Nokia 6500 Slide

Sometimes, a simple device can look extremely good if the designers know how. Here comes an example, my Nokia 6288 replacement - Nokia 6500 Slide.

What I especially like is the appearance and the solid feel when you hold it. Trust your eyes and hear me right, the silver part you see in the picture above is brushed metal finishing (how I wish it's totally covered in metal...)! Anyway, how many phones you see in the market come with metal body especially a mid-range product? This is one of the rare ones. Its weight might not be everyone's favourite but some people prefer a compact but solid-feel device. Yes, it does feel heavy, even as heavy as my Atom Life.

One of the strong points is the camera which feature: 3.2 megapixel with Carl Zeiss lens, dual flash, autofocus, and VGA-resolution video capture (640x480). Still picture resolution is max at 2048x1536. These type of capabilities have only been seen in high-end N-Series devices before, and consider this 6500 Slide is only Nokia's mid-range product, and it's not even a smartphone! How pity my Atom Life doesn't have such features when it's strong at connectivity - it would be excellent if it's able to capture high-res picture and upload it to blog site through a public Wi-Fi network (let's just wish and dream for a 100% perfect device...).

Anyway, a 256MB microSD is included in the standard sales package but in case you want to carry few hundred MP3s and video clips with you, you can always go for a higher capacity card. A Kingston 1GB microSD is available for around RM60 in town. Standard package in KK area is around RM1200+, which I reckon is a good alternative to other more expensive 3G phones on the market.

Nokia N95 8GB

Not long after I bought my O2 Atom Life, my wife saw her friend carrying a N95 8GB. So she wanted one as well...(aaah, in girls' thinking, giving her what she wants is a way to show her how much you love her...). Since Valentine's Day was coming, so I gave her a surprise with that phone (although she was expecting it...DUH!).

Anyway, the N95 8GB, known as one of the Nokia's best phones ever built. No need me to do another detail introduction on its build-in features and functions as there are already lots of it in the Internet. Here is one of the officials - http://www.nseries.com/index.html#l=products,n95_8gb

Compare with the previous model, the 8GB version is significantly better in everyway. Even to my Atom Life in certain ways. Price is range from RM2799 to RM2999 for a Zitron set, while around RM2200 for an AP set. Consider affordable for a pocket-size "Multimedia Computer".

Atom Life

Just realize that my last post was in July 2007...! Oh well, life's been quite busy. Anyway, thought that I will post something regarding my new gadget - Atom Life.

Ok, it may be not the latest high-tech gadget in the market but it's one of the heavyweight ones in the PDA phone family. Its 624MHz processor power and the 1GB Flash ROM are what attracted me and kept me thinking of it all the time. However, with only 64MB RAM to cope with the ROM, it's quite a disappointment. Imagine how many programs or software you can install with its 1GB ROM but you don't have much memory to run it. Thus, the performance will get sluggish after some usages and reboot (soft reset) will be the only solutuion.

Even though, I finally still bought it when I was in KL just before CNY. Standard box package plus a 2GB miniSD memory card and a screen protector, all for RM2199. I reckon it's a good deal since I saw it goes for around RM2899 in Karamunsing KK couple of months back. Some of the shops might still retain the WM5 which comes pre-installed from the factory but majority have upgraded to WM6 Pro. So don't forget to check that out with the sales person.

Anyway, first thing I realized after powered up the device was the weak signal strength. It showed only 1-2 bars while my ordinary Nokia was in full signal. Besides, ringtone volumn is ridiculously soft even though it's set to the max.

After searching through some Internet forums and the official O2 site, flashing the unit with the latest WM6 ROM was the solution. It's working good now although signal strength still can't compare with my Nokia. Other than that, it drains out the battery quite fast. Might be due to its fast processor. My own solution - I keep it connected to my PC everytime when I'm at my table.

If you like to customize your device, software/plug-in to go with it will be SPB and/or SBSH. They are one of the best, and best of all, they won't burn your pocket.

Overall, minus 1 for the weak signal strength, 1 for the pity 64MB RAM, and 1 for the camera (still 2MP while mid-range Nokia is already in 3.2MP with a Carl Zeiss lens) together with the poorly built stylus (my old Eten stylus is 10x more solid), I'll give it a 7/10 (GPS is not counted because I don't use it).

Until then.