Hello All,
I am in the market for a device with multimedia and wifi web surfing capabilities. (mostly to play music, vids on the road, and to allow the family to surf the net at home after I moved our desktop to the basement)

I am looking at either picking up a 16GB Ipod touch or the N810.
Can you please provide me with feedback on the following pros and cons list and let me know if I am missing anything?

Ipod Pros:
*approx $100 dollars cheaper
*foolproof multimedia software
*no stylus required
Ipod Cons:
*Limited media streaming capabilities

N810 Pros:
*Integrated GPS
*Keyboard
*Expandable Memory
*More customization options
*Hi-Rez screen
*Speakers
*Bluetooth (almost forgot)
N810 Cons:
*Only has 2GB storage out of the box
*Video playback requires more effort
*Expensive!!

Other stuff for your consideration:
*I want to listen to Vonage wav voicemails via the web- Is this possible (right now the iPod doesn't support wav streaming as far as I can tell)
*Is there an easy way to manage podcast subscriptions on the N810? It is very straightforward with iTunes. Thanks!

For media, you're better off with an N800 (and it's cheaper than the iPod Touch). It may also be worth your time to run a couple searches on the subject, as the topic has been covered pretty extensively.

I would reccomend the N810 (which i have myself).
A friend of mine have a 16Gb iPod Touch, and of course i've been comparing them.
This is at least a list of features the touch does not have, but the N810 have, which i find important.

It has full Flash 9.
Can connect to internet via phone (bluetooth, which the touch doesn't have at all).
Has really good speakers.
Has a kick stand.
Larger screen.
Supports USB OTG.
More apps.
UPnP (correct me if i'm wrong, but i never found any way to enable/use this in the iPod Touch)
GPS.
IM.
Full Qwerty-keyboard.
Better screen outside. Tested this outside in bright sun. And here in Norway the sun can really be bright when up in the mountains with alot of snow around that reflects more light.
Memmory expandable to what you can afford (and how much space you have in your pocket for memory cards).
Possible to change battery if you have one extra.

For me it's good enough reasons to get the N810. Especialy as the screen is better that booth N800 and iPod Touch.
Anyways, hope it helps

-n8xx have a much higher res screen, it's larger too, so quite useful for ebooks as well as media playback
-n8xx comes with free mapping s/w, albeit basic.
-n8xx is mostly open source, so yr not dependent on the goodwill of your vendor to crap all over your DRM controlled data.
-n8xx could connect using samba to a wireless NAS
-connect with usb host to an external hard drive and DVD rom
-n8xx can handle a bluetooth keyboard

if all you want is a media player, get an ipod - or an archos!

if you want something much more, get a nokia tablet.

I was actually in a similar situation to you just a few weeks ago debating between the iPod touch and N810. I ended up with the N810, and I've been very happy with my decision.

*There's not as much price difference as you might think, the 16GB iPod touch is $400, and the N810 can easily be had for $400.

*You can quickly swap batteries on the N810 (no tools required even, handy for long trips), once the iPod's battery dies, you must recharge. Also once its battery completely dies, you have to get a new iPod since you can't replace it.

*A hardware keyboard is *VERY* nice, it beats any OSK (even Apple's) many times over in terms of usability, and speed. Also numerous games are much easier with a keyboard.

*Currently you can upgrade the memory to N810's memory to 10GB (2GB internal + 8GB microSDHC), in June 16GB MicroSDHC cards will be available, so we'll have 2GB more than the 16GB iPod. Being able to actually remove/swap/upgrade your memory is a HUGE advantage and ultimately for me was a key selling point of the N810. With the iPod you are permanently stuck with, at best, 16GB, with the N810 you can upgrade total capacity, and you can also get more cards and swap between them. Also I suspect 32GB cards may be available by the end of this year.

*I prefer a stylus to using my fingers, just try using your thumb to select between 10 closely spaced links on a web page and see which is easier, thumb or stylus. Also using your thumbs will get your new screen completely smudged up in no time.

*Get Internet anywhere you have service using your cell phone with data plan through Bluetooth.

*3x the number of pixels, great for viewing web pages without having to do all that "pinch 'n' stretch" crap.

*Even though the media player is more picky than the iPod about file formats, Nokia does have a very nice video converter to convert your movies and stuff, I've been very happy with it. Handbrake also works great if you want to watch DVDs on the N810.

*N810 has a REAL GPS. The iPod has the Skyhook Wireless pseudo-gps which only uses (select) nearby wifi hotspots to figure out where you are, this is definitely faster than using a real GPS, but the obvious problem is, what are you gonna do when you're out backpacking and REALLY need the GPS when there's no wifi hotspots around??

*The N810 is OPEN. You're not only allowed to install 3rd party apps on the Nokias, you're encouraged! This was probably the single biggest selling point for me. There's already tones of great software available for OS2008, and there's more being made all the time. Apple has shown time and again that they will do everything within their power to keep their users from running third party apps on Apple's devices.

*Also note that the iPod touch does not have flash in the browser.


Good luck in your decison!

Good stuff guys- Keep it coming.

2 important questions that are still looking for answers

*Can I play wav files off the web with the 810?
*What software can I use to manage podcasts- Can the built in rss reader manage them? (ie download most current, delete month old ones)

Thanks!

Yes, the included media player plays wavs fine. (I don't think it can play 24-bit wavs though)


Just as God_f@ther says, remember that once new Nokia Tablets come out, Nokia isn't going to leave their old users behind like Apple does with iPods. (Oh, you want feature X? Well it looks like you'll have to upgrade to the 20th GEN iPod for that! Isn't it great that we don't let 3rd party developers in?) Just look at the N800, yes it's older, but does OS2008 run on it? Yes. Not only that but with OS2008 Nokia upped the processor of the N800 to match that of the N810, I've never seen another company release an update like that for old hardware. Major kudos to Nokia, since they could have easily not even supported the N800 with OS2008.

Thanks CyberCat- Catching up on voicemail (+ being able to use speakers!) is a big + for the N810.

Hey spartanNTX, for your podcast stuff I recommend checking out Canola2, if you like the "iPody" feel, I think you'll love it, it's intended to be a media center application so it supports a lot of stuff.

Also just for fun, I recommend have a visit over to maemo.org which is the official software repository for the ITs (there's lots more available than what's shown, but it's a good place to start). Gives you a good idea of what kinds of things you can do with the tablets.

Nah, I'd recommend getting the N800 and spend USD150 on 2 16GB A-Data Class 6 SDHCs. How does 30GB of media space grab you? On the downside, battery life on video playback is significantly lower than on the iPod Touch. Unless you have an AA external power pack, and just keep swopping on the fly