Just for the record N97

I'm pleased that your phone has worked so well for you Mike, and it is encouraging to know that there are some N97's out there that perform as they were designed to.

I disagree with your conclusion though regarding user error / bad programs. I've been a Symbian user for several years, so I feel I know how to use the phone, and I have not installed anything on the phone in the early months, but this still lead to all sorts of problems.

There are phones out there that do not function properly, and this is not due to user error OR bad programs.

Unless of course you count the N97's OS as "bad" software.

My N97 is now behaving pretty much, there are a few items recently which count use some improvement for stability...

Occasional WSOD...but as long as I have a charger handy I can remedy that in a few minutes.

Rare but surprising auto-self-reboot.

Facebook mode lock-up (found a work-around by removing from home screen and reinstalling to home screen).

Maps getting "forgetful"...voice navigation ends, but map displays and follows route.

Email not auto-updating (no indication of connection loss) until reboot.

Web browser occasional lock-up but disappears after reloading Web.

I think Dave Cozens nailed it when he said the biggest part of the problems with the N97 is "dodgy" software in the WidgetUI routines provided by Nokia.

Mine was unstable before I'd loaded any apps other than Nokia packages (messaging etc) onto it and it's still unstable. V20 is a marked improvement for me but still having problems with limited C: (have intalled updated Ovi Maps and have mey messaging directed at C: as got fed up resetting it after connecting phone to PC other than that have religiously directed everything to E😊 keeps hovering around 30MB no matter how frugal I am. Programmes keep running out of RAM Nimbuzz Nokia Messaging and any game pretty much is no go and the 2 messaginbg apps get chucked, not huge problem but doesn't give sign that they aren't actually running, web browser still really struggles loading some pages even with no other progs running. Have intermittent crashes but always seems to reboot. Ovi maps seems bit flaky - have had satelite repair done (or got replacement phone in the end which had had it done alledgedly) Google maps seems much faster to lock.

Biggest problem that I think has crept up on me - or rather I don't think I'd picked up on it is dropped calls pretty much 50% of the calls I have over 10mins get dropped. I'm not in brilliant Voda 3G area but I am in central London and GPRS is fine and my previous phone (SE W800) had no issues at all.

Also battery life is marginal for me - absolutely has to have charge every night. I have no 3rd party active widgets but do have Nokia Messaging and Cal and Msic Player open on home screen and Nimbuzz running - I try to rember to keep the Google Search App closed (actually I dropped Fring cos kept firing up at boot). Additionlly I hate the battery indicator which seems to stay showing full for ages then drops like a stone.

nottmbantam wrote:
I disagree with your conclusion though regarding user error / bad programs. I've been a Symbian user for several years, so I feel I know how to use the phone, and I have not installed anything on the phone in the early months, but this still lead to all sorts of problems.

Important to emphasize you stated problems in the early months... of course you did, the early FW was very buggy!

As from V20, the N97 is perfectly stable - as long as you are careful what you install.

dez_borders wrote:Important to emphasize you stated problems in the early months... of course you did, the early FW was very buggy!

As from V20, the N97 is perfectly stable - as long as you are careful what you install.

Yes, much more stable, but not totally bug free. I still have problems with the 'Ring Tone', as it will default to the Nokia Tone totally at random, even though in ALL my profiles it is set to a different ring tone.

Then there is the call answering bug, so I HAVE to ensure I answer each call in a specific manner, otherwise the phone locks up.

Minor points, and can live with them, but it's still not 100% as far as I'm concerned.

I hear you, and appologize for the "user error"😊

I am beginning to think that the first phones have hardware problems, meaning that the early "beta testers" will have problems no matter what fw is on the phones, even though it seems to be better with 2.0.

I have only had my N97 since October/November 09, and that might be a new batch of phones, hence the no problems as described by nottmbantam and snoflake.

I just find it alarming that one person can have one that works perfect, and the next person have all the problems.

I seem to have one problem though, I have started using the sat/nav(sygic) over the last couple of days, and it takes up to 5 minutes to get a satelite lock, so I am going to ring and see if I can get the fix tomorrow.

Cheers and sorry if I offended anyone

Mike

Telecaster wrote:I hear you, and appologize for the "user error"😊

I am beginning to think that the first phones have hardware problems, meaning that the early "beta testers" will have problems no matter what fw is on the phones, even though it seems to be better with 2.0.

