Couple basic questions for N800.

[MJBarnes]

Using the N800, here are a couple questions...

#1. What Video formats are directly supported (AVI, MPG, etc...). For formats NOT supported, is there a recommended converter?

#2. What programs can be used to simply view (edit would be a plus) word and Excel documents?

#3. Anyway to Listen to Audible.com books on this device? They seem to support Nokia devices, but they do not have this one listed.

#4. I have been trying to simply fund the URLs for some streaming music and am unable to do so. Can someone point me to a basic place just to get the URLs I can enter?

Thanks much for the assistance... I am very new to this device and using this device has been very different from all my other experiences.

[geneven]

You can use Orb to listen to Audible books. You install Orb on your Windows computer, and run it from your N800 with it also loaded on the Windows computer.

Audible is a sponsor of Orb, which is a good thing for us Audible listeners! There is no way to listen to Audible audiobooks otherwise that I know of, unfortunately.

It works very easily and well once you get it set up.

[enrevanche]

#2. What programs can be used to simply view (edit would be a plus) word and Excel documents?

I would really like to know what solutions people have found for this, too...

Have had the N800 for about a week now and mostly love it. Was planning to use Google Docs or Zoho for basic productivity apps, but the browser won't support them. How are peoplel dealing with this issue?

- Barry

[Adam_n800]

point your browser to www.shoutcast.com if you want to listen to online radio

[luketoh]

minimo browser works for google docs, spreadsheet and calendar i believe. do a search for minimo.

[artkavanagh]

Was planning to use Google Docs or Zoho for basic productivity apps, but the browser won't support them. How are peoplel dealing with this issue?

I haven't yet had occasion to do much writing/editing on the N800 -- I've been at home a lot since I got it -- but what I have tried is writing simple html in a text editor. SciTE is my current favourite, but there are several available. I expect this to be my main method of writing on the tablet.

I've tried using Google Docs (not on the N800, obviously) and didn't find it very useful. I can see the attraction if you need to collaborate online, but otherwise I can't imagine myself using it very much. I also looked at ThoughtFree (or something like that) which requires Java, and so is no good to an internet tablet user. It looks like a clone of Word 2002. Pointless.

[enrevanche]

Thanks to both luketoh and artkavanagh.

Luke, the N800 port of Minimo does look really promising, and I think may be what I need. I have downloaded the latest build and will be following its development with considerable interest.

For those interested, the steps to get the N800 port of Minimo are described here (http://tonikitoo.blogspot.com/2007/03/minimo-maemo-port-0169-1-available.html):

http://tonikitoo.blogspot.com/2007/03/minimo-maemo-port-0169-1-available.html

Art, I will check out SciTE. I do most of my writing in a text editor; the thing is, if I can find a simple solution for writing and editing Office-compatible documents, then the N800 just becomes an order of magnitude more useful to me while I'm roaming around the office and especially "out in the world" (I live in New York City and am rarely more than a hundred meters from a wifi hotspot.)

In re a clone of Word 2002 being "pointless," Art, I feel your pain... MS-Office would not be my first choice of authoring platforms for anything, but when it's what every single one of my colleagues uses, my preferences don't matter much. :-)

[paulinep]

Not sure I understand this, see quote below. Does this enable you to take the N800 away from your computer and listen to Audible books from the N800 without the computer?


You can use Orb to listen to Audible books. You install Orb on your Windows computer, and run it from your N800 with it also loaded on the Windows computer.

Audible is a sponsor of Orb, which is a good thing for us Audible listeners! There is no way to listen to Audible audiobooks otherwise that I know of, unfortunately.

It works very easily and well once you get it set up.

[speculatrix]

try using pocketdivxencoder to convert files.