Should I move from Windows Mobile to Nokia N95?

[dancingmatt]

Hi all

I've got a T-Mobile Vario and whilst it has the most features of any handset I've ever owned, it (like my previous Windows Mobiles) has just always been a bit disappointing in terms of speed in use, occasionally not answering calls when I try to answer them, etc. It's just let me down.

I'm thinking I've had enough of Windows Mobile and am going to go to a proper phone manufacturer - Nokia and their N95 superphone. My questions, if you have an N95 (regardless of whether you have used a Windows Mobile) are:

1. Can it read Gmail without going through the web browser - i.e. as POP mail?
2. Does it really only have speed dials on keys 2-9? Not more? (e.g. on previous phones you could dial 4 and then hold 5 and that would dial speedial 45)
3. When viewing webpages, I know it has pop-up overlays of your position on the page - but can it rerender a webpage into a column as wide as the phone screen?
4. Can you do "T9" dialling of contacts? I've never seen it anywhere but Windows Mobile but they've been doing it since the original Orange SPV - for example, if I dial 846 I get a list of options that are call the actual number 846 or every number in my contacts which matches 846 in T9 - i.e. Tim, Vin and so on...
5. Can you assign a speed dial to open a text addressed to someone? If not, how quickly can I get a new text message with someone's number in it?

I've read lots of user reviews already and I have seen that some people don't think the battery is up to scratch, but I won't be using WLAN, BT or GPS much. I've tried it in a shop and I like the look, feel and functionality of it. I just have specific questions as above. If you have the N95 and previously used any PPC or Windows Mobile then I'd really appreciate your thoughts on the differences and which you prefer,

Also, is it true that T-mobile have "3.5G" which is even faster? (That's what I was told in a T-mobile shop)

Is the N95 my new toy??

Thanks all

DM

[j.o.s.h.1408]

well in regards to the gmail pop stuff, yes it can access emails using POP. it gets delivered straight to where your text messages go

[alsenior]

1. yes
2.i think so but best check with someone who has one
3.yes i think so

the last two i have no idea. i use a n80 and the operating systems are nearly the same

[dancingmatt]

Thanks you two. I know you can set Gmail POP up but I have never made it work on my Vario!

Any more answers from everyone?

DM

[Aaron]

You can download a Java app if you want GMail outside of the web-browser. POP is another option, but the Java app is probably less hassle.

[Barkotron]

1. As said above, the java app is probably best for this - I think it's excellent: http://www.google.com/mobile/mail/index.html.

2. No idea, sorry.

3. I don't like the Nokia browser much, but Opera Mini does this, and is great, and free - http://www.operamini.com/.


Don't know about 4 or 5 either sorry, it's just not something I've tried to do...

"Also, is it true that T-mobile have "3.5G" which is even faster? (That's what I was told in a T-mobile shop)"

T-Mobile does, apparently, have HSDPA, which might be what they're talking about. According to the guys in the shop it's included with the web n walk subscription, which is one of the main reasons I went T-Mobile this time. If O2 had a data plan even remotely anywhere near WnW, I might well have stayed with them. Browsing and downloading does seem very fast (in central Reading, at least), but I have no idea how fast in actual numbers...

[dancingmatt]

Thanks all. Yes, I think they mentioned HSDPA. So this is more than 3G?

My decision to stay with T-mobile has been very simple - no other network has a data plan anything close to WnW. I don't need unlimited data (the old tariff I'm on has 40MB/month and I only got near it once), but the charges for 1 or 2Megs at other networks are bloody silly.

So the network is sorted, just whether the N95 will be great or a constant disappointment like the Windows Mobiles I've had...

[Barkotron]

Yeah, HSDPA is a faster version of 3g - I think it's more of an extension to the spec rather than anything particularly breakout. Apparently the N95 can manage 3.6Mb/s (!), but this would be dependent on what speed the network has available. Not sure what T-Mobile has rolled out at the moment.

As for the phone, so far I really like it, although I'm still waiting for my microSD card to arrive, which is annoying. There are a couple of minor irritations, but nothing more than I would have expected getting used to a new phone.

Jooiiiiinnn uuuuuuuussssssssssss....

[dancingmatt]

Hmmmm

Every time I buy something near to or on the cutting-edge, I end up, either shortly after or a few months down the line, kicking myself for buying something that I knew was possibly problematic.

I haven't done half the things I thought I would do when I bought my Vario because it's been slow, problematic and ropey since I bought it. Only recently I thought "next time I will buy a Nokia because they make solid phones" - but I'm reading lots of differing opinions...

DM