Thanks to the friendly folks at WOM World (and in no small part to the lovely and world-travellin’ Ms. Jen), a Nokia N82 found its way into my life a couple of days ago. Even though I haven’t yet been able to put the phone through its rigors (who knew it would be so difficult to find a suitable adapter in Vancouver?), I do have this to say about the N82:
Dear God, I want this phone.
Let me explain. For the last two years, I’ve had the misfortune of being saddled with an inferior smartphone from another company that shall remain nameless. This … monster … has been the bane of my existence. If it isn’t the regrettably poor video and photo quality, or the nearly nonexistent battery life, it’s the call quality that makes everyone sound like they’re talking through a mouthful of cheesecloth while walking through a wind tunnel. Talk about your bad impulse decisions; I’m saddled with the monster for another year.
But I digress.
Photography’s my hobby, and you can pretty much count on me to have a camera with me at all times. I love my Nikon D80, but sometimes I’d rather have something small and light that fits in a regular-sized purse, and that’s when I reach for my point and shoot camera. However, between the point and shoot camera, my phone, my iPod, my Moleskine notebooks, my glasses, sunglasses, and ever expanding lipgloss collection, I’m starting to feel a little overburdened.
I’ve been eyeing the iPhone ever since it was introduced, but as it hasn’t yet made it to Canada* , I’ve been researching other options. Being able to capture high-quality photos and video and having the ability to upload the photos and videos to Flickr, Vox, or this blog are my must-have features, and none of the phones offered by my current carrier meet this standard.
Enter the N82.
Complete with a 5 megapixel camera with powerful flash, the N82 could very well take the place of most of the gear I carry around with me. It’ll never take the place of my D80, nor should it, but I think it could be perfect on those days when I’m just running about town.
Now, I have to say that getting the N82 up and running hasn’t been easy, but that’s not Nokia’s fault. There was the little matter of network incompatibility, but fortunately the husband’s phone is connected to a GSM network, and he’s graciously allowed me to use his SIM until the trial is over. I’ve mentioned the adapter problem, which should be solved by tomorrow (*crosses fingers*). Once the phone is fully charged, I’ll dive into more detail about my experiences.
Early impressions are good, though the smallish form factor annoys a bit. It’s a small phone, but it’s thick, so it means it isn’t really light enough to handle with just one hand. Text messaging with one hand is nearly impossible with my ham hands, and then there’s the issue of having to re-learn predictive texting after two years of QWERTY on the smartphone.
I don’t want to get ahead of myself. The next two weeks promise to be exciting ones for me, and hopefully for you as well.
(* Rumor has it that Nokia’s N95 will be making its way to Canada, which seems like another attractive option. However, until Canada catches up with the rest of the world and slashes the prices on its data plans, I can’t help wondering how well devices like the N82 and N95 will penetrate the Canadian market.)
