I'd never paid the physical keyboard any attention (I'm an N800 user), but just looking at the two keyboards you gotta ask yourself: What was Nokia thinking?






Is it just the differences in spacing that makes you prefer the G1 or are there additional tactile qualities or what?

For me (I don't have an n810, I have an n800) it was the spacing. It also just felt slightly uncomfortable typing (could also be of the location of the kiosk I was at though).

Edit: The more I look, the more likely it seems for me to be going the TMobile G1 route rather then AT&T and iPhone. Especially since my girlfriend is already on TMobile and she said we can get a family plan together.

But since I could also just tether it with the n800 and I can wait till the next tablet comes out then that would give me the best of both worlds. Haha the only problem is having to use one Google account (since I use two different ones for different purposes). I'm guessing you can't just log in and out?

Edit2: Haha and I wonder what Android phones will be out when I'm off the family plan.

YES! You should get an Iphone!

I have been enjoying tethering with my Sprint Centro as host for my N810. The Centro needs a software program called USBMODEM to support tethering, but it works very well. The Centro battery life sucks, so I carry an extra one, which doesn't cost much. Unfortunately, the plan I use, which costs $30 a month for practically everythng unlimited, is no longer available. Sprint doesn't support tethering without a costly fee, but I am pretty sure there is no way they can tell I am using the N810 to do the same things but better than the phone can do.

Basically, you have to root your g1. This involves downgrading the firmware, hacking it with files copied to the sdcard, turning off autoupdates, upgrading to newer custom firmware and finally installing tethering app. Some of it is via a linux terminal.

In regards to the keyboard, it definately has to do with the spacing. Plus each button has a little bump... something that canlt be done on a touch screen. Btw, I wrote this all on my g1 keyboard.

I find the iPhone's UI snappy and responsive. Tethering in Canada is not an option because it's still ridiculously expensive; even if you buy 6GB of data, they insist it's on device only.

The camera is pretty decent albeit doesn't have a flash. Many of the free apps are quite useful. Web browsing isn't bad at all, you can have multiple browsers open. No flash yet but there is a youtube app that comes with the phone that works quite well. Obviously the music playing functionality is just as good as the iPods...

Overall, it does what I needed the tablet to do. I miss the 'frontier' nature of the tablets but I don't wanna carry around a bajillion devices. I also think in retrospect, that Nokia really screwed up by not bundling a GPS program that didn't expire. The iPhone GPS is pretty quick (I think it uses cell tower triangulation for it's inital fix) and makes a little blue dot travel along a google map image. I guess that's the bonus, being connected it can DL tiles... but still. The nav software wasn't bad... until the trial ran out half way to our destination. Now GPS is all but useless because I don't have an active data connection unless I'm stationary and on wifi.

All in all, try the iPhone out and see if it suits your needs. If you want a phone that also acts as an internet appliance, give'r. Please be aware that you can't have apps running in the background. If you're running IM+ (a multi-protocol messaging client), you can't leave it on in the background after you lock your phone and chuck it in your pocket or go into another app.)