IIRC the change from 128MB to 256MB of RAM on the Pandora only increased the cost some 10 euros or so. As 256MB is now available it would be strange to go below that on a new device - it's probably a safe guess to say we'll see 256MB.

In Nokia quantities, the price difference should be even less - that's why it would be a bad choice to go with 128. As GA said, 512 is a bit on the heavy side, though, so the most sensible choice based on my/your/anybody's educated guess is 256. We'll see.

Well, as GA also said, 512MB isn't really available either.. RAM has been discussed quite a bit on the Pandora forums (as popular an issue there as here) and afaik you can't yet buy 512MB pop for the omap3. In half a year or next year it'll probably be a different story though. Anyway I'm certain 256MB will prove to be a good size.

It seems that 800x480 screens come in smaller sizes than 4.1". This article showcases the Sidekick LX with a 854x480 screen that's 3.2 inches. In other words, the device has a phone form factor with higher than NIT resolution. Would this type of a screen be good on an internet tablet?

I'm on the fence about this one. While I would like a smaller device, I'm thinking that a <4" screen might make viewing uncomfortable. Then again, I have pretty good vision, so I doubt I'll mind that much.

I'm interested to hear your input.

In the meantime, I'll be keeping a lookout for reviews of the Sidekick LX, with a particular eye on reports of the screen. It may be that the public likes this size? Time will tell.


YARR!
}:^)~
Signed, Capt'n

Higher DPI is always better, but less than 4" and you lose the tablet's edge. I could see, perhaps, having another model with less than 4 inches alongside, but definitely not the only one.

A flush bezel.

. . . sounds like a great way to end up with a hole in your screen.

I have a flush bezel on my G1 ... no holes in my screen.

As for 3" vs 4" ... I definitely prefer a 4" screen for my pocketable. Even if it's the phone I might hold up to my head. I definitely prefer that the "N900" not to turn into a device that's significantly smaller than the N810. If anything, I want a G1, N97, or HTC Rhodium* that's as big as the N810.

That said, that's my preference. I'm actually quite happy with the G1, and if the N900 was able to deliver 800x480 resolution, tilt screen, better slide out qwerty keyboard, microSDHC card (or two), WWAN, and a battery sized for decent life time, but in a G1 sized device instead of an N810 sized device, I'd probably be happy with that hardware, too.

(and I'm slowly warming to the idea of N900+GoogleVoice as my phone, over my G1... it'll be something interesting to evaluate)


(* only, not running WinMo)

It was $8.63 USD. That's why beagleboard rev C was planned with price 159. Since then they kept price at $149 USD so I guess prices went down.

EDIT, now it is a bit more
http://www.digikey.com/scripts/US/DK...me=557-1436-ND
http://www.digikey.com/scripts/US/DK...me=557-1435-ND

I don't know about absolute values and dollar exchange rate at that time.

Having just got an n810 a few weeks ago I have to say it's an excellent device but there are some areas it can be improved for the next version.

Ideally the n900 would be the same form factor with the sliding keyboard. They have managed to keep the n810 thin despite the slider and without a keyboard (even the excellent onscreen keyboard from the n800) the device would feel like it was missing something. I would love the slide to go a few mm higher next time as sometimes the top row feels just slightly cramped.

I'd also love to see hardware pg up / pg dn buttons on the device. They could easily be added as mirror buttons of the home/back buttons just on the right hand side. I use the device left handed (cursed as I am with that affliction) and I can promise buttons where your hand often rests is never an issue. If they don't add buttons they need to at least keep the ones they have. I don't buy apple's one button fanaticism. There are times when a well considered hardware button is exactly what a device needs. The n810 menu button is a perfect example. In fullscreen mode on an n810 the menu button means a title bar is not needed at all so you can reclaim otherwise wasted screen space. On iphone apps that do more then fart all have menu bars of some kind because presenting the user with options can only happen on the screen. That screen space is wasted (and hurts even worse since iphone is much lower resolution). Buttons for the sake of buttons don't make sense but the n810 is very close to my ideal layout. There are no buttons I don't use regularly and they are placed in very natural positions.

As a lefty I'd like to see them move the ambient light sensor as I have to disable it to use the device. If they don't it's not the end of the would but since 10% of people are left handed it would be nice to be considered for once. Every mobile device has at least one or 2 use cases where the design that is supposed to save time and effort ends up getting in the way. The n810 actually has the least lefthanded issues of any device I have ever used since I moved the scroll bars to the left using gtk themes and turned off the sensor so I hope the n900 continues in that tradition.

I'd also love to see some video out features, maybe as a breakout box like on the archos devices. Being able to play videos or show pictures on a tv would be great. A switch to microsd (and a switch back to dual slots) would be great as well since mini sd didn't really catch on. Most of the mini cards you can buy are just micro with an adaptor anyway so might as well save the space.

Having seen the freemantle sample screenshots I am slightly worried nokia is going to try and make the n900 an ipod touch maxi. The n810 is so much better then a touch since it has a real keyboard and so much more screen real estate. Switching to a capacitative touch screen would be a loss too as they suck the second you want to do anything with accuracy or have to wear gloves because it's -25 outside. I'd personally be much happier with a resistive screen since they work no matter what. I actually use the stylus on my n810 more for browsing then anything else since I click the link I want first try every time. On iphone (and n810 without the stylus) I find it takes a couple stabs. I'll happily take a stylus and accuracy over 2 or 3 finger jabs a minute to not have to keep track of a small bit of plastic. All that being said moving to more finger friendly widgets is a good idea and I'm all for it. I just hope they don't go too far and take away my choice. There are times when fingers beast and others when I prefer the stylus.

I wouldn't mind being able to buy a version without 3G as well as data is far too expensive here in Canada and I certainly won't be paying for everywhere access. It seems silly to have to pay for a radio I don't plan to use.

Finally I hope the community takes the opportunity of a sdk compatibility break to clean up the extras repo. I love being able to install all those applications but at the moment it's a bit of a free for all and some firmer guidelines would go a long way.

First I'd take a page from the debian team and add a third repo. extras-devel breaks too often to use day-to-day (as it should) and software in extras can often be quite old. The debian unstable, testing and stable model offers what I think is an ideal solution. extras-devel continues to be the place where developers are free to break what they will, extras-testing offers more adventurous users the chance to use newer software with less chance of causing problems with other software they may have and developers get more bug testing before unleashing software on the general community. Extras continues to be the place to go for community maintained software. Developers would get less "how come the extras-devel package isn't working today?" questions and since once they publish to -testing they are expecting user feedback not dreading it I suspect life would be a little smoother for both devs and testers. Software like tear is under heavy development and not ready for end users but for people with a little know-how it's usable day-to-day and sits uncomfortably between the current repos. The final reason to move to a third repo is end users get better tested final packages. Developers can't test all possible cases themselves and shouldn't be expected to. A few more hand and eyes make finding bugs a lot less tedious.

Second the software categorization could use some cleanup. Finding the packages either from maemo.org or the tablet itself is a bit haphazzard. And once software installs it never seems to end up in the menu I anticipate. Perhaps my expectations are off and others don't have this experience but if such an effort is underway (or needs to be started) I'd be happy to help where I can. Even just a review of packages as they are added to the freemantle repo for sanity and consistency would go a long way to making the community more user friendly.

A bit long winded perhaps. Reading over what I wrote it feels as though I like the n810 a lot less then I do. I love this device and really hope nokia don't mess with the great recipe too much trying to improve it. A few tweaks here and there, pop in a much more powerful cpu and I'll be first in line to pick one up.