blackberry vs nokia e71

[jonnyboy]

hi all

will be consigning my p-o-s sony eriksson to the bin soon, what a load of rubbbish. needed charging every day without fail, not good.

would like the option for receiving email etc while on site and a smartphone a better option than a laptop plus dongle i think.

like the blackberry bold but its big, love the looks of the e71.

which is better? discuss please, thanks.

 

[Dryce]

hi all

will be consigning my p-o-s sony eriksson to the bin soon, what a load of rubbbish. needed charging every day without fail, not good.

would like the option for receiving email etc while on site and a smartphone a better option than a laptop plus dongle i think.

like the blackberry bold but its big, love the looks of the e71.

which is better? discuss please, thanks.

Don't know the Bold but I have a E71.

• Keyboard is just usable. Fiddly to dial numbers. Actual layout is quite good with characters such as '@' available unshifted.
• Display real estate feels limited compared with IPhone
• GPS with Nokia maps are OK (you have to pay for drive to /walk to options you can licence for a month). I was in Malaysia a few days ago and Nokia let you download the local maps so you don't need to be connected to use them. GPS lock on was slow. User interface could be improved.
• Tethered to my Macbook using bluetooth with no probs with O2
• Internet browsing and email have been OK. Small screen makes internet browsing of complex pages a bit of a pain.
• Haven't used Nokia's push email equivalent.
• Battery life has been good - it gets warm with the GPS and mapping continuously active but looks like it should last hours.

If we used Exchange Server in our office I would have taken a close look at the Blackberry. But I use multiple IMAP mailboxes on different servers. The E71 handles this basic stuff with multiple IMAP accounts fine.

3G/Edge and Wifi access have been fine. I suspect the Wifi antenna is a little bit restrictive on range.

The user interface leaves room for improvement IMO. I've found it to be a bit modal when using the browser and GPS Maps.

 

[kenwaic]

I have both and though the bold has an excellent screen the form factor of the e71 is better.The os on the bold i feel is too fussy though that could be me a bit biased to nokia.
The nokia also last longer on the battery side.
All in all I think the nokia does everything the bold does but in a smaller package with a better camera albiet not as much kudos as the rim if that is your thing.
P.S If you email or text alot have a look at the nokia e75, i also have this phone for emailing..just like the e71 but with a slide out keyboard.

 

[Martin clk]

I've got an e71 as it was recommended by my IT guys. I used to use a BB Pearl and wish I still had it to be honest.

I'd go for a BB Curve if I was looking for something now.

Have you considered an iPhone (I know lots of business users are happy with them now) or hold off for the HTC Hero.

 

[stats007]

I had a Blackberry which was a horrid little piece of plastic. The E71, whilst fiddly in some of its operation is a much nicer thing to hold.

 

[jonnyboy]

interesting so far, thanks.

My situation is that I am a s/e landscaper, so have always had whatever "builders" phone nokia had out at the time, 5110, 5140i etc. My business is growing so my hands are dirty slightly less often now therefore the need for waterproofness/drop protection is slightly less than ait was plus I could really do with the push (?) email facility as I am missing stuff until i get back at night/have to go home at lunch to check email etc. Keeping the laptop (and charger) on site in the van is far far from ideal.

I like the idea of a slide out qwerty keyboard as it should make the phone pocket-friendly, but I do worry about the mechanism getting dusty/sandy etc...

Any more thoughts/alternative suggestions for my situation guys?

 

[whitenemesis]

I had the E71. Good phone well built but keys fiddly and dialing numbers a real pain. Screen too small and if you are in a poor signal area the phone will still connect but it will kill the battery in less than a day. Also suffers from dust ingress,a real pain.

Now using iPhone and it trumps the Nokia on all counts!

 

[kenwaic]

Its a bit old but i think a nokia e90 will fit your bill.I'm still using mine,built like a tank,i've dropped mine numerous times and it's still going.Very good keyboard and a good screen,plus you don't need to worry about the mechanism as it's got a huge hinge(for a phone).Only downside is it's a bit large but like i said i've got big hands
Nokia UK - Buy Nokia E90 Communicator Broadband Business Phone

 

[ShinyF1]

Had a Nokia E71 - very limited email functions [like no 'smart' areas where email addresses and phone numbers appear in emails as links you can easily cut & paste or save to the address book]. Looks and feels good but very heavy. Shame because it falls between two stools and does neither phone or email well enough. Wife has a new E51 phone which is also frustrating to use as a phone compared to older Nokias.

Now have a BB Bold - I love it but only downside is battery life and a shift button that fell off [apparently a new handset required!] 3G and WiFi work well and email handling superb.

Was playing with a friend's business iPhone over the weekend - very very impressive.

 

[Barney9304]

Iphone all the way now that they have addressed the shortcomings. Push is very good with both pop and imap addys

 

[jonnyboy]

iphone seems very divisive! several people reckon the touch screen is more trouble than its worth.......

 

[Barney9304]

Hi John play with one before you make your mind up, but I wont have any other phone now and I have been through the lot!

 

[A210AMG]

I like my E71 after an O2 Orbit

Very logical to use as a phone (ie phone book, contact and to make a call) which is what you want in a phone.

I use Garmin Sat Nav which is OK but would prefer TomTom as on my old phones...

Screen is fine for e-mail and surfing if you have to, its only when I'm out and about so not too bothered. Your never from from a proper computer

Plugged into my laptop or via blue tooth I use the free data to check mail / surf while away. works a treat.

Nice phone to use so far happy with it


However I do like the way the iphone works and the fact TomTom will be doing maps for it soon.

 

[jonnyboy]

thinking off to a side tangent now.....about netbooks.....see this thread:-

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/pc-i...-any-good-can-they-used-email.html#post802224

 

[jonnyboy]

iphoone looking hotterdue to the upgrades, forwarding etc. hmmm

 

[BenzedUP]

Had the E71 good business phone but had to try the new iPhone 3G S great phone i've always used nokias but after trying the new iphone i'm never going back!

 

[andy_k]

I've just switched from a Blackberry to a Nokia 5800.

Whereas I hated the touch screen on the Ipod, the Nokia one is superb. It's a loss let sensitive and for some operations like handwriting it needs a stylus.

I miss the pushed emails on the Blackberry but I can pick up my mail whenever I want with the nokia (It will also do it automatically) so it's not that far behind.

On the plus side, the Nokia is the best sounding phone I've ever heard for music playback, the screen is great for video.

I only swapped from the Blackberry because of an email problem that had Orange completely baffled (randomly deleting emails) - they tried and failed to sort it out so in the end they admitted defeatand gave me a different phone