Ello, phone is up for a new contract and having been a Nokia N user for the last few years it seems their latest version (N97) is a bit poo. Any suggestions for a phone to move to instead othe rthan the i-phone?

Currently got an N82 which was really good but is getting a bit tatty.

Cheers,

N900

e-series? If I didn't have an iPhone I'd have a e72.

just seen the N900, will have a look and see what its reviews are like.

just seen the N900, will have a look and see what its reviews are like.

GSM arena seem to like it I think

Bear in mind the N900 aint a phone. It's an internet tablet that also happens to make phone calls. Bit of a difference there.

FWIW I had an N82, now have an N97 and I like it. I could go on at length about the differences and issues, but CBA just now.

🙂 cheers iA yeah once I saw that it got me thinking it would mean I wouldnt need to bother getting a notebook for the train and meetings etc.

You would give the N97 the thumbs up then?

The HTC Hero looks quite good too.

With the recent v20 firmware upgrade, the N97 got a lot better. Compared to the N82, the camera's about the same – not as good in low light (LED flash vs the xenon), the GPS works well, but not quite as good as the N82s. Web browsing's lots better, email etc loads better with the keyboard, I love the 32gigs for my music, plus an 8gig microSD card for my satnav maps, and the FM transmitter to get all my music in the car. The big screen is ace, after even a week I found myself wondering why touching the screen on other phones didn't press the buttons.

However, it's still got a couple bugs and niggle which show up sometimes, but most modern phones do. And it's not as slick as an iPhone UI wise. iPhone not a consideration for me – far too expensive, with crap camera comparatively. And nokia (now Ovi) maps is a killer app for me. If I went back to when I bought the N97, would I buy it again? Yes.

However, if you don't need the masses of storage (will 16gig do?) or the FM transmitter, consider the N97 mini.

I'd describe it as a smart phone for geeks, whereas the iPhone's a smart phone for dumb people 😉

*dons flameproof suit, bring it on iphone fanboys!*

everyone i know who has moved on to the 97 after having a 95/96 loves it

Nokia seem to be being a bit more proactive with the software updates than they were with the previous N models

Oh, but I'd swap my N97 for an n900, but that's cos I'm an epic geek, and love the idea of being able to get at a terminal on my phone and cross-compile stuff for it 🙂

Nokia X6 ?
Getting one tomorrow. Smaller and lighter than the N97. 32g memory, A-GPS, capacative touch screen, etc
Looks good and comes with 12 months of free, unlimited music downloads.

I think the N900 is edging things although the thought of it getting droppped in a pint by a drunk friend makes me slightly fearful 😀

The 97mini is also running a close second.

When I rang Orange they had to read a statement saying they wouldn't be selling the N97 or mini, is this just because of the Skype issue or is there any more to it?

another n97 user here, v2 of the firmware (had to change the firmware code, piece of piss to do) has just about kept it out of the bin, Opera as the browser is very good, the 32gb is great as is Playlist DJ (once its finished deep profiling my music again, had to hard reset). The most important things with the n97 is that you have to reconfigure it once you get it, stopping it saving to C: etc and then its a pretty tasty bit of kit, Ovi maps is ok, the Facebook & (the eventually arriving) myspace apps are clunky but that should all be sorted on the 17th of this month when they release the Nokia Social Networking app. Ovi as a store is more akin to Poundland (and I HATE poundland) than Apples M&S but its just about serviceable. The touch screen is good and the camera whilst a descent megapixel doesn't always outshine my original n95. I got my white n97 from phones4u and I understand that they give around £100 for old n series devices on trade in (although my dear old n95 was lost to the motorway!).

Is it a good phone? yes, does it have issues? yes. would I get it again, well thats probably 50/50, I'd take a very good look at the Pre but I'd stay away from the googlephones/android because its basically handing over all your personal info & whereabouts to a big firm in mountain view who's motto is "do no evil" really?!?

Get a 5800 instead. Very pleased with mine.
Phone was free & £15/m with unlimited data. Rarely use the laptop now for web browsing. That Nokia Maps Sat-Nav things is very good. The Google Earth application is also very good, especially the traffic thing that shows the roads in green-yellow-red depending on how busy they are. I-Phone is nice but still a bit pricey.

Interesting, cheers for the insights. Think I will do some more research, not in a hurry to jump into a new contract.

A lot depends on price I guess. Nowadays I haggle down my contract at renewal time cos I don't want a phone (expect about £150 credit ontop of whatever discount off a contract they'll do) and buy the phone separately from wherever. I like not being tied down with my phone. Also means I'm not always enticed to upgrade all the time (but can upgrade more often if I feel like it).

FWIW, my N97 is effectively costing me £22 a month with unlimited everything (including the phone price, texts/calls are limited, but to far more than I'll ever use).

Out of interest who are you with IA?

Get a 5800 instead. Very pleased with mine

I'm thinking of getting rid of my 5800 and getting an N97 – that extra screen space makes a huge difference to web browsing, and a keyboard would be nice too.

The N900 is excellent, but heavy. It really is a mini-computer pretending to be a phone.

I'm on O2.

Screen on the N97 is also more responsive, and transflective – which means it works better outdoors.