N82 Replacement...

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LancelotSA

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So, my contract is up for renewal in two months and I am at a loss to find any phone to replace my excellent N82! So I'm looking to the masses for some input.

Now let me mention a couple of things...

1. The camera is the most appealing thing on the N82 for me. Not the megapixels, 5MP, as a lot of phones offer this but the actual picture quality as a result of the Carl Zeiss lens and the Xenon flash. This is the part I am finding the most difficulty matching on any current phone. Can any phone even come close?

2. I use Garmin XT on my N82 and I like it. I know many other phones have other GPS software, as does Nokia with their Nokia Maps, but I prefer Garmin. Does this limit me to Nokia and Symbian or do other phones have it?

3. I am looking at getting a Vodacom contract as I need to use my cellphone for work a lot more now so will probably go for a package that includes a couple of hundred free minutes. Some of the blackberry packages appeal to me but the phones themselves have nothing on the N82.

4. I am not interested in an iPhone but feel free to convince me otherwise, as I know this will be a suggestion. But please make it a substantiated argument and not just cos it is pretty and cool.

Help me find a phone better than my two year old phone! Thanks :)
 
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2 months? I'd keep my eye on the Samsung Galaxy S. The camera might be as great as the N82 but you never know really, but can the N82 record in HD like the new Samsung Galaxy S can? Otherwise I'd look at the HTC Desire awesome phone and with the right rom rooting you can also record in HD.

I'm not sure about Blackberry but they do seem more business oriented so if it's a work phone give them a look.

Nokia maybe the N900 but I wouldn't hold my breathe to be honest.

Motorola Milestone and the Sony Ericson Xperia x10 also might be something to look at. I would definately stay away from the new Iphone way too much crap around the phone, but again your choice.

There are a lot of phones to choose from and definately will be harder to pick in 2 months!
 
You've set yourself a high bar - phones have diversified so much that very few, if any, can do everything you are looking for exceedingly well. As hinted at by Shah33m above, Android is probably where it's at for most non-iFruit fanboys at present, but your wanting of an exceptional camera worries me. To my knowledge, the only current Android phone that should satisfy that need is the SE X10, but other elements of that phone lag far behind, not the least of which is the fact that it's stuck on an old Android release for the foreseeable future.

I'm a recovering Nokia addict as well, having come from an N95 which really was the ultimate phone of its day. Since then Nokia seem to have lost their edge; Symbian is stale, Meamo is pointless given Android's meteoric rise (in my opinion at least) and their last dozen or so highly lauded launches have been disappointing, some more so than others.

I have an HTC Desire myself and it is a truly amazing bit of tech. It does everything apart from taking awe-inspiring photos - the camera's good for taking occasional shots, but it's possibly worse than what you've become accustomed to and the LED flash blows chunks. However, I doubt I've taken 50 snaps with phones over the last 5 years, so it doesn't phase me. It ticks all the other boxes, although it's intimately integrated with online services & our prohibitively expensive mobile data rates do hamper it to an extent. That being said, it's not an issue unique to Android phones as being connected to the cloud 24/7 is becoming the de facto standard in the developed world...

Which of course makes a Blackberry seem quite appealing with its R60-odd p/m charge for 'unlimited' connectivity and I must admit that I nearly fell for that. BB hardware just leaves me unconvinced, though.

All I can say is do your homework and once you're happy that you've made the right choice, do some more. An otherwise awesome phone can be completely spoilt by a single flaw if it happens to concern something you find especially important. Just DON'T get an SE X10 - the only people who don't openly admit that it's a poor attempt at cashing in on the Android bandwagon are those unfortunate enough to have bought one.

EDIT

Just to add: The Samsung Galaxy S looks damn impressive on paper, but it's a... *shudder*... Samsung. My last Samsung phone ended up as a high-velocity phone-meets-brick-wall experiment, and every single bit of Samsung anything I've ever owned has outlasted its warranty... just. Blegh...
 
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XineoX said:
2 months? I'd keep my eye on the Samsung Galaxy S. The camera might be as great as the N82 but you never know really, but can the N82 record in HD like the new Samsung Galaxy S can? Otherwise I'd look at the HTC Desire awesome phone and with the right rom rooting you can also record in HD.
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Fair point but in reality I have only ever used the video function on my cellphone about 10 times in the last two years. And the quality is not bad at all and looks good on my 42" plasma so it is not because of lack of quality that it has not been used. I think photos are easier to snap than a decent video.

I'm not sure about Blackberry but they do seem more business oriented so if it's a work phone give them a look.
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The work aspect would really only be making calls. I am able to do lots of work stuff on my N82 (like office apps, business card readers etc) but in reality, again, they are really just for show as most proper work is done on my laptop. The problem with the call side of it is that someone on my office has a Blackberry and he has to go outside to get reception whereas I can happily use my N82 in the office with no break up.... and we are on the same network. This also worries me with some of these phones.

Nokia maybe the N900 but I wouldn't hold my breathe to be honest.
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Yeah, Nokia is not making forward strides since the N82 and N95. And none of them are getting Xenon flash!!! You won't believe how much more superior and useful it is! Not just for night shots but for highlighting faces in bright sun too. I suppose the lean towards LED flash is as a result of the lean towards video instead of still pictures.

Motorola Milestone and the Sony Ericson Xperia x10 also might be something to look at. I would definately stay away from the new Iphone way too much crap around the phone, but again your choice.
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Thanks I'll look at those first two. The latter worries me too....

