Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

I have a Dell X51v Pocket PC. I am thinking to buy a Nokia N800. I searched and read many reviews and watch the N800 videos from youtube. I hope some N800 users can answer my following questions before I place my order. Thank you.

1. The N800 has a 4.1" LCD with 800x480 res, how's the font read-ability on the 4.1" screen when browsing the internet? Can I read comfortable without zoom in on the web browser? How's the web browsing experience? Web browsing on the go is very important for me.
2. How's the N800 support on the real player video (rm, rmvb) format? Can Mplayer support such format?
3. Can the N800 play AVI (700MB size) format movie fine without converting?

Thank you again for answering my questions.

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

1. I can't really comment on this, but my phone has half the resolution and it's readable. It should be at least comparable (better) than your Pocket PC.
2. mplayer can play the rm/rmvb containers provided the correct codec.
3. AVI is a container format. Just by context, it sounds like we're playing 640x480 and higher video encoded with DivX/Xvid. It can play it, but it'll be choppy.

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

I gotta say, honestly, no. You can't read the web browser comfortably without zooming or scrolling.

The fonts range in the 5-6pts by the look of it on most web pages. Fine if you have perfect vision or a steady surface but, no, I've tried and I end up squinting or scrolling after about 5 minutes.

It's the biggest disappointment in the N800 for me, I'm afraid. On-the-go and quick? Yeah. Fine.

Anything like reading a newspaper item? Anything over a page and forget it. It's too hard on the eyes as is.

But, realistically, at 4.1", that's what you're going to get.

Sorry. I'm not really familiar with the tablet enough to answer your other questions.

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

About no. 3. It really depends of the video:

i.e. I have some tv epissodes at 350 mb (roughly = a movie at 700 mb) . They are pretty watchable IF the sound is mp3. If the sound is aac it barely moves. there are many factors involved: i.e. I can play both higher res at slower bitrates but they look uglyer than lower res at higher bitrate (which imho looks better).

As a conclusion: I can play most of my movies without converting. As a procentage: around 75% of videos I throw at it work fine just like that. Of course I have some 1080p documentaries at 1280x800 which puts my 1.8 ghz amd I use as video player at work. I suspect those won't work on the n800 :D

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

Regarding point 1, that depends on your eyesight and the site you're viewing. I can read 95% of sites at the default zoom, but a couple with small fonts require me to zoom in. But then I'm a (relative) youngster, with fairly decent eyesight.

I used to work with a guy who ran a 19" CRT monitor at 1600x1200 resolution quite happily, and I couldn't read it. Conversely, I work with another guy who runs a 17" TFT at 1024x768 instead of the native 1280x1024.

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

1. It depends on the site, of course. But I find that I can easily read most sites (not sure why Betty Woo can't) that I visit-- as long as I remove my eyeglasses. I'm sure if I had broken down and got bifocals like I was supposed to it wouldn't be a problem at all. :D

Seriously, the text is crisp and clear for me... for the most part I rarely zoom and only scroll down the page.

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

I'm with Tex on this one. The majority of sites I have no problem with. Microb doesn't handle page-scaling quite as well as Opera, and it's not quite so good at handling those annoying Google AdSense adverts that sometimes end up overlaying the text, but compared to pretty much anything else out there that isn't a laptop or better, it's about as good as you are going to get.

Examples:

1) Posting on a phpBB BBS lying on a beach in Tenerife
Easy as long as you kept the screen in the shade, and the suncream off your tablet. I don't have an N810 so I can't comment on the Transflective screen, that might improve readability in bright sunlight.

2) Reading the BBC News site while walking down the road: no problem for me, but dangerous when you come to a T-junction ;)

3) Random Googling on the bus (unlimited Data plan FTW) no problems.

4) Facebook/LinkedIn/Digg/Regsiter/Slashdot all render just fine.

Does that help?

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

Yep, 1) depends on your near-focus range. If you can focus to, say, 20-25 cm then you'll probably be able to read almost anything at 100% or even 80%. I can focus to 35-40cm and I'm able to read news.bbc.co.uk (the small letters) OK at 100% (heck, at 80% too), but it's a bit more comfortable to read at 120% zoom (130% would've been nice but the next step is 150%, at least in Opera). I haven't fiddled with the default font settings, some people here have done so and are happy with that solution.

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

The text is crisp and clear to me, too. I'm mightily impressed by that. It helps immensely.

But if the OP is going to buy the N800 with the intention of reading websites (as opposed to glancing at them for immediate information), then a crisply-rendered 6pt font is still 6pt - unless you start zooming, which means you also start scrolling.

