Nokia E75 & XT Initial Impressions....

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Indio

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#35662 13-Jun-2009 21:58

Picked up the E75 on Thursday and had a play with it on 021 as my port was scheduled for "about 12-midday Friday". The port went live within a hour or two of the scheduled time so no major hassles. I had a data plan with VF so had a good chance to play with the E75 for a day before inserting the XT SIM card: everything went smoothly, emails set up easily enough, so there was no issue with setup and operating in the XT network. Initial impressions....

1: The speed of the XT network is quite impressive, and I'm not disappointed that I made the switch. Telecom have made great strides in simplifying and automating the set-up and activation of the popular services which many non-techos would find helpful.

2: I believe the speed of the network really needs hardware with faster processors to take advantage of it. The E75, as a cellphone powered by a 340-smething Mhz processor, coped sufficiently enough with graphics-intensive pages, but it is not the optimal portable device to appreciate the XT network. I've used it as a modem on my home office PC (Duo E8500 6.16 GHz, 8GB RAM, XP-Pro x64) and was suitably impressed with the result.
Had I been a little more patient, I would have opted for a higher-spec'ed device than the the E75.

3: The E75 is a nice device, with all the wizbang features one expects from a device in its price bracket. There are one or two features missing which I think would make them even better:
3.1: Txt/Email Multiple Deletion Option: I'm used to storing txts on my previous portable device for 7 days, and then I'd go in and mark all the ones I want deleted. The E75 hasn't got this feature (or if it has, it must be pretty well-hidden 'cos I couldn't find it!): I had to delete txts one by one!
3.2: On the pro side, I quite like the "Show open apps" feature, a sort of Task Manager app which allows the user to see what background apps are running. I've had to use it every time my 8-year-old daughter has finished playing on it!

4: A couple of questions on the XT Network:
4.1: I've notice that the E75's main button flashes on every 10 seconds, as if it is waiting for a signal or as if it was sync'ing with an external server. I've checked but there's no app running that shouldn't be. Is this a network-sync'ing task or what?
4.2: The E75 every now and then (seems like evry 30 minutes or so) comes on in the Network Destinations screen with the TelecomData option highlighted. I've disabled the WLAN scanning function. What application would be initiating this, and is it normal?

I'd be interested in hearing from anyone else who has the E75.

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#224759 13-Jun-2009 22:45

3.1: Hit options on a message, scroll down the "Mark/Unmark", then select "Mark". When you next hit Options->Delete, it will ask if you want to delete X messages, rather than just the selected one. Also, if you open PC Suite on your PC with the phone connected, and open the "Messages" app, you can delete the phone messages from your PC. Doesn't seem to work with emails though.

4.1: Mine does this too. I don't think it's a big deal, I think it's designed to let you know it's still on.

4.2: Nope, not normal. Mine isn't doing this, that's for sure. What apps you got installed?

Indio

153 posts

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#224765 13-Jun-2009 23:08

Kyanar: 3.1: Hit options on a message, scroll down the "Mark/Unmark", then select "Mark". When you next hit Options->Delete, it will ask if you want to delete X messages, rather than just the selected one. Also, if you open PC Suite on your PC with the phone connected, and open the "Messages" app, you can delete the phone messages from your PC. Doesn't seem to work with emails though.

Thanks for the tip

4.2: Nope, not normal. Mine isn't doing this, that's for sure. What apps you got installed?

Only the apps that came with the phone. But I've just realised my daughter was playing games on the E75...and there aren't many pre-loaded so she might have downloaded one or two...I'll check.

dhoulbrooke

29 posts

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#224780 14-Jun-2009 00:38

4.1: I've notice that the E75's main button flashes on every 10 seconds, as if it is waiting for a signal or as if it was sync'ing with an external server. I've checked but there's no app running that shouldn't be. Is this a network-sync'ing task or what?

This is the standby light. You can turn this on/off under Control Panel > Settings > General > Personalisation > Notification Lights

HTH.

Indio

153 posts

Master Geek

#224795 14-Jun-2009 07:31

dhoulbrooke:
This is the standby light. You can turn this on/off under Control Panel > Settings > General > Personalisation > Notification Lights

HTH.

Thanks. Being a typical male, reading the Operations Manual is only a go-to when all else fails

One other question:
Is Call Barring INcoming calls a network-enabled feature? I've tried activating it but it says refer to the service provider: I assume it's not currently supported?

I'd love to be able to bar incoming calls which do not have Caller_ID enabled. As it is now, I don't bother answering them on the rationale that if they don't bother sending their Caller_ID then they don't deserve the courtesy of an answer....besides which most of them are from telemarketers and other low lifers anyway....

freitasm

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#224804 14-Jun-2009 08:42

I suggest you reset the device completely once you port it to the Telecom XT Network. You never know if anything was configured while on the Vodafone network that will "call home" later, eating your data allowance.

dhoulbrooke

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#224825 14-Jun-2009 10:37

I'd love to be able to bar incoming calls which do not have Caller_ID enabled. As it is now, I don't bother answering them on the rationale that if they don't bother sending their Caller_ID then they don't deserve the courtesy of an answer....besides which most of them are from telemarketers and other low lifers anyway....

