Nokia n810 Internet Tablet Review

A while back I tested the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. I wasn’t impressed. It was slow and clunky. Since then, Nokia announced the n800 followed by the n810 and the n810 WiMax Edition. Based on my experiences with the 770 Internet Tablet, I didn’t pay much attention to these new devices. Still, one day I was bored so I thought I’d give Nokia’s Internet Tablet another try. Boy, have things changed…

When I first took the n810 out of its box I was surprised at its heft. This is a good thing. I also found the design to be very stylish. The last Internet Tablet that I tried was the 770. While the 770 wasn’t cheap feeling it reminded me of a calculator (it was probably it’s screen cover). The n810 on the other hand feels sleek. Let’s take a tour:

On the top there is a maximize, volume and power buttons along with a hold switch and the stylus silo.

The right side has the right speaker, 3.5mm headphone jack, Nokia charging port and a micro USB port. You can’t charge the n810 via the micro USB port. The left has the left speaker.

Along the bottom there’s the battery cover release latch and MiniSD slot. Too bad they couldn’t stick 2 Micro SD slots there instead. The bottom is partially covered by the built-in stand which you use hold the n810 up when it’ sitting on your desk. It can hold itself at three different viewing angles.

The front has a status LED, photo sensor, (so the n810 can adjust the backlight depending on ambient lighting conditions), camera, task switcher and a back button. The sleek design is ruined by a really chintzy stylus that’s stored in the top right. You pull it out horizontally.

Size wise the n810 has a similar footprint to the Nintendo DS lite but the n810 is much thinner.

With one exception I thought the keyboard had a decent layout and the keys are very slightly domed (it’s hard to tell since they look flat. From an ergonomic standpoint it would have been nicer if they were more domed. The keyboard keys have a decent feel to them.

Notice how there are two shift keys - Nice! There’s also a Ctrl key. I wish there was a delete key and an ESC key (great for VI). Luckily the terminal app has an on screen ESC key.

For some reason Nokia put the navigation pad on the left side of the keyboard. It makes the n810 really unintuitive to use since every other keyboard I’ve encountered has the arrow keys on the right side.

The display is a fairly large (for a portable device) 4.13″ LCD with a resolution of 800×480. It’s reflective so sometimes you might run into problems with your reflection. 800 pixels is wide enough that many websites look decent, as opposed to the ‘optimized for your mobile device’ look that you get with narrower displays. 480 doesn’t sound like much but the n810’s UI is such that 480 isn’t as short as it sounds. The maximize button also really helps in this regard.

It’s not the brightest screen I’ve ever seen on a mobile device but it looks fine none-the-less and works awesome in direct sunlight as long as you’re not looking at a black screen. Power is supplied by a 1500mAh battery. You can get 2 or 3 hours of heavy usage (WiFi, surfing the web and remote desktoping) from the n810 and under typical usage you’ll get 3+ easily.

For sound there are two speakers on each side (stereo). They sound decent but they’re very loud. I thought I could watch TV while I was barbecuing but I couldn’t hear the n810 over the veggies I was cooking. In the box you also get a: charger, headphones, micro USB cable, manuals, etc.

You also get a soft leatherette case with a sweet turquoise (blue) lining.

Software:

Here’s how you use the n810. The left side of the screen has links to popular programs + running programs. There is a launcher that you access by pressing icon that looks like 4 squares on the left side. The bottom left has a switcher button which brings up a list of windows you currently have open which is useful if have a few web browser windows open plus different emails.

Normally they’re hidden (from view) but you can access program specific menus are accessed by tapping the menu button next to the globe near the top left. You can also access them by pressing the menu button below the nav pad.

There’s a status section that shows screen brightness, system volume, signal (of your WiFi or BT connection) and a battery meter. It doesn’t show the time. There’s room for a couple of extra status icons. I have “load applet” installed which shows the current CPU utilization (which is very important, more on that later), RAM usage and it lets you take screenshots.

You can close programs by tapping the X at the top right of the screen (Ctrl Q usually works too). The minimize icon does just that. For the most part programs always run ‘maximized’. It’s not a big deal but it’s something worth mentioning. When you’re done with it, slide the hold switch so it doesn’t accidentally turn on. By default you get the following programs which are already installed:

• Map
• Media player
• Images
• Browser
• RSS Reader
• Contacts
• Email
• Internet Call
• Chat
• File manager
• Calculator
• Clock
• Notes
• PDF reader
• Sketch
• Search
• Control Panel
• Application manger
• Backup/Restore
• Connection manger
• Chess
• Blocks
• Mahjong
• Marbles

The Mapping software is from Wayfinder. A couple of people expressed interest in the n810 because they figure it’s more flexible than a Garmin or other portable GPS. Indeed the n810 is more flexible but I would still prefer a standalone GPS to the n810 simply because the n810 isn’t easy to use while you’re driving.

Another thing to think about is that the Wayfinder program doesn’t include guidance by default. Guidance is subscription based. A month is 8 euros. If you don’t find Wayfinder useful there’s a free mapping program called “Maemo Mapper” which apparently has free guidance.

