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Karel Jansens's Avatar
Posts: 3,220 | Thanked: 326 times | Joined on Oct 2005 @ "Almost there!" (Monte Christo, Count of)
#61
Originally Posted by sapporobaby View Post
Thanks Bernard. My actual first evaluation of the N800 was for a customer. The US military. They are looking into different devices with different applications, ease of use, robustness, durability, applications, etc.... In its current incarnation the N800 is not ready for this. The ability to sync contacts and have calendaring info is crucial for military applications. Without these basics the N800 is a non-starter. As for the other issues, touch screen, I did not personally have this but have read about many that did have it. Bad batch maybe. I did get the reboot cycle of death, and the crash and burn quite often. In its current state I could not recommend the N800.
If it was for the military, I'd have thought it would make more sense to look at it from a primarily hardware point of view. I can't imagine the soldier boys relying on regular Internet for their communications.

Since the N800 can essentially run any flavour of Linux interface on top of the built in stuff (see the KDE miracle), it'd be wiser for them to set it up to use some kind of sooper-dooper intranet only the brass knows about, in which case most of your points of criticism are moot. Even the camera could be used as an emergency "look-over-Grunt's-shoulder" assistent.

Then again, before the military would be interested, a heck of a lot of ruggedizing would have to happen to the N800, which I don't think is feasible with the current model (ironically, the underdog 770 form factor was much more forthcoming in this respect).

As an aside: I've had my N800 since february and I have had exactly none (zero, 0) of the issues reported in this forum. I have flashed it twice sofar without any hardship (granted, always from an Ubuntu desktop, running in WmWare in Windows XP) and I have been known to install version 0.1 software on it from quite unreliable sources. It just won't crash.

To say that my N800 is more stable than my 770 would be akin to stating that the Canadian Shield is geologically slightly more stable than the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
 
Karel Jansens's Avatar
Posts: 3,220 | Thanked: 326 times | Joined on Oct 2005 @ "Almost there!" (Monte Christo, Count of)
#62
Originally Posted by sapporobaby View Post
Hey Karel,

Thanks for the great response. I do love your posts. After reading and re-reading your post I realized that you hit some good points which I know will lead me to the next version of the IT when it comes out. I like the IT concept but for me, and in my opinion, the current N800 is not a consumer device but I am sure the next version will be. Nokia does sometimes learn from its customers.
Thanks.

I agree completely that the N800 is not a consumer device -- at least not in the way people on this forum use it. If one uses it the way Nokia apparently intends it to be used, it is however a valid consumer device, albeit more akin to a slightly ******ed Sony Mylo.
 
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#63
Originally Posted by sapporobaby View Post
The ability to sync contacts and have calendaring info is crucial for military applications. Without these basics the N800 is a non-starter. As for the other issues, touch screen, I did not personally have this but have read about many that did have it. Bad batch maybe. I did get the reboot cycle of death, and the crash and burn quite often. In its current state I could not recommend the N800.
A year ago I had similar problems on my Nokia 770. The touchscreen was defective and it crashed/rebooted a lot (seemingly random) . I think these two things are related. I send it in for repair and after that the touchscreen was perfect and the device hasn't crashed since . (The opera browser did close on some rare moment, but no more random reboots)
BTW they didn't change the mainboard, only my touchscreen, I know because the the MAC address was still the same one. So I think a defective touchscreen can have severely negative impact on stability.
(I assumed here that the Mac address is unique for the board, in the same way that the imei number is for the Nokia phones: if they need to change the circuit board than your imei changes)

Might I ask what made you consider the N800 if calendar and contact applications are so vital? It isn't one of the features on any spec sheet I have seen. It isn't a PDA and was never marketed as such, so what made you look into the N800 in the first place? Surely those positive things that made you look are still present?

I agree a lot of thing can be improved, but I use the device a lot and found it a lot more useful than the Windows mobile PDA's I tried.
 
sapporobaby's Avatar
Posts: 355 | Thanked: 9 times | Joined on Feb 2007 @ Helsinki, Finland
#64
@Karel,

They are going IP based dude. The ruggedization and such would come at a later stage. They did this with Motorola phones. PURE CRAPOLA. I think they Motorola hired some ex-colonel and he bought the pieces of junk. Anyway, they were looking at a bunch of devices. I saw the N800 in a Wayne's Cafe in downtown Helsinki and then reported back about it. Bought one for testing, and had a meeting with Nokia about it (but you know the rest of the story there), and decided that at the moment the N800 is not right for its intended uses. The Newton might be much better but it is limited in connectivity options.
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sapporobaby's Avatar
Posts: 355 | Thanked: 9 times | Joined on Feb 2007 @ Helsinki, Finland
#65
Originally Posted by Karel Jansens View Post
Thanks.

