N900 and poor vision
 

Does any one of you lucky people to have got your sweaty mittts on an N900 have any comments on the useability of the device for people who need spectacles.

I will need my reading glasses for browsing and stuff like that. But I'd like to know if it is possible to use any functions - the phone and SMS are obvious examples - without my glasses.

Most phones really fall down in this regard. Even when font sizes are settable, they usually don't apply to all fonts on all pages.

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

Conversations (the section that does chats for SMS, IMs, etc) uses a fairly large font IMO. Its probably only web browsing where you will have a less than optimal time having to zoom more than the rest of us.

That said, I have only seen videos and the SDK which is not a true test.

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

I need bifocals but don't have them... so I need to take off my glasses and hold the N900 close to read anything.

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

This is obviously a subjective matter (depends on just how bad your short range vision is), but the N900 is, apart from two or three screens (like manual dialing and incoming call) by default quite unconsiderate. Most dialogs and screens operate with letters that are the roughly the size of the 'N900' mark on the device and it can only be changed in a handful of applications (i.e. the mail client, RSS). To make things worse, variable font size in chat (that includes SMS) is officially wontfix.

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

If you are one of the lucky nearsighted, as Texrat mentions, it is just a matter of removing your glasses and holding the device close to your eyes, and you have a view like a car at a drive-in -- remember those? It can be awkward sometimes, like when you are trying to hold your tablet, your glasses, AND a cup of coffee, but there are ways to make it work.

If you are far-sighted, removing your glasses wouldn't work. To the extent that you could read a normal book, in a pinch, without glasses, I would expect you could read a tablet without them. However, it probably wouldn't be particularly fun. I would guess that most people could use the phone even blindfolded in many cases.

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

I have Aniridia (%3 sight with one eye, other one doesn't see at all)
I currently use an N95 8GB and don't have a lot of problems using it.
Only thing is web browsing doesn't really work of the small screen :D
How does the N900 compare to the N95 8GB?

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

To avoid confusion - the screen is extremely sharp and contrasty, so if the letter size is not an issue, it is very pleasant to use. It's just that some apps are very stubborn in determining which font size is best for the users, and the author(s) or presumed target audience is apparently not farsighted :)

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

Is there any sort of zoom thing where the desktop is scaled up and you only see part of it on the screen and pan around to get it all?

That's do for me, but everything would have to be scaled up.

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

No, there is not.

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

But someone could write an app for this?

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

It can be controlled from the theme I think, at least in some apps (like Modest).

For instance - after I updated to 42-11 yesterday and restored the contacts backup my font-size broke resulting in huge letters in several applications. After a restart it was fixed, but this should mean that it can be controlled at least partially.

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

i have pretty bad eyes myself where i *should* be wearing glasses all the time (keratoconus) but can get away with not having to...

i generally hold my phone ~35-40cm from my face usually...not sure if that's too close or what :)

- call ui is pretty good to use in regards to being able to read contact names. dialpad also has pretty big numbers and letters that it's not that difficult to use if you have eye problems. when you're in the call handling view, the name of the contact is pretty large and it's the standard font size for the time stamping...

- conversations is also the same case, contact names are of a sufficient size, but, you might have problems reading the secondary text information (sms/im preview text) line in the main view. this also applies to the time/date stamp. i don't know though, for me i could read it just fine...

although..you can increase the font size when you're in SMS conversation view and in IM view...

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

Eeek, wrong :) That functionality is pretty buggy and will apparently be removed in one of the next firmware updates.

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

I believe I saw, in one of the Nokia videos, a feature where a 'looking glass' was panned around the screen and the part inside was zoomed. It reminded me of some desktop tools that were maybe more common in the past (before we all moved away from 14" screens).

Is that feature (from that Nokia video) not part of the real software? It's a while since I saw that one, so I'm a bit vague as to exactly how it worked (if it was with the browser, say, or something else).

EDIT: I now remember a bit more.. this feature I mentioned was observed in that video about QT on N900. So, apparently, it's something which is available in the QT toolkit and could be used by (future) Maemo software, I guess.

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

I don't have a device but saw someone using it in the bus yesterday. He kept it about 30 - 40 cm away from his face the whole time while I had my N800 comfortably at my lap. I've been having doubts about the screen size but sadly this confirmed them.

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

I would consider this a "no brainer" personally.

Of course you wont be able to use the N900 as far away from you as the N800. Likewise I wouldn't expect to be able to read text on my 24" monitor from the same distance I can on my 42" TV. Logic should make it pretty clear that you will always need to get closer to a smaller screen, period. That does not mean its not a viable platform to use though.

There's a reason I plan to use my N900 mostly for IM/phone at home but still use the PC for prolonged web browsing. Even if everything fit perfectly on the screen its still more comfortable to use a larger screen.

The point is, can you lug that screen around in your pocket every time you leave the house? Personally I have enough junk in my pockets as it is I doubt I could fit anything much bigger than the N900 (although granted, 4" screen WOULD fit) in my pocket. It is exactly why I never use my PSP or original DS, they are too big to carry around with me.

