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< Esato Forum Index > Sony Ericsson / Sony > Symbian phones > Which to Buy P990i? Or wait for Nokia N95? Bookmark topic

N95 is very close now. Just a little wait more.

In terms of size p990 is a brick compared to sleek and slim N95.
In terms of functionality, N95 towers over p990 with 5mp, vga video rec, tv-out, GPS, standard ports like mini-usb and 3.5mm jack,stereo speakers and future support for the new Nokia gaming platform.
In terms of price N95 is not more expensive.

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Posted: 2007-02-08 06:35:06
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[Rant]
The only thing I don't like about SE phones (all of them, including the P990) is that they can't figure out how to put EDGE and 3G in the same device.

i-mate: EDGE+3G(HSDPA)+WiFi(/b/g)
Nokia: EDGE+3G(HSDPA)+WiFi(/b/g)
SE: 3G+WiFi(/b)

C'mon Ericsson ... get with the program.
[/End Rant]

When I first saw the N95, I was really wowed by it. The built-in GPS and WiFi really did it for me, then after the "wow" factor calmed down, I gave the phone a closer look:

1. Screen size. Both devices have the exact same screen dimensions (if you believe gsmarena). So nothing new there. The P990 has a touchscreen, the N95 doesn't (actually, I don't know of any Nokia that does). N95 wins in the color resolution and depth department.

2. Input methods. N95 has T9; so does the P990. The P990 has a complete (almost) keyboard. N95 just has the standard 12 keys. I am now so spoiled by the M600 that I really can't function on a non-keyboard phone for anything but the basic short messages. If I were to buy the N95, I would really want to use it as a browser (HSDPA+WiFi) and I think I would be very annoyed by not having a full keyboard. For others, it might not be an issue.

3. GPS. This is the coolest feature; and although at first I would probably use it, I am wondering if for me it would even come into big use? I'm not a frequent traveler (maybe 1 trip every two months). I'm also worried about the battery life should GPS + 3G data be used simultaneously. At first, this was the biggest selling point for me; now that I have thought about it, it still a plus, just not that big. The other thing being that I can get GPS on the P990 by purchasing TomTom and a receiver. Now I'm wondering is if the GPS comes with voice guidance, otherwise its quite dangerous to keep track of your route on such a small device when driving. Once this phone is released, I will be following up on this GPS feature the most.

4. Performance. The first thing that caught my eye when reading about the N95 was the 160 MB of internal memory. Hopefully, Nokia can manage this better than SE and it could lead to a better user experience. However, I think that the majority of this memory would be reserved for the GPS software + its maps. That is what I would do if I were to design this phone, since accessing internal memory is always faster than external (memory card). SE has had quite a while to fix the major bugs with the P990 thanks to the many early adopter/beta testers. Nokia is launching a brand new device and I believe a first from them with built-in GPS. So its really a toss here. I think that people considering the N95 should wait after a few months of the initial launch when the price will drop and you'll get tons of reviews of the device and can see the bugs/issues that people have had with it.

5. Entertainment. Both phones are quite full in the entertainment department. Bluetooth 2.0+A2DP (stereo bluetooth), music player that handles more formats than I can care to remember, radio, etc. Main differences are that the N95 has dedicated playback keys and a player "mode" that you can activate with the secondary slider, the higher resolution camera, and TV out (which I think is the dumbest thing to put on a phone). Honestly, I'm not big into multimedia on the phone, so someone else should really comment in this department. I enjoy videos on the phone and to me, both would do a great job at that. One thing I really like about the N95 is that it has a standard stereo jack. That's just brilliant.

