First of all: I've read multiple threads here and I know the N800 isn't meant to be a PDA. That said, I'm currently using a palm tx, and got quite fond of its simple todo lists and calendar - I don't use any contact/PIM stuff. I don't mind getting my hands dirty cross compiling etc, I've been using Gentoo for years...
So before getting an n800 I have a few questions:

1. I've seen a video where the n800 took almost 1min too bootup. Is there some sort of standby/sleep/hibernate mode that significantly reduces bootup time?

2. The layout of the controls seem to be made for using the stylus with the right hand and the controller with the left one. Is it problem for someone left-handed?

3. What's the video playback performance (non-flash)?

4. "PDA" stuff: Is it possible to have a calendar/todo list show up (or just one click away) after startup?

5. Can any of the web browsers handle AJAX sites yet?

1. Most definitely. It behaves like any modern mobile devices (Palm PDA included) where as initial boot up is 30-40 seconds, and afterward it has instant on\off with sleep\standby mode.

2. Yes, I believe it would be a problem for left handed person.
For a right handed person, the left hand gets pretty active manipulating the view (zoom in\out, full screen\windowed), the tasks (press the home button to switch-apps), and program functions (cursor, selection button and menu) while holding the tablet.

3. Abysmal. Playing from the tablet directly, you are limited with the video source bitrate (I think it should be below 500kbps or so) and resolution. It's no archos\cowon a2. The Palm TX may have better performance with TCPMP.
If you have a upnp server running that can transcode files on the fly (such as TVersity), the N800 will playback the watered-down video stream with no problem.

4. You can have on-screen launcher on the Home screen. Sort of like the Mac OSX launcher (Look up IDEA or Simple-launcher). I don't think rebinding a hardware button is practical, as all of them are already bound to an important and recurring functions.

5. Yes, many references on this forum. Do a search on specific sites.

In terms of point 4 if you use the gpe pim suite then you can use 'gpe-summary' which is a widget which appears on the home screen.

Interesting point; I also have a TX5 and I use it as a working tool (sync with Outlook mail, calendar, todo list). I have now also a N800 and I am moving from the TX to the N800. The N800 is not a PDA but it can do much more than the PDA. Regarding your questions:

1. I agree with ysss

2. I am left handed myself, and I actually have no problem using it. In the end, you get used to have the stylus on my left hand and hold the N800 with the right hand. All buttons are on the left side which is good for us ;-)


3. I agree with ysss

4. I use GPE for Calendar and To Do list, PasswordSafe to replace the eWallet in TX5, IDEA to get the quick launch of applications, Skype, gTalk and Pidgin (for MSN and Yahoo IM), FBReader to replace Mobipocket (better than Mobipocket), PDF Reader, Gnumeric Spreadsheet, Maemo Pad (editor), Maemo FTP (to access my network drive)

Besides this you have UKMP (media player), Mplayer (for movies), and now also Video Center. Actually, the N800 replaced my Laptop and it is replacing the TX5. The RSS, email and web browser is great (supports flash 9). I access the company intranet using VPN and the company email with Outlook webmail. You have web radio, and with a 4G SD card you can have your MP3s on the go. I travel a bit and I load a couple of films before each trip (I use Media Converter on your PC and MPlayer on N800).

Erming helps you to sync GPE with Google Calendar (easy to install and config).

Regarding games I recommend Wesnoth (excellent).

I just hope one day Nokia provides the Nokia PC Suite support to N800. I also miss Word and Powerpoint support.

I've also been a Palm user, for years. Stopped using the Outlook synchronization because I stopped using MS Outlook. I now almost entirely use online management tools,...ie. online todo lists, Google calendar...etc.

1. Wakeups almost instantly from suspend mode...similar to Palm.

2. Not a lefty but Yes, it is setup for RH. Problem would be if you can't get comfortable stylusing with RH. I had a little carpal tunnel a few years ago and got used to using my left hand to mouse...it wasn't too difficult to switch over. Similarly, left handed fighter pilots must learn to use right hand joysticks. It isn't as difficult as writing with one's other hand.

3. Playback is pretty good actually...comparable to a Palm or WM device....but as mentioned, weak compared to a dedicated media player device like an Archos 605. Having said that I've been able to play DiVX DVD files with data rates as high as 1200kbps smoothly and they look great (using MPlayer vs. the included MediaPlayer.) Youtube is terrible unless you first download the file with UKTUBE, and then play them in MPlayer for playback...then they look great.

4. Like I mentioned, I now use online organization tools. I like how I can share my task and calendar with family and colleagues. I keep them bookmarked. With my Treo I had to use limited feature mobile versions of the calendar but with the n800 I can use the same full-featured tools I use on my desktop. When away from wifi hotspots I use bluetooth DUN over the Treo to get online.

I used to use Goosync to sync my Google calendar on the Treo with the Palm calendar but find I do that less often now that I use the n800.

5. The new MicroB handles Ajax fairly well. It works with Google Reader where the included Opera browser would not. Flash 9 is nice too. Java support is limited.

