NOKIA N810 Internet Tablet, a personal look

So I have had one of these gizmos for about a week now. Gizmo is definitely the right word for what this device is. I like it… actually I LOVE it but this is not to say it is for everyone. I have been eying the Nokia Internet Tablets since the introduction of the 770 with a great deal of interest but the N810 (3^rd iteration) is the first that got me to take the plunge. So let us take a look at what tipped me over the edge.

Overview:

If you didn't already know, this thing is about 25% bigger than the iphone, It has a higher resolution (800x480) transreflective LED b/l touch screen. It is kicking 400mhz with 256/128 on the ROM/RAM front and has two additional flash memory cards, one which is an integral card at 2gb and one miniSD slot. It has Bluetooth, wi-fi and a micro USB connection that can support USB host but is primarly for USB client (serves as a card reader for the internal and removable flash cards). It has a built in GPS receiver and slide out qwerty keyboard. Most importantly it is operating on Linux… a huge blessing AND curse but more on that later. The upshot is this device is very malleable to many purposes rather than custom delivered to one manufacturer controlled configuration. The N810 is truly a device that is defined by you… and not by NOKIA. If you are not going to take the time to extract what you want from the device then you are most likely going to be left a bit cold at the thought of plunking down the money for a pocket sized web browser/e-mail machine…. About the only things it really does good out of the box.

The Good:

The Size:

The slender design is just dead sexy… well if not sexy it is SOLID. I stayed away from the previous tablets due to their lack of keyboard and because they were falling to the wrong side of the dividing line between true pocket friendliness and joke inducing pocket transport (is that a tablet in your pants or…. I am sure you know the rest ). The 770 and 800 were both good devices but the lack of keyboard and pudgy (by mobile standards) size seemed to lead most to relegating them to the backpack when on the go. This dropped them more into comparisons with micro laptops rather than with PDA/smartphones. The 810's design focus on slender with a reduced bezel distilled the tablet line to focus entirely on its strongest feature, a mobile touch screen with real world resolution and plopped its size right into the upper bands of PDA's and smartphones. The limiting factor of most current smart phones/PDAs is and will continue to be QVGA… I am of the opinion the size is far too limiting in regards to what you can display on the screen at one time and is fatally flawed. In contrast, full screen mode on the Nokia internet tablets can display the most popular web page resolution without scrolling sideways (800 width) and you typically only have to scroll down and up (finger friendly). Even on 1024+ sites you tend to be able to see the primary content without side to side scrolling. With the N810's weight loss and slender form you now have this functionality in a true pocket sized package. I understand many bemoan the fact you have to slide out the keyboard for the direction pad… but not having become accustomed to the previous iterations I have to say finger dragging works just fine for me. I will grant it is wise to have a micro fiber cloth handy, but as a long time Windows Mobile smart phone user I am long since accustomed to dealing with the grime of heavy traffic finger screens. Perhaps one day this issue will be dealt with. But for now I will gladly take the smaller more pocket friendly size over a few mm extra here and there for more buttons on the closed up device.

Construction Quality:

Metal Metal and more Metal. This device feels like a solid little bar of aluminum in a good way. It has none of the fragile feel of many cell phones these days. It feels like it was designed to have a long useful and active life, not to be discarded lightly or left behind often. This has been a common thread with all of the tablet devices and I can't help but notice many are still are devoted to their 770 tablets. A wonderful change of pace from the typical chintzy feel of most high end mobile devices these days. Nokia and Apple understand the need for quality construction at least in some of their products.

OS:

The implementation of Linux is good and bad, here is the good. It gives you CHOICE. Nokia didn't lock the device down, they left it wide open for folks to develop and tinker with it to their hearts desire. Thus this is a solid base from which to do some serious mobile device tinkering. Included GPS gives you location information and the open source community gives you metric crap loads of code to sort through as a starting point to creating your ultimate on the go companion. They did an excellent job implementing an interface that is finger friendly though admittedly not quite up to snuff when compared to Apple's superb i-phone and touch interface. It is still light years ahead of windows mobile and the various flavors of symbian I have been exposed to over the years. Given the fact Apple devices are pretty much always in configuration lock down hell it really was never much of a choice for me. I like tinkering, and I crave the ability to make the device behave the way I want it to rather than ONLY the way the designers anticipated. One size fits none in my book. Apple does a great job creating targeted devices that perform admirably at what they decided the device would do… but I much prefer the Nokia approach to open provide an open ended device for the community to work on.

