This device just launched in italy for 429 Euros unsubsidized. The specs are pretty compelling and the UI is pretty sexy and seems responsive.



INTEL Atom-based MID
512MB of RAM
2GB Flash memory
4.8-inch 800 x 480
WiFi / Bluetooth 2.0 / 7.2 mbs HSDPA
Full size SD slot

Its a little chunky in size though barely pocketable, i still will wait to see what the N900 will be all about.

link

http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/26/b...ts-up-in-ital/

video -

http://www.umpcportal.com/2008/08/be...verview-video/

That one looks very interesting. The video proved it wasn't vapourware for sure..

The user interface looked quite good.

The onscreen keyboard was substandard though, it only had letters on it and none of the really important keys (/\;| and so on), and no numerical keypad. That's what I like with the N800 onscreen keyboard compared to any of the others I've used - it's got the numerics right there (and other keys) with no need to hit an 'alt' or 'num' key.

The 2GB SSD looks like a design mistake to me. 2GB won't take you anywhere. They should have gone for an internal SD slot instead, it would have meant instant large-size internal flash for less cost, and given you flexibility.

I realized something while watching the video.. they way he held it looked clumsy to me (like he could drop it unless he wasn't careful). I'm so used to use the N800 stand to secure my grip that I can't imagine just holding it at the edge alone anymore.

But it looked like they've got a lot of things right with that machine.

Looks cool, anyone have an idea of the battery life?

With an Atom? It wont be long.

Figured as much, so probably something on the order of 2-4 hours like the rest of the Atom stuff. Nokia wins again!

The guy in the video mentioned 3 hours browsing time, which, even if it was just a guess, isn't much. My N800 can browse for days if the wi-fi router is good. Internet radio streaming is a different story though (vagalume seems to be much better than the built-in internet radio however).

The performance looked good though. But maybe we can get that kind of performance from the omap3 chipsets too.

Which do you all prefer.
Excellent battery life or excellent performance.

By excellent battery life I mean that you can have the device on doing typical task for 4-6 hours.
By excellent performance I mean that there is no perceived lag on anything whatsoever.

Nice form-factor, although it deserves better than 800x480.

Well, I'd rather have excellent performance, if that were possible. I've done some nice industrial-strength linear algebra work that would be very nice to have with no perceived lag -- but getting done overnight on a single-processor desktop was good enough.

Honestly, you can make every decision to be made in a design in favor of battery life. You will not sell any of the resulting product.

You can also make every decision in favor of performance. You'll sell the same number.

If you get something in the middle, people will buy it. So phrasing the question in terms of extremes (or one extreme and one fixed point) doesn't seem real helpful; I will say that I generally find myself dissatisfied with the battery life of a gadget more often than with its performance.

Hi,

Does it really need to be a choice?

I really like my N800 a lot but would like the video performance to be as good as it is on my Axim x50V.

For me, the lag in video play is not a deal breaker but will be for some.

Lousy battery life was a reason for me to buy my N800 and mothball my Axim.

David