The biggest difference in capability I notice, vs. the Palm, is the browsing experience. The n800 has possibly the best browser on any handheld device. I find that where I used to reach for my Treo to get web info, I now pull out the n800. It is more stable and handles many more web protocals like Flash and Ajax. Tit is considerably nicer to surf on the n800's 800x480 screen vs. the 320x320 screen on the Treo.

It's am interesting comparison.

I have a TX and an N800 and am amazed at how great and at the same time how bad the N800 is.

In terms of video performance, I reckon the TX with TCPMP beats the N800 hands down. This is why:

TCPMP just works. You do a file open, you get an instant listing of the videos on your SD card, you choose one and it starts playing almost instantly. You can pause it easily and resume when you want, and enjoy the film right through. In fact on one battery charge I reckon to get at least three movies.

Contrast this with Canola, which I use for watching DivX movies (Mplayer is almost unusable in my opinion - you can only move back and forward 10 minutes in a film, so if you get distracted by a stewardess on a flight then you have to spend the next 5 minutes trying to get back to where you where before.) When you open Canola it's touch and go whether it feels like displaying any films you have on your card in my experience, and then only after what seems like an interminable wait. The whole experience is tedious.

The quality of the display is probably better on the N800, but since I've never managed to get a whole film watched on a single charge that's largely irrelevant.

In fact everything is quite sluggish on the N800 compared to the TX. I use a VoIP program on my TX (thanks to a tiny plug on microphone) and you can start it in instant, look up a phone number from Palm's address book and have the VoIP program dial it. Compare that with the (beta) SIP software that the N800 comes with. It is slow to start, you can wait literally a minute for the address book to load if you want to look up a number you have in the N800's contact list, and frankly the whole thing is ridiculous. Skype works quite well, which you can't do on the Palm, but in general I'd say the TX is far better for "standard" applications like VoIP and Movie watching, while I love the N800 for it's ability to run some pretty cool apps like Metasploit and so on.

Take my advice: get both!

In MPlayer, Left and Right on the directional pad skip by short amounts (maybe 15 seconds?), Up and Down slightly larger ones. The 10 minute skip is the large jump accessed via the menu.

I wouldn't replace a Palm PDA with anything that has to load an app before you can use it (I assume the TX works as older Palms do and runs the app straight from memory: just press a button and you're there.)


The unreliability also persuaded me not to replace my PDA with my 770 (I installed one of the calender apps, set an alarm on an appointment, and at the appropriate time, it crashed).

However, I used to want my PDA to work as a web browser, media player, ebook reader, but the 770 can do all that so much better, and has the flexibility of being a true computer with a powerful OS.

I'm a T3 user.
I agree that TCPMP is better than the N800 video player, in two ways: 1) TCPMP handles way more formats, and 2) TCPMP can handle non-transcribed (that is, formatted for a higher resolution) videos in a usable way, which the N800 media player doesn't do well. On the other hand, if the N800 media player gets a video that it understands, in an n800-optimized resolution, then it plays it about as good as TCPMP does (from file).

I'm not using my T3 much these days, except for the calendar. I need to set bi-weekly alarms and the like, which GPE calendar doesn't support (unless something changed there _very_ recently, and I've heard no such rumour). If you don't need anything more than what GPE calendar can do then I think it's a good enough calendar.

What the N800 excels in, compared to my T3 (with additional wi-fi card) is that 1) The N800 wi-fi is WAY better than anything I've ever seen on a PDA. You can leave it on, for example. N800 screen off, in the pocket, stay on wi-fi all day (and the next day too), and it'll keep updating email and receive google talk chats or even skype calls. My T3 can do no such thing, and afaik nor can the TX or T5. And 2) Internet browsing on the N800 with Opera or MicroB is an order of magnitude better than browsing on the T3, even when the T3 is in 320x480 mode (the TX and T5 are fixed in 320x480, the T3 can switch).

I had a T5, which died, and the store replaced it with a laptop. The N800, in terms of functionality, is between a PDA, and a laptop. On the other hand, you can make the N800 replace both the PDA, and the laptop, which is what I was after. You suffer a little in the compromise department, but there's a bucket of coolnosity in carrying your entire office in your pants - N800, Stowaway BT Keyboard, and cell phone.

On the gauche vs droite thing: I hardly use the stylus. I only pull it out when I have to. I mostly just use two thumbs. And I have chubby thumbs, too ;-)

Like others here I'm a long-time PalmOS user (currently I'm using a LifeDrive). Since Palm doesn't seem to release traditional PDA's any more, I might get a N810.

1) It seems the GPE PIM tools are the only PIM suite available for the N800/N810, right? What is really essential for me is to be able to set alarms for meetings and tasks. Is this possible with GPE? And will the alarms wake up the device and sound?

2) How is the GPE PIM suite compared to the native PalmOS PIM apps?

3) Can the GPE PIMs be sync'd to some online PIM facilities?

Thx for your replies.