I sent in a WSOD N800 on 26 July and received a replacement from Nokia today, 23 Aug.

The enclosed note said the original was unrepairable.

I have seen numerous threads about turnaround time for repair, so I thought it would be good to add a data point.

Also, when I plugged in the new N800, I immediately noticed an enormous difference from my old one. One of the biggest annoyances of the old one, and something I've complained about here, is that the power connector did not make positive connection to the N800. It would wiggle loosely and frequently become disconnected while sitting on my desk. Even vibrations of putting something heavy on my desk could cause disconnection.

The new N800 makes a small "click" when the power connector is plugged all the way in. It doesn't even come loose if I pick the N800 up off the desk. This makes me wonder if some of the many problems I experienced with my previous N800 were due to some kind of damage to this connector prior to my receipt of it.

I experienced many resets on my original N800, often while it was just sitting on my desk playing Internet radio for several hours without user input. Installing even a few packages would kill it so fast that the advantage of running Linux was almost lost.

If my experience with the new N800 differs when I install some packages and use the device for a while, I'll follow up with another post. Otherwise, I'll eventually dump it and hope Nokia does a better job next iteration. I am really encouraged by the power connector working so much better, though.

Even if the reliability is better now, I will still dump this as soon as they come out with one I can read in bright sunlight. I would also dump it for an update with vga-out, hdmi-out, dvi-out, or working usb2vga. In fact, I would dump it for any small no-Microsoft-tax box with these attributes. Oddly, my wife hates it and said she would like it with a 7" screen. She uses a Pepperpad 3. I listen to tunes on the N800 while jogging, something I wouldn't consider with the Pepperpad 3. Maybe I need the rumored OS X iPod.

Glad to see one positive repair experience. Hopefully it indicates the process is improving.

It sounds like you had a defective n800 from the begining, I am glad to hear you got a new one.

Hopefully they are starting to learn from our pain. Its still a sad state of affairs when 28 days is considered a timely turnaround. I guess as with our expectations lower and them getting a little faster, we are getting closer to where a happy consumer would be.


I am curious if others are experiencing as quick of turnarounds also? Also what part of the country are you in, what repair facility did you send it to. I have sent two things to Entronix in Rogers, MN, and I have taken 2 buyouts after 6 weeks each time.

???

So how does it compare to the Pepper Pad 3?
Man, the technology one misses when one is tromping through the desert.
I never noticed the PP 3 at all! Seems like it should be more "hacker-friendly" since it's using GTK+ and X11 right off the bat.
Time to hit up Der Google.

@penguinbait: I am in Michigan and sent the device to Huntsville, AL. I don't know that there is any choice in this location when dealing with Nokia. Although 28 days is a very long time compared to any laptop repair I have ever had, Nokia sells about 34 million cellphones per month (according to their Q2-2007 report), so I imagine their repair model must differ drastically from that of the portable computer industry.

@iball: the Pepper Pad 3 is hard to compare to the N800. It's an x86, so it runs almost any Debian package out of the box. It is much more convenient to use around the house and my wife puts it on the dresser, the kitchen counter, shelves in baby's room, etc. and does shopping and email and youtube. Much better for youtube or any other video than the N800. Has about 17GB free on the model I have, so a lot more room for a music library. It's a nice shape for carrying in one hand. But you can't pocket it, so it's ultimately hard to compare to the N800. Also, I love the tiny split keyboard on it, which is vastly more convenient than an onscreen keyboard, but some people, especially those who've used the Samsung implementation of the same idea, dislike the whole idea of a split keybard. The designers put a lot more into the basic interface (Pepper Keeper) than the N800, but that's just a different philosophy. If Nokia had the designer of Canola, say, do a basic interface that respects the size and shape of the N800, he could perhaps rival or surpass the Pepper Keeper software.

Fwiw, I had far worse problems with Gateway and the Mp3 player I bought from them. I struggled with their tech supporrt for a year and eventually did get my player replaced, though the problems it had were never corrected.

I had a defective vibrate motor on my iPhone.

I called Apple on the 6th. Received a free loaner on the 7th via Fedex, sent mine in the same box. Received a brand new phone on the 9th.