Nokia E61i

[chanchao]

I'm having the hardest time finding it in Chiang Mai. It's in the Jay Mart brochure at 15,400 baht or so, and the Nokia shop has a mock-up model but not the real thing in store.

Both say it needs ordering from Bangkok.. Has anyone seen it elsewhere in Chiang Mai?

Same applies to E65 which is possibly the best 'normal' looking phone money can buy at the moment (though it costs about the same, around 15K baht). Some smaller shops at Airport Plaza have it.

E61i

E65

Edited June 29, 2007 by chanchao

[Steve2UK]

Not very helpful, but I think you're unlikely to find it.........

I bought a second-hand E61 (not "i") from one of the small shops in Kad Suan Kaew last October - but mine was originally from Taiwan or S'pore. Since then, I've been hunting around to find a replacement plastic sleeve for it and checking out all the places I could find that have high-end Nokia........ and no joy.

[tigerbeer]

frankly i cannot comprehend the reason for anyone to spend more than THB10,000 on a mobile phone. Unless Thailand actually had 3G or Wimax or HSPDA available. it would be a totally different story then...

TB

[Donnyboy]

frankly i cannot comprehend the reason for anyone to spend more than THB10,000 on a mobile phone. Unless Thailand actually had 3G or Wimax or HSPDA available. it would be a totally different story then...

TB

me neither, thats why the g/f paid!!

[chanchao]

frankly i cannot comprehend the reason for anyone to spend more than THB10,000 on a mobile phone. Unless Thailand actually had 3G or Wimax or HSPDA available. it would be a totally different story then...

Heck, on a PHONE I wouldn't spend more than the 1,410 baht a Nokia 1110 costs.

As it stands however, I enjoy writing posts like these while on a raft at Huay Tueng Thao, checking company e-mail, being online on MSN and Skype and at some point add a cheapo GPS thingy and turn the whole thing in a pretty decent navigation system.

Both E61i and E65 also do WiFi, so you can actually have pretty decent internet when you're somewhere close to a WiFi access point, AND all Nokia E series phones come with support for Voice-Over-IP and offer this seamlessly as a way to call; I can't tell you how big a deal that's going to be, when you can effortlessly make mobile phone calls to people in the USA, Europe, etc, for 70 SATANG (yes, 0.7 baht) per minute. Note that that makes calling Europe, Aus, the USA as effortless and actually CHEAPER than calling someone in Chiang Mai.

Sure you can get those rates on Skype and the like, but it's more hassle, with a head-set & computer bla bla.. But if your phone all by itself figures out that it has WiFi coverage (for example when you're at home, the office, or at Mad Dog, or Queen Vic, or anywhere else with WiFi), and automatically routes the call through the internet, then this phone is going to pay for itself real quick.

Finally there's those little tidbits of functionality like using it as an iPod for listening to music, watching video, taking the odd snap-shot with the camera and playing games, though those aren't key issues for me.

Edited June 29, 2007 by chanchao

[tigerbeer]

its what a computer has become huh ?

you got a point though but at the end of the day, its still just a phone. why not get a pda phone then? capable of a lot more. wonder how good this nokia is going to be.

Edited June 29, 2007 by tigerbeer

[Donnyboy]

its what a computer has become huh ?

you got a point though but at the end of the day, its still just a phone. why not get a pda phone then? capable of a lot more. wonder how good this nokia is going to be.

interestingly, the iphone by apple is released today in the US.

any news on when it arrives here? also N97 on the way,who knows really I still like the Nokia 6639

[chanchao]

its what a computer has become huh ?

you got a point though but at the end of the day, its still just a phone. why not get a pda phone then? capable of a lot more. wonder how good this nokia is going to be.

