Sony Ericsson P1i vs. Nokia E90 Communicator
Today I came across an interesting question on CNET Asia. Sachet Batra is asking which device is better for business and Internet use: SE P1 or Nokia E90 Communicator.
I had owned many different smartphones and among them were Symbian OS based and Windows Mobile based devices. However, I have finally come to E90 and I don't think to change this device anywhere soon.
When choosing a smartphone, the most important moment is to evaluate what you want it for. Windows Mobile devices are really cool and I really love them but when it comes to web browsing the lack of the screen size is a big limitation. The best screen you can find for WinMob devices is a VGA screen, which is of course better than a QVGA screen but still not enough for comfortable browsing.
What I love about E90 is the resolution of the internal screen. Finally, this is a device that almost replaces a laptop for browsing. After I bought E90, I noticed that I carry my laptop less frequently. Sometimes I would take my laptop only for browsing or writing a blog post. Many blog posts I have written on E90 and for browsing it is the best device. Period.
While Communicator's ergonomics is great to operate the device sans touchscreen, the presence of the later would a tremendous plus.
I've never owned P1, but recently I bought it as a birthday gift for Nick, who is a big fan of SonyEricsson, and I think P1 is a really cool device. Had not I been able to buy E90, I would purchase P1 for sure. Again, on my list P1 is the second device.
Returning to the question posted on CNET. Damian Koh, a Senior Writer, has posted a very correct and useful answer. I highly recommend you to read it if you are still evaluating which device to buy: P1 or E90. You can read the question and the answer here: http://asia.cnet.com/digitalliving/ask/0,3800004928,62036503,00.htm?
I used Nokia 9110 and 9210 Communicators but I wasn't interested any more when 9500 and 9300 came out. Now I'm back on E90 and I would never have a SE P1. (I used P900 and P990i for a while.)
For me, the only problem with E90 is the inability to set Active Desktop differently/separately for external and internal screen. Of course I need application icons in closed mode but I don't need them (or at least not the same set of icons) in open mode. But I guess this is more an S60 problem than Nokia's own, right? The S60 menu system/concept should definitely be redefined, anyway.
Thank you for your comment. I had been using 9300i Communicator as well and while I liked the device, it still had many drawbacks (slow, lack of 3G, etc).
E90 is fantastic. Yes, I completely agree with you. Inability to set Active Desktop separately for external and internal screens is a little bit annoying but as you have noted, it is an S60 issue. However, I can live with that.
To admit when I first saw E90 photo I said, damn what an ugly thing... but... when I saw the device I literally fell in love with it.
No matter what arguments people bring, E90 is the ONLY device that in many cases replaces a notebook.
Another pity thing is the lack of onboard fax. A couple of times fax on 9300i has really saved me. Yes, maybe fax is a bit outdated technology but in biz world it is still a must.
Overall, E90 rocks. Add touch screen and it's perfect :) What do you think?