Subscribe Feed (RSS)Life with the Nokia E71
August 9th, 2008 by Sharat | Filed under Mobile Phones.It’s been about a month since I have been using the new Nokia E71. To say the least, I am more than happy with the phone.
I was using a Nokia E62 earlier, and the new phone gives me everything that was lacking in the E62. To being with, the form factor and the styling is a huge improvement. It is a much sleeker and better designed phone. The E62 felt as if one was holding a brick. Though the full qwerty keyboard is a bit cramped, the new design of the keys have an intuitive feel and make typing a breeze. Gone also is the sluggishness of the old E62.
The applications that I really dig on the phone are:
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Email – with great support for IMAP-IDLE for an almost Blackberry like push email experience. Support for multiple email accounts, although I haven’t discovered a way yet of download mail for all POP accounts with a single key press.
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Web browser and RSS reader – great experience now that I have a power of a WLAN enabled phone, I often don’t have to switch on my laptop at home.
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Voipbuster – I have set this up as my default VOIP service and am making full use of 120 day free calling feature. Beats the default application – Gizmo anyday.
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WorldMate – Great world clock, weather and currency convertor
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GPS– I have been experimenting with GPS for work and this is just great for capturing Latitude-Longitude coordinates.
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Nokia Maps – Used the voice navigation features ( I believe it is free for the first three months). Great novelty to show off to family and friends but with mixed results. I have seen the navigation feature get terribly confused with narrow parallel lanes and with the traffic diversions that Delhi Metro has created. Also, it can’t find a road to the new Hyderabad airport (Technically, the new airport is not in Hyderabad but in Shamshabad, maybe that’s why) – But overall a great app and I was surprised at the level of overall accuracy of Delhi maps.
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Google Maps
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Sportstracker – Great for tracking your walks / jogs. I actually went for a morning walk thanks to this app, though only once
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Fring – Great for Skype calls using the WLAN and for chat using the Airtel GPRS connection.
I haven’t tested the camera at all. As a serious amateur photographer, I do look down upon mobile phone camera’s, but it does have some nifty features like white balance control, flash modes, different scene modes including portrait, night and night portrait.
The only down side seems to be small screen size, but then life is all about compromises. Another minor peeve is that the screen and the back cover seem to attract fingerprints and I seem to be cleaning the phone first every time I pick it up. But, all in all, I think the Nokia E71 does offer great value for money.
Tags: GPS, Maps, Mobile, Navigation, Nokia E71
So compared with the E62, what kind of battery life? Specially with running push mail on it all day and the occasional WiFi.
Curious to hear more about your experience with fring. Did voice calls actually work over EDGE? Or did you somehow find a true 3G
Finally, how many times a day does it need a reboot? I know the E62 needed one every now and then.
Cheers…Kishore
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No complaints with the battery life so far. The phone seems to keep going even if I charge it once in 2 days.
I haven’t tried voice calls over EDGE, but my guess is they’ll be miserable. Still waiting for a true 3G experience in India.
The only time I had to re-boot was when I had Fring loading up automatically. I’ve turned that off and the phone seems to be behaving itself since.
Cheers….Sharat
Good luck for your walks. Hope the phone encourages you to do so more often.
Which rss reader are you using?
Aseem, I am using the deafult RSS reader on the phone. No complaints so far, unless you can point me to a more feature rich RSS software.
Cheers…Sharat
Sharat, I got a E71 and an airtel connection but Airtel say that the handset is not supported for Blackberry like email access. Who is your service provider and how did you configure the handset to receive /send mails? You reply will be highly appreicated. I’m from Bangalore.
Swapna…Your information is right. The E71 does not have the Blackberry Connect feature.
I use Airtel and am subscribed to their Rs. 499/- unlimited download GPRS offering. I have set up my phone to POP / send mail via GPRS. Of course, if I am at home or at office I can do the same via the WLAN. This is simple to do and you should have no issues figuring this out.
Of course, this doesn’t give “push” email. My email service provider supports “IMAP-IDLE” which allows me to define my mail account on the phone as an IMAP account and enable “automatic retrieval”. This beats Blackberry anyday!
