N800 basic questions

[vees]

Hi everybody,

I just got my N800 and I have to say that I am awed by it - it is better than anything I could have expected from such a small device. I installed xterm on it and now it feels like a mini-Debian machine (which is the highest compliment I can pay to any hardware). Since am, however, a total newbie to the Tablet world, I do have some shamefully basic questions:

1) Is it true that even though the unit documentation says otherwise I can leave the N800 permanently connected to the charger?

2) flasing the unit: I have read this documentation (http://maemo.org/maemowiki/Flasher_tool_usage) but I find it confusing. For example, a lot is made of the md5 checksum of the downloaded flasher, but my version (the one for GNU/Linux) only came with the flasher binary. Not to mention that the documentation seems to be geared towards the N770. Anyway - I want to update the firmware, but I am thoroughly confused about the simplest and safest way to do so. Could you reccommend a 'internettablet-newbie-compatible' way to do this which would be safe and simple?

3) is there an ogg capable player for the N800?

Many thanks in advance,

VS

[ssam]

1) you leave connected to the charger but it might degrade the battery performance. if you never plan to use the battery then this would not be a problem.

or maybe if you disconnected it once a month and let it run the battery down that would be better for it.

2) if you just want to update firmware then see http://maemo.org/maemowiki/HOWTO_FlashLatestNokiaImageWithLinux

3) for official support there is a bug report https://maemo.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=176 i recommend that you subscribe and vote for it to show interest. it looks like there might be some movement on it now.

for unoffical support i think there is an ogg player round somewhere. but it does more work on the cpu than the dsp chip and so uses more power than playing mp3s.

[TA-t3]

It's ok to leave it on the charger, just use it on battery occasionally. Then the battery will be fine. No need to discharge it to the floor though, that'll just reduce the capacity and shorten the lifetime of a lithium battery. If you search the forum you'll find some battery threads where this has been detailed a bit more.

[joeyman9]

I've had my n800 for about a week now (go to pricegrabber.com and look it up if you want to see my review (5th one)) on this device. Anyhow..........regarding the ogg thing, it sorta made me perplexed that my Palm T/X would play ogg but my n800 wouldn't......until, yesterday. Then I found (by clicking around the internettabletalk link (here it is) https://garage.maemo.org (since it's a secure site I've had some trouble linking to it directly, but via the internettabletalk site it goes right through. When you get there you will find a download for Ogg Vorbis Player 0.31. (and a bunch of other stuff too!!!!).

Greatest thing about this site is you can download and install the app with your browser (it brings up the installer automatically). I only had problems with a terminal window app called zsh (couldn't get it installed and now can't remove it either) but even that didn't affect system performance. Also, if you go for the MS Vista Theme (which is gorgeous but far too small in fonts) be aware you'll brand the opening screen with a little MS logo upon startup (I just love that (heavy sarcasm here).

Browsing around and installing all the goodies here should just about eat up your evening so set aside some time for it. I notice that I am using this device a lot more than my laptop/desktop lately. (It even has fm radio!!!!).:)

[joeyman9]

Oh yeah, one other thing, get the camera enhancement so you can record video (though it makes a buzzing sound 2 seconds after start) and don't forget to download the mplayer software either. The media player that comes with the N800 needs the video in 800x400 format, the mplayer doesn't (it's just a little buggy but, after playing with it first, I got it running like a champ)