Eeni, meanie, make mine Mini

MANILA, Philippines - Good things come in small packages, perhaps. Since I am small, I like to believe that this is true. But, believe me, there are lots of things that I have gotten which came in big packages — which I thoroughly enjoyed.

So, maybe size doesn’t really matter. Or better yet, size matters — just depends on what we’re talking about. 

As I write this, the period for filing that “all-important” (to the candidates) certificate of candidacy has just ended. And, as we all know there are lots of candidates out there, big and small.

Although, from what I have seen in the past few months leading up to the filing of COC’s is that all of ‘em candidates tried to make a big difference — some in quiet ways others in not so quiet.

As you size up your candidates my prayer is that the majority will vote for the one whose size of love of country matters — the one who can work at making this country a better one, for all of us.

As I have often said, gadgets really measure up to what we want so much more quickly. When I deal with a gadget, what I see is what I get. So, I never get a gadget that I have not been able to see up close and really personal.

When it comes to gadgets, the physical size does not matter — it’s what it can do that does. I have had the chance to use a lot of big sized cell phones, which couldn’t do much, and a whole lot of smaller ones that could do loads.

So it is with the Nokia N97 Mini.

Just a few months after Nokia introduced the Nokia N97, the Finnish company brought in the Nokia N97 Mini.

It was love at first meeting for the Nokia N97 Mini and me. I really like the size. I have small hands and these hands handle smaller cellphones a whole lot better.

Yet, once I turned on the N97 Mini I discovered just what a powerful baby this cellphone is.

Something new

“In October, 2009, we exceeded two million Nokia N97s sold, and now introduce the Nokia N97 Mini, underscoring the success of the design. We have also listened to consumer feedback about the performance of the device,” said Benoit Nalin, general manager, Nokia Philippines, “We are excited about the early feedback that we have received on the Nokia N97 Mini.”

I must admit that I did not have a lot of expectations when I got the Nokia N97 Mini. I had used the N97 in the past, and although I like the N97 I really wasn’t sure why a Mini was necessary.

But, life has taught me that good things happen when we least expect them — and I didn’t expect the good stuff that the Nokia N97 Mini is loaded with.

Tech a minute

As soon as I held the Mini, I liked the way it felt in my hand. The left side is more trimmed than its sibling and the screen size is also some 0.3-inches smaller.

I was amazed at the three row full QWERTY keyboard, 3.2 inches resistive touch screen with a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels, FM radio, five MP camera with dual LED flash and Carl Zeiss optics, Wi Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, TV-out, 3G and I could go on and on.

Light weight it is. The Mini weighs a mere 138 grams.

Did I say that this baby comes with eight gigabytes of built-in memory and can be expanded up to 16 gigabytes by using a microSD card slot? Well, it can. 

Of course that means that there is so much more storage space. Just imagine photos, music, files, videos and the list goes on and on.

And, of course shooting photos is really fun. The five-mega pixel camera can click images in a snap. The other features of the camera include Carl Zeiss optics, dual LED flash, and auto focus.

Get ready

The techie specs are always a mouthful as far as I am concerned.

“Is it easy to use?” asked F, my fortysomething and not-so-techie friend.

“Easy is relative,” I said.

I took the Nokia N97 Mini and gave my friend F a tour through setting up the Mini for the purpose it was made.

I started with my ever-ready eight G micro SD which I neatly fit into the slot of the Mini.

I demonstrated how easy it was to locate the micro SD and how easy it was to save my fave tunes into the music gallery of the Mini.

I also transferred my best doggie photos, which I later on used as the wallpaper for the cell phone.

“Can you transfer all my contacts, without dropping any?” asked F.

I proceeded to go to the phone switch function of the Nokia N86 that F owned and also turned on the phone switch function in the Mini.

“Just select the data you want transferred,” I told F.

She did as she was told, and the Bluetooth transfer process started.

It took us about 20 minutes to complete the directory transfer as F has so many contacts. As an extra precaution I saved the new directory to the micro SD also aside from the internal eight G memory of the Mini.

While waiting for the directory to transfer F and I had a cellphone discussion.

“So, what makes this Mini so maxi in performance,” asked F.

I started off with how much I liked the design of the Nokia N97 Mini. It has a more stable feel. And, I added that it was one design that could fit a wider market range. As I know that younger folks like using smaller phones — that because they have better eyesight and they want their cell phones to fit into their little purses. Older folks like me, who carry big bags don’t really bother too much with size, but we do welcome smaller, sleeker and more classy looking cell phones — just like the Mini.

“That’s true. I don’t need to wear my glasses when I read a text,” added F.

Smaller cellphone but a good-sized screen makes all the difference with the N97 Mini. Of course that there are two input methods including a touch screen and a slide out QWERTY keyboard is really cool.

The keyboard is good when I am seated comfortable and the touchscreen is great when I am on the go.

 Of course, what makes a cell phone really special is the ability to be able to personalize it. And, with the Nokia N97 Mini personalizing the homescreen is so much fun.

Here’s what I really like about the Nokia N97 Mini:

• It is fast — whether for sending a text message, typing up a text message making a call or even surfing the Net — everything is done in a snap

• The five-megapixel camera takes great photos, even of moving doggies

• The choice of a touchscreen or a full QWERTY keyboard. Two ways to communicate, twice the fun.

• Cool looks and handy size make for a perfect traveling companion

• The view from the screen. I just love it when my wallpapers look perfect and on the Nokia N97 I couldn’t be happier.

Gotta stay updated on what’s happening out there. Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and whatever social site you’re hooked on — the connections made with the Nokia N97 Mini are great.

Wait while I check on whose running for what.

Ahhh politics… it runs this country.