Re: [NTLK] My Nokia N800

Quoth Steve Frank:

> Did you own a 770 before the 800? I'd be interested to read a
> comparison.

I didn't. It's my first PDA since the Newt.

> I have a 770 and it's kind of... well... garbage is a strong word,
> but I'm having trouble coming up with any other. A crashy browser
> that rarely works with (increasingly common) AJAX sites, next-to-
> useless HWR, no PIM, Bluetooth that refuses to connect to anything
> that's not a Nokia phone, brain-dead glitchy user interface, and an
> email client so bad that it should probably be illegal.

I can only say that my experience with the N800 this past week has
been quite different from the above, and that comparisons I've read
between the two describe the N800 as _much_ faster and more stable
than the 770.

        - A _much_ more efficient processor, with floating-point support and
DSP, and 80MHz faster.
        - A newer, faster version of the web browser
        - Flash 7 support
        - Better bluetooth, v2.0, full OBEX and Push support and lots more
        - Twice the RAM
        - Two SD/MMC card slots going up to 4GB each, as opposed to one MMC
slot at 512MB
        - 128MB Internal flash, 128MB in provided card
        - Significantly improved OS and UI

Comparisons from 770 users:
        http://thoughtfix.blogspot.com/2007/01/nokia-n800-review.html
        http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070109-8575.html
        http://deliverator.silverfir.net/?p=406

The browser, I am told, is MUCH faster and improved, though watching
videos on YouTube is only 2-3 FPS for now. I have to check with
AJAX. I've had failure only on one site so far: .Mac's mail
interface. But I wouldn't hold my breath for Google Docs and
Spreadsheets to work!

I've found Bluetooth to connect to _everything_ I've thrown at it
perfectly. My mac, my (Nokia) cell phone, my friend's (Motorola)
cell phone, and her Palm TX. And bluetooth keyboards. The machine
is snappy; totally not what 770 people describe about their boxen.

The N800 doesn't have PIM by default, but it's simple to install
one. I've got GPE-Contacts, GPE-Notes, and GPE-Calendar installed
and working well. Well, not quite -- subscribing to online calendars
crashes GPE-Calendar. I've filed a bug report. GPE-Contacts got
bluetooth vcard transfer from my Mac with no problems at all.
Speaking of bugs, I've had the mail program crash once and get
occasional temporary app freezes when mail or the browser etc. are
thinking deeply online. Doesn't affect other apps -- it is Linux
after all.

Annoyances:
        - No built-in hardware keyboard, no good HWR. Yet. :-)
        - Little interface stupidities: the busy-alert dialog covers the
scroll bar widgets; selecting text *always* brings up the keyboard
even if you just want to cut/paste.
        - Missing niceties of the Newton: no routing button, no soup
structure, no drag-to-edge cut/paste, fonts not as good.
        - No built-in Unicode support. You can get fonts, but the browser
doesn't support them. Other apps do.
        - No printing or fax support
        - No built-in Java
        - No OS X flashing tool (yet) -- 770 only for now.
        - I can NOT figure out how to get Einstein running on it; even as
root I'm getting weird can't-execute commands from BusyBox.
        - Like all Linux systems, the online repository, download, and
update systems have poor documentation, even for a developer like
me. Couldn't imagine how frustrating it'd be for the average non-
power-user.
        - Strange minor bugs happen occasionally which disappear on reboot.
Right now if I pop up the application-choice menu, it won't go away
unless I pick an application. Yesterday the machine suddenly
couldn't see the SD card until reboot.
        - The screen is extremely sharp and high-resolution and bright, but
it's *small*. I forgot how much I like the Newt's real estate.

Sean

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