Nokia N810 Portable Internet Tablet Reviews

• Great pocket device with a screen that rocks

  
  By AL1HAWHEQN27X on 2007-11-24
  I bought the N810 (had been considering the N800 a long time) and this really is a great internet tablet.
  I think Nokia has it right in no tmaking it a phone too (and locked down). Firstly - the wifi is super on this and detects wifi better than my laptop.
  The OS is very fast and spiffy and the software feels like its running on a desktop - fast.
  You can connect to 3G thru the phone over bluetooth (provided you have a data plan) and that gives me always connected and on status. I call my parents in India now ofrom any place using Gizmo, or Google talk . Its a great tablet for VoIP. Just have to wait some more for Skype to also work on this soon.
  
  As a music player and Video player - its superb. Great album art also included in some apps like Kagu and UKMP. Though the music quality is a wee bit lacking in comparison to a good mp3 player (like my iRiver).
  
  It's not a PDA, so many of regular PDA apps are missing - but again thanks to open source community (and to Nokia for making it an open device) you can install some basic PIM apps too.
  
  Best of all is internet browsing - for people who need access to the web a lot while being mobile - THSI IS THE DEVICE. Support flash very well (and hence Youtube too).
  And lastly the screen is fabulous. Very sharp and crisp and bright - all web sites on the browser is very easy to read even on this small a device - thanks to the screen resolution.
  
  And lastly the GPS is good - does not replace a full featured dedicated GPS device - but good for a handy GPS navigation.
  
  

• As the 3rd Nokia tablet, N810 should have been better

  
  By A18F0V6AM67DEI on 2007-12-21
  I bought a N770 a couple years ago, and it had a dead pixel (but I didn't return it). I ordered N810 2 weeks ago, and it also had a dead pixel. This time, I returned the N810 not only because of the dead pixel, but also because of many usability problems.
  
  The two primary reasons I bought the N810 were the slide-out keyboard and the built-in GPS. The slide-out keyboard is good for finger typing (rather than using a stylus tapping on the touch screen as in N770), but it creates several problems. First, since the four-way rocker key is on the keyboard, I don't like the fact that I cannot use the four way rocker to scroll the screen up and down unless I also expose the keyboard (The menu button is also on the keyboard; but you can use the tiny on-screen menu key as a substitute). Second, the "up" key of the rocker key is so close to the edge of the screen, making it very difficult to press it (even though I have small hand). Sometimes I pressed the center "select" button inadvertently as a result. Third, the zoom buttons and the full screen button are all located on the upper edge of the keyboard, not of the screen. If the keyboard is slided out, it is difficult to access the zoom buttons and the full-screen button.
  
  The GPS is VERY slow to detect the satellites. I understand that GPS needs to take more time to detect the satellites for the first time. But I never thought it would take THAT long. I have owned two generations of bluetooth GPS over the last four years, the GPS performance of the N810 is either comparable or worse than my older version.
  
  The video (playing youtube) is acceptable. However, I downloaded a 720 x 320 pixel MP4 video, and N810 said it doesn't accept this resolution.
  
  If you agree that the keyboard problems are relevant to your usage habit, and the GPS is not acceptable if it is too slow, then you should consider buying the N800 which does everything like N810 (N800 does not have keyboard and GPS). N800 also allows you to put more internal memory than N810. I just ordered one and it is about $200 cheaper.
  
  
  
  

• writing this from my n810

  
  By A6HE2JVGR5JS6 on 2007-11-23
  i love this thing. it can do everything that a pc can do but you can fit it in your pocket. it does take alittle bit of know how to really unlock its true power. you can remote into your desktop pc from anywhere there is a internet connection. you can also use your internet from your celll phone also. i can access the net from anywhere now. i would recommend this device to anybody who is looking for a all in one device but dont want to get a iphone. the n810 is so the iphone killer. get one. you wont regret it.
  
  

• Buy the N800 and save your money

  
  By A1L39P2MOKH0WQ on 2007-12-31
  I had a Nokia N800 that was a great product both in cost, about $230, and function. I gave it away as a gift and bought the N810 because it had a real keyboard and built-in GPS. I made a mistake. The N810 is about twice the price but the lesser product.
  
  The battery life seems to be about half of the N800's. I expect that is because of the power consumed by the backlit keyboard and the GPS device.
  
  The N810's physical keyboard adds marginally to the functionality but not enough to justify the price difference. The stylus is too narrow for my fingers. The top buttons are better placed than on the N800 but the side buttons and the camera are awful. The product is also of poorer construction than the N800. The slot cover for the optional memory card does not stay shut when a chip is inserted. The ARM CPU is identical to the N800. The memory cards for the N810 must be miniSD or microSD with an adapter, while the N800 took regular size as well.
  
  After the addition of the physical keyboard, the built-in GPS is the biggest difference between the N810 and the older N800. And the real reason I "upgraded". However, to get any use out of the GPS you must subscribe to Wayfinder's service at $129/36 months. I would have been better off buying another N800 and a portable GPS device.
  
  Save your money and buy the N800 it is the better product - in fact the N800 is a great product.
  