Connectivity:

Connectivity options that are to be found are well implemented and only have one glaring omission (Bluetooth PAN is not supported by default). The high mobility laptop makers should take note of the cell phone tethering wizard and follow suit. Wi-Fi is point and click though I have yet to attempt a WEP connection. USB host presents lots of great possibilities but they are largely thwarted by the micro USB connector… price to pay for the slenderness I suppose. Obviously a standard host port is not an option here (yes its THAT thin), though I think a mini b connector should have been chosen over the largely unknown micro. However, it DOES do host and there are solutions for it. Since it uses an up to date Linux kernel that means the sky is the limit if you are determined enough. On the software front the availability of Pidgin and Skype in full trim rather than mobile hacks makes for a very capable device when it comes to standard instant communication options. Gizmo is a bit to new to know how useful that will be and of course it includes support for standard SIP VOIP protocol so enter your account details and off you go as well. All in all very slick and tidy. Wrap it all up with a full fledged Xterm and Linux command line warriors ride off into the sunset with a very large grin firmly planted on their faces.

Available Software:

Open source repository based package installation software. While the standard Nokia repositories can be a bit flaky, there are several third party repositories with most of the same software and the new/beta/alpha developer community code. The package handling system keeps the pain of Linux software building/installation safely hidden from those not inclined to such things. Additionally it gives you access to programs that would cost you $$$ in typical mobile device software frameworks.

Browsing:

Firefox pared down to its essentials, AJAX works, Flash works. You can watch youtube and you are only limited by your connection speed. This is the best browsing you are going to get in a mobile device this side of an i-phone or UMPC running a full up desktop OS on the larger side.

The Bad

Cellular Voice/Data:

I hadn't had it for 5 minutes before I fell into the camp of followers who wish like hell this thing had a sim chip slot and GSM cellular radio. I had seen pictures of the size comparisons but it really hadn't sunk in just how close this thing is in size to my HTC slider phone. The screen difference is like night and day. Granted I think I understand the reluctance on Nokia's part to not include cell capability and It obviously isn't a deal breaker for me. Pairing with a phone isn't all bad but it is somewhat of a pain to need two devices. On the plus side, as long as Bluetooth networking and DUN are able to tie into a phone connection you can be agnostic about your carriers technology… also you don't need separate data plans if you didn't want to use the device as a phone. Personally I think they should develop a GSM world wide 3g version. Paired with a wristwatch status screen and Bluetooth headset this could be a killer device on your hip. This hardware with cellular capability is what Open Moko should be trying to get their hands on.

In the long run, Nokia is at the cross roads of smart phones and UMPC with these devices. The trend is most certainly towards mobile broadband connectivity of some sort in devices of this nature. I think the time is coming soon when there will need to be a cellular capable version of the tablet. For now I think not including it is the right choice. But CES just launched the attack of the MID's which are all firmly aiming at the Nokia Tablet and I-pod Touch successes and most of them are rolling in with Cellular options. Sooner or later the cell phone market is going to get much more friendly to mobile data access and having multiple plans, or multiple access per plan will not be such a painful consideration. I think that is going to be the glory day of the MID, Nokia Internet Tablet type device. We could be getting close to the Star Trek datapad here.

GPS:

Why in gods name did they not go with a sirfIII chipset? The cold start up time for the GPS receiver is old school… as in before mobile GPS really became very useful old school. Its reception works ok in the car on the open road, but GPS is most useful for something like city exploring… and in urban canyons it fails miserably. However, the bigger sin by far was not bundling a fully capable program with the built in receiver. The map application is mostly good only for showing that the receiver works than for any practical application of GPS. You have to fork over 100+ more dollars to get the real software. To add insult to injury the included maps take up most of the internal card space. The internal receiver, bad or not, with included functional software would have been acceptable. Crappy receiver with crippleware is just silly for the added cost to the device. There are uses for it as is… and the open source mapper provides much of what is missing provided you download the maps ahead of time or have an unlimited cellular data plan to access via your phone.

