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Nokia N95 or N95 8GB

16 replies · 9,302 views · Started 09 January 2008

toggle 09 Jan 2008, 20:28

Hello.

I hope you can help as I am currently in a bit of a dilema. My �15 a month contract is now finished with O2. When I went to renew with O2 they threw my 2 years of loyalty out the window and were only willing to give my plans any new user could have.

The problem is I love the N95 however since seeing it, much prefer the N95 8GB. O2 are willing to give me 400 minutes, 1000 texts, unlimited calls to O2 phones and a N95 8gb for free all for a total of �30 over 18 months. The problem is I only use about 100 texts a month, I don't know anyone with O2 phones and O2 has no mobile internet plans!!

So without any internet plan, although a good deal I really want to use the Internet and GPS on this phone.

So far I have come across the following:
Vodafone: N95 8gb, 300 Minutes, 250 Texts, 120mb Internet, 1 Year Sat Nav = �35 a month

Three: N95, 500 mix (comb min and txt), 1gb Internet = �32 a month

T-Mobile: N95, �90 allowand (comb min and text), 1Gb Internet = �32.50 a month

The problem is I am a student and will be going Uni this year so Ideally I wanted a contract of about �25 a month but doesnt look possible; specially considering I need about 300/400 minutes and 100 texts.

Basically, Is the N95 8gb much better than the N95? I will mostly be using it for the sat nav, phone calls, texting and the internet. I am really stumped what company to go with. Any advice?

Thank you in advance, but sorry for the long message.

P.S: Is there any other phones you could suggest but cheaper? I ideally want a phone with sat nav.

bartmanekul 09 Jan 2008, 20:48

You could get the 6110 navigator, which is a GPS enabled phone. However, it doesnt have the camera (only 2mp), no accelerometer, no wireless, and smaller screen.

But its a lot cheaper. Its free on a �30 a month contract, or �25 on a �25 a month contract. You wont get a N95 without paying a lot up front, or a �35+ contract.

It is a farcry from the N95, but still a good phone. High speed net, camera with flash, and GPS. And of course, symbian S60 OS which means most apps that work on the N95, work on that.

digitaldanuk 09 Jan 2008, 23:43

i have the n95 8gb and a colleague has the straight n95.

I would say the 8gb wins hands down. The screen is bigger but the phone is the same size (buttons are more compact which is nice), its a lot less "clunky" - runs much faster, and generally a lot nicer lol

go with n95 8gb if u can - have you thought about sim free? I got mine sim free from pixmania but the price is HUGE now for some reason! ( i didnt pay 500 squids!)

Unplugged 10 Jan 2008, 09:54

toggle wrote:Basically, Is the N95 8gb much better than the N95? I will mostly be using it for the sat nav, phone calls, texting and the internet. I am really stumped what company to go with. Any advice?

In short no.

Once whatever provider you are on has upgraded to v20 ( or you can debrand and have it straight away ) there is no reason to upgrade to the N95 8GB. Get an 8GB card for your N95 and use the saved cash to hike to a better contract. Have a look at T-mobile direct they quite often offer deals like "25% for life" or "�5 a month of your line rental" if you go direct. These are not offere outside of t-mobile btu they run quite often.

When I started with t-mobile I got 25% of and when I renewed they matched thier current �5 a month and left the original offer intact so I pay �30 a month for Flex 35 Web and Walk.

Of course unless you like paying good money for a slightly larger screen and smaller buttons then go ahead. The Ram issue in pre v20 n95s is now a mute point and if you dislike the battery on the N95 then upgrading is going to offer little new.

J-Ho 10 Jan 2008, 23:26

I'm currently in the same situation - 18mth O2 contract is coming to an end in a few weeks but not sure who to go with for my N95 8Gb.

The 3 deal looks tempting, but I would want to unbrand and update the phone. What would I lose if I did this - the 3 pre-installed MSN and Skype apps? Couldn't I just install Fring, or does the 3 mobile internet block heaps of ports?

