So, it's been close to 3 weeks since I have had the Nokia E71x in my possession. What have I learned?

  1. For starters, get a good case for this slippery phone because it has slipped from my grasp more than once. A skin AND a case would be the recommended because your phone may slip out its case (like mine did).
  2. A good 2.5mm set of ear phones is hard to find so when I read online about the Planktronics Stereo Mobile headset, I was hooked. They arrived yesterday and I'm in hog heaven. :)
  3. Invest in a large microSD card. The Nokia E71x officially supports cards up to 8GB, but someone online has a 32GB card in their Nokia E71x phone. Use at your own risk. As for me, I have an 8GB Transcend microSD card and I've put a lot of music on it with ~ 5GBs left to spare for applications, files and whatever else. It's a no-brainer. However, if you refuse to spend any more money on little gizmos, the phone has a generous 140MB of space.
  4. Download the Nokia PC Suite software. I've been a Windows Mobile user for a long while and I thought that I had seen all that there was to see. Well, this piece of software from Nokia syncs nicely with versions of Outlook 2003 to the Outlook 2010 technical preview!! I'm using the Outlook 2010 technical preview and that's how I know. It is essentially a manager for your phone and I can't sing it's praises enough. Using the Nokia PC Suite is highly recommended for managing your phone. It's free and what more could you want? You can choose to connect to the Nokia PC suite via USB or Bluetooth. Hint: use the USB cord for intense work like video transfers, etc. I use Bluetooth when I can't be bothered with the cord and have time to spare.
  5. Don't want to spend money on the XM radio application bundled with the phone? Nokia has a free Internet radio application! I'm serious: check it out at Nokia's website.
  6. Don't want to spend money on those solitaire apps? Well, I've got the ticket for you. Nokia has a free Solitaire application called Top Hits Solitaire. I've used it and I can't see myself spending any more money on games if Solitaire is your thing.
  7. Can't be bothered to spend yet more money on AT & T's Navigator software, get Google Maps for Mobile here and if you've borked your connection settings, visit this help page on configuration by Google.
  8. Don't want to plunk down money for a fancy schmancy E-book reader? There are two free Ebook readers available for the Nokia E71x device that I know about and have written about. There are hundreds of free Ebooks available as well for use with the Ebook reader. I will recommend getting a dictionary application if you are like me i.e. wanting to read old texts and realizing that they use a lot of 'big' words. Speaking of dictionary applications, I would recommend you pony up for the Merriam Webster Third New International (Unabridged) Edition which is the costliest of all versions on Penreader website, but it's worth it because of the sheer number of words present.
  9. Don't feel like using the trial software that ATT loaded this phone with, use X-plore to get rid of the applications and see this post on Nokia Experts for more details. You will save yourself the trouble of accidentally subscribing for something and free up a lot of memory. You'll be glad you did.
  10. Don't forget to spread the love by supporting the development of quality software by purchasing mobile software from the developers. My main sources for mobile software are: Handango, Handmark, Penreader and other developers talked about on blogs or websites.
  11. For more information, get product support and software from Nokia's website here and visit here for Nokia E71x support. Nokia can be reached on mobiles by going to http://nokia.mobi on your device.

I hope this monster post was of use to you. Please leave questions or comments on this post and I'll attend to them as quickly as I can. Cheers!