Communication
The Nokia N800 is definitely not lacking on the Internet communication front, inside the contact menu you will find all of the major forms of Internet communication e-mail, instant messenger and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).
E-mail - The e-mail client found in the Nokia N800 supports POP3 and IMAP4. The e-mail screen layout is made up of 2 columns and 1 row at the bottom. The left column consist of Inbox, Outbox, Drafts, Sent and Archive folders. Right column displays e-mails with all relevant data users would expect; read / unread, from, attachment, subject and date. Clicking on any of the fore-mentioned fields will sort e-mails by field selected. At the bottom you will find a row of commonly used e-mail options, listed from left to right; compose new e-mail, reply to sender, reply to all, forward e-mail, move-to-folder, trash and send / receive e-mail.
When accessing an e-mail the window is divided into 3 rows. The top row is filled with information about the e-mail sender; from, to, subject and date. This area can be minimized by tapping the arrow icon found in the top right corner. Once minimized the only piece of information that will remain is the “from” field. The middle row is the actual e-mail itself. Lastly, the bottom row remains the same as the previous screen.
Full-screen mode can be used in any of the e-mail windows, zoom can only be used when reading a single e-mail. When using zoom only the text in the actual e-mail is magnified, all other display elements remain the same.
Composing e-mail is a rather straight forward affair, you have your standard fields, To, Subject and Body. The controls found in the bottom row provide the options for (left to right); Send, Add Attachment, Address Book, Font, Font Size, Bold, Italicize, Text Color and Bullet Points. For input one can use the stylus keyboard, thumb keyboard or hand-writing recognition.
The Nokia can handle e-mail attachments just fine regardless of size, the only issue is whether the attachment is accessible on the Nokia N800. For example, opening images works just fine or notepad documents, but opening unsupported documents such as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets becomes a problem.
For better e-mail organization the Nokia N800’s e-mail client allows users to create sub-folders listed under the Inbox folder. From there the user can use the move-to-folder option or simply use the drag and drop method to transfer the selected e-mail(s) to their folder of choice.
Anyone that has tried transferring complete e-mails with attachments to their mobile device knows the long wait associated with EDGE, not to mention how detrimental it can be to battery life. I found the e-mail portion of the Nokia N800 to be quite useful, because of the WiFi connection, I’m able to quickly transfer all my e-mails to the Nokia N800 for later reading.
Open Standards - The two instant messengers found in the Nokia N800 are Jabber and Google Talk. Both instant messengers are built on open standards, which I whole-heartedly believe in. There’s a lot of confusion as to why these open standards are even relevant. I’d like to clear this confusion up by spending some time on the subject. Think about this for a moment, a Hotmail user can send an e-mail to a Gmail user, a Cingular customer can call a T-Mobile customer, but we can only send instant messages to people within our IM network? Something is awfully wrong with this picture.Now this problem is by no means of the same magnitude of cancer or heart disease, but is this still a problem? Yes it is and an annoying one at that.Why does it bother you so much Cook?Well as a reviewer my job centers around the idea of helping the readers by showing the strengths and weaknesses of a product in order for them to make the right choice that matches their needs / wants. So coming from that mind set, it bothers me that people choose IM clients based on which IM client most of their friends use. When ideally we should be choosing the IM client based on features and how well they serve us. The spirit of product competition is severely weakened and has been replaced by a popularity contest.That’s why Google decided to create their IM client based on open standards. The idea is that, if all IM clients follow this open standard, we’ll be able to communicate freely with one another regardless of which IM client we use.By using open standard IM clients such as Google Talk or Jabber, we are helping to solve this problem. Maybe I should just lie to everyone and say, “Every time you use Google Talk, an angel gets it’s wings!”, but that would only work on kids, hmmm wait a second…
Instant Messenger - The Google Talk chat window displays all basic information and fields to carry a chat conversation. As in e-mail composition, users are able to choose between 3 forms of input; stylus keyboard, thumb keyboard or hand-writing recognition. The divider between the chat box and the name of the person you are chatting with can be adjusted or collapsed to only show the chat box. The file transfer feature found in the desktop version of Google Talk has been stripped in this version.
If you use other instant messengers such as AIM, MSN or Yahoo you may be in luck. Due to the operating system’s open source nature some programs such as GAIM have been ported to previous versions of the Internet Tablet OS, GAIM is an open source instant messenger. Currently, GAIM is not available in the Internet Tablet OS 2007 edition, but I suspect it will be ported in the near future.
VoIP - I tested the VoIP using Google Talk and I found the quality to be acceptable, nothing ground breaking. The main problem I discovered was the volume level. When the volume level is set to anything above 50%, the person you are speaking with begins to hear a lot of static noise and the Nokia N800 user’s voice will begin to cut in and out. This last issue appears to be a global issue for all VoIP, I found there is a slight delay in communication. The delay in communication varies depending on internet connection, time of day (internet congestion), and VoIP software used. To gauge your own Internet connection for VoIP friendliness, try this VoIP Test.
Nokia and Skype are currently in collaboration to bring you a Nokia N800 friendly version of Skype, estimated to be available for download in the summer of 2007. So calling landlines will be an option in the future.
The Bad
The Good
Table of Contents:
Filed under: Internet Tablet, Nokia
140 Comments
Nice review, great use of pictures and videos. Like the ’sitting on the toilet’ and Sony *cough *cough comments :)
Flash playback :) Kinda sounds like the Mylo and Orange SPV 3100 hybrid.
Please hackers find a way of exploiting this via Opera so we can hack the Mylo! Anyone know what version is it running of Opera? Mylo uses v8.02
Nice review, this maybe my next new toy!
Out of all the reviews that I have read on the N800 (professional and bloggers), this is by far the most useful. Your use of the videos cleared a lot of the confusion or doubts that I had on the product. After viewing and reading your review, the Nokia N800 looks far more appealing and desirable.
Thanks for a great job!
Manny,
There’s nothing better than a sincere compliment from a complete stranger, your compliment is greatly appreciated! I’m very pleased I could help.
