After a couple of weeks with the E90, the convenience of having something as light and as portable, though with limited functionality compared to a full blown laptop, struck me. It might not have been an all-honeymoon experience, but there are certain tasks where the E90 excels and leaves the laptop to shame, and here they are:
Document Reading and Editing: Some people might require a full office experience to manage their files, but being a college student and a blogger, I mostly deal with text-only files, with sometimes an image or a table thrown in there. I also deal with lots of 5-10 pages medical articles in the form of pdfs. The E90 handles all of those easily and makes for a nice mobile workstation. Portability and always-on being its main advantages over laptops, the E90 allows me to carry my blogging and college work efficiently and in the smallest package possible. As a small example, this post is being typed using QuickOffice on the E90, while walking on the treadmill in the gym. It will be later bluetooth’ed to my computer and posted with an image.
On-the-go email and RSS handling: Although the email client on S60 isn’t perfect, it handles, in combination with the mobile website versions of Gmail and Hotmail all of my email needs. This might not be true to business users who require push email and html email viewing, but for the average user, they are more than enough. As for RSS, I use the iPhone optimised version of Google Reader, which works awesomely well on the E90′s internal screen. If only Google could throw in the search function, I’d be in heaven. Going for a web-based version of RSS readers instead of dedicated RSS readers allows for the awesome possibility of keeping RSS in sync between several computers and mobiles.
Instant Messaging: What do you usually need when you IM? A keyboard, a screen, internet connectivity. You throw in some words, an emoticon every now and then and a voice message if you REALLY have to. I use Windows Live Messenger and Talkonaut on the E90, and they both made good use of the great internal display, showing more messages than the usual S60 device screen. The qwerty keyboard also allows fast text input to a point where friends didn’t believe I was on a mobile handset and not a laptop. Portability plays a great role here too as it lets you to carry conversations while laying on the bed or a couch, relaxing with no additional weight. Now if only Nokia could solve the heating that occurs when WiFi is used for a long time, it’d be sweet.
Do you own an E90? What do you use it for, and what particular aspect of the handset do you feel is essential but has been overlooked in my E90 as a laptop coverage?
