N81, the Truth...(the Nokia VS SE battle)

visor619 · 06-05-2009, 02:29 AM

Hey everyone!!!
Most of u must b familiar wid my previous thread bout the n81.. if nt,check this Is Nokia N81 worth buying in today's date??
I'l continue from where i hd left in the previous thread.
So,after considering everyone's opinions, i set out to see for myself the truth...

SO Guys, here it goes......

I went to my trusted wholeseller yesterday.. The price they quoted for the N81 ws Rs14100(lesser if negotiated)..I asked for a demo and they opened up a new n81 pack for me to check... it ws a blue(micro sd slot)one..There ws a 2gb micro sd card included along with the normal contents,ie charger,headset,cable etc.
The initial looks of the fone were vry unimpressive..the front n back were shiny plasticky n lukd cheap.. i cn stil remembr 3 yrs back wen i hd first held my n70M in my hands.. how firm n solid it hd felt..even its body ws made of plastic,yet it lukd n felt so gud.. surely, nokia hs degraded its quality nw a days..
moving on...
the back flap hd a small peice of foam placed inside at the centre(to stop it from being pressed in i sup) bt did nt work out that way.the back cover ws creaking a bit(typical nokia).Even my old n70's back cover used to creak,wen pressed,bt it had started to happen after a year and 3-4 hard falls from the bed,stairs etc.. Bt such creaking on a brand new fone??
The slider hd the same problem dat i hd already heard a million times.Wen opened,it ws shaking a lot both up-down n sideways.It felt very delicate.. This shaking made me imagine wat a user had said in the previous thread,"imagine the cell in ur tight jeans pocket". It really felt like it wud break easily. But wen completely shut,it felt firm n secure..
Now, coming on to the navi wheel.I activated it from the settings as it ws set to off by default.it worked in music menu n gallery.. the motion wasn't smooth like that of an ipod.moving to the next track/pic wud take 3-4 attempts.bt once the motion started,the movement became smooth.I mean to say that,skipping a lot of fotos/tracks ws easy,bt moving tracks/fotos one by one ws vry jerky.. Again,not satisfied.bt i sup that updating the firmware wud hav solved this problem..
All these things worried me a lot..specially the slider..
I then askd fr the N78,quoted at 15k exactly.They hadnt got it in stock,so they suggested me to check out the fone demo at a nokia priority dealer...
So,i went to the Nokia Priority Dealer next.The people there had a totally different story to tell..
There were no demos,nt even dummies,of the N81 n N78.Whereas,all other N-Series models were there.I askd the person incharge about it n he said that the company hd stopped the production of both handsets around three months before..Startled at the news, i said that the fones were still available at maximum stores, n pat cam the reply,
"Aray Bhaiya,Hum log to nokia k official dealers hain,hum aapko galat baat kyun batayenge?? Aur shops pe to aapko aur purane fones bhi mil jayenge,pr company ne ye fone banane band kar diye hain.."

More confused than ever before,i felt it ws best to confirm the news with a third dealer..

Moving on, the third dealer i went to was again, a wholeseller.. i askd him for the 2 fones,n78 n n81, n he too said the same thing as the showroom person hd said.In addition he said that if i buy that fone, by warranty wud get lapsed to only 6 months.. Again,shocked as i ws,i askd for alternative models. To that, he suggesed me to go for the 6220 classic(5 mp, xenon flash,wifi etc etc) priced at 16200. This ws way out of the budget of <15k that i hd set out wid... time to move on from nokia,i muttered, and went ovr to the ericsson counter..

The lady there,as usual, brought out the c510 as soon as i opened my mouth..more on its features later..i askd her for the price of the w705 n the best price she cud giv ws 16200rs..Damn,i cud get a 6220 for that price!! c510 ws quoted at 11200..Bt she had only the dummies of the two fones..So,after thanking the lady for her help, i set out on my journey again, to the sony ericsson showroom this time..

At the SE showroom,the c510 ws the highlight(no surprises here).. the fones i checked were w910i,t700,c510,g700,w705,c905.. the xperia ws also on display,a real beauty... *day dreaming*....
Ok,back to real world,the best fone under 15k that i felt ws(ne guesses?) the C510.. gud luks,firm n sturdy,feature packed,3.2mp cam,cool lens cover flap,smile shutter,accelrometer for auto rotate,geo-tagging (cell-id),TrackID music recognition,YouTube service in Media Center,Voice memo/dial,Motion gaming... all for 11.5k showroom price..a 1gb m2 card ws included.. Bass Reflex earphones were also bundled in the pack..
It wasn't that hard to decide now, i went for the C510+2gb m2 card+in ear active series earbuds(those with a loop that fits around the ear)..after all the negotiations,i managed to get it at around 13.5k...

