Cell Phone questions - Rugby III to Rugby IV transfer

[Ljohnsaw]

Ok, so I'm in the dark ages.  I have a Rugby III flip phone.  Rugged and waterproof - just what I need.  However, it recently took a beating that it hasn't recovered from.  The phone is still functional but the display will go to white after about 5 seconds.  Just enough time to flip it open and check the time and/or see who is calling.  I killed the outside display about a month or so ago when I was jack hammering.

I was able to get a new Rugby IV phone for real cheap.  I can pop my SIM in and my 8gb memory card - all is great, except for my contacts.  There is a link on AT&T's web site that shows how to transfer your contacts.  Maybe I don't know what each thing is called or their instructions are a bit off.  It says you need to install a memory card in the "from" phone (presumably to copy the contacts on to it?).  Then the instructions say to copy your contacts to the SIM  ???   So why put in the memory card?  edit:  Found another link with different keystrokes that I'm trying now.  I've done the keystrokes but I'm only guessing it worked.

Then, it says to put the memory card in the "To" phone, go into address book management and it will prompt you to sync.  However, my new phone is not doing this.  I also transfer the SIM card at this time.  If I "look" at my contacts stored on the card, it is blank.  edit2:   8) it worked with the new instructions.  Nice of AT&T to have two official tutorials on the same subject and only one works...  My contacts are there, but my "groups" didn't come across.  I'll have to rebuild them.

On my old phone (III), I had network sync of my contacts set up.  Every time I would make a change, it would sync to the network in a few seconds.  I cannot find that "feature" on my IV.  I was hoping all I had to do was to turn on sync and it would restore my contacts :-\  Anyone else have a IV out there? 

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

John, to answer your questions, I have no idea.
The truth is and I hate to break it to you, basically the flip phones are obsolete.

I would suggest at some point and as soon as it works out, get a smart phone.
There are a number of ways to back up your contacts and other info and store in a safe place.

I wish I could help though. Best of luck.

[red]

Jitterbug flip phone for seniors

[breederman]

I keep hearing that flip phones are obsolete and that no one has them anymore. lots of people still use them , they have alot of advantages the biggest one being that they are tough and they fit in your pocket ! When I replaced my old flip work phone last year I got another one and paired it with a tablet for work. The salesman said to me that he had several people go that route . I like it as I can actually read my tab with the bigger screen and do everything I can do with my laptop without having to carry the laptop around. for me a flip in my pocket and a tab in the truck is  a no brainer ! Long live the flip phone ! ;D

[Ljohnsaw]

Long live the flip phone ! ;D

Yeah!  Nothing beats a flip phone for compactness and ruggedness.  And Rugbys are waterproof and dust proof to boot!  And I get a lot of ribbing from my kids, my siblings and my nieces.  Sure, my texting is a little slower than most...

I had set up my contacts a special way in my old phone.  I put the entries in like this -
First Name: Husband, Wife - kid 1, kid 2
Last Name: Last name

Then, it was like a cheat sheet because I can never remember names.  I put the kids on because most of my contacts were members of my son's Boy Scout troop.  However, when it saved to the SIM (it gives a message that some info may be lost), it combined both fields and cut it off at about 20 characters :(  It also did not preserve the groupings.  I had a grouping for Boy Scouts, Family, Friends and "Cabins" for my neighbors up by my cabin project.

[breederman]

I use verizon I think all my contacts are saved on the sim card I have never lost any in transferring  them, that would be a disaster as most of my customers cell numbers are in there !  . I think I can also access them  online from my verizon acct . I haven't been there in a long time.

[Ljohnsaw]

I use verizon I think all my contacts are saved on the sim card I have never lost any in transferring  them, that would be a disaster as most of my customers cell numbers are in there !  . I think I can also access them  online from my verizon acct . I haven't been there in a long time.

On my new phone, I set it to read (and save) contacts on the SIM.  I have noticed that it is a bit slower to save changes to the SIM then on the phone's memory.  I always save pictures to the memory card.  Saving to the phone memory doesn't take long to fill up!  I think it would be REALLY nice if you could save contacts to the memory card.  The newer phones are using a smaller SIM now so I would be out of luck moving my contact via SIM to a new phone.

[Brucer]

I value my privacy too much to use a smart phone. I'll stick to my "stupid" flip phone ;D.

[clearcut]

John,

Contacts stored on the SIM limit the number of characters, and the fields that are saved. This may be why you lost your groups.

I found an online version of the manual and it indicates that you can sync your AT&T contacts:

     https://www.att.com/support_static_files/manuals/Samsung_Rugby4_B780A.pdf

1. From a Home screen, press Menu > Address Book > Options > Settings > AT&T Address Book.
2. Highlight one of the following options and press Save:
- Sync settings: Turn auto sync on or off.
- Sync Now: Synchronize any change of your
contacts (Add, Edit, or Delete).
- Sync Log: Display a log of your Sync activity.
- About: Display the date of your last Sync.

Most phone places can transfer contacts from the larger SIM cards to the newer smaller ones.

Some carriers allow you to access your stored information on-line. I'm not sure about AT&T. Look for My AT&T.

In the manual there is a discussion of Backup Manager (Menu > Settings > Backup manager) that allows you to backup your contacts to the SD card.

[Ljohnsaw]

John,

Contacts stored on the SIM limit the number of characters, and the fields that are saved. This may be why you lost your groups.

I found an online version of the manual and it indicates that you can sync your AT&T contacts:

     https://www.att.com/support_static_files/manuals/Samsung_Rugby4_B780A.pdf

1. From a Home screen, press Menu > Address Book > Options > Settings > AT&T Address Book.
2. Highlight one of the following options and press Save:
- Sync settings: Turn auto sync on or off.
- Sync Now: Synchronize any change of your
contacts (Add, Edit, or Delete).
- Sync Log: Display a log of your Sync activity.
- About: Display the date of your last Sync.

Most phone places can transfer contacts from the larger SIM cards to the newer smaller ones.

Some carriers allow you to access your stored information on-line. I'm not sure about AT&T. Look for My AT&T.

In the manual there is a discussion of Backup Manager (Menu > Settings > Backup manager) that allows you to backup your contacts to the SD card.

Yes, I found what you quoted from the PDF manual.  However, the phone does not have those menu steps available! :-\  So, I'm basically out of luck.

[Brian_Weekley]

Long live the flip phone ! ;D

I'm another flip-phone holdout.  I don't want to be that connected--already spend too much time on the ipad and computer.  And my wife considers it abuse that I won't let her get a smartphone either...   

[clearcut]

Did you try directly connecting the phones, both the 3 and 4, to your computer with the USB cable? Often they will appear as Mass Storage Devices in File Explorer. Just like when you plug in a flash drive.

If they don't appear automatically, Samsung has it Kies software (free download) that allows you to access the phones' contents.

If either of those options work, you should be able to copy you contacts.

And if all that fails, you should be able to pull the SD card and mount it on the computer, though you may need an adapter.