  

• An excellent device

  
  By A1TNK82XJQ0XPK on 2007-12-25
  First of all, you should know that I own a Nokia N800 - not the N810. I encourage you to read my review of the N800 for more information on that device.
  
  The N800 is identical to the N810 with only two exceptions. The N810 has a GPS receiver and built-in slide-down keyboard. The N800 has a FM radio and no hardware keyboard. There are some differences on memory capacity as well, but these will almost certainly change as Nokia releases OS2008 performance updates.
  
  While I do not own the N810, but I have had the opportunity to play with one for an hour or two at the Nokia store in downtown Chicago. The internet is where I make my living, so I try to experiment with any portable device that will allow me the freedom to work away from my desk.
  
  The N800 is sold with OS2007. The N810 is delivered with OS2008. The OS2008 performance upgrade is now available for the N800, allowing you to have most of the features of the $400+ N810 in the now sub-$300 N800 tablet. If you do not need a GPS receiver (or already own a bluetooth GPS receiver), you can use the N800 to perform the exact same tasks as the more expensive N810. Consider your needs and then decide what's works best for you.
  
  On the plus side, the N810 is slightly smaller than the N800. The N810's keyboard is much easier to use than the on-screen touch keyboard I'm stuck with. The N810 casing is all metal and feels a bit more durable than the N800.
  
  Whichever device you choose, the new operating system and browser are excellent and allow easy browsing of most websites. The Mozilla browser with Flash9 renders most websites beautifully on the small screen. The user interface is a lot more intuitive in OS2008 and it's very easy to email, chat and browse. It won't completely replace my laptop - neither the N800 or N810 can print without extensive modification - but you truly can carry the web with you wherever you go!
  
  I hope you found this review helpful!
  
  
• good, but not quite ready for prime time
  By ACN700ZSQ43YT on 2007-12-29
  I have been using the n810 for about 3 weeks and it is an interesting internet device. It is the same size as an HP 12c calculator and will easily fit into my school pack or into a jacket or large shirt pocket. It is great at detecting and connecting to wireless services. The slide out keyboard is easy to use. Unfortunately little else on the n810 works well. The GPS maps that come with the unit are poor. For example, they show the creek near my house, but not the street in front of it. You have to pay extra to make the GPS functional. There are some connectivity issues, as well. The n810 will not work with gotomypc, or even rdesktop. Because it lacks an appropriate Linux client, the n810 will not link to my university's vpn so I cannot access its wireless services. This means that the n810 is useless to me at school and work. Also, some regular web videos, such as CNN and Cnet will not play smoothly. (You Tube videos play wonderfully, however.) The other software works "sort of". For example, the Palm emulator, Garnet VM, is still in beta; therefore, some of my Palm apps work ok on the n810, but many do not, and I could not sync it with my Palm to get the addresses and calendar moved to the n810. Bummer! Some of this is supposedly due to the new linux os and may be resolved soon, but right now, I wish I had saved my money and bought the n800 instead. The internet experience and small form factor are worth about $200, not $400+.
  
  
• great device, just a warning about the amazon offer
  By A1S8WR3W9VGEE3 on 2007-12-02
  The nokia n810 is great.
  Just a word of warning: I bought the amazon offer together with the
  micro SDHC card + SD adaptor. The nokia can take mini SDHC cards, but SD cards are too big. I had to get an adaptor from somewhere else...
  
  
• Not as bad as some people are saying...
  By A1RKIXKK8D1QDQ on 2008-01-03
  I bought the Nokia N810 as a PDA replacement, which, strictly speaking, is not what Nokia sells it to do. Out of the box, it has a solid feel, and the keyboard slider does not feel like it's going to fall apart - unlike some other products with similar features.
  
  The focus of this device is Internet access, and Nokia integrated 802.11b/g support, which works very well. Internet access via cellular telephones is a different story. For some reason, Nokia chose to implement Bluetooth DUN, rather than Bluetooth PAN. BT DUN is an older (most people consider it to be obsolete) protocol that Microsoft recently removed from the default Windows Mobile 6 build. BT PAN is much more widely accepted, and is a far superior choice. Only time will tell if Nokia decides to add the updated protocol. There IS a connectivity option for buyers with non-Nokia phones. A product called PDANet allows newer telephones without BT DUN support to speak to devices that only support BT DUN. This is a commercial product, but is well worth the money if you have a new phone. I have used this product for several weeks, and can confirm that it works as advertised. If you have a phone that does not support BT DUN, I strongly recommend buying PDANet before you recieve the N810. This will allow you to complete the initial configuration wizard on the N810.
  
  As far as other features, the N810 screen is very nice, with a bright backlight. The screen is easily readable, even in sunlight. The built-in speaker is decent, but you will want to use the included headphones to listen to anything that you actually care about hearing. The keyboard is a little tough to use, due to the tension in the keys, but it is okay once you get used to it. The processor is capable, and loading times for applications is reasonable. The GPS functionality works well, but you should be prepared to purchase the upgraded map application if you intend to use the N810 for navigation. One caveat with the GPS - for some reason, the unit is EXTREMELY slow to obtain an initial satellite fix if you are moving. Staying still for about 2 minutes or so will allow the device to obtain (and keep) a satellite fix.
  