So, let me ask, for what the price is on both devices, which is the better buy when one just wants to use wifi, listen to a few tracks, and maybe watch a few video clips: mylo or N800?
by the way, AWESOME SITE!
Just came across it and I’m loving the reviews.
Joel,
I’m glad to hear you are enjoying the site 8). About your question mylo vs N800. If you could be a little more clear about what you are looking for in these devices that would be great. Specifically how you plan to use them.
Cook,
Great review of the N800. Very fair and nicely written. I have one myself and am toying with the idea of buying a bluetooth keyboard. I might need you to review the i Tech virtual keyboard though before I do. How is that thing?
Coastal Guy,
Adding a Bluetooth keyboard to the N800 sounds dreamy. How well the i.Tech keyboard works is still a mystery to me, once I get my hands on it, I’ll do a full write up and let you know. Thanks for dropping by 8).
Hey, if you didn’t find out already, there is a solution to the bad video playback on YouTube and Google Video, I forgot where I saw it, probably on a different review of it, but you can play those videos from the internet on the media player that is already on the N800, and it plays smoothly, try it, tell me if it works, and by the way, this is one of the best review sites that is out there, because unlike the others, these reviews are more thorough and clear and make you feel as if you experienced the gadget first hand.
Oh yeah, I forgot to ask you, the Sony Mylo can’t stream anything from the internet, right?
Arun,
You bring up an interesting point. I did notice I was able to stream certain video formats through the Media Player application, such as Real and Mpeg-1. For example, if you were to visit a site with downloadable videos (not Flash), then the Opera browser will give you some options, one is to download it and the second is to stream it. In that case I was able to stream videos smoothly on the N800’s Media Player application. The problem is, the majority of video sites that stream videos use Flash. So the media player streaming ability isn’t all that useful in my opinion.
About the mylo, currently the mylo cannot stream any media from the internet, it can only stream music between two mylos.
Good to see you back Arun, thanks for bringing up that point.
I don’t believe the mylo can stream, what a shame.
and about my previous question of mylo vs. N800, I would be using the device to primarily listen to a few tracks while I’m in the office and the commute, I would occasionally watch a video too since my commute is about an hour by train. My office also supplied me with a wireless router but no computer and I don’t really want to drag my notebook to work either.
When it comes to web surfing I only look at a handful religiously. Engadgetmobile, modblog.bmezine, craigslist, gsmarena, mobile-review, and now spicygadget.
Joel,
From what you’ve told me, I’d recommend the N800 over the mylo. As the N800 will bring you closer to a laptop experience than the mylo can.
I’m very flattered by your comment, thank you.
I’m sure you meant “they were intended to complement them”.
A gripping review, especially the first sentence. I can’t wait to read the rest.
Of course I meant to say “the first paragraph”, not “the first sentence”. Nothing particularly gripping about “The Nokia N800 Internet Tablet was released in January 2007″. (Well, my birthday was in January, but Nokia doesn’t know or care about that. Also, I didn’t get a Nokia N800 then — it arrives next Monday.)
Marius,
Thanks for catching that, I totally missed it. In defense English is my second language! Kidding, I was actually born in the US, so I have no excuse. Thanks again Marius.
Don’t forget that you can also use Jabber servers to “gateway” into MSN, IRC and a number of other closed, proprietary platforms. I use the built-in Jabber client on my N800 to talk to MSN contacts all the time.
The trick is, you have to use a Jabber server that has an “MSN Transport” enabled.
Here’s a short overview of how to do it:
Connect Google Talk to AIM, MSN & Yahoo
Nice job, Cook.
Have you loaded FBReader? Can you comment on what it’s like reading e-books on the N800?
Great review, best I’ve seen yet, and the closest someone has come to selling me one of these devices :)
One question I am interested in - can you charge from USB? I ask this as I am thinking of getting a USB battery for some of my other devices and it would be useful if I could extend the battery life on the n800.
I can comment on the FBReader. I’m reading The Forsyte Saga, available for free from Project Gutenburg, on it. It works great, has horizontal and vertical modes so you can read long or wide on the N800.
Also, the N800 just added a Media Streamer to its selections. This is available as a 30-day free trial; you can use to stream movies and stuff. I used it to play audiobooks I have it on a Windows XP computer and it worked really well. I also used Orb, which does the same thing, basically, and doesn’t cost money but which is harder to set up, and it worked fairly well also; I could play Audible audiobooks, which normally won’t play in Linux, by streaming them from my Windows computer. The audiobooks liked Flash audio, so that was handy with the N800. The Audible audiobooks wouldn’t play with the media streamer that is provided by the Nokia group.
Movies work great if you preconvert them to be formated to exactly match the device’s screen. There is no point in HD quality video when the screen can’t display it. There is a tool to do this at maemo.org.
Adam,
The N800 is not capable of charging via USB, but there is hope! I did come across this USB charger, it connects to the power jack on the N800 and the other end is USB, so that should work just fine with your USB battery. I double checked the power adaptor used in the N800 it’s AC-4, also the same charger used in the N73, so it’s very likely the Nokia USB charger should work with the N800 as well.
?
Gene Venable,
Thanks for answering Richard’s question, I couldn’t have said it better myself 8).
For me the Nokia 770 is the more ideal one. It’s protected by a hard cover and because of the smaller size one can easily take it along in a trouser pocket. Same won’t apply for the N800. That IT is more suitable at home. But then I can just as well use my Appel 12″ iBook.
Outstandong review - far and away the most informative and comprehensive. Thank you for the great work! I ordered mine after reading this direct from Nokia US and it arrives tomorrow (ordering from Nokia with next day shipping was cheaper than ordering from most of the retailers with ground..that can’t be making retailers very happy..)
Oceans,
I hope the Nokia N800 is everything you expected it to be. Please drop by and share with us your first impressions of the N800 once you get your hands on it. It’s always nice to get another perspective on products. Thanks for taking the time to read my lengthy review 8).
