Nokia N810

[jpmatrix]

tell us more about browsing under the n810 : how fast is it ? are all web sites render with frames and javascript ?
for example maps.google.com or www.facebook.com
how are adobe flash pages managed ?

[Tom61]

Very tempting, particularly with OS2008.

nilch: I wouldn't get your hopes up too high on a functional QT port. There was a good run at getting QT working on the 770, but that went nowhere. It seems difficult to install and doesn't have control of things like powering down.

jpmatrix: There are Youtube videos showing how the N800 (before and after OS2008) performs on websites. It has Adobe Flash Player 9, that works with nearly everything from what I've seen on Youtube and on Internet Tablet Talk.

[Antikx]

I realize I'm pure evil for posting this, but dell is selling the N800 for 75$ off for the next couple days.

Woah, for a moment I read that as Dell is selling it for $75 and I instaltly jumped up and went to the site looking up for a $75 N800. Alas, that was not to be - its for $199 after a $75 off.
Actually many retailers (Buy.com) also had it for $199 for quite sime time (and for Black Friday).

I can't justify another N800 to wifey, after the N810  - but could have if it was for $75     - with enough love  to go with it  

hee hee. ya $75 would be sweet.

Buy.com says it's selling it for $229
did they raise it?

[speculatrix]

Buy.com says it's selling it for $229
did they raise it?

My brother and I bought one each, paying $229 from Amazon, because they had stock and we could trust them to deliver next day to his friend who we discovered was coming to England at short notice. They arrived yesterday (Mon 3rd), and I'm itching to get my hands on mine!

[Antikx]

The deal on Dell's site is gone now.

[speculatrix]

QT for the OS2008 (the OS for N810 and N800 devices).

I downloaded the .install file, which is basically a debian apt/sources.list entry, and it looks like this:
[install]
repo_name = Qt4
repo_deb  = deb http://qt4.garage.maemo.org/ chinook user
package   = qt4-maemo-example


and it looks like someone is already using it:
http://www.internettablettalk.com/forums/s...ead.php?t=12675

[tux]

 Would this whole thread not be better under the Nokia Tablets forum?  

Just wondering..

[freizugheit]

Oops, N810 might be in your Christmas gift list after reading this  review.

[jan]

I bought one, as the Zaurii are dying (no vendor support, Angstrom people more into OpenMoko than Z), I feel it makes a good substitute. The N810 keyboard ist not as good as the one of the clamshell Z. The German variant doesn't lacks a $ key (but has ä ö ü €), certainly not targeted for coders.

My first impressions review

[Antikx]

Thanks for the mini review and pictures Jan. Well done!

[speculatrix]

I bought one, as the Zaurii are dying (no vendor support, Angstrom people more into OpenMoko than Z), I feel it makes a good

actually, angstrom is soon to achieve a release milestone - will probably actually succeed too (provided they don't argue too much!)

if openmoko makes it big, I could imagine it being a good distro for the Z, and Debian is doing quite well based on the Angstrom kernel, and Android is causing a lot of interest.

The Z may be resting, but there's still a lot of life in the old gal yet!

[AmigaFalcon]

I think its obvious that Sharpe have totally abandoned the Z. But, really, does the fact that the Z has no "official" commercial support REALLY matter that much? After all, the Commodore Amiga has been commercially dead for over 12 years now. There is virtually no commercial interest/support for the Amiga, yet it has an AMAZING vibrant community full of people still developing for it.

I think the Z will head the same way, it will continue to grow under its own steam and it will retain those users who truly love this unique platform. The Z will go down as a "classic" computer in time and if you take a look around at other, older, "classic" platforms (such as the Amiga, C64, Apple Newton, etc) you realize that there is no fear for the Z's future. Those who love to use their Z's will be able to do so for MANY years to come, despite the lack of commercial support. The Z "community" will keep it alive if it is strong enough (which I feel it is)

All this talk of a "Zaurus replacement" and this apparent manic obsession with OTHER (newer) devices seems to be coming from those people who simply crave the latest and greatest. Which is great, for them. But, personally, I love the Z for its unique design and really do not think any other device (including the N810) could replace the Z.

There is pretty much NO hope for the Z to be a commercial success again, I think. We should just accept that fact and begin to appreciate the Z for what it is and focus on creating our own system of support and development. WE DO NOT NEED COMMERCIAL BACKING TO MAKE OUR Z A SUCCESS!!

[ZDevil]

Well said.
Allow me to say one thing: with the official support from standard *nix distros (like OpenBSD and Debian, and possibly Android in future as well), the Z will last for years to come for sure.

[speculatrix]

There is pretty much NO hope for the Z to be a commercial success again, I think. We should just accept that fact and begin to appreciate the Z for what it is and focus on creating our own system of support and development. WE DO NOT NEED COMMERCIAL BACKING TO MAKE OUR Z A SUCCESS!!

the Z has never been a commercial success outside Japan! However, I strongly agree with you.

I sometimes wonder if these machines become a cult success because they're abandoned by the commercial companies and thus they leave the community rather than interfere.  An (over-)simplified example of corporate interference might be Sony's MyLo.

e.g.1. The original MyLo product (my life online) using Sony's "Clie" line was a failure. The dedicated Mylo1 was a failure, The Mylo2 looks set to repeat many of the same mistakes. They're almost completely closed platform despite being Linux + QT based!

e.g.2. The Sony Clie Palms, which were fairly open because anyone could get hold of the Palm SDK, were pretty successful and many people rated their hardware highly, even though Sony weren't brilliantly helpful to their developers; like Sharp, they abandoned the developer's forums despite protestations (if I recall correctly).

e.g.3. The Nokias are successful, with Nokia having a good community around the machines and not trying to limit what people can do with them. Even the original 770  despite its failings was still a popular device.

[HoloVector]

the Z has never been a commercial success outside Japan! However, I strongly agree with you.

I sometimes wonder if these machines become a cult success because they're abandoned by the commercial companies and thus they leave the community rather than interfere.  An (over-)simplified example of corporate interference might be Sony's MyLo.

e.g.1. The original MyLo product (my life online) using Sony's "Clie" line was a failure. The dedicated Mylo1 was a failure, The Mylo2 looks set to repeat many of the same mistakes. They're almost completely closed platform despite being Linux + QT based!

e.g.2. The Sony Clie Palms, which were fairly open because anyone could get hold of the Palm SDK, were pretty successful and many people rated their hardware highly, even though Sony weren't brilliantly helpful to their developers; like Sharp, they abandoned the developer's forums despite protestations (if I recall correctly).

e.g.3. The Nokias are successful, with Nokia having a good community around the machines and not trying to limit what people can do with them. Even the original 770  despite its failings was still a popular device.

Interesting observations Speculatrix however I have to disagree with you on example 3.  While the Nokia's might be successful in some regions it is not a universal success.  I have yet to see one in person nor can walk into a local electronics store and pick one up but I have seen half a dozen iPhones (and they aren't even officially available in my country).