Buying a Nokia N78 on eBay

JayeL

I'm looking to replace my Nokia 6120 classic with another phone with:

A (regular FM) radio (v important)
WiFi
GPS
MP3 player

I can't find any non-Nokia phone that does all this and while the N95 is an obvious choice, it's a bit bulky and there's slimmer models that do a similar job.

The N96 is way too new and expensive and does more than I want, so I've narrowed it down to the N78 or N82 (leaning towards the N78).

Thing is, these phones aren't on any Irish network yet, so SIM-free is the only way to go. PhonesOnline.ie and Expansys are looking for a ton of cash for these phones and the only place I've seen them for less than €300 is on eBay on the ECell shop there.

Apparently they're new phones and their feedback is quite good for a Power Seller. Has anyone bought a new phone from this shop before? Are they any good? Can you recommend anywhere else that sell reasonably-priced SIM-free phones?

Steak

I bought a new N82 from E-Cell. everything was grand except for the delivery time. took about 2-3 weeks when it said I'd have it in a week.

JayeL

Steak wrote: »

I bought a new N82 from E-Cell. everything was grand except for the delivery time. took about 2-3 weeks when it said I'd have it in a week.

Good shtuff, I'd expect a delay as any negativity about them is about the long wait. So was the phone "boy fresh"? Any hassle getting it working on an Irish network?

JayeL

JayeL wrote: »

Good shtuff, I'd expect a delay as any negativity about them is about the long wait. So was the phone "boy fresh"? Any hassle getting it working on an Irish network?

Eh, obviously I meant "box-fresh"....

Obskure

JayeL wrote: »

Eh, obviously I meant "box-fresh"....

An easy mistake to make considering "X" is on the bottom line and "Y" is on the top.
Sorry, but I just had to. You had me in stitches!

Steak

JayeL wrote: »

Good shtuff, I'd expect a delay as any negativity about them is about the long wait. So was the phone "boy fresh"? Any hassle getting it working on an Irish network?

yeah the phone was brand new, no problems there. no problems using it on the 3 network either.

JayeL

Thanks a mil, Steak.

I should clarify that my mis-spelling was due a predictive text feck-up as I typed it with my phone. An easier mistake to make than you might think!

Obskure

Apologies for that. Good luck with the ebay purchase

JayeL

Thanks Obskure but it turns out I might be better off with Templecom on Aston Quay in Dublin.

It's 349 there but they'll give cash for my old N70 and 6120c.

great

i have been looking at that phone myself.. my only problem is the keypad 4 1mm thick bars..

JayeL

Yeah, worried about that myself but it's supposed to be ok according to a few reviews. For me, the functionality is worth any drawbacks. Here's a phone that does everything an iPhone does (bar the flashy GUI) with a radio, FM transmitter, video camera, expandable memory and in a much more compact handset made by a company that knows a crapload about mobiles.

Plus, regardless of where they're made, I think it's good to buy European when it makes sense.

great

if u want the fm transmitter u have to buy from another country cause i think its not in the irish version.. http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2008/06/14/some-variants-of-the-nokia-n78-ships-minus-fm-transmitter-why/

:mad::mad::mad::mad:

i hope its not true

Truck

What phone does has the best GPS system ?

JayeL

Steak wrote: »

yeah the phone was brand new, no problems there. no problems using it on the 3 network either.

Steak, is there any issue getting your N78 to go on the web with 3? The guy in the shop said settings are hard to come by and that 3 are very precious about letting SIM-free phones on their network.

I take it you found a way....

flodis79

JayeL wrote: »

Steak, is there any issue getting your N78 to go on the web with 3? The guy in the shop said settings are hard to come by and that 3 are very precious about letting SIM-free phones on their network.

I take it you found a way....

No problem at all - they will let any 3g phone on the network.
However, to use the Planet3 portal mobile.3ireland.ie you have to spoof you user agent to N73, 6120c or any other phone that 3 officially supports. Search the forum for how to do this.

JayeL

Got the N78 in Templecom for 350 and 75 back for my old 6120c and N70. So basically got a really good phone that probably won't be on an Irish network this year (or ever) for 275, over 100 cheaper than the N95 "upgrade" that 3 were offering me.

And it was cheaper than eBay! Only wish I could stop it locking the keypad. Plus the radio is a bit of a palaver to switch on....

flodis79

Is the fm transmitter disabled?

Ri_Nollaig

i just bought one (on sunday!) from this guy (ebay) for 270eur + 10eur del and got it today!!!!!!! i have never got something from ebay that fast before and phone is great, completely unbranded sim-free, gps and everything works. Still playing around with it

flodis79

That ebay link points to an auction where the phone is 285 euro and postage about 13 euro. Did you get it for 280 totally? And is the fm transmitter enabled?

apollodjs

How do you guys fine the keypad? I text allot and send alot of emails from my phone.

Ri_Nollaig

flodis79 wrote: »

That ebay link points to an auction where the phone is 285 euro and postage about 13 euro. Did you get it for 280 totally? And is the fm transmitter enabled?

strange, its 272~eur here same ebayer, yeah i meant 13~eur or whatever it was for delivery so total was 284.62eur and the fm transmitter is there, havnt tried it yet though.

JayeL

Keypad is actually grand, it looks tricky to start with but each button is easily distinguished.

To answer flodis' question, the FM transmitter works on my N78. It does say on the box that you can only use it in certain countries but I obviously have a non-Irish model. Interestingly, it's the first Nokia I've had that's actually made in Finland.

As for gripes, it needs to be charged every day and the radio switches itself off now and then, plus there's no quick way into the radio; you click on radio then Visual Radio as there's also Internet Radio. Unfortunately, the internet radio has no RTEs, BBCs or NPR - frankly, they're a bit obscure. The WLAN function was a bit over-enthusiastic to begin with and the GPS is a rip-off. Definitely getting Garmin software or summat.

On the plus side, the predictive text knows words like "summat" :-)

flodis79

What do you mean gps is a rip-off? Is it not working?
What about wlan, are you having problems there as well? Or don.t you have any use of wlan?

As for rte streams, they won't work in nokia internet radio, however will work in real player, look for the rm urls on the rte web page.