There’s a control panel where you can adjust the n810’s settings. I used Media player with Orb mostly. It works well though I’d recommend a bit rate of 320kbps.

The Browser is based on the Gecko browsing engine which is the same engine that Firefox uses. It feels a lot like Firefox. It’s pretty fully featured. It can remember passwords, has support for multiple windows, support for Flash, SSL support (I actually ordered some stuff from Dell using the n810), etc. It also has support for plugins like Ad Block.

The Internet call supports SIP, Google Talk and Jabber. If you don’t like it there are other VOIP programs you can download. Chat supports Jabber. If you want to IM go download Pidgin from Maemo.org.

The Email program supports IMAP4 and POP3. It can poll your email server at user specified intervals. One neat feature it has is that you can specify a different SMTP server depending on your connection - neat.

I wasn’t impressed with the Contacts program. It sounds like a fully featured Addressbook but really it’s just for storing email addresses, telephone numbers and Instant messaging handles.

Besides the built-in programs there are links to: Skype, Rhapsody, Gizmo, among others which let you download them from Nokia’s maemo.org site - awesome!

The programs work fine but a lot of the time I found myself wishing the n810 was faster. Inside the n810 runs Linux. The whole thing is called Maemo, this version is OS2008. Since the n810 runs Linux there is a lot of terrific software avaiable for it. Here’s a small list:

• Pidgin (IM client that supports:)
• Various media players (like mplayer)
• Image viewers
• Games (Quake, Doom, ScummVM, emulators like mame)
• Newsreader
• WiFi utilities
• USB control
• Cool stuff (like USB control which lets you connect USB keyboards and USB drives to the n810)
• OpenSSH
• VIM
• MySQL
• Utilities (disk usage, file managers, screen capture)
• VPN software (Cisco, OpenVPN)
• Remote control software (IR control, Media Center controller,
• Calculators
• Apache
• Password manager
• Perl
• Themes (if you’re a Star Trek geek there’s a sweet LCARS theme)
• Sync software (SyncML support)

You can install programs using the built-in package manager. Like other Linux distros you can download package lists to the n810 and then pick and choose what you want to install. I think that if you use Linux a lot, the first thing you should do is install OpenSSH (both the server and client package). That’s what I did.

Once you’ve installed this you can SSH to your n810. It will ask you to assign a root password. Now you can SSH to your n810 - I was drooling once I realized I could do this. It’s also an easy way to become root. Just ssh root@localhost to become root. Be careful, now that you’re root you can really mess things up. Have fun!

The next thing I did was setup OpenVPN so I could access my home network. Generate certificates for the n810 and then copy them to the device. You can use SCP or whatever. Then fire up the terminal, root yourself and then start it /usr/sbin/openvpn /path/to/your/client.ovpn. Once that was working I installed rdesktop. Now I can RDP to my Windows boxes.

Most programs on mobile devices feel like cut down versions of a computer. I feel the n810 is really different in this regard since I feel I don’t have to make many sacrifices when I use it. Many popular Linux programs are available for it and they’re more or less the same. This is just a small taste of what you can do with the n810. Hell, if Nokia would lend me a few 100 or 1000 of these babies along with a load balancer with a few 100 ports I’d like to try hosting HowardForums off of a farm of n810.

One notable program that isn’t available for the n810 is OpenOffice. Hopefully it will have OS2008 support in the future.

Conclusion:

I’ve tested a lot of devices so I’m not easily impressed. That said I was really impressed with the the flexiblity of the n810. It’s probably the first small device that I’ve used that I feel could replace a laptop. In fact, since I started using it, I’ve been leaving my laptops at home more - brilliant.

That said, if you don’t use Linux you might not find the n810 that great. I think the amount you’ll enjoy the n810 is proportional to your Linux knowledge. Since the n810 is so computer like, it suffers from the three wants when it comes to computers. More speed, more RAM, more storage. What it needs most is more speed followed by more RAM. You can add Micro SD cards for more storage.

Pricewise it’s hard to say whether the n810 is a good deal or not. At around 400 bucks it’s similar in price to the Asus Eee PC. Yeah they’re totally different devices but they’re both small computers that run Linux. The Eee PC is more powerful which makes it more flexible in that sense but the n810 is much more portable plus it has longer battery life. In the end I’ll probably have both of them but I’ll get the n810 first.

Howard Chui
04.25.2008

8 comments April 26th, 2008

Garmin 350 GPS

Recently my wife and I had to go to California (San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles) If you’ve never been to LA before it’s a big city that’s really spread out so the best way to get around is to rent a car. We brought a Garmin 350 GPS along to make getting around easier.

Now while I’m not a GPS expert, you might find my impressions useful since I’m a regular end user like most people. My GPS experience is somewhat limited. I’ve used a few Bluetooth GPS’, Pocket PC’s with built-in GPS, my Nokia n95, some other GPS enabled phones, a TomTom One and the GPS built into my car.

