I've been using my Nokia 770 for a few days now, getting a feel for it, and slowly learning its strengths and weaknesses. My post will be in comparison to my Zaurus 6000L, reluctantly sold recently to pay for my obsession with the ultimate portable computer. I also am using the most recent firmware as of this posting.
Although the 770 was only released in November, there have already been several firmware releases by Nokia, addressing issues with performance, and bugs.
I take exception to something dhns said:
"Screen layout is so that the active area for application windows (e.g. the Xterm or a Web page) is not larger than on a Zaurus"
Not true! Many apps feature a full screen mode for many applications, accessible via a button on the top of the device -- includes web browsing, some games, the book readers, and the x terminal. Web browser shows a small toolbar at the bottom of the screen in full screen mode. This means many of the websites which were awkward on the 640x480 screen might be "just right" on the 770's 800x480.
Pros:
- All the same positive notes that dhns had.
- Nokia has been quick to address issues with new firmware releases.
- Browsing the web and using applications has "seemed" quicker.*
- Third-party applications are popping up all the time; the "community" seems to be a growing one. Plus, these third-party apps are installing without errors, and usually working on the first try.
- Shipped in 8 days.
- The default sketching program is a LOT more responsive to drawing; it's fun to use!
- The default UI is much prettier, but less customizable.
- Smaller in all dimensions, and much lighter.
- FLASH PLAYER OMG! I played a couple Strongbad emails, and they worked, although there was some rendering lag on one of them.
- On-screen keyboard almost always comes up when needed, and is quick and easy to use. I have had few problems with shell commands because I only needed it long enough to install an SSH server.
- Flasher is dead-simple to use on Windows; flashers exist for Windows, Linux, and OSX.
Cons:
- I had issues with setting up WPA with my WRT54G, but I switched to the latest official Linksys firmware and have had no problems since.
- Bright areas on screen are "sparkly" like quartz. The Z6000L screen was superior in this regard, but for dark or complex, colorful images, it's still very attractive.
- The "direction pad" is not easy to use for games. Fine for Tetris, but that's about it.
- Uses RS-MMC cards, which are a little more expensive than SD, which means yet ANOTHER piece of flash to worry about. Fortunately, it comes with an adapter which allows you to use it as an SD card in other devices.
- I run out of memory very quickly when running more than one app; three seemed to be the limit.
- The cover is very thick and bulky, and has sharp edges.
- Ports on the bottom have NO COVER. USB, charger, mic, and phono are all exposed to dust, debris, etc. while on the road, although Nokia did include a soft bag that fits it very well.
- Like dhns said, the stand is pretty lame; the 6000L dock was very easy to use. You have to manually plug in the charger and/or USB cable when you want to use them, and since the stand sits so low, the cables and plugs are often in the way of just setting it down!
- Becoming root was more challenging than on the 6k.
- RS-MMC slot is hard to open.
General comments;
As a book reader, it is stellar. The large screen combined with the very pleasant fonts and software (white text on black background, though, to avoid sparklies) make it a winner for me -- lighter and easier to hold than my Zaurus was.
For ebook reading, and web browsing, I'm sold. The 770 seems to work perfectly for me. For a remote admin who needs to type a lot of stuff on the road, I can see where a device with a built-in keyboard would be more practical. For me, though, I mostly use it as a reader/reference/browser.
Show Posts