50 Days with NOKIA N8

Question

                                               50 days with Nokia N8
Am I happy ????
May be ???
Hi ! I m a qualified Physician (DOCTOR ) of Delhi , India and Symbian user since Nokia 6600 ( 2004 )
My progress is like 6600 --- N70-----N73----N95----N97---- NOKIA N8.
I got my Nokia N8 on 14th Oct 2010.
As Usual I started doing R&D on this since I m a tech Enthusiast.
Over the last 50 days I have experienced lots and lots of N8 and hence posting my experience.
I would divide it into hardware and software review.
Nokia N8 is a HARDWARE gem from Nokia
Good Processor, adequate RAM , USB OTG, good screen, good protected Aluminium case, Good Design.
That’s where List ends.
Software Problems-----
Lot and Lot of problems.
1.      Hangs inevitably in a day or 2.
2.      Screen goes blank when incoming call is there so I have to use side button (rocker switch ) repeatedly to get back the screen and caller information.
3.      Does not connects to my home wifi network after continuous usage for 30 min. than I have to make N8 offline than again search and it some times catches it , otherwise I have to switch off my mobile (not the Linksys Router since my laptop continues to work normally connected to router)
4.      Music will not download from Ovi Music store , file will start downloading and after showing 2 % or 5% it will hang.
5.      Multitasking  as advertised a lot is not smooth. RAM will show approx. 60 mb with 2 or 3 tasks open and it will hang after that.
6.      RAM is not freed even after task is closed . it goes down with app but does not return to previous capacity after that task is closed.
7.      Caller ID will not work some time ---- so I will not get callers name even if it is stored as single entry.
8.      Since my SIM is provided to me as CUG no (CLOSED USER GROUP) sometimes N8 will not allow me to make a call. After lot of hassles in last 50 days , I somehow tricked this by setting phone and security options to CLOSED USER GROUP to OFF in  menu and than switching it back to default after some time. I posted this question even in nokia forum but even there I did not received the solution.
9.      Battery will drain in a days time with normal usage , what is expected of a smartphone. Checking mail 2 times on wifi and talking for 30 to 40 minutes.
10.   Except for the camera, which I don’t use much , I do not see any great things in N8 to fall in love.
This is a TRUE  review , since I m a great NOKIA fan and not happy with Nokia , first with N97 and than N8.
i have taken some SOME VIDEOS about Hanging N8, will soon post it here since they r in HD and very heavy
Does Nokia Have answers to these , or solutions in next firmware .

Answer 1

I have been using N8 for about the same time - 60 days and am coming from similar path of N97, N95-8G, N95 and so forth before that from ~Y2000. I do netbrowsing, maps, email, weather and other apps several times per day, also while roaming. I dont do calls and SMS that much. I can relate to number of issues highlighted in this post, however with different view.
As with any hi-tech gadget its likely that we see bugs and design annoyances at initial launch. The amount of trouble I have with N8 is for my (happy) case quite small compared to what I was actually expecting.
 - Yes it has hanged few times where the scenario is hard to repeat/define
 - Screen blank with incoming call - has happened number of time and I think its a software problem where some of the phone sw misunderstands its screen/blank state. When it happens its "always" the case for incoming calls for me, no matter if Im close to prox sensor or not, until I reboot the phone and then it is fixed. Most likely some application, battery saving state or the way of killing apps from start tab rather than gracefully exting them causes this I think.
 - There are some scenarios where my phone works vice versa with screen - keeps it always on, even with battery low, etc - I think thats when the software misunderstands it the other way. Also I get sometimes continuous "wlan connection failed" without any apps running/startup widegets all beeing offline (and wlan available in proximity). Id suspect that some application "parts" are left to run while theres no visible component to show in task manager... Might well relate to screen behaviour and battery drain...
 - Unable to match caller ID to names in phonebook has similar pattern - it behaves like that until I reboot the phone. At the N95/8G period similar problem manifested itself when there were other problems visible related to low memory. I would suspect something like that here as well.
For me the most of the concern is the case design and build quality of N8. My previous phones have been subject to number of falls and bad weather conditions... I went for a 20 min swim with N95 in my pocket, dried it for 2 days and it worked again. N958G was submerged in mud for 2hrs and again worked after throughout cleaning (have to admit that buttons and rest of the electronics started to fail due to corrosion after few weeks). I slammed N97 between my car trunk, it bent a bit but no screen cracks, antennas all seem to be connected well and works allright. N8 feels fraigile with all its small sockets for various plugs and its concept of screwing the case together probably cant take as heavy beating as the plastic covers which acted as pdding for the internals of previous phones. Im afraid to drop the N8 in snow, mud, pool or down few floors of stairs...   Anyways, I guess something will happen sooner or later and I will see then.
Coming back to the software issues - I foresee these will be gradually fixed as the new firmware and app updates come out. The sooner the better - people will be happier about their phones which behave better and they will act as ambassadors for Nokia
T.