vB Easy Archive - Nokia E71x or HTC Fuze?

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Nokia E71x or HTC Fuze?
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Posted by: Sneezer

My contract is finally up for renewal. I currently have a SE W810i. Good phone, but I really want something more this time. I have liked the Fuze ever since it was released, although now that I am ready to upgrade the best price I can get on it is $200-250.

The E71x looks like a real slick phone. I want something with wifi built in, as I do not intend to get a data plan at this time, but I may add it later if I find myself using the phone enough to justify the cost.

Does AT&T require data for the E71x? When I ent through the website it didn't force me to add it on, but I think the rebate requires data to be valid, at least for new activations.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I like many of the tweaks that are available for the Fuze, which looks to make it an almost ideal phone for me. However - I keep my phones for the full 2 years until the next upgrade. I can't afford to keep trading up every couple months, so it has to last. My only concern is the longevity of a keyboard slider compared to a straight brick phone.

Thanks for the help.

Posted by: mindfrost82

I've had my Fuze since November when it came out and its been a great phone so far. There are plenty of people out there that hate Windows Mobile, but its a personal preference. I've never used Symbian, but I hear its good as well.

The DPad on the Fuze sucks for the most part, but I don't use it too often. You defintely have to load another ROM on it from XDA-Developers because the stock one lags a lot. The March 1st leaked ATT ROM is great and has the best radio available.

I've dropped mine a few times (although never on concrete, usually on carpet) and its still in great shape.

The battery life can be a downer, I'm not sure how the battery is in the E71x, but I usually have to charge my Fuze every night.

I also had a Moto Q with Sprint, which is a similar form factor to the E71x, and it was also a sturdy phone.

The Fuze has done everything I can ask for in a phone, so I see no need to trade up.

Posted by: omaralt

Unless u like hacking/flashing ur phone I would go with the E71. And honestly I would buy an unlocked/unbranded E71. At&t really messed around with the E71x. U can get an unlocked one for $320, free shipping, no tax from amazon. U can also get it cheaper if u find a used one on craigslist or ebay

Posted by: gdart

ATT will require a $30. data plan with their branded E71. ATT's position is: if it has a full keyboard, it's a PDA. There are many users of the unbranded E71 using it with the $15.00 data plan. ($10. for those with family text) Buying unbranded saves a as much as the device cost over the two year contract period. I don't understand folks wanting these complicated devices and not wanting data of some kind. Googling on my phone saves me far more than the data plan cost. For all things Symbian, see the S60 forum here.

Posted by: Maeldun

Quote:

Originally Posted by omaralt

Unless u like hacking/flashing ur phone I would go with the E71. And honestly I would buy an unlocked/unbranded E71. At&t really messed around with the E71x. U can get an unlocked one for $320, free shipping, no tax from amazon. U can also get it cheaper if u find a used one on craigslist or ebay

Mesed with it in what way? Please tell us whats wrong with the phone.

Posted by: zephxiii

If you want to use wifi a lot, then go with the e71x. Nokia's power efficiency and battery life with wifi is far far greater than HTC's. Wifi on HTC devices have been a battery drainer.

I once accidently left a wifi connection go on my e71 for 5 hours, my battery only dropped a few bars (out of 7). If it were my 8525 or TILT, battery would have been dead.

Posted by: Windogg

Just got the E71x and I am leaning toward returning it. AT&T has turned the excellent E71 into a crippled mess. Tons of crapware that cannot be removed, app install problems, and the stripping of customization features.

If I were a member of the engineering team, I'd be up in arms at how AT&T has ruined all their hard work.

Posted by: mdrobnak

An alternative is the E63, which I just picked up from Amazon for $199 + tax + shipping + first born...

I haven't gotten it yet, so I don't know how good it is. From reading though, it seems to be a good phone, aside from no GPS and no HSDPA.

I currently own a Fuze, and whats been said about it is correct. There's a project underway on Xda-Developers to get Android running on it, but it still needs a bit of work. If you're a regular user, forget I said anything. If you are an embedded developer, they can use any help they can get...

Anyhow, that's quite sad to hear about the E71x. Also, the other thing was, the rebate of $50 only applies to the main line - the line I wanted to upgrade to get the device was a secondary family line, thus, only a $50 difference between unlocked ($15/mo data) vs locked and $30/mo data.

My $0.02.

-Matt

Posted by: grandsuke

get the fuze...at least the windows mobile is easier to customize and hack.

and if you have the cash get the unlocked E71. AT&T (IMHO) ruined this phone.

Posted by: bigroy

go to a store and play with both base your decision on personal experience not on opinion of others either phone can make you happy, just see for yourself

Posted by: Sneezer

Thanks for all the pointers. I finally settled on a Fuze. Was able to do the refurb free deal, then merged into my existing family talk acct and dropped the data plan, at least for now. So far I like it, even with the crappy AT&T ROM. Been lurking at xda for a while, and maybe in a week or two I'll look into replacing the ROM and tweaking it. Best of all, it cost me zero dollars other than a $9.99/mo extra line fee.