My little review of N810
 

After 3 days of having this device, i decided to return it. Why?

CONS:

1. GPS performance is poor
2. Video playback is not great (people say its due to LCD)
3. CPU is slow
4. No PAN bluetooth profile support (thanks to forum member here i was able to run a script and get it to work with DASH)
5. No office software (Abiword does not work, Gnumeric does not display Excel files correctly)
6. Battery inside the device is loose
7. Camera is useless unless you do video conferencing (also poor quality btw.)

PROS:

1. Very nice built quality (except for the battery being loose)
2. Excellent keyboard
3. WIFI works great
4. Browser is also a big plus
5. Small design is a killer

I bought N810 for 2 reasons: 1. browsing on the go 2. working with office docs. and send e-faxes. While i did manage to get PAN to work, office docs. are NOT supported or very poorly supported.

Will wait for something else to come out. Maybe a mini laptop, like new improved Asus Eee, maybe a better smartphone (so far i like new I-mates) or maybe a next Nokia tablet.....bet its gonna be a while though.

Re: My little review of N810
 

Did you do ANY research before you bought this thing?

I don't think that working with office docs and sending e-faxes is an advertised feature of the n8x0.

I think it's a perfectly reasonable browse-on-the-go device, though.

Re: My little review of N810
 

Maybe the OQO 02 could be the right thing for you?

www.oqo.com

Re: My little review of N810
 

I did do the research. PAN/DUN issue is not something you come across. and I was told that Abiword and Gnumeric can replace Word and Excel, but they are not even close YET.

If browse-on-the-go is the only feature thats advertised, N810 certainly does that well, but $400-500 is a little to much for just that feature IMO. OQO2 is a much better device of course, but it's not in the same price range.

Re: My little review of N810
 

PAN and DUN have been mentioned here many times as an issue.

The whole office mobile thing. I have had CE/Win Mobile and Palm devices none of them do a very good job of office support.

But you do have the option to download the Palm emulator Free and run Documents to Go for the Palm. You will have to pay for that.

The only wat to get anything better is to run a full vista/XP UMPC and the cost there is much higher.

So I will be interested to hear what you replace the N810 with.

All that said. I do agree that with a decent office and PIM application the N810 would sell many many more. But as has also been discussed here many times. Nokia dose not sell them as enterprise devices. Pity the OSS community is not working on some sort of Pocket open office and Pocket evolution.

Re: My little review of N810
 

One of the great disservices of communities like this is that people tend to "oversell" devices because they like them so much.

It's a great little toy for doing GPSish stuff, and internet browsing. It's passable for IM, and pretty decent at media playback. Outside of that, everything is pretty much in beta, and has variable degrees of usefulness.

You aren't going to find ANYTHING that is even close to Word/Excel on any mobile device outside of a full-fledged laptop or UMPC running Word/Excel (or POSSIBLY Open Office, though I personally disagree with that).

Nokia doesn't market the n8x0 devices as anything other than "internet tablets", and I think that's exactly what they are. They aren't marketed or sold as PIM devices (ala Palm), or productivity devices (ala Windows Mobile). They are designed, sold, and marketed as something completely different, and I think they do a good job of what they are sold as. They stink badly as PIM devices or general purpose computers though.

Re: My little review of N810
 

While not trying to bash or flame the OP, I think it's interesting that while the Internet Tablets receive negative reviews all the time, I've noticed that each of those bad reviews marks the device for not doing or having something that it's not advertised to do/have in the first place.

The most common hit is not having a SIM card slot, or any phone-like features. Simply because Nokia is a phone company primarily, it's interesting that people expect every product to have phone functionality.

The second most common hit is the lack of PIM/Office software. Again, this isn't advertised anywhere, ever, and in fact, since it's the N8x0, and not the E8x0, there's really no reason that it should be expected.

I had the N800 for over a year, and have recently gotten an N810. I'll confess my usage fluctuates from never touching it to daily usage, but there's several things that the Tablets do exceedingly well, in my opinion. However, everyone's usage and needs are different, so the things that I find useful won't be useful to everyone.

I just think it's interesting that 90% of the negative reviews mark the device for not doing/having something that it was never advertised/intended to do/have.

Kinda like knocking a Hummer for not getting 30mpg or going 250MPH.

Re: My little review of N810
 

I really dont think on any official Nokia page it was ever advertised as a Office work capable device, or either as a PIM.

