So, I listened to you lot and picked up an E61 this afternoon. What a POS. Keyboard is terrible, it is slow and the amount of third party software for it is dismal.

Activesync doesn't support folders. Doesn't support syncing with my carkit, doesn't show signal/battery on my carkit (even my TyTN can do that). The browser is crap (just entering a URL is a 10 step project). I always thought the Windows Mobile browser sucked, but this thing takes 30 seconds even before anything starts loading... The UI has no consistency to it.

That said; form factor is decent, the screen is nice and RF could be worse. But I really can't understand why everyone goes gaga over this thing.

I'll give it a few more days, but I can't say I'm impressed at all.

Is there any way to use Skype with the E61?

Nope. WindowsMobile only. It was meant to be available months ago, but nothing has been heard of it since.

I put truphone on my E61 and it works great. ^

I just bought a used E61 via eBay. Is there a way to change the lock code on the phone?

Can't argue on the 3rd party issue. What pisses me off is that there's SO MUCH Symbian stuff out there, yet Nokia have driven away most of the community with their app signature issues. The rest? Spoken like a man who doesn't do much voice. *DUCKING*

Stupid phone only wants to pair to my carkit as a headset, there is no way to tell it I want it to pair as a handsfree system.

The "no folders" problem with activesync is pathetic, they claim activesync support but don't mention that little issue.

Played with the browser some more. It is terrible. Terrible I tell you...

You are correct that I don't do much voice, but this is a business phone, so it should be excellent in email and voice.

It's a nice cheap smartphone, probably even cheaper than the Dash, but I'm happier with my fullblown WM5 device. It is faster, more flexible and suits my needs much better.

It's already back in the box :)

Do you mean it is locked to a carrier or it is branded? (i.e. Planet 3 from HK).

Different issues - if it is branded, I can tell you how to unbrand it and restore it. If it is locked, it is a bit more difficult.

Oh yeah, if you just mean the 4 - 6 digit lock code, flashing the firmware usually works and resets it back to the default of 12345.

Check Howard Forums, gsm forums and e-series.org for details on how to do all of the above.

Regarding Symbian, they just sold off UIQ to Sony Ericsson to off-load the UI business from Symbian. We'll see if that helps. BTW, Symbian recently passed the 100 million mark for smart phones.

My problem with the Symbian marketshare stats is that the vast majority of the users of an S60 phone don't use it, or purchase it as a smartphone. It just happens to be the OS of the cute phone they buy. When someone shops for a Palm smartphone or WM smartphone they specifically pick a device that they will use as a smartphone, not just a cute music/camera device.

Hmmm... I bought it because

Wireless Internet for when I am not at home
PDA functions
email management
mobile phone (with great roaming)

I am glad it doesn't have a camera, my Treo did and I never took a photo with it... useless to me. As for music device, haven't set that up yet, but will before next long haul flight.

Give it a few days. The UI is different from a windows mobile device. I hated the "access point" thing until I started to get it. The browser I think is great - but I use it exclusively with Wifi at home & at the office. Maybe the speed issues you are having are from the gprs network?

Lastly, the first thing to do with any device is upgrade to the latest firmware. Check out the nokia page and make sure you are up to date.

Good point by kb also - I use it a lot for voice, and it is superb for that purpose. In the enterprise scenario, it does email/contacts/calendar better than WM5 when using Good on both.

My experience is in the corporate/enterprise area, so *methinks* a lot of people like me are reporting to their IT directors that this is a better option than a Treo or WM5.

Are you backing this with data? I dont see it. People do use those things - that is what supports the wide and deep range of freeware and 3rd party commercial software available on the Symbian platform.

WM has a very small market share because their devices are complicated and difficult to use and difficult to maintian - thus forcing them into a small box where a subset of users live. There are not many people who are willing to go track down WakeZenPhone so that their phone can actually do as simple a thing as reliably wake them up in the morning.

Symbian7s ability to put a smartphone in the hands of a variety of people is quite an achivement. The person who starts off just wanting to have a nice camera next wants to play music, then maybe a video - and next thing you know they want city streetmaps then even GPS. I've seen this happen with my wife who is as far from a techie as could be. But it all starts by putting a reliable and stable smartphone in their hand, not the tempramental devices that HTC produces which sound like you are talking through a tin can.

So I'd give Symbian credit - that is what will take smartphones the rest of the way, not dragging a windows style interface to a mobile context where it is patently out of place.

We just wont have much other than Exchange Server running. So the WM5 devices far outclass Symbian in that environment. That is why WM5 will continue to grow and Symbian will ultimately not. That all said, I wish my backordered E61 would come. I think it will do some things pretty well that I want. But it will be mainly a toy due to the mail limitations.