Switchblade and Jordan have been using their 9500's since late last year, so we thought it was time to ask them what they thing of The Communicator In Day to Day Use. See if you agree with them.
The Nokia 9500 After A Month Or So
I agree on most parts. A bit quicker would be nice, but not essential. Only webbrowsing should be a lot faster (at least on more difficult sites, like this one...)
The only problem you guys neglect to mention is the incompatibility between MS Office (in combination with XP SP2) and the 9500. This IS fixed in the new FW version, but everyone has to go to the trouble of updating.
PC Suite is updated, might have been improved (never had a 9210) but is not yet without problems unfortunately.
But as I said, I agree on all other parts, it is a great device
which FW version is the XP SP2 compatibility fixed? im getting my 9500 tomorrow and i gotta make sure i get the correct version...
Anything after V4.50. If it's still V4.44 you will encouter the problem
Delta737 wrote:The only problem you guys neglect to mention is the incompatibility between MS Office (in combination with XP SP2) and the 9500. This IS fixed in the new FW version, but everyone has to go to the trouble of updating.
TBH I didn't know about any compatability issues as I don't use M$ office, I use OpenOffice which is a much nicer suite to work with and it's free. I'm guessing if M$ Office has problems then that's another area where OO is better.
Delta737 wrote:PC Suite is updated, might have been improved (never had a 9210) but is not yet without problems unfortunately.
Aye the PC suite has it's problems, but it's nowhere near as problematic as the 9210 one, this one is much better thought out and a vast improvement.
I just tried SF Cave and damn, you were right Jordan, it sure is addictive! I'm not very good though, I've only made it 1955 feet so far...
A big thanks to Ewan for making SF Cave, and lets not forget the excellent brainteaser; Vexed either!
I've only used my 9300 for a couple of days now (quite intensively I might add), and it is the first Communicator I've owned so I cannot compare it to the 9210. But as far as comparing it to my previous UIQ and S60 devices, it really is in a whole other league. I just love the intuitive UI with all the keyboard shortcuts. And the built in applications are so much more thought out than the S60 and UIQ counterparts.
The build quality is great as well. It is indeed one small, classy looking communicator! And the screen is awesome for eBook reading and web browsing. My previous concerns about battery life seem to have been unfounded. Since my last charge about 17 hours ago it's been on all the time and in use a fair amount of the time, with the battery meter not dropping one single bar.
I really haven't found any significant negative sides to the phone yet. The only thing I can think of as a slight downside is the joystick - which I find to be a bit fiddly. I wish they'd used more of a bigger navigation pad on the inside, as I find myself using the arrow keys a lot of the time. And I also wish there was a Ctrl key on the right side of the keyboard as well. Oh yeah and the ' sign is unfortunately placed under the 1 key and you have to hit Chr (Alt) first, which is very inconvenient when you're thumb typing, but that's maybe only how it works on the Scandinavian keyboard layout.
As far as application launching goes it isn't any slower than any other Symbian phone I've used, but that may be due to my firmware version being a bit more recent (v. 4.53(0) dated 22-12-2004). It does have that white screen before the application is opened though. But I usually keep my most used apps open anyway - in which case switching between them is instantaneous.
For me the 9300 is the closed thing I've come to mobile perfection yet. 😃
I do envy 9500 users prancing around with their Wi-Fi though... :redface:
Raven wrote:I just tried SF Cave and damn, you were right Jordan, it sure is addictive! I'm not very good though, I've only made it 1955 feet so far...A big thanks to Ewan for making SF Cave, and lets not forget the excellent brainteaser; Vexed either!
I've only used my 9300 for a couple of days now (quite intensively I might add), and it is the first Communicator I've owned so I cannot compare it to the 9210. But as far as comparing it to my previous UIQ and S60 devices, it really is in a whole other league. I just love the intuitive UI with all the keyboard shortcuts. And the built in applications are so much more thought out than the S60 and UIQ counterparts.
The build quality is great as well. It is indeed one small, classy looking communicator! And the screen is awesome for eBook reading and web browsing. My previous concerns about battery life seem to have been unfounded. Since my last charge about 17 hours ago it's been on all the time and in use a fair amount of the time, with the battery meter not dropping one single bar.
I really haven't found any significant negative sides to the phone yet. The only thing I can think of as a slight downside is the joystick - which I find to be a bit fiddly. I wish they'd used more of a bigger navigation pad on the inside, as I find myself using the arrow keys a lot of the time. And I also wish there was a Ctrl key on the right side of the keyboard as well. Oh yeah and the ' sign is unfortunately placed under the 1 key and you have to hit Chr (Alt) first, which is very inconvenient when you're thumb typing, but that's maybe only how it works on the Scandinavian keyboard layout.
As far as application launching goes it isn't any slower than any other Symbian phone I've used, but that may be due to my firmware version being a bit more recent (v. 4.53(0) dated 22-12-2004). It does have that white screen before the application is opened though. But I usually keep my most used apps open anyway - in which case switching between them is instantaneous.
For me the 9300 is the closed thing I've come to mobile perfection yet. 😃
I do envy 9500 users prancing around with their Wi-Fi though... :redface:
Haha, yeah...I wrote that article a while ago...and i'm still playing SF Cafe, upto nearly 7000 now score wise.
I took delivery of my 9300 late last week, and although i've never actually compared opening times of the same application with my 9500, I would say it seems a little quicker, i'll have to see what firmware version it's running.
Like I said though, on the face of things the speed issue isn't a big concern for me, I mean what would you be doing in the 5 seconds you are waiting that makes it so bad that you simply won't use the device or choose something else?...to me some peoples response has been OTT to say the least.
I do actually prefer the 9300 for everyday use, it's a trade off between size and knowing if your going to use Wi-Fi that particular day. I've found that I tend to use Wi-Fi on a regular basis if it's there, but if not then it's not that big a deal as GPRS charges are coming down so much now it's not really an issue if all you do is download email headers and a bit of light www/wap browsing.
Having said that I still can't decide between them both so for now i'll juggle between the two until one comes out a clear favorite and i'll get shot of the other.
J2theIZZO wrote:i'm still playing SF Cafe, upto nearly 7000 now score wise.
Whoa, looks like I have a long way to go then... 😮
But I am getting better though 😊 :
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Switchblade wrote: "Though little third party software is available (always the way with a new device), I'm already finding most of what I need. I can edit my website on the 9500 and upload it easily, a task which I never found apps I was happy with for doing this on the 9210. I can chat with my friends using IRC, ICQ, MSN or other popular networks, all over a variety of connections from Wi-Fi to dial up. Perfect for keeping in touch when I'm abroad in hotels."
I'm interested in some tasks you're performing even without the proper programs have been published (to the best of my knowledge). How do you upload your files without a ftp application? And how do you connect to Irc? Maybe using www gateways?
An ftp and an irc program are still badly needed in my opinion.
YFTP (a particular version) does work on the 9500.
For IRC look at VIRC which is a Java midelt that does the job fine.
Rafe answered before me, it's all a case of seek and ye shall find. Along with trying those 9210 apps to see if they'll work.