I have one of these, and while it is a nice device, the performance issues limit its usefullness.
It has a very underpowered CPU incapable of playing video usefully unless it is heavily modified to fit the screen and minimize CPU demand, and running two applications at the same time (browser and player) is about the most it can do.
Too bad, as the form factor is great, and the screen is excellent.
Gylman- You couldn't be more wrong. I rip DVDs to this thing and play them all the time. It can handle several browser windows and a video at the same time without too much trouble. Thanks for playing.
jackcutts.... OK, then I guess my last 5 years dealing with about half a dozen different mobile devices from iPaqs to Palms to UMPCs to the N800 and N810 were just a hallucination.
Or maybe you are OK playing videos at 400 x 220 res at 23 fps. I'm not. I want 640 x 480 at 25-30 fps. And I want to be able to play multiple formats without converting or resizing. I can do that right now with my HX4700.
Anyone who seriously researches this device will see that being underpowered is the main problem with the N8XX series. I'm not trying to denigrate the N810. I bought one with the greatest hopes for it and use it routinely for browsing - it is absolutely the best device for that purpose. But it is not a general purpose "mini computer". Number one on every N8xx fanboy's wish list is more processing power. Give me that, and this would overnight be the #1 handheld device in my opinion (though it also needs a good PDF reader).
The problem is not a weak CPU; it's not having code to access the IVA, which would let us offload video codecs like almost every other device on the market does. So playing high-bitrate video is a problem. As long as you don't do that, the CPU isn't an issue; it's just fine as a general-purpose computer.
So it has trouble in this one area (which may be very important to you), and you claim that it has an underpowered CPU, rather than that it's not the best device for your particular needs. And then, of course, you're wrong rather than right.
I don't know if you have one of these thing because I have 700, N800, and both can handle video. The 800 will do video even better, I have full length movies on 2 gig mmc and they run perfectly. The 810 is even stronger so I bet there is no problem with video at all. Also, you mention that it can't handle 2 or more apps, I mean it's a handheld, when do you ever need more than a few apps. There just isn't enough screens for it. Compare to a laptop it is underpowered, compare to a handheld, it's one of the more powerful ones.
Gylman- I think I've identified the problem. You demand completely unreasonable performance out of a very small device and then bemoan the processor speed. This isn't meant to be a full-resolution HD video player or a video format converter. Any fool understands that you would need to convert video BEFORE putting it on the device, not converting on the fly and expecting the thing to play flawlessly. Sheesh. Have some perspective. Maybe you should write another complaint because you can't run GIMP and have three video conferences in HD at the same time. This thing should be quad core I suppose. Lame.
The Cobra Tag may help you win that losing battle, acting as a Bluetooth device that attaches to your key ring and connects to your phone, it gives you the opportunity to find the missing item if it's less than 30 feet away.
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I have one of these, and while it is a nice device, the performance issues limit its usefullness.
It has a very underpowered CPU incapable of playing video usefully unless it is heavily modified to fit the screen and minimize CPU demand, and running two applications at the same time (browser and player) is about the most it can do.
Too bad, as the form factor is great, and the screen is excellent.
Gylman-
You couldn't be more wrong. I rip DVDs to this thing and play them all the time. It can handle several browser windows and a video at the same time without too much trouble. Thanks for playing.
jackcutts.... OK, then I guess my last 5 years dealing with about half a dozen different mobile devices from iPaqs to Palms to UMPCs to the N800 and N810 were just a hallucination.
Or maybe you are OK playing videos at 400 x 220 res at 23 fps. I'm not. I want 640 x 480 at 25-30 fps. And I want to be able to play multiple formats without converting or resizing. I can do that right now with my HX4700.
Anyone who seriously researches this device will see that being underpowered is the main problem with the N8XX series. I'm not trying to denigrate the N810. I bought one with the greatest hopes for it and use it routinely for browsing - it is absolutely the best device for that purpose. But it is not a general purpose "mini computer". Number one on every N8xx fanboy's wish list is more processing power. Give me that, and this would overnight be the #1 handheld device in my opinion (though it also needs a good PDF reader).
No.
The problem is not a weak CPU; it's not having code to access the IVA, which would let us offload video codecs like almost every other device on the market does. So playing high-bitrate video is a problem. As long as you don't do that, the CPU isn't an issue; it's just fine as a general-purpose computer.
So it has trouble in this one area (which may be very important to you), and you claim that it has an underpowered CPU, rather than that it's not the best device for your particular needs. And then, of course, you're wrong rather than right.
I don't know if you have one of these thing because I have 700, N800, and both can handle video. The 800 will do video even better, I have full length movies on 2 gig mmc and they run perfectly. The 810 is even stronger so I bet there is no problem with video at all. Also, you mention that it can't handle 2 or more apps, I mean it's a handheld, when do you ever need more than a few apps. There just isn't enough screens for it. Compare to a laptop it is underpowered, compare to a handheld, it's one of the more powerful ones.
Gylman-
I think I've identified the problem. You demand completely unreasonable performance out of a very small device and then bemoan the processor speed. This isn't meant to be a full-resolution HD video player or a video format converter. Any fool understands that you would need to convert video BEFORE putting it on the device, not converting on the fly and expecting the thing to play flawlessly. Sheesh. Have some perspective. Maybe you should write another complaint because you can't run GIMP and have three video conferences in HD at the same time. This thing should be quad core I suppose. Lame.