[Ben]

Well, my N73 has bitten the bullet.

I think I mentioned that the other day it stopped receiving calls. Well, today, when I make calls it sounds like I'm on the phone to a Martian. Seriously, you can't actually hear any voice, it's all weird and wonderful (and scary) noises beamed directly from the red planet.

So, I need to use one of my old phones until something comes out that I want to buy. I'm thinking about the SE P1i but TBH is there really any point? Meh.

The choice is:
Nokia N80, my previous phone. Generally speaking, I don't like it.
Sony Ericsson W900i, the phone before. I have fond memories, but I wouldn't have bought the N80 if it were perfect.

Thoughts?

[Hands0n]

First things first - the N73 will be within its 2-year Nokia warranty, so you have an opportunity to get it fixed/replaced FOC. Even if you have no intention of using it again I'd recommend getting it warranty fixed and then store it for future use.

The N80 was and continues to be a complete dogs dinner of a phone! I had one at a short contract for 90 days and was happy to return it upon completion. To think that I actually hankered after one when it first came out. I'm so very glad that I was stuck in a contract and couldn't change to it. I'd have been so very disappointed. By now you've probably got the idea that I really wasn't that impressed with the N80.

By the way - did you ever update the N80 to the N80i firmware? It did make the standard N80 better behaved, albeit within the limitations of the S60 OS and the N80's CPU.

I'd personally liven up the SE W900i for the duration until you make up your mind or something actually worthwhile comes about. Which brings me round to ....... the dearth of handsets worth having :) What spoiled children we are :D

I'm honestly wondering what 4Q/2007 holds for us - have the manufacturers given up and left the turf to Apple this year? Or is there something in the wind that we don't yet know about? I must admit, with my T-Mobile contract coming up for renewal in October I am left wondering what to go for.

My instinct is to do nothing at all and wait it out with a handset that I can upgrade on at any time of my choosing. I am interested in Data more than anything else at the moment. The Web n Walk Plus gives me 3GB to play with each month for £12.50. I have only a standard 3G handset and so HSDPA is in my "must have" list which takes out a lot of the current range.

[Ben]

Good advice, yes I think I'll fire up the W900i when I get home. I should be able to sync all my contacts and calendars right off of my Mac mini onto it, so that should only take a second, and all my photos were already removed from the N73 and put into iPhoto as discussed in an earlier thread.

I never did change the N80 to the N80i, no. I should probably do that some time, just so it has the best firmware on it possible. I'm glad you can appreciate my apathy towards using it again!

I'd also like my next handset to have HSDPA. I think I get the most out of my phones as a camera, so a good lense will be important. Anything else is a bonus really. The iPhone doesn't fit my needs at all, but yknow...

[miffed]

If you want to borrow my Prada , you only have to ask mate ;)

[Ben]

LoL! Cheeky git :p

I tell you what, I'd forgotten how good the W900i is. Ok, so it lacks some of the S60 functionality (I miss active standby) but it handles Java apps pretty superbly and it's very quick. It'll be nice to have the camera back, too - the Nokia's don't really compare to the SE's for quality.

Maybe the upcoming W910i would make a good replacement? :D http://handcellphone.com/wp-content/themes/green-marinee/phonepic/Nokia-W910i-cell-phone-1.jpg *dribble*

[miffed]

LoL! Cheeky git :p




Hey I was only trying to be neighbourly !
IIRC don't you have an HTC Tytn knocking around ?

[Ben]

Yes, but I'd rather rub salt in my eyeballs than use it as my phone!

(generally unimpressed with HTC. I fully appreciate the uses of the devices they make, but it's too much of a battle for me)

[Hands0n]

I had to set up a TyTN for the previous firm - at the same time as an HP iPAQ-phone thingy (can't remember the model number hence the accurate description :D).

The iPAQ-phone came up right away, registered with Exchange for push email, and had apps that you could create documents with.

The TyTN was a full day's struggle to get it going correctly with the networking - we did it in the end with a fresh download of their Activesync (!!!). Lo and behold the apps are read-only. You cannot create documents with it. Yes you can carry empty document that you can edit - but thats hardly full Windows Mobile. Workarounds are less than second-best in my book! Who crippled WM on the TyTN and why? Thats the pertinent question.

So - I give all HTC stuff a very wide berth indeed - thoughts of bargepoles and not touching with - rather grab the pooey end of a stick than subject myself to one of them!

Nuff said :)

[miffed]

Strange , every other HTC device I have ever had ( Thats an XDA , XDA II , I-mate Jam, XDA exec , MDA Vario ,MDA Pro ,SPV m3100 (also known as Tytn) ,
XDA exec (another one) - and now the T-mobile Ameo , have all come with full versions of Mobile office

Seems weird that HTC's own branded version would come with a restricted version ? a bit silly , but with most things WM , the soloution is merely a .cab file away :)

[Hands0n]

but with most things WM , the soloution is merely a .cab file away :)

Yea but, no but, yea ....... beyond the scope of the average punter - so HTC dropped the ball there, rather big time! I didn't bother trying to find a .cab to fix the problem though.

[hecatae]

What did you mainly use the N73 for?

[Ben]

Calls, texts, Java apps and pictures. Oh, and the calendar - I miss Active Standby now I'm using the W900i, though I suppose it's good enough.

I'm thinking W910i when it comes out, but no camera flash AFAIK :( It's crazy, I should really be able to find a handset that meets my needs...

[miffed]

BTW have you tried reflashing the N73 ? - I realise it sounds like it probably is a hardware fault , but worth a try surely ?

