I am a (mostly) happy 770 user, but I do have some issues and concerns that have been exacerbated by the release of the 800 and the inconsistent stance from Nokia on 770 support. To give you some background, I use the 770 mostly for web browsing. I do use a few 3rd party apps, and would like to take advantage of a growing, robust application catalog if/as my needs expand. I also check email occasionally, using Outlook Web Access, control my home audio with the 770 skin of SlimServer, and use VNC viewer as well.

My biggest issues/concerns are:

- Opera is still a bit unstable on some (not too many, but some) of the sites I use

- I can not use sites with alot of web 2.0/AJAX type stuff

- No flash video support

- Still a bit sluggish, even with OS2006

I have read many of the threads on here since the 800 was announced, and I am still torn between keeping the 770 and upgrading to the 800. What is the emerging consensus from the experts here? Is the upgrade worth it? Is my 770 an orphaned child? Even though the upgrade may not be a monumental leap forward, is it worth it simply to preserve support and the promise of more active development?

Any insights will be greatly appreciated!

If you have the patience to browse through the long "hope for 770 owners" thread here :
http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...ead.php?t=3988

...you may get the general idea that the "consensus view"... is not quite here yet :-)

This site is where folks discuss problems. Happy users are therefore under-represented in the discussion. Interpret the "consensus" with this in mind.

FWIW, I am more than happy with what the 770 can do. (But then I am happy with my Newton, my Honda CD175 and my MG Midget -- all orphaned but running delights.) Today, I plan to save for an iPhone.

Be happy!

I am no expert but I will give you my impressions and motivations.

I ended up buying an N800 ... but only due to the fact that I was somewhere where I could buy one (there are no CompUSAs in Canada and the Nokia online here doesn't carry them) and I had $400US burning a hole in my pocket. I have used it for a few days now and my opinion would be that if you are happy with your 770 and spending another $400 can't be justified then there is nothing compelling that comes with the N800 ... yet.

There is a great deal of potential (as there still is with the 770) and they have raised that potential cap with the N800 but so far there is less software available for it than the 770. That potential has yet to be filled up with applications and I hope that their developer program will prod that along.

So in time, there will be compelling reasons to switch but right now the N800 offers the following:
- noticably faster response
- better external sound (pretty much the same as 770 with headphones)
- an underutilized digital video camera
- greater stability due to less Out Of Memeory conditions but still some buggy apps
- a better stand
- a better desktop (that I hope they port to the 770 ... at least some of the features like the big thumb menus, resizable desktop applets, common task icon grouping)
- more memory card options (SD *and* MMC compatible including the mini versions with adaptors ... although I used my old MobileMMC card in the slot in the battery bay without the adaptor without a problem)

There are a few drawbacks:
- no integrated cover ... more potential for screen damage and no instant screen power-off so slightly more battery drain
- there are rumours that the N800 is not even *capable* of serving as a USB host (with a power injector) but I have not checked this out to confirm it. Nokia has certainly made it harder to experiment with this as you now have to rebuild an initfs and kernel to add the features back.
- the buttons on the edge were *way* better on the 770 ... the face buttons are more or less the same but without the cover getting in the way

Anyways ... just my thoughts.

IMO, I think any device purchase in a new product segment like this with rapid technology changes is going to be pretty obsolete in two years (or less). I have not bought a 770 or 800 yet, but I plan to get the 800, and I plan to consider it an 18 month to 2 year investment. As the segment matures, these cycles should get longer.

Heck, in the first half of 2008 they are supposedly going to be cranking out the new hafnium-based processors that might use 80% less power (according to Intel, AMD, IBM, etc.). And XScale recently announced vast improvements in power usage and functionality for their processors which are targeted at mobile devices.

What is more important to me is that Nokia keeps the line going (there is a large investment of time into this OS/device for end users) and that they keep moving the technology along. Based on what I have read, the 800 is enough of a leap to justify a purchase. I really like the set of tradeoffs they have chosen. I would like to see the platform software improve.

Travis

Thank you all for your replies and insights. Fpp, I did read much of that mammoth thread, and could not get any clear consensus, as you predicted. That is why I posed this question in as straightforward a manner as I could.

My gut is telling me to go for the 800, with one thing still holding me in check...the hard cover. I love the cover on the 770, and even though it has only a small impact on usability (screen power-off) it has a big impact on durability IMO.

