Why N800 doesn't suit my needs
 

I've given it 10days, had fun, but have decided to return my N800 (CompUSA are great!).

My original requirements were:-
1. Portable (fits in pocket)
2. WiFi (reliable connection)
3. Decent resolution screen (better than 320x240)
4. SD card (preview stills/video from digital cameras)
5. Email/Contact/Calendar (preferable sync with Outlook)
6. Bluetooth (GPS/ cell phone xfer)
7. USB Host (external Keyboard/camera/drive)
8. MP3 playback
9. Reasonable battery life

The N800 fails to deliver for these reasons:-
1. I struggle to safely take it out of the house. No hard shell like 770. Just too awkward for a pocket (I could throw my Jornada 540 around and it is still going)
2. WiFi just does not connect correctly to open APs. I frequently get 'connected to xxx with link-local IP address' and browser/email fail. It does work well in my house though.
3. The screen is excellent!
4. Great having SD card slots, but I still can't preview my camera video AVI files
5. Maybe one of the PIM apps can do this/will do this?
6. Bluetooth works fine, although I didn't see any A2DP/headphone profile. I can't seem to play audio through my bluetooth earpiece I use with my cellphone.
[[7. Rumour is USB Host Mode is disabled in the kernel. IS THIS TRUE?]]
8, 9 no issues.

In summary, half my requirements are not met. I will probably replace it with a VGA, WiFi, SD Slot, Bluetooth, Windows Mobile PDA (eg Loox C550, Acer n311, Dell Axim X51v) for the same price, my belief being one of these will fit my requirements better. I will miss the lovely N800 screen!

Re: Why N800 doesn't suit my needs
 

Sorry to hear you didn't get what you expected from the N800. So do you have a 770 still, or did you return that as well?

Re: Why N800 doesn't suit my needs
 

I'm with you on 4. I also have .mov (quicktime) files from a camera, they don't work either. Nokia, get us some codecs, please... as it is now one of the potentially great selling points ("extra independent SD slot, preview your camera video files easily!") doesn't work.

What I still use my T3 (PDA) for is mostly:
- Avantgo (the rss feed in the N800 is a bit rudimentary compared to Avantgo)
- Contacts (the T3 version is perfect for what I need it for)
- Calendar (I don't need calendar sync. functionality, I maintain it all on the T3)
- Todo-list (my shopping list, mostly)
- Simple calculator (for this app. the slight latency time for loading it in the N800 bothers me, the T3 calc starts instantly.)
- Google maps (the native application on the T3 utilizes the screen estate way better than using the browser to access maps.google.com on the N800)
- Keyring (password protector app.)
- KMeteo (that Accuweather app. on the N800 seems to be totally US centric. Apparently there's a weather app. in Maemo in the mistral repo, haven't tried that one yet. Coming to bora?)
- Offline email (while on the road I use N800/gmail in browser most of the time, through wi-fi or gprs, but sometimes it's ok to just sync gmail to my T3 through pop)
- Timesheet program (I've noticed there is one for the Nokia but I haven't checked it out so I don't know if it would fulfill my needs)
- MetrO program (this could possibly be ported to the N800, but the MetrO guys would have to decide on that)
- Watching those movies that the N800 can't display (which is just about everything I've got, on any card..)

Possibly some of the T3 uses could at some stage be taken over by the N800.

Re: Why N800 doesn't suit my needs
 

Although this is exactly the one and only (!!) reason why I will not purchase a N800, I'm still surprised how many people share my point of view. Either Nokia really made a very big mistake here - or they meant to design the N800 for home use only and deliberately abandoned the concept of a truly mobile device.

If it was a mistake, there's hope that the next model will correct it again. If it was a deliberate decision, we'll have to say good-bye to mobile internet tablets based on Maemo in the long run :(

Re: Why N800 doesn't suit my needs
 

I put it in the soft case and carry it in my pocket this way. However, it slides out of the soft case rather easily so I too would like a hard case. I'm wdonering how good that flip case will be. Some people have also suggested using a DS Lite case for it (Although I'm not sure if it'll still be able to fit inside your pocket using one.


Also I believe the local link problem when connecting to a wireless access point is when you're not getting a strong enough signal to actually connect to the wap

Re: Why N800 doesn't suit my needs
 

Ok, It's getting tedious seeing people harping on the same issues over, and over, and over, and over, and over. Please, move on already!

Re: Why N800 doesn't suit my needs
 

Maybe it's because the issues are crucial and still not resolved.

Re: Why N800 doesn't suit my needs
 

At least on the hard case issue, I sorta have to agree with bac522: Complaining about it won't and can't change a thing. The N800 doesn't come with a hard slipcase. Period. Final. So there.

We could use our nagging superpowers better if we directed them at the software flaws of ITOS2007. At least those Nokia can (and hopefully will) address.

Re: Why N800 doesn't suit my needs
 

Being quiet about the hard cover would send a wrong message towards Nokia in regard to future products - we do hope that the N800 will not be the last Nokia internet tablet, don't we? So there's a good point in making complaints/suggestions about the hardware as well.

Re: Why N800 doesn't suit my needs
 

Well... agreed, but IMHO it would be better to post hardware complaints in a "I want this in the N900" thread, or something like that. Less confusing and such...