Jaymo's World

My 2 Weeks With The N76

My two weeks are about up with the N76 and it's about time to send it back.  I really want to take time out to thank WomWorld again for allowing me to trial the device.  I hope it won't be the last!  I must say that this is a very nice phone.  I have come to like a few things about the phone and dislike others, but overall, I have been very satisfied.  Over the last few days, I have been using the N76 strictly and have grown to appreciate it.  Here are my likes and dislikes....

LIKES

- Search Feature - This was probably my favorite feature on the device.  You can literally search for anything on the phone, right from the home screen...priceless when you're rushing to find a note or something and can't remember exactly where you put it.  I wish this would be a normal feature on my N95.  ***UPDATE***Just read the N95 8GB unboxing post over at All About Symbian and it looks like this feature is on the N95 8GB.

- Battery - I was really impressed with the battery life.  I got almost 2 days of use after only a single charge.  During the trip, my N95 constantly died on me (several times a day), but this phone kept going.

- Outside screen - I'm not really a fan of flip phones, but I really did find myself liking this part of the phone.  I loved that I didn't have to open the phone to view a text message or that I could choose and listen to a song.

- Size - The phone is very sleek and slim.  I found myself forgetting that it was in my pocket at times.

- Phone - I loved talking on the phone.  The sound quality was excellent.  I didn't have a hard time hearing people or vice versa.

Things that I really did not care for

- Speaker Quality - Listening to music wasn't that bad at first.  But after I compared the sound quality to that of the N95, I found myself taking my SD card out of the N76 and putting it back into my N95 to listen to music.  There really was a big difference (at least to me).

- Keypad/Typing - I wasn't all that crazy about the keypad and I definitely hated typing.  I found myself constantly making mistakes and pressing the wrong button.  The keypad on the N76 is pushed in and didn't really seem responsive.  Where as, the keypad on the N95 or N93 are pushed out and feel responsive.

- Camera/Video - I did not like the photos or videos taken with the phone.  Maybe it's me, but after having the N93 and the N95, I am very, very picky when it comes to camera phones now.  The photos are not that bad, but the quality would not make me want to go around and just snap pictures, like I do with the N95 or even when I had my N93.

- Chipping - Seems like pieces of the phone begin to chip.  I had a test model and I am not sure how long it has been tested, but I did notice chipping on the sides of the phone.

Now on to the pictures....

I am really big on taking pictures, or at least I became that way when I got my N93 and definitely now with the N95.  I find myself constantly taking pictures of things.  How did the N76 do?  I'll let you see for yourselves.  During my trip in St. Thomas, I had the N95, N76 and an Iphone.  The N95 is a 5 megapixel camera, while the N76 and Iphone are both 2 megapixels.  Here are some photos....

(From left to right...Iphone, N76 and N95)

(From left to right...N95, Iphone and N76)

 

(From left to right...Iphone, n95 and N76)

Summary

Overall, I have had much fun using this device.  For me personally, it could never be my everyday device, but I'm sure it could be for most others.  I know that my wife loved the way it looked the minute I pulled it out the box.  Her first statement was, "wow, look at the mirror on there!".  I let her use it for about 2 days and I will get her thoughts and let her write about it later.  I definitely would recommend this phone to anyone who is not into bulky phones and/or loves flip phones.  Thank you again to WomWorld!!!!!

Got My Hands On A Nokia N76

Well for only 2 weeks.....I want to thank the guys over at WomWorld!!! I am getting the chance to try out an N76.  I received it last night, on my way to my gig.  So, I really didn't get to play with it too much last night.  I am going to St. Thomas for a "late" honeymoon this weekend and will be taking my N95 and the N76 and should get plenty of time to see what this device can do.  I must say, it is a very sharp looking phone (except for the red color, lol).  Not too big and not too small.  From the few minutes that I got to play around with it last night, it seems to have some potential.  I don't think it will ever take the place of my N95, but I can definitely see myself using this phone from time to time.  Take a look at some of the pics that I took of it last night with my N95 and keep checking back here for updates.  I will definitely post from St. Thomas, when I get the chance.....

My Weekend With The N95

What a monster!!!  Without a doubt, the N95 is worth every penny and some more!  I had a good chance to really test it out over the weekend and for the most part, I am extremely happy with this phone. I was able to take a lot pictures, shoot video, check and respond to email, text message, surf the web and the one thing that people forget when it comes to this phone......make calls (I mean it is a cell phone, lol).  There are two things that absolutely drove me crazy though.  The battery life and the constant out of memory message (even though there was really nothing open).  I found myself charging two, maybe three times per day.  But, I accepted it because it's not the phones fault that it has so much features and power.

