I've owned Windows Mobile and Palm devices in the past, both felt dumbed down and prevented me from getting "under the hood" which is why I bought a Nokia Internet Tablet and the first thing I did was install xterm.

Linux was very important to my buying decision. Other big factor was display resolution. It also helped that it had better storage options than 770, which I had previously avoided. I monitored internettablettalk and maemo.org for a while to be sure there was a lively community.

I had a Zaurus for about a year. I sold it when it became clear to me that Sharp would not continue the line, in the USA at least. I guess that decision indicates that the presence of an active community is important, because I felt that the community that existed for the Zaurus would inevitably wither after Sharp's various non-supportive moves.

One thing that bugs me about the community here is the insistence (as seen in the previous post) that Nokia develop the 770. When the successor to the N800 appears I will not expect continued development of the N800. I'll either buy the new thing if it fixes my complaints (mainly lack of daylight screen viewability) or move on to something else. I just can't think of an electronics package I've kept using for more than two or three years, given the pace of improvements.

Give this man a beer! He sure speaks alot of sense!

The only regret i have of not buying a Zaurus instead, is the lack of a huge community of 3rd party developers/porters.

I bought the n800 and 770 because they run linux and that was the main reason. I looked at the Zaurus for a long time, but I never made the leap. While I have been disappointed along the way with some of the decisions Nokia has made, this device is a dream for me. I can compile and run tons of applications, not sure why everyone is complaining. N770 was a dream for me and with people like gnuite and others there are real useful applications for the maemo platform. If you want to compile and run apps without changing the code, use openbox or KDE, or compile your own window manager, because this is linux and you can do that quite easily.

Again while Nokia could have done a better job in many areas, the community has a opportunity to push the envelope show what this device can do. I think I have proven that this device can be used far beyond maemos capabilities, but without people out here in the real world compiling and writing code the option to have a solid WM alternative to maemo wont exist. I had hoped KDE or windowmaker in your hand would push some real developers to step up with an alternate WM, but none yet that I am aware of.


Linux Rules !!! whether on a furby or a Mainframe Linux Rules !!!

rickh is right on, I do everything that I did on the Zaurus on the N800, and more. The device is much better suited to entertainment, and with 3rd-party apps, can do more than I was able to do on the Zaurus.

Sharp essentially did the same thing as Nokia is doing: The Sharp ROMs were an amalgamation of open and closed-source software (for example the 5500's are stuck on kernel 2.4.18, because of a binary-only SD card driver). Much of the great software for the Z's came from 3rd party developers, just like for the Maemo/N770/N800 platform. OpenZaurus has made great strides in making a fully open ROM, but as I'm sure their developers will attest to, it's a lot of effort to develop and support. Will a N770/N800 ROM develop in time? Perhaps; KDE and WindowMaker on the device show some of the potential.

The bad of the N800 vs. the Zaurus? Missing thumb keyboard, missing CF slot. However, given that bluetooth is available, the keyboard is somewhat moot, and while the CF would be nice, the form factor would have been that much larger with a CF slot. I'd love a port of the Ko/PI PIM suite, also!

In other words, I really love my N800, and only really liked my Zaurus (5500 & 5600). Maybe I'd feel different if I had sprung for a clamshell model, but the N800 has enough nice features like built-in wifi that I find myself using it more
than I used my Zaurus.

None of the poll options work for me. My answer would be "not specifically but it is a welcome feature".

- Linux
- WiFi
- Gorgeous screen
- Linux

Bought my 770 for:
-internet connectivity on the go (wi-fi AND Bluetooth);
-screen size/resolution;
-audio/video;
-PIM capabilities;
-ease of use;
-size and look of device;
-price

Linux actually scared me a little since I had no experience with it, but I am learning…so I wouldn't say I bought it for Linux but I've kept it because of Linux and the 3rd party apps it affords.