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What Phone to Get?

Please note that all the prices and references are to AT&T as that is the carrier that I use and the E71x is an AT&T phone. I know the E71 is a unlocked phone but it does not support the tmobile 3G network, so unless your in a wifi hotspot you will have slow internet with tmobile.

E71x or E71 Which to buy?
Now this is a question I see come up in a few forums off and on. I personally would get the E71 if I had the initial $300 to buy it. The features that you get with the E71 is really awesome, and you only have to pay $15 for the same internet. The only draw back that I see is that you might not be able to access the AT&T MediaMall but you get the OVI store. You also might not be able to use CV(Cellular Video) either, but with youtube and all the other video sites you can access with a browser like skyfire it seems really minor. So I say if you have the money buy the E71 the features you get with it and if you use the phone for more than 2 years you get you end up paying less than a person that bought the E71x. You also have better options for headsets, as you can get the cool right angled 3.5mm headset adapter on ebay instead of the strange corded one.

Differences between the E71x and E71.
For those that don't know the Nokia E71x is the AT&T branded version of the Nokia E71. As its branded by AT&T there are some apps that were installed by AT&T which can not be removed through normal processes. There is also a OS difference between the two as well the E71x uses Symbian OS6.3 Feature Pack 2, The E71 uses Symbian OS6.3 Feature Pack 1. There are also a lot of features that were removed from the E71x like the Switchable/Customizable standby screen, Customizable Calendar Contact Mail buttons with the option of using long and short presses, Calendar with tasklist, Turn on/off 3G, and a few other minor things. Also with the E71x you have to get the PDA internet plan that runs $30 with the E71 you can get the media net plan that is only $15, $10 if you have unlimited family texting. The biggest advantage the E71x has over the E71 is the fact that you can get it for free with a 2 year contract, if you do a little research. The only draw back is over the course of the two years the E71 would have paid for its self with just the difference between the internet prices[24(months) x$15(internet difference)=$360].

E71(x) or (phone of choice) Which to buy?
This is another question that comes up in many forums, as for which phone to buy it really comes down to the features you want. Now I have always been a fan of smart phones ever since I bought the Nokia 6670. I hate to say but this is my 2nd smart phone(it would be my 3rd but I gave my Nokia 5800xm to my girlfriend). A few reasons to get a smart phone is because it allows you do to a lot more with the phone, there are more apps that can add functionality to the phone. Some examples like have you phone act like an answering machine instead of having your calls go to voicemail, Record phone calls in progress with or without the beep, choice of music player instead of using the built in one, etc. The best way to put it is a smart phone is like a mini computer. I know some people don't need all those features so a feature phone would be fine for them considering some of the new feature phones are starting to act and feel like smart phones. Regardless of reviews someone is always going to say that this phone will be better than that phone. It is always best to play with the phone that you are going to use, and when you play with it at the store try and do everything you would normally do with your phone. I also being a customer of AT&T everyone is bragging about their iphone, now the iphone is a pretty nice and fancy phone. Especially once the phone has been jailbroken, but you also have to understand with the iphone is everything happens on that touch screen. So if you like the feel of pushing buttons you are going to be annoyed with the iphone. I also heard you can't wear gloves when using the iphone so that is another bad point if your in a colder climate. One other bad thing is you can't multi-task on the iphone, its like getting this awesome computer that will only let you open one program at a time. That doesn't seem very practical, on my phone I normally have a few apps open at time which is really nice and easy to switch between. So as for the which phone to get its really up to the user. One phone brand I do recommend is a Sony Ericsson, the main reason for that is because you can unbrand the phone which installs the generic firmware into the phone which unlocks the phone to its full potential. Like push mail(yes regular push mail on a feature phone), gps access to other apps(google maps, amaze), and a few settings that get locked away by AT&T. The best thing to do when looking for a phone is to do research, not just on the AT&T website but from people out in the community. So when looking for a phone, check reviews(written and video), make a list of phones you want, play with all the phones, narrow your choices down and go read more reviews.