  Aside from the BT DUN problem, my only gripe about the N810 is the lack of sufficient memory card expansion. The device comes with an internal 2GB memory "card" that cannot be removed/upgraded, along with a single Mini-SD card slot. This means that as of today, this device cannot handle more than 10GB total. That could be much better. In addition, the Mini-SD port is difficult to close. This port was an exceptionally poor design in my opinion.
  
  Overall, I am very satisfied with the Nokia N810. I believe that it will serve my intended purpose very well. It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it does work if you put a little effort into setting it up.
  
  
• Great for internet on the go
  By AE4IDMK8NFTQG on 2007-11-29
  I just bought the Nokia N810 tablet and so far I'm very happy with it. It connects to any wi-fi very well as long as it is available. There's really not that many features, but it's very easy to use. I have to say that I know I need reading glasses because my vision for reading very small text is beginning to go, but somehow I have no problem with this. You can always zoom the text. I like the keyboard a lot, and it's illuminated, also the screen is great. I can honestly say that with this device, I no longer need to lug my laptop when I travel. Aesthetically, I think it looks and feels better than the Iphone. I tried the Iphone and I didn't like typing on it. I think what's important is how quickly you can establish wi-fi connection with this device and how fast it is when you're connected. There's a lot of free internet connection everywhere nowadays. Battery life isn't bad, either. Only problem I have with this is that it has a webcam, but somehow I can't figure out how to activate it. Anyway, that's all. It's a nice little toy.
  
  
• What UMPCs intended to become
  By A1I494KSHD4DF8 on 2007-12-22
  N810 is an awesome device. At first I was worried that the keyboard being so small would be impractical and of little use. It actually is amazingly good and my hands are not small at all. N810 has embedded GPS and super bright screen (it has photo sensor and brightness is auto adjusted). Uses standard Nokia battery and runs up to 6-7 hours with it (it could play mp3's all day long with display turned off) despite the fact that the whole device wights only 200g.
  
  It has also mozilla based browser and all the popular sites I can think of work just fine - google maps, youtube, google reader, facebook, gmail and so on. There are many applications for N810 such as Gizmo, Skype, Wayfinder, Vagalume (last.fm client), UKMP media player, Canola and many more. For the more geeky of us there is xterm and tons of apt-get-able linux software (incl. openssh).
  
  
• Useful and flexible
  By A3J9RWDXJBJ6VV on 2008-02-17
  I upgraded from the N770 to the N810 and am very impressed. For the average user, it provides a Firefox-based web browser with Flash 9, capable of displaying all modern web sites, unheard of for a mobile device. It can display, GMail, Google Docs, YouTube, Mint.com and more. It supports Google Talk, Gizmo and Skype for making voice calls over the web. The media player can display high quality full screen video. The built-in stereo speakers mean you won't be hunting for your earbuds every time you want to hear some music. Software updates can be performed on the device, without help from a computer. Internet access is available through wifi or a Bluetooth connection to a web-enabled phone. I've read many reviewers that don't like the keyboard. It is a bit short and butts up against the screen, but you easily get used to it after a few hours. In any case, it beats the iPhone's virtual keyboard and the Blackberry's tiny keypad any day. Having actual backlit keys that you can actually touch and actually press down without your thumbs smurging onto other keys by accident is rewarding. The GPS is not slow, but the receiver is quite weak. You must have a very clear view of the sky to use it.
  Those who want more from the N810 can enable the "maemo Extras" repository in the application manager. That gives you access to great software, including Maemo Mapper, a free GPS mapping program, Pidgin multi client IM app, Canola media center, Video Center video podcast client, plenty of games and more. Try to get FBReader too. It's a wonderful ebook reader.
  I love this device and use it daily. In fact, I wrote this review on it ;-)
  
  
• Portable internet in your pocket.
  By A3D6E6ZM7K20YZ on 2008-02-25
  I have now had my N810 for a week and still love it.
  It does come with several applications that will get you running from the time you get it out of the box. But there are many-many more available, some replacements, but many add functionality.
  I connected to my home Wi-Fi within minutes, and have tried it out in many hot spots without any trouble. The GPS locks on in the same amount of time as my hand held GPS.
  I am still working on getting podcasts to feed automatically, but see that the installed video player will do that.
  
  Kudos:
  Small form factor (Why I bought this over the Asus EEE-Pc.)
  Great battery life (4-6 hours use, 6 days standby with minor tweaking.)
  Good keyboard; in the open mode, full screen and half screen.
  Handwriting recognition takes practice but works well. (It messes up in the xterm program however.)
  Built in stand also serves as hand loop.
  
  Perceived Faults:
  Volume is too low in playback mode with anything other than the built in video player.
  It would be good to have a tether point for an optional wrist-strap.
  Camera is not very high resolution.
  
  Recommended add-ons:
  Better case (Nintendo DS-Lite cases work very well.)
  Auto charger (Nokia phone charger with the small plug.)
  Mini SD card for multi-media content.
  Screen protector sheet.
  Bluetooth Headset. (I use the Jabra-BT8010.)
  
