Tablet PC & Mobile PC News & Video Reviews, and Tablet PC Forums

Monday, April 16, 2007

« GBM How-To Series #4 : Specify Screen Rotation opt... | Main | Mobile PC's - Interesting usage ideas »

GottaBeMobile Hardware InkShow: The Nokia N800 Internet Tablet

Nokian800inkshow The Nokia N800 Internet Tablet is the follow up to the much ballyhooed N770 Internet Tablet PC and it has gotten just as much attention if not more so. One of those chronicling every detail about the N800 is Thoughtfix and we’d like to extend a very special thanks to Thoughtfix for giving us the opportunity to check out the N800.

Nokia’s Linux based Internet Tablet PC is just what the name says it is. It provides a handy and very small mobile solution to surfing the web, checking email, VoIP and chat, and listening to media. Is it an Ultra-Mobile PC? Well it is ultra mobile given its very impressive diminutive size, but it doesn’t have the horsepower of its larger cousins. Is that an issue? Depends on what you need to do in your mobile lifestyle. Choosing the right mobile device for your scenario is all about personal choice, and I can see any number of situations where this could be a very attractive on the road solution. Intriguingly, as I was preparing this InkShow and news began to trickle out of the Intel Developer’s Forum about the potential of Linux based ultra-mobile devices it looks like Nokia might be ahead of the curve. Time will tell.

Nokian800inkshow2 Nokia is well regarded for their design prowess and this device will certainly add to that reputation. (Although I do have one big quibble that you’ll discover in the InkShow.) In this quick peak InkShow, I take a quick tour of the N800 and show off some of its features and some of the included software. There’s plenty more Open Source software to be had if you want to load up your device and quite an active community exploring it on maemo.org. There’s also a good deal of configurability for how you may want to set up the device. I kept things pretty much as they came out of the box, but you can move, add, or edit modules to your heart’s content and design the screen the way you want it to be. Also, (and I thought I had filmed an example of this but in final review it must be on the digital editing room floor somewhere) there is a nice touchscreen feature. Depending on what application you are using the screen can sense if you are using your finger or the stylus and adjusts the target area accordingly. Nice touch.

Is it the device for me? I don’t think so. I need a little more horsepower and better inking ability. Is it for you? You’ll have to make that decision. Watch the InkShow to get a flavor of what the N800 has to offer and check out the links below for more information.

Watch or download the High Res version (15:46 minutes, 120mb, Windows Media streaming or direct download)
Check out the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet
Check out Thoughtfix for much more N800 Info.

Here are some specs on the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet:

Battery life: Up to 5 hours in operation, up to 10 days on standby
Weight: 7.27 ounces
Height: 2.95in
Width: 5.7in
Thickness: 0.5in
Price $399
Check out a full list of features here.

Another great source of N800 information is Michael Connick who is chronicling his N800 experiences here and on Twitter. He’s really exploring a number of usage scenarios with the N800.

Enjoy!

All GottaBeMobile.com InkShows are sponsored by:

InkShows | Mobile | Ultra Mobile PC | Nokia N800

4/16/2007 9:37 AM MST

GottaBeMobile Hardware InkShow: The Nokia N800 Internet Tablet Comments [6] | Digg This | del.icio.us | Citations

Monday, April 16, 2007 8:11:53 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

I'm not sure if you still have the N800 from Thoughfix but there actually is a way to have a sort of instant on. They talk about the suspended battery life which is quite similar to that of todays cell phones, where you don't actually turn it off but just lock the device to save power. The N800 has that same feature. When you have it on, if you hit the power button on top, it will bring up a menu of options. The top one is to lock the touch pad and keys.

When you want to unlock the device, it's a matter of hitting that power button again as well as the "select" key in the center of the nav pad. That brings you back to the main screen (and any internet windows or games you had open last) in about a second, or as quick as you can hit those two buttons.

This is a great little device though. It's certainly not a full computer, but since I bought mine, I've left my Acer C200 tablet pc at home a lot more since most of what I do while out and about is check things online and sometimes hook it up to my car stereo to listen to music, though even that's not always necessary with the speakers on this device. I keep it in my purse and also use it as a very basic PDA to keep track of appointments (don't get too excited though... it doesn't sync with outlook or anything) but it works just fine for me since I just need to keep track of my work schedule, the occasional conference call or gaming event.

I think if you spend more than 50% of your time browsing around online, this will be a great system for you. If you use a computer more for word processing or gaming and not as much for browsing, this isn't the system for you. For what it is and what it has the potential to be, it's a great device.

One other thing that wasn't mentioned was the thumboard. In the notes app, or web address bar (and even the menu button), if you touch the text area or menu button with the stylus, it will bring up the smaller menu as shown here. If you touch it with your finger or thumb though (the FULL finger, just just the tip or fingernail), it will bring up a finger sized thumb board to type in or, in case of the menu, will bring up larger icons that are easier to select with your finger. Another thing that wasn't covered as much was on the webcam. If you twist it around so it's facing away from you, it will auto orient. Just a little thing, but something that's actually really neat.

Great inkshow! I always love them and you guys have inspired me to buy several devices based off them. I do agree with you on the scroll wheel on the right though. That would have made the device perfect for web browsing but I've gotten good at using my finger to control the scroll bar on screen.

SarieaTsukihoshi

Tuesday, April 17, 2007 2:16:39 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

I tried one out last month - if you hold down the directional keys, the scroll does kick on and bypasses the hyperlink action of the directional pad. So ...scrolling is there.

Rob Bushway

Tuesday, April 17, 2007 3:35:50 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

Rob, you are absolutely right! I just tried it out and it works perfectly. Now I'm wondering if there's a way to set it that way by default. That will require more research when I get home and can use the internet tablet and my tablet pc at the same time, since it's easier to test things out that way. I just have my N800 with me now.

SarieaTsukihosi

Wednesday, April 18, 2007 11:42:19 AM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

Hey there, nice review. Just one thing to add: When you´re browsing the web, just press down the navigation button down longer than a second and the screen will scroll down slowly instead of jumping from one link to the next one.

So no (touchpad)-thumbboard needed!

kkpaul

Wednesday, April 18, 2007 11:47:20 AM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

Yeah, I've discovered this, thanks to those that pointed it out. But I have to tell you, it is less than an elegant solution in my opinion. Take the GBM page for example, before I can get the press and hold to lock in, I'm already a link or two down the page. Maybe it is just my fingers, but I would prefer a better solution.

Warner Crocker

Friday, April 20, 2007 10:17:18 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00)

Warner - nice job taking a look at the N800. I've been using its predeccesor, the 770 for about six months and just got the N800 this week. I can tell you that this model is substantially improved over the previous model in almost every way.

A couple of additional things I'd like to add to your review. The Rhapsody streaming music service has been optimized for the N800 and a 30-day trial is available. Given the relatively small amount of onboard storage, this is an excellent alternative, as is the Media Streamer utility (free) which can connect to any public streaming server.

A GPS kit from Navicore, announced at CES is just becoming available and Skype will be available for the N800 later this year. Gizmo Project is another option for IM, voice, and video calls and works great on this device.

Paired with a folding Bluetooth keyboard, this is really a very capable e-mail, IM, web, and RSS reading device. It makes a pretty good e-book reader as well although screen rotation would definitely help for that use.

Marc Orchant

Comments are closed.