Gareth Jones

Having read the news that Nokia was making the navigation function of their Maps software free to use (forever!), as a 5800 XpressMusic user, naturally I wanted to get this up and running ASAP!

Nokia’s site confirmed the claims and went on to describe the necessary steps – the first of which was that I’d need firmware version 31.0.0.8 or later. My phone was sporting version 21.*, and since I had checked for a new firmware not long ago I came to the conclusion that 31.0.0.8 must be brand new. Immediately I connected my phone to my computer and ran Nokia’s software update program. “No updates available”. What? I ran it again only to be greeted by the same message. I did some research and found that many people had had the same problem – months before! It turns out that version 31.0.0.8 has been available for a long time but my phone has always insisted that 21.* was the latest version.

Further research suggested that I needed to change the product code with NSS to a code that had the update available, and that my phone must currently be using one that had not had the update yet. This would make sense as I actually changed it from the factory setting about a year ago in order to get the 21.* firmware. I found a code that was reported to work, applied it to the phone and ran Nokia’s Update software again – still nothing.

I restarted my phone, thinking maybe it needed to restart for the product code to take effect. Nope. I closed all of Nokia’s software and ran it again, thinking maybe it had cached the product code. Nope.

Finally I ran a factory reset on the handset to force it to apply the installed firmware again (with code *#7780#), thinking maybe something hadn’t completed properly the first time round, and ran the Update software again – it worked* and the software informed me that version 40.0.0.5 was available to install! I installed it and then completed the rest of the installation steps for Nokia’s latest Maps software; the end result of which is that I now have free satellite navigation on my phone.

Ovi Maps as it’s known is, in my opinion, much better than Google’s solution as the maps can be downloaded and installed to the phone, which means it doesn’t need a continuous connection to the internet to provide me with navigation. This will save battery of course, but it also means that it will work where there’s no network service. There aren’t many places in the UK where there’s no network service at all, but there are plenty of places that aren’t covered by HSDPA or 3G networks and in these areas downloading map imagery from Google is a slow and painful process.

* I got it working in the end on a Windows Vista 32-bit laptop; Nokia’s desktop software continues to be slow, bloated and unhelpful crap and the Update application kept crashing/freezing on my Windows 7 64-bit machine with irrelevant and useless error messages. Research suggests that Nokia’s 64-bit support is currently lacking, so I’d advise running the Update on a 32-bit machine (or from the phone directly if you’re feeling particularly brave with *#0000#) until Nokia sort themselves out.

Nicola and I went into CTWorld in Ormskirk a couple of weeks back to buy two DVI cables (and a 10-pack of blank CDs) because the VGA cables on the two monitors that Nicola bought last month just didn’t seem to allow the monitors to display their images as perfectly as we would have liked.

The cables were pretty expensive to be honest – pretty much double what we could have got them for online – but they were available there and then and we didn’t have to pay any postage, plus if there was a problem there wouldn’t be any faff in returning them to the store.

On attempting to connect the cables to the monitors, I found to my horror that the only connection the monitors had (22 inch Dell widescreens) were VGA! What the hell? 1-month-old monitors don’t have anything better than VGA?! Fair enough no HDMI, but no DVI either?!

A couple of days later Nicola went to take the cables back to CTWorld to return them, but despite the fact that she had the original receipt and was returning them mere days after buying, CTWorld refused to give her a full refund and instead offered 85% of the price because there was nothing wrong with them. Now, I accept that there was nothing wrong with the cables and that it was my fault for not checking the monitors first and just assuming they’d have DVI connections, but the vast majority of shops on the high street will take back goods bought in error and issue a full refund – even if just for a credit note – simply because they value that customer’s custom and want to demonstrate good will. All CTWorld did was point out that there was no legal requirement for them to take them back.

Later that night after calming down a little, Nicola sent the store an email highlighting her disappointment with them. They never replied.

Ormskirk is a small town, and while that means there aren’t many places to buy IT equipment it also means that there aren’t that many customers for the shops that do exist.

Last year alone I spent around £3,000 on IT equipment and although most of that was spent online (I’d be happy to return to stores if they can start competing a little more on price) it would have been great for me to have a friendly, reliable and convenient local source for my IT needs for when I want something there and then. CTWorld unfortunately won’t be that store, and I’d urge anyone who walks into that store to consider what they would do if, for whatever reason, they needed to return their item for a refund. There’s plenty to be said about supporting local independents, but when it means paying over the odds for sub-standard after-sales service, I think next time I need something in a hurry I’ll drive down to PC World in Aintree.