  ---------------
  Update: (A few weeks later.)
  I have found that the video center program will work well with podcasts. (I combine it with Yahoo Pipes to consolidate about 10 feeds into 2.) Battery life is very dependent upon your use. If you turn off WiFi, you will get a lot more time in use and standby. Offline mode works very well to do this when you don't need bluetooth and wifi (Listening with headphones, reading e-books.) otherwise you can set it to only look for wifi when you need to and leave the bluetooth on.
  There is more software out there than you should ever need, as this is linux based, nearly everything is possible. I still haven't tried Skype, but have no need for it at this time. One of the greatest uses I have put this to is portable network access, I just SSH to a server and run whatever I need it to.
  
  
• This device is a beauty
  By A26YHIRPMZYZDU on 2008-06-04
  This is an absolutely wonderful device. I also own a iphone and a pocket pc so I'll present a comparison.
  
  IPAQ:
  I bought a pocket pc (HP Ipaq 110) a few months back thinking that it would serve as a handheld computing device for me. Let me assure you - it didn't. Windows pocket pcs just dont have it in them. In the Ipaq 110, there were no zoom buttons for quick full screen access. Nokia n810 puts the resolution on ipaq 110 to a shame. The screen resolution on ipaq 110 was so poor that if you wanted to see a webpage, you could only see maybe 1/16th of the width at one time. Text was not clear unless it was really huge (by Nokia N810 standards). Microsoft just hasn't designed an innovative enough product. Who ever came up with the idea of trying to fit a webpage somehow on a low resolution screen, by totally scrapping all structure, has obviously never tried to use it themselves.
  
  
  Iphone:
  While the resolution on iphone was good, who really wants to keep rubbing their fingers on the screen all the time? The browsing was very barebone. It was only marginally better than the pocketpc. Half the websites wouldn't open or would be completely unbrowsable. And what's the point of browsing if you can't save a thing to your computer. You can't save any pdf's - nothing. Everything was restricted. There were no hardware buttons - all you did was rub your fingers across the screen.
  
  
  Nokia N810:
  The browsing on this device is beyond description. After my experiences with iphone and ipaq, I was beginning to thing that there is no such thing as proper browsing on a handheld device. Nokia N810 proved me wrong. The resolution of the screen is so high (and beautifully fine) that you can actually browse very comfortably. You see entire websites on one screen and it doesn't feel that you are compromising anything.
  
  The Mozilla based browser works wonderfully. On N810, there is no difference how a webpage would behave on a laptop vs on this device. You actually see what you see on a laptop. This is not a scrapped down browser like the other two devices I mentioned - You can actually do important tasks without taking an hour trying to some how get around form or functional barriers.
  
  128 megs of ram is great. For comparison, IPAQ 110 had 64 megs of ram. In Nokia N810, there is also an option to use a swap file on the internal disk.
  
  The filesystem and file manager feel very robust. There is the device file system, and the internal card (2 GB), and your own micro SD card (if you inserted one).
  
  Installing Applications:
  Installing applications is very easy - just go to [...] (on your device itself) and click install buttons for what ever you want to install. There are some nice games out there. You have to try numpty physics.
  
  
  Skype:
  Skype works great. You just download and install it and you have a fully functional WiFi phone right away.
  
  PDF and Document Reading:
  This device excells in all forms of text reading. The screen is so great, it actually makes text look so beautiful. There is a fully functional PDF reader that comes pre-installed. Also, make sure you install 'evince'. I cannot praise evince enough. It is one of the many free applications you can download and install from [...]. It lets you view pdfs, and also Djvu (and others besides that). There is a ebook reader too (FBReader). I tried opening a Djvu file on my pocketpc, and while it would open, it was totally useless - first because of the low resolution, and secondly because the software was so crappy. However, with evince on Nokia N810, I can so easily (and fully functional, no compromises) read some of the Djvu books that I have (some of them many megs large with hundreds of pages).
  
  
  The hardware buttons on this device work perfect. The quick zoom lets you maximise applications to full screen and then there are zoom in/out buttons, lock button, power button etc. (Microsoft should learn something from this instead of producing crappy OS for portable devices after 6+ years of development).
  
  
  Updates: Updates to the OS and software are frequent. There is a good community developing software for this device. Everything is built for open standards and more connectivity and capabilities (instead of designing applications to make them more restrictive).
  
  
  
  Connection to PC: There are multiple connectivity options to a PC. You don't need any drivers or anything. Just hook it to a pc and it becomes an external harddrive. You see, both the internal card and the external card as removable drives. You can of course, copy stuff directly to the microSD card using SD adapters and readers etc. (many microSD cards come with adapters, and many new laptops have SD readers inbuilt).
  
  
  This linux device actually feels like a computer in hand, instead of feeling like a gimmic. The browsing is so functional, you can use it full time as an ultra portable computer. Performance is very decent.
  
  For enthusiasts out there, there are things like xterm (comes pre-installed), rdesktop (you can login onto and remotely use your windows desktops), openSSH and a bunch of nice utilities available.
  
  
  
  Summary:
  I was beginning to think that handheld devices are mostly toys - they cannot be used for any serious browsing, reading etc. Nokia N810 proved me wrong. The screen is so beautiful and high-resolution, you see entire webpages on it. And the browser is not a nerfed version - it is a fully functional mozilla browser - just like on a laptop.
  
