Nokia 9300 Smartphone

I am going on my first full year with my 9300, and I have to say that my impression is mixed. For almost every positive about the phone, there's an equally compelling negative. I'm a business user, and I do need data/pda/email capability on the road.

I also decided that I'd stick to a good digital camera rather than try to find a bad one stuck inside another phone, so i was okay with the lack of camera in the 9300.

Lets start with the design features as listed and a thought about the major points. I won't bore you with all the features, as you can go to either Nokia or AT&T and read about things like "Automatic and Manual Network Selection."

The phone is stylish and has a cool factor that is unmatched. It definitely gets noticed. It took me about a month to get used to the larger form factor, as i had Blackberry 7150 before I switched carriers and got this phone. Its heavy and large, so it does take an adjustment if you're used to your Zoolander model.

Phone functionality is decent, and the speakerphone has outstanding clarity. Programming the one number speed dial settings is a must, as phone number access can take a while at times. The first major gripe about the phone is the lack of vibrate. Don't look for it because it isn't there. This seems to be a tremendous oversight by Nokia.

Secondarily, if you want to erase a single called or received number, you can't. It's either erase all call history or no call history.

The headset is a must as well, as the phone seems extremely bulky to handle all the time. Bluetooth works great with an earbud though as well as my car.

As a PDA, it works very well, but again with some quirks. It syncs fine to outlook calendar, and obviously your contacts, but it does NOT sync your notes. This annoyed me, as I have lots of data on notes, such as frequent flyer account numbers. Anyhow, it forces you to modify your datasets in a way that Blackberry doesn't. Not horrible, but annoying.

I installed a 1GB chip, and it has lots of storage for pictures, documents and whatever digital data you feel you need to carry around. Photos work, but you really put the chip to work, as accessing the data takes time. Also the menus to go to the data aren't smoothly programmed, so you find yourself making a single error in where you are looking, and rather than backing out, you have to start from the top of the directory again. Not horrible, but annoying.

The included video player is a joke, as it will only play an obscure real media player file format. I've actually never been able to see it play a video, and I've tried dozens.

I do use the audio player for both recording messages to myself, as well as playing back MP3 audio books and music. Even with a headset, this is not a high-fidelity player due to the audio chip, but it does function well with books.

The best part of the phone is the EMAIL handling & internet. I use it for Blackberry, as well as 3 other pull email accounts. Blackberry setup is a breeze. The keyboard is fast, and you get used to the small keys.

My only complaint is lack of predictive text/punctuation as found on Blackberries. You get spoiled by having a blackberry take care of some of your spelling and punctuation, and you miss it on the Nokia. Not horrible, but annoying. I will say that overall it is a better E-Mail design than my true Blackberry just because of the screen.

The screen quality is fantastic. This is the centerpiece of the phone and it is the best screen on any PDA/Phone on the market. It's why you want to buy the phone and why I still have the phone, even with all the quirks. Web pages look like web pages, and not some dumbed down internet like on other phones. This is an outstanding feature.

The next thing that is impressive is the amount of aftermarket software available for the Symbian OS. I have tried dozens of programs and games, and the developer forums and market is great.

The ability of this phone to act like a tiny computer is unmatched. The only time you get annoyed is when you have five or six applications running (IM, Web, EMail... ) and you have an out of memory error. I get annoyed at this, but realize it's not my laptop, even though I find myself treating it like a laptop. When compared to a phone, its awesome. You just have to remind yourself that it is a phone.

Build quality on this phone is outstanding. I haven't had a problem with anything going wrong in a year, which is a record for me. I used to exchange my blackberry every few months for some sort of hardware issue, so it is nice to not have downtime.

The battery power is also amazing. I've never had any phone last this long on a charge, especially most PDA's.

In summary, this phone is a decent phone that would be unmatched if Nokia would be more active in addressing the obvious weak spots as listed. It is a workable phone, and a strong PDA, but the integration of the two is lacking.

It has its quirks, but I've learned to live with them as a tradeoff for the things that it does extremely well. I've had several opportunities to trade it out, but I haven't done it because of the email, web and screen.