Black Rose Technology

Phajus and nepenthes

We should go to the glass flowers at harvard in november

Good shake just now. Yow…

It was a 3.2 according to the USGS, and very close.

• Voice mail isn’t under Messaging. It’s under Tools: “Call Mailbox”
• Whatever menu position you leave the phone in, when the keypad locks, that’s where it stays. So, for instance, if you’re not on the main base screen, and you get a call or message you don’t know who it’s from (or what it is if you can’t remember your ringtone settings). Also, the auto locking keyboard (which requires two keystrokes) takes some getting used to after using a flip phone for so long.
• On the plus side, you can have multiple email accounts configured and switch between them fairly easily, although it’s always hit and miss if you’re in the right place to access the magical Settings option.

Sent from our n95!

I love the size and feel of it. It’s nearly the same length and width as the RAZR, and maybe 1 1/4 times the height, and about 3/4 the height of the SE w600i. So not too chunky.

The razr is almost too thin when you’re holding it, although it’s nice that I can store it pretty much in any pocket. Still, the N95 shouldn’t be too unwieldy to carry around.

The front is smooth, and the purple back is just slightly grippy, enough to feel like it won’t slip off the table — or my hands, unlike my iPod (the iPhone looks like it would just fly out of your grasp at the slightest provocation). I like how easily it slides (unlike the SE), in both directions, almost too easily, although the battery door doesn’t slide quite so easily (whereas the SE battery covers are very easy to slip off)… I haven’t yet found the sweet spot to magically pop it off like you do on the RAZR.

I find the mini-SD card concept very annoying. One nice thing about the w600i is its built in 256MB. I hate having to manage removable storage, although I see the benefits of it. On the RAZR, it’s under the battery cover, which is particularly annoying. On the N95, you access the slot from the side and don’t have to worry about the battery falling out when you do, so you can swap it while the phone is on.

This new Nokia interface definitely takes some getting used to… I used to love my old standard Nokia analog cell phone. I thought it was so easy and intuitive, but that was eons before SMSing. And then I had no trouble switching to the SE line when GSM first came out. But the move to the RAZR definitely took some getting used to and I resisted for a while. Then after many months, switching back to the SE line was more difficult. I found the w600i especially hard to navigate and get used to, and despite the EDGE feature, never really got into carrying it around because of its bulkiness and UI quirkiness. However, I think I can get used to the N95… mainly it was just a matter of getting the menus and shortcuts corrected. The call log was hidden pretty deeply down in the menu abyss (and now I can’t remember where it was even), but once I found it, I also found the place to personalize the home screen and now the Log is right where it should be, the left soft key.

The predictive text method is more like SE’s, which I quickly forgot once getting used to Motorola’s system where you can pick the right letter while you’re typing. With Nokia you seem to have to type it all in and hope you get the option to Spell at the end, but it doesn’t always show up. Surely there must be some tips and tricks to their system. One kinda cool thing is that you can get a number while in alpha mode by pressing and holding the key you need.

Some strange places for things: the menu shortcuts are programmed under Standby options (I guess.. because that’s what you see when the phone is in Standby). The Alarm is under Clock — which makes sense, except on the RAZR it’s under Tools. You can’t add a contact by sending them a msg first.

The wifi access is VERY cool. I didn’t find an obvious place showing my MAC address, so I had to figure that out from the router. Now I can use my own email address to send mail. I think I’ll set up a new email box for this phone to use.

I haven’t gotten the GPS to connect to any satellites yet. It seems to think it’s in Germany though to start.

The rear camera is excellent…

(taken with the N95)

(taken with the Olympus Stylus 740)

(taken with the SonyEricsson w600i)

(taken with the RAZR v3i)

but the front camera (for taking photos of yourself, see how they didn’t leave that feature out iPhone users???) — isn’t really worth mentioning

And it’s purple!!!