9300 and 9500 feature in PC Pro

[slitchfield]

PC Pro magazine (in the UK), whose March 2006 edition is now on sale, has a group test of 'PDA phones', featuring the Nokia 9300 and 9500. As you'd expect, given that PC Pro has always been very pro-Microsoft, neither win an award, although they liked the wide screens and PowerPoint editing facility.

Read on in the full article.

[Bassey]

I mut admit to agreeing with most of what was in that article. The lack of touchscreen is a major downside for a lot of users because, in the age of the mouse, a touchscreen is themost intuitive way to use a device like a PDA. Look at the Psions for an example of the perfect combination of a useable keyboard and a touchscreen.

When the 9300i comes out I think it will be a big rival to the Mini s/Vario/K-Jam because WiFi is considered a must by many but I still think it needs that touchscreen if it's going to win over the masses rather than the Symbian die-hards.

And the 9500 and the JasJar/Exec etc. are just far too big and heavy for your average user. You really do have to have a very specific, special reason to want to carry around a device that size and weight everywhere with you.

For most people, if they want to type something, they'll use a laptop. If they want to take notes, enter appointments or send messages, a standard PDA is fine. The 9500 and Universal fill a very small niche for people who find themselves in a position where they aren't working on something that requires a full PC but is too much work for a standard PDA. That's why they tend not to win group tests in publications aimed at a general user.

[Raven]

Those of use who've used a Communicator for a longer period of time know that a touch screen on such a device would be redundant. I also find it interesting how reviews of smartphones with both a QWERTY thumb-board and a touchscreen put a lot of importance on the fact that the device can be navigated without having to use the touch screen. I think that says something about what users want. No doubt a touch screen can be useful for special notes and web browsing etc., but for casual everyday use, it can just be an annoyance having to pull out a stylus every time.

That doesn't mean I don't see the potential of a touch screen Communicator ala Psions. I really do. But, and I've said this before, adding a TS to the current crop of Communicators would be completely useless. Both the hardware and the software design would have to change drastically. The screen resolution would have to change to something like 640x320, or preferably VGA, and the UI would have to change to something more optimised like Series 90 (S60 v.3).

As for the K-Jam (aka whatever) reaching a larger market than the 9300(i), I hardly think the average user will put much relevance on the device having a TS or not. Things like battery life and ease of use are still what matters most to the average user.

[martinharnevie]

I beg to differ.

>>Those of use who've used a Communicator for a longer period of time know that a touch screen on such a device would be redundant.<<

I have used a Communicator for a longer period of time and I don't think touch screen is redundant. As far as I'm concerned, lack of touchscreen is the weakest point of the Communicators.

>>I also find it interesting how reviews of smartphones with both a QWERTY thumb-board and a touchscreen put a lot of importance on the fact that the device can be navigated without having to use the touch screen. I think that says something about what users want. <<

No it doesn't the slightest. It just tells that users have different needs for different situations.