Too many choices! I want YOUR opinion.
 

I am obviously new to these forums so, HI! Straight to business; I have been looking at tablets for a few months now and I am set on getting one. I have looked at features prices, some apps etc. but I do not know what to do!

I have looked at all areas and narrowed it down to two main choices because of functionality and price; the N770, N800 and I may be getting either an Archos 5 or an SL-C series Zaurus for Christmas. I could get a cheap refurbished 770 nowand not feel bad hacking it and possibly get a nicer Archos 770 or N800 later.

This is where you come in; what do you think is the best choice for my first tablet and why?

I am not afraid to hack, my PSP was flashed about 10 times before jacked up a connector on the motherboard and got too lazy to fix it.

Thanks in advance.

Re: Too many choices! I want YOUR opinion.
 

I like the N800, but I'm a bit biased. :D

Archos seems to love to make crippled devices, and I'm not familiar enough with the Zaurus to give an opinion. The 770 is cheap, but it's missing several important features of the N800/N810 (CPU, RAM, standard memory card slots).

Re: Too many choices! I want YOUR opinion.
 

The main reason I wanted to start with the 770 is; I can get one for very little and I think it would be a good start. I know it is slower than the 800 but has anyone used the Archos?

Re: Too many choices! I want YOUR opinion.
 

Get an N800 (or N810 of course) if you want to hack and an Archos if you just want to watch movies. The 770 and the Zaurus just don't have enough RAM to comfortably run a modern browser. Also, people just aren't releasing things as much for the 770 and Zaurus any more.

Re: Too many choices! I want YOUR opinion.
 

i agree with Johnx.
get n810 if you can. forgot about the Archos, it's pretty good for watching videos on the plane like but the n810 can do that and much much more.

Re: Too many choices! I want YOUR opinion.
 

In things like leafpad, and Abbi, can I print directly to a wifi printer?

EDIT: I already have a 404 cam but the email client on the Archos did look nice.

Re: Too many choices! I want YOUR opinion.
 

or maybe one could have a long hard look at the pandora.

but that wont exactly be a christmas gift...

Re: Too many choices! I want YOUR opinion.
 

So what exactly do you intend to use the device for?

Re: Too many choices! I want YOUR opinion.
 

My main purposes would be; internet (obviously), I HAVE to have a good text editor and I would like to be able to connect to a printer wirelessly to print. If not, it needs to be rich text or somethign similar so I can sync and print. While nice, I just hate lugging around a 17" media laptop everywhere, especially with the battery life. Anything else is really extra and I would like to have some other features like RSS, flash support, and things of that nature but my highest priority besides the aforementioned typing and such is an IRC client or Gmail support. Really I would like to have the 800 and I LOVE the webcam function but since I have a good chance of getting one for Christmas I am wondering if the 770 is good just to tinker with, have around, and use for some of these functions.

Thank You!

Re: Too many choices! I want YOUR opinion.
 

You are going to have a lot of trouble with this. CUPS, which allows Linux to print, is huge. It IS possible, so I would go with a N810 because

Keyboard is obviously good for text!
Best internet browser (aside from n800)
Can print wireless (sorta)

Re: Too many choices! I want YOUR opinion.
 

Thanks, I watched a bunch more videos and read, so I think I will get a 810 just because I would rather have more power than a possible 6 gigs in the 800 but Thanks! It is still hard to turn down that 770 though :(

I do like the rotating cam but we'll see how things pan out.

Re: Too many choices! I want YOUR opinion.
 

what did you mean when you replyed "6 gigs in the 800"?

Re: Too many choices! I want YOUR opinion.
 

The N800 is great. The advantages N810 has over it are
-better screen
-thumbboard
-gps
If you don't need them or are tight on money, get a N800.

Re: Too many choices! I want YOUR opinion.
 

What?????? :eek::eek::eek:

You flipped N810 and N800!

Remember, N800 can have 64GB of memory cards, N810 can only have 38.

Re: Too many choices! I want YOUR opinion.
 

for me the physical keyboard + GPS makes the difference.

Re: Too many choices! I want YOUR opinion.
 

If you get a 770 you will regret it soon. The 770s have a design flaw that tends to cause the screen to die (look up: white screen of death or WSOD). Also people just aren't developing software for them anymore and they're slow. Spring for the N800. Look on the "for sale" section of this very forum. In terms of hardware the N800s are really solid because they have no moving parts except the stand, so buying a used one shouldn't be much of a problem. If you get a 770 you'll be tinkering with slow, crashy, 1-2 year old software alone, for a couple months until the screen dies and it becomes a brick. Ask for cash for Christmas, then sell some blood, mow some lawns, and put it towards an N800. :)

Edit: Also, note about the N800 vs N810: They have the same CPU and RAM. The N800 can hold two 32GB SDHC cards for a total of 64GB. The N810 can hold one miniSDHC or microSDHC, biggest size right now is 16GB + 2GB included storage. The big reason to go for the N810 is the keyboard, and the big thing going for the N800 is price.

Re: Too many choices! I want YOUR opinion.
 

You don't need the huge CUPS package to print, you can use either of two or three other small packages, e.g. the very small 'lprng' package which I made available (there's a link somewhere in another thread).

In any case, the problem is not to print, the problem, if you will, is that to print you need the file in a printable (for your networked printer) format already. The built-in browser and other applications don't have a print function, i.e. they will not format the current web page, for example, into a printable format.

If you, on the other hand, have postscript or pdf files or pictures (or whatever your printer can eat), then it's just a question of 'lpr filename'.

Re: Too many choices! I want YOUR opinion.
 

No I didn't. At least for me the only worthwhile upgrade in N810 is the better screen, but at the cost of the memory card slot, rotating camera, and better looks *cough* it's just not worth it. :)

Re: Too many choices! I want YOUR opinion.
 

actually one can have 32 gigs plus the 2 onboard in the n810 if you buy the adapter made by craves1 there is a thread about it in the N810 section

Re: Too many choices! I want YOUR opinion.
 

I had the exact same thought as you about getting the Nokia 770 to "figure it out" But it turned out that figuring it out wasnt very hard and the limitations of 770 drove me insane, to a point of wanting to throw it against a wall, I just got my n810 and oh my man, it is a god send. If i had todo it all over again, I would have gotten a n800, which is pretty much the n810 hardware wise, so far better then the n770, not much more and fully functional. Anyways, my 2cent, dont do it, you'll save yourself a headache, although I guess I can fully appreciate the n810.

Re: Too many choices! I want YOUR opinion.
 

I originally got a 770, thinking I didn't really need the extra features on the n800. My 770 got the white screen of death, and after talking to Nokia a couple of times, they sent me a n800 in exchange. Now having a n800, I have to say: go with a n800 above a 770. The better CPU makes a world of difference, and it's almost impossible to find RS-MMC cards for the 770 (yes, amazon has them, but only up to 2 GB). Also, new applications are constantly being released for the n800, while the 770 has been slightly left in the dust.