After 1.5 years, I had to say it ain't bad at all (includes follow up notes) (Nokia N95 8 GB)

Member Name: bikerchris

Product:	Nokia N95 8 GB
Date:	02/12/07 (377 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice screen, good quality photos, focused on multimedia, GPS, Wi-Fi

Disadvantages: No migration, thoughtless design, poor navigation

Nokia presents us with a reason to try other manufacturers with the N95 8GB.

My main interest in the N95 was due to the wifi, but it does seem that with every new advantage, Nokia go and ruin a few of the old ones. I was going to migrate from a Nokia 6288, but after several tireless hours the decision is to get a refund.

There is no doubt it has benefits, but as usual the problems shine brighter. My first issue was with transfering 'saved' messages (i.e. those not in the inbox/sentbox/draft folders). A long and boring search of the internet provided me with many forums containing users having this problem. Unless you buy third party software there is no way of doing this. Transfer can possibly take place from 'N' to 'N' series, but not from a four digit model.

PARAGRAPH REMOVED IS INCORRECT.

Comparing back to back, the N95 with the N95 8GB, 2 main benefits have been lost. The N95 has a lense cover - A VERY GOOD THING especially if you take your phone for granted and start putting keys/coins in the same pocket as your phone. The second feature is the externally accessable memory card - the 8GB memory version can only be accessed with the phone on and cannot be 'user removed'. This is very bad, for two reasons:-

- In the event you DON'T want to carry a cable around for transfering large files (although
it has to be said that the connector type to the phone is very standard mini USB type.).

- In the event of phone failure, bang goes your data, you also can't remove the memory and plug it into a card reader for convenient transfer.

One of the long standing questions in my mind regarding data storing mobiles, is when you need both functions at the same time. What then? Yes you can certainly buy a bluetooth headset or use bluetooth to transfer data and use the speaker phone - but do you really want to be that restricted. I'd much rather by a cheap 4GB memory stick and a phone that doesn't try to do storage.

The speed at which the battery drains has been mentioned enough times, so I won't repeat it! I do find it ironic that they've incorporated a large screen for viewing movies, but you'll never watch a whole one because the battery will die before the end credits, leaving you non-communicado. Bright thinking Nokia. It's fair to say that there are many power saving techniques, such as turning bluetooth & 3G off. One interesting fact is that a friend has the old N95 and I borrowed his battery. It was very obvious that my N95 8GB's battery was larger than his, only by a small margain though.

Nokia have clearly adopted a new platform without considering the consequences. They hope that the extra functions will reduce the annoyance of previous users, but there are only so many simple functions I can tolerate losing. I have been loyal to Nokia for many years, but that's part due to convenient migration. Like many users that are quick to complain, I accept that I personally could never make my own phone, which is why we buy other peoples phones. But it does seem that mobile phone manufacturers act like small children - they build a lego house until they get bored with it, then build another without considering their last 'design'.

REVISION 5th Dec 07: Since writing this, I have found that marking files/message can be achieved by pressing and holding the button with a pencil on it and then the centre/main button.

REVISION 8th Dec 07: OK, so I've been playing a bit further and become a little more open minded. Now the only real annoyance is the transfer of message, but this is relatively minor considering standard messages can be saved (and viewed) to a PC.

This is overall a very good phone and provided running features are minimised, the battery life is pretty good - although this if for a brand new battery.

BIG TIP FOR SAVING MONEY!!!

When I first considered buying this phone I walked into a Vodafone shop and enquired, I was given an estimated cost of £150 (my tariff is £35 a month). A few days later I rang Vodafone and was quoted £70. I was very lucky and had an incredibly helpful member of Vodafone who put me through to the 'make me smile' department where I was then offered £14.99 - provided I extended my contract by 18months on top of the remaining 8 months of my existing 18 month contract.

REVISION 20th Dec 07: There is no slide functionality, i.e. if you wish to discontinue/hang up a phone call, sliding the phone shut will not disconnect the call, you must press the small red button.

The GPS function is excellent and allowed me to walk around the sites or York last weekend. Really helpful, it's worth noting I have no previous knowledge of GPS systems. Save yourself money and download maps directly off the Nseries website. It costs £14 (PER MONTH!) to add the "talking" function.

Programs close themselves down after being used, it can be over ridden by pressing the menu button twice. This is useful in that you don't load loads of app's, but bad because programs (messages, calendar, contacts, etc.) take too long to open. When I say 'too long', it's in the context that this phone is hi tech, BUT the human involvement has ruined it!

A recent problem relates to bulk copying of files to the phone. I wanted to copy over 3GB of data from my computer to the phone and it terminated the transfer, possibly due to a text message being received. The after effect is that the folder on the phone it was being copied to is effectively locked - I am unable to delete this empty folder directory using the phone, removable storage view on the PC, or PC Suite on the PC. I'll probably have to format the memory. Not helpful.

May 2009: Well my contract is up and an N96 should be arriving any minute, just in the nick of time considering the N95's screen is packed up! I admit, I had a bath dunking incident, that probably didn't help matters. Although prior to this I noticed how the screen would randomly start flashing, especially during start up.

Anyway, lets see how I get on with the N96, I should think I'll have less problems this time round, seeing that they both use the same operating system (symbian). Wish me luck!

Summary: Nokia just don't have logical thinking staff any more - time for a change

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