[Ben]

It wasn't very long ago since I last updated it, but I'll certainly have a play when I chance and hopefully get it back to Nokia if the problem persists. Bloody CPW, though, I really don't like going there for warranty work.

I hate the feeling that you can't rely on something. Mobile phones are pretty fundamental to us these days, so I was annoyed when I found out someone had been calling me all day and the phone hadn't flinched, and monumentally peeved off when I tried to call someone a few days later and all I got was Mars. But then the last time I had a phone I could really rely on was when I was using the Nokia 6230 - I guess there simply wasn't much to go wrong!

It's a shame that Nokia seem to be phasing out S40 for S60 even in the low-mid range now. But then if I was going to get another S40 I might as well get an SE given that the OS has similar capabilities but looks prettier.

The W960i also looks good - though I can't see any mention of HSDPA. I think it has WLAN, though, and a flash, which is something.

As for phones that are available now, I guess I'd consider the Nokia E65. That's about it, though, and I'm not impressed with the camera spec. HSDPA wouldn't have gone a miss either.

[miffed]

I hate the feeling that you can't rely on something. Mobile phones are pretty fundamental to us these days, so I was annoyed when I found out someone had been calling me all day and the phone hadn't flinched,


Of course , it completely defeats the object of a mobile , and puts you in a false sense of security !
I encountered this scenario with 3 (in the early days ) - it became very embarassing , because although it was my phone , I was using it as my main contact number at work - I realised I was missing some calls , but didn't realise the extent of the problem until I was summoned to HO one day , and while waiting to see the MD for a bollocking over my contactability - I noticed on the noticeboard were the words "Never works ! " next to my mobile number !!
This was also an issue for me on T-mobile in the one2one days - I would send texts and they would dissapear , people would send me texts and I'd never get them - I could ring my handset from my landline and get answerphone almost everytime , even though the phone was sitting next to me with 5 bars of signal !!
Pain in the neck because people automatically assume you are messing them about !

[Ben]

I'm glad you agree. I too remember the early days of Three. I'd intended, in my excitement, to move over to the e606 (LoL!) as my primary mobile. It didn't take long to realise that this would never happen. I'm sure they're great now, but to me they're still tarnished.

Similarly I remember the Z1010 on Orange 3G. Couldn't rely on the handset or the network once again. Even once I got the 6680 I was still experiencing missed call problems, and even today I still have trouble talking to people on Orange 2G when I'm in the office. Again, tarnished.

Vodafone, on the other hand (and I know you don't agree, and I know it's all subjective, but that's entirely the point) has never let me down, and neither have any of the handsets I have used on it really. I've always thought of whatever mobile I had on Vodafone to be the dependable one, the one I certainly take everywhere. So the N73 failing really touched a nerve :D Fortunately(?) all it has tarnished for me is Nokia's NSeries, which had been disappointment after disappointment anyway.

I know it makes no sense to base future perceptions of products and services on past events, but we do it anyway, and I perhaps do it more than most. T-Mobile's image, for example, has vastly improved in recent years - but I still remember them for what they were and, at the back of my mind, I know their network still isn't the best in the UK and that has caused me to resist taking out a contract with them thus far.

I'm really starting to want the E65 now, just because I know it's quick (for S60) and well put together. I think, coupled with my Vodafone SIM, it'd be excellent. It still retails at around £250, though, and while I'm used to buying SIM-Free I'd only normally buy handsets that I have idolised for some time and so can justify the price tag to myself.

I could, in theory, get an upgrade from Vodafone, probably for free though who really knows with them, but it'd put me back on a regular term-based contract. I love not having a contract.

To continue this rant and take it further off-topic, why do I love not having a contract (well, not a long term one) when I hardly ever change networks? Well, I don't like to feel 'trapped in'. If a service gets bad or if something better comes along I believe it is the consumers right to be able to call up and say "This isn't good enough, I want to cancel my account". The very idea that a long term contract (ie 12mo+) is necessary in order to have a postpaid mobile phone is just bizarre to me. It's not like the network has to install any infrastructure to provide the service. There's just the cost of the phone, but at the moment there isn't enough distinction between the cost of the contract and the cost of repaying the handset subsidy (Three are set to fix this somewhat in their new tariffs).

The root of my confusion and meandering is, of course, the iPhone. I want one, make no mistake, but I hadn't anticipated on buying a new phone before it came out. I can't see me taking an O2 contract, though initially I thought I would, and I despise prepay. There's also no guarantee it'll be easily unlockable and, if it is, an unlock will probably void the warranty.

So confused. Why can't it be like back-in-the-day when the 6680 came out? Then the decision was easy, there was one amazing phone (for the time) that had to be had.

[miffed]

I suppose "back in the day" , with 3G being a new fangled technology , it tended to be "upper end" handsets that had 3G capability - now it has become more common , 3G has seeped down through the ranks , and 3G handsets are available in all price brackets - i.e you are not guaranteed a top notch handset solely because it is 3G these days ..... not that you ever were really -
In some ways its progress I suppose , 3G is almost the norm now & there is less effort to make the handsets "special" , we have to take the good and bad with it I suppose

[Ben]

Mhmhmhm! Just had a peak at the N95 8GB on GSM Arena. Not only does it have a much better battery and more RAM, but it has an even bigger screen than its predecessor.

The initial incarnation of the N95 didn't do much for me, but this one sounds a little more interesting.

Still, even second gen, surely there's far too much to go wrong in these phones.