Here, i would clearly like to metion that i am a complete nokia guy who hs grown up wid series 60 n never held a sony fone for more than 3 minutes in my hand..Therefore,i am not,in any way a SE freak n am not going to favour it in any way.. the next few hours at home wid the new sony were the toughest..no symbian OS ws driving me crazy.even putting in the charger pin into the the fone felt so odd n challenging.i still wonder y cant they make single pin chargers like nokia.. No Symbian OS meant no cool softwares cracked by the gr8 ppl lyk BINPDA... even thinking that made me sick.I started feeling that i hd made a blunder in not sticking to symbian n nokia..Bt this odd feeling lasted only for these few hours,after that, I felt i had made the right choice..

So far, the only drawback i felt ws the loudspeaker volume of the C510.it ws quite strange that wen i played a song thru loudspeakers at max volume, it ws pretty low, bt if i set it as a ringtone wid max volume n then call my number, the song/ringtone wud play at a higher volume..as to y dis happens,im still not clear..

other than this,i pretty much love the fone.The flash themes are pretty cool.The motion sensors work in the default theme too..the default 'dusk' theme's wallpaper still amazes me... the trees in the shadow move in the direction i tilt my fone wen its in the standby mode..feels pretty awesome.the motion gaming is really gud..music playback is top notch wen using headsets.i've already told u bout the loudspeaker problem..camera works great which is no surprise as it is a cybershot fone..smile shutter,face recognition,panorama, all are gr8 along wid plenty of customizations..

These are jst some of the features i hv mentioned.I wont go into detail as it is not a review thread..just wanted to share how much disappointed i was with nokia.When comparing both nokia and sony ericsson, ireally feel that nokia has really gone down quality wise in the past 2 years.my frnd got a new n70m around a year back, n it felt poorer built than my 3 yr old fone.. I only wish that rather than bringing down the prices of their fones every few days,nokia shud utilize the extra bucks at making the quality of its products better..
+1 for Sony Ericsson from my side from now on...

sujoyp · 06-05-2009, 09:59 AM

Welcome to SE world

Anyways nokia phones are always feature packed...but less on quality of build..

I would give nokia 90/100 for features
but only 60/100 for its build.

did u compare T700 with ur C510...how sleek is C510...and did u installed new flash menus in ur fone yet...there r lots of them available...and most of the good java games would play smoothly

**ico** · 06-05-2009, 10:07 AM

Coool · 06-05-2009, 10:24 AM

But Nokia Rulezz!!

**ico** · 06-05-2009, 10:30 AM

N81 is a brick weighing 140g, with a sucky camera and many build quality issues.

(SE fanboi here)

Coool · 06-05-2009, 10:54 AM

SE phones has huge screen's ( 2"

) with an awesome OS @ Sky-high price

(Nokia fanboi here)

dreamcatcher · 06-05-2009, 04:33 PM

@visor619, welcome to SE world. Me here is a sony user for the past 5 years. Presently on the C905.

The best thing abot SE is that you can change the acoustics at will. You can increase the loudspeaker volume, increase bass, make it sound like a walkman with say, the W705 acoustics and also change the cam driver for better photos. I myself have changed the cam driver for my C905 which adds more sharpness and hue to the pics. If you get addicted to modding, trust me, you will not look back. Make your own patches, make your phone sound the way you want to.

Go to www.esato.com and rope in the patches..

**ico** · 06-05-2009, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coool

SE phones has huge screen's ( 2"

) with an awesome OS @ Sky-high price

(Nokia fanboi here)

Typical Nokiaaaa fanboi....

sujoyp · 06-05-2009, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coool

SE phones has huge screen's ( 2"

) with an awesome OS @ Sky-high price

(Nokia fanboi here)

Nokia have huge screes (2.8" ) with same 320x240 resolution that too at a premium price(24k)

sagar.best · 06-05-2009, 05:02 PM

my bro got the C510 too. you have made the right choice me to love that phone

. 10-15k only one nokia s60 phone rules that is N73ME.

uppalpankaj · 06-05-2009, 05:03 PM

Congrats for the C510.

I am not a Nokia or a SE fanboy. I do not go by the brand but by the phone. The phone which is better in features and is a VFM irrespective of the SE/Nokia brand is my choice.

I have a SE K750i (Best 2 MP cam) and i love it the way I love my N82 (awesome 5 MP cam)..

I have seen the specs of SE Idou, the monster with a 12 MP cam due 2 release may be in Q3..I think I will pick it up if Nokia doesn't release an equivalent phone next yr. Otherwise, I will buy which one is better among the Nokia and SE.

Coool · 06-05-2009, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sujoyp

Nokia have huge screes (2.8" ) with same 320x240 resolution that too at a premium price(24k)

+ a golden OS

max_demon · 06-05-2009, 07:40 PM

Symbian Suck Bigtime period. SE os rocks anytime

Coool · 06-05-2009, 07:52 PM

^ Oh Really?

max_demon · 06-05-2009, 09:07 PM

So u feel Windows is better than linux ? ^^

a_k_s_h_a_y · 06-05-2009, 10:00 PM

C510 is a good phone, it won't bore you for a an year at least. Sure thing.
But you will get eventually get bored of SE. Trust me. Then its time for you get back to nokia once again or perhaps may be LG/Samsung or Others.

