I'm living in South Africa and whenever I traveled to, let's say Europe, I used to take my iBook along. Now I'm looking for something smaller, like the Nokia 770 or Nokia E61. Not sure which one to buy, it really causes me headache. Maybe you people are able to assist.

Important to me: to surf the web, obviously. Maybe even more important: in order to read the mails which are on my South African Internet Service Provider I have to visit their website, there I got to loggin with my email address plus password. Then I'm able to read and reply etc.

Could I do the same job with an Nokia 770 or would the Nokia E61 be a better solution? Hope my problem is understood. I'm looking forward to read your comments.

Well, most important, Nokia770 is not a phone...
You will be available to surf Internet if you will get public WiFi hot spots.
So connect Nokia770 to wireless, and do almost everything what can do
with desktop computer, but don't try to call somebody
One more word:
Nokia770 has twice larger screen...

Hi MacUser,
the 770 is a great travel companion. If you can check your web-based email from SA, you will also be able to do so from Europe.
Only problem is that though wifi is fairly accessible here, you might need to sign up with several providers as you travel through Europe. Best thing is probably to check whether your hotel(s) offer wifi ... but unlike the US, the European hotels normally charge you for it.

I have both devices: a 770 and a Nokia E61. (I write tech docs for Nokia and I like their stuff.) Unfortunately, I don't think it's a clean choice between the two.

Couple of observations:

1. As was said before, the 770 is not a phone. I'm guessing (I'm in the US), but I still think you can get more mobile phone coverage than WiFi coverage -- and it's cheaper. So using the VoIP clients on the 770 might not give you as wide a coverage as a mobile phone.
2. Web surfing is much better on the 770. The E61 has WiFi, and the surfing is cool for a mobile phone, but the touch screen and optimized viewing with Opera on the 770 just beats the E61 hands down.
3. Email is still bad on the 770 and OK on the E61. Sending email is OK on the 770, but reading is not worth trying.
4. The E61 has GPS apps, but not Maemo Mapper. Maemo Mapper is one of the killer apps for the 770, IMHO.
5. The 770 has "holiday" apps: FBreader and video viewer.

When I travel, I use the 770 for most things like surfing the Web, sending email, and Maemo Mapper. I have a Think Outside Bluetooth keyboard, which makes the experience very nice. If I'm on vacation: reading with FBreader and watching a favorite show on an airplane is very nice.

But you can't get rid of the E61: the mobile phone is necessary and reading email can't be done on the 770. The ability to connect to the Internet by the 770 through the E61 is a great advantage. Plus, it uses the same battery as the 770: in a pinch, I have used the E61 battery when I couldn't charge the 770.

So...the waters are muddy. Sorry! Here's a compromise: if your ISP or company offers a Web-based email client, maybe a cheaper phone with data service would help the decision.

-F

Thanks F., very interesting reading. I'm convinced that your 770 has got the 05 software edition and as far as I know email is much better with the 06 edition. It would be nice to hear from 06 users regarding reading email etc.

Obviously I don't need another cellphone because I have a Nokia 6230i and I'm getting a 6233 soon.

I've never used the 770's mail client. I only do webmail on that device, either with Gmail or through an ISP's webmail portal for older addresses. My professional mailbox is available through an HORDE/IMP interface. I find all of these work well as temporary solutions (vacation, travel). The only task devoted to my Nokia 6021 phone (apart from being a BT modem of course) is synching to Outlook's Calendar, as the Tablet doesn't do PIM (yet).

Actually, my opinion is coming from OS 2006. I find the email interface clunky and slow, and it has frozen for me many times. I had to finally stop using it.

Yes, it's better than OS 2005...but nowhere near the interfaces I'm used to (e.g., Thunderbird). It's got a long way to go, IMHO.

-F

The 770 (either 2005 or 2006) might as well not even have the mail client. It is truly beyond useless. The 770 is great for browsing, good for gps (maemo mapper is probably the best app out there) and ok for watching videos. I haven't played with the VoIP stuff on it yet, but will be soon (though I think that a true SIP client and BT headset support are going to be a requirement to make it perfect for that).

I haven't been travelling too much lately, but looking back at what I used to do while on the road, I think that I might lean towards a 9500 or 9300i. They have good screens for browsing, lots of apps and a great mail client. Add to that a decent keyboard and good app support for things like word processing and either one of them makes for a good travel device.