Re: speakers.

For the minimal space and power drain, I think the speakers (on N800) are great! Unlike an mp3 player which does nothing but play music, there are many activities on N800 that benefits from the great mini speakers:

- Web audio
- VOIP speakerphones
- Games (Scummvm is great on the N800!)
- Alarms (VOIP, IM, PIM?)

Besides, the N800 audio out doesn't seem to be of that high quality. I hear much more noise from the N800 compared to my Cowon D2 (w/ Shure or Ultimate Ears earphones).

Eh, gimme stereo over mono any day. Just wish there could be a bit more bass...

I'm with Texrat on this one. I think one of HP's biggest mistakes with the HP Compaq tc4400 TabletPC was a mono speaker on the left. I'd hate to see Nokia go mono with an internet tablet.

The stereo speakers are only about 4.5 inches apart. That means the ideal listening position is what, 3.9 inches from the screen? I'm thinking the speakers are effectively mono already.

Yep, or even put it on the back of the device which is where it is on my Sony Ericsson W950i Walkman phone - a phone designed to carry on the tradition of the Sony Walkman range, and it only has one mono speaker (very thin, and very loud, must be some sort of electrostatic speaker). No pretentions from Sony that stereo is possible or even worthwhile on a small handheld device.

Sony made the right choice - one speaker is sufficient for the alarm and system sounds, and also to sample a few minutes of audio or video. If you want high quality sound, connect a wired or Bluetooth A2DP stereo headset.

Nokia should make the same design choice with the successor to the N800 - the second stereo speaker adds to the size and weight of the device without really contributing significantly to the overall experience.

Has the iPod Touch got even a single speaker? I don't think it has...

I've listened to devices with mono and devices with stereo, and every time, the stereo device wins out in sound quality. What is needed is some sort of equalizer in the multimedia applications.

Speaker vs no speaker = probably a worthwhile discussion.

Mono vs stereo speaker = ??

What do you gain if you lose one tiny speaker anyhow? I mean, I'd understand if the discussion points to the benefits, such as:

"I wish the screen covers the whole FACE of the tablet up to the edges, SO LET'S LOSE THE SPEAKERS"

"Oh, if we lose one speaker, we can make the battery to last 15% longer!"

I mean, what are you saying ppl? Why don't you want a freebie if it doesn't cost you anything anyway, and it benefits a portion of the users. You may come to enjoy the feature when you don't expect it anyway, and it's good that it's already there.

Like the FM Radio. (ha!)

Will having none, mono, or stereo speaker will greatly affect the NIT value? Will it gain significantly more marketshare in any one of those configuration than the rest? Or is this just a personal preference based on a single person's observation based on his own experience with limited needs?

Let's move the discussion to something more meaningful :]

Good post ysss, I think you have nailed it there.

here, here!

Yeah, I guess it's not really a big deal either way. Just something to draw attention to the other more important shortcomings, such as a useful email client or some "out of the box" PIM apps for example. The hardware is nearly perfect in my eyes, and we have little control over that part of the package anyways. The software is certainly not perfect, and both the NIT community and Nokia do have control over it's evolution and growth. That's where the serious focus needs to be directed.

...and we come back to the topic of discussion sparked by the question, which is the title of this thread.