Nokia N97 and Dell Vostro bundled for $730: make one mistake, get one free
By Vladislav Savov 
posted Jun 30th 2009 6:01PM
posted Jun 30th 2009 6:01PM
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I think I'd rather flip the N97 on ebay after that review...
flip both on ebay and pocket the cash
I'll just take the computer...I've got an iPhone 3GS.
699$ + at&t slavery with extra costs for 24 months
vs
730$ for a netbook + phone....
Its a proper lappy not a netbook
Hope they bundled the tethering software as well because it only makes sense
In soviet Russia, phone tethers you.
Nokia's have been set up for tethering out of the box for quite a few years now.
Shocking, I know.
that looks like a nice deal
AT+T slavery? Maybe when you're a bit older and have some dispsable income it might seem like a good idea to have a cell contract
Where does it say there is a contract involved?
@ Redcard: Disposable income is no reason for stupidity. There is never, never a good reason (on the consumer's side) for a cell phone contract.
Don't try acting like a hot shot 'cause you throw away money.
i see now, it looks like you wanted to reply to the guy above.
anyway i think expensive contracts are traps for stupid people who only look at the phone's price with a contract and don't do the math about how much it's going to cost them over 2 years.
I'm buying a new phone (Samsung Omnia HD) on contract in 2 weeks, but i have already decided to pay 499€ for the phone with a cheap contract instead of 279€ with an expensive contract, everybody just has to calculate what's better.
@ tande
I don't think he's trying to be a big shot.
Just saying that if you're not planning on moving from carrier to carrier and upgrading phones every year, signing a 2 year contract isn't a big deal since you get a discount on a new phone. It's not like you get a better deal on monthly service because you didn't sign a contract. At least that's how it is in the USA.
@oghowie
Oh but I do get a better deal... $19.99 for data and any voice plan I want, yes, including the $19.99/mo plan I have from back in the day.
But you might get better deal if telcos start to compete from customers. And if you get bad service you can tell them that your switching telcos. With 24 month contrat theyll have to give good service and price every 2 years and lie about improving service and plans.
With short contracts telcos have to compete from customers with price and service, 24 month contracts stagnate competition to new whistles in every 24 month on investment plan (suvbsidiced) phones.
i ordered my n97 from Amazon for 603 bucks. it's on it's way now. this bundle does sound like a good deal.
So... the N97 is a mistake? Didn't look like that in the review...
I've got no comment on the N97, having not used it, but the headline still made me laugh.
CAME out to 900+ for me even though i already have the n97.
Wow, just when I thought Engadget had let go of the Nokia hate (the tale of two bloggers review was objective, in my opinion), we get calling the N97 a "mistake"?
It definitely is not a mistake. Americans find it a mistake because no operator has picked it up yet, so they don't want to pay $699 for a SIM-free phone. Usually, unlocked phones are around that price, so it's reasonable. The N97 is a very capable phone, far from a mistake.
I'm not sure if it's a mistake, but most of the reviews I've read say it's just not that good.
This is how Engadget rolls. The discrimination is fueled only by a few of them though. You can hear it on the podcasts and if you care to read between the lines. Too bad they make the biggest noise. The rest of them just laugh along and play dumb. Why don't they have anything insightful to say? Except for guys like Chris Ziegler. He is supposed to be this huge S60 fan etc. but to my eyes and ears he just seems objective and fair. But his efforts are heavily overshadowed by this group of childish bitchers.
Anyway the current state of affairs is a pity. Gadget blogs are best served neutral. Here in the comments section we can fight it out anyway we like but please take the bias out of the posts themselves.
the new firmware v11 with kinetic scrolling and HUGE fixes is coming out today. I read this in my twitter feed, and was instantly pissed. This is classic engadget. Bashing anything thats not apple. And that Joshua guy was jumpin around in the review askin how engadget is biased.. well LOOK HERE DUDE.. this is exactly how its biased.
The only mistake I made was reading this article.
I had that phone for one day and sold it.
you don't exist
Dude, if you don't want opinions don't visit blogs? You should understand the internet by now....
Ha ha! Great title!
Here is the direct link to the deal
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/nokia_bundle?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd
N97 = fail , the price is too high, if they were asking 400$ it would be fine. Ovi store is garbage, nokia doesnt care enough about software , firmware. They just keep pushing out handsets and if it fails they make a new model 3 months later
Just throw everything to the wall and see if it sticks , thats how they roll
Id rather have an HTC hero, with android. At least I could have decent free apps
You obviously are clueless. There are plenty of freewares for Series 60 out there.
There's a firmware update coming out tomorrow.
so much for digitallysick's comment about lack of care with a new firmware coming out already.
to buy or not to buy...
Regardless of what the haters say.. This is a great deal. If I was in the market for a new phone, I'd be jumping all over this.
Want to get this so bad..
Here we go again, you know what, i don't even know why i still Engadget, as to them, anything not made by Apple is a mistake. Screw you guys. Seriously. Get your head out of your ass.
You're bad at jokes.
Almost paid for it, but then I realized I wanted an HTC hero.
