Nokia E70 review (it's got 3G, wifi and Mac OS X)

After 6 months of contemplating, 6 weeks of writing letters, many forms, phone calls and sending faxes, I finally received my new E70 last week. After a day I was as pleased as I still am now. Great phone albeit slower than my previous. On a 'Talk120' package I also received a free Nokia bluetooth headset which works surprisingly well.

My first hour wasn't a happy one, I was trying to connect to a wifi network (that required a static IP). One needs to select the tools, settings, network and then a 'hidden' option called 'advanced settings' in order to find out how to set DNS and (static) IP address options. If you know this then you need not have any frustration at all. In order to sync my contacts and calendars all I had to do was pair the phone with my Mac (Macbook Pro OS X running an updated 10.4.8) fire up isync - make the basic settings as per my previous phone - and press sync. It worked first time and within 20 minutes my phone was fully loaded with all my appointments and (mobile) contacts. It also put my todo list on - which I am not sure I wanted and I don't know how to remove - and now I'm thinking to just load all my contacts.
I'll leave the letter of escalation to ICASA regards MNP related stoppages, and the headset for another post and stick to the phone here.

Apple Macbook Pro Battery replacement

Google Battery replacement and Apple comes up on top. Position one for ipods and position two for other batteries. I've recently been without a battery for more than three weeks (in offfical language, 'shipping depends on availability'). I called in straight away but they are being brought from Europe. It's not that there aren't thousands of Macbooks sold every month in SA, just that Apple has a different view on batteries, and there are thousands sold here every month.

So what's their view?

Some observations:
- There's been a link from the Apple home page - centered on the bottom - for "iBook G4 and PowerBook G4 Battery Recall" ever since I can remember. This is before I bought my Powerbook G4.

- It says nothing on the main (laptop) batteries page (http://www.apple.com/batteries/replacements.html) nor on the page it links to for the MacBook Pro batteries about any battery exchange.

- Apple don't have the battery serial numbers matched to the machines they're shipped with, until you bring them back.

- I learned that there was a battery exchange program for 15" MacBook Pro's after my battery had died, and I called my local service centre. If you know that you can tell from the last few characters in the serial number (i.e. that ends with U7SA, U7SB or U7SC) then you'll know that in the support pages http://www.apple.com/br/support/macbookpro/batteryexchange/faq/, Apple mention the FAQ:

I've never had any problems with my battery. Should I have it replaced?
Please (i.e. you should) check your battery to see if it qualifies for the battery exchange program. If it does, Apple will send you a replacement battery and recycle the affected battery for you.

Oh, if only I had known I wouldn't have had to live for 3 weeks having to shut down and find the next power point (that's Volts and Amps, not .ppt's :). The machine is less than a year old.

- The service centre is doing ther best by following up with Apple but in the meantime I turned the machine on friday afternoon and used the track pad instead of my usual docking mouse and keyboard. The mouse was clicked and there was little I could do. What do you do when the left mouse is clicked? It's on. Can't click on anything because t's clicked already. The USB mouse doesn't work either. Try with just the keyboard... and stop.

- This morning after calling - and not thinking about it during the weekend - the service guys said they still don't have the battery it's being escalated but) they'll look at the mouse problem straight way. Bring it in... oh, the mouse problem is really the battery problem, you shouldn't keep the dead battery in the computer because it expands after it dies. And then it effects other things in the computer. So it's worse to have in that have it out when other things can get in.

- Apple don't have an FAQ about the dead battery having any negative effect, the service centre doesn't warn me, although there is an FAQ:

I have one of the affected batteries. Should I stop using it?
No, you may continue to use the battery until a replacement battery arrives. The affected batteries do not pose a safety risk.

I suppose that if it had done more damage they will have covered it, I wouldn't trade my MacBook Pro for another machine, but I wonder... Why is there the same old link to the Powerbook G4 batteries on the Apple front page? My best guess answer... okay it's a little more than a guess, the Feds passed these as not posing a safety risk, the older G4 warning was due to a safety risk "may cause overheating" and so they have to have it there.

- I spotted a photo (and links) on flickr, and although mine bulged in and not out like this one, I feel a little hoodwinked and hope the next one's better.