SE is focusing on usability then a poor symbian OS !
You will any way get decent apps, all the necessary ones, and not bloatware and simply time killing apps.

nice decision, as you get to check out the SE world now. The amazing SE phones and SE communities.

For Gods sake, I hope this thread is not closed.
TDF forum already sucks, but we hope here we have some heated and knowledgeable debate. Else no point in visiting TDF.

Tamoghno · 06-05-2009, 10:25 PM

Nokia phone may not have good built but they never break either . Its not like chinese maal which , inspite of metal/steel body , give up once you drop it.

Personely , i stick to nokia becuase of s60. No matter what you say , s60 is best smartphone os as of now.

Coool · 06-05-2009, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by max_demon

So u feel Windows is better than linux ? ^^

where the hell they came from?? V are discussing on mobiles..

Tamoghno · 06-05-2009, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by max_demon

Symbian Suck Bigtime period. SE os rocks anytime

I am interested in indepth analysis please.

uppalpankaj · 06-05-2009, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by max_demon

Symbian Suck Bigtime period. SE os rocks anytime

I really don't think so. When one changes from Symbian to SE's OS, it does seems fancy 4 sometime. But u definitely get bored of it with time..

Anyway, the thread starter has definitely made a gud choice..C510's cam results r better than Nokia 5800's cam..

girish.g · 06-05-2009, 11:09 PM

se os is all eye candy, no practical uses IMO

uppalpankaj · 06-05-2009, 11:17 PM

And there r more no. of apps available 4 the Symbian..

Coool · 06-05-2009, 11:31 PM

You can make s60 os also eye candy with some apps

rohan_mhtr · 06-05-2009, 11:48 PM

I previously had k750 , used for 5 months then i got bored and sold it and got w810 . After 4 months got bored of it too and gave it to my mother since i hardly used its camera and my shuffle sounded better than it .There was nothing more to do with it really . Then i changed the platform and for the first time i got s60 device N91 . Even tough it was buggy and heavy and huge etc , i actually liked it . Not just the sound quality but also its software platform . Tried so many different things with it but finally some su**er stole it . I used it for more then a year but i didnt get bored neither it broke . Yes nokia has bad built quality but these phones are not weak . If sony had symbian in it they would have been best , they have tried this platform in the past but were not successful . Why has iphone won hearts of people even if it could not compete with mere 10k phones is that because of its software platform .
For the buyer i was shocked to hear that nokia would provide only 6 months warranty , this is all nonsence and the dealer was fooling you . I got n91 when it was on its way of extinction and still got full warranty with it .
Ps : My mother still uses w810 without any problem and does not get bored at all , are all SE loving people are aunties and uncles like my mother .... just kidding

.

Coool · 07-05-2009, 12:20 AM

Bottom line:Aunty, uncles get SE! (jst kidding

)

sujoyp · 07-05-2009, 12:24 AM

I too have used both SE and Nokias but the thing is SE has lots of eye candy...
People see my T700 with wide eyes...its soo stylish.....I dont think apart from 5800 nokia has any glamor left.

Ok I admit that I too got bored with SE os ....but its soo smooth and soo many flash themes available makes it soo eye catching everytime....

I too installed lots of application in my previous N70 and this SE T700....didnt even used 3 of 15-20 application.

mostly I hear songs and take snaps ocassionally . use face wrap to have fun with pics.
Ya I play some games and Java games r also too good....like asphalt 4 ...NFS...offroad MX..Race driver..but loved preinstalledsuper breakout
SE phones rocks in playing a java file...S40 series is very poor in that.

All in all i would say that SE eye candy+symbian will be ultimate

I am waiting for IDOU to fullfill the dream.

IronManForever · 07-05-2009, 01:27 AM

@OP. Dude, organize your content better by giving appropriate headers, bolding, underline.. Its a pain to read!
-----
I generally find Nokia phones much more preferable than SE. But N81 is horrible!
What you bought was a better option for you maybe.

rohan_mhtr · 07-05-2009, 02:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sujoyp

I too have used both SE and Nokias but the thing is SE has lots of eye candy...

Ok I admit that I too got bored with SE os ....but its soo smooth and soo many flash themes available makes it soo eye catching everytime....

I really dont understand how themes can make a phone eye catching . If you take out your phone on the street no one is gonna look at the screen out of the whole phone and say ," hey dude thats a preety good theme u have , it makes your phone eye catching ."

Its not the themes , for s60 you can get huge amount of themes . Its just that the built of SE phones looks good .

Tamoghno · 07-05-2009, 09:01 AM

Btw ,the built quality situatoon should improve becuase nokia has again started to production inhouse. Just look at e71 and see what nokia is actually capable of building. http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1524431

**ico** · 07-05-2009, 09:16 AM

Well, I would also like to say that Symbian is Symbian. :>

There is no point in comparing the both brands as people have different feature-set which they require in their fone. Some may like SE, and some may like Nokia.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coool

SE phones has huge screen's ( 2"

) with an awesome OS @ Sky-high price

(Nokia fanboi here)

If you go through my post, I was talking about N81, not a company.