Nokia N97 poor - suggested alternatives?

[Whealie]

I needed new functions on my mobile - not just email etc but a decent internet view plus twitter and facebook etc.

The obvious choice was the Apple iPhone, because I also run Macs.

But the iPhone is tied to O2, which is shoddy service and I have been with Vodafone for years. I have also been a Nokia user for a long time.

I was recommended the Nokia N97. I specifically asked if it used the same charger as older Nokias and was told it does. It doesn't - unless you carry around with you an adapter. It uses a micro USB and this is in the side (holding the phone as a phone), so you cannot easily have it plugged in while using it to make calls.

It also cannot be charged while sitting in a handlebar mounted waterproof phone holder. This is vital as the bluetooth on it will run the battery flat in 14 hours, whether actually connected or not (my previous Nokia lasted two days).

Oh and the design means there is no way of answering the phone just by pressing a button - you have to slide your finger along a flashing green line - not sure I can do that with bike gloves on.

Since I have had the N97 I have had nothing but trouble with it in addition to all its flaws. There is no Mac software and even the companies that, in the past, have been quick to provide fixes have been unable to synch the contacts (I can now synch the calendar).

The Nokia has a far too slow processor so cannot cope and takes forever to do anything. Having now looked this problem up on the internet it is a common complaint.

I have had to to do two software updates to fix problems and I have only had it one week. I have now been told I need to reinstall the first update as every time I turn it on it insists I set up a new email account.

There is a special helpdesk number for the phone but I have spent more than a day in total on the phone to it and it is often a long wait as so many mightily hacked off customer are trying to get through.

Applications such as Tweedeck won't run on it. I have had to reinstall BBC iPlayer as the pre-installed version did not function.

I could go on but you get the picture.

So anyone know if I can buy an factory unlocked iPhone from Italy or Australia or somewhere and use it on Vodafone? Or any other suggestions?

[StumpyFingers]

Have you looked at the Glofish?

[j]

Roomer has it you can find the unlock codes to free up the I phone from O2 on the interweb thingy. A sales man Inow has already done it.

[Mabels Old Man]

It must be possible because there are a lot of unlocked I phones on E bay

[j]

Unlock iPhone 2G, 3G & 3Gs 3.0 - iPhone Unlock Software - iPhone 3.0 Unlock
there are loads of these on the WEB ask mr Google.

[Zenarchy]

This might not be any use, but have you considered a little netbook to carry in addition to a simpler phone that does the phone related stuff you need better?

You can get them with built in 3g modems that'll work with a vodafone broadband sim (I'm using an eeepc 901 with one - though not all of the 901s have the modem so you'd need to check if you were looking at that particular model and there are some other things to check if you were buying that particular one too - though other manufacturers probably have them built in too). I got a pay as you go mobile broadband sim from vodafone with credit that doesn't expire and it slides in right under the battery so no dongles hanging out of it - though there are monthly deals from all networks that offer better prices per GB if you use it a lot. You can pick up the sims alone minus the dongle from ebay (vodafone don't sell them like this directly - only with dongles).

It's a bit more to carry, but mine is small and light,battery life is pretty reasonable (extended life batteries are also available), and it'll be much better for browsing the web or blogging/twittering etc. and run much faster than any phone as far as I know. Not much more than carrying a book really. In sleep mode it comes straight on when you open the case so convenient too.

Price wise probably about the same price or less than the phones you're considering too. Plus it has a real keyboard, higher resolution, bigger screen, better connectivity etc. than any phone I can think of.

If you don't mind a bit of simple hacking you can run OSX on them too so connection to your mac related stuff shouldn't be a problem (assuming the features you need can be made to work in OSX but if not then they'll run XP, linux or related operating systems like - Good OS - gOS and Cloud operating systems - which looks promising). I'd guess there are even windows utilities that'll synch things up with your mac easily.

I haven't tried OSX myself yet - but I know a lot of people have and have even set them up dual booting between operating systems - there's lots of info online about this.

I looked into the 'phone to do everything' approach myself, but it seems there's always going to be a compromise there as the things that make a phone good seem at odds with what makes a useful device for the internet or doing even basic work (maybe when projection technology gets better and cheaper and they build it into phones more then it'll change but until then a netbook and phone is a much better choice for me at least).

[alpslapper]

Unfortunately I'm tied into Vodafone for the next 20 months. I've never been connected to such a poor network. I'm also tied into a contract for the Blackberry 9000.

While it's not a bad phone per sae, the battery life is absolutely diabolical. I wouldn't recommend it.

It has facebook, Utube etc, good internet browsing, is exellent for email, but make a few phonecalls and the battery is pancaked. There's been an official update for it recently, but it made little or no difference to anything.

I think the netbook/dongle is a good idea. The little netbook I'm on now can fit easy in my tankbag, runs everthing I need for work and home, is light, tiny, and fully charged I get almost 5 hours continuous use from it.

Coupled with the Nokia 6xxxx something or other, (cant remember which one it is, it's a works phone) I have all I need for work and play.

[Zenarchy]

Sorry to take the thread slightly off topic, but what was the problem you were having with vodaphone alpslapper?

I've found their broadband sim pretty good so far (though admittedly I haven't been all that far with it yet). I'll probably stick with the broadband sim as it's the only one available in the UK that allows true pay as you go without the credits expiring.

But I was just about to switch my mobile number over to an asda sim (much better prices than virgin which seems to have gone up) and asda appear to use the vodafone network. Wondering if I should take the risk now or just find a dual sim phone or card so i can use both, now you mention this.

P.S. Back on topic - Out of interest I just checked out the price of a new iphone - they seem pretty pricey - for the price of even their basic model you'd get a good netbook with plenty of memory, an external portable usb drive or an upgraded bigger/faster solid state drive, and a decent sturdy phone and still have a good chunk of change left over for a gps and a point and shoot camera. That combination would offer everything the iphone does, and although it'd mean more to carry - each of those elements would be an improvement on the iphone in each area imho, and if anything happened to one of them it's less of a loss too (not sure I'd trust myself on the bike with an iphone if the number of times I've dropped my old nokia is anything to go by - but then it's built like a brick and refuses to die).

[Whealie]

I carry my Macbook with me a lot so I don't want a notebook, but I need to use twitter and facebook, the web and email, from something in my pocket.

I know I can buy an iPhone unlocked but I have not been able to tell, categorically, whether or not there will b issues with using it on Vodafone. Buy an O2 one and unlock and everytime it does a software update it will lock to O2 again, that is certain,

But some people claim to have unlocked models from Australia and Italy where the regulators have banned Apple from linking to one service provider only as uncompetitive. Those phones, they claim, update without ever locking.

The iphone would not be perect to be honest - something a bit smaller and with a push button on the front to answer calls but with the pull out keyboard woud be better.

Possibly a Blackberry?

I was hoping there might be someone here who knew about these things.

[blue skies]

How about one of the HTC range. A mate of mine has one and rates it highly. Also the gadget show on channel 5 has always rated them sometimes over the iPhone.

...and I'm not a gadget nerd, I just like watching Suzy Perry