I've done a lot of buy research into the N810 & I just spotted this M528 thing today which looks almost exactly like the N810 but with a higher pricetag and better hardware.

Because I'm no tablet expert I ask you whats the deal here?

Will you be able to stick free games and apps galore on this thing like the 810 or more so? Mainly interested in skype...

& hows the battery life compare?

I think it's a bit bigger, too -- 5" screen, IIRC, and everything scaled to match.

The big difference is that the m528 is an x86 system -- this means you can run desktop software such as Windows, desktop Linux distros, closed-source plugins (like Flash), the "real" (x86) Skype, etc.

It also means that battery life is much worse, particularly at idle. They've mitigated this with a bigger, heavier battery, but IIRC you can expect something like the same battery life in continuous use, but the m528 won't get all that much longer life when idle.

This has been discussed quite a bit. Unfortunately, the same hardware is being released under several badgings, so if you're not coming up with anything for m528, perhaps searching for Aigo will be more productive...

m528/p1888w just isn't worth it imo. 2 hours battery life, the xp install is missing wifi and a few other things, and the shipped linux is a closed and limited distro.
I would pass.. If you want something to fit the needs that you listed, and still somewhat pocketable, i would go w/a used sony ux(basically a handheld laptop, but poor standard batt. life) or the N810 if you indeed want tons of apps/flexibility and great battery life.

Thanks guys. I think I know what I'm going to buy.


N810 FTW!

oh wait a min. one more thing. when is the next nit coming out?

Best guess is sometime around the summer. Maybe September/October at a push.

It'll be more expensive (maybe around twice the price) of what you can get an N810 for now, but will be magnitudes faster.

Chill down - let's stop this "tons of apps" thing.
To tell the truth normal user can be quite dissapointed with n810 software quality.
Say Skype - without any video, say virtual A2DP support for poor built in media player, map application that's way beyond user's expectations.
I don't say that there's no well polished open source software for n810 but "tons" it's "a bit" misleading.

Ok there is one explanation...
tons when on x86 it comes to mega-giga-theta-tons

the m528 is a nice device but the battery only lasts 2-3 hours and it costs about $500-700 depending on which brand you buy. I wouldn't get it unless you plan on spending that much and you want to mod it for more battery life. This guy modded his with an extra battery for 4-6 hours of life. X86 sucks at idle power though so your battery will be dead in a day compared to 10 days of the n810. Just wait for the next nokia tablet IMO it should be nice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8YNkZ4pfYA

It would be cool if they'd offer a trade in your older nit for the newer at a large discount.

Have they mentioned the new nit's battery life yet?

Is there any consumer electronics supplier which does do that? Nokia have, for the devices to date, given out 500 new devices to the people who've best made a contribution to the device and the community at $/€ 99. That's a pretty generous discount. If you want one, you make the Maemo ecosystem a better place :-)

There's been no announcement on a new device, so no. I wouldn't expect it to be wildly different and, with the more discrete power management available in OMAP3, perhaps a little better.