[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III General] HBK:
I have been a total MS man too, for the past few years. Never thought I should own a S60 device, but the N95 made me change my mind. I have previously owned the original SPV, the HTC Typhoon, the HTC Magician and the Mio A701.

A few months back I found it was the right time to get rid of the A701 but couldn't find any MS device I really wanted. Especially the camera on the MS phones I have tried have always been so bad, that they couldn't be used for anything but MMS. So I took a closer look at the Nokia N95...

After about a month of considering, I finally bought the N95, making it my first Nokia in 5 years. I must say I am very impressed by the hardware. The camera is so good, that I no longer bring my Sony digicam on normal road trips aso, but only for those special occasions.

One very important thing before testing the Nokia N95 is to make sure it is running the latest firmware, called 12.0.0.013. If you run the old v11, you are really not testing the N95 but just an old beta product, which should never have been in stores.

The TV out feature is absolutely brilliant. I have used it while on vacation to stream live tv feeds of Tour de France from the N95 straight into a small 20" tv, which was very nice. But when using it to show video clips and pictures to friends and family on their own tv, the N95 really shines with this high quality tv output. You can even use it for movies, with Dolby Pro-Logic sound through any surround amp.

The same cable you use for TV out can also be used to plug you N95 into a standard amplifier, allowing for very nice quality playback of your MP3s. Or how about plugging it into the LCD's on the backseat of your car, so the kids can follow the route of the GPS program?

The TV/audio out is a very simple, yet effective feature. I think this is the thing I would miss the most, if I decide to replace the N95 with the Kaiser.

I don't do a lot of typing on my mobile device, so I personally don't need the qwerty keyboard, although it would be nice to have. Actually the T9 of the N95 suits me fine, because it enables me to write short messages while on the go. Absolutely impossible on the A701 that only had the onscreen keyboard, and using a qwerty on the street is a bit too nerdy, even for me :)

Running GPS on the N95 is fine, after upgrading to the latest firmware. Before it took forever to get a fix, but after A-GPS has been introduced in the latest ROM, a fix is available in 10 seconds. TomTom of course haven't heard of the N95, once again proving they are the slowest software manufacturer on the planet. But you can run Google maps, Route 66, Navigon, Copilot and Nokias own Maps, to name but a few.

The built in Real Player run most formats, but of course you can also install TCPMP which has been available since feb06. The commercial version The Core Player is in the final beta stages right now. Papyrus, the calendar app known from MS Smartphones, also runs on N95, for those of you who are hooked on the Pocket Informant style.

Regarding speed I think the N95 is at least comparable to the Mio A701's WM5 on the Intel 520MHz cpu. Besides, it has a graphics cpu (gpu), making it almost unbeatable in 3D speed. Sweet, considering the 3D style of several upcoming GPS proggies. I have no idea why some would call it slow, unless they have been running the old firmware. Boot time is 30 seconds, or about 50% the time of my A701.

Here are some of my personal pro's and con's of the N95:

Pro:

1. TV-out

2. Very easy to switch between connections (HSDPA, WLAN, BT, IrDA, the N95 have them all)

3. Extremely nice camera for a phone, albeit a bit slow

4. Standard 3.5mm ear plug connector

5. Built in radio (can be used for TMC)

6. A-GPS extremely fast

7. Small(ish) size

Con:

1. TomTom still doesn't run on internal GPS antenna

2. Amount of 3. party applications very low, compared to PPC. Example: No app to configure the hardware keys (huge con)

3. Symbian forums are of a lower quality than those of PPCs. Kids arguing and name calling aso. Not many user developed apps or deep insight from a S60 forum

4. Battery life is 2-3 days if used as a standard phone. Use it 1-2 hours during the day with the screen on = don't expect it to last until bed time

5. Low on memory. Expect less than 20MBs of RAM at boot time. How can Nokia do this in the year 2007?

6. Today screen plugins are not allowed by Nokia (why?). You get date/time, a list of MRU's, your calendar and a wifi scanner. That's it!

(Notice that only 2 out of 6 points are hardware related)

Overall I am very happy about the N95. Weird... I never thought I would say that about a Nokia, or a S60 model :) Not sure I wanna swap it for the Kaiser, because I would miss the camera and the TV out very much indeed. No third device is of any interest to me.

Conclusion:

If you are torn between N95 and Kaiser, I would say it depends on your daily needs.

A. Input style is a huge difference, so if you type much, the choice is simple.

B. How many apps do you run each day? Low number = not much reason to go for the more advanced Windows Mobile OS.

C. How much does your usage differ from the average user? If much, then you may not be able to find what you are looking for on the S60 platform.

I have always considered S60 a 'functionally challenged' version of the PPC's and I still do, but if you don't use the extra options of the PPC, the N95 may be the better option.