[miffed]

Got mine this morning :D :D

Ordered it from CPW on Orange , for the sole purpose of "hopefully" getting an unbranded / unlocked phone

Sort of "half" got what I was after - it is not an Orange branded handset per se , My friend got one from the orange shop, and it came in a black box ( orange branded ) , and had an orange log printed on the back

.... I got a plain "Nokia" box , a handset with no physical branding on it , and thought "excellent, jobs a good 'un :D "

However , when I put my T-mobile sim in .... it said "invalid sim" :mad:
.... and then (shock , horror :eek: ) it booted up to an "Orange" flash screen :( :mad:

Took all of 10 minutes to get rid of the firmware , and the nice people at Orange are supplying me with an unlock code for £20 (which apparntly is standard practice ! I wish I knew that before ! )
The only thing that worries me is. ... if CPW have branded and locked this handset themselves , as the evidence suggests ..... are orange going to be able to lay their hands on the unlock code ? time will tell - but it will be a tragedy if I have to use my shiny new HSDPA phone on a non HSDPA network that charges ridiculous rates for data ! - of course , if they sort this unlimited data for £8 lark out , I may consider giving them a go
Can't really comment much on the handset yet - at the moment it is locked to orange - the sim that came with it isn't doing anything at all ATM , rang CS , they say it has already been registered by CPW and I must wait 24hrs for it to be activated :( ... I have another orange sim , but it is in the phone my wife is using ATM

As far as eye candy goes , it is pretty good though :)

[Hands0n]

I'm waiting and watching in eager anticipation ...... Do tell :D

[miffed]

Hevent really done a hell of a lot with it yet , Dont really want to be paying around £3 per MB - so i'll have to wait for my unlock code (7-10 days - although I have had reports of them coming back within a couple of days)
Had a little play with the camera , and connected it to the TV, which was great fun , as whatever is on the phone screen appears on the TV screen - this has great potential IMO , I envisage quite a pleasant browsing experience with a BT keyboard & a TV - handy if you don't have a laptop & are staying in a hotel / visiting cavemen with no PC ,
Build quality is a bit of a concern - I have this problem right out the box

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr-ntVZ_kk8


- although TBH I don't really see it as a mojor problem, just a little finishing blunder - I can ceratainly live with it anyway

Wi-fi is a bit of a problem - as it seems to connect for just long enough to load a page , then disconnects :( - mind you, isn't WI-FI traditionally supposed to "not work" on symbian devices ?

Can't wait to get it unlocked and onto T-mobie :cool:

[Ben]

Oh my god. The only thing that's more annoying than the issue is that guy in the video going at it like his life depends on it!

[Schockwave]

Well, I agree with you Ben. If you keep on pressing buttons, without giving it time to bring up what you want on screen, then nothing will happen. I have no problems. Of course he could have had a faulty phone, and then he needs to get it changed, in my opinion.

[miffed]

Well, I agree with you Ben. If you keep on pressing buttons, without giving it time to bring up what you want on screen, then nothing will happen. I have no problems. Of course he could have had a faulty phone, and then he needs to get it changed, in my opinion.

The "fault" that he is trying to demonstrate is that the slder is a little loose on the right hand side ( as is mine , and my mates ! )

Personally , it doesn't bother me - but it obviously bothers the guy who made the video !

[Ben]

Indeed, the slider design is a bit poor. It'd probably bother me, eventually, but so long as the keypad doesn't creak I'd be ok.

Which begs the question - how is the keypad? Can you text without creaks from the casing etc? My N73 is a bit creaky...

[miffed]

The whole thing seems really sturdy - not a creak in sight :)

Had enough of orange already .... still no activation of my sim yet , the lady I spoke to yesterday am said to wait 24hrs and all would be well (it wasn't
...So rang up again this evening :mad: 25 minutes on hold , only to get throught to an Indian Call Centre op , - Who could not understand what my problem was , or what I wanted - he could not even establish which account I was referring to !! (I have 3 running )
To make matters worse he insisted of confirming EVERY personal detail I have ! Seriously .... I confirmed my name , address , postcode , password , date of birth , mothers maiden name , ... you name it, I am sure he was doing it to fill the gaps :mad:
I gave up in the end , I'll phone up tomorrow when the english staff are on
Such a shame oranges formerly excellent CS has gone to pot

[Hands0n]

Oh dear - these Indian Call Centres are such a shambles. The economics may work out but the Customer Satisfaction is always on a hiding to nothing.