I agree completely that the N800 is not a consumer device -- at least not in the way people on this forum use it. If one uses it the way Nokia apparently intends it to be used, it is however a valid consumer device, albeit more akin to a slightly ******ed Sony Mylo.
Standup is calling dude.
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sapporobaby's Avatar
Posts: 355 | Thanked: 9 times | Joined on Feb 2007 @ Helsinki, Finland
#66
Originally Posted by Bernard View Post

Might I ask what made you consider the N800 if calendar and contact applications are so vital? It isn't one of the features on any spec sheet I have seen. It isn't a PDA and was never marketed as such, so what made you look into the N800 in the first place? Surely those positive things that made you look are still present?
Big push for IP based devices, considering DARPA helped invent the Internet and all. This is my world: http://www.fas.org/spp/military/doco...-24/fsc-78.htm and this: http://www.net.com/pdf/scream10050-ds.pdf

So I thought a command staff loaded with N800's would be pretty hi-tech, and right on time. I still do actually, just not the CURRENT N800. I think the next IT that Nokia introduces will have all of the problems fixed and ready for prime time. Call me an eternal optimist but I do feel this way. Also, I am waiting, don't tell my wife that I am spending more money, for the next f/w upgrade. If it is good, I might go back and get myself another one. As I mentioned, Karel's posts gave me pause. For myself, I can see using the N800. I know its limitations, and strengths. We will see. Thanks for the questions by the way.
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Posts: 5 | Thanked: 1 time | Joined on Jul 2007
#67
The funny thing about the iPhone is that it is what made me aware of the N800. After all the iPhone hype, I got to thinking I'd really like a system like that but without all the cellphone garbage since I already have a phone I like.. basically I just wanted a nice little web browser device with WiFi, which is what the N800 is.

So I decided this weekend to go ahead and buy one this coming week. The fact that its almost completely open to development is a huge plus for me since I'm a professional C/C++ programmer. I can't wait to get started messing with software on the thing.
 
Posts: 16 | Thanked: 1 time | Joined on Jan 2007
#68
Fatal flaw of the iPhone: The battery is not replaceable. You have to send your iPhone back to Apple when the battery fails. Does Apple really expect people to give up their cell phones for a week or two while they wait for the battery to be replaced? Ridiculous. There was an article in the NY Times this weekend that pointed this out.
 
Posts: 14 | Thanked: 0 times | Joined on Feb 2007 @ 33707
#69
I've got an iPhone and a N800. There's no comparison. I haven't touched the N800 since getting the iPhone.

The screen is two to three times brighter and readable in sunlight. The screen fonts are very readable and contrasty. The ability to zoom in and out quickly is amazing.

The OS and interface is like something out of the future.

Web browsing is much faster and easier than on the N800. The "reverse pinch" and double tapping on an area of a page work great. Even though the screen is smaller, the overall experience is better. I find myself wishing i could zoom in and out like that on my laptop.

Apple just gets it. They know what people want. And the interface doesn't get in the way.

OK, it's not perfect. The EDGE network is s l o w. . . .
The mail app needs spam filtering.
It's expensive.

But, I bet it sold more units in the first 24 hours than all of the N800's ever sold.
 
sapporobaby's Avatar
Posts: 355 | Thanked: 9 times | Joined on Feb 2007 @ Helsinki, Finland
#70
It sold somewhere around 525K in 2.5 days. Not bad. You are correct though in that Apple seems to get it.

Quick question. How do you feel about not using the phone at all? I have the chance to get one without the phone contract, thus no slow, crappy EDGE, but I live in Finland which is pretty much wifi'd everywhere. If I can get an iPhone (us version) for a good deal until the European version comes out, would you recommend it?

Thanks.
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Last edited by sapporobaby; 2007-07-03 at 23:06.
 
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