My n900 was sent back to Carphone warehouse and I got a call today saying that they didn't know how long it would take for them to fix it, and that if I wanted I could get a brand new N8 or a Samsung Galaxy i9000.


So I have those two options, or I could get whichever one sells for the highest price on ebay, and using the money to get a secondhand n900.

Both handsets seem to be a bit of a step backwards from what I'm used to - even if I was offered the E7, which to me seems more like today's equivalent of the n900, that has a smaller resoultion for a start...

So I'm wondering what to do.

SOFTWARE:
Highest priority is something like mobilehotspot, ideally for free (This 'ideally for free' is going to be a running theme in my requirements)

Browser - I don't want to have to go from 'proper' internet that I'm used to on the n900 back to 'mobile' browsing, how do either of those two phones fare?

Email - multiple accounts, push notification, which phone does email better?

I don't play a lot of games really, but I would like an n64 emulator, a psx emulator, scummvm and possibly an amiga emulator. I loved playing via psx sixaxis, has anyone made this work for either of those phones?

Sunvox - is this out for either of those phones? For free?

I know I'm going to miss geeky hacky things like being able to switch to a linux desktop and run 'actual' programs like gimp etc, anything anywhere near that for either of those phones? (I swear if I see another advert for a 'photoshop app' on a phone someone's going to get it...)


HARDWARE
TV Out - the galaxy has this via 3.5mm jack same as n900. The n8 has hdmi out which is all well and good but my TV has no HDMI connector...

Keyboard - Lacking on both, I guess I could get a mini usb keyboard and keep it in my bag? (Or haggle for an E7...)

Processor - which is going to be faster for the stuff I do?

Memory - again, steps backwards - the n8 has 16mb and the i9000 has either 8gb or 16gb (or 32 gb?) both upgradeable with memory cards.

Screen size/Resolution - n8 has 3.5" 640 x 360 and the i9000 has 800 x 480 (that's more like it!)

Camera - 12mp on the n8 vs 5 mp on the i9000, but does it really make that much of a difference through a tiny lens? (seems like it does: http://www.blog-n8.fr/tests/comparat...s-i9000-02175/)


Did I miss anything?

The N8 has outstanding camera performance. Nothing, absolutely nothing else compares in a mobile device. If Nokia has done anything right, it's imaging.

I, personally, would haggle for an E7. It doesn't have the "raw power" that the N900 does, but it absolutely holds it's own as a phone and communication device.

If it comes down to straight resale? I feel that Galaxy S will sell better, but you'll have to HURRY as the S II will be making rounds on the resale market.

I'm thinking that it's fair to say that the E7 is the equivalent of my n900, well, more so than anything else out there at the moment. My worry is lack of software for thing's I've been relying on/enjoyed...

Can't seem to find an n64 or psx emulator for symbian

I'd say get the i900 over the N8. It's a proper smartphone vs a beefy-featurephone.

But if you can, try to haggle for the Desire Z, which is inferior to the i9000 in several aspects but its not too shabby. Plus it gives you a qwerty, and you can slap on a GameGripper for the emulators. The Desire Z has heaps of custom rom/community support, its the best choice other than a new N900.

edit: The T-Mobile G2 is the same thing as the Desire Z it just has the carrier branding. So if you cannot get either, grab whichever sells the highest on ebay/cg/etc and buy/trade for an N900 or a Desire Z/G2.

Had a look at a friend's N8 yesterday. Not impressed, basically seems like a thinner touchscreen N95 with a better camera ie the internet isn't really the internet.

I reckon ebay and then another n900 is the way to go, especially if i can haggle them up to sending me an E7, which, to be fair is pretty much nokia's current equivalent both in features and RRP..

First I want to say that E7 Can't be compared to the N900 because of it'sraw power like hawaii said. It won't have features like multi boot to maemo etc.... And I don't like the keyboard.

N8 however is so slow. It lags at the homescreen when you switch between desktop. Out of the 3 (N8, C7, and E7) I think C7 is the fastest.

Your question is just a matter of symbian^³ or android. Just go with what would fit your needs and where you're going to be contended.

After all this and you still can't decides. Just a buy nokia 3210

Yep, when I say it is the equivalent I mean that in terms of trying to haggle to get them to send me one rather than an N8. As far as I can see they are pretty much the same phone, just that as far as resale value is concerned the E7 fetches an extra £100 or so pounds.

It wouldn't be so bad if there was actually something out there that was equivalent to the N900, I could just demand that...

Don't go for i9000 but go for i9100 instead.

Dual Cores 1.2Ghz
1024MB RAM
16GB internal or 32GB
MicroSD
8MP camera 1080p recording (back) + 2MP front
Super Amoled plus 4.3"
NFC
HDMI TV out, USB charging
FM Radio
Compass
Gyroscope
1650 mAh battery
Swype and voice to text.

list goes on...

The Samsung Galaxy S II (i9100) will only have NFC in some markets. Probably in Korea and nowhere else.

Greetings.