Given the specs (I'm terrible at predicting how powerful things are with lower specs.. now give me a Ghz difference and I can tell).

Anyway, as it is with the n800 with about 512 MB of swap (I think, might be a little less) and the 400 Mhz speed, music starts to skip and the system chugs to an almost halt when I have YouAmp (music), a PDF open, Tear, and feedcircuit all while offline (using feedcircuit + tear to read my cached rss feeds).

Granted the music player in the n900 will be more optimized. I was wondering though how far can it be pushed. Obviously it can handle alot of processes (as videos and pictures have shown) but what about intensive apps like say the OpenOffice equivilent of Excel (SpreadSheet). Say that and a 30 page PDF?

Or a full word processor like OpenOffice Writer. The reason why I ask is, I spend alot of time on the Metro now (4 hours a day!) Thanks to my commute from home -> school and back. And soon home -> work and back. And it would be great if after I finish doing my readings (textbooks and PDFs) if I could also get a paper done. Especially since I will be juggling school, my job at the Census, research towards my thesis, and the commute.

The n800 as now is hard to do a paper with (partially because it's hard using a stylus typing on the Metro and the other reason because if I full screen the soft keyboard...well let's say I don't think it was meant to handle several thousands words + formating.. >.>

I would use my bluetooth keyboard... but besides the annoying delay time associated with typing, it's also an issue of space on the n800. While with the n900 it has the hardware keyboard.

I am currently debating purchasing the n900 now or next year (after a wait and see approach for what Nokia and other companies do). Though it's becoming increasingly apparent I need a portable solution. I would use my laptop but I don't like lugging it around (my backpack is full with books as it is, plus the hike up to the building on campus is hard) , the battery is dead after an hour >.< due to me mistreating it back in undergraduate days (heat + backpack don't mix). Plus taking laptop to a government facility? Especially the Census? Not a good idea.

So input? Yes, I know a netbook is another possibility, but I'm not a fan of them since they really aren't pocketable like the internet tablets are. Plus the n900 could act as my phone too which would replace my current n800 + some cheap free cell phone.

Just wondering: have you ever used a handheld keyboard such as the N900's (or like a Blackberry's)? Personally, I couldn't see doing a college paper with that as my input mechanism. (Though that might be because I haven't used them enough.)

(If you opt for something as large as a netbook, I'd consider instead buying, say, a used IBM X31 (which is my primary computer). It's only a little heavier than a netbook, and it sure is superior ergonomically to any netbook I've tried. As in way superior.

I've never used a handheld keyboard at all. Though I do have years of being a portable gamer which is why holding portable devices probably doesn't bother me.

Gameboy -> GBC -> Gameboy Advance -> Nintendo DS

So I'm use to holding a device for long periods of time, which is why the n800 doesn't bother me. I can hold it for hours on time typing into it or using it.

The problem more with the n800 is there's no good software for papers, and if there is like Debian/KDE + Office you have to use a replacement software keyboard which just doesn't work since it tends to be to small for thumb input.

I use my N810 with google docs to do a LOT of schoolwork. PDF's render well on google, and are fast. A lot faster than that crap PDF viewer or Evince. With tear I can get like 4 docs open at once plus notes. However, you are not going to write a paper on the N810 or N900 keyboard. Its good for some notes or edits, but you are going to need a full keyboard...

The processor should be fast enough...

Thanks for the tip of using Google Docs. I'll keep that in mind, though it'll be hard since I don't have a data connection + Metro subways = no data connection (for now). That's something ideally the n900 will resolve (well + TMobile putting Towers or whatever in the Metro along with Sprint, and AT&T [yes even the iPhone users don't get signal down tere] later this month or in November). So far only Verizon gets the fun of being able to make calls and use the internet in the deep depths of the subway.

I remember trying that once, and accidentally almost closing it (ack imagine all that work gone).

And you would be surprised at what I could get done with the n800 + something that let me type into it. I've written at least a page or two (when double spaced) before just using the n800 + software keyboard. Worse comes to worse if there's something off with the hardware keyboard then I could just use the software keyboard on the n900 right?

I have also (well, with the hardware keyboard), but it really was not a pleasant experience. So you can, and much faster than with a stylus. I really wish it had voice recognition for those pesky notes...

And with google docs, you can preload the data so you can read it on the train. Google basically converts the PDFs into PNG, and it is somehow faster... Just open the doc at home and make sure every page is loaded at the appropriate zoom level. You will save a lot more time compared to the rendering of evince, because it renders each page multiple times (Assuming you are working with scanned books/image files).

Yeah, scanned PDFs (ugh). Text based PDFs thankfully are becoming more frequent as people are starting to publish electronically as well. Those load faster in the default PDF reader as long as you don't have much else running.

But I also thought you meant using Google Docs's Office to write, which if that crashed without a data connection (oops there goes all you typed). But I will start loading PDFs into Google Docs for now till I find a better solution. Thanks again for that tip.

I have to agree, using the tablets as a word processor is not a pleasant experience, but it works until you can get to a laptop/desktop (at least for me). Which is what I've generally used it for. Voice recognition would be awesome, though somehow I don't think it would go that well with all the background noise on the Metro lol.

I don't know about you, but I often find PDF's hard to read on the small screen, since you can't adjust the font and get the text to re-flow. (This wouldn't matter for you if you're happy reading a small font; I'm not.) So another thing to consider is turning the PDFs into text on your computer with FoxIt Reader; or you can convert them on the tablet with poppler utilities. See this thread.

Since the Thesandlord seems to agree that doing a paper with an N900 keyboard would be tough going (I didn't mean the issue of holding it, I meant the actual typing), maybe it's worth your trying a USB keyboard with your N800 (to eliminate lag).

Have you tried writing a multi-thousand-word paper in Notes? I wonder if it would have trouble; maybe it wouldn't. I'd be inclined to do the formatting on a computer, just getting the text done on the N800/N900. And do you need all those apps open at once? Maybe a separate, small MP3 player could offload some of the strain. They can be had cheap and some are very small.

Well the problem with using a bluetooth keyboard or USB is that on the Metro (Subway) if your sitting down you don't really have room. First you have to put the device somewhere (and frankly I wouldn't put it past someone to do a snatch and run). And then you have to set the keyboard somewhere to type. And if your standing up.. well good luck even using the device without falling over (I swear sometimes you gotta hang onto those railings).

And notes is generally how I write paragraphs right now. Haven't tested it with thousands of words. I generally just create one paragraph per note (or till there's way to much text when you bring up the full screen keyboard). Good idea though, I'll have to test if the full screen keyboard mode in the n800 can support having all that text in that text box/editor area without any issues. But that's why I'm attracted to having the hardware keyboard that problem doesn't exist (Where all the text is crammed into that tiny box area).

I wouldn't like the idea of using a small MP3 player. Part of the reason why I bought the n800 a few years back was because I could use it as a computer and a multimedia player. Buying a small dedicated one would be taking a step back and just adding to what I have to carry now. The reason why I ask about the n900's ability is more if I can get the work done. The benefit would be combining my cell phone + n800 so now I just carry the n900.

Thanks for the feedback all.

@Laughing Man:
Though I believe the N900 will be the best-in-class for smartphones (for most of the usecases of the users of this forum anyway).. wouldn't a netbook make more sense in your case if you spend 4 hours a day for commutes that you'd like to turn into productive writing periods?