My first experience using linux tablets was the Zaurus 5500. I eventually bought a C-760 and a C-1000. Carrying linux in my pocket is something I have always found interesting, however, practically, I always found the Zaurus rather limited for a number of reasons which I never completely understood until I bought my n800 this week.

The n800 is amazing, hands down. I can only imagine that the negative reviews on the forum are a result of ridiculously unrealistic expectations. Coming from the Zaurus, it is easy to see that the Nokia is an enormous leap in tablet tech.

Web browsing, which I consider the tablet's primary function, is leagues above the Z. The default on the nokia is FAST and has perfectly rendered 99% of the pages so far. The greater screen resolution is also helpful. On the Z, web browsing could never be called pleasant.

On a similar note, the wireless antenna is very good. I am able to connect to networks my laptop couldn't even see.

Skype is of course very impressive. I have already made several skype out calls with perfect reception. Rhapsody is great as well.

I love the UI of the Nokia. In my opinion this is exactly in the direction tablet devices need to go. I would like to see the option of folders and moving things around on the desktop without entering layout mode. But as is, this is better than any UI in any Zaurus Rom.

One thing I am impressed with in particular is the intuitive multitasking. I have had several processes going in main applications and have not yet experienced too drastic a slowdown.

The package management software is intuitive and responsive. I would like to see a more centralized repository system though.

The Zaurus does have an active and talented development community and there is an enormous library of available software. I have seen some very exciting things looking over the maemo development site as well and have no doubts that the Nokia will surpass the Z in this area as it reaches maturity.

I have no doubt that in the coming years, tablet mobile internet usage will become much more prominent. The n800 proves that this can be a user friendly experience and I think it is a tremendous stepping stone, as was the Zaurus, toward the end game of personal computing.

Welcome to the forums.

You're joining a large group of former and/or concurrent Zaurus users.

R.
==

I *completely* know what you're talking about. I own a 5500 and C1000 myself, and I'm still really disappointed to see how the Zaurus hardware has such potential that the software isn't taking advantage of. It's so refreshing to see Nokia's involvement with the community compared to how Sharp drove the Zaurus into the ground and seemed determined to alienate the community that had formed. I think once Chinook is released I might try and see how many of the open source Nokia apps can be compiled up for the C1000. With the introduction of the N810 with keyboard and the N800 coming down to ~$250 I imagine we'll see quite a few more Zaurus "converts" coming over.

We will get this with OS2008 AFAICT.
Glad you like the N800

I think OpenZaurus/Angstrom took a pretty good crack at making the devices more functional. The issue is the hardware there was to work with (i.e. processor speeds, memory and screen sizes) plus the fact that developing drivers to interface with parts of the hardware was slow (as no/not much info was available).

With Nokia we have a company who are actually proactive about community development and about keeping the tablets up to date.

And welcome from another former Zaurus user


Si

I'll add my comment to all the rest, welcome.

I suspect that there are many Zaurus users who have moved to the N800. I know I jumped because I wanted a more modern handheld linux system, and the N800 delivers there.

Because of the Qt nature of the Zaurus apps, many will be left behind on the N800, which is too bad, as there is a lot of good work there. If there was a way to get Qt support on the N800 (in a window), then we would have the best of both worlds!

Craig...

I, too, am lifting my hand up as a 5500 and C1000 owner. It is good to see the growing number of Zaurus users here.

Any criticism I have concerning Nokia pales into insignificance when compared to the way Sharp let down the Zaurus.

Having said that, I just wish I could use many of my Zaurus apps on the N800. Community development support for the Zaurus has been phenomenal.

Given time I am sure the Internet Tablet /MID platform will take off and apps will be forthcoming in abundance. The trouble is I want them now.

Does the Archos PMA430 count as a Zaurus substitute?

lardman: Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm really impressed with the incredible amount of hard work the OZ/Angstrom guys have put into it. Heck, I'm still using my C1000. Right now I'm about to install a new Angstrom pre-release onto it and I have Debian Armel (EABI) installed on a USB drive. I just think that the hardware wasn't nearly as much of a stumbling block as Sharp's horrible handling of the platform. At this point I don't think we'll ever get to see what the Cxx00 hardware was really capable of.

-John

One thing I like about the N800 compared to my Zaurus and my Palm is that I find it so easy to drop into the development environment and compile some software for it. It's a Debian build system installed in scratchbox on my Debian laptop, I do what I do anyway - I build Debian apps! Talk about easy learning curve! (for me at least, as I used Debian years before the 770/N800).

Even though scratchbox is an encapsulated environment with a somewhat limited tool set I can still see it from the laptop at large and use standard tools like software version control (git, cvs) etc. The net result is that although I had development environments installed for my PDAs it's just much easier to build for the N800. And I have great hopes for the updated API of OS2008, I have a couple of projects on hold for that.