New Nokia N810 Tablet Coming Soon

[iwantprogress]

compared to z, seems like this:

+1 memory
-1 even less total storage
+1 screen
-1 no debian yet
+1 wifi
-1 cf
+1 maybe will have more anglophone users?
-1 clamshell
-5 keyboard might not be as ergonomically thumbable
? support for hw in e.g. debian?
? weight
? speed
? sound
? reliability

score = -5 + ?

[Capn_Fish]

I'd add some points for the higher clock speed.

[rickh]

I would change a couple of things:

+ Total storage works out to be what the current kernel on the N800 supports, so I don  really se that as a problem.
+ You do have Debian.  You've had Debian since the N770.
+ No Cf cards is fine with me. SD is enough of a standard that cards are plentiful.  What cheeses me is the Micro SD cards.  Many, many current tablet owners have standard sized SD cards that are now no longer of use in the new tablet.
+ Obviously oriented to English-speaking users.

I won't give a plus or minus to either the clamshell or keyboard.  They're both highly subjective.  I will comment, however, that the clamshell design seems to be out, and the slate form factor seems to be in these days (as witnessed by the myriad of UMPCs and upcoming MID designs).  It would be nice if they included a cover-protector like they did on the N770 though.  I've mentioned before that when I bought the N800 I thought I'd miss the Zaurus' thumb board, and didn't (and still don't), so that's why I say that it's also subjective.

R.
==

compared to z, seems like this:

+1 memory
-1 even less total storage
+1 screen
-1 no debian yet
+1 wifi
-1 cf
+1 maybe will have more anglophone users?
-1 clamshell
-5 keyboard might not be as ergonomically thumbable
? support for hw in e.g. debian?
? weight
? speed
? sound
? reliability

score = -5 + ?

[tml]

The usb still isn't a host, is it? Or if it is it's unpowered again? I'd give at least 5 points for this.

[rickh]

The usb still isn't a host, is it? Or if it is it's unpowered again? I'd give at least 5 points for this.

It's USB OTG, according to what I've read.  Not as good as host-mode, but if you've got an OTG device, it'll handle it.

R.
==

[tml]

It's USB OTG, according to what I've read.  Not as good as host-mode, but if you've got an OTG device, it'll handle it.

I assume a keyboard and a usb modem aren't otg devices? I often use a usb keyboard and I'm not conviced that a bluetooth keyboard is a viable alternative.

I also agree to some degree with the complaint about the slate design. I now manage to write quite well on the zaurus keyboard when it rests on the desk. I assume the n810 won't be easy to read when lying flat on the desk and typing with 6 to 10 fingers.

Anyway, according to http://europe.nokia.com/A4568593 they now use a mozilla-based browser. And there are localized versions of the keyboard.

Does somebody know how good the pdf-reader is? Is it made by Adobe?

[speculatrix]

I think the keyboard is quite a subjective issue, whether it's going to be "good enough" for you, or frustratingly limited. Increasing the on-board flash to 2GB is a good move, that would at least have compensated for losing one SD slot.

Lack of a CF slot is not a big issue since less and less things use them - I only use mine for wifi or bluetooth and very rarely a GSM/GPRS card, and since both my mobile phones are bluetooth I wouldn't now miss the use of the use of the latter.

The N770 was quite a daring move into a niche market, the 800 fixed many of its flaws to become close to many handheld-linuxer's  ideal. The N800 , to my mind, had two real flaws - a faulty design of the video interface restricting bandwidth and not having USB host mode. I guess many of us hoped that the N810 (or N900 as many hoped it would be) would put the icing on the cake with the rumoured keyboard and possible GPS.

I think the N810 has taken a step back towards the limitations of the 770, without giving us enough back! So, yes, I am somewhat disappointed, as details have emerged I've gone from "almost definitely buy" to "wait till the 820 or 900"!

[fpp]

I'd add some points for the higher clock speed.

