How about an alternate to the X1 -- the Nokia E71?

Okay, so if you're still looking for a super-cool, full qwerty-keyboarded phone, but are unwilling to part with RM 3,199 of your hard-earned cash, what can you do?

Well, if waiting is an option (I think my M600i can go on indefinitely, actually) then that's the surest way of getting the price down. Give it six months and I'm sure it will be in the comfortable side of 2k.

If waiting is 'not' an option, and you really need /want / itch to upgrade the phone, then how about this...

Presenting the kinda new and not quite hot-off-the-shelf, but still top scoring Nokia E71!

Lets start with what it isn't

• it surely isn't the X1 (duh!)
• it isn't trying to be an iPhone killer
  
• it isn't the loser of a wifi-less, boring and bulky Nokia E60/62 as well!! (I almost bought that, yikes!!)

Okay, before you proceed further, I must stress that this is *not* a touchscreen phone. So if you're looking to touch, poke, stroke and write on a phone, then you can forget about the E71.

If you've made it through the caveats so far... then you're in for the alternate coolness that the E71 can offer! Firstly, lets hear what the critics have to say...

• CNET.UK says the E71 has enough finesse to not look out of place, sitting in an Aston Martin. And gives it a 8.9 (excellent) rating for an almost-perfect phone.

• Allaboutsymbian.com says there's a lot to like about the E71, which it calls a 'miniaturised masterpiece'.
  

• engadgetmobile.com summarises the E71 as as "manages it all with style, providing a plethora of features in a speedy, beautiful and minuscule device"

• Boygeniusreport.com boldly calls it "is the best phone Nokia has made to date"

• Brighthand.com concluded its review calling it "probably the best handset available for prosumers" by taking the iPhone features people want and the BlackBerry functions needed and sticking it into a "package that is well designed"
  

Here are a few shots of the E71 from GSMArena .... if you love the BlackBerry's looks, then you'll find this quite irristable!

Source: GSMArena.com

Source: GSMArena.com

Source: GSMArena.com

And this is what you have inside that slim, 10mm metal-clad body -- Nokia's slimmest phone so far!!

• Quad band, 3.5G (3.6mbps), GPRS (100kbps), Edge (296kbps), Wi-Fi (54mbps) and Bluetooth
  
• 16million colour 320x240 display that still looks clear under sunlight
• GPS receiver with assisted GPS function
• Fullscreen browser, FM radio, instant , Vlan, VIOP
• Stable S60 Symbian OS 9.2 with loads of 3rd party software
• Software included in the package: QuickOffice, Active Notes, Dictionary, PDF reader, Skype.... the list goes on!
  

There is, however, one consistent complaint about the E71 -- its Achilles' heel -- the 3.2m autofocus camera. It seems that Nokia had gone cheapskate with this particular component and put in a mediocre camera -- washed out colours, poor contrast, slow shutter, purple fringing... in short, something not at par with the rest of this phone! So phone snappers... beware this point!

So, with all of the above, wrapped up in a nice, handsome package, and a street price of RM 15xx for 'original' and RM 13xx for grey imports.... one would say this is actually a real bargain!

X1 is finally here!!!

Well, that would have been true if I'd gotten around posting this on Saturday, 22nd November!! (sorry for the delay!!)

In my previous post, I'd mentioned that the early birds (i.e. first 50) stand to get between RM 1500 to RM 250 discounts on the X1.

Officially the launch was from 12noon to 3pm that Saturday in 1 Utama new wing. It turned out the first 5 customers got RM1500 discount.... no gimmick, fooyoh! Next got RM 1000 and it slowly tapered down to if you were among the last 50 then the discount shrank to RM 250.

What I hadn't anticipated was that X1 fans had already started lining up in as early as Friday afternoon!! You'd think you only read about this level of enthusiasm in other countries and when it was about the iPhone or another StarWars sequel. In Malaysia you'd hear about people lining up for home ballots.... but for a handphone??!! wow....

To cut the story short... I missed my chance to be the first 50. Even if I were early enough... I seriously had to then ask if I was willing to part with RM 3,199 for the phone??!? As cool as it is (you should see the one in brushed steel... its to *die* for!!!), can you seriously part with what's effectively a month's or a couple of months' salary for many people, just  for a gizmo to say 'hello!' ? 