6. Longevity. I guess an easy way to describe this category is to say that after you have played with all the gizmos, gadgets, and new features, how is the phone in daily life and how long will you use it? To give you an example -- when I got the TyTn, I used it exclusively for two weeks, playing with themes, today screen plugins, the wifi, the camera, mobile messenger, etc. These days however, I rarely take the phone out except when going on a business trip (wifi+activesync means I can check emails without carrying around the laptop) and I use the M600 daily. When I think back to my P910, I continued to use the phone even after the 'wow' factor had worn off, and I was still using almost all the features of the device. I was checking emails, chatting online, using many 3rd party applications, etc. About the only thing I didn't use -- the camera. When I think about this, I think that in the end, I would use the N95 as a phone first, maybe the GPS considering coverage where I live; and perhaps the camera. I really don't see myself using the TV out, the 'media mode' or even using it to check emails because of the lack of the keyboard. However, the P990 is very usable as both a data device and an entertainment device. I guess this category will differ for each person, but to me -- the P990 wins here because it has less of the 'oooh aaah' features that wear off and more of the practical usability.

I hope that my short summary of my thoughts on the P990 vs. N95 has helped someone maybe make up their mind or at least look at other areas to compare. I really enjoy technology and gadgets, and I think the N95 is a great device; it might not be exactly the perfect device for me (is there ever a perfect device? I thought the T28 world was ) but I'm sure for someone its the perfect thing.

Looking forward to other opinions on the great P990 vs. N95 debate.

_________________
Burhan
Nokia 3300 > P910i > K750i > M600i & JASJAM

[ This Message was edited by: fyrestrtr on 2007-02-08 06:58 ]
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Posted: 2007-02-08 07:56:14
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I am also struggling with the P990i versus N95 question. I am a long time user of P series phones, having owned every single model in the series (P800, P900, P910 and now P990) and having used these as my primary phones since 2002.

The P990 is a breakthrough in some ways, I love and need the 3G and WiFi and decent camera.

But even the P800 was not as buggy as my P990i. I have had nothing but problems with mine, and it seems to have become LESS stable with successive firmware updates. It has reached the point where I can't even use the phone as an alarm clock any more -- I can't rely on the phone not to reboot itself in the night. Plus it remembers every alarm I ever set and goes off over and over. And it is agonizingly slow. I guess it all boils down to lack of memory and/or bad memory management, but the bottom line is that the phone does not work acceptably well.

I have just flashed to R5A13 and my first impression is that the phone seems to finally be a little snappier in its responses. We'll see.

In the mean time, I have been searching around for alternatives, and the Nokia N95 at first seemed like a Godsend -- everything I need, plus thinner and lighter than the rather bulky P990i.

And then I realized that the N95 does not have a touchscreen. And no keyboard. So how do you enter text? With T9? Looks like a real problem for writing e-mails, entering search terms in the browser, writing SMS's, and so forth.

Anyone switch to N95 from P990i? Anyone comment on the text input problem?
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Posted: 2007-04-11 11:27:02
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As much as I have loved the P-series over the years, I am tired of struggling with the P990i. After latest firmware update with reformat of the internal drive, without ever having used any programs or functions, the damned thing still hangs up just doing a simple task like setting the ring tone. Freezes up; white screen.

I wonder if it could have anything to do with the 2 gig Memory Stick Pro Due High Speed memory card I put into it in December? It seemed to work worse after that. I've swapped back to the original 64 meg card; see what that does.

Or maybe I'll be happier with the N95? Or an HTC Trinity PDA-phone?
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Posted: 2007-04-11 11:47:24
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N95 sucks big time. after a week you are sick of it, its got no soul.
you'll have to recharge it everyday, sometimes twice a day when you are a heavy user.
cam quality is ok, but SE's cybershot phones take beter pics.
and the GPS omg, the pre installed software is poor, and gps uses alot of the battery.

if you want a phone with build in gps, wait untill next year.
if you want a good overall symbian phone, stick to the P990i, SE is doing their best with the firmware.
and if you want a gps, then get a tomtom or sony or micheline.
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Posted: 2007-04-11 11:56:15
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I've had mine a week and I am not sick of it

