I'm new to this forum, and while I've been fascinated with the Nokia tablets since the 770 was first introduced, I've never investigated them too seriously, being rather stuck on the Palm OS devices that I've come to depend on over the years. Well, I'm not the first to say that I'm pretty well fed-up with waiting for the long-promised but never-delivered Linux-based update to the Palm OS (now promised in 2009 at the earliest), so I've come back to check out the Nokias.

My concern is the same as for a lot of Palm loyalists: how much software is out there for Maemo, and how much development work is going on? Will we soon have apps that will sync with our desktop PIM and office tools? What about "fun" stuff - you know, the apps you never knew you needed until you saw a snazzy web page and downloaded them?

Well, rather than ask you to predict the future, maybe I should stick to what's available now. Is there basic PIM capability, i.e. memos or notes, to-do or task lists, calendar, contacts? How well do any of these sync with any standard desktop apps, e.g. Outlook? These things are more important to me than apps that can display MS Office apps (although they'll be welcome, too).

thanks for any info and advice,
Bruce

I recently purchased an N800 to replace an aging Palm Tunsgten C. One thing we really need to get straight is that the 770, N800 nor the N810 are not intended to be PIMs -- so you must set your expectations accordingly. Also, the software platform is not quite mature -- in the sense that some actions are doable by using fingers, but others require the stylus. You would think that the built in software would be designed to work in either finger or stylus mode but some buttons are too small to accurately select...

Just to give you an idea for the conversion, here is a quick outline of the main software packages I was using on the Palm and how I am currently handling its function under the N800.

On the palm, I was using
1) Dataviz' BeyondContact for PIM
2) Documents To Go for document viewing
3) SnapperMail for mail
4) Palm's WebBrowserPro for browsing
5) ZLauncher as the app launcher
6) QuickNews for RSS reading
7) JFile for personal databases

The applications have been mapped to the following maemo software:
1) GPE 2.8 -- I am using my own build with some minor enhancements (calendar, contact(modified to use a finger based telephone-like name search (see contactspro from http://www.MobiMate.com), file-manager (modified to view hidden files) and gpsyncd (modified to handle a number of character sets besides UTF-8 when importing) and erminig to sync with Google calendar.
2) I am currently working on a modified AbiWord to be used for this purpose, but the basic build of 2.5.2 (without hildonization) run pretty fast and looks very good. For spreadsheets, gnumetrics is very good. Just needs something to view powerpoints. The internal PDF viewer is ok.
3) I am using the default mail software (because it is tightly integrated in the GUI), but would switch to Claws-Mail if it could replace the built-in one (including GUI integration)
4) I use the built in Opera browser
5) I think the N800 launcher or "front page" is really, really weak -- what is this idea of a menu system to launch an application? I should be able to put my applications on screen and tab between groups. Right now I use the simple-launcher -- but I am looking at implementing a tab based launcher for chinook
6) the build-in RSS reader is lame and I only use it because of the desktop applet. I use Claws-Mail with the RSS plug-in to read it. Just wished it had a mechanism to refresh every x hours.
7) I am using gnumetrics to manage my databased. Not ideal, but it works. Will be looking at leveraging sqlite3 since it is used by GPE 2.8, but need a nice GUI front end.

So yes, migrating is feasible, but the functionality after the switch is not quite up to par to the commercial software that was available on the Palm. Obviously, it all depends on what you use the device for.

Hope this helps,

Robert B.

Thanks, Robert - that does help. It pretty well confirms what I'd suspected, which is that while Maemo on the Nxxx has a lot of potential, it's not quite realized just yet. I was a little surprised to read that the Nxxx tablets are not meant to be PIMs - maybe that's not their main intended use, but is there anything in their design (or in the design of Maemo) that precludes this functionality, if someone develops the software?

My requirements are actually pretty easy, since the only "application" I really depend on heavily on the Palm is the memos, believe it or not. I have hundreds of them, storing pretty much anything I've thought I might want to recall at a later date. I'd guess the built-in capabilities can handle that okay. Everything else is for fun, so in a sense it's all icing - but the more, the better, of course.

I'll have to check out the N810 whenever I can - I'm pretty much neutral on a hard keyboard, and GPS is slick, but not necessary. Meanwhile, I'll check out the N800 again.

Nokia's PIM&Sync does not replace Palm's PIM & Sync. GPE don't use original adressbook. Sytem programs don't see GPE's base. GPE PIM's is not integrated to maemo.

I have both a Palm device and a Nokia 700. I like them both; however, the answer to your question is easy for me. Do not buy a Nokia Internet tablet to replace a Palm PIM. You will be disappointed.

i also have a palm T5 and a N800. I need to sync with Outlook (work calendar + contacts) and for some time i kept the palm because the N800 does not sync with outlook. However later i got a N76 (3G pphone) and i now use the N76 as PIM with sync with outlook (calendar,contacts, nootes) and i droped the Palm. The N76 is a good compliment to N800, and with bluetooth the two work well together. I use GPE PIM on N800 for personal agenda and sync with Google.

i use PasswordSafe on N800 to replace eWallet i had in the Palm. I just hope in the future OS2008 will suport Nokia N Series PC Suite and QuickOffice (these 2 applications were key for me to replace Palm by N76).

As everyone notes, the N800 is not a PDA. It's actually a palmtop, Linux-based, tablet computer. That means you can have whatever you want, one way, or another, and while it will not replace any specialized device with purpose-driven hardware, and software interfaces, it will do the job of almost all of them, and then some.

The key, I think, is to change your way of thinking. Most cell phones have reasonable PDA functionality, so move the calendar, tasks and alarms over there. For writing, note taking and so on, use the N800. I'm finding Google to be a good transfer medium. I have software (MyPhoneExplorer) that syncs my phone to Google, and an Extension that syncs my Thundirbird mail client to Google, and Erminig on the N800 syncs the GPE calendar to Google. Use the Google sidebar on your PC, and it gets pretty integrated.

BTW - I miss my T5. It died, and they replaced it with a laptop under extended warranty. For on-the-fly note taking, and calendar maintenance, the Palm OS can't be beat. Although, I'm enjoying using a PocketMod for the quick notes.

I continue to use the Palm calendar, as it's much better than anything I've found for the N800. I also use the Palm ToDo list, because of its simple efficiency. And lol, I just realized that I also rely on the Palm memos...! And finally I depend on a 3party application with no N800 equvialent yet. I never wanted to edit Word on either the Palm or the N800, so I'm not missing dataviz much. Still, I use my N800 constantly, while the Palm is used only occasionally.

You raise good points, but here's the kickback from some users (self included): we disagree with the established position that the phone should be primary, and tablet secondary. I see no reason why I can't switch that around and do everything on my tablet, using the phone as an occasional modem, decent camera, etc. In that scenario, I want contacts consolidated on my tablet. Forget the phone-- it's a fancy modem.

A while back some of us proposed a new phone type: the high speed, bluetooth, camera-enabled, otherwise-stripped-down companion to the internet tablets. Man, I'd love to see that happen...

my verizon k1m (cdma version of krzr) is evdo, bluetooth, camera enabled and does exactly what u say- i went from a treo 700p to n770 and k1m i use google calendar/ical/gpe combo now and while a little kludgy works fine
the only thing i really miss from my 15 years of palm use is the find function. it was fast and accurate