Getting one on Vodafone, as im peeved off with Orange.

Ive been using an N73, and its a great phone, i just hope that the N95 is just as good!

Opinions please good people:thumbup:

I had an 8gb but just couldn't get on with it. Lots of people love it though.

I've had a vanilla N95 for the past 18 months and it's a really good phone as long as you keep the firmware updated. I've just switched from T-mobile and signed up to another 18 months with a Vodaphone sim only contract which is the first time I've ever decided against an upgrade. So N95 for 3 years!

The things I use most are the wireless Internet connection, which is now faultless after a few initial niggles, the 5MP camera which is superb for a phone.

Features worthy of mention but which I don't use as often as I should are, the video camera - outstanding quality. Autoblog feature which is handy for uploading photos when a PC is not available. and the media player for playing Tv shows and fillums. Good features but just not something I automatically use.

Things that could be better are, The GPS nav function. I don't use this at all as I haven't got a 3G allowance on my contract and it costs me money in the initial assisted stage of the GPS function. plus when it has been operational it's been slow and the reception is poor.

Apart from that still the top of the pile for multi faceted phones just now. Nothing else can beat it!

Are you getting the original N95 or the new N95 8gb?

Personally if it was a choice between paying a little extra and getting the 8gb i would probably do that.

I have the 8gb and have had no problems with it so far. I have a couple of workmates who have the N95 and the only big difference between them is the battery life on the N95 is very poor compared to the 8gb. I can get anywhere up to 3 or 4 days out of a charge where as they get 2 at the very most.

The internal GPS on the 8gb seems to work fine. I have a data package included so use the A-GPS function to get a lock quicker and have used the Nokia Sports Tracker when out walking the dog. It shows total distance, actual speed, average speed, altitude differences etc..... I've also updated Nokia Maps to the v2 beta and would be happy to use it to find a location whilst out and about. I have a tomtom so have no need for the navigation etc.... whilst driving.

The 8gb also has a slightly larger screen too and i have converted a couple of movies to mp4 and they look stunning. It comes with Spiderman 3 pre-loaded onto the phone anyway!!!! I have the latest season of Family guy ready to load onto it for when we go away later this year.

The WLAN seems to work ok and connected to our home router straight away..... I still think the Nokia web browser could be a little better though.... I also have Opera Mini installed though so have a choice. It is still nice to be able to check for that all important Brisky response whilst sat on the sofa watching TV without having to fire up the laptop. :D:D

All in all i think if i had to pick i would go for the 8gb version. I was supposed to have paid £125 to upgrade to it but got it for free cos a vodafone bod told me incorrectly it was a free upgrade. I was running an N73 before so have kept that as a hot stand-by for both our current phones, Mrs has still got her N73, as because they're symbian smart phones the sim card is hot swappable between the phones and everything still works fine etc.... :thumbup:

The biggest thing as mentioned by Stu is the symbian software but as your running an N73 you're already used to it. Personally i've been using symbian phones for a few years now and get on fine with them..... I'm probably the opposite of Stu in that i can't get on with SE phones and much prefer the Nokia symbian phones.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Dave.

Yep, great phone - one of the best Nokias of recent years IMO

On the battery life Dave, it improves dramatically if you run a later firmware. Do you know which version your workmates run?

Have a search round 'the shed' Steve - plenty of v.useful N95-related threads

Steve

It's a great phone with a never ending supply of programs. Especially now mosh is up and running. I've had mine for twelve months and I'm due an upgrade - so I'll be keeping the n95 and putting the upgrade on eBay.

I have been using my N95 for just coming upto 1 year. Really nice phone, and has not gone wrong.

I am going to go against the flow, and say unless you can justify the 8GB then just get the normal one. Yes it has a smaller screen, but what it does have is a microsd card slot The 8GB has not expansion slots at all. Getting music onto the 8GB can be a slow affair over the USB connection, and once the phone is full thats that. The original N95 has the card slot. Getting music on is far quicker using a PC card reader, and when the card is full then just buy a bigger one. The original N95 is rumoured to support upto 32GB microsd cards when they are available but your N95 8GB will still be stuck with 8GB of storage.

I had an 8gb but just couldn't get on with it. Lots of people love it though.

I have an 8gb from work, and there's no way I'd pay my own money for one.

Good: Camera, movie player, PDF reader, wireless lan.

Bad: Size, weight, slow GPS, complicated menus.

There's lots of stuff I don't use.

Hmm, mixed views.

