Nokia 9210 Communicator

The Nokia 9210 is powered by Symbian OS v6, and is a combined mobile phone and PDA - the 'communicator' series. The US variant, the 9290, and the improved European 9210i were released in 2002.

The device has 4MB of onboard memory, plus 16MB on the supplied MMC card. The colour screen supports 4096 colours, with a resolution of 640x200 pixels.

Other 9210 pages on this site include our guides to setting up WAP and the Internet

Replaced by the Nokia 9500 and Nokia 9300 - two new members of the Nokia Communicator series.

The Nokia 9210 is supplied with the "PC Suite" - A version of Symbian's EPOC Connect 6. This allows for the following:

• File backup
• Synchronisation of Contacts and Calendar to MS Outlook and other PC PIMs
• Drag-and-drop file conversion

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

• 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.
  There are several IR adapters available, including the pictured 'USB-IRDA Adaptor' from Maplin Electronics (Cat no: RV88V).
• 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.

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 IR. If you don't currently have the ability to beam files to the handset via 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.

If you've got an old mobile phone handset that you're no longer using... do your bit for the environment, and recycle it safely. You'll also make some money when you send your old handset back.

Don't leave it in the back of a drawer - see if it can find a new lease of life, and pocket you some cash.

For a summary of the best deals on making cash from your old handset, try the comparison search tool at www.sellyouroldmobile.co.uk

To hard-reset and format the C: drive of a Nokia 9210, do the following:

Pull the battery out for a few seconds, then replace it. Open the case and wait for the "Nokia 9210" splash screen (with the hands) to be displayed. Just as it's appearing, hold down the following three keys for about 2 seconds: Shift, Ctrl and F. A screen appears asking for confirmation that you want to format the device. Select Format. All data on the C: drive will be lost, and the factory default settings will be restored.

Thanks to Andrew, a recent visitor, for pointing out that a format is battery-hungry operation, and doing this with the charger connected may prevent a dangerous battery fail halfway through.

Thanks also to Stefan Burkhardt for suggesting that if the process above doesn't work, you may need to remove the SIM Card and MMC card first.

• Amazon - Always a good choice for reliable delivery at good prices
• 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 several 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