Look for the next generation to work on this… I have yet to see anyone with a posted online review/opinion of the device fail to hammer this particular issue. If GPS is what has you paying attention to on this device I would say wait or look elsewhere unless you have a serious need for a single device with some of its other capabilities.

Camera:

I suppose there are uses for a VGA webcam on a device like this but I just am not sure what. Gizmo is the only software out of the box that uses it and the user base isn't there. Not to mention video calling has been a technical reality for about 10 years now and widely practical for the last 5 and it just hasn't taken off. That is about all the camera would possibly be good for and it requires very good lighting for any kind of reasonable image. This is a feature check box… I think they would have done better to repurpose the space for the camera to minib USB or even upping back to full SD on the memory card. I could see a use for one of the higher resolution mobile cameras (2.0mp or better)… document 'scanning', business card pictures etc. It wouldn't surprise me to see the N-95 5mp camera show up on the next iteration. While I would still question just how useful it would be, I can see far more use at that point than with this current one.

PAN Connectivity:

Boo hiss on the lack of Bluetooth PAN support out of the box. One might interpret this as Nokia not wanting the device to work easily with Win Mo 6 phones seeing as they have largely moved to a DUN less setup by default and Nokia is sticking to DUN. Enabling PAN would make the device truly handset agnostic at the potential expense of Nokia phone sales. I would be one such to interpret it as so. There is NO reason why PAN should not have been included or added once it became obvious many phones were moving to incorporating it at the expense of DUN. As is, it takes a fairly involved hack to get it up and running, and the hack is something of a moving target as Nokia is releasing OS updates…. This is one of those things that should be getting easier, not more difficult. I like coding and have a fair amount of experience digging around Linux config files etc… it took me about 3 days to Google up the fix for the latest release of OS2008 which was different from the easy to find work around for the first iteration of OS2008, which were in turn different from the OS2007 and OS2006 hack details. Suffice to say if you have a PAN connection phone without DUN and root means the under soil portion of a plant to you then I would highly advise you steer clear if you are anticipating using the tablet tethered to a cell phone, unless you are also willing to switch to a phone with DUN profile

Storage:

My guess is Nokia was to far into the design by the time it became obvious that miniSD was pretty much dead on the vine with flash makers trending to Full SD or Micro. Had the trend to micro been more obvious at the time my guess is they would have kept the dual card setup of the 800 and just moved to micro. Ah how easy to say in hind sight. On the other hand it isn't like 10gb or even 14gb (new 12gb micros are coming) combined flash storage is bad. Personally I would prefer a battery covered micro paired with a full SD external. SD seems to be creeping into compact flash territory with some added peripherals in addition to memory cards being designed for the SD interface, add in the fact the max capacity/speed of SD is far superior. I see a very strong case for biting off the added size.

OS:

The customized mobile UI means that vast stretches of Linux open source software is off limits. This shows most acutely in the lack of thunderbird ports and or Open Office ports which present the most glaring gaps in functionality of the device that is currently available. To some extent such complaints are so much howling at the moon. After all there is only so much one can ask of 400mhz and 128mb of RAM so some of the lacking ports are more due to technological limitations than to desire for them. Pretty much anything else that is obvious has been ported already.

Office Software:

No Calendar, No Office Document viewing for either OO or MS Office? A mostly irrelevant contact and e-mail client? How could they let this device out the door without a FULL PIM suite? Sure there is a Garnet VM for Palm PDA folks. But the software was just not designed for this display and it shows. This is the single most glaring gap in the default device. Currently there is no solution either from Nokia or from the development community around the device. Linux has long been in search of a capable Exchange client and the search continues. I keep hoping someone will come out with a Client side for Google Apps that works standalone and syncs with the online apps. Google is making steady progress in the direction of challenging the MS stranglehold on professional PIM and office software usage.

