I'm almost an owner. I guess it's in the mail so to speak. I'm a long time IT professional who's technical skills have fallen off the map as i've moved into managing people instead of technology. However, I'm still very much a gadget freak. Liked my Archos 605 for playing media but hated it's battery and that's all it was good for to me. Bought an ipod touch and have returned it as it just reaffirmed I'm no apple guy. I don't like being tied to itunes or Apples proprietary file formats. And most, I can't believe I cannot easily get skype on the Touch in Canada without a work around and messing with a fake US iTunes account (Good Gravy!!!!). I'm also a BB freak and have one tied to my hip for work, but am disappointed in its browsing capabilities and the CDMA carriers reluctance to introduce wifi into these devices.

So I search around and the N810 met all the "specs" i was looking for on paper. I liked that it had GPS, that I could tether it in a pinch to my Berry if I preferred to browse on it, and that it appeared it could also replace my Archos as well. But after further researching, it would appear there are some performance issues on GPS, Browsing, and media playing. So what gives and just how bad is this. I can live without GPS I guess as I do have a Nuvi. How bad or good are it's media capabilities. I torrent down lots of TV shows and loved that I could leave them in their original format and play them flawlessly on my Archos. Is this going to be a problem on the N810? Browsing - I'm ok slow as the BB is no speed demon and I find I'm looking for mobile versions of websites now anyway. If I'm going to surf for hours I'll pull out my 17" notebook or my MSI Wind, but would definitely like to browse while waiting in an airport or do some casual browsing to Blogs like Crackberry.com. And just how bad is the GPS? I don't care about turn by turn, but if I've travelled to the US for business, can I leave my Nuvi at home and at least get a map and directions on the N810?

I don't even have this device in my possesion yet so am in no way slamming it. However, any and all feedback is appreciated to determine if I should cancel this order and look for another device or wait for the next gen NIT. Thoughts?

My opinion is that the N810 will be fine for you. It will do everything you want.

GPS is good, it is just the lock time is a little slow. You just have to wait for a lock, it works fine otherwise.

Media is usually ok, but I usually convert for the smaller filesize and less battery drain. But, where the IT shines is its true computing capabilities. On the Archos, you had to torrent on the PC, then move the files. On the N810, you can torrent DIRECTLY on the device, thanks to the Transmission client. Saves power too.


I would personally wait. iPhone 2, Pre, RX-51 (next tablet codename), Android Cupcake, Pandora, are all coming out. N800/N810 are very very old. Older than first gen iPhone. Still good, but getting dated.

dr pepper - I have used my n800 for almost 2 years now. Recently I spent 8 hours serving on jury duty. One spare battery kept me online. Last year I drove cross country in Canada, left my Sony laptop home. Used Skype where my Verizon cell phone was dead. Still prefer my Garmin nuvi 680 for gps driving directions. I believe you will love your n810.

I think you will like your N810, assuming you buy one. GPS is not that bad, browsing is ok, etc. On a recent train trip I didn't bother taking out the eee pc 1000h I had easily available because tethering my N810 to my Centro was so handy. Just get one, and don't agonize over it. I wouldn't wait for the next big thing -- that never works that well, there's always a big thing around the corner.

The GPS lock is slow, but you learn to work around that for the convenience it provides, AGPS helps, so you just turn it on before you need it.

Personally I use my phone if I need a quick GPS lookup, and use the nokia for navigation.

The inbuilt browser is pretty slow. But install the webkit engine, or tear, or fennec, and that is mostly fixed.

Media - there is no accelerated graphics, so the cpu does the work. If you have lead time then using one of the various scripts to convert the files down to a bitrate / resolution compatible with the power available is a good move. Personally, I don't bother. Mplayer does a good job given the resources available, and video generally only gets choppy when there is fast action (so a higher bitrate).

Whatever method you use to get your video - recording off TV, downloading, ripping, you can usually automatically add to the workflow a step that creates a tablet friendly version.

These issues are manageable and dramatically outweighed by having an open linux based computer in your hands at all times.

i have to say i don't find browsing particularly slow. but then this might be because the sites i regularly visit are well designed html-documents, hardly any javascript or flash. guess that's what makes it slow and when people complain about "xxx taking forever to load", this xxx is usually a site that heavily relies on scripting.

as for multimedia: i don't know the archos, but my guess is the N8x0 will fail in direct comparison. many, maybe even most of the video files you download will need some re-encoding to play flawlessly.

Thesandlord said you should wait. Might be a good idea if you can: too many new devices in 2009. And the N8x0 is really, really old now.

it is fair to say it is slower than a laptop browser. however its not that much worse. browser aside i am amazed that i can listen to music on canola and browse the web or play mahjong with a few other apps up as well. i feel this tablet really squeezes the performance outta it. i was hesitant at first but, i have no remorse whatso ever. infact i am posting from it now. i dont have much pda/umpc experience but, this was the cheapest pda out there when i looked and ironically the most powerful. As to torrenting i can't comment however ptp soulseek works pretty well for songs cant say much bout anything else thou. i love my n810 worth every penny. Also i think most people who review the n810 try to compair it to iphone wwwwwaaaaayyyyy to much and have a band wagon goin.