Hey Vikki, my main concern with that device is the keypad. Good to hear that you're a die hard E71 fan, I am too, recently however mine took a dive in a body of water and is now sitting in a bowl of rice. In the mean time I'm using my Sony Ericsson W880i and I'm shocked to see how bad my T9 skills have atrophied.

All that aside, after a couple of weeks of testing, could you report back on the N79 from someone who used to use the best keyboard Nokia has made in recent years: the E71.

I think the E63 keyboard is better than the E71's... although they're both excellent.

Hi Vikki

A great feature that not many people know about or talk about is the FM Transmitter. Perfect for when in the car. Would be interested to hear your thoughts on that feature :)

Thanks
Dan

The Nokia N79 is, imo, hands-down the best overall Nseries on the market today - you've picked an EXCELLENT temporary replacement for your E71 - I switch between the E63 and the N79 frequently, and love them both.

@Constantine As you can see from my video, I had the same concerns. It's softened out a little bit over the past few days, but it's still hard work. Sorry to hear about your E71, ouch! The comparison will be a big feature of my review, which I'll get to this week.

@Ben I haven't used the E63 yet....

@Worldofnokia FM transmitter you say? (makes a note to look at later...)

@Ricky Now there's a big statement! I'm not sure if I can honestly say I prefer it to the N75, even considering that it is an 'old' handset. Though that's good insight, thanks.

Hey Vik hows it hangin, hope its chillin an all..

kinda looked over the N79 and went for N85.. its great an all but had it for a while now and pretty much bored, nokia are pretty slick an last a long time even after knockin them around so theres no point in asking that as experience proves fine :D but i did wanna know if the N79's a "Fun Phone" to have lying around and take along to hang with friends, its does look pretty slick in black.

later Vik, keep chillin

if you have not already, you should try installig skyquikey on your n79. it allows you to smart-dial contacts the same way you can on the e71, and it also allows you to send a new sms to a contact by simply pushing the dpad to the right once a contact is highlited. it makes devices without a qwerty much easier to use

Vikki - I am totally with you on the E71 - it is my workhorse phone that does just about everything - if I had to select one general purpose phone to travel with, the E71 would be it (should I not be travelling with my normal equipment selection of at least 7 handsets).

The N79 *IS* a very useul device, fufilling all the promises made by the hastily rushed into service N78 and possessing much of the usefullness of the wonderful N95, yet at considerably less cost.

This, together with the OLED screen equipped N85 are IMHO the two best overall 'N' series devices available at present. The N97 just doesn't tick enough boxes to warrant the high price.

Yet, both are stil trumped by the wonderfully feature rich, stable and remarkably competitively priced drop dead gorgeous E71!

Looking forward to your review, I've said before that this device is a true gem and will be even bigger in the years to come as Nokia opens up the market to developing countries even more :) cheers, I usually say cheers mate to my british friends but since you are a gal, what's proper in Britain cheers ?, let me know when you can.

bye

Hey man, you can read the N79 review right here:

http://thereallymobileproject.com/2009/06/reall...

:)