After three weeks with the Nokia E71 on a the '3 Works' plan, here's my initial thoughts.
Great phone. Does what it says it can do. Very versatile.
I recently signed up through work for the 3 Works plan, and received the E71 as the default 'free' phone on a 24mth contract. I chose a Black one, but you can also choose a Grey or White one.
As this phone is hyped up as an apparent Road Warrior must have for mobile email, internet and PDA capabilities, lets give it a whirl.
First things first.
Email:
We don't use Exchange Server at work, but email access is a priority.
I was not real sure at first, how 3's unlimited email policy worked etc. So I set up email using the @Setup email wizard on the homescreen - my personal email POP3/SMTP settings were recognised and set up immediately (iinet). Took a couple of goes to set up my work POP3 and SMTP server (westnet). After having all this set up and working, I realized that the E71's default email program will check email using packet data - not a good move if you dont have data included on your mobile plan or are charged for data while roaming.
I found it a bit confusing with 3's terminology - Unlimited Email on 3 does not mean unlimited email access. 'Email On 3' is 3's push email service (a customised version of SEVEN's push email service). No charge for email only applies with 3 if you use 'Email On 3'. After scanning the Works plan Terms & Conditions, I wanted to know if this applies when roaming. A couple of calls to customer service asking how the 3 Works plan charges applied with email usage while roaming, they assured me I would not be charged while roaming. I still wasn't satisfied so checked out a couple of online forums and confirmed that I would not be charged while I used the 'Email On 3' service even when roaming. However, I would be charged the plan's data rate if I used the default email client on the E71.
On the Works plan I get a whopping 3GB of included data per month, but only on the 3 network. They do charge for data while roaming outside their network - $0.50/MB. As I reside in a blackspot, and mobile reception is intermittant between 3's network and roaming, I decided to set up the 'Email On 3' service.
Back to 3's website to find out how to do this
OK. A bit of trial and error here...'Email on 3' found my iinet account no worries. But it took a couple of goes (and a re-installation) to get things working properly.
I now have 'Email On 3' set up with two accunts (my work one and my personal one). It works fine. Most emails come through within a few minutes after they have been sent. The longest 'Email On 3' took was about 15 minutes to push an email through to the phone. There's no notification box at the bottom of the home screen like you would have with the E71's default email client, however you can set up a sound notification which sounds each time you get a new email. The @ symbol also appears in the top right corner next to the battery icon to indicate a new email from 3's push service.
How to set up email notification on the E71: Menu-Tools-Modes-Home Screen Applications-Email 1 Notification (or Email 2 Notification if you want a second one set up). While your in the Home Screen Applications menu, choos 'Enabled applications' and make sure Email 1 Notification (and Email 2 Notification) are checked.
While I was here, I also unchecked the 'Email Setup Wizard' to get rid of the '@Setup email' line item on the Home Screen.
Just a caution on Email Notifications. I had set up the 'Email On 3' programs Push settings to NEVER 'Turn Push Off'. Receiving an audible email notification at 2:00am yesterday morning soon changed that. 'Push' times now are now set to decent waking hours. You can set 'Push' times for both Weekdays and Weekends.
'Email On 3' in Action on the E71
After a few trial and errors, I can now say, this works pretty good. I've even compiled new emails and replied to received emails, directly from the phone with no problem. 'Email On 3' uses the standard Nokia Messaging menu to list your email account Inboxes that were setup via 'Email On 3'. Cool. I've set up my work email as the default email account, and have set this up for composing new emails when I do a long-press of the one-touch Messaging key on the phone. (go to Menu-Tools-Settings-General-Email key settings to set this up.) So now, a short press of the Messaging one-touch key opens the Messaging menu with all my Inboxes (SMS and Email), and a long press opens up a new blank email via my default email account ready for composing.
I opened the "Email On 3" application directly, in order to set-up signatures for each email account.
I've sent and received a dozen or so emails now, direct to my E71. This was a real breeze, particularly with the QWERTY keyboard. (My previous phone was the N70, and while I could send and receive emails, it was no where near as quick to type a reply or compose new ones as the E71.)
Mind you, 'Email On 3' only process emails as txt. You'll need to open them up in the E71's default browser if you want to view them in HTML format.
With email setup, my next challenge was web browsing....or to be more specific, How to make sure that I could not browse the web, or use any packet data while roaming?
More on that next time.
