Thinking about Nokia N97

Right, here goes my 0.02p's worth....

For the record, although I have never owned one, I have used my flatmate's and have to say, I think the E90 is a fantastic device. THe build quality, usabiity is great, although nowadays, it might be considered a little bulky?

The keyboard is HUGE on the E90 and this where you find a big difference on the N97, which is way smaller, and has only 3 rows of keys, whereas the E90 has SIX !!

Perhaps the smaller advantages of the N97 are the 3.5mm standard jack plug, large built in mass memory, TV out capability and of course the slighly better camera, 5mp compared to 3.2mp. These are the about the only things my flatmate craves for his E90. As technology has moved on, the E90 could maybe be manufactured in a much slimmer version, which if it was, I would be very interested in.

THe E90 is still hugely popular out here in Saudi, and still sells brand new ( unlocked ) in quite a few phone shops.

The N97 does of course have the touchscreen, which when it works, works well IMHO, and these days I use Opera 5 Mini Beta version for browsing, which is great to use, and is how other apps for the phone should work. There is a new Firmware version due out any day now for the N97, so if you are going to get one, then wait until this version is released. At the moment, there still are few teething problems - yes, I know, four months after release!

I do think though that anyone going from an E90 keyboard to the N97 keyboard will take some time to adjust. The dialler is on the touchscreen and his its own little pop up button to press.

The N97 Mini is AFAIK, just missing the D-Pad found on its bigger namesake's keyboard.

Otherwise, the N97 can pretty much do the things the E90 can, run Data and Voice calls at the same time, good for browsing ( using Opera ) , good for watching movies, music etc.

Another consideration for you might be the N900? A bit more inline with the E90 I think.

Good luck.

Thanks nottmbantam,
That is good information. I am currently using my E62 but have them both ready to go. The E62 does a lot of things, many that the E90 can do but doesn't have all the feature as the E90. I like them both very much. The advantage of the E62 is that you can use it with one hand if needed.

I was looking at the comparison of the E90 and the N97 and like you are saying I didn't really see much difference other than the camer a little bit better and the touch screen. Actually my E90 takes great photos. I was surprised when I saw them.

I might just keep what I have for now. I did look quicky at the N900 but didn't do the comparison like I did with the N97. I will have to do that too.

Thanks,
Bob

When you like to choose a one handed , Nokia S60 smartphone , I think the choice will be :
N97 mini : + screen , C: memory , qwerty (twohanded) , touch
N86 : + photo and video camera
E72 : + QuickOffice , qwerty , touch navigation pad
E75 : + QuickOffice , qwerty + phone keyboard
The N900 is more like a , two handed , computing device : landscape using mode , screen , touch , qwerty , Maemo/Linux facilities) with a build-in phone (phone also portrait mode) .

Steve Litchfield has made a big Choice Grid : http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/grid.htm

😊 Regards jApi NL

AFAIK, the N900 slide out keyboard, does not 'tilt' and angle upwards like the N97, it just slides out flat, more like the E75. But then the N97 screen can ONLY tilt, it does does not lie flat.

The E90 does of course, do both, angle and flat.

If I was an E90 user, I think I would want a slide out keyboard, and at the moment, with Nokia phones, can only think of the E75 ( much smaller screen ) the N97 and the N900 with such capabilities. ( are there any other Nokia's I missed? )

THere are of course other manufacturers, eg HTC Touch Pro 2 anyone?

I am actually waiting for an E90 with N900 capabilities . Same size and formfactor as E90 or even a bit bigger wouldn't be of any problem to me . Will improve fysical approach and use , like 9210
BTW , does N900 , beside FM transmitter , also have a FM radio ?

😊 Regards jApi NL

jApi NL wrote:I am actually waiting for an E90 with N900 capabilities . Same size and formfactor as E90 or even a bit bigger wouldn't be of any problem to me . Will improve fysical approach and use , like 9210
BTW , does N900 , beside FM transmitter , also have a FM radio ?

😊 Regards jApi NL

Well, according to the webpage:

http://www.nokia.co.uk/find-products/all-phones/nokia-n900/specifications

looks like no FM Radio. As you say, def has a FM Transmitter.

Found two discussions about N900 with/out FM Radio .

http://talk.maemo.org//forum/thread/32030/
http://conversations.nokia.com/2009/08/27/finding-maemo-the-new-nokia-n900/

😊 Regards jApi NL

Good info from you all. I don't know at this time. I would think the N97 Mini might be the one if I can do many things one handed. I read in some books that the N97 touch screen isn't that reliable--not sure if that is true, but it also said that some of things have been fixed in the mini. The screen on the mini looks like its big enoug about 3.2 inches.
Thanks,
Bobby

I think the things which have been sorted out on the N97 mini will also be sorted on the N97 when the newest FW upgrade is out ( anyday now - whenever you're ready, Nokia, we're waiting.....)

