My first impressions after a day's use: good and bad

[Smiley Dan]

I got my 770 yesterday lunchtime and have been trying out the different applications pretty solidly since then! I thought I'd arrange my impressions into two broadly defined lists, one of good points and one of bad.

Good

The "Internet experience" is phenomenal. I have never used any device as mobile as this which gives me anywhere near like the same quality of, inparticular, Web browsing. This device is worth it for this alone. It's a bit like the sea change when I first got broadband, now I can access the Internet when I'm munching my cornflakes because it's so much easier than using my laptop. Add to that, the news feeds application which works very nicely and the integration to Internet radio which is pretty seamless
The screen is superb. Never seen as high a resolution as this from such a small device. This is the main enabler for the Web experience. It also makes viewing video a treat. Which leads me to...
I was a little worried, given the underpowered h/w specs, of the media capabilities of this device. But generally I've found both audio and video performance excellent. Both are best done through the integrated RealPlayer. The bundled Ice Age trailer is a good demo of the video capabilities and is pretty impressive.
The extendability of the platform... I've already installed Gaim... this aspect seems pretty seamless


Bad
Most "niggles" these!

The wireless connections management is a little more hard work than I'd like. Why can't it just auto connect to any preferred network? You can choose one network to auto connect to but then it doesn't seem like you can choose other networks! (Maybe someone can point me to how to do this)
This isn't a niggle: the email client is incomplete for IMAP users. Seemingly no folder downloading and no separation of accounts. And I can't even get onto my work email which uses SSL on the inbound server.
You can tell the h/w is a little underpowered. It's a little sluggish if you have a few apps open with large docs inside them. I've had a few out of memory errors with pdfs open, the web browser open and so on
There does seem to be a few bugs in various applications. For a while my file manager wouldn't open, the GUI would be displayed and the folders would begin to list, but as soon as it showed the "Documents" folder it'd crash. I solved it by, as the folder list was loading, moving which folder I'd selected up using the cursor pad. It now starts ok. I kinda expect this kinda thing, as long as I can work around them I don't mind.
I'm a little disappointed with the media formats supported: mainly because OGG isn't there but also, even RealPlayer doesn't support *some* RAM files for instance on the BBC News website all the high quality streams (low quality are ok but this would be really cool). Hopefully this will be fleshed out.


The bad are really, as I said, mostly niggly things, and the experience of web browsing on its own far outweighs the drawbacks. All in all this is a very impressive first effort for Nokia and the general approach they are taking to their device strategy is one I'm beginning to buy into. I used to be a fan of converged devices, but now having browsed on my 770 I realise 770 + UMTS phone is the way to go. I'll be putting in my order for the N80 next year ;)

[Mythic]

I would like to add that I personally get a "well thought up" feeling, I havn't had with other PDA devices so far.

[Titus]

RealPlayer doesn't support RAM files for instance on the BBC News website (this would be really cool).

I browsed to BBC News (with default link in browser) and was able to check broadcast in videoplayer. It doesn't show it in browser, but when I opened (clicking it) in video player it showed it just nice.

I agree you with stability, after using it couple of hours, I got several memory low warnings, very sluggish performance and finally a unwanted reboot. After reboot, everything worked ok, but again one hour later similar memory warning/sluggishness/reboot event happened. I close every app after using it, so I suppose it might be a memory leak issue. Sad to say, but after using Symbian, Palm and PocketPC this thing feels more crash prone and sluggish. I hope future firmwares will resolve these issues.

[Smiley Dan]

I browsed to BBC News (with default link in browser) and was able to check broadcast in videoplayer. It doesn't show it in browser, but when I opened (clicking it) in video player it showed it just nice.Hmmm... I'd noticed radio and video doesn't work as a plugin, so I have to use "stand alone" realplayer. The radio then works, but video doesn't. I'll give it another try. What streams were you viewing?

[buzzlightyear]

Must admit I'd read somewhere else on the forum that BBC video was ok but I cannot get it working either - it opened the player but then just says invalid stream (or words to that effect)

Has anyone got a specific example clip on the site that works so we can try it out ?

Buzz

[Titus]

Hmmm... I'd noticed radio and video doesn't work as a plugin, so I have to use "stand alone" realplayer. The radio then works, but video doesn't. I'll give it another try. What streams were you viewing?

Sorry, can't test it right now, but when I tried it yesterday, link was BBC mainpage->Today Watch/Listen to BBC news-> First Headline video on the right

[gadget1974]

It works for me on all of the BBC streams, but you have to launch into the standalone player... Embedded streams seem to crash the browser.

[Weavus]

I can confirm the BBC real video streams work for me also when launched with the video player.

[andymulhearn]

Starting with the bad:

1. Had a couple of reboots for no discernible reason.
2.The USB connection is a bit quirky. I find that if you have File Explorer open, disconnecting the USB connection (even if you eject on the PC/Mac) makes the MMC inaccessible.
3. Imap support is not up to scratch. It works, but loss of folders and no delete of messages from another client is not good enough. IMHO.
4. Some apps are a little sluggish to start, hopefully this will improve with time and optimised releases.
5. Can we lose the rotating arrow on tap and hold. It's eye-candy that slows the context menu to no purpose.
6. Where's the alarm? I don't believe missing an alarm option makes a lot of sense.
7. There's a lot missing from the documentation. Apparently I can import contacts from Outlook but have no idea what format is acceptible to the 770 address book.
8. Re third party software, anyone know how to page down in plucker as opposed to a line at a time. I can't believe the Palm users have not had this added by now. Or is it a porting issue perhaps?
9.Opening the body of an e-mail takes far too long. Unacceptably so. This needs to be fixed as a priority.

