Forgive me... I should have explained better. Assuming you're familiar with Windows, a .deb file is similar to a .msi file in that it is an installer for a specific application. Unlike most .msi files, however, .deb files do not necessarily include everything needed to install the application. This is done in large part to reduce redundancy (why have a spell checker and dictionary software contain separate word lists, for example). Technically, .msi files rely on .dll's in Windows...but the idea here isn't to complicate things more than I already need to.

So, .deb files can be thought of as application installers. A repository is an online resource that concerns itself with making sure that the .deb files it hosts also contain everything those applications would require (the master word list, in my dictionary example above). Think of it like Microsoft Update on steroids. Updates for ALL software are automatically made available to you...assuming you have 'subscribed' to that repository. When words are added to that master list, both the spell checker and the dictionary get them when you update your computer.

The reason you can't use the 2007 repositories with the n810 (or os2008 more accurately), is because the repository itself has to make some assumptions - namely the 'base' state the computer starts in. OS2008 has changes that have been made that, of necessity or aesthetics, are incompatible with the previous OS. The individual applications you want installed might work ok with those changes...hence it might be worth finding the .deb package and seeing if that will install. Better, however, would be installing an application that is known to work with the new OS...hence those links I included in my previous post.

If any of that doesn't make sense, ask and I will try to clarify further.

Now, as for syncing your n810 with your desktop. Divorce the n810 from the n95 in your mind. Think of the n810 as 1 of 2 things:
1.) A simple web browser, email client, and voip unit.
2.) A completely separate computer from your desktop. An ultra-mobile pc competitor that can potentially replace a laptop for most things.
How you think of it depends on what you saw yourself doing with it when you purchased it. I can't tell you if you should feel buyers remorse. Not until I at least know what you need the n810 to do. Is it worth it...

That's the million dollar question.