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>Also, note that the US model doesn't include the smaller (second, on the front) camera.

Hi-Mobile sells Asian-imported models, so they are the full versions.

>how about a photo of the device showing its height.

There are some here: http://www.mobileburn.com/review.jsp?Page=1&Id=3283

>...and how the price isn't listed in "the bad"?! ;]

Well, the price is not too high compared to similar smartphones with similar features, e.g. some HTC devices.

Edited 2007-05-03 20:27

Oh, was meaning to ask:
"the Search application that supports Yahoo! and Windows Live as sources", does that mean no Google option?

No Google in the Search app, no. The Search app is more than a search engine, it's a directory of things and services, and Google does not offer all that AFAIK. So they went with Y! and Live instead.

I went out to test GPS twice, on two different days. Both days with no clouds in the sky, here in the San Mateo area. Both times I could not lock in to the satellites. It would "see" 1 or 2 satellites (and then lose connection with 1 of them) but it wouldn't ultimately lock in. The device still thinks I am in Helsinki or something. I waited for over 10 minutes on each time.

Thing is, my Bluetooth GPS dongle did not have any such problem when I tested it a few months ago with my PocketPC phone.

ah, well, if it believes its in Helsinki, it'll be looking for the wrong satellites
Would explain the few visible sats, its finding them on the horizon.

Beats me why else it shouldn't work. From a cold start, my GPS can get 4 to 8 in a minute even in my densely wooded + hilly area.

> it'll be looking for the wrong satellites

No this is not the case, it's just that Europe is its default starting point location. But then, it does try to find satellites, it just doesn't lock-in.

Yes, I quite understand that. My GPS can take ages if I don't reset it and give it location + time, then it knows which sats might be where, and finds them quickly.

I just looked through the manual for the n95, couldn't see anything about resetting the GPS. Maybe its related to the time / world clock (set as current city) options?

For cases where it just has to find the sats, it shouldn't take more than 6 minutes.
Otherwise it's broken or you're blocking the signal.

>Otherwise it's broken or you're blocking the signal.

Actually, it can be as bad without the device be broken. Others had similar problems:
http://my-symbian.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32055

I hear that the upcoming E90 Communicator is as "slow" to lockin.

Ah, thanks for the heads up Just hoped it was user error and not the device, heh. Sorry.

Looks like i'll get it and an external bluetooth GPS :o

if the GPS ephemeris-data is too old, it may take up to 40+ minutes until a lock is acquired. this is a *normal* GPS behaviour.

Also, you must keep it steady until a lock is acquired.
Some devices with assisted GPS will lock fater but that is due to the fact that dat ais loaded into the device so that it knows what sattelite is in view.

Edited 2007-05-04 17:00

>How's battery life with casual usage?

About 2-3 days.

>Is it possible to disable features to make battery last longer?

Yes, I put the display down to 25% brightness, and disabled 3G, Bluetooth. I try to not open the GPS apps so the hardware doesn't get started. WiFi I do use while at home because of VoIP.

>So when are they going to release a smart phone that runs Maemo and that has a touch screen interface?

Possibly never. The N800 has enough problems and slowness as it is.

> and not able to compete with a DSLR

It is not able to compete with a non-dslr either. E.g. a $100 HP or Samsung 5MP camera will still yield better quality.

>PS Nice Canon EOS 5D :-)

Thanks! It is my husband's, he is a prosumer photographer in his free time (when he is not a engineer).

Edited 2007-05-04 03:57

[OT] Lucky him! I have an aging 1D and D60, but will be selling both of them for the 1D Mark III later on this year (as well as my eos1n film camera, which I can't justify anymore). Link to any of his images (I'm curious)?

Dave

> Link to any of his images (I'm curious)?

http://pics.livejournal.com/jbq/gallery/00001z2d (newer)
http://www.geocities.com/jbqueru/ (older)

Are you sure that your users are using VoIP all the time? Wifi connects here too, there is no problem there. BUT, it disconnects out of the blue every 30-40 minutes. And if at some point try to browse something, chances are that it will again disconnect out of the blue too and it will need to reconnect. I even went as close as 2 meters from the router, but the problem remains. My E61 and N80 do NOT have this problem on the SAME network.

As for the GPS problem, check the link I gave earlier. There are many people where lock-in takes impossible time to complete. For me, it never did.

I do NOT have the US version, I have the world version which is the same as the European one. My phone arrived from Hong-Kong and besides, I upgraded the firmware and made things a bit better already, just not perfect.

The fact that your phones worked does not mean that the bug does not exist. We don't have the same routers. I use a Netgear with WEP 64bit (I use WEP because most of my PDAs don't support WPA).

But as I said, create a Gizmo account and let your phone registered to VoIP. Then, time it as to how long before you hear the "beeeep" to tell you that it's got disconnected. With the first firmware it was within 10 minutes. With the new firmware, it is between 30 and 45 minutes.

Have you disabled the WLAN power saving mode?

Settings -> Connection -> Wireless LAN -> Options -> Advanced Settings

Continue anyway - yes, disable automatic configuration and try with different parameters/power save disabled.

It atleast makes the WLAN speeds faster.

I've not had any problems in the SF downtown are to get a GPS satellite lock. Seems to hold the lock quite well even in between tall buildings. Keep the slider open when trying to get GPS to lock. After locking on I've been able to close the slider and keep the phone in pocket without losing GPS.

The Maps application is done by Nokia, only the maps are licensed.

N95 is able to playback video clips with resolution higher than QVGA, nice for playing them through TV-OUT.

>Have you disabled the WLAN power saving mode?

Yes, it has helped a bit. But it also disconnects after a while, AND, it eats battery like hell. I don't want to use this feature all day.

And as I SAID, the E61 and N80IE do not have the problem on the SAME network. The bug is in the N95 S60 3.1, nowhere else.

My phone is NOT broken ealm. As I said, not everyone uses the same router. If it was broken, the firmware upgrade WOULD NOT make it work better. But it did. The bug exists.

Edited 2007-05-04 17:06

I waited 10 mins for GPS to lock in. IT DID find satellites, so it is NOT broken. It just didn't lock in. Maybe it needed more time than 10 minutes. Maybe there were no satellites directly above San Mateo and in conjunction to the GPS antenna not being very strong, the problem happened.

So no, my unit is not problematic. There are other factors to consider. If it was "broken" it wouldn't work at all.

It very well could need more than 10 minutes. this *is* normal. Moving the unit negatively will affect the initial lock as well.