Honestly I feel the device is more of a toy than a useful device. Very rarely has it actually been able to "save the day" over my Nokia 6131 phone (relating to internet usefulness,searches, etc).
My major gripes with it are:
1. Lack of customization of the home page screen
2. Displays some sites very poorly (engadget being the worst)
3. Non-responsive buttons
4. No audio over bluetooth
5. Does not display youtube or google video in a viewable manner
6. No "slideshow" or picture frame application (while the unit is idle, on a desktop, being charged)
7. Poor thumb controls through menus/submenus/pulldowns
8. Text typing with thumbs/stylus has no error correction
9. No calendar application
10. No SIM card slot. Would have been nice as a data device to compliment my phone, as opposed to a teathered bastard wasting battery life on itself and my Nokia, having the reaction time of a specially cared for child, for whom street signs are placed by the county just to give the little bugger a fighting chance when chasing shiny balls).
I really could go on and on. I love Nokia in so many ways, yet after owning the 770 and now the n800, I find this device to be silly at best (Monty Python would agree). The menus dont feel very intuitive, there are buttons not in use on certain pages. The top zoom buttons are much worse than before.
If there is a plus side to all of this ranting, I would say it has improved in a few ways. The stylus, screen touch feel, speed, and usefulness over the previous model is greater in so many ways. If you love the 770, you wont be able to help but love the n800. Sadly though, i wish it was a must carry device, but the ipod still takes the "gadget pocket" on the way out the door.
p.s. Nokia if you read this Im sorry that I dont like your product. I want to, but alas, i cant.
Rob, maybe you aren't aware of this (even owning the 770), but you can get the applications you're talking about at the maemo dev site (especially BT related, like A2DP). This may not appeal to everybody, but it is part of the appeal for this Nokia product line. I would guess Nokia will offer an upgrade soon enough that will smooth out the edges with the bugs you've experienced.
1. Not sure what you're talking about here, you can drag around or remove any of the items on the home screen and even add your own ones if you're feeling adventurous.
2. Engadget displays fine on my device, the giant sidebar is a bit of an irritating, but that's engadget's fault, not the device's
3. Not sure what you're talking about here, either. Yes, the device does slow down when you're doing processor intensive stuff, but so do PCs.
4. Wait 3 months and there'll be a community driver out.
5. Flash 7 blows, Flash 9 just hit Linux, we may be seeing it make it's way to the N800 at some point, but who knows?
6. I can't see myself using something like that, but hop on over to maemo.org and put in an application request.
7. They work fine for me.
8. Input is a bit of a hassle on the device, but keyboards don't have proactive text correction, either.
9. GPE PIM Suite, check it out on maemo.org
10. Wait, why would it include a SIM card slot? Does any non-cellphone device on the planet include a SIM card slot? Send it some vCards over bluetooth or on an SD, then you'll have all the contacts you could ever want.
The device needs work, still, but there's a great community behind it (internettablettalk.com and maemo.org) and it's improving every day and it sure as hell browses the web better than any other mobile device I've used.
Rob, you can also play free online Flash games on your N800 browser - go to http://www.gamoku.com The website and the games are optimized for devices like the 770, N800 and Pocket PCs phones and PDAs.
I generaly agree with Ryan, but lets take a different angle here...
1. you can add applets, you can move applets around. more than an iPaq gives you.
2. some sites are not coded to handle 800px wide, and again, way better than an iPaq
3. which ones? maybe they don't do anything, or at least not what you's expect, in the context? and from the iPaq's I've used, the d-pad is WAY better
4. no I think there is bt audio, maybe you need to install somethign off maemo.org? I odn't have a headset so i can't verify but I know I saw something about it
5. pester Adobe to release something newer than Flash 6 for ARM devices. iPaq also suffers here.
6. I would like the todo or calendar to display. put a feature reqest in for the app you want to use, it is technicaly possible.
7. no worse than the ipaq
8. WAY better than an iPaq.
9. go to maemo.org, click Applications, pick one of the 3 there.
10. how many non-cell phone devices have SIM slots? and what's wrong with bluetooth for data over cell?
Feel free to replace "iPaq" with any non-smartphone device of the same dimensions and price range as the n800. I think you'll find the Nokia more configurable and usable and the things you claim are missing are easily installed for free.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rob Fleming @ Jan 25th 2007 6:26PM
I have had the N800 since the day it came out.
