Newbie needs help.

[Mattyboy]

Warning, newbie alert! This is my first post so please cut me some slack.
I'm upgrading from a 8310 to a 3650 in a couple of days. Heard loads of great things about the phone and its capabilities. I'd be grateful if someone could help with a few questions.

What kind of cable and where do I get it, do I need to connect with my pc (infrared?), and is there any software I need to use it?
(up and downloading photos?)

Where do I get the games, app's and movie trailers that I hear about on this site and how the hell do I get them onto my phone?! Again, is there any specific software for this.

Is the original internal memory enough for the kind of things I've mentioned or will I need to upgrade?

I guess the questions may seem a little simple but, having read some of the threads, I'm compleatly lost!!!

[leespud]

connection - infra red or bluetoth

clips - nokiamultimedia converter, helix producer or pvauthor will convert any standard video media to a format for your phone

sending files - just send the clips the same way you would send a file to and ordinary bluetooth infrared device

memory - the phone comes with 4mb internal and a 16mb mmc it will do you initially but like most people you will feel more comfortable upgrading to 32, 64 or a 128mb card(128 for films and such)

[whipit]

I have no experience with bluetooth, so i am not familiar with its transfer speed, as for Infrared, it's only good for installing small applications or transfering small files, if you use infrared to transfer videos, it's just way too slow, I suggest you get an MMC reader if you plan to constantly transfer video to your MMC.

[drastic65]

so if infrared is slow isnt it better to just get the data cable right from the getgo? then you dont have to buy a mmc reader also along with the bluetooth or infrared huh?

[boo1985]

nooo.. cable is just not the in-thing dude.

cable doesnt work on pc suite or pc file managers. bluetooth and IrDA are the offical transfer methods. but whipit is rite, IrDA is indeed slow, i used it b4 too. definitely not for video transfer.

that means bluetooth is the one for u! i use belkin bluetooth. it works veri well with nokia's pc suite. the pc suite is veri useful allowing backups to be done, file transfer(transfer anything from movies to music to games) etc.

bluetooth also works with epocware pc file manager, the windows explorer of phones. just drag and drop the files u want. veri easy. it is just the advance version of the file transfer utility in pc suite.

with bluetooth u dont need the mmc card reader anymore. although bluetooth isnt that fast, the connection is veri stable, unlike IrDA.

my advice, get bluetooth and pc suite. realli, u dont need an mmc card reader, and certainly not a cable pal.

[whipit]

The way I see it, you have two options, you can either get a bt adapter or an mmc reader, your choice. The transfer of speed of an mmc reader is around 1.2mb per second (my estimate), not to mention it's cost effective. You can get a very reliable mmc reader for around 1,000 pesos or roughly 20 U.S. dollars, whereas for a bt adapter, the cheapest I could find so far is around 2,200 pesos or about 40+ U.S. dollars, actually, that's what made me decide to get an mmc reader instead of a bt adapter.

[Mattyboy]

Wow, thanks for all the info!

OK, gonna sound real dum now, but as I say I'm a newbie!!
If I want to just transfer photo's, download games and back-up files, will I just need a mmc reader? And thats taking the card out of phone and putting into reader, right??!! And that will do, no infrared or anything else needed?? Have also seen that with infrared, some devices require extra software to get to work with phone. Is that also the case with mmc readers?
Picking up my phone tomorrow (but have today been tempted by cheap deal on mx10!) so I really want to get this ordered.
Thanks!!!!

[whipit]

If you only plan to transfer photos, install games, and back-up files then I guess infrared will suffice. Personally, I just like the flexibility of having an mmc reader. The only downside with the 3650 (aside from the friggin' keypad) is the location of the mmc slot, it's hidden beneath the battery, so you have to remove the back cover and the battery to gain access to the mmc, it's such a hassle every time you need to put the mmc in the card reader to transfer files. The mmc reader does not require Ir or Bt to connect, it normally uses a usb cable to connect to your pc's usb port, it functions just like any other dirve when connected to your pc, you can simply drag and drop, copy, or cut and paste files from your pc to the mmc (and vice versa), it's a rather straightforward procedure, not to mention fast. Normally, if your pc OS is win xp then you don't need to install drivers, it's plug and play, if you have win 98, then more often than not, you would need to install a driver, most if not all mmc readers sold come with a driver for windows.

