vB Easy Archive - Nokia E61 vs BB 8700g

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Nokia E61 vs BB 8700g
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Posted by: mch

I have both of these running on T-mobile. The E61 has BBconnect software installed. Thought it might be useful to post a rough comparison.

The 8700g is thicker, but less wide than the E61.

The RF performance on the E61 is better than on the 8700g. This is a big one. The E61 functions in places where the 8700g is a paperweight. This is on T-mobile's GSM 1900 network.

My subjective opinion is that the user interface on the 8700g is easier to use and faster. I say this even though I've spent much more time using symbian series 60 and 80 phones (and before them, an EPOC based PDA) than using a BB.

The built-in web browser on the E61 is able to handle a greater variety of web pages than the built-in web browser on the 8700g. The E61 browser is remarkably good at rendering diverse web pages.

The keyboard on the 8700g is nicer. It provides better feedback on a keypress. I find that typing is faster.

I can tether with the E61 via Bluetooth (even on a Mac). Not so with the 8700g which supports tethering only via USB and only works on a PC (driver issue)

The E61 supports WiFi, VOIP, and also external memory cards. The 8700g doesn't.

I don't want to minimize the UI issue though. The Blackberry has an extremely well designed UI and that makes it significantly faster and easier to use.

Posted by: superfire

it seems like the wifi and VOIP are the upside on the E61. I was considering to purchase E61 vs 8700g. it decided to purchase the 8700g because I have not used any Nokia smart phones and I do not know if i like it or not. However, I used the BB (very first generation of BB), and I tested it (just for few minutes) from TMO store and I liked it. I read some other reviews about the BB and I decided to pull the trigger.

However, if I hav extra cash, I would want to buy a device, which it is similar to E61 (or something from Nokia), which has wifi, edge, qual-bands, and full keyboard.

i have not tried the tethering BB with my laptop yet.

can you kindly to provide instruction of how to setup the bb as modem with laptop? does it require to purchase a 3rd party software?

Posted by: dmxsoulja3

BB as a modem is simple, create a new connection with a standard modem, point it at the com port that the BB uses (check in the device manager with BB connected with USB cable) and have it dial *99, and add the init string that your service provider uses. I'm considering trading my 8700G for an E61 simply because it works with a mac and thats my primary pc.

Posted by: Avironeur

Wirelessly posted (Opera/8.01 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/2.0.4719/1316; en; U; ssr))

How do you find (for mch) the e61 vs. your Nokia 9300(i?) I am currently undecided between these handsets and would like some input from someone who has used both.

Posted by: mch

Quote:

Originally Posted by Avironeur

Wirelessly posted (Opera/8.01 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/2.0.4719/1316; en; U; ssr))

How do you find (for mch) the e61 vs. your Nokia 9300(i?) I am currently undecided between these handsets and would like some input from someone who has used both.

The e61 is a lot better for web browsing. The version of opera on the 9300 is old and the cpu on the 9300 is quite slow. The e61 has a faster cpu, and the built-in browser is considerably better. If you really want Opera for the e61, you can also have it for a few dollars, and you get the latest version of Opera mobile instead of something Opera sent Nokia a while ago. The faster cpu of the e61 is also a pretty big deal if you want to run java applications.

The keyboard on the 9300 is better (as long as you don't want to use it one handed). However, the 9300 keyboard doesn't have a backlight making it harder to use in the dark. I certainly prefer the 9300 for ssh as the screen can handle a standard size (24x80) and the keyboard is more suited to ssh.

Of course, one has to flip open the 9300 to do more or less anything other than make phone calls. Even using the speakerphone requires opening the flip.

The built-in email client is more sophisticated on the e61 in that it supports IMAP IDLE. If your IMAP provider supports it, this gives almost instantaneous push email with an IMAP account.

There are the other obvious factors of comparison. The E61 is quad band. The 9300 is not. RF performance on the E61 and 9300(b) are very similar. I don't have a 9300i to try out.

The E61 is still a little quirky/buggy. For instance, when I try and use it for tethering via Bluetooth I sometimes need to shut off and re-enable Bluetooth. I'm sure a firmware upgrade will eventually fix this (I have the 2.xx firmware on the E61 now and the E61 firmware is upgradable by the end user, while the 9300 is not)

Posted by: sharkattack_hk

^^^ All the issues you've mentioned have been fixed in the latter firmware updates already. If you update your firmware of your E61 (goto europe.nokia.com), then find the support page for the E61.