Hello

Im glad I found this active community. So nice to see that there are others
interested in these "older" devices. Myself I prefer oldschool smartphones (especially Nokias e-series) with
physical qwerty keys not a hughe touchscreen fan here.

Since long I own a Nokia E90 communicator and just before Christmas I got myself a new in the box E61 phone from 2005

Wanted to try out some kind of tablet device (vintage one) and found pictures of Nokia N800 and fell in love with the looks it also seemed like the perfect companion for my Nokia E61 smartphone.

When I first got my hands on the N800 tablet it felt way better than I expected. It really feels like a high end device, solid like a brick. I was so pleased to see that the silver front and bezel is aluminum/metal because I thought it was made from plastic judging from pics on the net but when I unpacked the device I immediately saw that this was something else... felt the nice cold metal under my fingertips

The unit I got my hands on is used but cosmetically really nice and tidy. Thanks to info I found on this forum I managed to download the Nokia updater software and found a copy of the 2008OS so a few days ago I did a fresh reinstall of the software.

However Im somewhat dissapointed with the browsing experience on the N800. I know this is an old device so it cant be super fast on the internet but I had hopes that it would be similar to the Nokia E90 communicator since the specs are almost identical (E90: 330Mhz cpu, 128mb RAM)

Browsing on the E90 is smoother and yes faster than on the N800 and Im curious to find out the reason for this. Is it because of the larger display thats eating cpu power? the N800 browser also lag quite often while scrolling. I installed opera on N800 but dont think its much better than the original browser. Even the old Nokia E61 handles webpages faster than the N800 in my opinion. When I open the full desktop version of The New York Times in my E61 it loads faster and is easier to control (scrolling up an down etc) than on the N800, how is this possible? after all the N800 is supposed to be a dedicated browsing tool of the same vintage as the Nokia E90 and E61 yet it performs weaker.

Another browsing issue is how the browser constantly reloads the webpages like if I click on a link but want to return to the previous page visited the browser reloads the same page all over again = time consuming. This is not the case when using Opera on E61 and E90 there when you back to a previous page the page loads instantly like its stored in the memory/chase or something. (I have a version 6xxxx of Opera on my Nokia smartphones.)

So now I wonder is there anything I can do to speed up the browsing experience somewhat on the N800? is there only one version of Opera for Maemo available? what version came originally with the older OS for N770? can it still be found?and
are there any other browsers beside Opera available for download that will work on the N800?

dont get me wrong... I really like the N800 if only some improvements could be done to the browsing experience. Its way cooler to pull the N800 out of your pocket when youre at a cafe than any other modern "glass" tablet... (they all look the same nowadays)

Well speed out of a rolls royce isn't really the idea
Yes the stock browser is an old grey mare and she ain't what she used to be....but there are a ton of other browsers for the device...I'm sure you'll find a happy medium. Frankly there isn't anything wrong with the browsers...the sites they visit have decided to get needlessly complex though....that means staying ahead of the curve is tougher since you need a team on it all the time....which we don't have...using ad or flash blocker will make pages load more smoothly...webkit...greasemonkey and other progs will help...
using debian and say.... iceweasel will have better results....there are other options...
As far as improvements go....well get to work
It's up to us now....Nokia has completely abandoned us ..
Putter with the sucker and figure stuff out and write a better browser ...best suggestion I have.
In the mean time....
There are a plethora of things to bring it up to coolio factor.
firstly:
1- OS2008 isn't the latest firmware...
last update was 2011 by maacruz I believe ..Diablo Turbo
2- there is the standard option of increasing the ram from 128 to 256
3- suggest that 1st you follow these steps though...
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=92502
4-also...with the penetrattion testing tools...hacking your friends phones ...wifi networks...universally remoting and turning the household tv off/ on (as well as other appliances)...or randomly changing the channels ...there is no end of mischief you can get into and friends and family to irritate with this great device.
5-run alternate operating systems....wirelessly print docs, with debian you can install open office, or GIMP or countless other programs...
6-play oldskool games...nintendo, snes, etc...have it as a great rss/podcast or vid player (it does after all have a res like a desktop at 800x480..and can play film purdy good)....remote pc desktop connection to stream files to your nokia remotely that you forgot to bring with you...fabulous music player, ereader...list goes on.
It may be old but there is little than can still come close to what greatness lies within this baby.

Have fun

Thank you for the reply endsormeans

I´ll look into some of your tips.

