If there happens to be a similar thread, feel free to point the way to it. That being said...

I admit, I haven't yet personally bought an n810. To be sure, I am interested, though I have a few concerns and conditions before I make an investment into them.

Where I personally work and live, there are life support machines nearby that are...rather sensitive to GPS-using devices. This is part of the reason there are legally no phones allowed to be activated within something a little under 1/4 mile distance from this location. Phones are likewise a concern. The problem is that I need a portable phone. Now, something like the n810 seems like the perfect phone for what I need, especially considering there's a wireless broadband connection in the area that will support the Skype function (Why this doesn't affect the machines, I don't know, and I'm not inclined to question serendipity).

And so, my real question is: How is it possible to completely deactivate the GPS on a n810 without affecting the phone's functions? This would be up to and including physically removing the chip from the phone, which is my honest preference. And no, I'm honestly not concerned about the warranty.

Any help would be most appreciated.

In that case you might look into getting an N800 since it doesn't have the GPS built in ... Short of; like you said; tearing the tablet apart (which I'll admit I have zero knowledge on the hardware/makeup of this tablet).. you could code the OS to not initialize the gps daemons when the device boots up.. going so far as to remove the GPS software installed on the tablet.

If the antenna is never turned on I don't think it will try to transmit/receive anything; but I have not done any kind of signal testing to that effect.

How in the world does a receive-only GPS chip affect anything around it?

Well... I've heard those arguments before - especially from people who work around/on airplanes... the electronic equipment is so sensitive that it can have an affect... Though I have no idea if it's fact or an urban legend.. it does seem something that is 'receive' only would only affect itself.. since that would imply the traffic you are grabbing is already around you.. :shrug:

Go to "Control panel > GPS location" and uncheck "Enable GPS".

unless u open the maps app the gps will not be active.

As to how it can happen, only the simplest radios can operate with just a passive tuner; anything like GPS has to generate a reference frequency, and some portion of that will be emitted.

As for the 400-yard limit, it seems excessive to me, but I suppose I don't have any data on the equipment in question

if i were you i'd probably go in for the n800, but i'd also wait since the n800 is pretty old it self and a new tablet might be coming out

I'd remove gpsdriver, gpsd & map. As for opening the N810, lets just say that Nokia has a few documents...

Strange that any GPS chipset causes problems due to leaking emf, while wifi/bt are ok.

I'd have thought you'll have the same problems just from the N8x0 itself leaking a bit of emf (or any other electronic device for that matter).