Nokia N810

[wallcraft]

This is the follow on to the N800, with a slide-out keyboard. It may end up being a worse e-book reader than the 770 and N800 because most of the control keys are now on the slide-out keyboard.

A good (brief) review, with pictures, at extremetech.

The official Technical Specifications.

Much more at Internet Tablet Talk.

[Bob Russell]

INteresting.
"these handhelds are Nokia's stab at defining the "middle thing," the category of low-cost portable computing that sits between PDAs and laptops."

I like that description, but am not convinced they are doing it. More like a good smartphone minus the phone and connectivity (in non-wi-fi areas). I think I need more of a foleo/UMPC to get my interest. This small and I might as well get a good smartphone or something like the HTC Advantage.

[rlauzon]

The N810 is the first Nokia device that interests me.

But I'm wondering how it would stack up to the Asus Eee or OLPC devices. They are all the same price.

[wallcraft]

I am warming up to the N810. Pluses are a bigger battery and a transflective screen. Minuses are D-pad on the slide-out keyboard and top keys on the sliding part (makes them hard to get at when the keyboard is out). Since FBReader can rebind keys to actions, I think the N810 still has enough keys when closed for e-book reading even without the D-pad. I count the keyboard as a plus, although many current 770/N800 owners think they don't need one. I have never been comfortable with the 770's on-screen keyboard.

From a value point of view, you would probably have to need GPS to make it worth the extra cost over the N800 - but in absolute terms the price isn't so high.

[devils.master]

This is not released in India, Right.

[wallcraft]

It is available for pre-order in the US and Europe, shipping in late November.

Is the N800 is sold in India? If so, I would expect the N810 to be available as well unless GPS mapping is an issue.

With the Palm Garnet VM, it should now be possible to read DRM-infested e-books (e.g. using MobiPocket Reader or eReader) on the Nokia tablets.

[tompe]

I can report that if you use a female-to-female USB adapter and put the N810 in USB host mode you can read USB memories for example. But it does not work with the Cybook Gen 3 since it seems to require to much power. So to be able to put books on the Cybook from the N810 you probably need a powered USB hub.

When reading with FBReader you can use the +/- button on the top to change page.

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by rlauzon

The N810 is the first Nokia device that interests me.

But I'm wondering how it would stack up to the Asus Eee or OLPC devices. They are all the same price.

well, I can tell you about the Maemo OS2008 based on a modified Debian core. It's a great OS but be ready to learn Linux if you want to get the most out of the device.

There are not a lot of applications for OS2008 yet. But to those here the most important is FBReader and I have to say I have become completely won over by it in the past few days of using it.

The OLPC is not even in the same league as the Eee let alone the NIT's. So I would not think to compare there. I will mention the N800 I have just runs really well. The higher PPI of the display makes for some difficult reading at times.

The web browser is almost as good as any desktop browser out there. The wifi hardware has very good range and excellent power management...

Today I use my NIT all day long for the first time. I did run the battery down to zero twice before I wanted to use it seriously so the power manager could calibrate the battery capacity and accurately report and manage the device.

Anyway, today I read for a few hours, was online for a good 4 hours, spent an hour fiddling with it's VNC client and the VNC servers I have here on my network...all totaled I used it a good 8-10hrs today and the battery still had 3-bars when connected the charger.

One trick is to let it enter sleep mode and not to turn it on & off frequently as that seems to burn more power.

These things I mention are all the same between the N800 & N810. After that it's just the keyboard, the weird setup on the d-pad, the trans reflective display (the biggest difference in my book) and a, yawn, GPS. How did I ever cross the street without my gallon of bottled water, a GPS, cell phone and a dozen power bar's in case I get stranded on the other side of the street? Oh, the N810 uses a different battery too.

You might check out a ThoughtFix's video's. He has done pieces on Eee as well as lots on the NIT's so maybe some good feedback is in there for you:

http://www.youtube.com/user/thoughtfix
(It also has links to his sites too)

[tompe]

Originally Posted by brecklundin

These things I mention are all the same between the N800 & N810. After that it's just the keyboard, the weird setup on the d-pad, the trans reflective display (the biggest difference in my book) and a, yawn, GPS. How did I ever cross the street without my gallon of bottled water, a GPS, cell phone and a dozen power bar's in case I get stranded on the other side of the street? Oh, the N810 uses a different battery too.

Isn't there a difference with power available in the USB port? With the N810 and a female-female USB converter I can connect a lot of things to it such as USB memory and my IXUS 850IS and use gphoto2 to download the images to the N810. I have also managed to get an HSDPA USB modem to work with it by using an external battery.