The Iceweasel broswer looks interesting let see if I can get it installed somehow. Anyway today I tried disabel javascript on the built in browser and it made a big difference in browsing speed. Went to the same New York Times web page and it was a different (better) experience. With javascript off some content on the first page wasnt showing correctly but only a few pictures missing as far as I could see so nothing major really... with javascript enabled the page immediately slowed down making scrolling almost impossible. So turning java off may be an easy solution for some webpages like if youre only reading the news etc.

By the way I just got hold of 3 x NOS BP-5L Nokia original batterys. Kinda like those originals with the "relief pattern"

You'll have a ton of fun with it...
most definitely install diablo turbo ...at the least.
I do heartily endorse cloning your fresh pristine and undisturbed os to the internal sd card...AND THEN ramp it up to diablo turbo.
An 8gb internal card would be adequate for diablo turbo ...a ton of space for ALL the applications downloaded (instead of only a handful with stock diablo) AND room for another os or 2 and space left over for whatever. 32gb for the internal will turn it into a beast.
I suggest using the external for books/music/vids/game files etc...once you clone to internal don't go pulling it out...use the external card slot for that...
Not to mention that cloning to card means less wear and tear on the device as well the cloned os repairs itself when there is any kind of internal oopsie...not too shabby really....soooo many pluses...
Anyway ...hmmm...what was I saying...oh yes...
32gb card internally...and a 32gb card externally ...All those beauuutiful batteries....grab yourself a solio classic (3 panel) off ebay...and in case there is no sun...get a (compatible) wind-up charger to output to a removed battery (no point in over-enthusiastically cooking your n800 ) and you are not only good for the apocalypse...you'll be "King Lear-ing it" ....raging at the fates and elements screamin' "Bring it on!" hehe.
You'll be just waiting for the opportunity to be marooned on a desert island.
For myself...my n770 relic is charming...and I personally have a few back up n800's and n810's ...I do like my n900 alot ...it is my phone and primary comm device...and can't wait for my neo900 to replace it....But I have a serious soft spot for my old n800 and n810 beasties...and use them pretty much all day long....I'm sure I will still be puttering with them for my own entertainment when everyone else has moved on to tricorders
Some would perhaps call me a fanboy...meh...the reality is I've been using the device line so long now ...I'm more die-hard survivalist than fanboy.
I enjoy terabytes of music etc...but reality is when you are stuck...or the power goes out...when you live in the boonies?....what then?...me....I have my gramophone yup ....don't need no stinking hydro...crank that thing up ...and I have music blasting ...REAL old skool ....or I play one of my harps....I don't trust in much except what I can do or make with my hands...but while there is hydro electricity ...I trust in my maemo devices....little else.

I hope that I will become fond of this tablet in the way that it becomes a "must have" item every time I leave from home. I want the n800 to become an extension of my E61 phone. They get along pretty well already communicating through bluetooth since N800 is very much dependent on E61:s mobile internet when there are no available wifi hotspots around.

It was somewhat of a hassle finding out what video resolution and codec that I needed for videos to play in full screen. Now I convert videos to 400x240 (15:9) XVID and they play beautifully on the large screen, sweet!

Yup she is a dandy...once you have it paired with a phone it makes the device quite mobile. For myself I tend to simply download pages for offline viewing or update my podcasts before heading out the door. Right now in the area I live in the cable/ internet provider made a deal (big test project) and so for the next 5-10 years the entire area is blanket wifi'd ....free....(within reason of course....and you have to be signed in with an account with the provider...even so..).....not tooooo shabby

As far as transcoding vid here is my net result after years of testing so many methods.

http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p...39&postcount=1

batch conversion is great in it ....and tweaking the output film size you can essentially include ALL of a film that otherwise would be pared away at the edges to enable nokia screen fit.
In other words tweaked properly you don't get the standard 2 horse chariot race from ben hur...you see all 4 horses on the chariot.
I have all my cult classic film as well as the complete works of shakespeare transcoded on my n800.

When you are at home...you can vnc nokia transcoded video from a host pc as well...via wifi...so working in the den/ study/ garage/ shop/ studo/ or workshop...you can have a ton of stuff available to watch or listen to as well.
Sooo many fun things to do. Sooo little time

I currently have a a-data ultra high speed microsdhc in my N800. Really speeds up things with swap enabled.

Anything javascript heavy is very slow on all browsers today. Current top-end mobile devices have literally about 100 times more computing power available, so that the N800 doesn't surf 100 times slower is amazing in itself.

Ain't they great?
Ach! Even if the internet suddenly decided to be inaccessible and unviewable...I'd still be using these great devices...they are so versatile. Love 'em