**Stands up nervously and clears throat**
Hello everyone.
I'm new here and my name is Steve (maybe you guessed that already)
I have been the owner of a Nokia 800 Internet tablet for less than a week. I bought it off eBay as being "Like new" (which it is) for £129.
So far, I'm pretty impressed with it, especially the screen but there are a couple of niggles, especially re this repository malarkey.
Take the camera as an example.
Like all newbies, (maybe) I saw the camera and went to find out how it works. I discovered that I had to install the software from within the OS2008 software which was fair enough and easy to do.
The snag is that only AFTER installing the software did I find out that to use the camera as a basic digital camera and not as a webcam, the software has to be installed in a different way.
Only snag is that once used to install the camera as a webcam, the software disappears, or seems to, and there doesn't seem any way to get it back. Maybe it's just me doing it wrong and if so, I'll get down on my knees and apologise to my Nokia.

Totally off topic here but have you noticed anything odd about the video tutorials for the Nokia 800?
I find it very funny that the App called Canola (or a word similar to that) which makes the Home screen very user friendly is demonstrated on a tablet using the standard Home screen. The Home screen on all the other demo videos is the standard Home screen too. I just ask myself, "If it's so good, why isn't the guy doing the demos using it?"

That doesn't mean I applaud the guy for his hard work and dedication any less. He obviously does a wonderful job and is a great help to many, including me.
Cheers
5teve

I think that all of the video demos are done on a "new" install so that any extras do not confuse new people - it can be disconcerting if the demo does not look like the unit you are using (how did he get THAT screen, etc...)

In terms of installing the camera software, the default is for it to be a webcam (that was the intent). However you can use it as a camera, altough not a very good one. To do this, go to https://garage.maemo.org/projects/camera/ on the tablet and download the 2008 version and open it - it should kick off the installer

*this it videocamera, which is what I use BUT it is experimental and not guaranteed to be stable. for the (theoretically more stable) camera - on the application menu click settings, then application manager, then browse installable... then search and click camera.

Having said all of that (this is getting long) -- I think you MAY have already installed the right thing - go to applications, extras, scroll to the end and see if you see Camera - if you do open it and THEN open the camera - if you try to just open the camera it loads the webcam software by default -- don't think that you can change that behavior (at least not easily).

Lastly, for a list of available repositories - gronmayer.com has almost all of them and you can install them from there. I installed them ALL- the upside is that you can use the application manager to install a Very wide array of stuff, the downside is that application manager becomes SLOW (in my personal experience.... YMMV).


the linux parts of the tablet may take some getting used to if you have never used linux, but once you get it it is a remarkable little computer (IMHO).


Hope some part of this is helpful -
Patrick

Canola is actually just a multimedia player application; it lets you play videos, music, podcasts, browse pictures, and a few other bits and pieces, but that's it; it's not a replacement for the main interface of the tablet itself (the main home screen). For example, there's no way to launch a web browser from Canola... it was never designed to be a complete replacement for the current tablet interface, just a nice add on program to make working with your media a lot easier. Hope that makes sense...

Writing a message saying that you are a tad annoyed in the header is a typical newbie behavior often pilloried at length here. It is of little interest to me that you are annoyed -- there are many people annoyed in the world; why should I focus on you?

The header would have been better off focusing on the technical issue(s) at hand. Those of us who know or care about the camera would be the ones whose interest you want to grab, I presume, rather than specialists in dealing with annoyed people, like police or psychiatrists or nerve pill salesmen.

Very well put.

But then, on the other hand, posts like the initial one can also serve as a demonstration to the superduperhackers here what the experiences and expectations of the mass consumer are.
Quite a strong contrast to the "got XYZ running!" compile competitions posting a rough tar :-)

The one thing I had no illusions about before purchase was the camera. I knew from reviews and talk around here that it is intended for video calling. I never wanted a camera on a cell phone (and I don't even own a cell phone). I already have a camera. As a video phone the N8 works very well. If I wanted a real camera on a phone (not) I'd get something like an N95.

The rest of it works as I had hoped, a little linux device that seems to do it all within reason. The last thing I wanted was a polished but locked down device, the UI would be lovely I'm sure but I'm sure I'd be 'annoyed' with an iDevice. The things I'd like to see fixed are all in software so there is hope. For now it is a primary comm device for me and I'm pretty happy.

That is a hell of a presumption...
That the original post represents "the experiences and expectations of the mass consumer".

Mass who? where???

Yeah, those mass cons-whatsits don't buy tablets in the first place, do they?

The camera takes better pictures than it does video. Has anyone managed to record video that doesn't lose audio-video sync after a second or three? I'm convinced that there's a bug in the camera's driver that regularly causes damaged frames to be recorded.