I don't want a cellphone plan. I don't need a cellphone beyond my $100 a year 7-11 deal. I'm actually pretty anti-cellphone - lots of noise and air pollution coming out of people on their phones all. The. Damned. Time.

And if you think a Canadian is going to wait for an N800 until there's an 'affordable' data plan, you'll be waiting until the N12xx, I'm afraid. Or until there's more competition in the cellphone market 'round here... . If it's any consolation, I have a Nokia basic phone from 7-11.

The N800 is pretty good as a media player (and cheaper than a lot of them). But it *can* act as an internet tablet as long as you have wifi and it *is* a good companion as long as you're in a city with coffeeshops and such that have paid or free internet. Luckily, I have a coffeeshop right downstairs from my office with free internet access so a chia latte and the N800 and I have the ability to at least read my private emails (that I can't do in office since they filter out online and ISP email capabilities). But I imagine that anywhere I am likely to go in the next two years will have similar set-ups.

It's not like I'd bring it into the middle of nowhere. Not that having a local data plan and a phone would be practical, really, in the middle of nowhere, either... .


Yes. Once the rose-coloured glasses came off, I realized quick enough that anything beyond light reading on the web was off limits on this thing. Word processors and chat clients are different though, in that you can change the font size without resorting to scrolling.

[snip]

iTouch is $319CAN + taxes for the 8GB (plus the hassle to jailbreak it), the screen's smaller and you're stuck with Apple-propriatary applications and nowhere to go other than to sit on your *** and wait for Apple to deign to provide users with something of like an application bauble to keep the users amused.

As far as I know, it doesn't have Skype or very good media players. And the memory is not expandable. And the keyboard issue would still be there.

Ergo, it has less features than the N800 for about 45% higher price. Whereever I go, my iPod Nano goes, too. So syncing will happen between my Mac and my gadgets. It just won't be with the N800... which is a shame.

Aside from the features problem I had with the iTouch was simply the cost. I'm realistic. I figure whatever I have that's technology-based *now*, I'll invariably replace in two-ish years (except my Macs. I tend to keep those for 5-6 years). I just don't want to spend that much money on something that I'll feel is kind of obsolete in two years.

At least the N800 will make a great bedside alarm/clock/internet radio station/convenient internet capable tablet once I replace it in my toy chest with something else. Unlike, say, my old iPods that are just gathering dust right now.


I'll see where I'm at the next time I have to travel beyond two weeks. *That* won't happen at least until the fall, unfortunately.