I use an N73 at the mo, so im used to Nokia menus etc, and it is the 8gb one im going for.

Have to agree with Manny, on the limited expandability of the 8Gb version. It's a shame they've decided to go down this road.

Do like the look of that model, in black and the screen and better battery life (out of the box) are attractive. No way I'd bother going from my std N95 to one though!

Have my eye on the N96... :drool:

Steve

I have the 8gb model, best phone I have had so far.

Over the normal N95 the 8gb has more internal memory so you can run more apps at the same time with no slow downs or crashes.

Very impressed with mine.

Firmware is getting updated quite a lot now and gets better every time.

Doesnt work fully (as all symbian phones) with the OEM bluetooth kit in that you need an app to get the contacts onto maxidot.

Brilliant phone

Steve

Hmm the N96 looks very tasty, but seem as it was free im not going to complain....!!

I think it should be here tomorrow, so i cant wait!

Is the wap/internet ok on it?

Just get an iPhone :P

Hmm the N96 looks very tasty, but seem as it was free im not going to complain....!!

I think it should be here tomorrow, so i cant wait!

Is the wap/internet ok on it?

Internet is excellent, especially if you ge an unlimited data tarrif. Its not wap either, its the full internet like the iphone. Its even better if you use a wireless network, and if you get a full featured one (eg. not T-Mobile or Vodafone who cripple the firmware) then you can even use VOIP to make cheap/free calls as long as you can get a wireless signal worldwide.

I only really think the memory limits are an issue if you are using it as a dedicated MP3 player. And if you were why???? Phones really don't give good enough sound quality to be used in such a way IMHO. I've converted full movies and they only take up 300-odd meg. so 8gb is still ample enough. I also know people who have their's loaded to the hilt with apps / multimedia and they still have plenty of free space left. Also most people only have a phone for 1 to 2 years before upgrading etc.... so by the time we're all using 32gb memory cards "as a norm" you'll probably be ready to or already have moved on from this phone.

As mentioned above the 8gb version is a significant improvement over the original N95 and having daily access to both versions i would say the 8gb is the better running of the two. No amount of firmware updates can improve things like lack of RAM etc..... which still dog the original model.

I will admith the built in GPS is a little slow to get a lock if used without the AGPS but with it it gets a lock as fast as my TomTom Go300.

Cheers

Dave.

Internet is excellent, especially if you ge an unlimited data tarrif. Its not wap either, its the full internet like the iphone. Its even better if you use a wireless network, and if you get a full featured one (eg. not T-Mobile or Vodafone who cripple the firmware) then you can even use VOIP to make cheap/free calls as long as you can get a wireless signal worldwide.

The VOIP is actually the only thing removed from the Vodafone branded 8gb phone....... I've left mine branded for now as i wouldn't use the VOIP anyway as out of my 500 free minutes i usually use no more than 100 per month!!!!!

Thinking about it the latest firmware out this last week gives auto screen rotate but again i can live without that till the Vodafone firmware is released.....

Cheers

Dave.

Cool, does it have built in sat nav on Vodafone?

Nokia maps can be installed onto any version, and comes as part of the firmware on some. However the satnav feature of the application is not free. You can use it for locating yourself and tracking yourself (which works again in the latest beta) though.

An excellent phone all round, mine is battered and bruised nowadays after being dropped/thrown loads of times over the last year or so but still works fine bar one of the small side buttons.

Bit of a shame about the satnav, may see if TomTom will go onto it

Bit of a shame about the satnav, may see if TomTom will go onto it

Unfortunately TomTom navigator 6 doesn't recognise the internal GPS receiver in the N95 8gb..... Apparantly when Navigator 7 is released it will support the internal receiver.

You can of course still install navigator 6 and use an external BT GPS receiver.

Cheers

Dave.

Way over my head mate!

Way over my head mate!

Navigator is just the name of the TomTom software for use on mobiles and PDA's.

The current version doesn't recognise the built in GPS receiver in the N95 8gb so the only way to use TomTom with it is to buy a bluetooth GPS receiver.

Apparantly i've heard that the next version of the Navigator software should get round this problem.

Cheers

Dave.

Bit of a shame about the satnav, may see if TomTom will go onto it

It does and works very well I installed this on my wifes N73 and her new N95 and with a suitable bluetooth gps reciever it is quicker than my stand alone sat nav. It doesn't use the internal gps but TBH the battery life would be dreadful. At least with the external gps you can drive all day with TomTom.

Is the wap/internet ok on it?

That's one of the best bits about it, actually.