Taking a giant step backwards — Nokia Nseries S60 5.0 phones (Nokia N97 and Nokia N97 mini)

rdcinhou 16 Jun 2009, 02:22

Got my white N97 NAM today.

Began bluetooth transfer of contacts from my Nokia 9300 to the N97.

Transfer is partial...didn't handle multiple mobiles or emails, fields didn't all match up and the photo thumbnails didn't come at all.

Display in the contacts detail display doesn't show even the full name.

Went to set up email accounts.

Built-in email client can't handle HTML email without resorting to the external browser.

Decided to bring over some bookmarks and browse the web. Configured nicely to my local access point with WPA2 encryption. Can't add or preconfigure for my other sites (parents, in-laws, work) without being there--another drawback! Nice feature though to filter out access points you don't like or want.

Nearly all websites visited identified the N97 as a mobile and gave reduced content (my Nokia 9300 could do both full and mobile content!).

Decided to put my own custom mp3 ringtones in the N97 (the built-in ones are B-A-D^6. File transfer says that the N97 cannot use the files....WHAT?!?! it can't recognize an mp3?!?

Other "quirks"...

The slide lock sometimes will display the screen in dim intensity and it may take 4-5 times to get full illumination.

Some displays go off into the wild blue yonder before finally coming back and recognizing the keyboard.

Getting used to the keyboard but really need to set it down on a hard surface to use both hands to get the shifted function keys. A nice feature is that it remembers the last special symbol used and offers it first the next time.

Picture-taking is VERY, VERY nice.

Back to the Thread Title...functionally I feel like I am taking a giant step backward in features from my Nokia 9300 (Symbian 80 OS) to the N97 (Symbian 60 OS). Do you think that's why they numbered the OS with a lower version number?

Oh, lastly...GPS has some troubles with position fixes...work showed about 300 yards east of where I really was. Latitude was fine, longitude was off!

After I left work and got in my car, GPS was on-the-money. Maps however are several years old--showing roads that no longer exist in my area of Houston.

Confused by the Speech set-up. Only voice to select is "Jane", but in the Voice recognition interactive demo in the Help applet, the voice is a male (let's call him "Bruce"😉.

I estimate that it will take another 4-5 nights to get everything set up nicely on this phone.

Meanwhile...anyone know of a good holder? It's too small for a shirt pocket--might slip out when you bend over. Actually it is MUCH smaller than it seems in the pictures and videos--or maybe my hands are just too big?

LJS 17 Jun 2009, 11:26

Starting to hear about a lot more problems/annoyances with the N97 now and I'm starting to re-consider my decision to get one. Many of the issues can possibly be sorted by firmware updates and so on but that still means putting up with, quite frankly, a lot of issues in the meantime.

From broken backlights to random reboots the N97 is starting to look a lot less than a "Flagship" handset.

munkiii 17 Jun 2009, 12:05

rdcinhou wrote:Went to set up email accounts.
Built-in email client can't handle HTML email without resorting to the external browser.
2 Options, either install Nokia Messaging, or click on the attatchment to view the email in the browser like you said, it's simple?
Can't add or preconfigure for my other sites (parents, in-laws, work) without being there--another drawback!
Whats the problem in setting them up when your actually at the access point?
Nearly all websites visited identified the N97 as a mobile and gave reduced content (my Nokia 9300 could do both full and mobile content!).
Usually there is a link at the bottom of pages to go to the full site.
Decided to put my own custom mp3 ringtones in the N97 (the built-in ones are B-A-D^6. File transfer says that the N97 cannot use the files....WHAT?!?! it can't recognize an mp3?!?
MP3 problem? i've never had problems with mp3's on Nokia Devices.
Oh, lastly...GPS has some troubles with position fixes...work showed about 300 yards east of where I really was. Latitude was fine, longitude was off!
Were you near many big buildings? As i'm sure you know, this can weaken the GPS signal.
Confused by the Speech set-up. Only voice to select is "Jane", but in the Voice recognition interactive demo in the Help applet, the voice is a male (let's call him "Bruce"😉.
I think you can install more voices by using the Nokia Map Loader on a pc.

RogerPodacter 17 Jun 2009, 16:19

to be quite honest, i dont know one phone that CAN set up an access point when you are not even at the location. how would you define the AP if the phone cant detect it? what phone CAN do this? seems a silly complaint to me, unless i'm missing something.

rdcinhou 17 Jun 2009, 16:24

Programming WAPs in advance of detection:

Actually I discovered that the N97 can do this. 😊

You have to go to Connectivity->Destinations->Add Access Point and then DECLINE to automatically detect. THEN you can enter the WAP SSID, WEP/WPA keys and other information.

This saves the trouble of doing this at each and every destination.

Now I've preconfigured for all of my WAPs and will have instant connectivity when I go to each.

UpperCASE 10 Jul 2009, 12:32

RogerPodacter wrote:to be quite honest, i dont know one phone that CAN set up an access point when you are not even at the location. how would you define the AP if the phone cant detect it? what phone CAN do this? seems a silly complaint to me, unless i'm missing something.

Actually the 5800 can do this as well, just as rdcinhou describes. For a hidden access point (not broadcasting it's name), it's the only way to do it!