Just how robust are the N8*0s anyway?
 

I accidentally managed to throw my N810 across the room yesterday, I'd put it on top of a book and forgot it was there... Picked up the book at speed, and shot the N810 across the other side of the room, where it hit to bookcase and fell to the floor! It survived without a scratch :D

But this lead me to wonder just how accident proof these things are?

Not that I'm planning to go throwing it anywhere else... :p

Re: Just how robust are the N8*0s anyway?
 

Obviously no one should TRY to damage their device, but Nokia does have quite a rigorous testing facility for their hardware:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...21695595&hl=en

For those who can't be bothered to watch the video, they basically run the devices through every possible way of damaging them (multi-point bending, heat, moisture, dryness, immersion, splashes, repeated use, repeated tumbling, dropping from heights etc.) and keep doing that until they break. Then they study how the device breaks so they know where the weak points are and how they can be reduced.

They're not guaranteeing it will survive these things, obviously if you drop your tablet in a river it won't be covered by Nokia's warranty. But what they're trying to do is reduce the damage that happens even when you step outside the limits of the official guarantee.

One interesting fact: a device lasts longer if it has gaps in all sides, because it stops moisture collecting. If you look on any Nokia device practically every side of it has some kind of gap or button.

Re: Just how robust are the N8*0s anyway?
 

A shorter video summarizing the test process:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqB4UdpUoGM

Re: Just how robust are the N8*0s anyway?
 

my n800has survived many falls onto hard surfaces. my friend dropped his ipod touch from his lap and the glass screen cracked. yea, the ipod design is pretty, but it's not so pretty wearing a rubber case. i've never needed a case for this thing.

Re: Just how robust are the N8*0s anyway?
 

I can also vouch for the durability of the tablets. I and my daughter have dropped my N800s repeatedly and I have even accidentally submerged one of my N800s for a significant period of time when my water bottle was not properly closed in my backpack. I let the tablet dry out and it worked (mostly) fine (the sound from the speakers was never 100% after that).

Re: Just how robust are the N8*0s anyway?
 

Previous top-notch Nokia phones - the Communicators - had big problems at their hinges, which sooner or later cracked. Maybe the testing facility wasn't involved in their design...

Re: Just how robust are the N8*0s anyway?
 

(I dunno... I thought Communicators were pretty durable myself, especially the E90! But everyone treats things differently and I haven't used Communicators in the long term.)

Design and reliability are two separate things which may or may not be related.

As I said in another thread, the test facility tests the design to death, but they don't test all the millions of devices that are actually manufactured.

If a factory doesn't stick to the design specs 100% then problems may come up that are nothing to do with the design, for example if sub-standard components are used then stuff may fail more often than it should. (That's what happened to the very first batch of 5800s, and Nokia was forced to change earpiece suppliers.)

So you'd have to look at two things with a device's reliability: is the device's design reliable, and is the mass production factory reliable?

That would explain why devices are more reliable from some factories than others, because some factories may be sticking more closely to the official design than others. I think a lot of people on here have said that tablets made in some countries seem to be more reliable than the same tablets made in other countries.

Re: Just how robust are the N8*0s anyway?
 

OTOH the 2mm charging plug is a piece of sh**. My n800 fell while charging and that was enough to break both the plug (no big deal) and the socket (big deal).
Luckily I could somewhat repair the socket with some foam, but that didn't give me the impression of a robust device (and the fact that the screen died all by itself also reinforced my negative impression).

Re: Just how robust are the N8*0s anyway?
 

Now that you mention it, my biggest complaint about the N800's design is the hair-thin charging plug. I think all my chargers have bent plugs. The charging socket is poorly designed, too. I've had to take a pin and carefully bend the contact in the N800's charging socket in order to get the device to charge again.

Re: Just how robust are the N8*0s anyway?
 

The 2mm plug is being phased out in favour of the microUSB port being used for charging.

The five biggest phone manufacturers (Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, LG, Motorola) agreed to do this earlier this year, their aim is to have most new models using a single microUSB charging standard by 2012. Their chargers will be totally interchangeable.

There are already some Nokia models which use microUSB charging (for example the Nokia N85) and perhaps the next Maemo device will use microUSB charging too.

The idea is to gradually ramp up the percentage of devices with microUSB charging, though it can't happen overnight (it didn't happen overnight when they switched to 2mm either) because of the scale of production and the number of chargers already out there.

Re: Just how robust are the N8*0s anyway?
 

Just to add to that last post, I just checked and the N97 will use microUSB charging, so it does seem likely that the next Maemo device will use it too. Normally new standards start on the high end models and then make their way down to the cheaper ones (and that top-down movement was what happened with the 2mm charger standard).

Re: Just how robust are the N8*0s anyway?
 

Yes, but there is the whole host-mode thing -- not sure if the N97 has OTG, but I for one will be quite annoyed if they make it impossible or difficult to use USB peripherals while it's on the charger. (Of course, some have suggested two ports, one host mode, and one charging/device mode. I could work with that, although if you're gonna have two, make one host, and the other charging/OTG :D)

Re: Just how robust are the N8*0s anyway?
 

They could have a menu that pops up and lets you choose a mode whenever you plug a USB cable in, that's what they do on S60 (and if you only ever use one mode you could set it to be that by default).

EDIT: I see what you mean... simultaneous use of one USB port would indeed be physically impossible.

Re: Just how robust are the N8*0s anyway?
 

If it really becomes an adopted standard, hopefully it won't be long before someone makes a T plug charger or adapter.

Re: Just how robust are the N8*0s anyway?
 

:p I had no idea they tested products so... violently...

Mine has had milk spilled all over it before now, day after I took it out the box! It's amazing how resilient that they make these things!

I too have noticed that the charger thing is delicate...

A usb charge would be great in the future, but Benson has a good point! You then wouldn't be able to charge and use anything USBy... That would be a real pain!!

Re: Just how robust are the N8*0s anyway?
 

I put mine in my shirt pocket, probably looks geeky. As a result, I have droped it while tying my shoe or picking things up from about 2' hundreds of times on concrete, tile etc... Never had a problem with that. The charger did get bent, but not completely broken when it fell off the 2' nightstand.
I did slip out of my hand about 3' and sent it skidding face down across our concrete driveway. It skuffed up the cover pretty good. More recently, I was jumping in the driveway again and it slipped out of my shirt pocket falling at least 5'. It landed on the front top left and deforemed the faceplate around the buttons in a way I can't bend back into shape. This sent me searching for some replacement covers that were offered here, but seem to not be available anymore.

I also carry it in my front pants pocket without a cover and usually keep my keys in another pocket. The few times I got them mixed up hasn't damaged the screen.

Overall, I don't see any shortcomings in it's durability (except the wimpy charger plug). I also vote for USB charging, could even live with two USB ports.

Re: Just how robust are the N8*0s anyway?
 

i charge my n800 so often, i had to change the port a few months ago.

the charger was falling out, and all my charger pins have bent, having to toggle it to get charge

Re: Just how robust are the N8*0s anyway?
 

interesting name 'thegog' . .