  Document viewing ability is excellent. Google maps, google documents, gmail etc. - all work great. You can actually login to your secure websites (credit card payments, shopping) and not feel that suddenly a website might not work on your handheld.
  
  
  I highly recommend this product.
  
  
  
  
  
• Dissapointing
  By A2JYRAJVNV6HHC on 2007-12-26
  I bought the N810 and spent the next 8 days trying to connect to the internet. Wifi is so hit and miss that I depended on Bluetooth for internet access. After spending hours and hours on the phone with AT&T and Nokia Customer Support, both said it couldn't be done. Nokia finally told me the device is only compatible with Nokia phones with Bluetooth. AT&T said they can only provide internet access via Bluetooth for phones with Microsoft operating systems. Frustrating! So the only way to access the internet with this device is through Wifi! No way. Wifi is completely unreliable so I sent the N810 back for a full refund. I am amazed AT&T and Nokia cannot get on the same page.
  
  
• Not Worth the High Price
  By ABXANRX4GPYRZ on 2008-05-04
  Do yourself a favor and save your hard earned cash.
  
  You can buy a Nokia N800 for only $219 and it is a superior unit.
  
  The processor and the OS are the same on both units. The N800 offers a superior expansion capability since you can use 2 standard SD memory cards. Each card can be up to 32GB each. The N810 cripples you only offering 1 memory expansion slot and it uses the more costly and harder to find non-standard miniSD card.
  
  The keyboard on the N810 is only marginally useful and not at all worth paying an extra $200 for. Also the GPS is worthless being extremely slow to acquire a signal and the maps are worthless unless you pay an extra $139 per year for the service. When you can buy a real GPS unit that works well for $100-200 bucks why would anyone want to mess with this.
  
  So...take a serious look at the N800 which is a marvelous unit. I love mine.
  
  
• Good screen is all it has going for it
  By ASJ8UZFC0H6X8 on 2008-02-13
  The Nokia has the best screen I have ever seen on anything in its form factor. Unfortunately, that's the only good thing about the device.
  
  Now on to the bad:
  - The wireless range is terrible. I get about 20% connectivity on my campus wireless on my Nokia, vs 96% on my Asus Eee PC.
  - The GPS is slow. Very slow. I've had the device for a week, and it hasn't finished its search for satellites yet.
  - It cannot connect to my cell phone, which for the record, is also made by Nokia.
  - There is no way to get office software on the Nokia other than installing Garnet and running Palm applications in a virtual machine.
  - The GPS maps that come pre-installed take up about 1.3 GB of the 2 GB in the device.
  - The product description lies: the Nokia N810 cannot accept normal SD cards.
  - The touchscreen doesn't seem to be a capacitive touchscreen. It requires more pressure than the iPhone to register. This makes scrolling choppy.
  - It requires the user to jump through hoops in order to get root access.
  
  
• Great device but not for the casual consumer
  By A3DSWCHP4XDDYK on 2008-01-29
  I had great hopes for the N810. What I read about it led me to believe it would do everything I needed ... internet access, email client, video to watch movies, Skype, Contacts, Calendar, GPS, music, etc. It does all these things, more or less ... most more less than more. The problem being that it is NOT designed for someone who wants an out-of-the-box, ready-to-use hand held. It is designed for and loved by IT pros, programmers, etc.
  
  I'm comfortable writing code so I could get it setup and running the third party applications that were of interest but I had not expected to spend the hours that I did getting it ready to rock and roll. Just because I am comfortable writing code doesn't mean I want to do so and basically I don't. I was hating the N810 within 24 hours of taking it out of the box. Add to that the fact that the fit and finish isn't up to what I expect from something in this price range and that the GPS is very difficult. I tried hard to make it work for me but ended up returning it after a few days of frustration.
  
  For the moment I got an iPod which doesn't meet all my needs but does meet about 75% of them. I'll probably try something like the N810 again but not until the technology has matured a bit more.
  
  My biggest gripe .... Nokia is really overselling this in terms of its ease of use.
  
  
• Nokia N810 Review
  By A1ICOIIKGWD7NX on 2008-02-05
  So I currently have the general set of devices: IPod Touch, Archos 605 and the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet. They are all WIFI enabled devices and they all have their strengths. I use the Nokia and the IPod about equal when surfing the net. The Nokia keyboard is a plus when instant messaging or surfing with a lot of typing involved. However the IPod multi-touch interface is really good for surfing when little keying is involved. One cool trick is hooking the Nokia up to my cellphone and surfing the net through my cellphone. My only disappointment is the GPS. I bought it for the GPS capability, but I found out to really leverage the cellphone you have to fork over another $125 which is pricey after forking over almost $500. This seems to be a trend, these days. Each one of my devices (IPod, Nokia N810 and Archos 605) I have had to fork over between $20-120 to get all the features I needed. Overall I would recommended it, but do not let the GPS Map picture fool you.
  
  
• My new constant companion!
  By A33N8SV5X3EXQX on 2008-03-05
  I purchased my Nokia for use primarily to access my Windows desktop at work. I have loaded Remote Admin on other Linux distros via WINE and it lets me access and control my work PC from anywhere there is Internet access. At some point, I may be able to get it to do remote access, but not through currently existing channels that I have in place.
  
