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The N73 it's a good cellphone , good camera, flash , but it's a quite bit slower than other N series cellphones , main menu appears very slow , and sometimes it need to be restarted to work fine. I was listening music when suddendly this phone hangs on and maintained a extrange sound , that action caused me to remove battery , wait 5 minutes and this N73 comes back to live again (maybe needs an Nokia firmware update)
On the bad side, there's no optical zoom (so you'll never have real depth of field), the flash is good, but it's not godly, there is NO WAY AT ALL to turn off the artificial shutter sound (so no incognito ever), the front facing camera is AMAZINGLY bad in low-light (you need sunlight for a clear picture), and no built-in geotagging (an app is available from Nokia, however). For one, the e-mail client is downright simple. I'll get great reception in places where other phones scratch their heads. Just as a warning for everyone in the US: THIS PHONE DOES NOT HAVE 3G YOU CAN USE. Yes, it's only 3.2 MPixels, and it's low-light performance is OK (it gets a bit noisy, but I've seen Nikon's with noisier pictures). However, by some magic of wonderfully optimized technology, the EDGE radio in my N73 seems faster than that of my T-Mo Dash. The web browser is faster, sending e-mails seems faster, hell, I can even pull down Internet Radio and broadcast live on Qik (though there are a LOT of delays involved in the use of Qik, so if you're buying the phone for that, I suggest another phone).S60's a great OS, but it's got some flaws. In this case, S60 has the Pencil key, the Apps key, the Multimedia Key, and the C key.
On the plus side, you can select several messages and have the phone download them all at once (Hold the pencil key and click on the messages you want to select). The phone sold here, the N73-5 (RM-132) has had this feature removed. Other than that, it's one of the best cameras I've ever used in a phone.Reception is Godly. (Forewarning: I say T-Mo Dash, but I'm using AT&T.
This means you'll be able to make sure your pictures are in-focus, and even macro focus'd (which can land you some decent, but understated, depth of field). The N73-5 supports neither, and the earlier N73s only support 2100 MHz. And before you bring up T-Mobile's use of the 2100 MHz band for their 3G network in the US: they use AWS, which requires the use of both a signal in the 2100 MHz band and the 1700 MHz band. Also, the mail client will only ever download headers, never message contents.
I came to the N73 looking to flee the crashy performance of my T-Mobile Dash, and it answered all my hopes and dreams. It also works with Bluetooth keyboards, which the iPhone can't do), it's damn stable (you may on occasion have to reboot it, but it's so fast and so easy to deal with that it's hardly worth mentioning), has phenominal battery life (admittedly, some apps like Qik will really take it out of the phone, but you can listen to the Internet Radio all day and still have some power left over in the evening), an easy to use UI (it's not the prettiest, but people won't be all "I don't know how to work your phone"), and its Mac compatibility (out-of-the-box syncing support with iSync, Nokia Media Transfer makes manipulating files on the phone easy, including syncing pictures, videos, music and installing apps). What this means for you: you need to wait for your message to download to read it. The Apps key is used for switching running apps (hold the button) or choosing an app to run (press it). Same goes for marking messages as read.On the upside, S60's IMAP support is wonderful: this means Push E-mail without needing an Exchange account (Push GMail anyone)., and the ability to subscribe to folders of your choice.S60, like BlackBerry OS and Windows Mobile, have some special hardware keys. The C key is a universal delete button (not a universal "back" button like in WM6 or BBOS), so whatever you have highlighted will be DELETED, keep that in mind.
Definately consider getting a Bluetooth GPS unit, as you'll be able to use Nokia Maps (It doesn't have all the awesome text-to-speech features of a good Nüvi, but it gets the job done. The original N73 (-1, -2, -3 and -4, models RM-133) has 3G using the 2100 MHz band, which is only useful in Europe. Yes, I unlocked the Dash, don't bother asking me about anything relating to T-Mo).The camera is awesome. WM5 and 6 can do this. But let's break it down. The Pencil key has to do with all things input related (like switching between predictive text modes, or different languages), and if you hold it, you can select text for copying and pasting (WM6 and the iPhone can't do that), and yes: C/P works in ALL applications. What this means: No 3G in the US, and no 3G in Europe either. I bring this up because knowing how to appropriately use these buttons elevated any S60 smartphone from being a phone with a fancy UI to a true smartphone, and allows you to take full advantage of the device (C/P is SOOOOOOOOOO useful when you finally make use of it, including copying and pasting phone numbers from an phonebook entry into a text message for somebody).Other advantages of S60 include it's compatability with various devices (bluetooth GPS devices work flawlessly, every time.