Last time I was in LA, we brought along the TomTom One. It’s been a while since I’ve used the TomTom but here’s what stuck out: the battery life wasn’t so great and you need to know the zip codes when you’re looking for a place.

First Impressions:

Size wise the 350 is most similar to the TomTom One so I’ll probably be comparing the two the most. Technically the TomTom is not a direct competitor to the 350 since they are at two different price points (the Garmin costs a bit more). The most noticeable difference is that the Garmin will read out street names (the TomTom just tells you to turn left or right whereas the Garmin will say turn left at Howard St.). Another big difference is that the Garmin will last a lot longer on battery life than the TomTom.

The 350 came with a nice leatherette carrying case. While it’s nice to have the carrying case when you’re walking around you can’t use the 350 if you put it in there.

In the box you get: Garmin 350, car charger, AC adapter, mini USB cable and a leatherette carrying case.

I liked the windshield mount. the suction cup has a lever which you pull so that it fits more securely to your windshield. There’s a button you can press to quickly take the 350 off. While I didn’t think the TomTom’s mount was that bad (it’s pretty secure too though you have to work it in before it becomes easier to take off) the Garmin’s is much better.

Usage:

As luck would have it I forgot to bring the Garmin’s mount and car charger which really made me use it’s extra features (street announcing and longer battery life).

Now for some background. Whenever I get a new device I usually don’t bother reading the manual. I prefer to use it and figure it out as I go. The Garmin has a flip out antenna; turns out that if you don’t flip it out, the GPS portion won’t turn on meaning it won’t search for a GPS signal. This is what made the Garmin harder to use if you’re just walking around with it.

Another difference I noticed is that TomTom requires the zip code when you’re looking for an address or point of interest while the Garmin just needs the State and City. The Garmin makes a lot more sense since I’m not that familiar with US zip codes.

In order to work properly, a GPS needs to be able to see the sky. This isn’t a problem when you’re driving around since you’re in the middle of a road but a GPS can have a lot of trouble if you’re walking off to the side where there are lots of big buildings around. Also, if you’re walking around it can be hard to figure out what direction you’re walking in. I’d like to see how useful it would be in a big city like New York.

I’m not 100% sure of this but it appears when you create a route to a location you can only choose from one. On my car GPS, when you enter an address it will calculate different routes and let you choose from them. The reason I bring this up was because we wanted to go from our Hotel (by the LA Airport) to Laguna Beach via the Pacific Coast Highway and didn’t want to take the 405. You can specify whether you want to take the fastest route or the most direct one plus you can choose to avoid toll roads, etc.

Now I forgot to bring the Garmin’s windshield mount (apparently you can get a ticket in California if you stick it to the windshield) so I didn’t look at it that often. I just got my wife to hold it. I did find the Garmin’s screen a little on the small side when it came to entering text, maybe I should have considered a wide screen model.

I also forgot the car charger. Out of the box, the 350 is setup to 1) never turn the screen backlight off, 2) never to dim it. When you use it like this, the battery life is probably close to around 3 hrs. We happened to use it around 3.1 hrs that day so it ran out of juice a few miles before we got back to the hotel. The next day I learned my lesson and turned the backlight down and made it dim after 30 seconds. After this change, we were able to drive from LA to Ventura and back (about 3 hrs of driving) and on a separate occasion from LA to San Diego and back (about 4 hrs driving) and had plenty of battery life left afterwards. Before we left, we input the addresses of places we wanted to visit and saved them as what Garmin calls “favorites”. We did search for some restaurants from the Garmin’s POI database while we were on the road - it was okay. We did look for a Target store which turns out didn’t exist.

I found it took under a minute to get a fix when I was in LA. When we were in San Francisco, it really varies depending on where you are. We stayed near Union Square and I had to be at Union Square to get a fix. It just wouldn’t get a fix when I was walking on the sidewalk near tall buildings.

Besides guidance the 350 has some other features like mp3 player, photo viewer, audio book reader, unit converter, etc. I briefly tried the photo viewer; I took a memory card out of my phone and popped it into the 350. I couldn’t see my pictures. I’m guessing the pictures have to be in the memory cards’ root folder.

At first I questioned why anyone would care that a GPS had a built in mp3 player. Indeed I didn’t try this function while I was in LA and only bothered with it after I decided to write this review. Eventually I realized the beauty of a built in mp3 player. If you rent a car with a audio in jack (many cars have this now) you can use the 350 to playback music stored on your SD card. When the 350 has to give you directions it will pause the music. Great idea. There is a on screen shortcut to the mp3 player while you’re viewing the map.

Bottom Line

When I was in LA, I found the Garmin 350 to be very useful. Having it speak out the street names can be quite useful since you don’t have to watch the screen as much. San Francisco was another story. While I didn’t find it useless, it doesn’t work well when you’re walking around. It would have helped if I had brought my compass. I ended up using a tourist map more.

I guess a portable GPS is great if you’re going to rent a car. It’s only somewhat useful if you don’t.

For me I’ll probably hang onto it for trips but around town I prefer the GPS built into my car.

Howard Chui
02.27.2008

Add comment February 29th, 2008