I just sold my N810 to someone and he asked me a question to which I didn't have a good answer. He tried to use the device with the keyboard closed, and the touch screen wouldn't respond.

When I owned the device, this occurred as well, but I assumed everything was "locked" until you slid open the keyboard. I always opened up the keyboard before using it.

So, did I sell him a defective device, or is this how it's supposed to work? I can't find any good information on this, though it seems like a pretty basic mode of operation.

Thanks.

Yes the touchscreen should work when the keyboard is closed.

perhaps its the auto-lock feature available through the display settings (tap the brightness icon in the system tray). This would lock the screen and buttons when the screen blanks.

One way to test is tap the screen or buttons when locked and it displays in the upper-right corner "move [picture of lock slider] to unlock"

When you slide out the keyboard, lock is disabled.

I myself do not use the auto-lock, me thinks it is disabled by default.

Yes, you can use the touch screen with the keyboard hidden.

Make sure that the Control Panel > Text Input Settings > On-screen > Enable Stylus Input Methods is checked.

That's usually turned off if you ever have reflashed a NIT. And it's easily overlooked too...