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Posts: 20 | Thanked: 3 times | Joined on May 2006
#1
I figured I'd create a thread for me and anyone else who wants to talk about their experience transitioning from another phone to the Nokia N9.

I received a 64GB from newegg on Friday. Since then I've been acclimating myself to Meego/Harmattan and the harware.

First, some background information on my mobile device experience. I was a huge fan of Psion, with the Sienna, Series5, Revo, and the (original) netBook. After Psion dissolved into Symbian along with their operating system, EPOC32, which was used as the basis for the OS of the same name, I owned several Nokia smartphones: 6670, 6682, E70-2, N95-4, and 5800. When Symbian started to get long in the tooth, I got a 770 and later an N800.

I would have stuck it out with Nokia, and their mobile OSes, Symbian and Maemo, but the former failed to keep up with the times, and the latter was only available on hardware (N900) that didn't support my carrier's 3G frequencies. I tried several Android and iOS handsets after that.

That brings us to early 2012. I wanted to take a break from iOS and give Nokia another try. I was considering waiting a bit for the Lumia 900, but now that Meego/Harmattan is becoming more mature and since it, after all, is the successor to Maemo, I opted for the N9.

I recently came to realize that I don't do much touch-screen gaming, and I only use a few core applications and functions of a smartphone. I'm not interested anymore in cluttering up my phone with 100's of applications and games. The overall user experience is what I'm interested in.

Moreover, after using a Playbook tablet for several months, I've come to enjoy an OS that employs a cohesive swipe interface. Compared to the iPhone and iPad with their reliance on a hardware Home button, the Playbook feels more natural, especially when coupled with an OS that actually multitasks. The N9 attracted me with its similar features and UI mechanic.

Here's my list of main things I use my phone for:

- Tethering over USB and Wifi (I have an unlimited data plan and use as much as 75GB/month via 3G)
- Web browsing
- Email (several accounts)
- Internet radio streaming
- Podcast managing/playing
- RSS feed reader (Google Reader support is nice, but not necessary)
- MP3 playing (AAC format) wih stereo Bluetooth support
- Good camera

Nice to have, but not vital:
- Navigation (North America)
- Kindle/e-book reader
- Netflix
- Skype (Video support)

How does the N9 meet my needs?

Issues, so far:
- The Wifi hotspot feature isn't as robust as I would have liked.

The N9's hotspot feature works with the iPhone4S, iPad2, and Window7 and Ubuntu laptops. It does not work the following devices that do work with the iPhone4S's hotspot: Playbook, AppleTV, and PS Vita.

At least I can get the Playbook online with the N9 via Bluetooth tethering.

- [EDIT... I forgot to mention this item] Restrictive Charger.

The N9 comes with a wall charger that has a European power plug and a North American adapter. The European plug is small and portable on its own, but it's inconvenient that the adapter adds "length" to it, and that it makes a loose connection on both ends.

At first I figured I'd simply use one of my many other 5V, 1-2Amp chargers. The iPhone 1Amp and iPad 2Amp chargers are both reported on the N9 as not being powerful enough. I have another 2Amp changer that also does not work with the N9.

At was relieved to finally discover that the standard wall charger for the Playbook (5V, 1.8Amp) works fine with the N9. I'm happy I won't need to rely on the European one.

- Difficulties importing gmail contacts.

The iPhone is able to import all of my gmail contacts, but for some reason it's not working on the N9. The situation isn't hopeless, there are a few more things I can do to resolve it. It's too bad it's not more seemless.

- I'm currently looking for a countdown application that supports independent and simultaneous countdown timers.

I purchased "Countdown Timer", since it appeared to support several timers and groups of timers. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, two or more timers cannot run at the same time.


Stuff I like:

Buttonless, swipe UI, and multitasking OS.
Size: About the same size as iPhone, but larger display.
Applications I've used the most so far:
- Web
- Mail
- Internet Radio
- Podcasts
- NewsFlow
- Ionic
- Wifi hotspot and BT tethering
- Sports Tracker
I'm really liking using a phone that is both modern looking and feeling in hardware and software, and that also gives the user more control over, like Symbian and Maemo.

I'll update this thread as time goes by with the N9.

Last edited by Psion1; 2012-03-25 at 07:16.
 

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Posts: 51 | Thanked: 8 times | Joined on Aug 2011
#2
You're having problems with your mail because it's trying to download the full content of lots of emails at the same. To fix this go accounts and find where to set your mail to only download headers. Send and receive and wait for syncing to finish. Then change the setting back to full download if you want

Last edited by dirtymoon; 2012-03-28 at 00:09.
 
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