After this latest firmware update for the N800, I am depending less and less on my notebook computers and WinMo devices than ever before. In the past, there were still too many limitations, the biggest being the outdated Flash support. But it looks like Nokia is making great strides since the early OS2005 days. I've been an IT owner since the beginning in 2005, with my first 770, and then I upgraded to the N800 within the first few days of it's launch this January. Even back then, you could see the incremental improvements before this latest firmware update.

I am more than pleased with the new features. The Flash works great now, just about any website works perfectly now. The touchscreen sensitivity issues are now gone, the right scroll bar now works the way it should, and the fullscreen keyboard now can keep up with faster typing without dropping characters or doubling some of the keystrokes like it used to. Skype works great, the call quality seems to be very good. I can forward my iPhone (yes, I got one - and it's the best phone I have ever had, and I've had about 8-10 smartphones) to my SkypeIn number and it seamlessly routes the call to my N800.

More things that are improved: YouTube finally works the way it should, native SDHC support for my dual-8GB cards, and the battery life does seem to be improved by at least 10% or so compared to the older firmware. None of this is earth-shattering news to all of you using the N800, and most of this has been posted before. But I have had *zero* issues since the firmware update, and what prompted me to write this was the way I was using the N800 last night. It made me realize just how far Nokia has brought the IT series.

I had four browser windows open, Skype was running, Pidgin was running and I was IM'ing a friend. I also had Rhapsody running, but Skype had control of the audio, so Rhapsody was paused. In one of the browser windows, I was watching a YouTube video. I also had the Application Manager running, because I was installing a few utils and apps from maemo.org. I was multitasking between all this stuff seamlessly - no lagging, no crashing, it just plain worked. I could popup the fullscreen keyboard to IM, and I was typing just as fast as a physical keyboard. I was also making Skype calls, in between listening to music off the SD cards.

There are a few things that need to be addressed, and again, this is not news to any of you. First, where is A2DP support? This takes the N800 to the next level, since most of us already use this feature on our cell phones or computers. Second, Java support. Third, and this a long shot - SlingPlayer support. I know Nokia can't control this last item, but if it was available, the N800 would completely replace some of my laptops and all of my WinMo devices. Sling is the only thing that keeps my WinMo devices around.

I am impressed, and I am loving this device more and more...kudos to Nokia and the Maemo developers! And also those of you here in the forum who write many of the great applications that we all use - thanks!

Good to hear some positive remarks about the firmware upgrade, after all those "nothing works, it is all trash..." postings here.

I fully agree with you. Most of the N800 features work very well, the upgrade was a great step forward.

yeah same here, there is always more work to do, but words liek this are important too. Else visitors would just think this machine is garbage.

Yeah, I thought it was important to post some positive comments, since most forums usually just highlight the bad. I had been reading about all the problems, but most of the users with problems with firmware updates are because they do full restores of their data.

I never do a restore when I flash any device. I just start from scratch and reinstall everything exactly the way I had it. It's a much longer process, but it avoids and problems and incompatibilities.

I've had no problems at all with the firmware upgrade (and I restored the backup too, all ok).

I also did a full restore of the settings, actually I restored ~user completely from backup. No problem at all.

The whole process, flashing, backup restore, applications reinstalling, took around one hour only.

Agree - did upgrade, no problems all apps working and browsing much better. Its a fantastic device - well done Nokia !.

Was their a special release of the firmware for the regular posters on this forum ?

no problems with skype - but I still prefer gizmo

nuvopearl theme appears to have gone walkabout - but not a problem.

I too still prefer gizmo, not only because i have a call-in number but because i bought $10 worth of minuttes about a month ago and i haven't even broken $9 yet.

Another thing I never knew i'd be using this thing as much as i do now. Honestly had the idea of only bringing it with on rare occasions and mostly just browsing from home, but now i never leave home withiut it unless i'm going somewhere i know i won't be able to keep a good eye on my belongings.

I also noticed how the more it advances the more i iwsh it had full phone service. I do absolutely nothing on my phone now if i have iernet access except for sms people, and rivht now i'm looking for a solid solution for keeping me from pulling out my phone at all.


(Note: This is brought to you from my porcelain throne thanks to the n800)

Thank-you Nokia for making my life that much better.h better.h better.

I have one word for the nokia n800...... Its my girlfriend!!!!
Yeah i spend most of the time fiddling with it or reading this forums for more new stuff..... I have it all the while and i am really dumbstruck with what it can do.... for such a small factor and at such an affordable price.

chiming in. I had a few hickups after this last update but they appear to have fixed themselves (Alarm and Mail checking). I haven't touched my laptop in 48 hours since I can do everything from the 800. I'm about to set up a sync with gCalendar and iCal which is going to make the N800 even that more usefull. Honestly, if it made cellular calls I'd dump my cell phone get Gizmo credits and be done with it.