48 Hours with my n810

I am no stranger to the Nokia internet platform having played with a 770 for a few weeks last year. I found the whole experince to be lacking in many way. The unit was underpowered and both the it2006 and it 2007HE were promising, but buggy. But it was able to browse the internet via my cell phone.

Fast forward to recently. I've been lusting after an iPhone, but refuse to spend that kind of cash for a device and a 2 year lockin to AT&T. For that kind of cash I would much rather buy a MacBook, except I already have a Pro. The iPod touch was more suited to my capacity needs and my cost avoidance, but I have this sneaking suspicion that it will never be able to pair with my cell phone for use almost anywhere.

Which leads me full circle back to the NIT. As I started looking at my needs and costs I decided that I should give it another chance. I picked up a used n810 for a healty discount thanks to this site.

The it2008 software is a signifigant upgrade and the n810 hardware is a signigant upgrade in all respects. I installed the latest firmware as well as the rtcomm beta and Modest for Gmail access; I haven't had a problem yet. It's communication abilities are vastly improved. Not to say that the experience is perfect, but it is good enough for my immediate needs. Canola has also come quite a ways from the last time I tried it and I have actually gotten SyncTunes up and running so that I can keep a small selection of tracks ( even protected ones ) on the NIT. What I most approve of is the subtle changes like holding down the window change button will always bring you back to the home screen, the fact that opening the slider will unlock the screen, opening the slider and then closing the slider will relock the screen, and the wonderful LED indicator to show you at a glance if it needs your attention.

Sure the n810 is more expensive than the n800, but the hardware keypad and the transflective screen are well worh the extra bucks. Being more pockable is a nice bonus as well.

I do have a few complaints at this point. The battery cover is flimsy enough that I flex it when I am typing on the keypad. The built in chat software is also missing a lot of simple customzation that would improve it's appeal. Topping off the list of complaints is the lack luster GPS abilities, sure it might work in a pinch, but for most things it is close to useless.

This entire post was typed into notes and the copied to microb; not shabby if I do say so.