Well, it *IS* a PDA phone. Except for my very first mobile phone which was a bit of a mistake (Motorola, don't ask), all my phones have been Nokia Series60 phones (Symbian OS), so I know pretty well what it is I'm getting. I always disliked Pocked PC's with a vengeance and nothing I've since seen about Windows mobile all the way to the current version 6 leads me to believe that the main issues with it were ever improved on. The latest one I played around with was that Dopod one with extendible keyboard.. (which by the way is far more expensive than almost all Symbian phones).

For my current phone that is dying a slow and painful death after about 3 years of use I have the Nokia wireless bluetooth keyboard, which means being able to run a SSH text terminal session to Unix/Linux servers and thus do just about anything on the Internet, with minimal data usage; The limitation is the now small 176 x 208 pixel screen. With QVGA (320x240) in landscape mode this should be an incredible improvement. And as the thing has a qwerty keyboard built in, it probably means I don't need to bring the separate wireless keyboard as much. Also I forgot to mention that it comes with QuickOffice in which you can actually edit Word, Excel, Powerpoint files directly, and it does this actually BETTER than Windows Mobile which is a bit embarrassing being a Microsoft product.

With 320x240 landscape that means being able to leave my laptop at home more often. Only in the last month or so Nokia marketing finally seems to want to market their phones as portable 'computers' which is of course what they have been all along ever since Nokia 7650 however up until now they shyed away from admitting it, perhaps htinking it 'geeky' and preferring to market it using bungee-jumping generation-X dudes.

I'm kind of happy they changed their minds. Nokia marketing is highly interesting actually, how they try to market essentially the same stuff in different packages to different people and thinking nobody notices. Note how they bang on with their N-series, while actually the less flashy E-series is superior in every way including price, build quality and features (wifi!). Then they do silly stuff like supply as standard only a mono-earphone with E65 "becuzz itsa bizznizz phone.... duhhhh" where in fact the music capabilities are all in software and exactly the same as the N-models they market as hip iPod / Sony Walkman phone alternatives.

Edited June 29, 2007 by chanchao

[Donnyboy]

also be careful about buying any phone off the net, some fakes out there.

fake N95

[chanchao]

interestingly, the iphone by apple is released today in the US.

Yes, I consciously did not refer to that as it would spin me into yet another rant of epic proportions.

any news on when it arrives here? also N97 on the way,who knows really I still like the Nokia 6639

Hahahhahaha, yeah, loved that one.

But anyway, on Apple iPhone: I like it, especially many of the innovative new ways of using the touch-screen. There's *many* shortcomings for my intended use, most of which are business/politics related; These center around Apple wanting to have tight control over both applications as well as other content. Typical corporate shenanigans, trying to lock people in and so on. The reason why there's so much software available for Nokia Symbian phones is because Nokia is pretty open about providing the tools and information with which third parties can knock themselves out writing software for it, among which are complete essentials such as the SSH terminal client, the QuickOffice suite and indeed the voice-over-ip stuff (cutting out huge profits by network operators), peer to peer file sharing and other things Apple or the corporations Apple's in bed with don't like. So for Apple, Apple wants to decide what you can and cannot have, and typically they want you to have stuff that leads to you purchasing content from their iTunes shop and so on. A particularly sad example of that is that they don't allow you to record or download a sound or mp3 to use as a ringtone... nooo they want you to BUY ringtones at THEIR shop. Well sorry, Apple, but I like Freedom, Freedom to record my 1 year old's babbling and use that as a ring or message tone, not the popular pop tunes tripe you care to offer from your own shop!

For sure that won't make one bit of difference to a metric f_ckton of Apple devoted trend-seeking fashionistas who will gobble the phone up as if it came from Jesus Christ himself; up to them. Also this being a version 1.0 there will be very strange things missing or lacking or not really working. For example I read the thing doesn't do cut/copy/paste of stuff between applications. That's one of those small things that are usually overlooked but to me defines if a device is actually a PDA/Smartphone ('computer' if you like) or a fashion phone; Honestly if one application (or the phone book) has an email address then I want to be able to copy and paste that into for example this post that I'd be writing in the web browser; it's basic and expected functionality that -oh Irony- Apple first made ubiquitous across all applications from their first Macintosh computer onwards.