I would also need a sim-free phone as I would be using a dual sim. How much is it to unlock Voda and 3 handsets?

Any news on when T-Mobile might be offering the 8Gb?

The other option for unlimited data is to buy an iPhone, sell it and buy a sim-free N95 8Gb!

Lordhawkwind 11 Jan 2008, 00:28

I did exactly the same research but had a bigger budget and the 8gb won easily.

For instance the all black casing looks awesome compared to the plasticky looking silver of the N95-1. The 8gb memory is more than enough because if I need to I will transfer things onto my PC.

My other consideration was the N95-1 was old technology even including the new firmware. It was catching up that's all.

Just my 2p's worth.

😉

zxon 11 Jan 2008, 01:09

I'm sorry but why do people insist on saying that the N95-1 was "old technology"? It's been pointed out many times that the technology between the two is 95% the same. The 8Gb one had tweaks granted but, to be honest, only the extended battery life gives it any kind of edge over the N95-1. Comparisons between the two have been done to death on this forum so it's really up to the user which is better for them.

dchky 11 Jan 2008, 02:23

TazUk wrote:O2 do an "unlimited" data bolt-on for �7.50 per month - capped at 200MB

I'm not sure if this is the point you are trying to make 😊 But 200 megabytes is tiny, and not 'unlimited'

In Asia for about $40 US per month (�25) you can get completely unlimited data in the true sense of the word 'unlimited' - not sure how this compares to fully unlimited plans on your side of the world, but here unlimited means no upper limit. (The only exception is that you don't disrupt other users, so if you are sucking down a couple of hundred gigabytes per month, you're likely to have your connection throttled a little bit if you do it too regularly) You wont get charged more though.

demonwithin 11 Jan 2008, 06:04

Its not just minor software tweaks the 8GB version has double the ram as the standard N95! This should help to future proof for a while and allow bigger more powerful apps to be run without memory full errors.

Also it means you can have a lot of apps running in the background 😊.

bigbadnewill 11 Jan 2008, 09:13

I have the 8GB and love it. I got a really good deal on vodafone so couldn't say no. I much prefer the look on the 8gb version personally, and the extra ram is great.

Having said that, if i hadn't got such a good deal i'd have prob gone for the regular n95 to save a bit of cash.

zxon 11 Jan 2008, 15:18

Yes, we all know it has twice as much RAM but that doesn't make it new technology does it? Since demand paging was included in the N95-1's last firmware, it's not so much of an issue now.

bigbadnewill 11 Jan 2008, 16:18

zxon wrote:Yes, we all know it has twice as much RAM but that doesn't make it new technology does it? Since demand paging was included in the N95-1's last firmware, it's not so much of an issue now.

But, even though the n95-1 has demand paging, i reckon it couldn't handle as many apps as the 8GB version still. Although I haven't done any tests, so feel free to prove me wrong people!

And like I said, the ram is not a big enough reason to buy the 8GB in itself. I would have got the regular one if I couldn't get the 8gb cheap.

sturgeon 11 Jan 2008, 16:47

I like the screen on the N95 8Gb and the extra RAM is cool, but I haven't had a single RAM related problem with my N95-1 since v20 firmware came out.

My concern with the N95 8Gb is the lack of camera lens protection (would be a disaster for me) and also removable storage (I'm carrying approx. 10Gb of data around at the moment - and this will just grow).

I think the resale value of the N95 8Gb will suffer as soon as the 12Gb and 16Gb micro SDHC cards appear.

s.

bigbadnewill 11 Jan 2008, 17:04

Yeah, the camera lens protection is a big thing for some people. It makes no difference to me really, none of my previous phones have ever had it, and the lens stays fine. But then I never have anything else in my pocket other then the phone.

I agree about the internal storage too, it can be a pain not being able to remove it. But then again, i hardly use the 8gb, only for a few videos, songs etc.

But, for me it'd still be the 8GB, it just looks nicer i thinks.