Reader Poll: The Nokia N97?
mjgraves | August 1, 2009
For months I’ve been waiting for a new cell phone. There seems to be a dearth of suitable candidates available. So I’m going to try running a reader poll. I had been very interested in the Nokia N97 which has been shipping for about six weeks. Yet few people I know are using the device, and I don’t necessarily trust everything that I read about it online. If you have one I’d like to know your thoughts on it.
[poll id="2"]
Feel free to leave a comment or suggest an alternative.
Sorry, but keep waiting.
The problem is not so much with the N97 itself as the company behind it – Nokia USA. I’ve found Nokia USA to be one of the most companies I’ve ever had the “pleasure” of dealing with, and it’s not made much better by the fact that Nokia considers the US cellular phone market (rightly, sometimes, methinks) as a provincial backwater.
Support for the phone is horribly lacking. For example, I’ve found that there’s typically a three to five month wait for patches to make their way across the Atlantic – if they do at all. If there is an actual issue that might be covered by warranty, Nokia goes out of its way to screw you over. Case in point – the screen on my N80 failed. Rather than repair the still under warranty phone, Nokia insisted that because there was a scratch on the main camera lens, it couldn’t honour the warranty – because really, the damage to lens on the backside of the phone was also responsible for the failure of the screen on the front side of the phone…
Nokia USA also takes no responsibility for manufacturing issues caused by Nokia Europe, even if they sold the phone to you. For example – the first generation 5800XMs sold here are the European model. There’s a well known issue that causes the earpiece to fail – it’s because of excessive moisture on the earpiece. However, the Chicago Nokia shop said basically, “Sorry, but we’re not responsible for the issue. Yes, despite the fact we sold it to you. It’s the European model – no US warranty. No, you can’t mail to Europe – they have no record of it being sold in Europe.”
And the Ovi Store is the pits: stuff is sold as-is, no warranty, no guarantee it will work, and if you have an issue – well, it’s between you and the software producer. So I’m out $10 since the two things I have bought are not actually fifth edition compatible.
the Nokia N97 features a large 3.5 inch display with a resolution of 640 X 360 at 16.7 million colors. now that is an impressive video display capability isnt it?
I really love my Nokia N97. It is styles and very functional. The features of the Nokia N97 is so cool.
the Nokia N97 is very stylish and more rugged than the N91. I own both the N91 and N97, both are good phones but i like the style of the N97
the Nokia N97 for me is the best phone that i bought. it is definitely a bang for the buck phone. nice features and cool looks.