Hey Iron…
great site! Lots of awesome reviews.
Just a question, you mentioned that the Nokia N800 doesn’t have Yahoo IM or AIM installed. But the web browser was pretty powerful. So my question is. Does the N800 work with http://www.meebo.com that site lets you login to all three major chat clients. Would appreciate you trying it. As i am seriously considering buying one. Thanks.
Billy,
During my test I did attempt to load the Meebo.com website, but to no avail. The browser in the N800 doesn’t support AJAX-based websites. Thanks for dropping by Billy 8).
Thanks… too bad. But i may still get it.
Hello Cook,
this was a very informative review.
I just have one question/dilemna that you can help me out with.
I am a Janitor. I work at a mall doing the graveyard shift. I have a low-end sprint phone for phone calls and the occasional text, but I also carry around with me a beat up Nokia 9500 communicator phone for its wifi capabilities only (the phone part is left shut off).
The mall has wifi reception everywhere and it’s free!
So I use the 9500 for web surfing- i only go to a handful of sites- gizmodo, spicygadget, gmail, yahoo mail, craigslist- but want to replace it with something newer. Can you help me choose whats best for me between a mylo and the n800?
Thank You.
Bill,
From what you’ve said, I’d strongly recommend the N800 over the mylo. When it comes to portable web browsing the N800 is currently the best out there in it’s price range.
Your comment was filled with helpful information on what you were looking for in your next gadget, that really made it much easier? for me to answer your question, thank you!
Very informative review. This is something I would not mind buying for home where I can have this sitting on my coffee table for 24×7 web access.
inspite of having a T40 and a macbook pro, I yearn for a tablet where it dosen’t need to boot up and connect to wifi and most of all, is not heavy.
however, I think I will wait for nokia to bring out their next iteration of this tablet. any word on that?
I would like to see enhanced support for ajax, flash and java and then, i would be all set.
Vishal,
I totally agree with you there. If they could some how integrate the iTech Virtual Keyboard into the next Nokia Internet Tablet, I would be in heaven!
I haven’t heard anything about the next Internet Tablet model, but I’m pretty sure Nokia is going to continue with this product line and improve upon it. I would expect to see a new model in about 2 years or less.
Great review. I see that the N800 will support MPEG-4, but does that mean it will play QuickTime?
Dave,
I attempted to play a few QT movies but no success 8\.
[...]Wow, this guy went all out.
Amazing review over at Spicy Gadget Roll.[...]
I would like to use this device for reading Ebooks, PDFs. What kind of apps does the n800 support for Ebooks and MS Doc files? Also is there some kind of offline word processor that we can use? Does Google word and Spreadsheet work? I am siting here with my credit card in my hand waiting to buy this right now and may just go ahead anyways from what I have learned here on your very concise terrific review.
Bob,
I don’t know about MS docs, but I know Ebooks should be fine, according to Gene Venable’s comment he used FBReader to access his Ebooks and felt the application did a good job.
I tested Google Docs and Spreadsheets, neither worked 8(.
Great review!!! You had me clung to every word! Then on the last page I realized that they weren’t all pics but videos! Even better! Thanks so much for an in depth review!
I did however have one question… With the web cam, can you take random pictures for yourself and save them to the flash card? Or even short videos? Or is this video feature ONLY for web chat?
Jason,
Thanks for reading my review, I’m happy to hear you enjoyed it 8).
There was really no options to use the web cam for other purposes, only for video calls. This may change with future software updates though, I don’t know if Nokia plans to add more functionality to the web cam or not.
It seems Nokia has more plans for the N800 than one would think, for example, inside the N800 is a hidden FM radio that is not yet officially been activated by Nokia, but the hardware is there.
Yea, I’ve been reading that stuff too!! And seen the videos… I’ve almost wondered if they possible didn’t get the FCC approval to add an FM radio, so they didn’t include the application! Who knows the real reason.
One more simple question, on what date was the Nokia N800 realeased to the public for retail?
Jason,
I believe the Nokia N800 became available for purchase on the date of the CES 2007 announcement of the product, January 8, 2007. The Nokia N800 was spotted as early as January 5, 2007 at a Comp USA store. Whether it was on the shelves for sale or still in the storage room during that date, I cannot confirm.
Hi, Iron Cook.
I see I could blog my MP4 camera video, using the SD card and wifi connectivity with the N800 Opera browser.
Is the N800 robust enough to allow use of a flash-based editing web-app like provided at jumpcut.com?
This is an exciting possibility for a videoblogger solution. I can trim MP4s in-camera, but web-apps offer so much more.
Thanks!
Brad,
Good question, I looked at the jumpcut.com website you asked about and it appears the website is using Flash 9. The N800 only supports up to Flash 7 currently, so using the website jumpcut.com’s web application won’t be possible.
That’s a very neat site though, I’ve never heard of it, thanks for sharing it with me, take care Brad!
Since it seems that nobody has caught this typo yet, you mention in the article that the dimensions are: 3.95 x 5.67 x 0.51 inches (75 x 144 x 13 mm). 75mm = 2.95.
3.95×5.97 is almost a standard photo - which is definitely the wrong ratio.
In a portable device like this, that extra inch makes a big difference.
I’ll make the correction, thanks for pointing that out Vash 8).
As for Google Docs not working on the n800, I have a question: Can I just change the browser identification for http://docs.google.com/ from Opera to Firefox?
On my Linux distro running Opera 9.10, this gets me right in to Google Docs with no problem. Would this also work in Opera 8 on the Nokia tablet?
To do this is Opera 9.10, I just right-clicked on http://docs.google.com/ within Opera, went to ‘Edit Site Preferences’ –> Network and changed from Opera to Firefox. Then I closed and reopened Opera, browsed to the page, and Google Docs worked!
Can anyone replicate this on the Nokia 800?
So whats the new device you planning on reviewing?
David,
Currently working on the Archos 604 WiFi review, it should be completed by the end of this weekend 8).
