first impressions were that it definately does some things great right out of the box and that a huge world of options were out there for anyone who wanted to learn about them. Being really busy during the holidays, I hadn't had the change to get into it much. Here's a quick example of how much this thing has rocked for me in just the short time I've had it:
wife called to say heat in car wasn't working. I hit the n810's google bar to get some articles about why and learned about the heating components. I froogled the part to see makes and prices. I local searched the part to a nearby autostore, gizmo called to see if it was in stock, and used maps to get directions. After arriving at store, they couldn't actually find it <critical misstep not asking by phone for them to touch part>. I used their website to see other locations, show picture of the correct part, check other autostores. They called to confirm part in stock at next nearest store and hold for me. I walked out door and used GPS to drive to other store. Used net to review tools required and view install procedure while upside down under dashboard (no laptop would fit there). Listened to internet radio. $30 and 3 hours total to aquire and install, heat works in car; wife very happy. Next day I called local autorepair shop to check= $400 saved. Wife no longer gives me any crap whatsoever about how much nokia toy cost. note to self, do not have a beer with neighbor before being upside down for an hour.

it ain't saving the world yet, but it's really cool.

@above: It is cool to hear about people using stuff like this to actually improve their lives in a realistic way. This thing will not cure world hunger, but if we have realistic expectations, I think most people would agree the n810 is pretty nice.

Personally, I use mine as a way to make life easier when traveling. Itineraries at the airport, movies on the plane, email at the hotel, notes in the board room. It is a nice way to bring things together.

Overall, I would recommend this to anyone. It is a little pricey if all you need is an mp3 player, but anyone with more needs should look into this.

Cheers,

I've been waiting since November and finally received my N810 today. I'm in the US and had ordered from PROVANTAGE. I have been reading the posts daily and making a list of the covers, USB cable, data card and apps I wanted. I was anxious to start coding in python and make it my own. I held it in my hands. It has a wonderful feel to it. I put in the battery and plugged it in. I left it plugged in for 4 hours, requiring much self-discipline since I was at work. After 5 I tried to turn it on. It does not work! I don't want to send it back. I asked for help on the newbie thread but I'm steeling myself to send it back for repair. I sacrificed for this baby.

I just got my new N810 tonight, and I'm already indebted to the ITT people. Whoever it was that wrote about the penny pinching screen protector (I can't seem to find that thread with the search function right now), I just want to give you a big thanks. Incidentally, I did modify the procedure a bit. After carefully removing the two stickers, one of them left a patch of sticky silver diamonds on the screen protector. I remember the thread mentioning that they could be removed with a particular type of screen cleaning solution, which I didn't have, unfortunately. Obviously, I didn't want to wait to use my N810, so I took out a bottle of something called Goo-Gone. It's a cleaner meant for removing sticky glue patches from things. I put a little bit on a paper towel and rubbed it on the screen, and the glue residue did eventually come off. It takes a fair bit of time and patience, but I think it worked out okay in the end. YMMV.

Likes:
- It is so small and sleek. I love the metal finish.
- The screen is beautiful! It is so bright and crisp. Even looking at the little blue bubbles of the default background takes my breath away. This is my first pocket-size computer, so I'm probably more impressed than people who have owned other devices though.
- Based on some other threads, some people seem to think the N810 doesn't offer a good web-experience. One particular post suggested that the web wasn't fun on an N810. Well, I disagree. Perhaps it's just the web-sites that I visit, but I think reddit, wired, ITT and loads of other sites work just fine. I was preparing myself for the worst, and have now been pleasantly surprised.
- The software is open source! Most people don't mention this in their first impressions posts, but I don't think it's possible to underestimate how important this is. Even when Nokia drops support for the N810, as long as there are users, there will be software updates. And it seems very hackable too. They have xterm installed by default.
- I'm also glad that it comes with the aforementioned DIY screen protector. I still think Nokia could have gone one better and just shipped it with the screen protector in place and no annoying stickers, but you can't have everything, I guess.
- It fits in my pocket so well. It's slightly longer than my wallet, but slightly narrower as well. I'm sure this will be a constant companion for a long time.

Dislikes (and everything here is an extremely minor quibble):
- Boy, the documentation is really sucky. People had mentioned this before, but still... (good thing we have ITT)
- The first time I tried to open the battery cover, it seemed to stick a little bit. I pushed the cover closed completely and then hit the release switch a second time, and it popped right open. Not really a major thing, but I suppose if I had been less cautious about my new baby, perhaps I could have bent the metal back by trying to force it open.

Country: U.S of A
Purchased From: Best Buy of Mount Vernon
Purchase/Arrival Date: 12/29/2007

Likes: Form Factor, Apps, Speakers, to much to explain

Dislikes: Metal finish is slippery

Favorite Apps: Kagu

Well, it looks like the phone carriers and manufacturers have standardized on micro USB as the universal connector for phones and mobile devices.

So maybe Nokia's change was in anticipation of this standard ratification?


http://www.omtp.org/news/news_pr_universal_cable.html

I know i've requested this in another thread, but the speakers on my n810 have a distorted rattly sound, and are much quieter than the single speaker on the 770.

Would appreciate anyone who considers themselves to have good hearing to comment on speaker sound quality and volume vs older tablets. I'm trying to decide whether mine is defective.

Just got my n810 yesterday. This is a major piece of hardware! This gorgeous device absolutely blows away the Palm/HP PDAs. Which leads me to my primary peeve: Software.

Were it not for the lack of software, there would be no reason why the N810 cannot be a serious contender in the PDA market, or even as a notebook replacement.

In my opinion, Nokia should develop a decent set of apps that handle basic "office" productivity. MS Word is the worldwide standard for word processing. How about an MS word-compatible word processor?

I agree completely. I think though, that Nokia is unsure what its market is with this device.

I bought it because it was the next logical step from my Palm TX. But many people, often those who previously had N770s and 800s are on the technical side of things and simply want 'net access on a tiny Linux computer.

In other words, for me it's a Palm with laptop capabilities, for them it's a laptop that goes in their pocket.

With the Palm, you got lots of software development because people (including me to a small extent) can make money from it. With the open source movement- and I'm a great admirer of it - you get what someone chooses to supply from the goodness of their heart.

What I'd like is for there to be a mix, so that I could buy slick commercial style software, a Win/ Mac/ Linux syncable PIM, for example, if I wanted. But why would someone, Nokia included, spend money developing software that in at least 'good enough' form can be obtained for nothing?

Nokia could corner the PDA market with this machine - who would want a Win Mob box after trying an 810? - but I don't think they are interested. Maybe, compared with phones, simply not a big enough market?

I'd love to know Nokia's take on this!

I completely agree. I'm holding out on buying one until either the software improves or someone comes out with something with equivalent hardware and good PIM, word processing, media playing and web browsing software. The n810 only has the last 2, and that's simply insufficient. I love what I've seen of the hardware, but I also have absolutely no interest in becoming a linux expert just to use a device. If it were possible to reflash it to Windows Mobile 6 or if the Palm emulator could be made full screen, I'd get one in a heartbeat.