Hi from Adam in NYC.

Here is a quick fix for the slight play on the long door of the N800. Remove the door. Behind the release is an offset square foot. Place a piece of tape on the foot. Replace door. No more play in the door.

Enjoy.

Long door == battery cover?
Foot == magnetic sensor to detect when battery cover is replaced (thus rendering internal memory card available)?

I did think about slipping in a blob or two of strategically placed blu-tac myself...

I don't own a N800 myself, but reading that people need to fix design issues on brand new devices with blu-tac doesn't make me want to run and get one.

It's not really a problem - the battery cover isn't a perfect fit so it moves about ever so slightly (by a fraction of a millimeter in my case). The movement may annoy some, but the rest probably wouldn't even notice it until it's pointed out to them.

Actually now that I've looked at the battery cover again, it's not that it moves around it's just that there's a tiny amount of "play" when you rap/tap the cover with your fingers. Placing some padding (foam, thin card, tape, thin blue-tac) on the inside of the cover will solve the problem by eliminating the play. That said the amount of play is tiny and shouldn't concern anyone.

Plastic fits can be bothersome. Due to shrinkage of mating parts you can end up with either an interference fit somewhere along the profile or a loose fit. Personally I'd rather have the latter, but not too much of course. I also don't see a real need for tape or other sticky stuff.

As a former product designer I personally don't view the looseness I've seen as a problem. It's the nature of the beast. That said, this can (and probably will) be finessed by the Nokia design team and supplier(s) so that a good, snug, consistent fit is achieved. After all, the phone battery covers fit perfectly, as does the 770's.

yeah, i wouldn't call it a flaw. just annoying to us anal-retentive.

Yeah, but it's not a design problem, it's a manufacturing "problem".
(Since this ancient thread got bumped, anyway...)

I noticed that it used a magnet to detect if the door was closed when I held my blackberry holster (uses a magnet to stay closed) close to the back of my N800 and it started complaining that the door was open.