Anyone else want to chime in?

If by "screen power off" you mean that you wouldn't want the 770's screen to switch off when putting the cover on in the screen-protector fashion, you can always (this is me speculating wildly, someone pls confirm: I don't have my 770 to test this!) remove the magnetic switch from off of the 770's cover. The 770 only switches off when it detects that magnetic switch. You could ask texrat to ship you one of his extra screen covers and have one with a magnetic switch and one without. Yeah well ok, maybe you wouldn't really need that I guess :-D

In any case, Opera on the 770 is not stable enough for IE-centric sites, but I hardly ever have problems on that front (memory used to be an issue before I discovered virtual memory...).

Both are very nice toys though

I got the n800 for $160, because nokia gave me 240$ for my 770, when I sent it in for repair. So it seemed like a no brainer. I loved my 770, while my n800 is a little faster I have the exact same functionality I had application wise, yeah no camera and no choppy youtube videos for 770, no dual mmc, but its hard to say. IF Nokia continues to develop new hardware at the rate of 1 per 1.2 years, and IF you are happy with your 770, it might be worthwhile to wait until q2 2008 and make a bigger leap in technology. If you can afford 400$ per year to have the latest internet tablet, jump on it. I personally really like my n800, but I wish I still had my 770 to play with also. If we ever get USB host mode on N800, I will be even happier.

Not sure if my babbling helps you at all, but there it is?

Also not sure if you are in the U.S.A. but COMPUSA gives you 21 days to return, thats plenty of time to play and decide. Although once you get it in your hand I doubt you will want to take it back. I think 2-3 days with and N800 and you will really like the way it feels in your hands, over the 770. I am very happy with N800, although initially I thought it was UGLY as can be, and I missed the case from 770, because I always used it.

i am addicted to my 770. every night i read my rss feeds, check websites, add POI's to mapper and use mapper to explore places i have and havent been. i have cached most of northern new jersey on my 1 gig card from both google maps and google earth repos. i constantly scan my neighborhood with kismet to see who is listening on the wifi bands.

i had the "tech-chubby" for the 770 since i first read about it maybe a year ago. i thought i would use my psp for playback of shows/movies i recorded with my tv tuner card and mythtv. long story short, i cant get it working yet, but with the screen on the 770 i have nearly cast my psp into the cold dark night.

i have a job because Micro$oft is a whore, and having found linux in the past few years, the 770 piqued my interest, with root access to the filesystems and os as well. i use ssh at work and at home, and there is a port for the 770 that works well.

i too, share in the melon scratching as to which path to take, keep the 770 or get the n800. i may have an advantage over a new buyer, as i could return the 770 i got, because i splurged for the extended warranty, and pay the difference to get the n800, but i hesitate...

i have to be the uber-geek. i am the last unmarried male in the family, so i have disposable income (so to speak), and i have to out geek my counterparts at work and be on the bleeding edge of technology. its just who i am. i want to dive in head first and bask in the glory of the n800 and all of its improvements, upgrades, et al...

why i havent yet are these few reasons...

- application availability
- platform maturity

if the applications were as plentiful as on the 770, there would be no question. if the OS was released with the 8GB SDHC patches, so i could simply flash to it, it would be mine to have, hold and cherish. i would like to see things like still and video camera usage available. i want to use the thumb keyboard to tap away at shell scripts on my linux box, having ssh'd in from the n800. i have a weekly skype conference call with friends in florida, california, and london. i would love to show a live feed of myself to them from the patio at my place (and a bluetooth headset connected to it would ice the cake, too)

developer buy-in has been begrudgingly slow, as many seem to have the same reservations i do, and i feel that has only exacerbated the situation. i do not fault the developers in any way shape or form with this statement. i hold the same views, albeit for different reasons. it is clear that it is only a matter of time before these "growing pains" are a matter of history, and what can be address, does get addressed.

i do think i will be getting myself the n800, but i dont believe it is my time yet...

Well, I will give you "platform maturity" but I have found very few 2006 apps, that do not work on 2007 os. ssh, Vnc, rdesktop, bootmenu, kbdd, kismet, gaim, everything works great, with the exception of mweather, I have had a few problems, but I am very happy so far....