[Hands0n]

Contrast all of this with my Vodafone experience this past half hour .....

I am just outwith my 18-month contract, it really was not as painful as I thought that it would be, especially as the phones have not really advanced that much over the time. Nothing much has caught my eye save for the N80 and in very many ways I am truly glad i missed that particular boat!

I phoned up Vodafone CS on 191 and selected the "Upgrades" menu option and spoke with a very pleasant lad about my desire for a N95 upgrade. He told me a bit of stuff about the N95 that didn't exactly show it in a good light - poor battery life, subscription charges for the GPS use, poor battery life, said the screen would not show off the 5Mpxl camera very well, poor battery life and so on. I said that I was still interested so he offered it to me at £200 to upgrade. I then said that I was now much less interested than five second earlier and that I would most likely go off to T-Mobile and get one for free on a new contract. That seemed to have the desired effect and he asked me to hold while he put me onto another team to discuss what else could be done - you gotta love Retentions :D

The new man was equally pleasant, knowledgeable and helpful. He took me through the process and offered the handset at £100 - which I said I was more interested in but still not sufficient to keep me. Then by some jiggery-pokery he offered me a couple of free months contact, some "free" insurance for 3 months and a nifty deal on a £15 30-day contract for the youngest lad who is beginning to consume the £s on his Voda PAYT. In short, the handset ends up costing me something less than £50 ... I'm happy.

The N95 is due here on Tuesday, but it'll be at least Weds or Thurs before I get it in my sticky paws as there'll be noone to sign for it. Agonising waits now ....

[miffed]

Build quality is a bit of a concern - I have this problem right out the box

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr-ntVZ_kk8


- although TBH I don't really see it as a mojor problem, just a little finishing blunder - I can ceratainly live with it anyway


Just in case anyone else has a problem, I have solved this problem on my N95
There is a soloution knocking around on t'internet where you take the phone apart and bend the metal slider retainers - THIS DOESN'T WORK (or at least for me it didn't !) - there is also a fix using self adhesive felt - I actually used this , but in a slightly different way to the one posted
I tried the tape as shown in the fix , but as well as looking unsightly , it actually tried to come unstuck when the slider rolled over it - I had visions of the whole thing jamming up on me !
... I stole a small adhesive felt circle from one of my wifes ornaments (thanks babe xx ) , and used that in the same way (on the underside of the slider ) - it works a treat ! looks good too , if you didn't know you wouldn't suspect that it was an aftermarket addition :D

So now the slider is fine ! - OK , so it should have left Nokia it that state to begin with , but its only a £400 handset after all :rolleyes:

[gorilla]

Contract is nearly up and I've got itchy feet. Got a couple of options i.e. switch to virgin £10 a month deal, haggle with O2 to match that or better it. On MSE a few people have had O2 match e2save's free 12 month line rental deal, without handset. But I don't really want that! I want a new handset.
Having previously had my mind set on the E65, I'm now seriously considering the N95.
So what's the verdict now? Still a good phone? Worth getting instead of the E65? There are some good deals around now on 12 month tariffs e.g. free N95 and £35 a month.
Surely with the release of the new data tariffs the networks are going to release some better deals?

[Hands0n]

Have you jumped ship yet Gorilla? If not, and still contemplating the N95 my vote is to go for it. I don't think you'll regret the decision. It is an astonishingly competent handset.

[gorilla]

I think I've made my mind up to go with the E65 on three's x-series. The N95 seems to be getting too popular for me! Also, the battery life on the E65 is better and after having had a 6680 and then a N80, I would like to have a phone that lasts more than 2 days.