MyE65 replacement.. which phone and from where?

Followers of MyE65 will know that I'm currently looking for a replacement for the Nokia E65 as the contract is running out soon. The question is, which phone will last another two years and under which plan?

First of all, let's look at some current alternatives to the Nokia E65.

Nokia E66 - Earlier we have reviewed this phone. The main things that attract me to this phone is its size and feel. The display is sleek and its build is while plastic, feels quite sturdy. It packs a GPS which is essential nowadays and has similar trappings to the E71. More about the Nokia E66 here and why it fits in a suit pocket at a business meeting. 

Nokia E71 - This was reviewed as the CNET best smartphone available, receiving a 9.5/10 in a review. It has a qwerty keyboard, quick GPS, and very similar to the E66 but with a better battery. With so many features to play with, battery life will be a big determinant and currently, I'm favouring the E71 because of the GPS factor and these reasons.

Nokia E63 - Almost a Nokia E71 but not quite. It looks just like the E71 but doesn't have the GPS and a few other things discussed here. Advantages include a 3.5mm stereo plug for your earphones and a very reliable battery. Love the torch and the the keyboard aesthetics too.

Nokia N85 - Small keys, weight distribution seems wrong and too much of a media phone for my liking. I prefer organisers over multimedia phones and the battery life is not all that good. It packs a 5MP camera but its still a camera phone.

Then which Australian phone carrier? Assuming the Nokia E71, Vodafone Australia is offering $150 off their $49 cap plan, which for $10 extra a month, includes 200MB of data. Included is $350 worth of calls which isn't bad but quite standard. If you have friends with Vodafone this would be a good choice.

Three is offering $75 off their $49 cap plan currently for the Nokia E71 but their included calls are $350 to anyone and $300 to three users. Again, if your friends are with three, this may be the way to go. YOu can also get the E71 on a $29 cap for $10 extra per month for the handset repayments. Add another $8 per month for 100MB data per month.

The E71 on Optus is on their new plans which we have already discussed in an earlier post as ones to avoid but if you didn't benefit from "yes" time and you don't mind billing per minute, this may be the way to go.

One startling omission in each plan is DATA. If any of the above actually included some data, I'll be in. Hopefully in the coming days, this author will benefit from some price competition. For now, here's hoping that some of the newer E series phones will come onto the Australian market, at least to look at. Otherwise, it might be good to be 3 for this future E71 owner. Or just go cheap with the E63 minus GPS plus GPS dongle.