Can we say attention getter???  Yes the iphone seems to be the talk and is always a conversation starter.  Everyone knows about the iphone, but how many people really know about the N95 and all that it can do.  Case and point.....I pull out the phone to take a picture on Saturday and no one says anything about the phone (I think most people thought it was just a camera).  After I took the photo, people are veiwing the photo and saying how nice the picture is.  As people start leaving from around me, I slid the phone up, so that I could send the picture and everyone is like "what is that?", "is that a phone?", and then I begin to show all that this phone could do and the iphone couldn't.  Now my wife has an iphone and whenever the iphone is pulled out, everyone around wants to see it, touch it and play with it.  But even as she has stated recently, you eventually get bored with it.  The N95, once out is definitely an attention getter.

My Weekend Experience....

Saturday - I took the phone off of the charger at 8:30 am.  I took some photos, shot some video, checked my email and talked on the phone, no more than 5 minutes.  At 12:31, the phone was down to two bars.  Saturday was my nephews birthday and he was having a birthday party at Chucky Cheese later on in the day, so I put it on the charger because I knew I would be taking a lot of photos and video.  I took the phone off of the charger at 3:30 and headed to the party.  We arrived a little after 4 pm and I took so many pics and shot one video (about two and a half minutes) of my two year son dancing when Chucky Cheese was singing.  We left the party around 6 pm.  Around 6:45 the phone was beeping, letting me know that the battery was low.  So I stopped at the mall and purchased a car charger (this is a must!!!).  And that was pretty much was my Saturday with the N95.

Sunday - My jazz band had an early morning gig at Haines Point (had to be there at 6:15 am). I took the N95 off of the charger at about 5:45 am.  Got to the place, set up and then I got a chance to takes some really beautiful pictures (the camera is absolutely lovely...slow to start though!).  We started playing around 7:15 am.  I had two videos of the us recorded (one, which you see in the previous post) and then another, that was about 3 minutes long.  We finished playing a little after 10 am and the phone was beeping (thank goodness for the car charger), I mean the phone was on its last leg, lol.  I Went back home to pick my wife up and we drove out to her mothers.  I let the phone charge for about the next 4 hours.  My son turned 2 on September 7th and all he talked about was wanting a bike or as he would say, "I want bike".  So my wife and I brought him his first bike on Saturday and we took him out Sunday, so that he could ride it.  It was so exciting to see my little man happy.  I grabbed the phone (around 4:30 pm) and started snapping pictures and took a video of him riding (not even 2 minutes long).

 

As you can tell, he is a HUGE spiderman fan!!!!  It is really nice to have a camera-phone, where the picture quality, is as well as this.  Hats off to Nokia on a job well done with the camera!!!

At around 8 pm, the phone started beeping again, letting me know the battery was low.  So I put it on the charger for the rest of the time that we were there.  That wraps up my Sunday.

All in all, I had a great time using the phone.  The pictures and video that I captured this weekend alone, are more than worth it.  There are a few things that really irritate me about the phone.  The battery life is awful, and the dreaded "out of memory", gets on my nerves.  But, if you have the right tools (i.e., an extra charger and a car charger), you will be fine.  I do think that I am going to have to sell this phone and get me the US version though.  If you're someone who is debating about getting the N95, GET IT!  Don't think twice....You will not regret your purchase!  The iphone really has NOTHING on this phone.  I will be doing a comparison soon of the two phones.  There are advantages and disadvantages to every phone and that is what I will try to touch on, when I do my comparisons. 

Other than a few minor things, it was a wonderful weekend with my N95.

N95 Sound & Video Quality

Having this phone to shoot video, comes in pretty handy.  My jazz band played early Sunday morning and I had someone capture us for about a minute with the camera, while we played around.  I really was curious as to how well the quality of the video would be, but was even more interested in how the sound quality would be.  I remember with my N93, that sometimes around loud music, the sound would sound distorted at times.  Youtube really doesn't do the video quality any justice, but I assure you, this is some really good and clear footage.  The microphone on this phone, picks up sound extremely well.  Is it good enough to leave your camcorder at home? 

PS...I am the drummer

N95's Camera Versus N93's Camera: Which One Is Better?

I am still a baby when it comes to Nokia and their phones.  My first Nokia (that I can remember) was the N80.  I can't say I was a huge fan of that phone.  My next phone was the N93 and I LOVED that phone so much!!!  Now I have the N95.  I have been pretty impressed with the N95 so far.  I tell people all the time, that the N93 is my favorite phone that I have ever had (too bad I couldn't really use it on AT&T's network) and now I am trying to make comparisons between the N95 and N93.  So today, I am starting off with the camera.  I know that the N95 has a 5 megapixel camera, while the N93 only has a 3.2, but I still would like to see the difference.  Wouldn't you?

A few post back, I made a comment of how impressed I was with the N93's camera.  I took SO many pictures with that phone.....I miss that phone, lol.  Well yesterday as I was walking back to work, I was standing on the same corner that I took the picture with the N93.  So I decided to take a picture of the same exact spot (I thought that the lighting was the same and it was actually earlier in the day than the one taken with the N93) and compare the two photos. 

Photo taken with N93

Photo taken with N95

The photo taken with the N93 seems a lot more brighter to me.  While the photo taken with the N95 is more defined.  What are your thoughts?