Rant over.

Edited June 29, 2007 by chanchao

[tigerbeer]

still do a lot with my nokia 6600 that i bought years ago. you are right symbian's a lot of fun to expand on. nevertheless, its still a very slow operating system when compared to other OS's.

TB

[sbk]

Whats the difference between 3g and EDGE then? I get an EDGE signal from Koh Samui on my phone and use it to check my emails etc when our internet is down. Which is often enough

[tigerbeer]

Whats the difference between 3g and EDGE then? I get an EDGE signal from Koh Samui on my phone and use it to check my emails etc when our internet is down. Which is often enough

Sbk,

EDGE is considered as 2.5G. More so relating to the speeds at which data is transmitted. 3G is significantly faster and operate in different frequency to that of EDGE or GPRS.

EDGE

3G

Thailand does not have 3G as yet. Another discussion is going on it is here on TV.

TB

[Blinky Bill]

I remember once some time ago when I had a mobile phone that could make telephone calls. Nothing else, just phone calls. How did we survive?

[Florin]

I remember once some time ago when I had a mobile phone that could make telephone calls. Nothing else, just phone calls. How did we survive?

We also survived when all we had was a club to bash the brains out of whatever animal didn't get away in time...thankfully, progress did happen

[Blinky Bill]

I remember once some time ago when I had a mobile phone that could make telephone calls. Nothing else, just phone calls. How did we survive?

We also survived when all we had was a club to bash the brains out of whatever animal didn't get away in time...thankfully, progress did happen

Back then we also had a club to bash the brains out of the woman we loved then drag her back to the cave. Pity progress happened for most.

[Donnyboy]

I remember once some time ago when I had a mobile phone that could make telephone calls. Nothing else, just phone calls. How did we survive?

We also survived when all we had was a club to bash the brains out of whatever animal didn't get away in time...thankfully, progress did happen

Back then we also had a club to bash the brains out of the woman we loved then drag her back to the cave. Pity progress happened for most.

now you throw baht at her

[tigerbeer]

I remember once some time ago when I had a mobile phone that could make telephone calls. Nothing else, just phone calls. How did we survive?

We also survived when all we had was a club to bash the brains out of whatever animal didn't get away in time...thankfully, progress did happen

Back then we also had a club to bash the brains out of the woman we loved then drag her back to the cave. Pity progress happened for most.

now you throw baht at her

still beats the hel_l out of me how a nokia e61i could brought this thread to this

[Donnyboy]

I remember once some time ago when I had a mobile phone that could make telephone calls. Nothing else, just phone calls. How did we survive?

We also survived when all we had was a club to bash the brains out of whatever animal didn't get away in time...thankfully, progress did happen

Back then we also had a club to bash the brains out of the woman we loved then drag her back to the cave. Pity progress happened for most.

now you throw baht at her

still beats the hel_l out of me how a nokia e61i could brought this thread to this

if you havent noticed,most threads end up this way

[john b good]

Just saw the new E90 in Singapore. Full "communicator", wi-fi, bluetooth, e-mail, 3.6 mg camera, GPS, Blackberry, etc.

Price ? Well when it hits Thailand it will set you back aroung Baht 60,000

Actually, all Nokia's are a lot cheaper in Singapore and you get tax back as well if you are flying back out.

[tigerbeer]

Just saw the new E90 in Singapore. Full "communicator", wi-fi, bluetooth, e-mail, 3.6 mg camera, GPS, Blackberry, etc.

Price ? Well when it hits Thailand it will set you back aroung Baht 60,000

Actually, all Nokia's are a lot cheaper in Singapore and you get tax back as well if you are flying back out.

with the currency exchange, its not the case anymore. find it cheaper on some models in thailand and on newer models in malaysia.

[Donnyboy]

Just saw the new E90 in Singapore. Full "communicator", wi-fi, bluetooth, e-mail, 3.6 mg camera, GPS, Blackberry, etc.

