Purchase Nokia E71 Unlocked Phone with 3.2 MP Camera, 3G, Media Player, GPS, Wi-Fi, and MicroSD Slot--U.S. Version with Warranty (Gray)

The Nokia E71 bills itself as a 'messaging device', but is it really? No.

The ActiveSync that comes out of the box only syncs one email folder. Want all of them? That'll be $50 and plus some 3rd party software.

Want to sync with your Yahoo! or GMail account? Out of the box, this phone doesn't do that either. It will pull via Pop, but IMAP is only semi-supported and headers are allowed.

Nokia is now offering a new service called 'Nokia Messaging' that syncs with multiple email addresses (not Exchange). But even that is in an open-ended trial and the site says that Nokia will eventually charge for the service. Shouldn't this service be included in a phone that costs 2x's an iPhone?

Want to read Office docs? Well if it's 2003 or below, you are in luck! The E71 does that. Office 2007? That'll be $50 for an upgrade, please.

I give the product 2 stars because it does do some things well. The Nokia browser is decent, and with the addition of Opera mobile (which makes up for the weaknesses of Nokia's browser), it does the web well.

The phone really shines on making phone calls and sending text messages. Just type the person's name and then push the green button to call or select text message from the slide-out menu and start texting.

The OS is ugly (the contact screen and the individual calendar entries are just atrocious - sub-old-Blackberry ugly), but fairly stable and very responsive.

Overall, if need an ActiveSync phone with a longer battery life and can live without great email (yes, that is an oxymoron, I know), and you have extra cash to purchase the necessary software, then the Nokia E71 is your phone.

But overall, I am very disappointed in the OS, the lack of real email support that US customers have comes to expect, and the expense of all the extra software you need to buy on top of an already very expensive phone. If I could return it I would. The Nokia E71 is just not ready for the North American market.Get more detail about Nokia E71 Unlocked Phone with 3.2 MP Camera, 3G, Media Player, GPS, Wi-Fi, and MicroSD Slot--U.S. Version with Warranty (Gray).