Question

I wish to change to one of these smart phones: Sony Ericsson P1i or the Nokia E90 Communicator.

I have been using the earlier Communicators and really liked them, but I've also been introduced to the Sony Ericsson M600i and found it to be an interesting device since I did like the earlier P series. However I have to make a decision that depends on the following issues:

Firstly, is the E90 better on Internet connectivity than the P1i? Most of my work, other than making calls and messaging will be on the Internet.

Secondly, which phone has more onboard RAM and can the P1i match up to the E90?

And lastly, do you consider the P1i to be as good as the E90 in terms of overall performance for business use?
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Answer

I'll answer your questions one by one.

On Internet connectivity, or connectivity per se, the Nokia E90 is the better of the two. Although both models offer Wi-Fi, the E90 comes with additional HSDPA, which can be very useful for fast data transfer when wireless networks are not available.

On RAM, both the P1i and the E90 come with 128MB of memory. We tested both smart phones to be very responsive in our reviews without any significant lag, so it's a close tie here. The only difference is, the P1i uses a touchscreen LCD while the E90 doesn't.

On overall performance for business use, I would lean toward the E90 for its extensive feature set and the full QWERTY keyboard. Yes, the P1i does have a QWERTY keyboard, too, but its dual-key button layout may take some getting used to. If you are used to the keyboard of the M600i, then the P1i shouldn't be an issue.

You mentioned that you found the M600i interesting, but in my opinion, interesting doesn't mean it's intuitive, nor does it have any impact on functionality. So that's a call you have to make for yourself.

The only point I would like to bring up is the 800 x 352-pixel screen of the E90. While it may be large, the widescreen format may take some getting used to as well, especially since you said you use the Internet a lot. You'll probably end up scrolling vertically more than often, though that also mean you have less to do for horizontal scrolling.

Another consideration would be the size. Although the E90 has shed the bulky image of the past, it still isn't considered small.