Iron Cook,
Since the battery life is so limited, perhaps a portable battery pack could be used. Do you know how many volts it would require and is there any portable battery pack that you would recommend? Great site by the way, you sold me on the N800.
Neal,
Thanks for dropping by, another reader, Adam, shared similar concerns. He had an excellent idea of using a USB battery, it’s simply a portable energy reserve with USB ports so devices that are capable of charging via USB can be charged from it.
The N800 cannot charge from it’s USB port, it can only be charged from the power port. Luckily Nokia sells a power port adapter, which is a cable that connects through the power port and to a USB port for charging. The price is a hefty $60 dollars 8(. Companies and their accessory sales 8\.
As to which portable battery pack I’d recommend, I don’t have enough experience using these products to give a solid recommendation.
Iron cook, great review. I’m considering buying this but I have a Bluetooth Capable (v1.1) cell phone. Would I be able to access the internet with my phone or would I have to rely only on WiFi?
Sam,
As far as I know, Nokia stated it doesn’t promise full compatibility for all cellphones used with the N800. You could try contacting Nokia or browsing N800 related forums to see if anyone has successfully used the same model handset as yours, but I think both attempts would prove fruitless. The only sure way to know would be dropping by a local shop and testing the demo unit or asking the sales associate to open a box for you. Many times the sales associate won’t give you much trouble about giving the N800 a test run.
I wouldn’t go so much by which version of BT your phone uses, I think it’s more important to know which mobile handsets are known to be compatible with the N800, having a specific BT version doesn’t guarantee compatibility. Sorry I couldn’t help you out more, good luck Sam!
With those speakers and audio quality you rave about, the N800 might be good for TTS programs for those who can’t speak. Is that possible, do you think?
Ruley,
TTS programs are definitely possible for the N800, it’s really a matter of who wants to do the coding to create the software for the N800’s OS platform.
excellent review. it was so good that i went out and purchased one. still waiting for it to arrive now..
Roger,
I bought a stowaway sierra keyboard to use with n800. Other devices made easy pairing. The keyboard did not. Stowaway support said that they create drivers for all phones and that their driver software has to manage the connection to the keyboard.
In this case we are trying to have linux OS in the n800 manage the connection. Do you have a step by step procedure to get the pairing to complete?
Several people have talked about Cntl+Fn+Fn as necessary
for pairing maybe before or maybe after the passcode step?
There has been statements by stowaway about
cntl+Right Fn+Left Fn. I don’t see any key labeled Fn on the Right side of the space bar? What are they talking about?
Can you clarify if this keyboard will work with n800.
Roger,
I did a little searching and found another person had a similar problem as yours. I’m not sure if it’s the same exact model as your keyboard but it should be close.
Here’s a link to a picture of the keyboard I assume you are using.
http://www.windowsfordevices.com/files/misc/StowawaySierra.jpg
The Fn key should be to the very left of your spacebar in blue lettering.
Some have reported in the forum I looked at that the Fn key may be mapped to the menu key.
Here’s a direct link to the forum thread, this should help solve your issues with your keyboard. I did notice a few others in that thread were able to successfully pair their sierra stowaway keyboard with the N800 so I think you should be in good shape, it’ll just be a matter of time before you figure things out.
http://www.internettablettalk.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-3915.html
Let me know how it goes! good luck!
Fondoo,
I really hope the N800 doesn’t disappoint you, drop by and let me know your first impressions of the N800.
2 Quick Questions.
1) Have you tried the N800 with LastFM? it streams music with an embedded flash object. http://www.last.fm ?
2) What are the possibilities for hacking the linux install to enable additional functionality? Main complaint that pcmag had to say was there’s not much software for the N800 yet - have you encountered and open source momentum for creating new apps?
Wokman,
1) The site will most likely not work, I haven’t attempted this myself, but to my knowledge the N800’s web browser uses Flash 7, the site you linked me to uses Flash 9. So it appears to be unsupported 8(.
2) There is a growing interest in the N800’s OS, but I wouldn’t say it has gained a huge amount of momentum but it’s definitely growing. For instance when I first reviewed the N800 there was roughly 2-3 applications to choose from for the Tablet OS 2007 edition, now there’s like 20 or more to choose from. A list of applications currently available for the N800 below…
N800 Apps
Out of all the new apps on the N800 the one’s that most interest me is the VNC viewer and Microsoft Document viewer.
I hope these answers satisfied your questions, please let me know if you have any further questions.
Can you findout how they use an external monitor at
the CES show, it was awesome i need this capability
thanks
dpnlife
Danny,
I couldn’t find any information regarding to your request. I do agree that would be awesome if you could use an external monitor for the N800.
Will you please tell me if I can take this N800 to class, set it up with a bluetooth keyboard, take notes, save the class notes, take the N800 home, open it up and copy the notes over to my Windows based PC and open the file in Word 2007?
I hope you can let me know. The screen seems second to none. Thanks.
Trader,
I’m pretty sure it is possible, but the tricky part is getting the correct Bluetooth keyboard that is compatible with the Nokia N800. Here’s one that promises to be compatible with the N800.
The second issue would be transferring the document to your PC. You could attach the doc to an email and send it to yourself and open it on your desktop or you could use a SD memory stick reader to get the docs onto your desktop or you could transfer it via bluetooth if your desktop has bluetooth capability and is compatible with the N800.
The third issue would be opening the doc. The doc won’t be in word doc file format, so whatever spacing you have or formatting you had in the document there’s no promises it will look nice when you open it in word 2007, because the document is really only a simple text file.
This is all my speculation as I have not tried it out personally, but I can definitely see the potential hurdles you’d have to overcome.
I hope that helps take care Trader, and thanks for stopping by!
It looks like I now have a new favourite technology reviewer.
Excellent job, thank you.
Your incredibly useful videos of VoIP calling have taken me a big step closer to buying an N800.
