I use the N810 as my phone (mobile or at home) 100% of the time, while at home, at a friends house, or on the road. I use SIP/RTCOMM and not Skype.

It can be used as a hold to ear phone. RTCOMM has convenient volume controls, so it's more than possible to quickly adjust the volume (or leave it at a level) where it's quiet enough to be only heard by you, even if you are in public. A killer option would be an automatic 'screen lock' to prevent your cheek from hitting any buttons accidentally after you hit accept. Of course, it's not too bad to just slide the lock slider, though it'd be nearly perfect if there was an option to do it automatically.

There seems to be a major flaw with hold-to-the-ear. I find that the volume of the speaker on the other end seems to fluctuate up and down (to the point where I can't hear the caller), when using the speaker phone or hold-to-the-ear method. I'm not sure if this is echo cancellation, or a problem with my setup/provider, but it has prohibited me from using this method. Has anyone noticed anything similar? Any suggestions would be extremely welcome, as I wouldn't have to walk around with headphones, and would make this as useful as a cell-phone when in WiFi range!

With the headphones, it works amazingly well, though. RTCOMM has intuitive and finger-friendly controls, making it very easy to navigate (the theme echowb also helps, as it includes wide finger-friendlky scrollbars for applications -- the install deb is here). If I am playing music with the main media player (which is frequently the case), when I receive a call, it pauses the song and then proceeds to ring the device! This is VERY useful, as it only requires that we press 'Accept' to start a conversation rather than fiddling with settings.

Another thing to note is battery life and memory limits when using it as a phone. If find that according the the power manager, I have about 4hours from a fresh charge (battery at 97% capacity) to talk. This is quite good, but all-night conversations may require a plug. If you're using it as a phone, it is suggested that you keep your application usage light. I've had the N810 restart mid-conversation when using too many apps. I suspect I ran out of memory!

If anyone has insight on the hold-to-the-ear method, please enlighten us/me/we!


YARR!
}:^)~

1-800-CORRUPT

Hi again,

The inaudible volume 'problem' seems to be a echo-cancellation thing. It would appear that if someone calls the N810 and you both happen to be speaking at the same time, the caller will not be able to hear you (the mic is muted -- perhaps proportionally to the volume of the sound coming over the speakers -- as to not re-transmit the sound). This is a good feature for a speakerphone setup, but less necessary if the volume is low. I'm not sure if the mic is muted proportionally to the volume coming over the speakers, but I hope this is the case.

I first noticed this muting during a speakerphone session when my girlfriend was scraping ice off of her car while trying to talk to me. She couldn't hear a word I was saying, though I could hear all of the scraping.

It also seems as though there's a non-linear volume feature in place. In other words the callers voice over the speakers doesn't seem to be linearly proportional to the how loud they talk into the mic. This does not seem to occur with the headset plugged in.

This would explain the sound volume fluctuating during conversations holding the N810 like a handset. When the callers mouth is right up against the mic, the sound comes through fine. However, if their mouth is a little farther away from the mic, it becomes virtually inaudible at such low volumes. Again, these problems do not occur with the headset, so I assume it's the tablet software. I'm not sure if this happens when using the N810 as a speakerphone.


One last thing about handset-like operation. Because the mic is on the bottom of the tablet (I always assumed it was the 'slot' between the 'menu' and 'return' buttons on the N810 face -- go figure), if you move your hands, it jostles the stand, and comes through loud and clear to the caller. If you hold still, this isn't a problem, and it picks up voice exceptionally well. Of course, in a noisy room, it may pick up others' voices as well as your own! It is appropriated as a speaker-phone mic, afterall.

I will continue trying to find a good solution that allows for worry free handset-like calls. Again, if anybody could provide insight, or add information, it would be most appreciated!


YARR!
}:^)~

Cool-rupt

hi. i also use my n800 as my only phone, although with skype. i have had no problems with a muted mic, and the built-in mic is on the top so there are no rustling sounds transmitted. skype to skype calls are always good, and skype to phone calls are usually good. i have read other users' occasional problems with skype to phone, so i suspect that skype has a not so good setup for this. however, i have never had sound quality or feedback problems. if the conversation starts to cut out it is usually due to a poor wifi signal but sometimes for reasons i can't figure out. if i hold it to my ear i simply turn the volume way down and my conversation is private. of course, if someone else is standing only a foot or two away they may still be able to hear, but this is true of regular cell phones too. i can't use it anywhere like i could a regular mobile, but i can deal with that when my bill comes in the mail. oh wait, what bill.

I know, it's a really attractive system to use as a phone! The functionality and the price can't be beat!

I just wish I could turn off the noise cancellation in RTCOMM as it seems to be the only thing preventing me from holding the unit to my ear! This would make things perfect, but it's not too bad with the headphones.

Again if anyone has any suggestions to help with this, I'd be very grateful!


YARR!
}:^)~

Mi Capt'n

hey i just found out how get get free phone calls with my tablet using voipdiscount http://www.voipdiscount(dot)com/en/ for outgoing linked to my sip account and for my incoming calls i used ipkall http://www.ipkall(dot)com down side is with ipkall i got a washington phone number and i live in iowa but oh well i now have a fully free wifi phone so yeah good way to save some dollars

Apparently, I'm not the only one that has come across the speakerphone-echo-cancellation problem. A bug report from summer of last year points to the same issue:
Bug Report
Discussion

The interesting thing of note is that the bug-reporter states that this is only a problem with RTCOMM, and not with Gizmo or Skype -- he states that he would rather avoid using them to resolve the issue. Also, he has discovered that this problem does not exist when using the headphones.

Sadly the bug was marked as resolved and brushed aside. I am interested in looking for a solution to this problem. If it only means turning off the echo cancellation, then I'd gladly do it. It would be nice if the software had a switch to turn off the echo cancellation, or if it was a little more sophisticated as to not interfere with conversation.

YARR!
}:^)~

Captimea Corruptosis

How about a bluetooth earpiece?
Am sure there is a list somewhere that is compatible with these tablet.

How do you guys manage to find an internet connection? If I have a net connection, i just IM. Cheap prepaid phone when out of range works well for me.

I've read many ways to use the N810 as a phone on this thread. Some users have ways to bypass or otherwise correct the problems they are having during phone conversations. I like things simple. Some say I am lazy. Some say I am too dumb to try different ways. I find the easiest way to do something, phone calls over voip, and use it for all it is worth. Skype works fine for my calls and p2p is cheap, cost nothing. I may say at times that Skype works better than my AT&T Wireless, as long as it doesn't take anymore effort to say. Too wordy to say, "Skype is OK!"

I found a solution to my (and possibly other) RTCOMM handset woes!

The Problem:
When using RTCOMM as a to the ear handset has volumes of the callers voice frequently drops too low to be audible. This is supposedly due to echo cancellation or some other mechanism and is NOT present when using the bundled headphones/mic.

The Solution:
Turn the volume of RTCOMM to all the way up, and turn the master volume down to an appropriate level for 'handset' conversations. I generally have the volume at around 10-15%. There are no problems with voice dropping out! Of course, don't move around to much, as the mic is designed as a speakerphone mic and is very sensitive.

I hope this helps someone! It's far easier to use the N810 as a handset phone for frequent and short conversations than having to alternate between plugging in the headphones!


YARR!
}:^)~

E=M(Corrupt)^2