Eh, EQ is a bit of a joke from a purist's standpoint. The smiley face curve makes stuff sound better in the same way loudness makes stuff sound better.

Which goes to show exactly why this is a ridiculous metric. If you can't tell in everyday use, then it's really not very meaningful. Sound is such a subjective thing anyway.

I would like to see some hard numbers on the output, though.

An audiophile wouldnt be using an internet tablet as an audio source -.- hence why it should have an EQ as most people actually do prefer to set the sound after their own liking, as you say yourself - sound is a subjective thing, so EQ is a definate must for headphone use. You can definately tell the difference between an EQ capable dap and the n800. About your numbers, run an RMAA test yourself if you're so interested in seeing numbers, personally I have better things to do.

GenralAntillies how would you compare the sound coming out of the n800 to say an ipod. Also are there any brick and mortar stores that sell these so i could just go check for myself?

I use my N800 in my car just about everyday, during my commute home, about 1 hour. I run Canola2 and maemo mapper together with no major problems. I have tried Canola2, Kagu, ukmp, mediabox, and the built in player. I have found that canola2 is the best fit for me, with the inbuilt player second, mainly due to readability of the onscreen information, ease of use with a stubby finger, and ease of launching random mode for my whole library (about 15gb on one card). Canola wins as the internal player seems to suffer from poor responsiveness for me, and canola2 is no speed freak. Another factor, is that I use the gray theme in canola which if I need it does reduce glare at night, unlike the white of the default player.

I hook my N800 into a mp3 transitter as the incar aduio does not have a aux in connector (major oversight on a car launched in 2006) Sound is not too bad, but quiet compared to an Arcos gmini400 with exactly the same mp3 files onboard. I have all the n800 volumes up to max. I have reduced the problem to a degree by running mp3gain on the mp3 files and adjusting each tracks internal gain. With an aux in, I don't think this would be as much of a problem, but with an FM transmitter turning the volume up lets me hear background interference which I could not detedct with the archos.

I use a generic pda/mobile/psp windscreen mount which I bought from a local computer sale for £5 (10$) fits the tablets really well. I also have a in car charger for nokia phones which also fits the 800.

Overall, inspite of a couple of niggles, I like using the N800 in the car as I only have 1 device instead of seperate gps and media player. Also the touch screen makes any operation such as track skipping much safer than fiddling with a small player.

Gaz

I haven't bothered to do a direct comparison, but I haven't noticed any meaningful difference in quality (this is with a pair of Shure E2Cs).

Hmm, I might have called myself an audiophile once; I don't have the time to care about it so much these days though I still enjoy putting an LP on once in a while :-)

I find the N800 just fine as an MP3 player in the car. On long trips I generally just put canola on random play and leave it alone. But the sound quality is just fine. I use it through that most high-tech of methods, a cassette adapter. Which probably does work better than the alternatives (bluetooth or FM), unless you have a real line-in. Of course who uses cassettes any more. I was lucky to find the cassette deck still worked...

Surely you already did it, but try googling for "<your car model> aux in", you could be pleasantly surprised. Maybe it actually has an aux input but it must be enabled at the dealer (my case) or it has a cd changer interface that can be hacked to provide an auxiliary input.

Drop me a line when that's done.

My N800 is coming, but the N810 has very good speaker sound, especially when flat and/or near a wall. I was surprised. I don't think the iPodT/iPhone is as loud (unless you puncture the waterproofing plastic).

Generally, the sound quality is as good as the source material (I realized I have a reference CD which I could try).

I have several iPods including a 2nd generation which runs without an external hub for power with the USB host mode adapter (time to port GTKpod or see if iPodlinux might be even more interesting as a media server), and I encode audiobooks from CDs or do podcasts for most of my listenting. My iPod is rarely used any longer since I can do the media player almost as easily. (my only complaint v.s. my iPod video is remembering play position for tracks).

And I have GPS, and a cradlepoint with EVDO setup so I have that too, i.e. a new podcast can be there in the few minutes it takes to download. I checked and even the iPod Touch can't download or move stuff not from iTMS into the music player function, nor do I think the playlists can be editied.

I do and have listened to internet radio. The only occasional problem here is when the only supported codec is a windows speech codec (there are arm versions of the dll, but libwine isn't there for ARM to my knowledge).

As a theoretical matter, it seems like a waste to specifically want to play music for your car thru an N8xx, since a car typically has very big pockets, so the N8xx's small size isn't a benefit. But I have used it pretty often, though I'm just about to go on a 7-mi jog, for which the N800 works great, and I DO need the device to be pocketable!

For cars, the FM transmitter option has drawbacks in the Los Angeles areas, where interference is plentiful. I have an old car, so the problem may be less severe with newer radios.

I wish there was a CHEAP way to listen to internet radio in my car...