Price ? Well when it hits Thailand it will set you back aroung Baht 60,000

Actually, all Nokia's are a lot cheaper in Singapore and you get tax back as well if you are flying back out.

60,000!!

Edited June 30, 2007 by Donnyboy

[chanchao]

Sorry guys, but E90 IS available in Thailand and it costs just (well, 'just') 30K.

See here: http://www.jaymart.co.th/product_and_servi...Brandname=Nokia

This thing would get even closer to a laptop replacement, though it's also a bit too much over-kill for me.

Especially with ACTUAL laptops starting around 20K now.

Of course, those don't make GSM calls

[john b good]

Sorry guys, but E90 IS available in Thailand and it costs just (well, 'just') 30K.

See here: http://www.jaymart.co.th/product_and_servi...Brandname=Nokia

This thing would get even closer to a laptop replacement, though it's also a bit too much over-kill for me.

Especially with ACTUAL laptops starting around 20K now.

Of course, those don't make GSM calls

Good to hear that the E90 is available in Thailand and at Baht 30,000 it's gotta be a steal.

I might say though that when I visited Airport Plaza about 10 days ago they didn't know what I was talking about and they thought that "blackberry" was a fruit (which of course it is, but ya can't make calls on it)

As for the comparison with a 20K laptop, ya cannot put a laptop in your pocket (and ya don't get a lot for 20K in the way of a laptop) Any laptop for 20K would be a bit of a brick as well.

All that said I will look for one (an E90) when next in CNX. Thanks for the info.

[Donnyboy]

Sorry guys, but E90 IS available in Thailand and it costs just (well, 'just') 30K.

See here: http://www.jaymart.co.th/product_and_servi...Brandname=Nokia

This thing would get even closer to a laptop replacement, though it's also a bit too much over-kill for me.

Especially with ACTUAL laptops starting around 20K now.

Of course, those don't make GSM calls

Good to hear that the E90 is available in Thailand and at Baht 30,000 it's gotta be a steal.

I might say though that when I visited Airport Plaza about 10 days ago they didn't know what I was talking about and they thought that "blackberry" was a fruit (which of course it is, but ya can't make calls on it)

As for the comparison with a 20K laptop, ya cannot put a laptop in your pocket (and ya don't get a lot for 20K in the way of a laptop) Any laptop for 20K would be a bit of a brick as well.

All that said I will look for one (an E90) when next in CNX. Thanks for the info.

yeah thats comparing apples to oranges

need to compare smartphones/pdas against each other and seperately for laptops

[tigerbeer]

just wondering though. what can you browse on the phone? internet wise of course. any sites recommended that's excellent in mobile version? never really used my mobile to browse the net except for the occasional ticket prices on airasia.

[Blinky Bill]

just wondering though. what can you browse on the phone? internet wise of course. any sites recommended that's excellent in mobile version? never really used my mobile to browse the net except for the occasional ticket prices on airasia.

They're good for googling up answers at the UN Irish Pub quiz night.

[tigerbeer]

just wondering though. what can you browse on the phone? internet wise of course. any sites recommended that's excellent in mobile version? never really used my mobile to browse the net except for the occasional ticket prices on airasia.

They're good for googling up answers at the UN Irish Pub quiz night.

we both know who is famous for that ....

[tigerbeer]

*bump*

just checked out the nokia shop at Airport plaza. they have the e61i in stock and selling it for approx 14,500 or something like that. the e90 is also available at approx 30k. e61 very slim and nice. impressive. just got my wife the HP ipaq 512 voice messenger for 8,900. she wanted something small with mobile office and so i think this is perfectly fine for her. for the price, its worth it.

TB

[Toolz]

Now you can get the good old e61 for 7xxx at MBK in BKK. Yes the e61i is thinner and has a camera but I wouldn't pay double for that. I was tempted by the e90, it's 28k in MBK, but I've decided to stick with my e61 for another 12 months or so.