And now the Good:

1. Excellent build quality. The 770 itself and the case is very solidly made. I did think that not being able to take out the stylus with the case on was a bad idea, but then realised that without that, a worn stylus will slip out and all too easily get lost.
2. The screen truly is excellent and the software's been built to match it. Unlike my iPaq 4700 which looks disgusting in VGA mode.
3. The software as a rule looks pretty good. For a first production release of new software this is a pretty impressive effort
4. Availability of new third party software seems to be going mad. Each time I check the available ported software there seems to be another piece added and another port complete. Hopefully Nokia will continue to support this growth.
5. Acting as a USB hard drive is a good move. Needing no software to be installed on the host PC makes it easy to use in an office environment. It would be interesting to see how we get round this for synching. Networking only perhaps.
6. There's no 6.
7. Or 7.

Overall a huge thumbs up from me, with the caveat that I want to see some of the software issues (mail particularly) resolved soon as an indication of commitment to the platform.

[Smiley Dan]

Well I hadn't tried the low quality ones and they work. That's a bit crap. Are the high quality ones working for anyone else?

When I try a high quality one it just says File Format not supported or similar.

[Smiley Dan]

2.The USB connection is a bit quirky. I find that if you have File Explorer open, disconnecting the USB connection (even if you eject on the PC/Mac) makes the MMC inaccessible. I think this is by design, although not desirable. You cannot access the MMC when the USB is connected. It's like you can only have a 1:1 mounting of the MMC.

[Smiley Dan]

I'm a little disappointed with the media formats supported: mainly because OGG isn't there Just noticed my favourite mobile OGG plater, OggPlay, is being ported. I've used it for a couple of years on Symbian and Series 60 and it's a very good player.

[andymulhearn]

I think this is by design, although not desirable. You cannot access the MMC when the USB is connected. It's like you can only have a 1:1 mounting of the MMC.

Yes, I'd spotted that one. But found that ejecting the USB device and disconnecting the cable, some times the card went missing - it never got remounted - until a reboot. With File Manager closed, it seems to work all the time.

[andymulhearn]

1. Don't know if anyone's tried the power button menu options. There's one there for offline mode which turns off the bluetooth and wireless - mail spots this and doesn't try to connect. Should be good for power preservation.

2. I found that POP mail is a little better handling messages deleted on the server, though of course doesn't handle folders. Still not perfect though.

3. I installed the xTerm from http://770.fs-security.com/xterm/ and found that the web browser seems to be leaving processes lying around. As does Chess. Killing the browser processes (12meg each) solved the memory problems I was having.

4. I have a BT OpenZone account. When connected to one of their hotspots I had real problems getting any Web browser connection. Anyone seen anything like this? :confused:

5. I have a .Mac account, using the browser I could actually use the Web Interface, something I've never been able to do with any other PDA. :o

[Weavus]

1. Don't know if anyone's tried the power button menu options. There's one there for offline mode which turns off the bluetooth and wireless - mail spots this and doesn't try to connect. Should be good for power preservation.
Unlike the stupid news reader that completly ignores offline mode and keeps asking to connect every few minutes.

[andymulhearn]

Starting with the bad:

3. Imap support is not up to scratch. It works, but loss of folders and no delete of messages from another client is not good enough. IMHO.



Found out that the message deletion problem is a quirk of the way Apple's .Mac accounts work, there's nowt wrong with the mail app :)

[crazygoose]

I also experienced the file manager crashing. Thanks for the tip on moving the d-pad. I kept trying to change the folder with the stylus and just wasn't fast enough.

[greencloudz]

nokia770 tech support is checking into this, generally. ie: how/if
real videos stream at BBC site, and at realone site. should have
response in couple days, and will pass on.

Different question, for one with experience in such matters:
Is it usual that we'll get rom updates that address issues? or should we
expect to have to buy a new 770revised device to see issues addressed in
the future?

[putkowski]

nokia770 tech support is checking into this, generally. ie: how/if
real videos stream at BBC site, and at realone site. should have
response in couple days, and will pass on.

Different question, for one with experience in such matters:
Is it usual that we'll get rom updates that address issues? or should we
expect to have to buy a new 770revised device to see issues addressed in
the future?

Updates at this point involve saving your stuff with the control panel application (to MMC,) "reflashing" the device, and restoring your stuff from the MMC with the control panel application.

The device has flash memory which is loaded into "real" executable memory at boot. Re-flashing the operating system does just that. The flash image the device loads when you turn it on is replaced.

It seems like a good idea to keep a note on the things you change (or delete to make space.) The note is in the documents area that gets saved... I also "save" the packages I install from WiFi into a folder on the MMC so I can easily "restore" them after a re-flash. (First "save" them and then use the file manager to "install" them...)

I have seen that even supported videos will fail if they are not in mulitples of 16 so far as resolution.

Sorry if this duplicates, but I don't have time to read all the fine responses yet.

[Mike Cane]

5. Can we lose the rotating arrow on tap and hold. It's eye-candy that slows the context menu to no purpose.

Live via free 770 --

Huh? Where/when do you see this on the 770? Are you having PPC flashbacks?

[RealNitro]

Live via free 770 --

Huh? Where/when do you see this on the 770? Are you having PPC flashbacks?
Press and hold the stylus on a window... (its not a real arrow though)

[Mike Cane]

On a window?! What do you mean? I use that TnH all the time, never get any anim at all anytime anywhere.

-- edited to add:

I do get a wee document mini-icon with text. You seen that yet?