Thought I would share a few thoughts as a new N800 user.

The gadget lover in me finally could not resist pulling the trigger on an n800. The price at about $200 was just low enough for me to splurge even though the N800 did not fill clear need.

In brief: I am very impressed, and the IT looks like it will be even more useful (and fun!) than I expected.

FYI I updated to OS2008 immediately.

Battery life is better than I expected. Unlike my laptop, this thing seems to last as long as I need it to -- several hours or surfing, rhapsody, email and it is still going strong. I like that I never need to turn it off too.

It is almost completely finger friendly. I hate using a stylus, and with some practice I rarely need to. The finger keyboard is good for short emails and the like, and I can get good speed and few typos. For longer things (I am a writer), I have an Apple bluetooth keyboard on the way. Hopefully it is as compact and usable as I hope.

Connectivity is great. WiFi signal is significantly better than my MacBook pro, and with some tweaking I got it to connect via Bluetooth DUN over my Verizon phone. Though slow (I force the slower 1x connection to avoid buying an expensive data plan) it does the job when I need basic connectivity outside of a hotspot.

It's a real linux system. Very cool. I am no linux geek, but it was a pleasure to jump to a terminal and find vi available for a quick file edit. Obviously, there are limits to what will run on this little guy, but it is SO much more tweakable than the average closed device. And I love the fact that new apps are coming all the time.

Rhapsody is awesome. I have been a subscriber for a while, so it is amazing to be able to bring virtually any song with me in such a small package. I wish it supported Rhapsody To Go for offline access to songs, and it crashes more than I would like, but these are minor gripes compared to the vast library of songs it makes available. I also use Vegalume for access to Last.FM and it works great and is more lightweight and stable than Rhapsody when I just want some fun custom radio.

I find myself using my laptop less and less, and I can see leaving it at home in lots of situations. With a bluetooth keyboard it will be even more useful.

The biggest thing I am missing is a decent word processor. I am hopeful that Abiword or something comparable will be ready for the N800 soon. I am not overly impressed with the email programs I have seen (using Claws now) but it gets the job done. Also, the overall interface and experience lacks the seamless polish of a dedicated device like an iPod or iPhone, but if you think of it more like a tiny computer than just a media player or browser it's actually very very usable.

Overall a big thumbs up. I highly recommend it if you are a gadget lover and looking for a creative way to do a whole lot in a very small package.