...and the N95 does quite well.
I’m less interested in how well the N95 compares with its peers.
I’m more interested in how well it performs the tasks that I need it to do!
I need a phone to run for at least a couple of days no matter what the functions are.
If I’m on a long plane trip, I want all the entertainment facilities to last the distance.
I need the phone to last as long as the Bluetooth keyboard does so that I can get some work done.
If I’m trying to find a location, I need the GPS to function properly
and not drop out from lack of juice before I reach that destination.
I need to be able to record video at a two day business ‘off site’
without the N95 gasping pathetically for current, halfway through the
team bonding session on the second day. Yep, this happened to me last
week
I don’t care how well the N95 compares to Windows Mobile devices.
I need a device that is useful.
If the battery stops the N95 from being useful, all the features crammed into its plastic shell are pointless.
Are any of these bloggers actually using the N95 as their
only phone, no landline, day to day?
[this is good] Think that you need to compare certain functions and features of anything in order to understand how good something is in the first place. Ive read so many post now which constantly go on about the battery life of the N95, in particular how bad it apparently is..!!. Two things here, before you buy a handset you need to ask yourself what you need it for...This is one of the most advanced handsets on the plant, it does everything, some very well, some average but none the less its a real all rounder. There is no device out there that would tick all of the boxes on your wish list, unless it was the weight of a house brick. This is a smart phone in every sense of the word...think people need to get over the charging issue. Use it..!!.charge it...get on with it..!!
ReplyDeleteQuit whining, a real cameraman carries spare batteries. Wat do you want? Nuclear batteries? Cold fusion?
ReplyDeleteGood point.
ReplyDeleteI carry a replacement battery for my Canon, why not the Nokia?
First up, the Canon has an external recharger, so the user can run the device while recharging the backup. Nokia (as do most phone manufactures) recharge ‘in device.’
Thus the phone is tied to the cord while both batteries are bought up to charge (you may remember that I asked if the mooted N95 dock had a battery charging slot.)
Second: I turn the Canon off which extends the period between recharges. As I mentioned, the Nokia is my only phone so it needs to be ‘on’ constantly, especially overnight when I may receive a notification of family emergency.
Third: Nokia specify in their docs on page 123 of the User Guide…
‘Do not leave a fully charged battery connected to a charger, since overcharging may shorten its lifetime.’
So in order to prolong the life of the battery, constant vigilance is called for to halt the charging process, when the battery is fully charged (no leaving the phone hooked up to the power overnight for instance.)
Do this twice for both batteries if you have them.
I hear that Nokia is changing the software so that the ‘fully charged’ alert is a lot more noticeable in the future. Cool, I’ll be able to hear it from the other room. There must be a good reason why Nokia can’t stop the recharging process in the phone once the meter reads that the battery is full?
Forth: the Canon’s battery door is metal and designed to be opened and closed many times. Take a close look at the tiny little plastic hooks on the Nokia’s battery cover, and tell me how long these guys will last with constant use?
I don’t expect Nokia to have engineered the battery cover better, because as I have mentioned, the Nokia is charged ‘in device.’ Why would these hooks have to sustain much wear and tear?
I think I’ve opened the back of the 6600 twice in two years, so there is no reason to suggest that the N95 should be treated any differently.
That is unless you’re treating the N95 like my Canon and regularly exchanging batteries.
All these little inconveniences make the user a slave to the device.
Not quite what a freedom inspiring ‘one device does it all’ that is portrayed in the advertising.
Specking of which, more pocket space will have to be cleared to accommodate the extra battery (better make that two, just in case.)
[this is good] Are any of these bloggers actually using the N95 as their
ReplyDeleteonly phone, no landline, day to day?
Yep, that would be me
Sometimes I need to recharge my N95 every other day, but when I use all of its functions, I have to recharge it everyday.
A spare battery won't be a practical solution, but what might be good is to have USB charging ability.
One has to put in mind that this is the first attempt made by a mobile phones' company to do the 'complete phone', so we don't expect it to be perfect from all sides, and I think that what we have in hand is absolutely good for a first attempt.
There is a dual desktop charger for the BL-5F battery. The battery is used in several other Nokia phones. It is some what obscure to find it.Still Google does the job again. The BL-5F dual desktop charger compatible with the 95 and 6290 does the trick. Charges an extra battery and the phone.
ReplyDeleteThe battery door is actually (for a phone) quite well designed, far better than SonyEricsson in general does. Nokia designs are usally mechanically more sound. If you remember the Nokia 6250? Still the design does not compare to a photo camera, but then again the size factor would not be as compact as it is now. Luckily the battery cover and phone cover are cheap and easily replaced by any non-tech and already available for sale (yes... it is good for Nokia to make money).
Are you sure there is an overcharging problem? I did not check the manual for this. Usually chargers switch to drip charging extending battery life. And I actually don't care about it. I could use a timeswitch on the outlet to limit charging time. But before the battery is worn out, I have a new model phone ;-). About 2 years. I plug it in when I go to sleep and unplug in the morning.
Mostly the phone is for e-mail, photo's, music, video shooting and satnav. And yes the occasional call. My social calender gets in general scheduled through sms and the internet. Little use to meet and greet if you said all you wanted by phone. Never had problems. But yes, I have a spare gsm for when this one brakes down or for emergencies and the wet and rough moments. But this one takes all.
The problem seems to me not the battery life time, but the problem that when you need to have excessive/unplanned usage of the N95 in its non-phone context you need a way to recharge it quick and easy. Some camera kan use AA batteries or AAA. Most phones can't. Still there are travel charger available to charge the phone or phone battery from batteries for such occasions.
The thing that lacks most I think, is a battery operated bluetooth triggered flash or video light for taking indoor pictures/recordings. Would be nice if it could double as a backup charger too.