[b830ag2]

I am in a bit of a quandary…..maybe it’s because I am too picky, I don’t know….or maybe it’s due to the credit crunch and that I want to make sure I’m getting exactly what I want for my money and reducing the risk of being disappointed as low as possible. Or maybe it’s because there is just too much choice for the average consumer out there, which is good for competition and prices I guess. Anyway, after a few months of researching I STILL can’t decide on what mobile phone to get for my next contract. I was on O2 pay monthly but now, at the end of my contract with a K800i I might add, I have swapped to Orange PAYG whilst I make my decision for my next contract. I would ideally like to stay with O2 though as it’s a good signal where I live and the pricing plans (in particular pic and vid mesgs included within monthly quota), suit me the best.

I originally looked at a number of phones, the Tocco, C902, LG Viewty, Soul, G810 etc…but none really grabbed my interest and I was slowly but surely lured to the domain of smartphones. Drawn in by the charm of gadgets, wifi, gps, divx playing, internet browsing etc. I was also intrigued by the lure of touchscreen phones, namely the Omnia, Renoir and Pixon, but after reading several reviews I came to the opinion that I best steer clear as there were plenty of reports of ‘tricky’ texting and unresponsive screens, and I do text a fair bit. They did look pretty cool though. However, my main criteria was, and still is a quality camera. For this reason I then looked at the i8510, N82 and C905.

The i8510 was my favourite for quite a while, but I was always unsure about the quality of the indoors flash photography. I have seen numerous example pictures on the next which seem dark and also blurry if the subject was moving even slightly. Reluctantly I am now dropping this phone down my list, even though it is packed with great features. Hooked by the gadgets included within the i8510 I then tried to find a phone which was pretty similar but took great flash photo’s. Hence I then looked at the N82. This has got great reviews for the photography and I must say I agree, judging by the examples I’ve seen on the net. However, I can’t find it on O2! It seems to have been withdrawn! Why?! Therefore, I am now waiting for the C905 to come out and get reviewed to see if the Xenon flash (which seems to make the big difference between poor and great flash photo’s, as LED’s just aren’t up to the job), performs as good as the N82’s. I know the C905 isn’t a smart phone, but it is still packed full of the gadgets I’m after…I just hope it takes great pics too. It’s out in a couple of days, so the reviews should come flooding in soon. The QVGA video resolution is a little disappointing, but I could live with that if the pics were great!

I did see that the N79 and N85 phones were out soon, as well as the Samsung i7110, which also looks interesting, but all these are LED phones too! Why aren’t there more Xenon flashes?! LED’s just let the indoor photography down. Maybe I should wait until the N82 successor….will one ever come? Any rumours?

[gurufordy]

Mobile-review.com Sony Ericsson C905 vs Samsung INNOV8 - The Clash of Cameras

Should help you

[Golf_turbo]

I had the i8510 for a while, camera is nothign short of amazing when you consider it's a phone.

N95? it's ok, hardly the best camera out there though, and now out dated by new new wave of 8MP's coming out.

Seriosuly though, you're buying a camera phone, it is never gonna be the saem as the latest digital camera.

Also I have used phones with xenon flashes and they are pretty poor, no range at all!

+1 for i8510 here.

[paul_v2000]

Originally Posted by Golf_turbo

I had the i8510 for a while, camera is nothign short of amazing when you consider it's a phone.

N95? it's ok, hardly the best camera out there though, and now out dated by new new wave of 8MP's coming out.

Seriosuly though, you're buying a camera phone, it is never gonna be the saem as the latest digital camera.

Also I have used phones with xenon flashes and they are pretty poor, no range at all!

+1 for i8510 here.

+2 for i8510 here!

[Ruudfood]

The successor to the N82 has already been released. It's the 6220. (Isn't it?)

[chrism_scotland]

Is it not the N85? That has replaced the N82.

Originally Posted by Golf_turbo

N95? it's ok, hardly the best camera out there though, and now out dated by new new wave of 8MP's coming out.

Also I have used phones with xenon flashes and they are pretty poor, no range at all!

I have the N82, which I think is the next one up from the N95. The 82 has a 5mp camera, and xenon flash, and let me tell you IMHO it's pretty impressive (yes, picture quality is not 100% as good as a dedicated camera, but it's pretty close).

I don't know where you're getting your ideas about xenon flashes from, 'cus the one on the 82 is great - I've taken pictures at ranges of 5-10 metres in pitch black or almost dark, and they're properly lit - much better than the comparitively crappy 'flash' on my 6680. You're not gonna do much better than that, until you get into expensive, semi-professional camera equipment.

I can't really compare to other phones, as I've not used them, but I'm quite happy with the 82.

Do you really need 8mp? Okay, it depends on what you use it for, but for non-professional pictures of common stuff - family, nights out with mates, holidays, etc... 5mp does me. If you really need that difference, then you probably wanna start looking at professional cameras anyway.