In favour of the N800; the fingertip touchscreen capabilities are very good :)

It's just one of those things you have to really understand when you're looking at a 3.5" (9-ish cm) screen; some things'll be s-m-a-l-l in its natural state.

On the other hand, writing emails, notes and chats are easy since all you have to do is change the text input and output font sizes to something you're very comfortable with.

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

thank you for your replies. They are very informative and helpful. I decided to place an order and buy the N800. I am very glad to join the internet tablet community. I have many real format videos in RV9 and RV10 format, anybody have any experience on using Mplayer to play real format videos file (support and play smoothly)? Or other software that plays real format video files? your Real format video playing experience on the N800 is welcome. Thank you.

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

Media Player, the basic media playback application that comes built in, plays RealVideo files.

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

I personally think other posters were being too optimistic. I think you'll be disappointed with any video not transcoded to 400x240 (for widescreen) or 320x240 (for 4:3).

I watch a lot of video on my N800. Video was one of the primary reasons I bought it. I am very pleased with the quality of transcoded video (I usually transcode to One-pass XviD, 550-800kbps, cropped and resized to 400x240).

I am not pleased with the fact that I have to transcode the video in the first place, but I believe that the N800 has a bigger screen and plays video as well or better than any multi-function device at its price point*. From what I hear, future Nokia IT devices will fix the current bottleneck (the LCD controller) that forces us to transcode video.

The other thing I would recommend with video on the N800 is breaking long videos into smaller chunks, unless you know you can watch the whole movie in one sitting. It isn't very fun holding down the FF button through 4/5ths of a two hour movie to get back to where you were when you had to stop.

* I have seen a portable DVD player that has a bigger screen and can supposedly play DivX for under $200, but I haven't tried it, mainly because I don't just want to watch video. The N800 is also a very good e-book reader, web browser, internet radio receiver, photo viewer, instant message client, and Skype client.

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

For a slightly anecdotal reference:

I watched The Sting in AVI last night with mplayer on my N800 with no noticeable framedrops at 624x336 and 800Kbps, and The Darjeeling Limited the night before that at 640x256 and 1000Kbps.

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

Can't help, I don't use Real for anything, and haven't in years. They lost me long ago. As for reading sites, I don't have problems with most. I do wear glasses because of senile presbyopia, being older than most here, but I can read most fonts. Some require zooming to 120%, but they're rare.

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

Again, video experiences are mixed and to a large extent depend on what people are willing to put up with. But-- keep in mind the tablets are really not yet mature as a video playback device. I don't think they will be until there are either ready-made video productions for them, or the conversions are insanely easy. I think either is still a good way off.

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

. . . or we get OMAP3. :D

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

I just want to point out (as I did above) that there really aren't many mature, big-screen, hand-held video playback devices at the N800's current price point, and if they do non-transcoded video acceptably (the sub $300 units seem to usually require transcoding), they can't play Quake 2 or make video Internet calls.

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

I have an Archos PMA430; it dates from 2005; it plays just about any DivX or Xvid file I throw on it, without transcoding (I do transcode though, because it saves bytes). And given the sad fact that the N800 can only play videos at max 400x240 reasonably well, the PMA's 320x240 screen ain't half bad in comparison.

Also, the PMA has video out, meaning that I can play the files it has stored (on its 30GB hard disk) on any TV.

And to add insult to injury, the PMA also has video in, meaning that it can record video from any external tuner (a nice second life for my VCR).

Did I mention the PMA is also a Qtopia PDA, with PIM and office suite? Oh, and I bought it for less than I originally paid for my 770...

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

And yet, here you are, an IT user... Interesting, no? :D

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

I'm a pocket computer junk.

BTW, I hardly ever use my Itablets for video playback anymore, it's just too embarrassing.

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

In response to the question previously raised, and as a newbie N800 user, I have so far found this device totally unable to view video in the quality that I had become accutomed to with my Ipaq HX4700 (a far more expensive device).

I'm sure I haven't explored all the possibilities yet, and I haven't given up hope...

GeneralAntilles - how did you manage to accomplish those amazing video views?

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

I'm not really sure what your question is here. I've covered the recommended format and bitrate settings a lot in the past (slightly pessimistic to avoid all framedrop). Just install mplayer and follow those settings if you want perfect playback. I've had varying amounts of success with video into the low–600-pixel horizontal range (widescreen) with low-mid 500-pixel width videos giving the best result.

Re: Questions for the Nokia N800....
 

And, gylman, make sure you use mplayer not the included media player.

GeneralAntilles, can you point me to the thread where you discuss these mid 500 pixel width video settings? Are you using letterboxed video, or are you using the full screen of the N800?