Hello, folks.

I am about to get a N800, coming from the 480x320 resolution Palm Tungsten. My interest is internet and video.

Can someone compare the video of the 2, that has used a Palm for video? Especially, movies on the Palm are getting fairly small (vertical size) with the wide aspect ratio, even on a almost 4 inch diagonal screen.

The N800 has a over 4 inch diagonal size. Is it easy to view? A 4 inch screen is small enough for me to almost need my reading glasses...

And lastly, is there any linux tablets out there with bigger screens?

Thanks.

as for n800 display:
* 4 inch is maximum for pocket size, if you want anything bigger, get eee
* as for watching video, for me it's ok
* as for web surfing, some sites have quite small fonts, however, 1) you can zoom, 2) my eyes accommodated pretty quickly.

I went to several electronic stores and compared the n800 before I bought. Side by side nothing in it's class and price came close. I originally bought it as a toy($200) to watch videos and surf the net. Now I've got a full blown computer with the os2008 software release. The extra memory slot really comes in handy. I would spend time on these threads and learn about all the unbelievable apps and mods these geniuses have created. Dan

Jim,

I've a N800 and a Palm TX. After buying the N800 in November 2007, I've essentially retired the Palm TX. The Palm Garnet OS is extinct while the N800 OS, maemo, is constantly evolving. The N800 screen is bright and functional, with a bluetooth keyboard, ($45 Canadian Dollars at https://www.blankmedia.ca/index.asp ) you can type with the best of them and two full size SD slots available for population (I've two PNY 16Gig SD Class 6 Cards installed). As far as I'm concerned, it's a potent portable internet solution. Bloody brilliant if you ask me. I've no regrets in terms of my purchase and I'm glad I waited for the release of the N810 so that the price on my N800 was quite affordable. ($229.00 Canadian)

Crouching Hamster

I've been a Palm user since 1999 and really loved the Palm OS. I still think that in some aspects it's the best out there. However, when it comes to multimedia and web browsing, Palm totally lost it. The Web Pro and Blazer are sorry excuses for browsers and the lack of multitasking is - well - once you know, you can't go back.

I had just bought my Palm TX last fall (tried to hold off, but the large discount pushed me over the edge). I got the Nokia as a "Skype Phone++" (Comparing the N800 and the Netgear skype phone made me realize that for a few bucks extra I could get much more than just a skype phone) and I haven't touched the Palm since. Fortunately, my PIM needs have been quite light since then, so I've been able to make due with Pimlico's suite.

In terms of hardware, the N810 is light-years ahead of the TX. TWICE the resolution - yum. The handwriting recognition is still won by Grafiti 1 hands down, but using the keyboard mitigates that most of the time (and you don't have to sacrifice screen real-estate for the writing area).

Multimedia also works very nicely. You get the "real" mplayer instead of some closed-source TCPMP, which only works so-so. Unfortunately, the Nokia also doesn't have any kind of video acceleration, so that DVD video (720x480 or 640x480), although theoretically possible, is impossible due to slow LCD controller. However, half resolution 320x240 h264 plays flawlessly.

Websites can get kinda small, but the zoom function (REAL zoom like iPhone, not just "make text smaller and screw up layout" like on desktop firefox) works really well, so that you can operate at what your eyes are comfortable with - your eyes will be more limiting than the resolution (density) of the screen - quite a new experience.

Martin

The N800 is an amazing little multifunction computer. For the price, it's unbelievable. For internet and video it is remarkable for it's size. The one thing it doesn't do very well is to be a PDA (for various reasons). Your Tungsten will still be a better PDA, by far, than the N800, sorry to say.

Thanks, all, for the feedback thus far.

I would like for this device to be a "personal entertainment center". Wireless internet and video mostly, with bluetooth headset suppport.

I use the 7-10" DVD players to play DVDs of recorded mpeg TV shows. (It takes hours to convert mpeg into a DVD) This is very ineffiecent. Some DVD players can play alternate formats now, but no bluetooth for headphones and no wireless for internet. The N800 is getting very close to the ideal solution, but...

I did not know the hardware couldn't handle the native resolution video as in DVD resolution. And, as I implied earlier, I can see a 7" DVD player screen, but testing my Tungsten T3 in 4" landscape mode, the movies and wide format video is borderline reading glasses.

I've seen the 7" Linux Eee Asus and I'm not sold on that for some reason. Intel has something coming...

http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS8166710404.html

So are there any other larger screen Linux solutions yet, that I don't know about?

I do wonder why I haven't bought one of these things yet. Maybe its the bad economy that is making me pennywise.

An EEE PC with a 9" screen should be coming out sometime this summer. The case is barely bigger than the 7" (since there is the huge bezel taking up space). About the only known specs are that it has a 9", 1024x600 screen, nothing as far as speed or anything like that.

i have a Clie nx73v. very similar yo the Tx. I have been using the n800 for a while now. in many ways i prefer the nx73v.

first, this excuse that the NIT's are not PDA's is getting tiresome. the only distinction between the two is the lack of interest by the dveloper community to deliver quality PIM apps. they prefer to create yet another media player instead. but, it is still early in the game and maybe some more practical developers will join in. after all the nit's are also NOT multi-media devices either. in fact they are far less adquate for media then as a pda as multimedia issues are more a hardware issue while the PDA/PIM issue is simply a lack of software.

that said, while thhe display on the n800 i use is indeed brighter & crisper FOR TEXT, i see no real difference in the perceived video output. movies are equally fine on both my devices. txt however is much cleaner on the n800.

if you use grafetti you will find text input on the nit's tedious at best. but the handwritting recognition on the nit's does get better the more you use it.

i am not sure about the TX but the backlight on the nx73v can be turned off so you can use it in direct sunlight just fine. forget that with the NIT''s, though the n810 is kinda ok for short reads in the sun due to the transreflective display.

where the nit's pull away is when using the web. the pda's are not even in the same league. they are better at eveything from im to skype to just web browsing. i mean it is not even a race, the nit's are that superior.

overall, the current state of nit app selection is pathetic. but that is because they are new. still, it's a crapshoot if the apps will come to make the tablets more then a pocket web browser. i am betting it will happen.

i LIKE my n800....but in terms of honest value/usefulness my 5+ year old clie, for all it's short comings, is still a better device, today. that is, until you consider the web access. and in a year, there should be better software to make these tablets more then just toy.

not sure if th fits your question. nor is it intended as a negative opinion. but, it is how i view the n8x0's after using one for a month....still, i really do like the device.

Who elected you to decided what unpaid developers should work on with their own damn free time? If you really want it done, don't waste your breathing *****ing--do it!*

Besides, GPE and Pimlico seem to have a lot of happy users.

. . . for your use case. Personally, I'm very happy with the application selection right now. maemo developers have managed to give me a lot of stuff that I hadn't even imagined when I bought my first 770 back in 2005.

Besides, whatever Palm OS has in quantity, it certainly doesn't match ITOS in quality. 90% of all the Palm stuff is either commercial (and way expensive for mobile device software) or garbage--bad garbage.

For you, maybe, but as a former Palm user (M105 and TX), I just don't see it. If what you do exclussively revolves around PIM management then, maybe, but as soon as you start doing things outside of that, the maemo devices really blow the Palms away.

*Does anybody know how to get an em-dash out of this thing?