It may be some enthisuastic forum members who advocated Abiword and Gnumeric, but certainly not from any Nokia channels.

While I am very happy with the Nokia N810 - since I need internet access to check personal emails and stocks while I am at office (corporate firewalls be demned), and for VoIP - regularly use Skype and Gizmo, I will certainly not suggest this device for anyone looking to replace their PDA.

Recently a friend saw my N810 and was very impressed (at first glance), and he wanted to know where to buy it, as he needs to replace his PDA. I told him not to go for the Nokia, as he essentially wants a Addressbook and Calendar.

Even with my experience (and patience to stand Linux's shortcomings) on Linux based PDA's like the Zaurus, the Nokia falls far short in the PIM and Office suite department.
But it excels where it advertises itself as - Internet browsing and VoIP.

Re: My little review of N810
 

well it is true. its just that i think Nokia could have done a better job here. Put a better GPS chip or fix the problem with current, install a faster CPU (N810 is lacking CPU power), support PAN out of the box, and finally make some sort of basic Office to open and edit Excel and Word docs. I really dont think its too much to ask, and this could have turned what now is a Internet Table into a Mini-Laptop.

If a forum member can enable PAN, if community is working on Word and Excel support, Why can't Nokia software engineers do this ?

Re: My little review of N810
 

There are two important things to note about the Internet Tablet.

1. It is still considered a geeky experiment at Nokia. I was at the event in Los Angeles late last year where Bill Plummer said that the 770 was targeted towards the uber-geek, the N800 was another step towards the consumer, and 'whatever's next' (which turned to be the N810 a month or so later) will be another small step towards the consumer.

2. Part of the experiment IS to let the community build what it wants. Part of the draw of using Linux is that it's rather easy (apparently) to port or develop applications. Nokia has taken a hands-off approach to the application community because it's still an experiment, and the community has done very well in terms of taking up that position. You look at things such as the media player. The Nokia one does the job, but it's ugly and doesn't offer much options. There are currently what, 7 different media players you can use on your Tablet? Obviously that's a large area of interest, and something that the community has really picked up on. Conversely, office and PIM suites I think are something that people want, but there's obviously not been enough hubbub or personal interest in them.

Re: My little review of N810
 

I agree. Is it just me, or have we just had a huge insurgence of people who bought the NIT without first doing their homework and then blaming it on the tablet?

Kolyan2k, pray tell, where in the world did you get the impression that the NIT did DOC/XLS?

Also, many of us have video running find on our NITs, and I, for one, spent a good part of a 7 hour flight watching 2007 and 2008 WRC highlights on my NIT. I challenge you to substantiate your statement.

I can't comment on the GPS, but my N800 works wonders with my Holux GPS236Slim and Maps / Maemo Mapper, and found it good enough to know that a semi-pro motorsport datalogging and analysis application can be built to run on OS2008.

rcadden is spot-on with his comments -- don't buy a damn Hummer and then go griping into the Hummer forum about how it doesn't do 30mpg if you didn't read the damn brochures to begin with.

While I have my gripes about the tablet and the couple of ESPECIALLY annoying bugs (to do with web text fields and handwriting input -- web text fields, not form fields), at least they are relevant to what is advertised to work and should be working, but aren't, and not complaining about things like OGG support, FM Radio, PIM and Office inadequacy, A2DP and PAN support.

You say the CPU is slow? That's relative. A Windows runs slowly on a Pentium III, but I find it more than adequate for DOS and probably LINUX command line. A fine balance needs to be struck between pricing, battery life, and UI, so if you want a device that's fast, small, light, has instant-on, 4 hour battery life, great video playback, GPS, then don't complain if it costs $5000.

Re: My little review of N810
 

I think the problem that people are facing, along with myself, is that we see the potential in the "tablet" to do much more, but is obviously limited in many ways.

If you see the PSP community or the iphone community, they have taken those products and made those devices to do so much more then what they are meant to do initially. I guess people have been expecting or hoping for some of the same, specailly ones who have owned or used many of these types of 'gadgets'

I wouldn't get upset at someone, if they expect or want more out of their product.

Me personally, I feel short-changed with this product, although I still like it.