For me that only uses Linux this was the perfect device. What you have is a small Linux "laptop" in your pocket. I use subversion for all my file synchronizing and being able to just check out the files to the N810 is liberating.

The smaller form factor of the N810 compared to N800 was important for me. I also like the keyboard since it give you more screen area available when entering text.

[brecklundin]

Nope the USB port has the same issues on both devices. If you update to OS2008 there is a quasi USB host mode called On-the-go (OTG) and you can buy an adapter that converts the mini USB to a standard USB plus it automagically activates the OTG and supplies about 100mA to the port. That is pretty much not enough for 99% of the USB devices out there.

I to have an external MBB setup. I have a Tekkeon MP1550 combined with a Cradlepoint CTR350. I opted for the CTR350 over the PHS300 because of the increased flexibility of the WAN port to also work as a lan port, again automagically. Plus it was only $129 including shipping. And has an amazing firmware with oodles of really powerful config options.

I posted a thread in general and will put up a pic or two tomorrow. The NIT is the biggest component. The router and the MP1550 are about the size of a deck of cards and weigh about the same or less. I tried to keep the weight down hence the MP1550 over the MP3450 which can really provide the power for all day and then some for a couple days after that....

I am still in my love hate stage with being back in a UNIX like OS again. I managed a QNX network and an accounting system the ran the early command line version of Solaris...and Linux is really just a variation on a theme. I still have issues dealing with the lack of true platform portability that never materialized in Linux...I know it runs on EVERYTHING and every bit of hardware is different...so things just need a bit of fudging and recomplies...but still... Ya cannot deny the total control you have over every aspect of the system under these OS's though...

I am having a ball getting into it now because it's for fun.

I looked at the N810 and do understand the nice idea of the added screen real estate offered by the built-in keyboard. But for me it was the loss of the internal SD card slot that killed the deal. I can, if I wanted to drop about $1000 or so, but I can have 64gb of memory on the N800 vs a theoretical max of 34gb on the N810. I bought an iGo Stowaway keyboard for when I want to go some lenghty typing.

I am wanting to partition my SD card so I can boot KDE...you know why? Because there is a crossword puzzle program that runs natively under KDE and reads the AcrossLite .puz format...the only way I can do that in OS2008 right now is via the Garnet VM and running BeCrossword...I like to do the NYT xword puzzles....

I did not consider the size difference signifcant at all, in fact because I have probs in my hands due to RA I like the bulge at the top of the N800 as it helps me hold onto the thing. I do find it puzzling that , on both devices, they decided to omit a place to attach a wrist lanyard to help prevent dropping the tablet. I will soon enough wander by the camera store and grab a stick-on type...

Well, it's almost 4am and I am needing sleep...have fun with your NIT...to me it's the most amazing device that I am using more and more every day. Even the keyboard is just 1/2" thick when folded up...and it all fits in a tiny bag and can't weight in over 2-2.5lbs total, including extra batteries and everything.

Gotta love it!

BTW, I am posting this from my completely untethered N800 rig and over the EVDO setup...just amazing...I have said this about the thing before, it is the first piece of tech I have purchased in a very very long time that I have no regrets with...still lerning the OS but otherwise it does pretty much all I need and does it well. Plus things improve software wise daily. Worth the $250 for the tablet...the extras likely ended up costing a bit over that...but what the heck!!

BTW, if you are a Star Treck fan...have you tried the LCARS PADD themes? makes the think look and sound like one of the devices on Star Trek...kinda silly but fun!

[tompe]

You can set the USB port in real host mode without using a special cable. Look at the internettablettalk wiki for information about it. 100mA is enough for most of the thing I use, e.g. USB-memories, MP3-players, a camera and so on.

I have actually built something similar to get net access everywhere. I used a Huawei E220 HSDPA-modem, a USB-batteri and a USB-hub and I connected this to my N810 via the USB-port and it worked.

Your solution with the Cradlepoint CTR-350 is nicer and I thinkt that the CTR-350 or the PHS300 would work with the Huaewi E220 which is a USM modem but the Cradlepoint routers is not especially cheap and seems to be hard to buy locally.

One use I had not thought of before was that it was possible to use a bluetooth headset to listen to saved podcasts or saved talk radio programs. The lack of cables to the headset really was something that simplifies things and it is also easier to keep track of what you have listened to by moving the files to a special directory compared to a small MP3-player.

[jbenny]

I love my N800. You can do lots of useful things with it (some of which I do). The one program that I use the most is FBReader.

