Nokia 6300 and Apple's iSync

Mar 15, 2008 · 3 min read · Apple iSync Nokia Sony-Ericsson  ·
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Nokia 6300 and iSync Last week, my trusty Sony Ericsson T610 became a bit awkward to use. The "down" function of the joystick finally gave up on me, after intermitting failures the past month. The only way to select the next menu item was to go "up" through all menu items. It became a pain to use, so I needed a new one.

With so many phones on the market, the only right way for me to make a selection is to think about what I need in a phone. Last Thursday I sat down to write down the list: 
  * No "Joystick" as with the T910, it failed way to early and maybe that's because of the construction. The joystick sticks out, and gets a beating when the phone is at the bottom of a pile.
  * Has to be absolutely compatible with [Apple's iSync](http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/isync/), I don't want to re-type my 107 contacts into a phone. (This practically only leaves Sony Ericcson and Nokia as contestants)
  * Has to have bluetooth
  * Has to be a "candybar" (no hinges or sliders which can break, answer a phonecall with the push of a button)
  * Has to be simlock-free
  * Can not be too expensive (200 euro's maximum, but under 100 is better)
  * Can not be a Samsung because of their wierd menu structures and ugly UI design

I went to tweakers.net, and used the pricewatch functionality to search for Sony Ericsson and Nokia phones, starting at 60 euro's and up, meeting the requirements from my list. This was a great excersise, it prevents you from buying a phone which in the top of the sponsored Google search.

I found this nice Nokia 6300, but the thing was, that it seemed not to be supported by iSync. I noticed some people had gotten it to work because it seems that only the model number is missing in the iSync plist files. The Nokia 6300 is a "40's series" firmware and perfectly compatible with iSync.

I could have gotten a slightly cheaper model, but I selected the Nokia 6300 because it had another nice feature: it has a standard mini-USB plug, and a micro SD slot, which enables it to double as a memory-stick. Nice. That also means that I don't need extra software to move stuff onto or off of the phone.

The online price for a Simlock free Nokia 6300 is EUR 149,- including taxes. I thought I'd save some time and went to a few local phoneshops. The only shop where I could get it simlock free was at the "T for telecom" shop, and they had the balls to charge EUR 280,- for it. So I ordered it online and waited patiently.

Meanwhile, I found a good Nokia 6300 site, which provides a free Nokia 6300 iSync plugin which allows the Nokia 6300 to sync with iSync. I installed it, and it works flawlessly. 20 minutes after the delivery guy rang the doorbell, my Nokia 6300 is paired with my Mac Mini, and all my contacts are on the phone.

Nice tip: I also moved the "Tokyo Trainstation" audio set for Adium onto the phone. These make for great unobtrusive ringtones. Normally my phone has no ringtone at all (vibrate only) but the vibrate function of the Nokia 6300 is a bit weaker than the Sony Ericsson T610.

p.s. I also noticed that he shop I ordered my phone from has the simlock free iPhone in stock, although a bit pricey.