I would love a bigger screen, around 4" as that wouldn't make a big difference to the device size. However from what I have seen of the N800 it looked HUGE and would be far too big to lug around for me. If I need a separate bag to put it in I might as well just lug my laptop around instead. The N900 is all about being able to have it on you at all times without it getting in the way.

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

The N800 body, if not for the buttons, bezel, etc could host a MUCH larger screen, about in the 5.x" domain. The N810 is much closer to the actual screen size, with a theoretical max of about 4.3"

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

My 5500 Sport has around 170ppi, the N900 is 250ppi so I'm looking forward to nice hi res experiance :)
I have fairly good vision luckily so I'm looking forward to a phone where I can't really see each individual pixel.

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

Interesting that visual accessiblity wasn't part of Maemo 5's User Interface Guide. We dropped the ball on that one (as a community).

Recommendation to decouple the text rendering engine from the other theme aspects, so that an appropriate plugin could be built that adjust the font sizes throughout the device, but maintains the rest of the visual aspects.

Or

Create a second built-in theme which increases the font size of all elements by 50% (1.5em, 150%, whatever you want to use for this number) and call it something like Default-Large-Text.

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

The HTC HD2 is smaller than the N810 in every dimension, and it has a 4.3" screen.

I'd measure the maximum diagonal that an N810 could support, except I mislaid my N810 a few days ago and it hasn't turned up yet. If it was a phone, I could have called it and listened for the ringtone.

Regards,
Roger

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

Yes (the 'important' axis is 5mm shorter), though I'm not sure a 4.5" (if that's the next step) would fit it... Measurements, measurements.

Ssh into it, set volume to loudest, mplayer /media/mmc1/Audio/*mp3 (why does this sound as if I already was in a similar situation ? :D )

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

Great thread!

Reviews of the N900 are superb but I'm not upgrading my n800 because I'd not be able to comfortably read e-books or comics on the smaller screen. My n800 is an mp3, divx-movie playing pdf/cbz reader which I can also use for e-mail, browsing, ssh, python hacking etc. The N900 falls down on my third most important requirement, the reader.

I hope my n800 lasts until Nokia release a N900 5-inch. Or someone else makes an open 5" tablet (ie not the closed, locked Archos5).

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

Memo to self: leave the WiFi enabled, for use in "lost tablet" situations like this.

Memo 2: record my voice, so that I can ssh into the tablet when others are near and have it say things like "Help, I'm stuck inside my internet tablet. Please open the back cover and let me out."

Regards,
Roger

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

This seems to depend a lot on the person. I've lugged my N800 happily along everywhere I go for two years now and it has a leather case that makes it even bigger! It still fits nicely in the inside pocket of my jackets. I just value the big screen that much. I also have a stowaway keyboard in my bag which makes the device a pretty powerful mobile computer.

So - as always - your mileage may vary. What is HUGE to you might be just right for me. On the other hand I just read comments on Engadget saying that the N900 is HUGE. Go figure :o Luckily there should be more devices coming in a year or so if the rumors are correct :) I'm thinking Nokia could score big if they introduced a proper big screen version for the power users.

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

I use reading glasses 1.50 and I find the font size incredibly small especially when you have to view contact numbers under address book.

I don't know who their target market is, but it sure isn't the over 40 crowd. I hope they are able to fix this major flaw

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

not trying to be rude but it is your eyes that need fixing and not n900 interface/font :)

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

Croc, +40's eyes are usually just fine. There's nothing that can be "fixed", and there'll still be a problem with small fonts. The focus range decreases, and it's common to end up with a range that cannot possibly be "fixed" by multifocals or anything, because no multifocals can successfully reduce the closest focus distance while at the same time keep the horizon focus distance. Not without creating horrible multifocals with way too small sharp regions. Multifocals will normally allow you to focus down to about 30cm or so, not much shorter. At best.

As the screen size cannot reasonably be increased in something that's supposed to be a phone, the only fix is to make it easy to adjust font size (and add good, working reflowing features in browsers and the like).

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

I am in the crowd that needs font adjustability due to using reading glasses (1.50's which are not string magnification).
I would love to fix my eyes and I guess the money I will be getting back for return of this N900 will go into the fund for such.
Not worth trading my N97 for. I can use my N97 and SEE IT.
The Gee-Whizz of this device does not overcome its shortcomings.
If I wanted to be a Beta tester and have to use throw on my glasses for almost every task on an N900 then I would expect to pay MUCH less for the device.

N97 1 N900 0

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

Yay, I am nearly 50, and thanks to being nearsighted, can see the n900 just fine with my glasses off, just like all my other microscopic devices.

You just can't win, can you? If you make a big device, "it's too big" - small device, "I can't read the screen".

(off topic, I have a netbook with a 10.1" screen which I love, but there is no way I'm carrying that thing around everywhere. Sure, I would rather carry it then a notebook, but the n900 just slips in a pocket and comes along without a second thought.)

Re: N900 and poor vision
 

Yeah. That's why it would be great if we had more than one Maemo 5 device. I quote the Nokia CES 2010 Keynote:

"One size does not fit all" ;)