Top 15 Tips to Get Most Out of N91 Music Phone

Nokia released its N91 smartphone in the U.S. market not too long ago - in June - (see our review) a couple of months after the Finnish phone maker started shipping the music phone in Europe and over a year after its introduction. The company has now compiled the Top 15 Tips for getting a better user experience out of the N91 and keeping it up-to-date.

Tips range from hot to manage memory, battery life, and software to using and updating the Nokia Audio Manager and PC suite and much more. There’s even a tip on how to accelerate SMS messaging.

Just last week, the Finnish phone maker unveiled three updates to previously available Nseries phone models: the N70, N73 and - yep - the N91. The upgrades are part what's called the Nokia Nseries Music Range, with Black chassis’s all around, additional software for easier synchronization and music management and more storage in all three models. For the N73 that means Nokia now bundles a 2 GB memory card and the N70 a 1 GB card. The N91's Microdrive has been doubled to 8 GBs. It is slated to go for 550 Euros (about $702) sometime later in the year, with no word yet on American availability. So it could be sometime before the hard drive-based smartphone ships in the U.S.

In the meantime, see below to learn how to get the most out of the version of the N91 that's available now. These tips, developed by blogger Andy Abramson, will most likely equally apply to the N91 8GB as the 4 GB version - whenever it is released.

1) PC suite: Always use the latest PC suite. They are always issuing improvements etc. The PC suite issued with the early N91's (6.80.22 SW (software) versions 1.xx N91's) has issues with handling data over 1.5 GB etc. and should be replaced with 6.81.13 or later. You can get the latest PC suite from here, or other local regional sites.

2) PC suite , Nokia Audio Manager: PC suite was designed for phones with 64-512 MB cards, not mobile computers (Nokia's name for smartphones) with 4 GB of memory. It is good for managing contacts, calendar etc. but not for managing the content on your HDD (Music, Images, Applications etc). Nokia audio Manager - same comment. Users should avoid using PCsuite/NAM to manage large amounts of content and keep it solely for managing the phones ROM (C drive). Note also when using PC suite do not start running applications (Gallery, etc) during the PC suite session. Use USB mass storage for managing your Music, Movies, Images etc and/or Windows Media Player (for Music). Note also that PC suite runs in the background on your PC so often when you plug in the N91 to use USB mass storage or WMP a pop up comes up saying " PC suite - N91 connected in non compatible mode please change from UI" ignore this (it is only applicable if you want to use PC suite).

3) SW update (refresh) at home: Always use the latest N91 SW (currently 2.00). Like your PC Nokia is always issuing improvements and even new features sometimes (ex: WDRM came with 2.00 SW). The update process is simple and can be done here : www.nokia.co.uk/softwareupdate . This is a UK site, however it has all the languages, operator and country variants for the world. Read the "phone SW update FAQ's" there. The updater will recognize the version of your N91 (country, operator) and look for the SW. If there is a new version it will tell you, if not then you have the option of reloading the current SW (i.e. if you wanted to start "fresh" again) or try later. Do not disconnect, answer/make phone calls etc during the process. It has worked well for thousands of people so far. I suspect other sites in other languages will roll out eventually if you are uncomfortable doing the process in English. Also if your SW is not there it may be that your operator or country has not approved it yet. Keep trying. You can check you SW version by typing *#0000#.

4) HDD Users Guide : Nokia has now issued a HDD maintenance guide. Go to europe.nokia.com and select - Get support then from the list of phones select Nokia N91 there select User guides and from the list of languages select English. Then download the PDF. It has data about backing up and restoring (i.e. when to use PC suite and when no to), SW updates (goes through how to prepare for a SW update ), Themes and other Tips. Alot of the tips from before seem to be in here. Also copying contacts to HDD has issues with 1.xx SW on GSM only China units (from Blogs), not on WCDMA units. Note WDRM rights will not be saved with a backup-restore (MSFT rules) but usually when you buy a song you get multiple synchs so it is usually not a problems.

5) SMS accelerator : Nokia has issued an application that improves the speed of your SMS messaging. Heavy SMS users have complained about SMS messaging getting sluggish over time. This fixes it and keep sms fast. It's recommended that everyone install this and re-install this after any SW update or user reset (e.g. use of *#7370). It is available here.

6) Battery Life: If you do not care about WCDMA (3G) then in tools/settings/network - SWitch from DUAL to GSM. Make sure your WLAN "show availability" in Tools/Connection is set to "never". Do not leave Bluetooth On unless you are using it for an accessory. Do not set the HDD as your "memory in use" for messaging (SMS, MMS). HDD is not optimized for messaging. Avoid these fancy 3D active screen savers,

7) Profiles : I just leave the keypad tones off. It seems people in the past had issues with this so just leave them off on profiles. Also using the vibra in profiles that had a short beep as the message or ringtone caused problems with 1.xx SW

8) Messaging Memory: Do not set the HDD as your "memory in use" for messaging (SMS, MMS). In addition to reducing battery life - its slow (HDD buffering is optimized for Video, Music playback), you have to switch back to the phone memory each time you want to use mass storage to connect to PC. In short why keep a bunch of messages on you phone anyhow?