[Mattyboy]

OK thanks Whipit, got phone today, seems great. Tracked down loads of mmc readers, guess there all much the same. What size of card should I be looking at? Will 64mb be about right size?

[whipit]

I suggest you get a 128mb mmc, it's worth it, anyway, the price difference between a 64mb and 128mb mmc isn't that big. 64mb may seem adequate, but the moment you put wav files and/or video files in it, the space fills up very quickly. If your budget will allow it, go for a 128mb mmc, you won't regret it. Actually, I thought that a 128mb mmc is pretty large, but the moment I put applications, wav files, and video files, I found my self almost out of memory.

NOTE:

So that you'll have an idea of how much space is consumed when you convert a video file to rm format (so you can play it on your phone), I'll give you an example.

I converted an episode of friends, which is roughly 25 minutes long, to rm format with the following settings:

video size: 176x144

Audience bitrate: 150k LAN (which in reality is around 120,000 to 130,000 bits)

Frames per second: 9 fps

TOTAL OUTPUT SIZE IN RM FORMAT: roughly 66MB

Of course, the video and audio quality of the above-mentioned file is very good. You can create smaller files by lowering the bitrate but quality is greatly reduced.

[whipit]

By the way, based on my experience with mmc readers, I normally had problems with those 6in1 or 7in1 card readers (those that has a slot for different media cards suchs a CF cards, Memory Sticks, Smart Media, etc..). Try to get a stand alone mmc reader (one that has 1 slot only, strictly for mmc/sd only), in my experience, stand alone readers are less problematic. Of course, the decision is up to you, I am merely giving my opinion based on what I experienced with previous mmc readers.

[Mattyboy]

Thanks Whipit. Will try an find a stand alone reader and have upped my card to a 128. Couple of questions, if you dont mind!

Where the hell do you find stuff like Friends to convert, on web? I have seen links to stuff like the matrix.
Where can I find the software to convert files to use on phone? Is it always rm format for video?
If I am transfering, are the settings you quote the norm to get a good quality picture? Really after an idiots guide( if you hadnt guessed!!)
Cheers.

[whipit]

I rip them from my vcd and dvd collection, I convert the video files to mpeg and use helix producer to convert the mpeg files to rm format so I can play them on my phone. You can also download videos from kazaa (it's a files sharing website), just download the kazaa software and install it in your pc, after that, you can start downloading files from their site (videos, mp3's, wav, etc.). But unless you have a broadband connection, it's pointless downloading videos from their site. A 56k modem connection is just way too slow.

You can use Pvauthor or Helix Producer to convert video files to Mpeg4 and rm respectively. Personally, I prefer to use Helix Producer. I can't remember the exact address of the download site, just use the search function of the forum to find a link where you can download the above-mentioned softwares (I've seen it posted many times, I'm sure there's a link). You can either convert videos to mp4 (using pvauthor) or rm format (using Helix Producer), both formats are playable on real player one. In my opinion, the video quality of files converted with Pvauthor is superb, but the audio sucks. Helix Producer has the best balance in terms of video and audio quality (this is just my opinion, try both softwares and judge for yourself).

Quality is subjective, try to use the settings I mentioned and tell me how you find the quality. Personally, with the settings I mentioned, I find the quality of the output rm file to be excellent.

NOTE:

By the way, I'd like to correct something in my previous post. I said before that I converted an episode of friends to rm format and the output files was roughly 60+mb, I made a mistake, It was two episodes of friends, not one.