A week with my N79

[Savy]

Thought it might be useful to share some of my initial thoughts about the N79 now that I’ve had it a week or so. I’ve never had an N series phone before, but although there has been a lot to learn, there is also a lot that is familiar, from my 6120C.

Firstly, build quality. This seems good so far, sturdy and well put together,( but I suppose it is early days.). Overall, I really like the look and the feel of the phone, and I think the candybar style was the right choice for me. The lock switch at the top is great. As I mentioned in another thread, I have the Seal Grey model, and currently have it set up with the white back, and stone grey theme, and I think this looks pretty good.

The number keys are flat, and can be tricky to press accurately, but I’m getting used to this now. The 9 key still catches me out sometimes. What I have found so far is that I rarely use the multimedia key (which is raised), but use the menu key (which is flat) all the time, and I wish these were the other way around.

The music player sounds good, even using the phones own speakers. I did have some problems with transferring music via the usb cable, which may be firmware issues, but eventually it worked. The FM transmitter seems fine, although does not seem as powerful as the one I use almost daily in the car with my ipod. Having said that, with a good clear empty frequency it worked well. It did use the battery quickly though.

It does breathe on standby, and breathed faster following a missed call (or was it a message?), but I turned this feature off to save power. I do quite like the naviwheel though. In terms of battery life, I have been charging it every day so far, but I have been using it a lot. The WLAN scan seems to use a lot of power if you leave it switched on. The phone does seem to have a very nifty power save setting which kicks in when the battery is low, and reduces consumption, turning off everything deemed unnecessary.

I seem to have a lot of problems with WLANs, and access points generally, but I think this may be more to do a fault on my home WLAN, and the fact that this phone is on vodafone (whereas previously I was on 3), and the 3G network is not so good. However, I’ve still been able to download some apps, and I’m trying out Opera Mini as my browser. The built-in e mail app is a bit basic. Does anyone know if it can be set up with multipe e mail accounts, including hotmail? I used to use 3’s own software for this, and I miss it already.

I haven’t used the camera, maps or games much so I can’t comment on these yet. I’ll try to add to this thread over the coming weeks with my thoughts on these.

So far, I’m really loving the phone, the only real niggle I have is the flat menu key which I find tricky. However , I was really impressed when I found out the alarm clock still sounds when the phone is switched to silent – could have been embarrassing otherwise…

[samperry209]

Great summary man... yeah its werid about the menu key...i dont use the multimedia button ever i dont think....

i dont use 3g unless i have to because it drains the battery i turn wlan off as well and only use when i have to....and lower the brightness with these tweaks i got 3 days out of my old N82....

yeah v11 change log was huge but i reckon the next one will be bigger.... because its like the n95 in the opening stages....

i love the naviwheel!!

Cant wait to get mine.... debating with myself if i do get it wheather to debrand or not....depends how bad the branding is.... t-mobile on my k810i wasnt that bad only startup screen and sound and web and walk stuff...

[markw96]

Give emoze a try for you email accounts, i use it for my virgin media email.seems to work ok.

[Savy]

Been on a long car journey, partly as a passenger, so got a good opportunity to play about with the maps and FM transmitter this weekend.

The transmitter worked really well and I had both my music and the voice navigation instructions coming through the car speaker system simultaneously. It didn't seem to drain the battery too much either. I was impressed :)

One thing I did want to ask, as I couldn't do it, is is it possible to get an overview of your route, and choose between different routes like you can on a Tom Tom? Also, what exactly do you get if you pay extra for 'Traffic information'? Does it warn you of speed camera locations for example?

[graham1963]

Can anyone help, been used to an N95 in the past and more recently an N79.
Lost my N79 at work, left it in the cab and forgot about it and still awaiting to hear if its been handed in.

Ok took my good old faithful N80 out the cupboard where it had been for nearly 2 years as i needed a phone, so decided to upload a new update to it from the nokia suite, it said already had it, but continued to reinstall, so I decided yes.

USB discon'd 3 minuttes to the end, I followed instructions but USB didnt recognise the phone, so basically had to forget it and now it dont power up or even show a charger inserted.

Anyone tell me if its a spares or repair job, or can it be fixed cheaply, was as good as new when it went back in its original box with all unused accessories 2 year ago and hate to lose it.

Love some help or advice from serious replies.
Thanks

[dk206]

Originally Posted by graham1963

Can anyone help, been used to an N95 in the past and more recently an N79.
Lost my N79 at work, left it in the cab and forgot about it and still awaiting to hear if its been handed in.

Ok took my good old faithful N80 out the cupboard where it had been for nearly 2 years as i needed a phone, so decided to upload a new update to it from the nokia suite, it said already had it, but continued to reinstall, so I decided yes.

USB discon'd 3 minuttes to the end, I followed instructions but USB didnt recognise the phone, so basically had to forget it and now it dont power up or even show a charger inserted.

Anyone tell me if its a spares or repair job, or can it be fixed cheaply, was as good as new when it went back in its original box with all unused accessories 2 year ago and hate to lose it.

Love some help or advice from serious replies.
Thanks

graham you really should put up a new thread. :)

[Mr G]

Couldn't have put it better myself.