9) Hard resets: If you get you phone into real trouble there are two resets available. Note these should be treated as a SW update (i.e. you will lose data on your phone memory so back it up). Follow the standard backup procedure for you phone before dong this (take a look at the HDD guide TIP section). The first one is *#7370# (Code 12345), it will restore the phones memory and clean it up. If you have managed to get the phone to a state where it will not even boot up then - Press and hold simultaneously Green, 3 and * and then press simultaneously power key.

10) Gallery: When you have loaded new content via USB, after a SW update, hard resets, after removing the battery or the occasional reset the Gallery takes a while to open up (if you have alot of content it could be ~ 5-10 minutes). This is a one-off thing so be patient let it update its database and then after that it should be alot faster. The progress bar is a barber-pole thingy that does not give a very good indication (just spins). Be patient it has not crashed or hung-up just let it finish.

11) "Out of Memory": The Web browser is great but it does not handle its memory very well. At some point the web browser may issue an "Out of memory" message. This has nothing to do with the HDD memory but rather the RAM memory. Closing applications may help but it seems to work best if you simply power cycle the device (clean up RAM) before using OSS. Each SW release seems to improve this situation so its another reason to always update to the latest SW.

12) Pausing while playing a song: This happens sometimes when the file has been corrupted somewhat (during ripping, download) etc. Some songs that will play on the PC may pause on the N91. It is rare however it requires the song be ripped again.

13) "HDD unavailable" etc.: In older versions of SW it was possible to get this and even with 2.xx it can happen (more rare). Make sure the battery cover is on fully (and its magnet is not damaged - check the little box in the battery cover with a paper clip for the magnet). Make sure USB cable is not connected. Make sure you are not running any applications that are using the HDD. Sometimes 3rd party apps it seems have been found to leave a file open on the HDD even when closed and then this can happen - you may have to uninstall that app. Some apps screw up there databases and it looks like a HDD issue. Finally if none of this works then you may have to do a HDD format, or a SW update/refresh or hard reset to clean out any offending applications.

14) Gallery cant see data, content missing: PC suite can cause this if you were using this for content (PC suite looks like it finished the transfer but you have to look at the correct window in PC suit for progress..another reason why it should not be used for content management). In some cases you need to

15) Common sense and INFO: Some common sense things - do not disconnect USB cable in the middle of a transfer (disconnect properly). Don’t try and pop the battery out while accessing the HDD. The HDD can survive drops (in testing dropped >300 times) but if you are determined to abuse the N91 something will break eventually. N91-1 (WCDMA device Silver with light blue for Europe, Dark grey for APAC). N91-5 (GSM for APAC - Silver with light blue), N91 (GSM for China Silver with dark grey). RM43 is a type number for WCDMA units, RM158 is the type number for GSM only units. Yes its a 3G device (with no front facing camera), you can do video calls but it requires some flipping back and forth...the device was not optimized for Video calls (its focus was/is music). It has WLAN. It supports many different vide codecs etc. (go to N91 FAQ and type in video) etc.



More on N91
Other than some software changes, a roomier hard drive and some cosmetic differences, the 4 and 8 gig N91s are most likely otherwise the same. They both run on the Symbian OS and S60 smartphone platform. There's a 3.5 mm stereo jack for headphones right on the phone, so there's no need for dongles, and it bundles a headset and remote control.

The N91 also has dedicated keys for its audio player functions, which support the MP3, M4A, WMA, AAC, AAC+ and eAAC+ music formats. An industry standard mini USB 2.0 port makes transferring files fast and easy. There's also Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G connectivity.

Of course, Nokia bundles music management software with the smartphone. Drag and drop your personal music collection from your PC to your Nokia N91 or synchronize your recent music purchases with your PC. You can also create and manage your playlists directly on your Nokia N91, or shuffle songs around to build your optimal listening experience.

Other audio features include an 8-band equalizer, an FM radio, and the capability to download music files over the air. Wireless features include Bluetooth and Wi-Fi plus a GSM/GPRS/EDGE (900/1800/1900 MHz) cellular radio.

The N91 has a 2-megapixel camera for up to 1600 x 1200 still images and video. Its screen runs at 176 x 208 pixels. At 4.5 x 2.2 x 0.9 inches (113.1 x 55.2 x 22 millimeters) and 5.8 ounces (164 grams) the smartphone is much smaller than the relatively bulky N90 camera phone.

The lithium ion battery is said to last for up to 10 hours of music playback, 190 hours standby time, and 3 to 4 hours talk time.