The n800 would be a bit frustrating to use as your sole computing device and I don't think it's suited to that role.

It's great for browsing and reading, listening and watching but is a poor device for input. It would quickly get annoying if you had to type long emails with the on screen keyboard for example.

It's really ideal as a companion computing device. You'd need to have reliable access to another computer to do the odd re-flash.
Also you could reformat torrented videos to play well on the tablet but you'd need another computer to do that.

If you do decide to get one also budget for a case and some SD cards or just bid on the ebay auctions which include them. A case and SD cards could be another 30 - 40 dollars at an estimate.

I find that most videos downloadable via torrents are sized to fit on a single CD (about 700MB), and that Mplayer on the tablets will play these cheerfully.

I find that watching video sucks the life out of the battery pretty quickly though, but listening to MP3s, and a bit of surfing will give me 3-4 hours usually, then I need to find some power for a while.

I agree with Fionn, this should not be your primary device. Get a cheap or used laptop for now. That will allow you to be more productive with finding work or simply for entertainment.

I also agree with Fionn about needing a computer to flash and reformat videos. Although I don't have any trouble using the thumb screen keyboard for large emails on my N800.

Maybe one of the small, cheap Netbooks would be better for you.

I don't agree with those who think you need a laptop/netbook. If you're doing a LOT of typing, then they're right. If you care greatly about videos that are not sized for the N800, that's a problem too.

But as for flashing, you ought to be able to do that once, if your tablet doesn't come with the latest OS, and be done with it. Maybe, someday, something will go wrong. But if you're couch-surfing, you have friends with computers, and for such a rare instance ...

If portability is very important, there's no comparison, especially if you aren't carrying a backpack all day. And for the sort of discretion you're looking for, the N800 is also way superior.