  But that said, I am really enjoying this new toy! My wife said to "send it back if it won't do what you need it to do," but I was like, " you are not getting this away from me unless you pry it out of my cold dead hands!" I am having too much fun discovering all the things that it CAN do...
  
  Pros:
  - The size and quality of construction are excellent!
  - Resolution is amazing. Even for someone wearing bifocals!
  - Multiple levels of zoom help for those who need bifocals (but are in denial about needing them!)
  - Audio quality with provided earphones is pretty good. With my ipod buds, it is excellent!
  
  Cons:
  - The provided 'trial' GPS program was not all that impressive. And, they want to charge you to use it - no, thanks. Ditched it and downloaded Maemo mapper.
  - WINE won't work on the Nokia.
  - No Citrix client.
  - Built in speaker are weak - but what would you expect from a pair of 3/16" speakers? Killer bass?
  
  It would have been good to know:
  - You can't just load any old linux app. There is an active developer community working on porting apps to the Nokia platform and there are a few game apps that are nicer that the counterparts on the WinTel platform. However, there is an extremely long list of requested ports.
  - No such thing as WINE for the ARM processor. Whoever comes up with a solution for this limitation is going to make a lot of people very happy!
  
  
• Excellent for first time Internet Tablet Users
  By A68BH8OCIAAS6 on 2008-03-01
  I first started looking at tablet/handheld internet devices since the Sidekick III but could never decide on any particular one. My brother had picked up a Pocket PC awhile back and a friend purchased a Palm TX PDA. While I did enjoy toying around with them I never liked the operating systems that ran on those devices.
  
  So I finally came across 2 mobile internet devices that caught my eye. First was the Sony Mylo 2 and the Nokia N810. I went over tons of comparisons (and suggest if your interested in both these devices you do as well) and drew my conclusion to the N810.
  
  Although I have never used Linux before, I found the Maemo OS to be really easy to use and get used to. I also was attracted to the open source community. Installing new apps/widgets is relatively easy not to mention you can find a lot of interesting free ones on the maemo website including IM programs, calendars/todo lists, weather forcasts, game emulators, and much more.
  
  Like most of the other reviewers here, the screen is amazing, browsing websites is easy and reading the text, most of the time, is clearly visible without having to zoom in. Also since this is my first handheld internet table, I read people weren't too impressed with the slide out qwerty keyboard. While to some extent I can agree (the tactile feedback, and the top being too close to the screen) I have to say that all in all I am very satisfied with it in the long run.
  
  Now for the negatives about this device...
  
  *For starters the camera is really horrible. I believe it's 0.3 megapixel and not only that you have to download and install the software to use it since it doesn't come pre-installed.
  *I also like the fact that over the Sony Mylo 2, the N810 can play a lot more music and media formats... only problem is I have yet to figure out how to install them on the physical hard drive. Although I believe the solution would be solved if you also bought a SD Card and put them on there.
  *I've read the GPS is almost useless as well, and you also have to purchase a $180 3 year subscription to make the most of the GPS program.
  *Fold out stand isn't made too well. With repeated use of it don't expect it to hold up for long.
  *Although I wouldn't consider it to be a negative, I should point out that this is not a cell phone, although you can use skype, you obviously have to be in a wifi area.
  
  Bottom line: I would easily rate it a 4.5 being my first mobile handheld device. I knew well in advance that it wasn't a cell phone so that didn't bother me. Also it would have been a lot nicer if the camera and GPS were made better (I am sure a freeware app will make much better use of the GPS than the pre-installed software) but also since I read about these problems before hand and already have a camera and gps that work much better that didn't bother me as well. But if you look past some of these faults and are looking at the N810 for what it really is, a mobile internet tablet, you wont be disappointed.
  
  
  
  
• Great product
  By A1NO8630HS3IMH on 2008-03-02
  I am quite impressed with the Nokia N810. The construction of the unit is sturdy and durable and the external keyboard is not as bad as persons have made it out to be. I have found the spacing and size of the keys to be adequate.
  
  I would recommend this device to anyone who is always on the go.
  - Fast processor...very responsive.
  - Great multimedia capabilities.
  - Great hand-held device for techies who need to ssh into a remote server.
  
  I am glad I purchased this device - no regrets....thumbs up !
  
  
• Broken!
  By A1S5070PCFCSSJ on 2008-06-18
  It arrived broken! LCD screen didn't work and now I have a ton of issues returning it. I can't return it back to AMAZON or ANTonline (Amazon's vendor) because nobody will take responsibility for it. WHAT A MESS!
  Warning! NEVER BUY A PRODUCT FROM AMAZON THAT YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO RETURN TO AMAZON! I really wonder why Amazon sells products from other companies that it is unwilling to take responsibility for????????
  
  
  
• Tips and tricks
  By A1WXG10FJ353K0 on 2008-06-27
  I just wrote out a long reply to a recent negative comment, so I figured this might help others. It's a bit out of context, but the info should answers questions you might have.
  
  You can to download and install programs directly from the device. The only thing you connect to your computer for, via the provided USB cable, is the operating system. There are periodic updates, and a recent one was just released. First... go to nokia.com/OS2008 (just remember "Operating System 2008") on your tablet. There will probably be a message at the bottom of the page telling you to update your system. If not, it means you just recently updated.
  
