54 posts from March 2008

The reason I couldn't connect is because Nokia added a blank space after the access point in the settings!  Delete the blank space and hey presto it works!  C'mon Nokia, you really shouldn't have put that blank space there!

I've just received my trial N800 from WOM World.  For those that aren't in the know, the N800 is a Nokia internet tablet that's available for £150 ($300) in the UK.

Now, to the title of this post...

I thought the pop-out camera was the stylus and couldn't understand why it wouldn't come out all the way!  It took a minute (or two) before I realised what it was, a pop-out camera.  That's what you get when you play around with something before you've read the instructions!

Pop-out camera or big fat stylus...

Paying for it at the hotel

I've learnt a lot of valuable lessons recently.  One that I'm going to share now is WiFi and er, paying for it.  Whilst in New York I paid for it twice (WiFi that is) and didn't get anywhere near my money's worth.

When looking at accommodation one of my main criteria (other than not having rats or cockroaches) was that I had access to WiFi and that it was included in the price.  I must've messed up as the place I stayed at charged quite a hefty sum for it.  Oh well, I thought, I'm just gonna have to bite the bullet and pay for it.

Wrong, wrong decision!  It barely worked.  Some days it didn't work at all.  Was it any help asking at reception?  No, they wouldn't have a clue and that would waste more time.

The worst thing was I found on the last day, just before I headed to airport, that at the front of the lobby there was a free WiFi spot (possibly a neighbouring business).  There was a few outlets, a comfy sofa and views on to the street (not great but okay for people watching!).  Had I realised that at the beginning of my stay I sure as hell wouldn't have paid for a service that didn't work.

The moral of the story?  Sometimes FREE is better.  We're led to believe that paying a premium for something ensures us a better service but, you know what? That's simply not the case!

Paying for it on the street

Whilst out and about I wanted data capability as well.  I investigated my cellular options and I, er, didn't have any (well not realistic ones!)  So what next?  Well I was looking for something like either The Cloud or BT Openzone (two WiFi providers in the UK.)  Could I find anything like that?  No, nearest I could find was T-Mobile's which seemed to have far less coverage than in the UK.

I bit the bullet (again!) and went with T-Mobile.  You'd think that would be as easy as popping in to the nearest T-Mobile shop.  You'd be wrong!  Not all T-Mobile stores can set you up.  Why?  Who knows!  I eventually tracked down one that did but they only had one assistant that could set this up and so I queued.  More wasted time as it turned out...

When I was eventually seen I was fortunately talked out of going with the 7 day option and was sold the 24 hour one instead.  Very fortunate as it turned out.  Why?  Well I was never able to connect.  I followed the procedure on T-Mobile's site to the letter and each time it came up with an error at the end of the process.

As soon as I was able to I fired off an email to their support desk.  I got back an automated reply.  The automated reply was actually rather amusing.  Here it is...

We appreciate this opportunity to work with you regarding your request. We currently are responding to requests within 24 hours.

A couple of days after I got a non-automated letter from T-Mobile.  Yaay!  But wait, what's this...
 

Thank you for taking the time to contact T-Mobile regarding case 1452983.

We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused. Please give us a call for us to try and assist you with this issue.

If you have any further questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact us at anytime at 1-877-822-7768.

T-Mobile, you've just told me to do what they told me to do in the store!  What's the point of a support desk if your advice is nothing more than what is listed on your website (when login fails) or in a T-Mobile store?

By the time I received this reply I did actually have a US PAYG phone so I guess the call wouldn't be too expensive but there was little point calling the number.  Why?  By the time I received this I had lost my laptop as well as the T-Mobile print-out that had my login details!

Conclusion time...

If you can get it for free, do so.  If you can't, think long and hard about whether it's worth paying for.  This experience has put me off paid WiFi for good.  Once I get a replacement laptop I will simply stick to 3G in the UK.  Far easier, far more flexible and it works!  It's everywhere in the UK and there isn't any painful setup procedure.

I should be receiving an N800 this week from the good people at WOM World.  I know, I should've asked about the N810!  Still, I like to see what affordable tech is out there and the N800 currently fits that bill as it's available at a penny under £150 (roughly $300) so it should be interesting finding out what that kinda money buys.

Will it help me cope without my Eee PC?  And for those that know anything about Nokia's tablets, what do I need to know to get the most out of one?

Back to using my N73!  It's been tough, especially since I discovered the Flirtomatic service (well I am single and it's mobile tech, I consider it research!)  Typing on the N73 is way more difficult than on the N95 8GB.  The keys are too small to begin with and the silly joystick on the N73 ...well I'd gotten so used to it I'd forgotten how truly awful it was!  It's very easy to hit send/OK when you don't want to.

So despite what may have appeared as a generally unimpressed take on the N95 8GB, it's only when it's gone that you appreciate it.  I guess things like Maps, Sports Tracker and Podcasting would impress me more if I hadn't already been aware of them.

And the N95 8GB's WiFi was a lifesaver (not literally mind!) when my laptop went M.I.A.

This picture was taken with the N95 8GB loaned to me by WOM World.  Now, if you've been following my posts you should be able to deduce in which city it was taken.  Or if not, the metadata should help (that's if it survives being uploaded to VOX - which I'm sure it will).

Yes, this really was taken in a city

Now's the time to express my thoughts on the device.  What's good, what's bad and everything in between.   Until now I've been quite harsh in regards to the phone device.  My expectations were probably way too high for a start and I was pushing it to do more than a regular user might.

The single biggest thing that didn't disappoint was the camera (the main 5 Megapixel one.)  Taking pictures is a painless process and by that I mean it's quick, easy and intuitive.  The pictures IMHO look great but as I'm shortsighted and red/green colour blind, I'll upload a bunch and let readers decide for themselves.

The videos recorded by the device are pretty good but aren't anywhere near the quality of those produced by even the cheapest DV camcorder.  But then there simply aren't DV cameras the size of the N95 8GB.  The Nokia isn't a replacement for a real camcorder.  Of course a real camcorder can't fit in your pocket and be taken around everywhere with you!  They really should be seen as complimentary devices.

Hmm, now my minds a-blank!  There's so much stuff to write about the handset and it's a problem trying to think of what to write first, what stands out.  I think I should just go ahead and upload a bunch of pictures to my VOX 'collections', a video or two and then continue when I've had time to contemplate.

If anything, it's the name Nokia has chosen for the device/phone that's the worst thing about it.

'N95 8GB' when said in English is eight syllables.  If prefaced with 'Nokia' you can add on another three, making a total of eleven syllables.  That's way too many!  One thing I applaud Apple on is the iPhone name.  Hmm, well, 'applaud' is a bit strong - a child could come up with that, but anyway...

iPhone = two syllables and a name that's known to much of the civilised world.  It's also probably pronounced much the same around the world.  The numbers in N95 8GB will vary considerably from language to language and don't really lend to being anglicised.

Until I started blogging about the device I hadn't realised how much of a pain the name was, but when you need to keep referring to it you soon find out!  Abbreviating to just N95 isn't ideal as that leads to confusion with the original N95.  Abbreviating to 8GB isn't a good idea either as that could be about hundreds of different things (including another Nokia device).  The phone is also known as N95-2 but not really by the public.

I guess once I've mentioned N95 8GB in a post I can then refer to it simply as 'the phone' but Nokia calls it a 'multimedia device'!  Maybe I should just call it a handset and be done with it?