I have been disappointed to see Nokia’s confirmation that PIM apps are not on their horizon for the device. This is a strangely limiting decision to make. Nonetheless, it is possible that Maemo might come through with something. It is not always practical to be web connected and so data should be available while offline.
A big problem, too, is lack of backwards compatibility with the N770. Developers seem to have been burned by this.
Rowdy,
I really appreciate the comment, it feels good to know what I wrote months ago can still be of some value to readers.
About Nokia’s statement, I’m disappointed and glad at the same time. Nokia could have easily stringed us along, having people buy their product with the hopes of PIM in the near future, but instead they were honest with us. I think that’s pretty cool, instead of companies remaining completely silent, leaving us wondering about the future of a product. But then again, I can’t really blame companies for remaining so silent, confirming certain details about the future of a product could hurt sales, so I guess it’s a balance between consumer relations and profit.
Thanks for dropping by Rowdy!
the nokia n800 supports flash 7, can you download flash 9. Also can you download videos, music, pictures from the internet. the built in webcam can it take pictures, or record things. what is the wireless range of the nokia n800? is it virus-and hacker resistant? does it have any games to play?
tell me about the full capabilities of the web browser.
CATCHES BREATH!!!
James,
Currently there is no Flash 9 available for download. I’d guess that the Flash 9 support would need to come from Opera themselves, the one’s that designed the web browser in the N800.
Yes, you can definitely download files from the internet such as music, videos and pictures.
To my knowledge the webcam has only been able to video conference, no picture or video recording.
The wireless range of the Nokia is typical of other wireless devices, roughly 30 ft.
Virus makers tend to aim for popular operating systems like Windows XP, although it’s possible the chances of someone designing a virus for the N800 are slim to none. What will typically happen is the viruses you do catch will be clueless inside the N800, since they were probably designed for Windows XP, so they would be completely harmless. You can think of it as running something like Mac OS or Linux, the chances of catching a virus on those OS’s are greatly reduced.
It does come with a few games, really plain ones from what I recall. Like Chess and Checkers.
The web browser if fully functional it can handle most webpages just fine with little to no web page reformatting. Flash 7 is poorly implemented, it runs sluggish and it really shows when watching Youtube video, seriously nothing to brag about.
I hope that helps James!
Also can you install things on the nokia n800?
CATCHES JUST A LITTLE BREATH, TAKES INHAILER!!!
James,
Yes, installing applications on the N800 is no problem. For a list of currently available applications in progress and completed, visit http://maemo.org
Catch your breath James!
Can you tell me if I can access AOL.com on the N800 and retrieve my email? Also excite.com.
Thanks
Lily,
I’m quite positive that you will be able to access both e-mail accounts, AOL and Excite.
About the retrieving your e-mails, I’m unsure of. What I do know is the N800 supports POP3 and IMAP4, as long as your e-mail services support either of those protocols you should be fine.
Hi,
sorry if I missed the answer somewhere on the page.
About how long will the N800 run as a MP3 player (screen, WLAN and BT switched off)?
Thanks,
Martin
Martin,
That’s actually one of the things I did not test.
I’m not sure if this helps any, but I did manage to get 10.5 hours with the WiFi connected to an accesspoint, with screen and BT off. Sorry I couldn’t help you Martin.
Hi Iron,
thanks for the quick reply. Perhaps someone else will know.
Were the 10.5 hours with WLAN on while you were listening to MP3s? Then with WLAN off I would expect the battery to last a lot longer.
Martin
Martin,
I only had the WLAN on, no music playing.
Thanks! This must be a record in answering my post! :)
Martin
Martin,
I aim to please 8).
This is a GREAT review. I hope it’s OK that I linked to it in my blog. I did a much less comprehensive review of the N800, but liked yours so much that I wanted to share it.
RisibleGirl,
Your welcome to link to my blog anytime. I read your review and found some interesting pieces of info, I quoted them in your comment’s section.
I like the retro-style design of the website! Oh and thanks for reading my N800 review.
how do you answer the phone?
Maco,
The N800 has two VOIP options, one is making calls to other internet users only, Google Talk, the second allows you to make calls to landlines for a minimal cost, Skype. At the time of review, only the Google Talk application was available on the N800. Presently, I’ve heard the Skype application had been released for the N800, which I have not tested personally. Answering an internet phone call through google talk will prompt a display box, asking if you’d like to accept or ignore the call, which can either be selected via touchscreen or hardware keys located on the left side of the N800.
There is also a third VOIP option, I think it was called the gizmo project, not really sure.
Is video improved with the os update??
Logan,
Apparently it was, according to the release notes of the latest N800 OS update, here’s a direct link to the release notes.
Release Notes
I haven’t been able to personally test it myself, since I do not currently own a Nokia N800. If anyone has tested this latest N800 OS update, please do share with us how much the quality has improved video wise, especially flash based videos such as Youtube.
I’ve just transferred everything to iGoogle. Docs, spreadsheets, notebooks, email, calendar, etc. Loadsawork! They use Ajax. Did anyone have a comment about Matt Donnelly’s post above since you said the Opera browser wont touch Ajax?
Anticipating going to Portugal, would this work in that country?
nice review.
I am interested in carrying cases for N800.
I saw you also made a video for the GPS tool kit as well as for a carrying case with an aluminum hard cover, however, I can not find it any more. Any idea where I can buy that carriying case?
Bill,
The N800 will function fine over in Portugal, the main issue you will run into is finding compatible electrical outlets to recharge your N800. Follow this link below to see the difference between the Portugal Plug and the USA one.
Electrical Outlet Differences
If you do travel there I’d definitely recommend looking into buying an electrical outlet adapter that can convert a Portugal outlet to a USA one. I hope that answers your question, please let me know if you have any further questions.
Jesus,
I think you may have seen the GPS tool kit and aluminum hard cover case at another site. I never had either of those during the review. The only case that comes with the Nokia N800 is the standard cloth case.
