The confusion is understandable, since Nokia is best known as a cellphone manufacturer. The Nokia N800 is by no means a replacement for cellphones, rather they were intended to complement them. The Nokia N800 is actually apart of a new breed of gadgets, called Internet appliances, which are designed to perform Internet related task. The term appliance is fitting, like a toaster or blender, these devices serve a single purpose. The Nokia N800’s sole purpose is to provide easy access to Internet related features, such as web browsing, instant messenger, Internet calling, Internet radio, e-mail and so on. Perhaps new isn’t the best way to describe Internet appliances, the concept was first introduced in the 1990’s but never gained traction.
The Internet landscape has changed greatly since the 1990’s, with the advent of online video streaming such as YouTube, Internet radio, social websites, blogs, podcast, web applications, the list just keeps going, there’s just so much more to do online. If the Nokia N800 is able to capitalize on the growth of the Internet by providing an easy way to access most of these Internet features we could have a real winner on our hands.
Package Contents
- Nokia N800 unit
- Stylus
- BP-5L Li-Polymer 1500 mAh Battery
- 128MB MiniSD memory stick
- SD memory stick adapter
- Headphones 3.5mm jack
- USB cable (File transfers only, not PC synchronization)
- Power Adapter
Physical Aspects
The Nokia N800’s construction mainly consist of various grades of plastic, with a metallic lining along the front edge. The Nokia N800 feels quite rigid, with enough force you can make it creak slightly, in daily use I’m confident this will not be an issue. The only surface area of the Nokia N800 that attracts finger prints besides the display is the metallic frame. Only when the display is off do finger prints become visible. Currently, the Nokia N800 only comes in one color solution, a combination of silver and black. I have to admit when I first laid eyes on the Nokia N800 I fell in love with the physical appearance. It’s the simple and clean design that won me over, there’s no clutter of buttons, just a few buttons on the left side and a nice large display.
Speakers – The stereo speakers are located on both sides of the display. Nokia put a lot of love into these speakers, they are ridiculously good. Having handled many portable devices in the past, I’ve always felt less than satisfied with the speaker performance. The problems were always the same, either the volume was too faint or the speaker would crackle at high volume levels. I am pleased to report the Nokia N800 does not have either of these problems, good job Nokia!
Display – With a display size of 4.1-inches at a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, the display is among one of the sharpest in the portable device category. The color range is another story, it only displays 65K colors, which is rather low for today’s standards. The low color range will only become noticeable when viewing photos or movies where there is a gradual change in color, such as an image of a sky, where there is many shades of blue, see tiling effect for a great example.
Size – When I first saw the Nokia N800 in the press photos, I really expected it to be roughly the same size as the Sony PSP. With that assumption, I wasn’t really looking forward to pocketing this gadget. The PSP isn’t exactly the most comfortable gadget to carry in one’s pants pocket. Thankfully the press photos were misleading, the Nokia N800 is significantly smaller than the PSP, especially in thickness. I wouldn’t say the Nokia N800 is the most pocketable device, but it sure beats the PSP. The actual dimensions of the Nokia N800 are 2.95 x 5.67 x 0.51 inches (75 x 144 x 13 mm) and weighs 7.27 ounces (206 g).