Hopefully the N850 or the final N900 comes out with EVERYTHING built in. :)

Re: My little review of N810
 

I agree with this wholeheartedly. The key is that the community did it, and that's what Nokia's goal is (I think) with the Tablet experiment. Personally I think the hardware is completely there for a consumer device, save for the cam (which really should be least 1.3megapixel, and popup from the top, somewhat where the power button is, rotatable).

However, the software is what's lacking, but I see areas where this has come an extremely long way since OS2007.

In any case, Nokia provides you everything you need to create applications. There's even tutorials available showing you how to develop for Maemo, so the limitation is really only in the time that the community wishes to invest.

And I still think that giving a device a poor review based on things it wasn't designed to do is not a legitimate review. If the marketing gave you other perceptions as to what the device was able to do, then criticise the marketing, not the device.

Re: My little review of N810
 

I've been doing a little searching and OQO Model 02 is pretty impressive. That thing can replace the whole laptop/desktop. It can even output 1920x1200 via HDMI/DVI port. so i will think about getting this used maybe. another great little PMP is Archos 605 WIFI. reviews state that its better then N800 as a web browser, much better media player, and is cheaper then N810, battery life is probably longer too.

Re: My little review of N810
 

Reviews lie. The Archos may be fantastic PMPs, but they're garbage for pretty much anything beyond that.

Re: My little review of N810
 

Reviews lie. I 100% agree.

I window-shopped and watched the Archos in Manhattan, NY they looked awfully nice, except they are big. I have not touched one. Kind to share your thought about Archos that "...garbage for pretty much anything..."

BTW, I dont care what the review said, I have my eeePC sitting on the floor of my desk for ages. The eeePC is cute. And that is ALL about it. I am using/carrying/fiddling/tweeking my tablets every single seconds (In front of me, are my favorite toys, 770/2007He, N800/2008Os and N810/2008Os). People posted and debated and debated about N8x0 vs eeePC ............ what suit your taste and work for you is YOUR device. Period.



Thanks,



bun

Re: My little review of N810
 

My buddy has the Archos, and he loves it for what it is - a PMP with a huge internal drive and great screen. However, when he sees me tether my N810 to my phone for data, and run apps and stuff, he's way more impressed. I don't know what model Archos he has, so I don't know if there's a higher one with bluetooth, for isntance, but I know that all these different PMPs/UMPCs really depend upon what you want the thing to do.

Re: My little review of N810
 

The biggest problem with the Archos is that the OS just isn't intended for anything outside of PMP. So it's really good at that but everything else is A. For-pay (heck, even some codec support is for-pay), and B. Just not very good.

If PMP is what you're going to do, you can't really go wrong with the Archos, but as soon as you start trying to branch out into other things with them is gets nasty and expensive.

Re: My little review of N810
 

was also checking out these devices:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/10/s...indows-mobile/
http://www.imate.com/product.aspx?product=ultimate9502

probably will be around $700-$900 which is alot

Re: My little review of N810
 

I wouldn't say that the n810 lacks ways to edit office documents. Take a look at the version of kde that has been ported to OS2008. It comes with a whole bunch of applications including word and excel equivalents.
While the GPS performance isn't the best you should keep in mind that there is a possible leapyear bug in effect right now. There's also the possibilty to tether the tablet to an external gps if needed.
If you look at the forrm factor, price, screen, functions and open source aspect there's nothing that beats the n810 if you ask me.

Re: My little review of N810
 

interesting.....did you install KDE on your Nokia ? I did read about this just now, but it looks like not an easy procedure. and does the bluetooth PAN work on KDE ?

Re: My little review of N810
 

Yes, I did. I bought an external 2 GB minisd card to test the KDE environment but I believe it is possible to set it up on the internal card if you remove the maps.
You had to jump through some hoops to complete the installation but I reckon that almost anyone can do it provided that they follow the guide.

I am not sure about PAN in KDE; to get a good answer your best bet would be to post a question in the KDE-forum.

Re: My little review of N810
 

If you know how to open/tar a compressed file, you would be able to install KDE. Here is the step by step guide, http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...t=15491&page=7, thread #66. There are only 4 steps, and the step 4 is to enjoy. I have done it both way, using the .deb or using the tar and I would be glad to walk you thru and share my experience with you.

Christian K: May I help you to try to install KDE. It is a very fun OS on the tablet.


bun

Re: My little review of N810
 

bunanson: I have it up and running already so no help is needed :)