Thank you for the great thorough review of the N800! I recently seen this interesting product browsing buy.com and it peaked my interests. I randomly found your site while searching for reviews on it. And I’m glad I did, you did a great job explaining all the features including Flash which was a big interest for me as a Flash Developer. And the videos you made just made it that more engaging. LOL @ all the “boobs” you were encountering on Google vids, that made me laugh. One question you touched on, was Flash being choppy with video replay, but how are straight Flash websites (graphics and flash animations)? Are they also choppy? Thanks again, and you’ve got a new dedicated reader. :)
Jonah,
I tried visiting a few flash game websites, most of them would not function correctly, so I eventually gave up on that. I think the flash support even for normal websites, seems pretty shotty at best. But those impressions were from the N800’s initial release. I’ve read that the N800 got some updates that supposedly improved the flash, but since I don’t have the product on hand, I can’t check exactly how much improvements were made.
I really appreciate the the compliments and I hope to see ya around in the future! Thanks for reading Jonah.
Good news!
The there has been an update to the N800’s OS which now includes Flash 9 support!!! I’m anxiously looking forward to purchasing an N800 and am curious about the Flash 9 performance, especially on the following sites:
http://blog.papervision3d.org (flash, only in 3D… including an X-Wing game)
http://youtube.com or http://video.google.com (:P .. has the video performance improved?)
Any others?
Thanks for an outstanding review.
Whoops.. A link to the release can be found here:
http://maemo.org/news/view/1183705330.html
Deadley,
Interesting news indeed. Flash 9! Even the iPhone can’t do this. I no longer have the N800 in my possession, but I’d love to hear from current N800 owners about the new OS update. Thanks for sharing the news with us Deadley.
Thanks Iron Cook!
I’ve done a bunch of research and discovered that Youtube playback is now smooth, but only after the video is completely loaded. Playback while the video is downloading tends to be choppy. http://tabletblog.com/ has some great videos showing off the great Youtube performance.
I think this may very well be the perfect hand held device.
My only wish is that future software starts to support the OMAP 2420 processor inside of the device. This little device has a 2-Million-polygon-per-second graphics core that can handle dreamcast-level visuals. There’s a lot more that this device can do than meets the eye. More info here: OMAP 2420
I’m looking forward to developing for it.
hey does anyone know if there is anyway to get free aim for the N800? possible using like verichat or something??maybe if aim express works on it?
thanks in advance.
-mike
Mike,
As far as I can tell, YES!!!
There’s a popular open source application called Pidgin that supports multiple chat services such as AIM, MSN, Yahoo! IM, Goole Talk (JABBER), etc. I’ve used this program for years on my computer. It’s fast, full featured, and stable. I’ve read that it works well on the N800 too!
You can find instructions on how to install it here:
http://pidgin.garage.maemo.org/
The main pidgin website is here:
http://pidgin.im/pidgin/home/
wow that is exactly what i need. Thanks alot for the help deadley..and just to make sure this program is free i assume right?
what would i do without deadley?????
Har har. Thanks mike. Like most programs on the N800, it is 100% free. That’s one of the wonderful perks of Open Source, of which the majority of N800 software is comprised.
I’m itching to get an N800. I’ve been using GizmoProject’s SIP phone to call my friends cell at an AMAZING rate of 2 cents per minute (free for SIP to SIP calls). They’ve reported that the voice quality is very good. Since GizmoProject is available for the N800, my Internet Tablet will double as my portable phone and home phone.
I’m also looking forward to using it as an e-book reader. I love the idea of carrying one Internet Tablet (and a bluetooth keyboard) into any cafe and have the ability to connect to others, be productive, and entertain myself. What more could one ask for?
Deadley and Mike,
I found your comment exchange really helpful, I don’t want the tips to get lost in comments section so I’ll be posting some quotes in the Spicy Gadget support forums. Great work Deadley 8).
Hey great review!
I have a question on the N800. How fast does it “boot up”? If it does boot up. I really like the idea of the N800 but I’m wondering if getting something like an OQO or the small Sony full fledge computer makes more sense. The price and the boot up time would be the downside of them.
On a similar vain how do you think this compares to a iPhone. I know the iPhone is more expensive but it has a phone built in. If you were going to use the iPhone just for an Internet tablet how do you think it compares to the N800?
I’m glad I came back to read the comments, thank you Deadley for all the updates made to the N800. I think I’d consider this as a sure buy now!
Vince,
From what I recall it takes about 20 seconds for the Nokia N800 to be turned on, the N800 also has a sleep mode so it can be awaken instantly. When it comes to OQO and Sony Vaio UX UMPCs it definitely boils down to how you plan to use the device and what price you are willing to pay. If your only real intention is to surf the web, then by all means get the Nokia N800, but if you want to do a lot more and have the cash to burn, go UMPC.
I wish I could give you a solid comparison, but since I’ve never used the iPhone personally I can only speculate. Just for the internet tablet aspect, it’s a really close call. The N800 has the advantage of a higher resolution display, while the iPhone relies more on zooming on specific areas. Also the N800’s flash can be used on any sites, while iPhone only has YouTube support. Although reports say it’s pretty slow, the iPhone has wireless EDGE to get internet access virtually anywhere in the US, the closest the N800 to get to this is using bluetooth to connect to a cellphone with a data plan.
Hi Iron Cook,
Very good review. You rank their right along with CNet, but you go the extra mile. Great job. I’ve been looking for my dream machine. Something that wraps up all the multimedia goodness in one small package. I found this, and of course I couldn’t restrain myself from ordering it. Is there a file sharing application for the N800? Something like Limewire. Also, just double checking, is it possible to download mp3 files straight from places like Download.com, or other sites? Thanks. *Drools over computer at N800*.
Andrew,
I’m glad you found the review useful, and I appreciate your compliment 8).
I didn’t see any P2P applications like Limewire in the N800. But I do know you can download files such as MP3’s directly to the Nokia N800 and have them play. The only issue I can foresee is zipped music files, depending the zip file type it could pose issues for the Nokia N800, so you may need to use your desktop to unpackage the music before loading it into the N800’s memory.