Charging:

No charging over USB, standard Nokia charger needed. Old story with Nokia and it is still a problem. Just throwing in a USB to charger input cable would have been nice. They could have done two miniB USB connectors, both capable USB ports instead of a micro USB and single purpose power port. I really don't think anyone would have complained about the 1, maybe 2mm difference in the thickness that MAY have been required to do so.

Conclusion:

Well if you read this you might say… geee there seems to be a lot more bad about this device than good. In my mind if that is the way you read it then the device probably isn't for you. If you are of the mind… yeah but I can change a lot of those problems, or they might change in time anyway. Then I think you understand why I love this device. Software gripes can be addressed, The GPS is good enough despite the flawed execution, and there just isn't anything else in this hardware class that is as open ended a device. It has its flaws of that there is no doubt. But it has some serious strengths. For example I paired it with a stowaway Bluetooth keyboard and BAM I had a pretty capable little note taking setup that was much smaller and more flexible than even a micro laptop setup. There is software for pairing it with a bluetooth OBDII scanner for running diagnostics on your car ECU (model years 96 and beyond). Unlike smart phones you can comfortably read text without feeling like you are constantly scrolling/flipping the page etc… it fits a good amount of data on the screen at once at readable levels. It has a high quality build with plenty of thoughtful touches, buttons are not in high traffic hold points, built in kickstand with multiple notches for different angles, protected Micro card slot, USB port, and battery case release button. A screen that can still be viewed in full sunlight.

N810 vrs N800 decision points.

If you are one of the folks agonizing over a choice between the 800 and 810 the key considerations are size, GPS, storage, and of course the slide out keyboard. I feel very confident saying the 810 will go with you more places than the 800. The size reduction gets the tablet into upper end of the smart phone range as opposed to being well outside of it for the 800. Put another way the 800 will likely stay in your backpack where the 810 will go in your pocket. The keyboard is the second major factor. For me, this kind of device without a keyboard is a deal breaker and is probably the single largest factor in me deciding against the 770 and 800, but to each their own. Storage can be an issue, two SD slots provides a great deal more flexibility in storage and even periphial interfaces for the 800. The drawback is the bulk of the 800, your call. MicroSD into a mini adaptor now gives up to 12gb on a single chip. If I could choose one thing to change on the 810 I think it would be for a full size SD in place of the mini. Last and definitely least is in my opinion is the GPS. Yes it has it but it is horribly implemented and the decision to not put in a sirf III chipset or one of equivalent capability was moronic…. This is a last gen GPS without a good bundled software solution. For the added cost of the 810 over the 800 + the cost to upgrade the GPS software to practical status you could by a nice dedicated Garmin or TOM TOM unit. If integration and one device is a huge deal then look into the upcoming SD based sirf III chips for the n800, or go with a blue tooth receiver on either device (seriously)…. To give you an idea how much this receiver sucks, I will probably continue to use my sirf III Bluetooth receiver with my 810.

Unlike many I just do not think cost should be a major deciding factor, there are non-cost reasons to go with the 800 over the 810. And the reasons for choosing the 810 over the 800 have to do with specific features that are not shared… IE you can't really address them with the 800 so added cost just goes with the territory. For example do not cheat yourself out of a built in keyboard if you need it… it will just make you hate settling. If you need the slimmer size you will regret the larger clunk. The only case in which money should be the decider is if you just can't afford the 810 and the 800 will still meet your personal needs. If the answer for you is the 810 then I would just keep saving rather than settling on the 800.

N810 vrs i-pod touch/i-phone decision points.

If you only want web browsing and music/video content management then don't discount the Touch and/or i-phone. Key lack of the touch is no Bluetooth so no tethering for cellular data access, wifi only. Lack of a keyboard on either kills them for me. Touch screens are good at many things… typing isn't one of them. They also hold the edge in size, but at the cost of some VERY valuable pixels, granted there is a heaping serving of Apple mojo to stretch the pixels they do have to their absolute max with out of this world zoom technology.