I may have a chance to borrow it again and try it, but if it can't support even the super-small microSD thumb drive, about as low power as it gets, directly, it may not be a good solution for me. I don't want to have to pack around a powered USB hub -- but I will try your test again if I get a chance.

Some USB devices just take more power for no good reason. I have a 2GB flash drive and a 4GB flash drive. Guess which one wants too much power to work right with my N800? the 2GB drive. I also have an extensions cable that appears to have a high enough resistance that it causes devices that normally work with my N800 to fail. The N8x0s are pretty picky about what they work with, but when things work they seem pretty reliable.

-John

One thing to consider is that an n810 plus small powered hub may still be smaller than an EEE.

Thanks Johnx and rbrewer123, yes I had considered that too. I took a good hard look at the EeePC's and frankly they are too big for what I consider really lightweight communications.

I am going to take the plunge and buy a N810, since they are ~$400 online right now, with the WiMAX version coming out who knows when -- I can't wait, since my Euro motorcycle trip starts in June. I'll pony up for a 8Gb MicroSD in MiniSD carrier and forget my existing Extreme III 8Gb SD cards/reader unless I get a very small powered hub. Any suggestions there?

Be nice if Nokia would use a new Atom processor, way more speed and maybe they would have enough power left over to run a USB thumbdrive

Like Arnold said "Ah'll be back!"

forget atom, one will get just as much omph oouth of cortex variant ARM's...
and with a lesser power drain

if you need to read SD card.. why not get the N800,
it's cheaper than the N810, and it's native to SD and SDHC?

Thanks for the suggestion. I wanted the mini keyboard so I just bought the N810. I also bought a 8Gb Micro SDHC to MiniSD carrier setup and that will handle my needs for now. I'll still mess around with trying to get the USB part working when I get my new one.

well igo bluetooth keyboard work with N800 and provide the keyboard when you needed for a mere $59 bucks or less from amazon.
just another thought.

I came close tonight... the SanDisk MicroMate SDHC reader. It *almost* works. I can set the N810 to host mode (my USB key won't do that) and it gives me the standard unsupported device message. I used the microSDHC card I had in the device inside the reader so I knew it was good. However, the nokia complained about the card not having a file system. (it's VFAT).

My *guess* is that the LED indicator light on the device is a reasonable indicator that it draws too much power. My USB key has a big blue light.

I'm going to try a few cheaper USB key types and see if I can find one that lacks that feature. All I need is a 4GB key that can hold a few hours of transcoded movies and music.

I have one of these blue egg-shaped readers that work fine with my N800...
http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-2-0-MINI-MIC...QQcmdZViewItem

Note: This is NOT the same seller or exact type I have, but looks identical to the one I have. My card reader also can read SDHC cards. YMMV.

EDIT: I just found link to another one that looks EXACTLY the same as the one I have. I edited the link above.