There is no contract. I got my N95 from Dell last year and still have a "open" relationship with AT&T.
ok so... seriously im starting to think my n97's keyboard is just slightly defective... almost all of the letter keys have a nice responsive click to them but towards the RIGHT end of the keyboard... most notably the shift key symbol and enter keyz there's almost absolutely NO click and im never sure if im actually hitting the damn key.. it just pushes in ever so slightly and i can never tell if i really pressed it until i see i typed a symbol on the screen. am i then only one with this problem? should i send it back for a new one or is it just something i should get used to :(
I had the iPhone 3g for a almost a year. Then I just recently purchased N97. After 2 weeks I sold my iPhone because I never used it again. Apple Fan boys want to bash anything that's not an iPhone. But why would someone pay that much money for specs most phones have had for the past 3-5 years. Yes, I love the iPhone user interface. There is no argument there, but the iPhone is a TOY in my opinion. I'm not hating on Apple, this is my opinion as I've used both and I'm amazed at the functional that my N97 offers right out the box (I can tether for $15 a month!).
If Apple adds some real meat next year to the phone then I may come back
Yes, the Ovi store sucks but I can get free software online elsewhere without hacking my phone. 95% of the apps in the App Store is useless after the 2nd or 3rd time anyway.
Send it back, my keyboard works fine all round, seems you may have gotten a defective unit.
I bash the N97 because the screen is terrible for a phone in 2009. The iPhone, Pre, G1, couple Samsungs, couple HTCs are so much better it's ridiculous.
There's no excuse for a flagship Nokia phone to have such a poor main display.
@skyblaze- Sorry, didn't mean to reply to your post above but since I did...Don't keep something your not satisfied with. I would return it for another one.
Screw the N97, I'm ebaying that little sucker and keeping the Vostro.
@candrea - what exactly was so much better about the N97 than the iPhone? It is an interesting position that you loved iPhone the interface, called it a toy, and kept the N97 over it. I am seriously asking because I went from the 1st gen iPhone to a N85 because my iPhone broke. I do realize all of the technical capabilities of the N85 (and other N series phones) however the experience using the phone is night and day for me. The iPhone did not have everything (1st gen did not have 3g, no A2DP, no video, etc, etc) - but even without these things, I felt that it was a much, much better experience.
I waited for the N97 (like I waited for the X1) and have not seen one good review on it. It's not just engadget that has bad things to say. And, funny enough, it seemed like engadget wanted to see it succeed also - but it just plain disappointed them.
All of that said, I am still really curious as to what makes it good enough to spend even $600 for. (I chose that as I paid this for the 1st gen iPhone). And, just to baseline the comparison - the iPhone (32GB) with similar plan as my unlimited N85 data plan w/200 texts on AT&T would cost $539 ($299 + extra $10/mo x 24 months). N97 on Amazon is $624.99.
I am just not seeing reviews that explain why anyone would choose to buy this phone. If you need a full qwerty - buy a BBerry, or an E series Nokia if that's your brand of gin. I know everyone talks about multitasking, but my experience is that I can drain my battery on the N85 in less than 4 hours with too many apps open - so I am not sold on this concept either.
Interested in your thoughts.
Ineed911
How can you compare a touch device to a non-touch device? I agree N85 had it's own set of problems, but it far from being a bad phone. I had a N95 before iPhone and in my opinion it was a far better phone for me. It satisfied what I was looking for in terms of connectivity, basic functionality (Forwarding SMS, MMS and a whole slew of email connections right out of the box).
I had a 1st generation iPhone and I can related to what you and Candrea are talking about. The interface and the whole touch experience is nice to have...What makes apple good is the whole apps thing. Everything is around apps for apple and to me that's the best selling point for a lot of people out there than the whole phone thing. The other thing I don't like about apple iPhone on AT & T is the connectivity. (I don;t blame apple at all on this one....It's all AT & T). When you charge 30$/month for data service then at least provide a decent coverage nationwide. It was a joke rolling 3G last year, when only 10 big markets were on 3G band and the monthly price increased from 20 to 30$ for 3G service. That to me was a pure scam and crime from AT & T and apple. Now, one spends 12 * 30 = (360 *2) = 720 + 300 (phone) =1020$ not counting taxes and voice plan to top it over 2 years and the service I get is just not worth it. My wife has an 3G iPhone and I did a lot of test to see the speed of my 3G reception and during my 2-3 days of testing at different times resulted in a 12% increase in data speed compared to EDGE service. 12%. That's right and I live in one of the three best 3G metropolis city in east coast. Now, why should I spend so much money on a phone and be binded to the contract when I get an unlocked phone for 200$ more then iPhone 3GS and spend less than half the money on a 15$ data plan?
I agree with someone on this forum, that most of the apps are waste of time and money. I am not gamer, so don't play much games on iPhone.
About engadget. I heard the podcast and I couldn't agree that is was Nokia N97 bashing experiment. I believe someone laughed hysterically and maniacally during the podcast when they discussed installing nokia messaging after purchasing the N97 phone...I didn't hear the same laughs when there was no SMS, no bulk forwarding in the 1st generation phone...I almost believe, that engadget makes money for apple and vice-versa. I am not no S60 fan...but that's just an observation...that there isn't a single day without an article of iPhone in the past 2 years!
About Nokia N97...BTW..Nokia N97 is a new phone. Give it a month and you might get the phone for 450$ for unlocked version and that makes it even more compelling to buy a stress and hassle-free contract for a decent hardware and software phone.I have an unlocked W995 and love it.