9500.with changes in the hinge system become more steady when we activate Communicator mode.style on nokia E90 also experienced major changes. E 90 is more elegant, more stylish, and very exclusive .with the lastest feature from nokia, using nokia E90 likely have a personal asisstant .everythings can be handled easily, from the scheduling, reporting, e-mail , browsing, presentation, documenting.it's a great phone for me. ...
Advantages: Easy to use and connect Disadvantages: Other people can hear what you say
with the headset.
The cost is not too bad for a bluetooth headset. I paid £53.99 as I bought it with my phone, but I have seen it around for £59.99.
The headset works with the following Nokia phones:
Nokia 6310, Nokia 6310i, Nokia 8910, Nokia 6650, Nokia 3650, Nokia 8910i, Nokia 6600, Nokia N-Gage, Nokia 6230, Nokia 6820, Nokia 6810, Nokia 7700, Nokia 7600, Nokia 3660, Nokia9500Communicator, Nokia 7610.
Im not sure what this means but you may find it useful to know that the headset is compliant with and adopts the Bluetooth Specification 1.1. The headset can also work with other bluetooth phones, but you would need to check the compatibility to make sure.
Overall, I would recommend the headset. It is easy to connect and use, aswell as having good clarity. ...
