I have always been a nokia fan, which is evident from me always being a proud owner of a mobile from the Nokia family. My first phone was 3200, which I replaced with the 3310 during engg days.
Once I took up my first job, it was time to move on, and me being fascinated with camera phones, decided to get the 7250i, which was the entry cam phone. Stuck around with that for almost more than a year, and I was unfortunate that it got stolen while I was busy purchasing tickets in black.
Once more it was time to go back to the 3310, while I contemplated on teh rite time to go for a new phone. Finally, a gud 4-6 months later, I decided it was time. While me n my better half hunted around for various phones, none were totally captivating. We decided on getting some mobile from the 66XX series, and that was when the salesman at Sangeetha thrust before us the N70 smartphone. Initially, the price was something we hadnt agreed upon.. after a careful review on its features, it was time to make the purchase. The salesman was also kind enuff to show us a working piece, rather than the non-working sample which they shimmy before us.
Clicked some snaps upon getting home, and was totally impressed with the clarity of the pics. Front cam needless to say isnt gud. U cud save a 1000 bucks by discrading teh idea of a front cam, and instead going for a N72, which has the same features, but no front cam.
Sound reception is gud, but the small keypad does irritate at times, but I have learnt to live with it.
The sliding cam cover comes in handy when u want to access the cam in a hurry... but proves to be a pain when u try to pull out the phone from ur jeans pocket, which results in the phone getting unlocked in the process. A quick fix to this is investing in a crystal case which comes for abt 60 bucks, which also prevents ur mobile from fallin prey to evil scratches resulting from everyday use.
I get to browse the net from office, and so havent really felt the need to activate the GPRS, facility on the phone. Transfer of content via Bluetooth is pretty efficient.
For those facing issues with installing themes on this device, install FExplorer, using which u need to create a similar directory structure, and thus allowing for themes transfer, as well as installation.
My phone came equipped with a 512MB recuced size MMC card, which is more than enuff if u dump the daily snaps onto ur PC.
The N70 cannot prove to be a substitute for an iPod, the earphones provided proving to be a real pain. The radio recptn is fine, and allows for presets too.
All in all, a decent phone, and worth the money. I purchased this for 18, 500 (Aug), but the prices seem to be droppin by the day.
UPDATED - OCT 12th
While I do agree with my views posted above... I have found that off-late, the N70 tends to hang when the memory is subjected to high usage. It was when I bought my new car that my bro use the mobile video cam to make videos of the same.... When goin thru the Gallery, he was dumbfounded to c that the phone wasnt responding. After facing a similar issue with his 6600, he was quick to point out that probably it was coz memory was almost full. Post delting or rather freeing the memory to an extent, the phone dint show much signs of hanging.
Just an addition, to alert other prospective buyers.
UPDATED - OCT 17th
A suggestion from my end... all lookin for the N70 features, but do not need the front cam, can go in for the N72, which is abt 1000 bucks cheaper, and even looks gud.