There are a lot of phones to choose from and definately will be harder to pick in 2 months!
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Yeah but they really do not seem to make great strides when compared to the N82. I suppose it is because the focus has now moved to operating systems and touch screens and away from hardware. I suppose another option is to get a cheap phone on the contract I want, keep the N82, and get vouchers and freebies thrown at me. Two problems, first a new decent phone to play with is always nice to play with, and secondly the N82 will probably not last another two years...... these things always tend to start packing up after 3 years. But in saying that the GF is still using the N95 and we are at about 4 years now :)
 
Thanks, Enigma. Some food for thought there. I'll comment on a few points raised.

enigma243 said:
It does everything apart from taking awe-inspiring photos - the camera's good for taking occasional shots, but it's possibly worse than what you've become accustomed to and the LED flash blows chunks. However, I doubt I've taken 50 snaps with phones over the last 5 years, so it doesn't phase me.
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My problem is that next to making calls, taking photos is probably the thing I do most with my phone. Probably because it takes such great photos. Having two kids I probably end up taking close to 100 photos per month and a lot are fast moving subjects.

Which of course makes a Blackberry seem quite appealing with its R60-odd p/m charge for 'unlimited' connectivity and I must admit that I nearly fell for that. BB hardware just leaves me unconvinced, though.
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I hear you! I have thought about the data but then realise I will probably not use it that much considering I have wireless uncapped at home which I can connect to with my phone.

Just to add: The Samsung Galaxy S looks damn impressive on paper, but it's a... *shudder*... Samsung. My last Samsung phone ended up as a high-velocity phone-meets-brick-wall experiment, and every single bit of Samsung anything I've ever owned has outlasted its warranty... just. Blegh...
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Again I hear you. I have owned two Samsungs and although they were OK they were not N82s or N95s.... unfair of course as they came from an era before these phones. I'm sitting with a Samsung plasma now so I hope not everything of theirs fails :)
 
enigma243 said:
Get a Desire and and a cheap Cannon digital camera... I'd rather have an awesome phone with a (relatively) mediocre integrated camera than the other way 'round.
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I have had this discussion/argument (:)) with others on here before and it is one that I don't buy into. The situations in which I often take photos means I do not have a camera with me. My phone is always with me. It is my phone, my GPS, my camera, my internet connection so it is never more than 10m away from me. I like it this way but I hear your argument, and it might suit other people ;)

EDIT : Oh, and I can never lose my camera as if I misplace it I can just phone it :D
 
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i'm in the same boat as Lance... my contract is currently also up for renewal and am also battling to find another phone that makes me want to swap from my N82... i'm also in love with the camera on it! so will be watching this thread with great interest!
 
LancelotSA said:
I have had this discussion/argument (:)) with others on here before and it is one that I don't buy into. The situations in which I often take photos means I do not have a camera with me. My phone is always with me. It is my phone, my GPS, my camera, my internet connection so it is never more than 10m away from me. I like it this way but I hear your argument, and it might suit other people ;)

EDIT : Oh, and I can never lose my camera as if I misplace it I can just phone it :D
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Fair enough. Easy solution, though - get a snazzy man-bag and keep everything together. :sick: Nah, I dunno - yours is not an easy dilemma to solve. The Desire (and Google Nexus One by proxy) just does absolutely everything else so well. Thing is a search on gsmarena with 'xenon flash' being the only prerequisite only gives 25 results, most of which either aren't available here or fall down on other aspects. You're invariably going to have to compromise somewhere...

Good luck.
 
I've been doing some reading up on that Nokia N8 with the new Symbian^3 software.... looks very interesting but will mean waiting.... great specs! And it has Xenon, 12MP, HD video, HDMI outout etc etc
 
LancelotSA said:
I've been doing some reading up on that Nokia N8 with the new Symbian^3 software.... looks very interesting but will mean waiting.... great specs! And it has Xenon, 12MP, HD video, HDMI outout etc etc
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and with Vodacom or MTN its going to be a long wait
 
Desire is a damn fine piece of kit.. Camera is reasonably good and video will soon support 720p (if rumors are to be believed). Texting takes a bit of getting used to if you've only ever used a tactile keyboard. The onscreen keyboards of Android are far less forgiving of inaccurate typing compared to a tactile keyboard or the iPhones onscreen keyboard which is simply the most forgiving I've ever experienced... Oled display is sublime but totally illegible in bright sunlight. Battery life will get nowhere near N82's. Expect around a day and some change will moderate usage. Problem is the Desire is just so more-ish you'll find yourself messing about on it for hours..
Things generally work very well on the Desire, wifi, bluetooth, cell reception, widgets, 7 home screens all easy to setup, all functional, very flash piece of kit..

Would still go for an iPhone 4G though but I know Lancelot's not a fan... So I'm not going to push it..
 
I have had my N82 for 2 years. Have taken over 1000+ pictures. Finally paid for the Samsung Galaxy S and i am just praying i don't miss the awesome camera and the FLASH!!!!
 
Quick question Lancelot, not sure how long you have had your N82 for, but about a month or two ago mine seemed to start reporting the battery capicity wrong.
I have times where it would say low battery, i would turn it off take the battery out and then it would be 3 or 2 bars left and stay there. I have had it sit on saying Low Battery for nearly a whole day once. Just wondering if its happened to you also.
 
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