I have only had my N97 since October/November 09, and that might be a new batch of phones, hence the no problems as described by nottmbantam and snoflake.

I just find it alarming that one person can have one that works perfect, and the next person have all the problems.

I seem to have one problem though, I have started using the sat/nav(sygic) over the last couple of days, and it takes up to 5 minutes to get a satelite lock, so I am going to ring and see if I can get the fix tomorrow.

Cheers and sorry if I offended anyone

Mike

Absolutely no offence taken at all, no need to apologise. Like you, I also find it amazing that some phones seemingly work problem free, whilst others are riddled. I got mine when it was first released here in Saudi, about a week before it was out in the UK.

With the Maps problem, there are a couple of things you could try before taking it for repair - have a read of Ian's 'Sticky' on the Maps for Dummies post. Not suggesting you're a 'dummy' but just check you've gone through the basics first.

nottmbantam,

Thank you I am off to read Ian's sticky, even though I am not using Nokia, Ovi, or Google Maps😊 None of them works well on the N97.

Cheers

Mike

Just updated my Map's posting to include details of Skyhook's app called Maps Booster which uses wifi to enhance the location fix, a bit like Google Maps and iPhone.

I have been using it for about 6 weeks and it has certainly improved the speed of my lock, particularly in built-up ares, so much so that I can use "Current Location" on Accuweather indoors. Once installed and set up it sits quietly in the background like Assisted GPS.

The app costs �3 and is available from the Ovi Store. More details here:-

http://www.skyhookwireless.com/mapsbooster/

Just saw this http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/15/symbian-provides-early-glimpse-at-2011-nokia-smartphone-experien/

Too little too late! shipping by early 2011? It should have shipped 6 months ago, if they ship that in a year, they're going to be about a year behind everyone else!

Telecaster wrote:
Thank you I am off to read Ian's sticky, even though I am not using Nokia, Ovi, or Google Maps😊 None of them works well on the N97.

Actually, Ovi Maps works perfectly on the N97, once the GPS has been repaired.

Dez_borders,

Thank you for chiming in, that might be true about the OVI Maps, but I couldn't get it to work on mine none of them would, I once had it working but it was way offthe route and loosing lock constantly on a trip from Derbyshire to Chesterfield.

With Sygic Mobilt Maps 9 it has been working absolutely perfect, apart from the initilal lock to satelite which can take up to 5 minutes, once it gets the lock it stays locked and are right on track.
Besides that Sygic looks and feels just as good as TomTom, which is the one I'm used to.

I am hoping to get the GPS fix next week, when that is done I expect it to be so good that my TomTom will go to my son, and I will finally have the perfect gadget for every day use😊

Cheers
Mike

Resurrecting my seemingly ancient account, as...

My N97 is the centre of my now long-running complaint with 3. It worked GREAT for 2 months, and then it just started to slowly rot. Apps started to cause freezes, then they caused restarts, and then that great bug where the screen goes black and a line of colour marches down the screen before a massive crash, leading to the need to remove the battery. Then I'd get "not allowed" messages for trying to make calls, lose the sound in calls, and insult to injury the touchscreen and key guard switch would refuse to work when I got calls.

Then, last week, I got the v20FW. It fixed nothing, and broke email. Yaaaaaay... So 3 offered me a W995, like they offer everyone, and so now I've dragged Otelo in and written off to the head of customer services. My N70 was great; the N80, buggy but fine. But this... this was too far.

I wanted to love it, really. But they broke me.

Telecaster wrote:
Thank you for chiming in, that might be true about the OVI Maps, but I couldn't get it to work on mine none of them would, I once had it working but it was way offthe route and loosing lock constantly on a trip from Derbyshire to Chesterfield.
...
I am hoping to get the GPS fix next week, when that is done I expect it to be so good that my TomTom will go to my son, and I will finally have the perfect gadget for every day use😊

I did specifically state that once the GPS has been repaired all the apps you mentioned work fine.
Since you have not had the repair done, to claim None of them works well on the N97 is inaccurate and irrelevant!

Telecaster wrote:
It has (touch wood)never crashed, locked up, broke down or anything like that.

