Nokia E71

After saying back in June that I was going to get an iPhone 3G and then, in August that I was looking at the Nokia N96 instead, I’ve now gone and got a Nokia E71!

I thought about what I use my mobile for right now and it’s mainly used for Internet access while I’m at home and the keypad on my N95 is a right pain when it comes to entering URL’s and text. I realised I miss the full QWERTY keyboard that my old Treo 650 had so I started looking at devices with a full keyboard and came across the E71.

It got good reviews by AAS, Joel and a couple of other sites, and all have said pictures don’t do the phone any justice when comes it how good it looks and feels in your hand. It runs the same version of S60 & Symbian OS as my N95 which is a major plus point for me (more on S60/Symbian later).

Vodafone were also extremely pro-active in keeping me, they called me out of the blue to advise me that I’m eligible for an upgrade and when I asked them to call me back a couple of days later they did. They offered me an improved contract package (I’m saving £7.50 a month but getting more for my money) without me having to ask along with giving me the E71 for free and all on a 12 month contract.

I’ve had the device a couple of weeks now so expect a review sometime soon.

Dolgoch Falls photos

Back in July me and Hel went for a walk round Dolgoch Falls near Abergynolwyn. I’ve just got round to putting the photos online.

Plans to boost the UK housing market

Details of UK government’s plans to boost the housing market came out at the start of September and as someone who’s looking to buy their first home at some point soon I was very interested. I was less than impressed when I found out that the “free” five year loan of up to 30% of the property’s value for first time buyers is only available in England?! What about those who live in Wales? The plans aren’t going to boost the housing market here in Wales if there isn’t an equivalent deal and this will have a knock on effect down the line.