Vacation with the Nokia E90

I had some days free, so we, my family and I, decided to make short vacation on Sylt, a famous island in Germany. However, before we could start, I had to decide which gadgets I would take on vacation. First I wanted to take my Laptop with me but after I found out that we don’t have Wi-Fi in our hotel I decided to take the N95, E90 and my SU-8W with me. I took the N95 just for gaming with me because I can’t install N-Gage on the E90. Otherwise I wouldn’t take the N95 with me. Now I want to tell you, whether the E90 is suitable for vacation or not.

Pro:

• Music, radio and podcast:

During the drive I listen to music and some podcast I downloaded the day before. Also before going to bed or laying on the beach I listen to music or podcast a lot. Moreover, I used the Radio application the very first time and I was really surprised of its quality. I just plugged in the headphones which work as the antenna and than my whole family listed to radio, actually football/socca. The sound via the loudspeaker and headphones is loud and clear enough but not as good as the N95’s sound. The podcasting application isn’t pre-installed but you can download it over here.

• Internet:
  As already mentioned, we had no Internet in the hotel but fortunately I found an open Wi-Fi network close to the beach we always laid. Using this open Wi-Fi I could update my RSS-Feeds, check my site’s stats, download podcast and retrieve and sent E-mails. All these things were a real pleasure due to the huge screen and the full QWERTY keyboard.

• Camera:


To capture the best moments, I always carried the E90 with me. After taken the first pictures and took a look at them on the huge screen I was really surprised. The 3.2 megapixel camera has also a auto focus which causes pretty good pictures. Here you can find some image-samples:

Unfortunately, does the camera application start up really slow. It takes about 6 seconds till you can start using the camera. Other than that, does the E90 record videos with 640 x 480 pixels (VGA resolution) and 30 frames per second. This resolution you may know from the Nokia N95, N93 or the N82.
Here you can watch a video Captured with the E90:
[blip.tv ?posts_id=886208&dest=-1]
• Text messages:
  Because I wasn’t online at MSN I wrote text messages with my girlfriend and my friends almost 24/7. Actually, it’s hard writing that many text messages on a standard keyboard but with E90’s QWERTY keyboard it’s really convenient.
• GPS:
  Before starting our journey, I’ve downloaded the maps for the city we will stay in. Actually, I don’t use the N95 or the E90 for navigation but sometimes I just like to know where I am or how fast I’m running or driving.
• Quickoffice:


Well, some, including me, have to or want to ”work” also during vacation. I had to write some articles for SymbianWorld and Xonio and of course I did it all on the Nokia E90. With the Quickoffice’s full-version and the full QWERTY keyboard or sometimes with the SU-8W it was pretty easy and convenient.

Contra:

• Size and weight:
  The biggest contra point is of course the size. Carring it in the pocket the whole time is rather inconvenient. Furthermore, the E90 is with 210g really heavy. However, bear all its features – the large screen and the QWERTY keyboard in mind.

• QWERTY Keyboard without back-light:

As already mentioned, I was writing a lot E-mails and text messages on the QWERTY keyboard. However, when I was in bed, without light, I couln’t recognize the letters on the keyboard. The reason for that is, that the full QWERTY keyboard has no back-light. However, you can close the E90 and used the standard numeric keys which have back-light.

Thanks to some of my readers I finally found out how to activate the back light for the QWERTY keyboard. My mistake was testing this function outdoors with a lot sunshine so that I couldn’t see the light. Now it works perfect and it isn’t a downside anymore.

Verdict:
The E90 made my vacation even better due to its abilities. Having all these features I could stay up to date, listen to music and capture the most beautiful moments. However, if you don’t like its size and weight you can get the same features (but not the QWERTY keyboard) with the N95, N82, N78 and many other devices.

Related posts:

1. Can the Nokia N97 replace a Camera on Vacation?
2. N95: Vacation pictures
3. Nokia E71: My new love
4. LG KT610 a competitor for E90?
5. Sony Ericsson kicks off the MWC with the Vivaz Pro