The only thing which is less than perfect (in terms of a mobile phone, rather than a dedicated device) is that the video resolution is only 640 x 480, which is still pretty decent - basically TV size/quality, but it wouldn't upscale on a good computer monitor if you wanted that sort of thing - in this case, it would be nice to have more, but 640 x 480 is still pretty satisfactory.

Originally Posted by chrism_scotland

Is it not the N85? That has replaced the N82.

No, IIRC the immediate successor to the 82 was the 96 (the 82 being the successor to the 95). The 96 was just the 82 in different form and with more internal memory.

[Tejstar]

Imo the Nokia N82 is one of the better camera phones out there on the market at the moment.

Some of the others, like i8510 and N85, may be quite good as well but they will be let down by the LED flash. I take a lot of pics in low light and am always surprised how good the N82 is (much better than the SE K850i and LG Viewty which both used Xenon flashes). I messed around with a i8510 and wasn't impressed by its pictures indoors, although in good light it takes great pictures. From what I've seen, there has not been a direct successor to the N82 released yet, I can't wait until one turns up though. A lot of the upcoming phones look great but seem to lack a xenon flash (i8510, N85) or don't have decent video recording (SE C905).

[Golf_turbo]

Originally Posted by Guinness2702

I don't know where you're getting your ideas about xenon flashes from, 'cus the one on the 82 is great - I've taken pictures at ranges of 5-10 metres in pitch black or almost dark, and they're properly lit - much better than the comparitively crappy 'flash' on my 6680. You're not gonna do much better than that, until you get into expensive, semi-professional camera equipment.

I can't really compare to other phones, as I've not used them, but I'm quite happy with the 82.

Do you really need 8mp? Okay, it depends on what you use it for, but for non-professional pictures of common stuff - family, nights out with mates, holidays, etc... 5mp does me. If you really need that difference, then you probably wanna start looking at professional cameras anyway.

The only thing which is less than perfect (in terms of a mobile phone, rather than a dedicated device) is that the video resolution is only 640 x 480, which is still pretty decent - basically TV size/quality, but it wouldn't upscale on a good computer monitor if you wanted that sort of thing - in this case, it would be nice to have more, but 640 x 480 is still pretty satisfactory.

Xenon flash:

Smasung G800 and G800i

And most SE handsets I have used.

I have used a N82 and the camera is good on it, but 5MP is old hat these days. I did not try out the xenon flash

8mp required? As you say depends on what you use it for. If you only look at your pictures on your mobile phone you don't really need more than 2MP

[b830ag2]

Hi all,

Thanks for all your comments.

Cheers gurufordy for the link. I regularly check out mobile-review.com, phone arena, gsm arena, mobile arsenal, all about symbian amongst others....but missed that article. The quality of the pics from the C905 do seem good indeed.

So all things considered, and assuming a real N82 successor won't be available in the short-term, I am left with the N82 or the C905.

I don't need 8MP no, 5MP will be good enough for what will use it for. The 3MP on my K800i is in fact quite adequate, but I am after quality rather than quantity. I would stick with my K800i, but I would also like a change and a few more other features...GPS, wifi etc. I haven't seen any 3MP phones with the same quality of the N82 or C905 yet.

My favourite, judgin by reviews is the N82, chrome or black I don't mind, but everywhere seems to have it discontinued?! If it really is such a great phone, how come it's not as widely available as other, poorer phones? Has the demand outstripped the supply? or is there something I've missed?

Anyway, I'm on PAYG now until I finally decided to take the plunge, so I have time to wait.

Originally Posted by b830ag2

My favourite, judgin by reviews is the N82, chrome or black I don't mind, but everywhere seems to have it discontinued?!

Sim Free Mobile Phone - Nokia N82

First place I looked. Admittedly, that is £280, but sim free, so you can keep your current sim, and you won't have any network firmware alterations on it (IMHO this is the only way to go, as network alterations really **** me off).

A quick google also finds the following on a 30 quid 18 month contract.

Nokia N82 titanium Pay Monthly Contract Mobile Phone - The Carphone Warehouse

Not that I want to sound patronising, but how hard did you look?

[b830ag2]

yeah, i know, point taken. it is available i know, but again i am probably being too picky. i wanted it on a contract rather than sim free cos i want to spread the payment. don't particularly like the idea of forking out 300 quid in one go. something to consider though i know. also, if on contract, having seen deals on mobiles.co.uk for the i8510 (24 months though), averaging (with half price deals), about £25/month, i would not like to have to pay £30/month for the N82, which, in theory, should be cheaper. anyway, i'm PAYG no like i said, so have time to consider my options. think i will go for the N82 in the end, unless whilst i'm waiting Nokia bring out another Xenon flash phone!

Cheers.