  For optional programs, go into your settings menu, and select "Application Manager". Get rid of stuff you will never use via "show installed apps" and uninstall. Things like the Skype and Gizmo crap are tricky... there's stuff I did not want, but there was no way to uninstall it. i.e. if you don't want "Gizmo" (not free!) it's already installed... but go to "browse installable applications" and INSTALL it.. even though it's already on your system. Then when the instal is complete, UNinstall it. It's now gone. Pre-installed software is annoying, but this frees up space.
  
  Adding new programs.. click in the same browse area and try things out. Highlight the title, and click the little blue "I" and you will see three tabs telling you a summary, description and install info. I love "mnotify" which is an email notifier that works with gmail and other. I don't use the system email... which also frees up space. I also suggest "camera" which makes your tablet a camera. etc.
  
  There is a great leather case for this from a company called "pdair" in Japan I think. But just add dot com after the name. It's worth the price... under 30. There's a USB charger always for sale on ebay for about 5 bucks shipped. Very handy as it's small and you charge it using power from your computer... no software needed.
  
  I love this. I would imagine the price will drop, but, it's a good price at the moment.
  
  
• Great, if you know what you are doing
  By AUFBJHM4V2OHD on 2008-01-08
  The 810 is exactly what I wanted in a portable device but it falls short on a few items. I bought one instead of an iphone mainly because I needed a Linux operating system for on-the-go technical reasons. If you know what you are doing the device is customizable and useful. The main drawbacks are the USB port, the memory, and the GPS.
  
  First, the little USB plug is not powered which means that I cannot connect my phone's USB data cable to it to get full 3G access, nor can I connect a USB hub to it to access more flash ram. This is a collosal pain in the you-know-what. I have to use bluetooth to tether my phone, which by the way, was unbelieveably easy to setup however its slower and causes ttyyyping reppeaatssssss when using a bluetooth keyboard at the same time.
  
  Next, the device uses MINI sd which maxes out at 2Gigs. You have to take a mini-sd adapter and buy a MICRO sd to get anything over 2gigs. Seriously just put 2 micro sd slots on the machine instead. This limits the expandability even though I would not mind paying for 2 8Gig micro sd's. So, unless you are replacing a ipod shuffle you're not going to have enough storage for your music.
  
  Finally, the GPS is nearly useless it is so slow to connect. You might as well just presume it doesnt have GPS.
  
  On the plus side, its got python support (but no tab key on the keyboard, who said Nokia doesnt have a sense of humor?), ruby support (but no {} or |'s on the keyboard), and I can almost get my Adobe Flex projects to compile using jamvm and jikes (browser supports Flex once its compiled). If you can get Scratchbox running then you can cross compile your favorite linux apps for it, or even customize the OS. The number ONE reason I love this device is the shell. It has SSH and a keyboard. 'Knuf said.
  
  
• Overpriced and Limited
  By A1E3OB6QMBKRYZ on 2008-01-27
  I've owned all of the Nokia internet device series and they all had faults with most of them being corrected as time goes on. The N800 had serious internet connectivity issues (dropped connections without reason, etc) and the N810 has the following faults:
  
  * The GPS is a good addition but is slow as molasses. The only way to lock on to a signal is to stay still for at least 2 minutes and hope it catches a strong signal. Want directions to your location? Cough up another $150 or so in addition to the $400 you already paid.
  
  * As with the N800, the camera is near worthless and generally only usable with Skype and associated programs. Don't want Skype or the onboard chat program? Tough. This is Linux and you can't just load up Windows Live. Using the keyboard and the camera and the keyboard for chatting means you'll be out of the picture as you fiddle with the keyboard.
  
  * Keyboard is a great idea but poorly executed. At least the Samsung Q1 has a split qwerty keyboard as does this one but the Nokia's keyboard is poorly placed with keys too close to the bottom of the screen area. Miskeying is a common problem.
  
  On the plus side, it does boot quickly and the new interface is nice, but the price is hardly justified over what you get with the already existing N800.
  
  
• Nokia N810 Tablet
  By A2H7ALVW4GR6JK on 2008-02-11
  Quality construction, nice to have the sliding keyboard option. Wifi browsing works great. GPS feature is nice addition but auto power cord not included.
  
  
• OK. But it depends on your geek aptitude
  By A3O6G07FFOVK2W on 2008-03-17
  Spec wise this thing is great (fantastic screen, fairly good thumbboard, bluetooth, wireless, camera, gps and on). But how well those features are implemented leaves a lot to be desired. To be a bit harsh, it feels like you're using linux, it's all there but it's either convoluted or jumpy. An extra 3 months of development could have done wonders. If you're a more hardcore computer type you probably already know you want this, if you're not you'll probably want to wait.
  
  This is their 3rd generation of the device, I look forward to seeing their 4th.
  
  
• iPod Touch Might be a Better Choice
  By A1ATMKHWYXLE05 on 2008-04-10
  I bought a Nokia N810 in preference to an iPod Touch because it has an open operating system, runs Skype and has a browser with Flash. In many ways, however, the iPod Touch would have been a better choice.
  