Yea even with the iPhone out, the Nokia N800 still retains it’s hotness, please Andrew purchase a drool protector for the N800, thank you!
You guys are fun. Thanks for the kudos!
Just to let you know… I’ll be getting my N800 in about a months time. I can hardly wait.
I’ve recently acquired a Canadian phone number from a company called http://didww.com for $5/month unlimited incoming and pointed it towards my gizmo SIP phone (you can point it towards Skype accounts too, but it’s in beta and I haven’t tested it. Also, they have numbers all over the world. I’ve been using it for 2 days and the quality is really good. Together with my $2 mic (yeah, I’m not the richest person in the world) I’m able to receive calls and have long conversations with my friends via the internet. I’m really looking forward to making/receiving those calls on my N800. Best of all, the number will follow me around wherever I go and I won’t have to pay another dime. As long as there is wireless connection, I can be reached. A great compliment to surfing the web, getting email, IM, reading books, listening to music, watching internet video (really looking forward to watching veoh.com — a great site for free ‘programming’ and not just random videos), and the occasional flick.
On downloading:
N800 is quite a capable computer. It’s got the memory and speed to handle practically any normal computing task. There’s a version of bit torrent that works on the command line called ‘enhanced ctorrent.’ It is extremely small and fast, for those that don’t mind using the command line (a text terminal of ’shell’ where you type in commands — similar to DOS a long time ago). You can download and install it for the N800 here: http://internettablets.googlepages.com/enhancedctorrent
It’s sure to be great at downloading movies/music/literature/etc on the go! Be warned that it’s not very user friendly. Hopefully someone makes a lightweight torrent application with a graphical interface in the near future.
Iron Cook:
I can understand the raw appeal of the apple iPhone. It’s very easy to understand as a technology, and its quite well thought through. The N800 remains my first choice because of its versatility; however that versatility comes at the cost of searching for ways to get what you want. Many people prefer the convenience of something that works very simply out of the box; and rightfully so. The N800 takes a bit more work, but you can do some incredible things with it if you like to tinker and learn.
If I want a small, mobile device that I can use for mobile blogging and not spend a fortune - should I get this or the upcoming Foleo from Palm? If i get the Nokia - I think I would have to get a separate keyboard - or it would become annoying to type several paragraphs and post them to my blog. Also - can it be used “offline” - in other words - can I compose the blog text offline and then send it via email to my blogspot blog? Using either some text editor and then emailing it - or even the browser offline? Or would the browser only work while online?
Matthew,
I know the Nokia N800 has a built in email application, which allows you to compose emails offline. This feature combined with blogger’s email-to-post function should allow you to blog anytime you wish and post it once you get internet access.
As cool as the touchscreen keyboard is I don’t think it’s the way to go for lengthy writing, I’ve tried writing a few emails before and it was a real pain. I don’t mind doing short burst of writing on the N800 but anything that requires a few paragraphs I’d definitely recommend an external keyboard.
I think you should hold out for the Foleo, I checked the product out and it seems pretty interesting. This way you can get a better comparison between the Foleo and the N800 once a few Foleo reviews roll out. It also seems the Foleo is getting a lot of bad press so far, I wouldn’t worry so much about it.
I use to be really caught up in what everyone else thought about devices, but then I realized, the mainstream tech audience doesn’t always like what I like, so I needed to ask myself what I wanted out of my mobile devices and then I’d find a mobile device that matched my needs, instead of going for what’s popular.
Sorry about the late reply Matthew, take care.
hey, is there any additional cost for using the Nokia N800?
Derek,
None what so ever 8).
kk. thanks
you remember me from the sony mylo review, rite? do you think i should get this or a pocket pc considering the things i told you about me in the other review?
can you tell me all the stuff you can do on it?
what are all the instant messaging services available with all the third party ones?
Great review! I’m almost ready to buy one, but I have a couple of questions first, if you don’t mind:
1. How does the N800’s browser handle memory-intensive websites? I had a Nokia E61i, but it would lock up on eBay’s “My eBay” page. I run an eBay business, so that made the E61i completely useless to me. Should the N800 fare better? I like that I can use a SD card to expand the virtual memory. The E61i loaded eBay’s main site just fine - but the My eBay page can be quite large, with LOTS of data/info on it. If the N800 can’t handle it, then it’s no good to me.
2. Has anyone found a solution to the 5-minute video thing? I’d like to be able to load a couple of full-length movies on there, but that could be a problem if it locks up after 5 minutes!
3. How strong is the WiFi antenna? Sometimes the E61i wouldn’t even detect a network that my laptop was receiving with full signal strength.
4. What’s the media player like, especially with mp3s? How does it handle large amounts of mp3s and playlists?
Thanks in advance!
Excuse the late reply, my desktop PC died and left me stranded without a computer for 3 days.
@Derek,
Of course I remember you, lol. A quick summary of what the N800 can do.
1. Internet Radio (streaming audio)
2. Streaming Video (such as YouTube)
3. VOIP
4. Video calls
5. Playback Video/Audio from memory stick
6. Play very basic games like checkers
7. Send/Receive email
8. Touchscreen Keyboard
9. Can connect to mobile phone via bluetooth and gain internet access (assuming your mobile has internet access, does not work with all mobile handsets)
There is some more but those are the main ones off the top of my head.
@Jesse,
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the review 8).
1. The web browser in the N800 is pretty stable and can handle rather large web pages, I don’t believe ebay will be an issue for you.
2. I don’t know about that one, but I’m also interested in hearing about this issue. I’m wondering if the recent updates solved this issue, I no longer have the N800 with me so I can’t test the updates myself.
3. The WiFi is very good, it should be comparable to your laptop WiFi range.
4. I had a rough time getting videos I encoded to play on the N800, it really could have been my fault, perhaps I encoded the videos in a resolution or format the N800 didn’t like, so I’m not quite ready to blame the N800 for my problems. MP3 playback was much easier no issues, but the player controls are very basic, it’s definitely not an itunes or a winamp, that’s for sure.
