N73 and Photos Stored

[Ben]

My N73 has been gradually grinding to a halt for some time now. I store everything, really, on a memory card and I expected that this would have no negative impact on the phone.

However, I have removed all photos from the phone (transferring them via Nokia's OS X software to iPhoto) and now the phone is fast again, like it was when I first got it. Yes, ok, there were probably 600 photos or more on there, but if they're stored off on a memory card why should that affect how long it takes to open Messaging or some other unrelated task?

I'm sure this probably applies to other S60 devices also. If you're noticing sluggish/ultra-sluggish performance, check out how much media content you have stored.

[gorilla]

What memory card are you using? Like I said in the E65 thread, a fast read/write memory card certainly speeds things up. We are seeing faster memory cards all over the place now and like digital cameras, phones should be making use of these as performance is key.

[Ben]

It's a SanDisk Ultra 2GB miniSD, so hopefully that's not causing any bottlenecks.

I'd be able to understand sluggish performance when actively using data stored on a memory card, particularly a sluggish one, but just the presence of all those pictures on the card was killing it.

[Hands0n]

That is so bizarre! Another S60 "feature" no doubt. I tell you, that particular OS is looking more sukky with each passing day. Why, ffs, should the system slow down because storage card memory is filling up?

Like Ben, I am experiencing slow down, unresponsiveness and instability on my Nokia N93 as I have been filling up the 2GB storage card with my usual collection of media (ringtones, some mp3 files, camera images, one or two camera videos).

Another black mark for Nokia S60. They sure bought a lemon with that Symbian stuff :(

[gorilla]

Oh! I'm surprised, that's a card I'd recommend.

I have my 2GB card pretty much filled and have not noticed any change in performance. I don't have that many photos, but I do have lots of tracks.

I do agree that the S60 is beginning to look dated. Is it the OS or are the handsets the problem? i.e. not enough on board ram, lack of processing speed etc?

[Hands0n]

I do agree that the S60 is beginning to look dated. Is it the OS or are the handsets the problem? i.e. not enough on board ram, lack of processing speed etc?

All of the above! How anyone can produce a handset with a paltry 16MB or similar amount of RAM is beyond me! I would anticipate the basic handset being equipped with 512MB and the S60 all-things-to-all-men jobbies coming in at a minimum of 1GB. Its hardly rocket science these days :D

I reckon Nokia finance department are nickel and diming these sophisticated handsets down to maximise their margins - at the cost of Customer experience.

[Ben]

I wonder if the gallery application generates massive overheads when the memory card contains a lot of photos? Whatever was going on, it wasn't good! I'm just glad to have a usable phone again, I do love the N73 generally speaking.

[Hands0n]

I took the memory card out of my phone and the handset flew along, very nippy. Put the card back and its back to running at the speed of an old Z80 chip!

[hecatae]

there have been a few ideas on how to solve this,

one is to let the phone format the card then put everything back on the card

another is to move all your messages back on to the phone memory.

[Ben]

I'd tried both of those, unfortunately with no improvement. I'd certainly advocate always formatting memory cards in the handset they are to be used in.

I stopped using the memory card for message storage some time ago, hoping things would speed up - they didn't :(

[chagle]

Took my memory card out of my N73 and still slow. Always has been though even with FW updates, it's never improved! That's one thing that I don't like about the N73 'spesh after coming from a very fast 6280...

Is it just (symbian) Nokia's that are like this?

[Hands0n]

Is it just (symbian) Nokia's that are like this?

It seems to be just Symbian S60 - the likes of the 6280 and other S40 handsets do not suffer. I think that Symbian in its S60 colours has exhausted the OS's capabilities. Clearly it is not scalable.

[Ben]

FWIW, my generic N73 is fast (for an S60, though coming from an S40 you'll be understandably disappointed) again now, and was fast when I first got it.

[Hands0n]

*nods* - The S40 handsets whizz along like a very whizzy thing. It is only the most recent S60 handsets that have the newer [and faster] processors which perform at a more reasonable pace.

But even the Nokia N95 is a tardy beast by comparison with the 6280 or 6300 and other S40 handsets. And the core memory size on all of these S60 jobbies is tiny - which introduces many problems that simply should not exist. What is the point of a multitasking OS when the memory map will support at best only a few concurrent apps?

[chagle]

Don't get the wrong, the N73 is the best handset I've ever had! But even when I got it, I thought god it's slow to navigate around in fact, I almost sent it back because I thought it had a fault! :(

The SE K850i looks a lovely handset - released about the same time as my contract it up... :rolleyes:

[Ben]

The K850i does look lovely, though I have never been in to this range. I think I'm more likely to slip for the W910i in red, as it looks like a possible successor to the champion W900i. Must stop craving SE's...

...hopefully some sort of iPhone announcement will pop up before too much longer and put an end to it :D

[chagle]

I've got to admit - If the iPhone does get released on T-Mobile, then I'll probably have to get one! If not, then it's a possible N95 or possible SE when my contract's up.

Is the N95 as slow as the say N73?

I do. I do. I do. want it to be the iPhone though...!

[Hands0n]

I've the N95 on Vodafone - apart from being totally pi55ed off at Vodafone's crippling of the SIP client I find it a generally typical S60. It is a lot quicker than my N93 with its older processor. But the N95 has all of the same weaknesses of S60 - and that stupidly tiny memory map that Nokia insist on bestowing upon us.

I suspect that the N95 will be the last S60 that I own. I really can't be bothered anymore with Nokia's idea of how a Smartphone should be. They set the expectation, but hardly meet it!

[Ben]

That's one of the problems with Nokia's recent smartphones - the 'multimedia computer' expectation sets the bar far, far too high.