I find the touchscreen on the N97 pretty responsive when the phone is working. Of course, when it freezes up, that is a different story. But as mentioned earlier, I use Opera Mini 5 beta, which I just love using, and occasionally Opera does crash, but I really do think it's one of the best apps for the N97 in terms of using the N97's capabilities and features.

I looked again at the N900 - I do like the look of the phone, the screen seems huge, and the prospect of Maemo software does intrigue me. Certainly the keyboard looks an improvement on the N97 and more in line with an E90.

The last two weeks I've thought of getting rid of the N97, maybe getting a Samsung i8910 or the new SE Satio, but a couple of things against each of those phones makes me think perhaps I'm better off just waiting for the N97 to keep getting better with newer FW fixes?

Thanks for the info. If you are one web site with video does the N97 play it OK???? I find that with my E62 and my E90 it brings up the place where the video should be and there is the outline of where the video should be but there is no sound or picture???
I am use Opera and it didn't work. Sometimes Skyfirs will work on somethings and I found another one called Bolt. Bolt works on my E62--not videos, but the program but will not work at all on my E90. I click on it and it does nothing.

I don't know if the video part is the phone or the web brower. Both phones play movies just fine that I have downloaded to my SD card but just don't off the web.

Any suggestions please???

Thanks,
Bobby

Hi, about the N900
You have a huge preview of the phone at my-symbian, you can read it here

http://www.my-symbian.com/other/preview_n900.php

Also on the forum you can get a lot of info

IMO I think an N97 can't replace the wonderful E90, the N900 is much closer to it then anything else. I'm more and more thinking about upgrading to the N900 as replacment for my E90.

The part about the FM radio I quote:

It is still unclear whether the N900 has an FM radio or not. Official specs do not mention it and there's currently no trace of it on the device, but remembering how it looked the same (and that even several months after the device started shipping) in case of the N800 Tablet until software enabling it was suddenly and unexpectedly released by Nokia, it doesn't have to mean anything. So we'll have to wait and see.

UPDATE: It has been confirmed to me that the FM radio chip is included. However, the device will ship with no FM radio software preinstalled. It will be created and made available for download by Maemo community, though.

The same with an other strange issue wit the N900, in the official specs, there isn't anything said about infrared, but in the review can be read that is has an irDA port next to the camera that works.

rootytooty wrote:Thanks for the info. If you are one web site with video does the N97 play it OK???? I find that with my E62 and my E90 it brings up the place where the video should be and there is the outline of where the video should be but there is no sound or picture???
I am use Opera and it didn't work. Sometimes Skyfirs will work on somethings and I found another one called Bolt. Bolt works on my E62--not videos, but the program but will not work at all on my E90. I click on it and it does nothing.

I don't know if the video part is the phone or the web brower. Both phones play movies just fine that I have downloaded to my SD card but just don't off the web.

Any suggestions please???

Thanks,
Bobby

since the firmware update 210 you can see flashvideos straightaway on the browser.

Although there are natural comparisons with the N97 nd the E90, I for one, don't think the N97 was ever intended as a replacement / successor to the E90.

I tend to the see the N97 as the N series evolving, and saw it as a successor to my N95. Having used the N97 for nearly four months, I think Nokia were aiming it at the 'internet' users, and the social networking users.

I also don't think the N900 is meant as a successor the E90, although form factor , layout and size of keybaord is similar.

I still feel there is room in the stable for an updated communicator, one that has all the features of the N97/ N900 but with a larger easier to use keyboard, and will wait with interest if there is a new 'Communicator' lined up for the near future.

When using Opera Mini , most of the time you cannot find the video on the Website . Opera Mini simply doesn't show (render) the video . Only when there is a link to e.g. YouTube , one can view the Video in Real Player .
Instead , when you want to see the Video , open the same Webpage using the Nokia Web-browser . Click a few times on the video and : voila !

Edit : see also this thread :
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/forum//forum/thread/89772/

😊 Regards jApi NL

hi there
i have an e90, and through the last 3 days i've played with my boss's n97 (trying to configure different things), and not only one time i wanted to throw it out the window, it's a nice toy, but once u r used to e90 it seems that using the e97 it's like trying to run with your shoe lases tied together. ok it is faster, you have the touch screen - nice - but it's still a N series.... in multitasking is very hard to operate because of the lack of dedicated buttons (keypads) - shortcuts etc.
nice phone but if you are using the "office" E series functions, it would be impossible to me even to think to this change ( the e90 for n97). sorry for my english ...

Your English is just fine. Thank you for your very objective report on the two phones. The more I read and hear from folks like you have seen and touched the N97 and have an E90, I think my E90 sounds very good and sure not worth the trade. I can't find anyone in the States that has them for sale so that one can look at it and play with it.

Thanks,
Bobby