A fantastic tip! I'll definitely do this when I receive mine...


}:^)~
YARR!

Capt'n Corrupt

Hrmph. Good tip -- I will remember it when I get the next couple at work.

Why pinch pennies? Two screen protectors, perfectly cut for the N810, can be had for $10 shipped from eBay. I've used many Hong Kong sellers for small stuff like this before and I usually receive the item in the same time it would take from the US.

Certainly it's a good idea to purchase a couple of spares. The tip is a good one, though. It ensures that you'll have a pre-installed screen protector right out of the box, provided you take a little care in removing the silver foil. Saves not only money but also time (no shipping/cutting/etc).


}:^)~
YARR!

Capt'n Corrupt

Exactly - I'm expecting mine to last the lifetime of the device, and I know that if I had to go to the shop or whatever I'd have scratched it all up by now. I'll pull it off when it comes time to sell it on ("look! perfect screen!") other than that I don't really care if it looks all beaten up

dislikes:
- no pptp support - should be in os build. someone please gell me how to get?
- recessed screen makes using scroll bars difficult with fingers
- no java installed
- gps acquisition is slow
- biggest complaint: should have come with turn-by-turn nav software
- wayfinder nzv website says software is released but can'g figure out how to buy.

I'm coming at this from a mobile PC angle so you might have to bear that in mind with some of my comments. I generally beleive that the Raon Everun is the best handheld internet device but that's probably because i'm a very heavy internet app user.

OK here goes.
Firsty, most importantly, because this is an internet tablet - the internet browsing is still way too slow. Meebo - Unuseable. Google Reader - Unuseable. Even Gmail is a pain. Too slow. Switching between tabs/windows takes too long. While this might be acceptable for a smartphone user its not acceptable for an internet tablet. An order-of-magnitude of change is need here to make is useable as a 'full internet experience' tablet.

Out of box experience very good. I felt buzzed when I unboxed it. Very high gadget value!

Love the design but screen too small for me. 4.8" @ 800x480 is my optimum.

Keyboard is disappointing but I need to give it time.

Email app - This, so far has been unusable. Imap to Gmail is terribly slow. I need to check I havent done something wrong because it wont even retrieve full posts.

TOuchscreen - poor. Certainly very poor response (both physical and with software response) compared to an iPhone. Finger scrolling is not reliable.

Battery cover doesn't fit properly.

Love the materials use on the casing.

Software interface is much nicer than 2007. Starting to get useable from consumer point of view.

Love that it supports SIP. Made a 30 min call on it this afternoon. Incoming too. Great.

3 instant messaging (built-in, skype, gizmo) apps + pidgin. This needs sorting out. Pidgin should be integrated.

Media app poor. Why don't they just buy the Canola developemnt and team.

mini-sd hard to get in/out.

GPS lock time - a joke. I hope they can to an A-GPS trick with this like on the E90.

Speakers - top marks. Love them. So smooth and listenable.

No BT A2DP (booo)

BT headset support (yay)

I'm doing a lot more testing over at Carrypad/UMPCPortal so i'll probably be writing up more thoughts in the forum there. Will try and get a summary over here as I don't want to distrupt this great forum.

OVerall, its not the consumer device I had hope that Nokia would produce and its far short of the full-internet handheld that I would like myself. I will probably go back to the Everun, despite its far higher cost, relative bulkiness and wait for my dream 'carrypad' again. Nokia N900?

Steve / Chippy.

Pocketable is key, if it's not pocketable, it's pointless. We're already kinda at the limits here.

This point has been beaten to death. Modest is on its way!

There are rumors of libpurple for the built-in client, so this will probably be changing soon enough. For now, there's Jabber with transports and Gizmo works fine through the built-in SIP client.

Well, the INdT kinda is Nokia, so there's not much point. Besides which, Media player works great for me and choice is never a bad thing. Why would I want to go to a fullscreen, thumb-based media player anytime I wanted to play music, anyway?

Another feature that's forthcoming.

I was tempted to address your first point about the internet being "too slow", but I think that point has been beaten to death and back again and it really only boils down to two things: unrealistic expectations, and the balance between size, cost, and battery life using current technology. If you want laptop-performance, buy a laptop. Personally, I'll stick with something that's not gonna break the bank, will fit in my pocket, and will last for more than a couple hours.

woh, the net is not that bad. i use it at work. its the speed is alright., at home its kinda slow these days. dunno why. keyboard is fine.

btw, where are yo uguys getting the screen protectors?

and with the bevel, I'm guessing its there to protect the screen from scratches somewhat.

GeneralAntilles.

I think you highlight very well why the N810 still isnt a consumer device!

'its on its way' 'will be changing soon' 'rumors of libpurple' 'Another feature that's forthcoming' The N810 is a developers / early adopters device. Nothing wroing with that. I was rather hoping for a step change, not just a re-hash of the N800.

You talk of 'the balance between size, cost, and battery life using current technology. If you want laptop-performance, buy a laptop. Personally, I'll stick with something that's not gonna break the bank, will fit in my pocket, and will last for more than a couple hours.' Thats why I choose an Everun. I get far far faster performance that I can carry (its not pocketable I admit) and it lasts for 4-6 hours. Its not a laptop though so it proves there are other choices out there.

'Unrealistic expectations' is a funny term. I wasn't actually expecting much improvement at all when I saw that the N810 was actually an N800 with new clothes, I was just hoping for many months before the N810 that it would address the consumer market.

As far as internet goes. it is slow in comparison with the lowest power handheld PCs that exist. It isnt significantly faster than all the other ARM-based devices either which , for an Internet tablet, should be one of its forte's but it does a very good job of accurate rendering.

Its an amazing bit of tech, don't get me wrong. It will satisfy many early adopters/developers and even some average punters. Has many advanced features, looks great and comes in at a superb price.

2008 will be very interesting indeed. Possible the start of the X86/ARM mobile internet battle that will go on for many years!! It should be a lot of fun.

Steve