Today while using my N97 to navigate to an out-of-town funeral, numerous problems with the Maps app making it less than worthless (Yes, I've had the factory GPS antenna fix AND hard reset AND reinstalled everything).

Then during the funeral with the N97 on "Silent" profile, the d_mned thing nearly burned a hole in my pocket. It was very hot.

Turned it off.

Later tried to power up. No luck. WSOD.

No charger handy to do a workaround reboot.

The N97 is definitely a "piece" of work.

[SIZE="1"]ps. I just discovered the "Ignore" feature of this board to eliminate the exasperating messages from the one person in the world who has a "perfect" N97 and has 1000+ put-down messages posted.[/SIZE]

rdcinhou wrote:Today while using my N97 to navigate to an out-of-town funeral, numerous problems with the Maps app making it less than worthless (Yes, I've had the factory GPS antenna fix AND hard reset AND reinstalled everything).

When a GPS app is acting up I find a reboot of the handset usually cures the issues.

dez_borders wrote:I did specifically state that once the GPS has been repaired all the apps you mentioned work fine.
Since you have not had the repair done, to claim None of them works well on the N97 is inaccurate and irrelevant!

You are really nice and friendly aren't you!

It is accurate and relevant when none of them works with my N97 apart from once, and then it lost connection constantly, and when it had a lock it was way off the road i was driving on, for all I know maybe my GPS are not broke.

I then bought Sygic Mobile Maps 9 and it works straight away, apart from the initial lock takes anything between 1 and 5 minutes, I took that same trip yesterday Derbyshire to chesterfield about 31 miles, worked perfect.

So don't tell me that there is nothing wrong with the Nokia/Ovi/Google maps, maybe it is only in connection with the N97, but they never worked that great on my N95 either.

But I WILL test them again once i have the GPS fix.

Cheers
Mike

My N97 is very unpredictable in day to day use. Now and again get the WSOD and it won't pair to my car kit. Have to remove the battery to get it back which is not easy whilst on the move.

The strange thing is changing ringtone, I have a custome ringtone, an mp3 and this plays 90% of the time and the other 10% it plays the nokia theme.

It's better than it was now it's running V20 software, but I still think Nokia have lost the plot. The N96 was attrocious and I thought the N97 would be better, but it's just not a finished product is it.

Looking at the N900 with Maemo, but they have not implemented rSAP profile and just ignore any emails sent to Nokia regarding future support. Seeing as Nokia pioneered rSAP it seems strange that they have abandoned it on Maemo platforms.

So options are...

Keep the N97 and hope firmware updates fix it. hell willl freeze over first
Try the N900 and hope rSAP gets implemented in the future.
Try the HTC Touch Pro 2, it has rSAP, but I hear it doesn't transfer the phonebook.
Try an Iphone 3Gs, but again no rSAP support, but a cool gadet.
Wait for the Iphone 4G, but I doubt it will have rSAP.

Telecaster wrote:You are really nice and friendly aren't you!

It is accurate and relevant when none of them works with my N97 apart from

You said they were all unreliable on THE N97, not MY N97. That's why I said you were not accurate.

As for being friendly or not, all these problems (and fixes) have been discussed many many time before.

There is a Search option on AAS you know.

rdcinhou wrote:ps. I just discovered the "Ignore" feature of this board to eliminate the exasperating messages from the one person in the world who has a "perfect" N97 and has 1000+ put-down messages posted.

Just to add to the discussion, I've had my problems with my N97 but since I got it sent away to get the GPS and camera lens issues fixed, it's been ok. The shop re-installed v20 on my phone and it's been very stable, with only minor issues with Web on graphic-heavy websites, and a lack of space on C (It gets down to 7Mb at times but since the phone's stable, I'm not gonna fiddle around with it again to get a few more Mb back...).

dez_borders wrote:You said they were all unreliable on THE N97, not MY N97. That's why I said you were not accurate.

As for being friendly or not, all these problems (and fixes) have been discussed many many time before.

There is a Search option on AAS you know.

Let me end this by saying.

I did not ask for help!
I have not looked for fixes!

Why would i need the search option to tell I like my N97?

You don't have to answer because it is probably just going to be negative anyway.

Cheers
Mike