  Battery life initially seemed good, with me having to charge it every second day even though it was on-line all the time, mostly on standby running the GMail notifier every 40 minutes.
  
  To get Skype to work, I had to update the version of OS2008. It is probably just coincidence, but after that I had to charge it more than once a day (even without Skype running). Now I don't run Skype and I put it into off-line mode when I'm not using it, to save power. The battery meter also goes down quite rapidly if I am using the Media Player to play MP3 files (e.g. podcasts) with the display off.
  
  I have converted many of our DVDs for my daughter's iPod Touch and they play back perfectly on the iPod, but very jerkily on the N810. They work better if I convert them again using the Nokia Video Converter, but are still not as smooth as on the iPod.
  
  Most applications, but particularly the browser, need more precise touches than can be achieved with a finger or thumb, meaning that the stylus is essential. This is in stark contrast to the iPod which works perfectly with thumb touches, even if the thumb actually covers multiple links. Also, the two-finger Pinch action on the iPod browser is much simpler than using the Zoom buttons on the top of the N810.
  
  The N810 does have GPS built-in, but that is of limited value because the maps are inadequate. My home is on a road which has been there for eight years, but is not on the supplied map. (It does exist on the Navteq maps in my Garmin GPS.) The roads that are shown near my home seem to be shown slightly to the South of their real position.
  
  Having BlueTooth is useful because the wired headset supplied gets tangled too easily, but I haven't been able to get a stereo headset to work using the A2DP profile, only low quality HSP, so I don't actually know if that is supported.
  
  When typing, a useful list of likely words is shown at the foot of the screen (and these CAN be selected relatively easily with a finger). That's better than typing on the iPod. I haven't yet trained it to recognise my handwriting.
  
  The range of applications set up for easy installation in OS2008 is still limited, but because the OS is open, more should be available in time.
  
  Of course, the iPod Touch isn't perfect either (non-removable battery; fixed memory; no Flash player; occasional need to reset to defaults and set it up again), but I would think it is a better choice than the N810 for most people.
  
  This is Nokia's third Internet Tablet, but they still haven't perfected it.
  
  One thing to note is that the N810 has a miniSD card slot. Amazon suggested a 6GB MicroSDHC Card with Adapter & Micromate USB 2.0 Reader / Writer to accompany it, which I bought, but the one suggested did not come with a miniSD adapter and I had to go out and buy one separately!
  
  
  
• I've Got the Internet in my Pocket!
  By A3G3DZJR6QQ1LK on 2008-04-30
  I am absolutely in love with this device! I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because unless you're really geeky, you may not feel the same.
  
  Good:
  This tablet is Maemo (Linux flavor) based, and can do just about anything my 15 pound notebook can do. I've replaced my PDA with it (you can keep addresses, calendar, etc.). You can sync with your Google calendar. It will run Skype and can be used as an IP phone easily. Internet radio is great. Plays MP3s and keeps your photo album. Sound quality is pretty good. Screen quality is excellent. I keep track of headlines with the feed reader. Password safe is great for keeping my millions of passwords secure and handy. The browser is OK, and I've used it to pay my bills, etc. I like being able to ssh out of this to any of the servers I maintain.
  
  Bad:
  The keyboard is sort of a joke. It will work in a pinch, but I don't IM and such, so I guess I need to practice. I'm going to get a bluetooth portable keyboard soon. Included apps are not so great, but almost everything out there is FREE, so you can customize to you're heart's content. Internet video's kind of choppy, but what do you expect? Tiny memory card is a bit of a pain.
  
  Ugly:
  The GPS is slow to acquire a signal, and the software included is lame. In fact, if you need a GPS, don't count on this to be your primary one.
  
  Conclusion:
  If you're willing to spend some time configuring it to your personal usage profile, then this gadget is awesome! If you want an out of the box toy that you just operate, maybe this one's not for you.
  
  
• Nokia needs to take GPS 101
  By A32CX02UPUSL8Q on 2008-01-10
  Cool pocket device . As you load more things into it you might start to realize it starts to slow down when you first gotten the unit . I guess I just gotten used to my N-router w/a card on my pc . Now the GPS ... man they call this a GPS ... it's actually a Thomas Guide in a electronic version . Tried the trail version of the Wayfinder and works great but paying another $129 dollars when you just shelled out $480 . Very slow start up of GPS as if it were in dial-up mode . Oh and good luck trying to get tech support . That's if someone even nows about the unit .
  
  

• 3-Year Extended Service Plan - Covers Electronic Items $201-$500 - Repair
• Logitech Mobile Bluetooth Headset
• Mini Bluetooth Headset
• Plantronics M3500 Bluetooth Headset
• Jabra FreeSpeak BT250 Bluetooth Headset

• SanDisk 8GB microSDHC Card (SDSDQ-8192, Bulk Package)
• 6GB MicroSDHC Card with Adapter & Micromate USB 2.0 Reader / Writer
• Sandisk MicroSD to MiniSD Adapter (Bulk Static Package)
• Nokia N810 Designio Leather Case (Horizontal Flip Cover)
• iGo Stowaway Ultra-Slim Bluetooth Keyboard for Blackberry and other PDA/ Handhelds