N-Gage

[ADaggerThrough]

Should I get one? The original or the QD? (I'm leaning more towards the latter due to not wanting to look like a moron holding it like a giant ear. XD)

I need a new phone (even though buying an N-Gage would technically be a downgrade from my current phone XD) and I don't have a lot of money and various YouTube videos have told me that the N-Gage is pretty good at emulating SMS, NES, Mega Drive and ScummVM games so it's looking quite good to me. However, I hear it has rubbish battery life for a phone which would be a problem since I sometimes find myself staying away from home for days at a time, haha. It also doesn't have a camera but I usually have a proper camera with me anyway... I just like having my camera phone as a 'back-up' if my camera's batteries run out.

Also, is there anywhere I could get one in the UK, besides eBay? Right now I can't find any 'reasonably' priced ones on eBay... (Though they'd still be cheaper than a new phone I suppose..)

Finally, how easy is it to fix one? Could I get a broken one on the cheap and mend it myself with little fuss?

Thanks!

[D.D.D.]

Based solely on the games made for it, no. I would never buy one nor recommend it. There's a solid reason why it tanked twice...

[Funk, E]

There are actually some pretty awesome games on the N-Gage.

[Ivo]

I need a new phone (even though buying an N-Gage would technically be a downgrade from my current phone XD) and I don't have a lot of money and various YouTube videos have told me that the N-Gage is pretty good at emulating SMS, NES, Mega Drive and ScummVM games so it's looking quite good to me. However, I hear it has rubbish battery life for a phone which would be a problem since I sometimes find myself staying away from home for days at a time, haha. It also doesn't have a camera but I usually have a proper camera with me anyway... I just like having my camera phone as a 'back-up' if my camera's batteries run out.

Also, is there anywhere I could get one in the UK, besides eBay? Right now I can't find any 'reasonably' priced ones on eBay... (Though they'd still be cheaper than a new phone I suppose..)

Finally, how easy is it to fix one? Could I get a broken one on the cheap and mend it myself with little fuss?

Thanks!

You may want to get a Nokia N-81 instead, although it will probably be more expensive I think (and may be wrong) that it is able to run the emulators of the original N-Gage. The original games won't run though.

Actual N-Gage hardware: I prefer a QD, others prefer the original, there was a recent thread about this. Emulation: investigate a bit more before you dive, some emulators are commercial software and not freeware (NES, I think, falls in that category). The Genesis emulator is free, but it is merely competent (runs well without sound, a bit slow with sound, as far as my experience with it).

I have had no problem with battery life, but I don't use it as a phone...

There are indeed some good N-Gage games. Rifts, Mile High Pinball, High Seize come to mind as quality exclusives (you can get Snakes in any Nokia I think?)

[ADaggerThrough]

The Nokia N-81 is... a little out of my almost non-existent budget at the moment I'm afraid.

Hmmm, bugger about the emulation. =/ I'll have to do more digging, but so far there seems to be just enough free emulators to keep me happy. I'm not too bothered about the sound, I rarely play with the sound on handheld games anyway.

I've heard the battery can last for 6-10 hours which would be alright for a handheld console but crap for a phone... =/

The more I look at them the more I'm interested in the N-Gage's original games. Some do actually look interesting, maybe not AAA material, but interesting none the less. Are they easy enough to find, though?

Hmm, I may get myself a QD if I can find one cheap enough...

[NebachadnezzaR]

Well, it depends on what you're looking for. It's a relatively old machine, so there's no hi-tech features, and the design is pretty "unique" for a cellphone, but there's a lot to it. Despite what most people say (people who never touched a NG anyway...) there are a lot of great games for it, there's even more Java and Symbian games, there's emulators and also other media capabilities, like MP3 or even movies (yeah, it may sound weird and uncomfortable at first, but I've watched a lot of movies on mine, and depending on the film it can be a pretty enjoyable experience despite the tiny screen).

About the hardware, I prefer the original model myself because of the huge keys (the QD ones are too small for my fingers, it's uncomfortable) and the USB connection, but on the other hand the QD has the MMC slot on the outside, so there's no need to turn off the phone everytime you switch cards (although this won't be a problem if you just use a huge card and put everything on it) and there are other small improvements. In the end it's a personal choice.

Also, if you end up getting one, keep in mind not to fill up the internal memory of the phone or you'll get yourself a White Screen of Death.

[ADaggerThrough]

I think I'm favouring the QD. I prefer its size and design. And about the video playback... yeah, I've seen someone watching South Park on their N-Gage on YouTube and it didn't look too bad tbh!

Is there a way to fix the WSOD? I figure I could nab one suffering from the condition off eBay cheap and sort it out myself if it's possible...

[RyaNtheSlayA]

I think I'm favouring the QD. I prefer its size and design. And about the video playback... yeah, I've seen someone watching South Park on their N-Gage on YouTube and it didn't look too bad tbh!

Is there a way to fix the WSOD? I figure I could nab one suffering from the condition off eBay cheap and sort it out myself if it's possible...

best part about ngage is its a phone, if i could use skype anywhere even w/o a wifi connection the PSP would be one of the best portables ever concieved.

[NebachadnezzaR]

About the WSOD, it's a matter of luck, I think. I managed to bring mine back to life, but there's someone here on racketboy's (sorry, forgot the name) who couldn't do it, despite apparently trying every known method to restore the thing. Also, note that mine *works*, but not as good as before the WSOD, it's more unstable now (maybe sitting on a drawer inactive for a year also had something to do with that...), so I strongly advise you to buy one in as good condition as possible.

[ADaggerThrough]

Ah, okay. =D I'll probably wait for a bit and gather some more money together then get one in good condition.

Knowing my luck, if I did manage to fix the WSOD I'd probably just bugger it up again five seconds later when installing apps anyway. XD