Honestly I feel the device is more of a toy than a useful device. Very rarely has it actually been able to "save the day" over my Nokia 6131 phone (relating to internet usefulness,searches, etc).
My major gripes with it are:
1. Lack of customization of the home page screen
2. Displays some sites very poorly (engadget being the worst)
3. Non-responsive buttons
4. No audio over bluetooth
5. Does not display youtube or google video in a viewable manner
6. No "slideshow" or picture frame application (while the unit is idle, on a desktop, being charged)
7. Poor thumb controls through menus/submenus/pulldowns
8. Text typing with thumbs/stylus has no error correction
9. No calendar application
10. No SIM card slot. Would have been nice as a data device to compliment my phone, as opposed to a teathered bastard wasting battery life on itself and my Nokia, having the reaction time of a specially cared for child, for whom street signs are placed by the county just to give the little bugger a fighting chance when chasing shiny balls).
I really could go on and on. I love Nokia in so many ways, yet after owning the 770 and now the n800, I find this device to be silly at best (Monty Python would agree). The menus dont feel very intuitive, there are buttons not in use on certain pages. The top zoom buttons are much worse than before.
If there is a plus side to all of this ranting, I would say it has improved in a few ways. The stylus, screen touch feel, speed, and usefulness over the previous model is greater in so many ways. If you love the 770, you wont be able to help but love the n800. Sadly though, i wish it was a must carry device, but the ipod still takes the "gadget pocket" on the way out the door.
p.s. Nokia if you read this Im sorry that I dont like your product. I want to, but alas, i cant.
IOTA @ Jan 25th 2007 7:00PM
Rob, maybe you aren't aware of this (even owning the 770), but you can get the applications you're talking about at the maemo dev site (especially BT related, like A2DP). This may not appeal to everybody, but it is part of the appeal for this Nokia product line. I would guess Nokia will offer an upgrade soon enough that will smooth out the edges with the bugs you've experienced.
Ryan @ Jan 25th 2007 7:19PM
1. Not sure what you're talking about here, you can drag around or remove any of the items on the home screen and even add your own ones if you're feeling adventurous.
2. Engadget displays fine on my device, the giant sidebar is a bit of an irritating, but that's engadget's fault, not the device's
3. Not sure what you're talking about here, either. Yes, the device does slow down when you're doing processor intensive stuff, but so do PCs.
4. Wait 3 months and there'll be a community driver out.
5. Flash 7 blows, Flash 9 just hit Linux, we may be seeing it make it's way to the N800 at some point, but who knows?
6. I can't see myself using something like that, but hop on over to maemo.org and put in an application request.
7. They work fine for me.
8. Input is a bit of a hassle on the device, but keyboards don't have proactive text correction, either.
9. GPE PIM Suite, check it out on maemo.org
10. Wait, why would it include a SIM card slot? Does any non-cellphone device on the planet include a SIM card slot? Send it some vCards over bluetooth or on an SD, then you'll have all the contacts you could ever want.
The device needs work, still, but there's a great community behind it (internettablettalk.com and maemo.org) and it's improving every day and it sure as hell browses the web better than any other mobile device I've used.
b @ Jan 25th 2007 9:50PM
Rob, you can also play free online Flash games on your N800 browser - go to http://www.gamoku.com The website and the games are optimized for devices like the 770, N800 and Pocket PCs phones and PDAs.
Chris @ Jan 26th 2007 1:33AM
I generaly agree with Ryan, but lets take a different angle here...
1. you can add applets, you can move applets around. more than an iPaq gives you.
2. some sites are not coded to handle 800px wide, and again, way better than an iPaq
3. which ones? maybe they don't do anything, or at least not what you's expect, in the context? and from the iPaq's I've used, the d-pad is WAY better
4. no I think there is bt audio, maybe you need to install somethign off maemo.org? I odn't have a headset so i can't verify but I know I saw something about it
5. pester Adobe to release something newer than Flash 6 for ARM devices. iPaq also suffers here.
6. I would like the todo or calendar to display. put a feature reqest in for the app you want to use, it is technicaly possible.
7. no worse than the ipaq
8. WAY better than an iPaq.
9. go to maemo.org, click Applications, pick one of the 3 there.
10. how many non-cell phone devices have SIM slots? and what's wrong with bluetooth for data over cell?
Feel free to replace "iPaq" with any non-smartphone device of the same dimensions and price range as the n800. I think you'll find the Nokia more configurable and usable and the things you claim are missing are easily installed for free.