i don't understand why everyone assumes that the n810's slideout keyboard makes a bluetooth keyboard unnecessary. most bluetooth keyboards would allow fast touch typing. the slideout thing looks only slightly better than an on-screen keyboard. i can see how it will make gaming much better and short messages a bit easier, but it can't make much difference for word procesing. thumb typing is still thumb typing. in other words, most people who would have bought a bluetooth keyboard for the n800 will probably still want one for the n810.

I certainly like the convenience, but you're right: the built in keyboard doesn't necessarily preclude bt keyboard use.

"thumb typing is still thumb typing." ...true, but the size of a keyboard and the convenience makes the Bluetooth keyboard alot less necessary for some.

I bought my ThinkOutside Bluetooth StowAway keyboard back when I was using a Palm that had bluetooth and a touchscreen, but no keyboard. In all my use of a T-Mobile Sidekick and my current Cingular 8125 (Windows Mobile 6), I never needed to pull out my StowAway to type something.

I've typed lengthy emails and Word documents on my Cingular 8125, and lengthy emails on the T-Mobile Sidekick before it. I'm frustrated at tapping away on my Nokia N800 when I need to pull up Abiword or Claws E-Mails. Having a slideout keyboard will fulfill the same need as the StowAway does now.

Having a Bluetooth keyboard is fine for situations where you have a desk to set it on. Typing out an email on a crowded Metro, revising a Word document in bed, or checking on my servers in the supermarket is *tremendously* more convenient on the Nokia N8x0 when there's a slideout keyboard.

I hear what you're saying, and I agree. But as someone who grew up with Blackberries, Sidekicks, and HTC devices, thumb keyboards aren't the much maligned interface people make them out to be. Being able to rapidly thumbpunch with two thumbs on the keyboard and fingers wrapped around the device makes life alot easier... and those times of pulling out a Bluetooth keyboard much more rare.

"Nokia N800 when I need to pull up Abiword or Claws E-Mails"

I never got to try abhiword for n800. DO you have a link for the app??

I installed AbiWord by adding a repository to my Application Manager, and then installing it. Some people have had problems with AbiWord 2.4.7 on the N800, saying that 2.2.7 is more stable. Here's links for both:

AbiWord 2.4.7
Repository: http://www.abisource.com/downloads/apt
Distribution: mistral
Component: user

AbiWord 2.2.7
Repository: http://erinye.com/maemo
Distribution: mistral
Component: user

The built-in keyboard will be more comfortable to type on than the SW keyboard, but more importantly to me it frees up valuable space on the device's screen. Trying to switch between the SW keyboard and scrolling the web page to reach the text boxes is a real pain on N800.

I was a bit skeptical for the first few weeks I was using the hardware keyboard on the N810. Yes, it's not a full sized keyboard. In fact, some of the shift-key position can be downright uncomfortable at times. However, now that I've been using the device for quite some time, I must say that I've gotten quite quick as sliding it out, cranking out a sentence and sliding it back in.

That said, it certainly does not replace a bluetooth keyboard for heavy input. So for emails I'm all over the bluetooth keyboard. For text messaging, use the pullout keyboard. It's at least 10x faster than trying to use the virtual keyboard or thumb board. Okay, I'm not sure where I pulled that number from. And as mentioned by someone, it can be a bit of an irritation sometimes just getting the thumb board to appear. Plus, while the thumb board is visible, you kill much of your application's visibility -- that's probably the part I dislike the most about the thumb board.