Some advice on mobile selection

Boston

Hey, I don't know anything really about Mobile and PDA devices (Ironic considering my line of work), and I'm looking for a new mobile, wondering if you guys could give me some pointers and retailers.

I looking for a PDA/Mobile combination, I looked at the Blackberry thing, seems to have some nice features but the fact its so stylist makes me worry if its pratical. I'm an engineer, and as such I'd be looking for a buiness phone. Something with alot of memory and ability to interface with computers/Other phones. WiFi option would be nice.

So any suggestions?

quintron

Price point?
Symbian platform: the "blackberry-esque" Nokia E61/61i is a solid choice and miles more functionality due to OS than a blackberry. Or the newer Nokia N95 (avalable now) or E90 (available soon).
Windows devices: go for one of the HTC's, TyTN, Touch etc.
All above are pda/phone models. All above Nokias have WiFi. The N95 and E90 also support HSDPA.
There are many others as well, I'm sure others will have some suggestions.
Hope that helps.

Boston

Ok, so the N95 or the E90 look like what I'd be interested in. I'm buying a phone to last the next four years, so I want something that will last and I'm willing to pay for features.

Now where would you recommend to buy, found this place

Urban Weigl

N95 in that case, E61i if you want a more "business orientated" handset with QWERTY keypad.

Boston

Really? The Querty on that E90 device seemed better, and more features. The N95 seems to be all about style.

Urban Weigl

Boston wrote:

Really? The Querty on that E90 device seemed better, and more features. The N95 seems to be all about style.

Have you seen the price of the E90?

Boston

nope, I don't know where to buy these things. I'd be ok with going up to about the 500 - 700 euro mark for a decent phone that will last.

quintron

E61i then is a good bet or a windows mobile with slide out qwerty keyboard will resemble the E90 more accurately in form. Both the E61 and the E90 are essentially thumboards, the E90 is just to small for easy two handed typing for a prolonged period, so in that sense for portability the E61 thumboard does what it does admirably.
E90 at launch is rumoured to be around €800 mark sim free. (From E90 press release: "Expect the E90 to hit in Q2 (volume shipments in Q3) for an unsubsidized price of between "750-800" )though you'll probably find it for about €700 or less shortly after release. the E90 is expensive but it has gotten great reviews thus far on pre-release units.
Links below to E90 reviews etc..
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/reviews/all/Hardware/
the N95 v's E90 debate..
http://mobile.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/5358_N95_vs_E90_a_reader_writes_in_.php
If you are buying for 4 years or so.. I would spend a bit. though its a little hard to justify the price of the E90 even though its a great device. I'd wait and see what its final price will be or...shorter term I would recommend the E61i as I have the E61 and its hands down the best smartphone I've ever used on any platform.

Boston

E61i isn't 3G though (or so it would seem). 4 years is precisely the life time I'm looking at. I wont actually need to make the change for about 3 months, and what i need is basically a light weight easy to use laptop alternative. So I'm personally thinking I should go for the E90 if it's around the 700 mark at that stage. All that said the N95 is looking more tempting if what you say is accurate about not being able to really use the key board.

quintron

E61i has 3G.
http://europe.nokia.com/A4344023

Boston

A yes but not HSDPA support, so I persume it will be limited to a much lower data rate. All that it should require is a fireware upgrade, is that likely?