Anyone have experience with the Nokia E71?

[Omega_Precision]

I was wondering if anyone have any experiences with this particular phone? I've watched videos and reviews on this phone and for the price, this can be dollar for dollar one of the best phones out.

I would like another iPhone but it won't let me use my Google Voice #



Next to the iPhone

[SLRdude]

I have mixed feelings on it.
Not even close to being in the same league as the iPhone.

[Omega_Precision]

Chip,

Love the real time responses by people in here

What are the pros and cons?

It seems like a very nice phone.

I'm just looking for something new.

[SLRdude]

Originally Posted by Omega_Precision

Chip,

What are the pros and cons?

It seems like a very nice phone.

I'm just looking for something new.

Pros

Size.
Very thin.
Metal body.
Good quality feel to it.
Symbian OS has TONS of support.
Typical high quality Nokia reception and sound quality.
Great battery life.

Pros

Symbian OS. Not always the most intuitive. Also, like Windows Mobile, programs run in the background eating up your RAM. Have to remember to check for running programs and kill them from time to time or you will have a VERY sluggish device.

Ridiculously slow processor speed. Good luck trying to load and watch a movie that is more than a minute or two in length. It simply does not have the processing power to handle that.

Proprietary headphone jack. Can't use your own headsets unless you buy bulky ugly adapters that are prone to being lost.

No USB charging. This annoys the heck out of me. Also, it does not use the standard Mini USB like the BlackBerry devices.

No HTML email.

Did I mention that is slow?

Small screen not suitable for real internet browsing.

Sub par music player. And that's being kind.

So so camera.

Inability to really customize the look and feel of the home screen.

You never know when you have an email. The icon is so ridiculously small, that you can hardly notice it. You really have to look for it. It's just a "@" sign about 4 pixels tall.

The email is a mess really and that's the biggest thing for me.

I have access to just about every phone that AT&T sells and I just got this one a few weeks ago.
Before this I used a BlackBerry Bold, which I loved as a whole, but I did not care for the keypad on it. I prefer the Curve style keys. As a result, I did not reply to a lot of emails because I did not like the feel of the keypad.

So I switched to the E71.
Now I reply to even less emails because I never know when an email comes in, I do not know that I have one when I look at the screen, it takes too many clicks to get to the email, it is hard to read due to the lack of HTML, it is virtually impossible to view attachments. Oh... and I hate replying to emails because it is too difficult to write back properly. All the cool features of the BlackBerry are missing: Auto capitalize, double space for a period, automatic apostrophe in words like "can't" or "didn't". Etc Etc.

All in all, I am being very picky, I know.
My life revolves around email, and when it comes to that... it is nowhere near the experience you get on a BBerry or the iPhone.

Fortunately, AT&T allows me to keep BlackBerry BES, Direct Push and Good Messaging on my account so I switch devices all the time lol.

I carry the E71 for about a week at the time, then I go back to the Bold. Then I go to an iPhone. After getting tired of carrying two iPhones, I go to something else.

[SLRdude]

At 99 dollars, which is the AT&T price point, it's a good device especially if you DO NOT use it for business and rely heavily on email.

While at Best Buy the other day, I noticed that T-Mobile wants 300 dollars for the E71. That's would be a monumental waste of money.

the truth is this: 2 years ago, those would have been outstanding devices.
then a company named after a fruit decided to make a smart phone. And now everything else seems antiquated by comparison.

[SLRdude]

Originally Posted by Omega_Precision

I would like another iPhone but it won't let me use my Google Voice #

I use Google Voice on my iPhone.
Since Apple did not approve the app, I just use the web app for it and I have a shortcut on the home screen. Not as quick as a dedicated app, but it does the job.

[Omega_Precision]

I kind of expected the cons if compared to BB devices and iPhones.

The nit-picking is what I want to hear because it looks like I am probably going to pass but I like it's style.

I was hoping it would flip through menus and do other things as quick and intuitively like the iPhone.

[SLRdude]

Originally Posted by Omega_Precision

I kind of expected the cons if compared to BB devices and iPhones.

The nit-picking is what I want to hear because it looks like I am probably going to pass but I like it's style.

I was hoping it would flip through menus and do other things as quick and intuitively like the iPhone.

It's not a bad device at all and if you have AT&T, it is also A LOT cheaper than T-Mobile. It also uses Symbian S60 3.2 vs the T-mobile version is S60 3.1.
If it would SUCK, I would not use it. To give you an example, I gave up on an HTC Touch Diamond Pro (HTC Fuze) after about 30 minutes of use!

Try it. AT&T has a 30 days policy so you can always take it back.
However... if email is your life... BBerry is still the best way to go.

[mikey]

I know what you mean by trying something new. I always go back to the iPhone other phones just don't come close.