Mobile with wi-fi - advice needed

BobTheBeat

Im looking at buying a handset with integrated wi-fi and have a budget of about €300. I have been looking (on ebay) at the new Nokia E60 and the v1240.

Does anybody have any experience with either of these handsets, or even any advice on what phone I should look at?

As I understand it the Symbian OS is better suited to a mobile application than windows mobile. Anyone have any views on that?

Cheers,
Bob

quintron

I'd recommend the E61..Symbian & WM5 both have their merits and it depends how much you plan to integrate the OS features into your work/leisure time. If you use either primarly as a phone in its simplest, calling/texting then it makes no odds really. But wifi is different. You need a good email/browser functionality and bothe WM5 & Symbian have this. IF u use Outlook then WM5 has better sync with mails etc.
Horses for courses..wm5 can be sluggish. the v1240 is a great device but imo after using a qwerty thumbboard and/or touchscreen, I'd go mad having to input notes on a T9 system even if it did attempt to predict words....

I've used both OS a lot, and, at the moment the E61 is the best convergance device I've used, imho. Great Screen, Fast OS, Nippy browser, WIFI b/g RSS Music..cheap mini SD cards etc, etc, ad nausam.
Hope that helps some..

skearon

bobmeaney wrote:

Im looking at buying a handset with integrated wi-fi and have a budget of about €300. I have been looking (on ebay) at the new Nokia E60 and the v1240.

Does anybody have any experience with either of these handsets, or even any advice on what phone I should look at?

As I understand it the Symbian OS is better suited to a mobile application than windows mobile. Anyone have any views on that?

Cheers,
Bob

The v1240 (aka iMate SP5) is a good unit, I have one for sale on http://adverts.ie/3517 so if you are around the Dublin or Wicklow areas you are welcome to come and look at it

BobTheBeat

Thank you quintron for the detailed reply. I had been looking at the E61, but it is a tad bulky for my purpuses. I basically need something that can do most of the operations of a PDA and a phone all in one, but in a relatively small form factor.

This is why I have been looking closely at the e70 and the e60. Both fulfill those criteria quite comfortably.

Thanks skearon for your message. The sp5 looks like a great phone, but unfortunately at 310 its a bit too rich for me, as a second hand handset!

Tom Dunne

bobmeaney wrote:

Thank you quintron for the detailed reply. I had been looking at the E61, but it is a tad bulky for my purpuses. I basically need something that can do most of the operations of a PDA and a phone all in one, but in a relatively small form factor.

I just bought a device that fits your requirements - the O2 Atom. It's about the size of a deck of cards, runs WM5 and has Wifi, bluetooth and 2.5GSM. Sales pitch here. Now the only thing is, it aint cheap. I got mine for just under 700 Euro. But I think it's worth it.

ns06

An alternative to the E61 (if you're looking for a Nokia) would be the N80.

Just like an N70 but with a 3.2MP camera, slider form-factor and Wi-Fi among other features

maxitwist

if you don't need a camera than the e60 looks pretty nice - I posted something like this a few weeks ago and somebody said the e60, I checked it out and it looks pretty sweet, but I need a camers so decpite it's temptation, I'm not getting it.
let me just see if my theory is correct - if I got a wi-fi phone, would I be able to log on to vodafone.ie and send texts via the webtext feature for free? or would there be some sort of restrictions?

ns06

You browse for free over wi-fi (provided it's your own wi-fi connection) so webtext would be free. Sweet eh!? hehe

The only thing you can't do is use any push email or email client solutions using wi-fi, so that's a big no to Vodafone Business Email & Blackberry!

skearon

ns06 wrote:

You browse for free over wi-fi (provided it's your own wi-fi connection) so webtext would be free. Sweet eh!? hehe

The only thing you can't do is use any push email or email client solutions using wi-fi, so that's a big no to Vodafone Business Email & Blackberry!

You can't with Windows Mobile, however the Mail for Exchange client on the E61 syncs perfectly using WiFi

skearon

ns06 wrote:

An alternative to the E61 (if you're looking for a Nokia) would be the N80.

Just like an N70 but with a 3.2MP camera, slider form-factor and Wi-Fi among other features

Only problem may be that the push email solutions are for the E series, I don't know if they will install on the N80 ? They might with Ver 4 firmware, as the latest firmware for the N93 allows Mail for Exchange to install.

ns06

Sorry, when i was referring to the push email solutions I was only referring to the E61. My mistake!

It's good to know that you can use wi-fi with mail for exchange. Saves a fortune for businesses with such a solution, provided they're in an area with wi-fi coverage like their companys HQ or something. Would eat the battery life but then again, so does 3G! ; )

Urban Weigl

Aren't most push emails solutions flat rate anyway, so it wouldn't make any difference? Like you pay €20 a month for unlimited push email. Doesn't matter how much you use it.

skearon

Urban Weigl wrote:

Aren't most push emails solutions flat rate anyway, so it wouldn't make any difference? Like you pay €20 a month for unlimited push email. Doesn't matter how much you use it.

Vodafone charge €12 for 25mb, €20 for 50mb for push email solutions, unlimited data is only available with the 3g connect card

BobTheBeat

Well, where your company has exchange 2003 in operation you can implement push email. Would somewhat negate the need for blackberry at least in and around the office.

If there is a vpn client on any of the wi-fi enabled devices, then all you need is wi-fi access and bingo email on the go. But still comes in second to blackberry which is available over the air no matter where you are.

This begs the question, does a vpn client come bundled with the symbian os? or even windows mobile 2003?

skearon

bobmeaney wrote:

Well, where your company has exchange 2003 in operation you can implement push email. Would somewhat negate the need for blackberry at least in and around the office.

If there is a vpn client on any of the wi-fi enabled devices, then all you need is wi-fi access and bingo email on the go. But still comes in second to blackberry which is available over the air no matter where you are.

This begs the question, does a vpn client come bundled with the symbian os? or even windows mobile 2003?

With Exchange 2003 SP2, WM5 devices and Symbian devices sync no matter where you are as well :-)

ns06

skearon wrote:

Vodafone charge €12 for 25mb, €20 for 50mb for push email solutions, unlimited data is only available with the 3g connect card

They do offer unlimited data for one push email solution; Blackberry for €25 per month. It's also only for email and not for web browsing.

maxitwist

bob, did you find one u like?

Urban Weigl

skearon wrote:

Vodafone charge €12 for 25mb, €20 for 50mb for push email solutions, unlimited data is only available with the 3g connect card

So switch to O2 if you need Blackberry push email. It's €20 a month for unlimited usage (excluding roaming, unfortunately).

Vodafone sounds like a ripoff in comparison to that, at least for Blackberry email.