Evidently, that's an easy 'YES!' for many purchasers of the X1 on that day. I met an Andy who, like me, missed out being the top fifty... but he went ahead and still bought the phone at full price.... "what to do?" he asked disappointingly!

Economy not doing so good you say? Tell that to the tech fans, my friends.... tell that to the tech friends!!!

Arriving this Saturday -- the X1

When I first saw the pictures of pre-production models of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, I thought this was simply an amazing phone! That was way back in February this year.

Along the way came snippets of details...

• that it would run Windows Mobile (boring!) but have its own panel interface (cool!);
  

• that it would have a metal body for that sleek sliding keyboard mechanism;
  

• that it would have the sexiest eye-candy of a screen that any phone would die for!
  

And the the most intriguing bit of all was that this would not be made by SE! Instead, it will be crafted by the equally expert hands of HTC.

But the phone won't be available until September 08. That was quite a bummer... Imagine having to wait another 7 months before you get to see it!

In September, I just couldn't wait, and had to do something.... so I wrote a post on the X1 instead. AARGH!! The launch in end September was only for some European countries and the UK. Countries in ASEAN will just have to wait some more!!

So here we are, in the middle of November 2008 -- a good 9 months after those early sneak peeks. SE Malaysia started the hype with a full-page newspaper add 12 days before the launch.

Yesterday, another add reminded readers that there's still another 5 days to go... and threw in another hook -- signup via their site at www.bethefirstx1.com for an opportunity to pre-order the phone. The add also noted that if you're the first 50 to buy the phone at the special launch in 1 Utama, you stand to get savings from RM250 to RM1500!!

At the time of writing this... its another agonizing 4-day wait. But hang on... am I seriously going to get one? Word is that its going to cost RM 3000! Ouch, yeah. Not a very pocket friendly price in these difficult economic times. But hey, I can still ogle at it if I'm not going to buy it right? Oh, and they'll only have it in black on Nov 22nd. Dang!

So what do we do in the mean time...? We do what tech geeks do ... read up on reviews (warning, all is not rosy though... !) here, here and here! And until I really do get a new phone..... I'll still have my trusty, if not somewhat quaint, M600i to meet my calling, texting and synchronising needs!

Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 - launching!!

When the first pictures got out early this year, I told myself this is one cool phone to have in my pocket. The crunch came in the WAIT! This phone, would not be available until end of Q3 08 :(

Here's a quickie on the X1's features.... (in no particular order of 'foo-yoh'-ness)

• Sliding form factor, with a curved, sliding QWERTY keyboard
  
• Runs Windows Mobile 6.1 with its unique Xperia panel interface
  
• Displays all that in the full glory of a crisp, 3 inch, 800 x 480 screen
  
• Uses the really useful optical joystick OR touchscreen for flexible navigation options
• Spots a zippy Qualcomm 7200A CPU running at 528 MHz
  
• Carries an auto-focus 3.2 megapixel camera with flash (LED unfortunately, methinks)
  
• Uses Assisted GPS for rapid positioning even when indoors
• And carries the usual 'must-have' features you've come to expect of a killer gadget like the X1: Bluetooth A2DP (stereo bluetooth headphones), WiFi (of course!), Memory Stick Micro slot (another report claims it is MicroSD???), FM radio, 3G quad-band / HSDPA / HSUPA, Opera browser with RSS reader

If you haven't already seen it, here are some pix of the X1... see if it makes you drool (I'm proud to be a tech geek, ok!).

The good news is... for the lucky folks in UK and some parts of Europe, the wait ends tomorrow, as the official launch for the X1 is 30th Sept 2008! For the rest of us in Asia, Latin America and other parts of Europe, we'll have another agonizing wait until the end of the year before we get out grubby hands on this hottie. Friends in the US, AU... sorry, no news on when this babe phone is coming out.

Oh yeah, the above pix were from Sony's Xperia website. If you want to see more of it, they have a series of videos ala-Jason Bourne, where the hero, Johnny X uses the X1 to figure out his true identity. Check it out at the Who is Johnny X site.