Cool, thanks for the insight. I managed to play with a N800 today at CompUSA, and it loaded My eBay beautifully! It took me about 10 or 15 minutes to start getting used to the interface, then it was smooth sailing after that. Mine should get here next week!
Jesse,
After you get some quality time with your N800 be sure to drop by and let me know about your impressions, enjoy your N800 take care!
The new update to Nokia N800 OS released a few weeks ago comes with Opera 9, better support for youtube videos(still not perfect), better touch-screen sensitivity and best of all - skype client.
You can convert all your videos using AutoGK but just remember to select a resolution of 320×240 or 400×480. Or better yet, use Nokia Media Converter N770 to do the video conversion and the output video is guaranteed to run on Nokia N800.
And of course, Nokia N800 can be an excellent EBook reader once FBReader is installed.
“better support for youtube videos(still not perfect)”
And by that, he means Flash Player 9 was added, in case the previous Flash 7 plugin wasn’t good enough for ya.
is the nokia n800 internet tablet capable of downloading and using things such as limewire pro? can you go to google and search and save images to the nokia n800 device? from a rating from 0-10 what rating would you give the video playback from websites such as youtube on the nokia n800?
can the nokia n800 download and use things such as limewire pro? can you save images from google to the nokia n800 device?
Can anyone tell me if the N800’s PDF viewer has the ability to search for a word or phrase? The viewer in the 770 did not appear to have this function. Thanks.
Fred
This is a VERY comprehensive and detailed review and this, coupled with all the comments, make me want to order one NOW!. I only have one concern, I am presently using a Toshi e830, and I depend a great deal on the calender to keep track of appointments, etc. and the ability to read AND EDIT word dccs. Does anyone know if there is a an equivalent app. available for the n800? feel free to contact me directly if you wish. Thanks in advance for any info.———-Wally
If you’re having problems with the the Fn key on your Stowaway, please read this. On my Stowaway Sierra keyboard, AltGr is mapped to Fn, and Fn is mapped to Menu. In the n800 control panel, my hardware keyboardis set to Generic 105-key PC.
I’m considering trying to fix the mapping in the /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/pc file,but for now this is an ok workaround for me.
This is the most useful info I’ve found yet!
My problem is with the Opera 8 browser. I can’t log onto my bank’s website (Wells Fargo) because they don’t support the Opera browser. I let Wells Fargo know.
Their website does support the Firefox browser (Mozilla). I’ve seen somewhere that there might be a Firefox browser for the N800.
Any info would be helpful especially where to get the Firefox browser and if anyone else has had trouble logging in to secure websites.
Thanks, Don
Hi,
I found the answer to my own question.
The Firefox (Mozilla) browser I needed to log onto my bank’s website is “microb-browser” from maemo.org
It’s at http://www.browser.garage.maemo.org
You go to the website from the N800 and download it. It did take me three tries as it seemed to stop downloading and I had to start over again.
Don
Wow, this site has some awesome reviews, thank you so much!
My concern is: do you know if it is possible to open medical PDA software on the tablet?
Crista,
Definitely a good question, I’m pretty sure you won’t be able to open your medical PDA software on the tablet, unless it’s a web based program, which means you can access it through your web browser, for example, you could view Google documents as an web based word processor, or Meebo as a web based chat program.
My friend happens to be a medical student and did mention on a few occasions, more like complaints actually, that the majority of her medical PDA software was Windows Mobile based, making her purchases restricted to only Windows Mobile devices.
Please let me know if you have any further questions, and thanks for dropping by, take care.
What a shame ! I think I will have to wait for the new Hp ipaq 210, which seems very promissing, but a lot more expensive…
Thank you again Iron, keep up the good work!
hi,
Thanks iron.
I found this review to be very informative.
I am looking for an internet device that i can use to trade stocks and watch streaming flash video (cnbc tv18 live) on the web. One of my stock trading application uses a java applet to display quotes others are plain html. Can this thing handle java applets?
I also needs to open up multiple sites all at ones (multiple browser instance or tabbed view), one for watching the live stream, 1 or 2 for stock trading website.
Given my requirements do you think n800 will work for me?
Also how do connect this to standard lan (rs 232, office doesn’t allow wifi)
thanks again
Mahesh,
I didn’t have too much trouble opening multiple browser windows in the N800. The N800 supports up to Flash 9, so I’m pretty sure the flash video at CNBC TV18 live should play just fine on the N800, any N800 owners out there, feel free to chime in if you’ve tested CNBC TV18 streaming videos. About java applets, that’s one of those grey areas that I’m really unsure about, especially since java applets can vary from simple to complex, it’s hard to say if your stock trading java app would run smoothly on the N800 without a hitch.
I don’t think the N800 would meet your needs, for one the N800 can only connect to the internet through WiFi or Bluetooth (with cellphone that has access to internet), so that would leave you without internet access at your office 8(.
Thank you for the compliment and happy early Xmas 8).
Thanks for the reply. The Tech spec for n800 reads “USB 2.0 high speed device mode for PC connectivity”. If i use a converter to convert the standard lan cable to usb can this not be used to connect to the lan/internet?
Hello,
very good review indeed, only problem is it didn’t focus that much on text input, which is something that concerns me a lot and is the only thing is stopping me from buying an n800
more infos about text input can be found at:
http://www.cs.gmu.edu/~sean/stuff/n800/
Edoardo,
Thanks for sharing the review with us, I enjoyed reading it, quite thorough I must say 8).
Excellent review. Great pictures. I have one of these. PIA in setting up but when that process is done, it rocks. A keyboard is a must for serious typing.
i want to buy the Nokia N800, but i do not know if it takes still pictures. i take pictures quite often so this is a major factor for me. thanks
Marz,
When I did the review it wasn’t able to take pictures, but I don’t think you’d want it even if it did, the camera quality is quite horrible from what I’ve seen when using it for video. Lots and lots of noise, white dots all over the place, hope that helps!
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