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by tompe

You can set the USB port in real host mode without using a special cable. Look at the internettablettalk wiki for information about it. 100mA is enough for most of the thing I use, e.g. USB-memories, MP3-players, a camera and so on.

well, yes, you can configure the OS and the port but it's far simplier to add the adapter...it triggers an automagic flag in OS2008 that puts the port into OTG mode...and sure you could write a script to do the same thing.

For me the low powered port is of absolutely no use. I have no need of thumb drives, so far anyway, my MP3 player is not needed with the device either...it might be possible I would need to offload some images from a camera that uses a different card format to the potential 64GB of storage on the N800 and a USB cable would be great or a card reader via the USB port. But overall the port is under powered and of little use for me. While it indeed puts out a solid 5.09v as I was able to measure...the current is not sufficent for my EVDO card...remember voltage <> current. Then again I see no need to a firewire port on my NX9420 laptop...never owned a FW device and never will. Just is what it is...

I have actually built something similar to get net access everywhere. I used a Huawei E220 HSDPA-modem, a USB-batteri and a USB-hub and I connected this to my N810 via the USB-port and it worked.

NICE...I thought of a powered hub, but a few posters I read on another board had probs with frying their EVDO and HSDPA devices on some of the active hubs. So I decided the router option was best for me.

Your solution with the Cradlepoint CTR-350 is nicer and I thinkt that the CTR-350 or the PHS300 would work with the Huaewi E220 which is a USM modem but the Cradlepoint routers is not especially cheap and seems to be hard to buy locally.

Boy you aren't kidding about the cost. Though I got a very fair price on the CTR350 on eBay new w/shipping for $129. Not cheap but not out of reasonable range. Plus we can share the connection w/o fussing with ICS. And in a recent storm it actually gave me online access for a 2hr power outage and I could have gone longer with the extra battery packs. Gave us something to do...so we watched some movies on Netflix.

One use I had not thought of before was that it was possible to use a bluetooth headset to listen to saved podcasts or saved talk radio programs. The lack of cables to the headset really was something that simplifies things and it is also easier to keep track of what you have listened to by moving the files to a special directory compared to a small MP3-player.

oh, what a great idea! I really never thought of BT headphones for the NIT. I had read the audio from the BT headphones was often pretty marginal...are your decent enough? I mean I am no audiophile...in fact I am the anti-audiophile...hehehehe...I mostly listen to books or something relaxing while I read.

I do have some really nice Senheiser 900Mhz headphones I picked up last year that I use around the house and when working in the yard or just outside. But and I can use them with the N800 of course but only at home as they have a 'base station" that does the xmission. BT heandphones would solve that. Maybe I could even get a BT dongle for my MP3 player and use them a lot...hmmmmm...must resist searching for BT headphones...willl end up wanting a Blue Ant headset instead...it works with Skype...got to resisit shopping...ohoh...gotta go...


Oh, btw, just started playing with Streamtuner...it has built-in recording...so you can record the audio streams and play them whenever. Oh, I need those 32gb card to drop in price...and hehehehe...we N800 folks get LOTS more storage space., right now your max in 10gb unless someone came out with a 16gb miniSDHC ...so THERE...hehehehe...

[tompe]

Originally Posted by brecklundin

NICE...I thought of a powered hub, but a few posters I read on another board had probs with frying their EVDO and HSDPA devices on some of the active hubs. So I decided the router option was best for me.

I did not have to use a powered HUB since the Modem had a special extra power USB connection.

Boy you aren't kidding about the cost. Though I got a very fair price on the CTR350 on eBay new w/shipping for $129. Not cheap but not out of reasonable range.

I have realized that my current setup is just for emergencies since it is a bit annoying to use the device with the USB cable attached and the setup to get it to work is not simple. A Craddlepoint device have become more tempting... How does it know how to login? Is this configurable so you in the worst case can write your own ATDT commands?

oh, what a great idea! I really never thought of BT headphones for the NIT. I had read the audio from the BT headphones was often pretty marginal...are your decent enough? I mean I am no audiophile...in fact I am the anti-audiophile...hehehehe...I mostly listen to books or something relaxing while I read.

For simple spoken recorde radio programs (I listen to a philosophy radio program) it is OK but I still get some disturbances. If that is not enough you can buy a headset with a dongle that contains the sender and connect with cable to the NX00. But then you get an extra cable. I read that you could get better sound quality but this implementatiomn used the CPU so it consumed a lot of battery.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by brecklundin

BTW, if you are a Star Treck fan...have you tried the LCARS PADD themes? makes the think look and sound like one of the devices on Star Trek...kinda silly but fun!

I have it on my 770. It makes even non-Trekkie geeks jealous.

P.S. Have you tried the new Bluetooth PAN?