Nokia N800 examined up-close

NOKIA HAS kindly provided us with a new N800 internet table to examine, the successor to the warmly received Nokia 770.

The gadget runs a range of internet and media based software, combining proprietary custom media applications with the likes of Opera 8 and Flash 7 playback.

Instant messaging courtesy of Google Talk, Voice-Over-IP (VOIP), video conferencing, video/audio/radio playback, email, RSS news viewing, and fully-fledged web browsing, are all bundled and working out of the box.

The screen is of a sufficiently high resolution (800x480 on 4.13") to make web browsing a delight, and text, even with a very small font, is readable and clear without ever straining the eyes.

You can pick the N800 up for around £279 after a quick search, in the UK, which could be perceived as similar in price to a cheap budget laptop, or a mid-level iPaq.

A front view of the device.

A side view - this right-hand side houses the headphone socket and mains power connector, as well as the slot for the touch-screen's stylus.

The device even has a web cam, which can be used for video conferencing, and is hidden as a pop-out feature on the side of the device, as pictured below.

On the top of the N800 is the main power button, keys for zooming and a key for turning off the various side menus on the screen when you want to use the device in ‘full screen' mode. There's also a microphone built in, and two speakers for audio playback.

To the left of the screen is a set of control buttons; the upper set of controls consists of a navigation pad with a central select key that can be used as a scroller when web browsing. Beneath this is a collection of three more buttons. One of these calls up on-screen menus relevant to the current activity; another is a 'back' key, while the third is a ‘switcher' key that allows quick switching between any running applications or, if held down, returns you to the main screen.

There are two main methods of internet connectivity, one via the Bluetooth-modem connectivity via your mobile phone, or using the built-in WiFi. Both were easy to setup and worked flawlessly during testing. WEP, WPA 1 and WPA 2 are all supported.

It must be noted, if you haven't already noticed, that built-in mobile voice or data telephony via a standard mobile network and SIM is not supported. You either have to have a Bluetooth compatible phone to hand, or be connected to a local wireless network.

A major improvement over Nokia's original stab at a web tablet; the 770, is the N800's faster speed. It loads applications and web pages much more quickly than the previous device, but it does lag slightly compared to a fully specified desktop PC when simply browsing and displaying web sites.

Trying to playback Youtube videos and the like, were met with several problems - the videos either didn't work or were broken and pixelated. Playing locally stored videos seemed to work fine, however.

There's no compatible Skype client as of writing, which seems a major omission considering its market penetration, and requires your contacts to be using Google Talk or some Jabber compatible instant messaging program - there's no AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger or Windows Live Messenger/MSN support.

There is no personal information manager software bundled, nor could we find any downloadable from Nokia. You are able to add contacts, but this stores limited information, and is not synchronizable with any other device. A key omission for a PDA, but it could be argued this device is solely for media playback and internet browsing only - still it would be a useful addition.

According to the device's Nokia-based web-page, the N800 is shortly to receive some kind of mapping system, which will presumably need some kind of Bluetooth GPS add-on at an additional price. This is another attractive feature that will allow more real-world use of the product, but it's possible to pick up an iPaq with a GPS dongle for a similar price, which will allow you to do the same things as a N800 but with greater software availability - some iPaqs also have full mobile functionality too, unlike the N800.

It must be noted that this software is still not available, even sometime after the device's launch.

Battery life is reasonable but not amazing, we managed several hours at the most using the WLAN link.

Here's a quick run-down of the main specs.

• 330MHz Texas Instruments processor
• Volume: 137cc, weight: 206g, length: 75mm, width: 144mm, thickness: 13(/18)mm
• Colour: Silver front cover and matt black back display
• High-resolution (800x480) 4.13" touch screen with up to 65,536 colours
• Memory: 128MB RAM, 256MB of Flash ROM
• Two internal memory card slots, compatible with SD, MicroSD, MiniSD, MMC, and RS-MMC. Compatible with cards up to 2GB. Configurable up to 4GB
• Operating times: Browsing time- up to 3.5 hours, standby time- up to 12 days
• Operating system: Internet Tablet OS 2007 edition
• Input methods: Full screen finger keyboard, on-screen keyboard, handwriting recognition
• Connectivity: WLAN 802.11b/g, Bluetooth specification: 2.0, USB 2.0 high speed device mode for PC connectivity
• Support file formats:Audio: AAC, AMR, MP2, MP3, RA (Real Audio), WAV, WMA
• Image: BMP, GIF, ICO, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, SVG-tiny
• Video: 3GP, AVI, H.263, MPEG-1, MPEG-4, RV (Real Video)
• Internet radio playlists: M3U, PLS
• Retail package additional contents: 128MB MiniSD card with extender, extra stylus, stereo headset, pouch, data cable

In Short
Most internet-savvy users who are desperate to have the net on tap 24/7 will have already invested in a laptop or have easy-access to a PC. These users almost certainly have a modern mobile phone, all of which come with some sort of basic web access and internet functionality.

The tablet certainly offers a bigger screen and resolution than most phones, but compared to something like Nokia's own N73, and upcoming N95, the additional screen real estate is almost certainly not necessary considering the extra burden of carrying the device around along with your internet-equipped large-screen mobile, and the small issue of a further £280.

Don't get us wrong - it's an attractive product, with well-designed software and an easy-to-use interface, but we're just not sure who'd want or need such a device, especially when you consider the limitations of the available software.

The lack of PIM software, compatibility with Microsoft/Yahoo/AOL instant messaging, built-in telephony, ensures the device has limited uses.

A nice product, which performs well, but is only appealing to a very small niche market. ?

The Good
Does what it says on the tin
Attractive styling and good screen

The Bad
Quite expensive
Limited built-in applications

The Ugly
Very limited uses....and very limited market
No built-in telephony support

Bartender's Report

See also
Nokia is winning the price war
Nokia reveals N-Gage plans
Nokia launches three emerging world phones
Nokia goes VoIP crazy