To do this I think you will need to install an app like Advanced Communication Manager (available here).

Once installed you can create a filter that blocks incoming calls that have their number hidden. Have not tested it, so see how you go!

Kyanar

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#224956 14-Jun-2009 17:33

Oh, important note: To factory reset, the process is to turn the phone off, and turn it on again while holding "3", "*" and the green "Pick Up" button. Mauricio is right, it might be a good idea to do this as the Vodafone SIM card may have applied customisations which could cause the internet connections you're seeing.

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Nety

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#225163 15-Jun-2009 09:57

Indio: Only the apps that came with the phone. But I've just realised my daughter was playing games on the E75...and there aren't many pre-loaded so she might have downloaded one or two...I'll check.

I would be very careful with that. I have only found two games that are not trials or ones that you have to buy. Your darling daughter could be out buying up large

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Indio

153 posts

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#225337 15-Jun-2009 19:05

Thanks for all the tips and recommendations, and for sharing your expertise and experiences. Just to update ....
1: I have installed the Advanced Communication Manager and I'm happy to announce that callers who hide their Caller_ID now get rejected before they make it to me

. All they hear is the Number_Unavailable tone: I haven't even re-directed them to voicemail.
2: I've reset the E75 as advised by our intrepid Mauricio but I'm still getting the "Select Connection" screen every so often, without my doing anything. I suspect it might be a Nokia.com app which is buried in there somewhere: when I get time I'll have a dig around...
3: I'm having a bit of fun trying to transfer my contacts stored on the old Motorola RAZR V6 to the E75 (the SIM card contacts are ok). I've exported the contacts from within Motorola Phone Tools to an Outlook File, but then I can't "see" the file from within the Nokia PC Suite to import it.

BrentR

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#225346 15-Jun-2009 19:30

On point 3, you should export the file as a .csv then import that into Outlook. Once you've done that C Suite will be able to see those contacts within Outlook and import them.

Indio

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#225410 15-Jun-2009 22:52

BrentR: On point 3, you should export the file as a .csv then import that into Outlook. Once you've done that C Suite will be able to see those contacts within Outlook and import them.

Thanks for the tip. I've managed to import the .cvf file to the E75 after a few misses. The Nokia PC Suite is a bit temperamental at times: no where near as stable or as the Motorola Phone Tools. And the Nokia Software Updater does not seem to have support for the E75: I've downloaded the NokiaSoftwareUpdater installable from Nokia and installed it on my PC. The first time I launch it, it hangs for almost a minute before it displays an error:
Missing Software Components
Critical software components are missing. Please reinstall

Reinstall and the same problem repeats....

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#225438 15-Jun-2009 23:46

To multi-delete any Files, Emails, Or messages with Symbian phones, use the "#" key (unless there is a dedicated pencil key)

I just scroll to a week ago and press and hold the "#" and hold the navigation arrow down whilst keeping the "#" key depressed, a little tick will appear beside each message that you are scrolling down past and just press "delete" and easy as.

You can also use it to select, copy and paste blocks of text, handy-as!

show-open-apps is also achieved by holding down the "menu" key where a list will be displayed, pressing "C" will close that app, it's a good way to get back to standby when you want to leave an app running in the background.

Nety

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#225477 16-Jun-2009 08:43

Indio: And the Nokia Software Updater does not seem to have support for the E75: I've downloaded the NokiaSoftwareUpdater installable from Nokia and installed it on my PC. The first time I launch it, it hangs for almost a minute before it displays an error:
Missing Software Components
Critical software components are missing. Please reinstall

Reinstall and the same problem repeats....

Hmm that sounds odd. I have installed on my work laptop and it is working fine. XP SP2 and E75. No updated software though

Indio

153 posts

Master Geek

#225485 16-Jun-2009 08:59

Nety:
Hmm that sounds odd. I have installed on my work laptop and it is working fine. XP SP2 and E75. No updated software though

I'm running XP Pro x64.
Btw, are you or anyone else using Opera Mini on the E75? I've checked on the opera site but they don't list the E75 as one of the supported devices...

Nety

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#225492 16-Jun-2009 09:09

Indio:
I'm running XP Pro x64.
Btw, are you or anyone else using Opera Mini on the E75? I've checked on the opera site but they don't list the E75 as one of the supported devices...

Wow you are the only person I know running XP x64.. Wonder if that is your problem. I know it has lots of issues with software compatibility.

As ofr Opera no, I have tried Skyfire but that seems a bit buggy (could not login to this site).

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