At this point, spend the extra few dollars and grab the N82 or N95 if you can. The N73 is stable, and rock solid, but on occasion can be slow, and every once in a while you'll find yourself damning the Espoo-dwellers who designed it for including a Pop-Port (instead of mini-USB), miniSD (instead of microSD), no US 3G (yes, the title says it has 3G, but more on that later), and no WiFi. The Multimedia Key is basically another four shortcuts for you to have access, even if they aren't multimedia related. By default, apps are quit when you hit the hang-up button (much simpler than in WM6). On the plus side, you can easily switch applications in S60 (just hold down the Application button, or press it once to bring up the Apps menu), but it seems stupid that I can't read my e-mails while one is sent in the background. The Maps application and the maps are free, but there is a fee to use the navigation feature, though it is competitive relative to the GPS fees from cell carriers), geotag your photos, geocache (Geocache Navigator says it's an N95 app, but it runs fine on the N73, and it doesn't even complain), and even keep tabs on your walks, runs, or biking stats with Sports Tracker (very cool application, and free, did I mention that).I'd give the N73 five stars if it wasn't for the lack of WiFi (which would make up for EDGE), it's poor e-mail client, it's rather small amount of RAM (you'll hit the RAM wall if you upgrade the firmware or you use the browser a lot), and for the fact that Nokia never seemed to think that having numerical shortcuts in the menus would be a good thing. No support for HTML messages (you'll just see the tags), in-line images are a no-no, there is NO way to change the size of text (so everything is in big letters), and when you hit the send button, you have to wait until the message is sent before you can pen another (well, you can cancel, but either way: you have to watch the progress bar when you send e-mail). The LED flash is more useful than you think, and the Carl Zeiss lenses are fantastic, but what really steals the show is its auto-focus.
Granted: 90% of the apps for working with your phone are for Windows, but everything you *need* is in Mac OS, and Nokia is developing more apps for Mac OS, as evidenced by their recent release of the Nokia Maps Loader (which allows you to download maps and load them onto your phone, with the choice of either downloading the entire country, or just a few states). No love there. And that's bad. WM6 can't say that. They have an updated version of the OS, WiFi and GPS, which will be so much more useful than you could imagine at this point (plus many apps only work on the new OS).
The FM radio is handy and I keep all my meetings with me with the Lotus Notes synchronization. The camera pictures are awesome for a phone.
If I had $$$ to spare I would have bought the N82. However as I have no use for wi fi and GPS I chose the N73.
I bought this phone over the Nokia N82. I listened to my MP3, watched music videos on the MP4 Real Player, I played Roger Federer tennis, Need 4 Speed, Soduku, etc, read a section of a book and reviwed some Excel and PDF files I had downloaded.
I am not dissapointed at all. This is an EXCELLENT phone, I just took a 4 hr flight and it was a breeze.
For some reason some of them come with a bluish cast which I fix easily in Photosohop (I fix all my SLR pictures as well so no big deal). Plus, for less than $300 I am not that worried about carrying a phone in my pocket at all times.As I said if you like this and have the $$$ I recommend the Nokia N82 but that doesnt mean that the N73 is outdated or underpowered its just that it has less features than the N82 but no big deal.
I bought this phone to listen to MP3s and its really not good for that. This phone will not recognize a MicroSD card larger than 2GB. I paid $300 and I would say its worth $30. I have updated to the latest firmware and software and this phone is still glitchy. All of the adapters are proprietary. All i can do with it is make phone calls and send text messages. This phone is not a step up.
This phone has everything you need. The camera is great.The battery last forever. Its sturdy yet sleek. What more can I say its a Nokia.
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