My 770 arrived this afternoon. An initial disappointment was the fact that it was not the 2006 version and was made in Estonia. I immediately checked the notorious cracking areas and found nothing. BTW, thanks guys--now I can't plug the power or headphone jacks in without handling the thing like it was going to explode.

I was very surprised at the lack of documentation, but as an engineer, who reads it anyway? As time passed, I began to realize the cleverness of those Finns. If you are having issues with the interface, get a Palm.

This brings me to why I bought the 770. I was seeking a solution to travel issues with my laptop, which is just getting too troublesome to cart around from airport to airport. It is also too bulky to open up in a cramped plane seat. What was I looking for:

1) Browser ability with a useful sized screen.
2) Wi-Fi for at the airport or coffee shop.
3) Email
4) PDF/Document display
5) Bluetooth DUN (for at hotels with no Wi-Fi) to my cell.
6) Video and Music ability--a movie makes a 2 hour flight whizz by.

All of the above seemed to be met by a Palm T|X. I bought one and everything was ok except for #5. In fact, the reason that the T|X would not work with my phone was because Palm had crippled the BT stack to only work with GSM phones, not CDMA. Does this stink like a Verizon/Palm conspiracy? You betcha! I said screw them. Now back to the 770.

The first thing I did was see if I could pair and do DUN to my V3c. As an aside, the V3c is one of the most difficult phones to get to work with anything outside of Verizon. Let me tell you, getting it to work with the 770 was near effortless. I was browsing within five minutes (yes, it is very slow, but in a pinch I can get data and email and that is the point). The more I use the 770 the more I realize that the best people to make a device like this is folks that know phones. This is not a PDA or UMPC! Comparisons are futile. The 770 is, well, a 770.

I next setup my Wi-Fi. Simple, simplistic, no more discussion.

Then I explored the unit. Fascinating.

I went to Maemo and downloaded apps. Installation was flawless and automatic.

Games: what a delight. One of my favorite time wasters on the Palm (I own a Palm Tungsten C, the 770 replaces it) is Shanghai, a variant of Mahjong. Needless to say I was pleased to find it built-in.

Unix: this was the final issue that pushed me over the nervousness barrier (since it is impossible to go anywhere and play with one) to buy the 770. As a long time user and programmer of Unix systems, the fact that the 770 is Unix is just icing on the cake. Now I just need a mini C compiler and a VI editor and I am set...

You crazy, CRAZY i say.
But yeah good writeup. the Nokia 770 is like an orgasm cake or something amirite?

I have done computers since 1972--yes, orgasmic is a good descriptor. I was a geek before they coined the term...

I have a v3c and pairing was easy enough but I can't figure out how to get DUN to work? There are no settings for Verizon as a carrier on the 770. What am I missing here?

thx.
dale

As a natural Unix and mobile geek, I'm surprised it took you so long to pick up a 770.

I don't think I could live without it now. (especially with the 2006 OS)

-Sandstorm

I picked one up today. The thing that made me do it was, first, the new OS and next the fact that it is Linuxbased - and I already had the ThinkOutside Bluetooth keyboard to truly reach the "orgasmic" levels.

Managed to get it into RD mode and everything, but still stuff to do. Once I get Privoxy and my Privoxy action files copied over from the desktop machine I expect to be in surfing nirvana.

Not enthused about the screen tho, sadly. The nasty moire pattern on it is really turning me off. Coming from a VGA Pocket PC with a screen that makes laptop screens look bad, the patterning on the 770 is extremely annoying.

Had to check country of manufacture too now... it's Germany. Is that good or bad?

Early days yet obviously, had it only a few hours, but assuming I can learn to live with the screen I expect to have a lot of fun with this.

Most V3C revisions, that is those greater than VZW firmware .02, do not include what you need. In fact, > .02 means no OBEX.

In order to enable DUN, you will need to enter programming mode and disable EV-DO. Alternatively, you can reflash your V3C to use the Alltel firmware --- NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. This was the route I took.

howardforums.com is probably the best place to start looking. Some people do report it just working using the following settings:

Phone number: #777
Username: 8005551234@vzw3g.com
Password: vzw

Where 8005551234 is replaced by your phone number.

Best of luck.

On a side note, I've never had a problem getting the e815 or the v710 to connect to my friend's T3 using the same settings. It just required manual configuration, which was time-consuming, not hard. Haven't tried it with the v3c yet.

Two comments (V3c):

1) You can DUN even with EVDO active, I do it all the time. Those A-holes at Verizon reboot your phone regularly and when they do, EVDO becomes active. It is better to keep it inactive (unless you have the $$$ or stupidity to actually use it) since it drains the battery faster.

2) Verizon, in many regions, has deactivated the old "qnc" system. What you can do, however, is just DUN into your ISP. Still costs you airtime (except on weekends and evenings), but you get a reliable connection and your email works!