Nokia N97

What I like about this device is the 3.5″ touch screen, 32GB of internal memory + microSD card slot ( I just got my 16gb card which would be 48GBs of storage in my mobile device). It has a 5MP camera with dual LED flash, VGA video at 30FPS. And it has 3.5G in the USA. The best feature is the slide-out QWERTY keyboard, the only 1 of the 3 devices here which has that. The most appealing factor of this phone for me is the live widgets on the phone’s homescreen. The webbrowser has built in Flash support so sites like YouTube work.

What I don’t like about the device — it’s screen is resistive and the other two devices have capacitive screens. It has the slowest processor (Single ARM 11 434MHz) of all three devices. If you want to watch movies on the device they have to be transcoded or you have to buy a separate application to play straight DiVX movies.

iPhone 3GS

What I like about this device: My absolutely favorite thing about the iPhone is the App store which allows you to download over 50,000 applications. The beauty of the App store is how well integrated it is into the phone as well as into iTunes (even though I hate iTunes because its 80MB for a music player update). Although I like having devices that are different from everyone else’s, the iPhone’s popularity appeals to me because the GPS apps which show you where your friends are, would be much more useful to me because my friends actually have iPhones.

What I dislike about the device: It only has a 3MP camera, no flash whatsoever, no keyboard, no webbrowser flash, you have to transcode your movies, no memory card slot, no access to the filesystem.

Samsung i8910

What I like about this device: Where to start? It records HD video (1280×720) at 24FPS. It has an 8MP still camera. This device has the largest screen, 3.8 inches, it is AMOLED, and it is capacitive. The device has a 600MHz processor and a dedicated 3D graphics chip. It can play movies without transcoding them. According to reviews, the colors which the device shows are amazing. The OmniaHD runs S60 5th edition, which is the same operating system that the N97 has, and some of the applications for the N97 work on the i8910

What I dislike about the device: It has no 3/3.5G in the USA….seriously…WTF…it’s 2009… Besides the lack of a fast cellular data connection, the device lacks a physical keyboard (and I am not fond of the onscreen keyboard for S60 5th). Another issue, for such an imaging/video centric device, why does this only have a single LED flash?!?

So, to sum everything up, all 3 devices are very technologically advanced. They all have awesome features, as well as drawbacks. I like the iPhone for its community, but I like the N97 and the i8910 for their hardware. The i8910 is the most technologically advanced device, but it falls short for me because of its lack of 3G. Having been using the N85 for the last 2 months, I can’t see myself going back to a non-3G device even if it does shoot HD video. I am also not really impressed with the N97 because of its camera (same one as the one in the N95 from 2 years ago), and also the same processor, and no 3D hardware. The iPhone’s hardware is not very impressive when compared with to the likes of the other discussed devices, in the photo and video department because it has no flash and only a 3MP camera.

Ultimately, I would likely buy an iPhone 3GS simply because it would be the cheapest device to buy (without factoring in the montly AT&T fees). For $299 you get the 32GB version, where as the N97 costs $699 from Nokia (granted it is unlocked).

A quick word  of warning to those who followed my triple boot tutorial: reinstalling Windows 7 is most likely going to overwrite your MBR and remove Grub which means you won’t be able to boot into Ubuntu or OS X. There should be directions online on how to reinstall grub. I will update the post later with a link to such a tutorial.

*UPDATE* As promised, here is a tutorial from Fosswire which walks you through rebuilding your GRUB bootloader after installing Windows 7.

Unfortunately I can not test this version out as it only supports S60 Version 3 FP1 devices, and right now I am using a N85, which is a FP2 device.

As of now the app is only supported in the US and UK. However, if you click the US link you can download the SISX file. Here is a link to that page. If that does not work for you, download it here (its the N95 8GB version).

If you have used it and would like to submit a review, please write a comment and I will get in touch with you.

Limitations on Our Liability and Liabilities Not Assumed
We won't be liable:
For loss, damage or delay, caused by events we cannot control, including but not limited to acts of God, perils of the air, weather conditions, acts of public enemies, war, strikes, civil commotions or acts of public authorities with actual or apparent authority.

The thing which I find hilarious is that they include acts of God under their liabilities. Seriously? So pretty much anything that happens to your package could be said was because of an act of God. Personally I find this not only funny, but grossly inappropriate because FedEx is a world-wide company, and many people throughout the world do not believe in God. In fact, many wars have been fought over God, and I don’t think this line should be included in their legal document.

Another thing which I find interesting is that clause which says “public authorities with actual or apparent authority.” So you may just seem authoritative and influence someones package.

The deeper I read into the Terms and Conditions, the more I feel that it is actually a miracle that I get my packages.

The beta supports two items – movie posters and bar codes. I have yet to try it with a barcode, but my experience with a movie poster was pretty appaling. I set my access point to WiFi and pointed the camera at my Transporter 3 poster. After about 3 minutes of a scrolling loading bar, the phone determined that the poster was of Twilight and offered to show me a trailer and some other things. 

What dissapointed me was that it took so long for the software to download the information, even though it was linked to my university’s wireless network which is pretty damn fast. It is also bad that it confused the Transporter 3 poster for Twilight which look nothing alike

On a more positive note I am glad that such software exists. Given enough time and testing this could be amazing. Just imagine going to a new town/city/country and pointing your device at a building or sign and you can get any information you need. Also, the barcode feature would be amazing, if it works. I know that many people who have purchased the T-Mobile G1 have done so mainly because of their barcode reading applications, and there is no reason why a Nokia device , which has a much better camera, can not do the same. The only problem for me, is that my Nokia N82 runs only on EDGE.

You can find out more about Point & Find on Nokia’s site.

Current devices supported are: N82, N95, N95 8GB, N76, N81, N81 8GB, E51, E66, 6290, 6124 Classic, 6161 Classic, 6120 Classic, 6110 Navigator and 5700 XpressMusic

If you are in the USA, here is the direct link to the download page.

After some research, I found a tutorial on how to enable the sound to work. I followed it and it enabled me to listen to music on my EEE without the external audio card. You can find the tutorial at IPIS-OSX.wikidot.com. I have created a zip which includes all of the necessary files in order to have you EEE happily singing through its internal speakers. Download the archive from here.

If you run into any problems, please post a comment here or on the IPIS-OSX site.

Connection Settings:
->Server version: 1.1
->Data bearer: Internet
->Access point: Always ask (or w/e you want)
->Host Address: https://sync.ovi.com/services/syncml
->Port: 443
->username: your Ovi username
->password: your Ovi password
->Allow sync requests: Yes
->Accept all sync requests: No
->Network authentication: No

After taking the cracked LCD off I began looking for a replacement screen. Oddly enough I found one through Google and NotebookReview.com from a guy who lives near me and was selling it for $50 cheaper than all other places. I messaged him and he said he would ship it. Paid him and waited. After about a week I got the screen yesterday. Immediately I got to installing it in the laptop. To my greatest surprise, the screen works and I was able to put the computer back together. I only have 2 left over screws!

Here is a slide show including the before and after:

I will post a link to the auction of the system once it goes up on ebay.

I have found a IBM T60 to purchase which is working and I believe will suite me well.

As it currently stands, I ordered an LCD inverter from Ebay. I am hoping that this would fix it as I can not wait to use this sweet computer.

If everything works out, this could be a wonderful system for about $100-130.

I will keep you posted on the progress of the system update / work status.

Edit:

Here are some pictures of the LCD taken apart: