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This page is for anyone thinking of migrating to the Nokia
N95 8GB with a view to using it as their main communicator and entertainment
device. Updated December 2007, included N95 classic with v20 firmware, as
the two devices are so similar!
The N95 has lots to recommend it, from the 5 megapixel
stills camera and VGA video capture at 30fps to the built-in GPS, stereo
speakers and standard 3.5mm audio out. There's also the very latest Symbian OS
and S60 versions, with multimedia functionality thrown in by the
bucketload.
- Firmware, firmware
It's vital to stay up to
date in terms of N95 firmware, i.e. the software inside the smartphone. Now,
this isn't trivial, as it involves (at best) backing up your N95, running the
Nokia Software Updater and having
the internal disk of the device completely wiped and relaid, followed by
restoring your data, but with the N95 being quite cutting edge you should take
advantage of all the bug fixes you possibly can!
- Preserving battery life
You'll have gathered
by now that the Nokia N95's battery is a little on the slim side, even with the
power improvements given by the use of 'demand paging' and by the slightly
larger battery in the 8GB model, considering the amount of high-tech goodies
it's got to power. Here are a few tips to last longer on your daily charge:
- Firstly, make damn sure you do charge the
N95 each night, so at least it's starting the day on 'full'
- The Camera is the single biggest power drain. While
waiting to take shots or shoot a video clip, don't keep the camera with a
'live' viewfinder - better to close it down and then open it again just before
you actually need to take the shot/clip. And if you're going to an event where
you know you'll be using the camera/camcorder a lot, consider taking
along a spare battery or portable charger
- Keep standby screen WLAN scanning off, you can
always scan manually if needed, or turn it back on
- Watch what applications you leave running in the
background - some games and Java applications are especially processor hungry,
even when paused! If things are chugging along in the background, you'll know
because the device will start to get quite warm to the touch!
- When using the N95 as a navigator in car, with
display and GPS both active, do yourself a favour and buy a $10 12V
adapter/charger, so that instead of draining the battery at a rate of knots
you're actually gaining extra charge.
- Camcorder tips
The VGA video capture is one
of the unique selling points of the N95, so make sure you make the most of it.
- [N95 classic only] Make sure you use a top-spec,
high performance microSD card. At 28MB/min you're going to need it. A SanDisk
Ultra II is ideal. Don't buy a cheap copy off eBay, get
one from a
genuine vendor.
- Don't use digital zoom - you're simply throwing away quality. If you need to get closer to your subject then get closer!
- Don't try and film too close to the N95, as there's no auto-focus in video mode. Stick to subjects more than a metre away.
- As with still photos, film only in good light; you'll be very disappointed by anything shot in dim conditions.
- Don't pan around a scene too fast. Despite the spec of shooting at 30fps, the N95's video will appear slightly jerky.
- Making DVDs and videos
Nokia bundle a version of Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 with some versions of the N95 - ignore it, unless you happen to have a twin-processor monster of a PC. As usual, Adobe's software is incredibly inefficient and you'll struggle on a normal computer. In addition, it doesn't seem to like the N95's VGA video files very much and I had lots of problems. Ditto with the simplistic Apple Quicktime Pro. I used to recommend VideoStudio
10 Plus, but this has got flakier and flakier and doesn't work fully under
Windows Vista.
All of which leaves Cyberlink's
Power
Director 6, which I've been quite happy with for the last 6 months, under
Vista. Top tip: it's a multi-threaded app - don't drag and drop items around
before they've finished processing in the background, else you're just asking
for a crash!
- The ones you love the most
With the Nokia
N95, there's S60's usual 'active' standby screen. Don't just take the shortcuts
given, I'm sure you have ideas of your own as to your most used applications.
You can change any of the six shortcuts in the rather-hidden-away 'Tools |
Settings | General | Personalisation | Standby mode | Active standby apps'
(Phew, you really have to get to know the settings hierarchy on these
devices!)
- A cleaner, clearer standby screen
You can do
a lot to make your active standby screen brighter, cleaner and more useful. See
my
tutorial
over on AllAboutSymbian (though note that some of the Settings menu paths are
slightly different - don't worry, you'll work it out).
- Calendar shortcuts
In Calendar, '#' moves you
immediately to the current day, while '*' toggles between the different views.
And if you need to start a new 'meeting' entry at any point, just start
entering text...
- The latest and best (1)
Make sure you keep up
to date with PC Suite. Yes, there's a version on the CD that came with your
smartphone, but Nokia are fixing bugs and adding bits and pieces all the time.
Most useful is the way you can explore your smartphone's folders (including
your text Inbox) from within Windows Explorer. Very cool. Keep an eye on the
PC Suite home page
and stay current!
- Quick music
Never mind the pretty but very
slow 'multimedia menu' and/or carousel - you can go straight to music player by
pressing and holding the multimedia key.
- Pump up the brightness
Consider increasing
the screen from the default brightness to its maximum. Yes, there's a hit on
the time between battery recharges, but in the meantime you'll see some
glorious colours. Go to 'Tools | Settings | General | Personalisation | Display
| Light sensor' and adjust away. At night-time, if you're actually reading from
the screen, you can use the same setting to turn the brightness right down to
save being dazzled.
- Hangup = Exit
Don't keep switching back to
the Standby screen using the Hangup button. This was OK on old versions of S60,
but in almost every instance it closes the current application on the N95 - in
other words, it acts as 'Exit'. If you want to keep the current program running
in the background, press Menu/Apps instead, twice if you want to get to Standby
screen.
- What's running?
The one utility every
computer user needs is a system task manager (i.e. what's running). Luckily,
the basics are built-in. Just press and hold the 'Menu/Applications' button.
For more control, grab the trial version of
Best TaskMan.
- The ones you love the most (2)
If you get fed
up scrolling down the Menu screen lookng for your favourite applications
again, why not shuffle things round so that the apps you use the most
are clustered right at the top? Highlight an icon and use 'Move', and you'll
find you can re-insert it anywhere in the list. If you have lots of favourites,
make the most of the folder system (e.g. 'Games') and then put these folders
near the top of the list, for speedy access.
- Switching to landscape
Perhaps an obvious
tip, perhaps not, but you can run any application in 'landscape mode' by simply
opening the music slide - this can be quite handy for apps like Web and
Gallery. It's also well worth noting that Web can be run in 'Rotated' mode by
using the appropropriate menu option with the keypad open, giving you the best
of both worlds, i.e. landscape web browsing and text input when
needed!
- Quicker removal
In the previous tip, you'll
have noticed that App Mgr is a very slow application - don't use it to remove
applications from your N95. A much quicker way is simply to highlight the
program you want to zap and press the 'C' key. Cool, eh?
- The ones you love the most (3)
The N95
displays 12 application icons on a menu screen at any moment, as do most other
S60 phones. The numeric keypad also has 12 buttons. You can select menu icons
by pressing the keypad button that corresponds to the location of the
application item on the screen. So '1' activates the topmost left application
and so on.
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