After owning the N810 since Christmas, I picked up an iPod Touch, and I'm sorry to say but I'll be selling the N810 soon.

For those of you who may be borderline each device, maybe I can help you choose through my experiences with both. Lets go over the main differences:

N810 - aprox. $380

• 2GB of Internal Memory (MiniSD slot for expandable storage)
• Bluetooth
• GPS
• Camera
• Hardware Keyboard
• 800x480 4.5" passive touch screen

iPod Touch - $299(8GB), $399(16GB), $499(32GB)

• 8/16/32GB of Internal Memory based on the model (mine is 16GB)
• 480x320 3.5" active touch screen (also called capacitive touch)

I really enjoyed my N810 after it arrived around Christmas time. I thought it was the end-all-be-all device for a mobile user. The hardware is great (for the most part), but its the software that really brings the device down. A few things that really upset me on the N810 was really bad horizontal and vertical tearing when things were moving on the screen. This was apparently caused by the screen not refreshing at the correct rate. The OS on the N810 (OS2008) couldn't decide whether it wanted to be designed for the stylus, or designed for finger input (more on that in this thread), what usually ended up happening is that you would have to hold the stylus between your fingers while you used the keyboard, then hit something on the screen with your finger, then come to another menu that is so small that you have to use the stylus. Having to use all these methods of input at once is really not conducive to a good user experience.

Most people who own an N810 will tell you that the camera and GPS may as well not even be included on the N810. The camera is very low quality, such that it is barely even acceptable for video chatting. For most users, the N810's GPS had a very hard time locking on, it would usually take upwards of 10 minutes for me, but once it got a lock it generally held fairly well. The "Maps" app that comes on the N810 is a skeleton that you will have to pay a $130 for the full application to use it for the next 3 years. Luckily for those of us who didn't expect to pay $130 more for our N810s than we originally thought, there is Maemo Mapper, a well made application that will work with the N810's GPS. The only problem with Maemo Mapper is that it doesn't have a local route processing, which means that unless you have an internet connection, can can't set up directions, you have to do that ahead of time.

I decided to get the N810 over the iPod Touch the first time around for things like the increased screen resolution, the Bluetooth, GPS, camera, and hardware keyboard. Let me share my thoughts on those - I was one of the people that was almost disgusted at the iPod Touch's tiny 480x320 screen, I thought I was much better off with the N810's 800x480 screen. You might not think so at first, but having an effective way to quickly zoom in and out of a web page on the iPod Touch absolutely negates the argument that 800x480 is superior for web surfing. I can tell you right now, the web browsing experience is actually much better on the iPod Touch than on the N810. The zoom function on the iPod Touch is so good that the one on the N810 may as well not exist for it doesn't even compare. Web pages on the iPod Touch are much more responsive, you can navigate them faster and read them more easily. On the N810 I absolutely hated having to get out the stylus to click a tiny link or button, put the stylus away, then get it out 30 seconds later to do that same thing. The zoom ability combined with the active touch screen on the iPod touch makes this no problem at all. Flash support was another issue that sent me initially toward the N810, however so far, there has not been a time on the iPod Touch where I would require flash. The only time I might would be watching YouTube videos, but with a native YouTube app right on the iPod Touch you are covered. Some people might say "what about flash games?" I can tell you that there are probably very few situations where the N810 has: a) the power to run the game at an acceptable performance, and b) the input required to play that game adequately, thus it may as well not even have flash support.

I was a huge proponent to the hardware keyboard. As a UMPC user, I have always been used to terrible on screen keyboards as a result of a passive touch screen (more on the screen later), the N810's hardware keyboard is actually quite good. With a bit of practice I feel as though I can type just as quickly on the iPod Touch. Part of this is due to a very good auto correction system on the iPod Touch which is very impressive when you see it in action.

Now the screen - for those of you who have never used an active touch (capacitive) touchscreen, it will be hard to convey how much better active touch is for finger input. The way active touch works is that it basically creates an equal electrical field under the screen which is disrupted by your finger. Active touch screens detect the entire surface of your finger, not just one point. This means the software can more accurately understand where you are trying to touch by analyzing the entire touch, not just one single point of input. The the credit of the N810, it is much better than most passive touch screens because it requires a very light touch in order to accept an input, but still significantly more pressure than an active touchscreen.

Lets move on to the most important part - the OS. I'm not sure if the iPod Touch is more powerful or what, but it is much more responsive than the N810 even with all the impressive eye candy the GUI employs. I saw pretty frequent hangs on the N810, applications would pop up over each other which was rather annoying. The iPod Touch's interface is incredibly well polished, which you can expect from Apple; I wish I could say that the N810's interface was at least average, but I truthfully cannot. I still see annoying graphical bugs, and applications often consist of extremely basic buttons and lists. As I mentioned earlier, half of OS2008 seems to be designed for the stylus, and the other half for the finger. If it was one way or the other it would probably be pretty nice, but being 50/50 means a poor experience for the end user.

I hate to say this because I respect all the people who have worked and continue to work on the N810, but a hacked iPod Touch's third party applications tend to work better than first party apps for the N810. Make note of this - I probably wouldn't have bought the iPod Touch if it wasn't hacked to allow third party app support, that is how much the additional apps extend the functionality of the device. Nokia needs to realize how important the software is, and how they need to nail at least the basic apps that people expect from a mobile companion. So far they have failed to do that.