You shouldn't. As noted, N800 will run just the same as N810 with an OS2008 upgrade.

[fpp]

I would change a couple of things:

+ Total storage works out to be what the current kernel on the N800 supports, so I don  really se that as a problem.
+ You do have Debian.  You've had Debian since the N770.
+ No Cf cards is fine with me. SD is enough of a standard that cards are plentiful.  What cheeses me is the Micro SD cards.  Many, many current tablet owners have standard sized SD cards that are now no longer of use in the new tablet.
+ Obviously oriented to English-speaking users.

I suppose that last one means "non-japanese" users ?

It gets better than that : non-japanese, non-english users are first-class citizens with Nokia too, because of its european roots. The tablets are perfectly localized in at least seven languages, and the hardware keyboard will be, too. A refreshing change for some of us :-)

[RX Shorty]

I think the N810 has taken a step back towards the limitations of the 770, without giving us enough back! So, yes, I am somewhat disappointed, as details have emerged I've gone from "almost definitely buy" to "wait till the 820 or 900"!

I agree with waiting for the next step...
 

[rickh]

...
I assume a keyboard and a usb modem aren't otg devices? I often use a usb keyboard and I'm not conviced that a bluetooth keyboard is a viable alternative.
...
Does somebody know how good the pdf-reader is? Is it made by Adobe?

I've not seen an OTG keyboards, just disks so far, but I believe the spec allows for them.  That said, I've been using a bluetooth keyboard with my N800 for quite some time and, at least for me, it's very usable.

I don't believe the PDF reader is by Adobe, but it's usable.  There is also a port of Evince available, which I think is a bit more flexible than the included PDF reader.

R.
==

[Capn_Fish]

I'd add some points for the higher clock speed.

You shouldn't. As noted, N800 will run just the same as N810 with an OS2008 upgrade.

I didn't know if that was fact or speculation, but I did read it. Sorry for the misinformed post, then.

[mars]

I'd add some points for the higher clock speed.

You shouldn't. As noted, N800 will run just the same as N810 with an OS2008 upgrade.

I didn't know if that was fact or speculation, but I did read it. Sorry for the misinformed post, then.

Capn, I don't think apologies are needed. You have to sift through I think now hundreds of posts over at internettablettalk to try to separate fact from speculation. The original postings implied that the N810 had a 20% speed increase in the CPU. Later posts implied that the CPU is the same but the N800 was underclocked and that with OS2008 you should get the 400 mHz. Although, I haven't found an "official" reference that says what you do and don't get with OS2008 on a N800.

For those trying to decide between a N800 and a N810, I'd say that the N800 with an OS2008 upgrade sounds like the better deal for almost half the price.

Having both a N800 and a Zaurus Cl-3100, I don't find the N800 to be a zaurus replacement for me. Although, the N800 is cool for the convenient and great connectivity aspect.

The N810 might be a zaurus killer when maemo can be ditched and it can run something like pdaXrom or Angstrom or Titchy or BSD as well as the zaurus can. But consider that because Nokia is still actively behind the device and maemo development that it may take a fair amount of time before the N810 has as active a community as the zaurus dedicated to improving alternative "distros." And then, where will the zaurus community be by then?

The zaurus killer I'm waiting for is something not much bigger than the zaurus, with linux installed as default, and can run all the apps (including java) that I have become accustomed to on the desktop. Until then, I think the eeePC will take my next discretionary linux dollars.

[fpp]

I'd add some points for the higher clock speed.

You shouldn't. As noted, N800 will run just the same as N810 with an OS2008 upgrade.

I didn't know if that was fact or speculation, but I did read it. Sorry for the misinformed post, then.

Don't be sorry (should have included the smiley...).

It won't be fact till someone can actually run OS2008 on an N800 and compare it to an N810.

But it's more than the usual clueless blog/newssite rumor too, with sources apparently deep in Nokia tech teams, and it sounds plausible.

OTOH maybe I'll be the one handing out excuses inside a month :-)