Nokia Booklet 3G hands-on (with video!)

That $599 non-subsidized price still sounds silly -- and $299 with a 2-year $60 monthly contract seems almost more extreme -- but there's no denying that the Booklet 3G is a truly premium netbook. It's light, strong and very elegant, with an aluminum chassis, wonderful keyboard and spacious two-finger-scroll touchpad. Unfortunately, those netbook innards deliver about what you'd expect in the performance arena (almost too slow for web browsing), and NY's AT&T 3G coverage certainly doesn't serve the laptop well (as demonstrated on video after the break). There's also the small matter of the screen: it has a pretty weak viewing angle, particularly from above, and overall just seems a little dim. Nokia's software approach isn't too revolutionary, since the Social Hub -- which offers threaded text messaging over 3G -- is the only exclusive app on the computer, and the Ovi Maps-branded GPS software is still in the works. Overall, the appeal is probably going to be strongest with dyed-in-the-wool Nokia fans and people with a bit of extra cash to burn, but this is an obviously elegant product that doesn't do any sort of disservice to its phone heritage.

Update: Nokia just clarified to us that the demo units at this event were actually from the UK, and therefore don't have US 3G -- which would certainly explain some of the speed issues. %Gallery-75435%