Luckily you have a few great apps like Canola which are quality built, and will be strong players for the future of the N810. If there were more home run apps like Canola, I think the N810 would be much more formidable against something like the iPod Touch, however at this point the N810 doesn't have many great apps backing it, and unfortunately the release of the iPod/iPhone SDK means this gap will only grow wider.

Another thing that should be known is that I was not that impressed with the iPod Touch's battery. I thought that as most electronics OEMs do, Nokia would have padded their 7 hours of battery life on the N810 under average use, but I usually got around 7 hours indeed, the battery on the N810 was really impressive. The iPod Touch on the other hand says it will run for about 5 hours, but I have been getting closer to 4 hours. Keep in mind though, the iPod Touch is generally in my pocket playing music during parts of the day, so that contributes to the seemingly low battery life of the iPod Touch.

One last note I'd like to make is that the N810 is better for multitasking. On the iPod Touch, if you are emailing, you are emailing. If you are browsing the web, you are browsing the web. There isn't much multitasking on the iPod Touch aside from being able to listen to music in nearly every single corner of the device's OS. However, for some of us we would rather run apps one at a time with incredible responsiveness, than multiple low quality apps that don't function well at the same time.

The N810 might be a great mobile device for a developer, but I am not a developer, I'm an end user who pays attention to things like usability and a good UI. The N810 is still on its way to becoming a mainstream consumer device, but I don't think it is there yet.

If you have any questions about the two devices feel free to ask, I'll do my best to answer them.

Edit: Two things I'm missing about the N810 -

1. Built in stand
2. Battery life (the iPod's is pretty good, just not as good as the N810's

A response to a post later in this thread with some potentially useful information -

I think you might have enjoyed the N800 more (cheaper + more size for expansion).

And with the difference of price between N810 and N800 and the $ you spent on the Ipod Touch, you could have got an N95-3. Which makes the N800 even more enjoyable.

Nonetheless, nice writeup.

great post. I would say that where I have shied away from getting an ipod touch is that the n8x0 series offers me a lot of linux useability - so now i can use things like VNC, Rdesktop, KDE - I have a phone and an mp3 player - what i wanted was a mini computer and i think we're close with the n8x0 series.

btu i agree 100% - this is far away from being a consumer level product.

Are we to be subjected to these Apple v Nokia posts every day going forward? No offense, but most people here know the differences between the 2 devices; speaking for myself, I don't care about the Apple device, and if I did, there are plenty of websites to get information about it. Heck, there're probably 20 threads here just like yours.

Please please stop with the Apple discussions. I come here to read about Nokia Internet Tablets.

I would suggest adding your well thought out well written post to one of the 25 other threads that cover the same topic.

I don't understand how the ipod touch is such a competitor to the tablets...They're two totally different devices for two totally different audiences. They are both excellent devices, but in different ways.

Benz145, Thanks for a well-thought-out and well-written post. My experience with the iTouch and iPhone, btw, precisely mirror yours (although I had access to an iTouch and an iPhone for only a day each, and wasn't about to install anything on them since they weren't mine).

For me, the deciding factor for the N800 (not an N810 in my case) was Skype (or VOIP generally), which is essential for my purposes. But I think the iTouch will have Skype once the 3rd party apps come out.

Which leaves me wondering about the other two programs that matter most to me:

(1) Do you have a sense as to how it would be to watch a feature-length movie on the iTouch? To my surprise, the N800 is comfortably sufficient for the task, and my guess is that the iTouch would be too small. And do you know if it's possible to rip a DVD and get it into the iTouch in a practical way?

(2) Do you know how the iTouch is as a book reader? Again, to my great surprise, I really like reading books in FBReader.

And lets talk about Skype, Gizmo and SIP... none of those on the Touch. And are great apps and very well made.

Hey GeraldKo,

I wish I could answer your questions more specifically, but I haven't yet done either of the two things you've asked. I know that when it comes to a media interface, the iPod Touch is king, however a full length movie at 480x320 might be stretching it a bit. The screen size itself isn't much smaller than the N810's, but the pixel density is a bit lower which might cause some issues. I'm sure the movie would look fine, but there might be some details that you just can't see because you have to scale it down so far. As for ripping a DVD to the device, there are some DVDs that actually come with an iPod specific version right on the disk, if you are looking to rip and convert DVDs down to fit on the iPod there are lots of programs that will assist you with that.

I'm not a big story reader actually, so I'm definitely not an ebook reader, there is a dedicated eBooks section in the app installer. I just quickly dled the "Books" app and unfortunately I didn't get any of the eBooks I downloaded to appear (I don't have time to figure it out right this moment), I did look at the options menu of the application which included a left handed mode which is good news to me : P. Maybe I'll check it out more later.

We should make this an announcement, right underneath the one about how even though almost everyone requests that the ITs get a good built in PIM software suite, it really isn't needed.

We could title it, "even though you think you are one of the many coming here trying to decide between the n8xx and the itouch, instead you probably have multiple personality disorder and each of your personas are part of a different audience."