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Thinking about getting a N810

Re: Thinking about getting a N810

Quote:

Originally Posted by robitaille88 (Post 185269)

Hi all,

I'm a long-time Palm user fed up with its extremely limited online capabilities. I read the Brighthand review of the N810 and the device looks exactly what I've been looking for. However I have a few questions/concerns. Please forgive my "noobish-ness" as I know no one in real life with a device to ask questions to.

PIM:
I'm not exactly a heavy PIM user on my Palm TX, I more or less just like to keep a contact list and have a date book with calendar view. Is there anything like that for the N810?

There are several PIMs. I use GPE as the PIM apps that come with the tablet aren't very good. E.g., contacts is lacking fields for notes, birthdays, etc. Actually, GPE isn't much better for contacts, but the calendar, Todo and others work well. There are several other PIMs that I haven't tried. I use a program called "Notecase" for my contacts but it doesn't integrate into anything.

Music:
I'm a somewhat heavy media user on my Palm TX. I listen to mp3s about 1-2 hours per day before getting home from university. Can the N810 keep up with that, software-wise? Battery-wise? Is the built-in media player best or are there more preferred ones?

There are a LOT of great media players. My favorite is Mediabox because it has a great mix of "eye-candy" and functionality. If you like WinAmp try xmms. Others sware by "Canola" which is beautiful but, IMHO awkward.

Video:
On my Palm TX, I use CorePlayer. Is there anything similar for the N810? Most of my usual videos are mp4, avi, mov and 3gp containers with usually divx, xvid, avc, mpeg-4 (asp) codecs.

Again, I use Mediabox. Some people have experienced a few frame drops on high-resolution movies. If you want to ensure perfect playback, there are several "movie converters" for copying movies and DVDs to the best screen resolution for the device.

Keyboard:
This is one thing that really attracted me to the N810 over the N800. However, I have worries. I had a Zire 71 a few years ago. It had a slider which revealed a camera. However, be it manufacturing defect or just bad planning, the majority of Palm Zire 71s became bricks thanks to that very slider that made it so popular (the sliding wore away vital internal cables). Should I be worried about the keyboard sliding damaging internal components?

I have the N800, but I haven't seen that complaint in the forums. I use a Bluetooth keyboard and sometimes a full sized USB keyboard myself.

Thanks in advance for those brave souls who are able to read my post entirely, lol.

Good luck! I love my N800. For me it lives up to the hype and beyond.

Re: Thinking about getting a N810

Quote:

Originally Posted by BruceL (Post 185278)

I use a program called "Notecase" for my contacts but it doesn't integrate into anything.

Notecase integrates well with Notecase for the desktop, though. :cool: (I love Notecase! I don't use it for contacts, though.)

I used to use CorePlayer, too, on Windows Mobile. You can use MediaBox or Canola to play your videos just like your audio, but I prefer Mplayer -- it's incredibly fast and can keep up with things better.

Battery-wise, fear not. N800 and N810 have great battery life. :)

Re: Thinking about getting a N810

Thanks for you answers BruceL and ldrn :)

2 quick followup things:

1) I read in the Brighthand review of the N810 that the only way to do .doc documents and .xls spreadsheets was online with Google Docs. Has this changed since the Brighthand review was written? Are there any native .doc and .xls editors?

2) My university used WEP (dynamic) on EAP-TTLS, is that supported by the N810?

Also, it's be appreciated if someone with an N810 could tell me the quality of the slider keyboard (how sturdy it is, etc.)

Thanks again :)

Re: Thinking about getting a N810

Glad to help. :)

To answer your first -- yes, AbiWord and Gnumeric. I have not used the second, but the first has some problems on the OS2008 -- in my experience, these have to do with the on screen keyboard, and so are not a problem with the N810, but it is why there is not an "official" release of it yet.

I don't know about the second, sorry.

I love the slider keyboard on the N810; other people don't, though. It feels sturdy to me. The complaints I hear from others (which are probably true, mind; I don't have much experience with alternatives myself, aside from the UX180) are that the keys need an intention or more space between them for easier touch typing and that the number row is too close to the screen.

Re: Thinking about getting a N810

There's a couple of ways to edit .doc files, none very satisfactory as of now. But both Gnumeric and KSpread have .xls decoding. (There have been a few instances using Gnumeric where the program has messed up on the math. See one of the Gnumeric threads for their solution)

I really missed core player when I first came to the N810 (I migrated from an aging Zire72) But Canola WAY more than fills my media player gap :) It's an amazing program with an interface that's even prettier than the iTouch's if that's imaginable)

Also, I was initially skeptical of the keyboard, but it's been wonderful! The entire unit (with the exception of some bezeling) is constructed of high grade aluminum and steel rather than Palm's legendary plastic :P and feels VERY sturdy. The keyboard's action is very smooth, slides nicely and feels very stable. The keys are somewhat lacking in tactile feedback, but by no means difficult to type on. :)

Re: Thinking about getting a N810

Quote:

Originally Posted by ldrn (Post 185319)

To answer your first -- yes, AbiWord and Gnumeric. I have not used the second, but the first has some problems on the OS2008 -- in my experience, these have to do with the on screen keyboard, and so are not a problem with the N810, but it is why there is not an "official" release of it yet.

So for the N810, since it has a hardware keyboard, works properly with AbiWord and .doc files then?

Quote:

Originally Posted by josiahg777 (Post 185320)

Also, I was initially skeptical of the keyboard, but it's been wonderful! The entire unit (with the exception of some bezeling) is constructed of high grade aluminum and steel rather than Palm's legendary plastic :P and feels VERY sturdy. The keyboard's action is very smooth, slides nicely and feels very stable. The keys are somewhat lacking in tactile feedback, but by no means difficult to type on. :)

Coming from a TX, with its creaky plastic casing, the N810 sounds like heaven, lol.

Re: Thinking about getting a N810

Quote:

Originally Posted by robitaille88 (Post 185356)

So for the N810, since it has a hardware keyboard, works properly with AbiWord and .doc files then?

Yes -- it has trouble with some files, like any AbiWord / OpenOffice install, but I think it is rare as it can be outside of MS Office itself.

Failing that, you can run OpenOffice (completely non-integrated) off of a debian chroot; it's complex, but Qole has a guide somewhere about it. If you want to fiddle with it, you can also install KDE, and that gives you yet another option in KOffice... you also get the KDE PIM suite, which is extremely nice and powerful, but for a desktop, not an IT. KOffice can open both of those files as well.

Abiword and Gnumeric are hildonized properly and easiest to install and set up, though -- but you have a lot of options. :) Heck, you can run Palm OS on your IT, too, although not fullscreen.

Re: Thinking about getting a N810

Any links where to find N810-compatible Abiword/Gnumeric?

Also, is WEP on EAP-TTLS supported by the N810?

Re: Thinking about getting a N810

Google seems to imply that it's not. Search words I used: N800 and EAP-TTLS.

Also, don't hesitate to search here for EAP-TTLS. I found at least one reference from right here. The reason that you didn't get an immediate answer was probably that no one knew, so doing a search is a logical next step.