Indeed I am finding new things all the time that I like about it. I have had very few crashes and the initial firmware on this is definitly more stable than it was on the P990 for the first couple of firmware releases.

there are issues with the gps but I suspect Nokia will sort them quickly

I'm not saying this will ever be my main phone, though it was for most ofyesterday when SEUS bricked my M600 (which later was unbricked by SEUS). I do miss touch screen but if I didn't have the M600 I could probably live happily with this N95
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Posted: 2007-04-11 12:01:33
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I back you there - I'm not at all bored with this gadget

Great piece of kit, probably the best out of Nokia....I've only had one crash when I went in to lifeblog for the first time.......
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Posted: 2007-04-11 13:38:00
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How about text input? Anyone using the N95 for e-mail?
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Posted: 2007-04-11 14:07:00
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yes, it has predictive text in the form of T9, so its pretty much what you get on most non touch screen phones and will not seem alien to you
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Posted: 2007-04-11 14:22:32
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@fyrestrtr

While some of your points are valid and some aren't

Screen

The P990 has a touchscreen and that's it the N95 has 16million colours and is brighter and clearer and viewable in lighting the P990's isn't simply because it's not a touchscreen. If you want or need a touchscreen the P990 wins if not it loses.

Input Methods

On this i agree completely no argument from me.

GPS

Again agree there are better solutions and as mentioned Tom Tom 6 and a stand alone GPS IMO is superior.

Performance

You only talk of storage memory and that's it, the N95 outguns the P990 by a huge amount they both have the same installed Ram the P990 with the latest update gives 18mb approx and still leaks the N95 offers over 22mb and doesn't. The processor in the P990 is a 208mhz against the N95's 332mhz. The N95 has a dedicated 2D/3D graphics chip the P990 has the lite version. The P990 has WiFi b and 3G the N95 has WiFi g 3G HSDPA, EDGE and SIP support. Here I'm afraid the P990 doesn't even come close. Not forgetting 5 Mega pixel camera compared to 2 and video recording @640x480 30fps MP4 compared to qcif 30fps in 3gg.

Entertainment

Due to the above non touchscreen 16m colours the faster processor and dedicated graphics chip again the P990 can not compete. As for TV out being dumb it may not be what you like or need. But to many that travel as you check into your room you can now browse the Internet or work on documents or even watch a film on a proper TV screen and if you should feel inclined even play a game maybe not so dumb after all and again the N95 is in a different class.


@Bart,

Whilst no one will deny that the P990 is finally reaching the standard it should it is really old tech now some 9 months later. Just look above at the glaring differences and the P990's battery is not a long life battery either is it. Also if you so happy to recommend the P990 why were you selling yours if it's so brilliant. How any one that uses a P990 can advise some one not to get a N95 as it will buggy is just so funny it's not true er hello pot calling kettle.

Now having said all of that i will add the N95 actually isn't a device for me, i prefer my N93 that does all that the N95 except for the extra 2mega pixel camera although i do get a 3x Optical zoom. For GPS i use a Holox BT-321 with Tom Tom 6 and a screen with lower spec but i have yet to compare then and more than happy with mine. The keypad and layout of the N93 suits me better and i have just got a Nokia SW-8W bluetooth keyboard as i can open the N93 in Laptop mode on any flat surface should i need or want to enter a lot of Data quickly. I don't want a 3.5mm jack as this is awkward should a call come in so use the Nokia AD-46 3.5mm adapter with microphone and Black Shure EC2g which gives unbelievable music and film sound.

Marc

_________________
Nokia Black N93,2gb+ 2gb SanDisk, TomTom 6,Fring for Skype, AD-46 with Black ShureEC2g. Nokia 8800 Special Edition & BH-500 Stereo bluetooth Headset & Black Shure EC2g

[ This Message was edited by: Dogmann on 2007-04-11 13:36 ]
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Posted: 2007-04-11 14:30:19
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