You might want to look at Kishore Bhargava’s article on IMAP-IDLE at the link below:
http://kishorebhargava.com/general/imap-idle-a-real-pushover-for-crackberry.html
Cheers!
Thanks a lot, Sharat for replying. I took the Rs.399/- pack for Mobile Office from airtel as a trial for a month. It is working fine so far. Does it cost a lot if you enable automatic retrieval?
Swapna, I use Mobile Office too but I am paying Rs. 499/- which allows for unlimited download. I am not sure whether what you have got at Rs. 399/- is the same or if this is a download metered plan. Automatic retrival will add to your data downloads and your mobile bill is likely to go up if your download is being metered. It is best to check with Airtel about your download limit. Hope this helps!
Hi frnds, i have brought a nokia e71 recently & now i found out that this doesnt support the blackberry connect service. Can any one suggest the best alternative & can anyone advice the best service provider for gprs.
Me also thinking to get one after reading the reviews….my motorazr 2 V8 is giving me some trouble from some past weeks…hope the price of E71 will reduce in the near future as google android phone launch is about the corner. The Google phone will really spark the competition as for now iPhone is leading the way for mobile technology.
have any one tried Instant messaging on e71 -Airtell how it works.
Vaibhav,
I have been able to download a Windows Live Messenger client for Nokia E71 though I have never used it.
Also, one can use Fring for IM as it supports most popular instant messengers including Yahoo.
Vaibhav,
Here’s the link for downloading windows live messenger for Nokia E71: http://www.symbianv3.com/new-windows-live-messenger-perfect. Download the complete folder from the above link, then: First Install dep.sisx (on E71 it is already installed, try it if not installed), then install the main client (WindowsLive.SIS) thats it …windows live & mesgr will be on ur E71
It will also install windows live mail on ur Nokia E71.
If u need further help- then go to: http://discussions.europe.nokia.com/discussions/board/message?board.id=communicators&message.id=23804
Hi
Please can u tell me that how many email accounts can be nade in E71
Shripat…I am not aware of a limitation on number of email accounts. I have set up 6 email accounts on my E71 and it hasn’t complained.
Thanks for your reply.i have downloaded windows live mail.I am able to access my mail but unable to open the attachment.kindly let me know why attachments are not opening
Hi , I would like to know 2 things for this phone:
1. How many email accounts for POP and Exchange Server can I have individually?
2. Does it support skype or somewhere I can download it from or use something that works as a tweak for skype?
How can I configure Fring to Use Skype with Wifi or is there a skype client for Nokia e71
Hi,
I am active with my Vodafone GPRS connection on my E71. However, when I try connecting, it gives me the error – Packet Data Connection Not Available
Kindly help.
Thanks.
I am delighted with E71. I used the E61 + blackberry connect prior to this, and was apprehensive E71 would not support BBC anymore. I am using Seven Beta (www.seven.com) for push mail, as good as Blackberry and free; and I am using NIMBUZZ (www.nimbuzz.com) for my im and skype type calls, what a product. Try them both, they are free, reliable. BTW, do not go for AIRTEL unlimited GPRS. I did but discovered with my extensive use, download hardly is 50 MB. Try with lower plans, I am on 199/- and believe me, it is great. Nokia also offers a beta pushmail (email.nokia.com) which for some reason has a lot of login problems and in any case they will move to subscription soon. Seven is heaven!
Hi,
Is anybody using Vodafone Mobile Connect on E71 ? Is 85 KBPS is a good speed to browse with E71 handset ? Would like to know the views of those who have already had experiences
Many thanks.
Folks,
Do any of you make Skype-out calls using the service provider’s data plan on your E71?
Is that possible in India? on any other cellphone?
Appreciate all help.
Cheers
Vicky
E71 supports multiple emails however ONLY 2 can be shown on the homescreen. Coming from a WM6 device where there was no limit, this is a BIG limitation for me. Does anyone know a way around this?
I am really happy to use E71. Using Google Maps for GPS services is a perfect experience. It shows your exact location anywhere in the world whereas Nokia Maps is limited to only major cities.
I am using Airtel Mobile Office Pack for GPRS browsing. But, I am unable to connect PC to internet by using E71. I know that some settings need to be done on Mobile handset to do so but I am unable to find the same.