Apologies if this post is in the wrong part of the forum, but I just had to write about my experiences with the 770 over the past few months. I'm sick of reading people around the web talking about the product as a failure, from what I can see it is a brilliant device with a fantastic user community...

When I first bought my 770 I thought "Wow, cool". Followed by "Boo - sluggish and a bit rubbish".

Over the next few weeks I used it less and less. I considered selling it on eBay... I did notice that the firmware updates were getting better. And was impressed with the latest one, which finally allowed browsing of about 2 concurrent windows with no problems.

And then, quite by accident, whilst complaining that Bloglines crashed my browser, the user fpp recommended bloglines mobile. WOW. What a difference this has made to how I use the 770. Once I got going with that, I found that I was using other stuff and... I can't believe that I am saying this... If I had to choose, I would keep my 770 over my Blackberry and iPod..!

So, although these things are repeated throughout the forum, I wanted to share my "recipe for a brilliant 770".

For any newbies, here are the key things that you need.

Websites

* I've mentioned it a lot, but only because it has changed my life. Bloglines.com/mobile is brilliant with the 770. Put the 770 into Optimized view and it is great for newsreading. But it is also excellent for Podcasts - subscribe in Bloglines and then you can download the podcasts wherever you are. I cannot describe what a revolution this was for me. At the airport? In the bath? Want to download the latest podcast, just two clicks and it's there...I don't think I have used any other website on my 770 (apart from clickthroughs) - it's absolutely excellent.

* BBC radio. Bookmark the Listen again pages, and you have on-demand radio from one of the world's greatest broadcasters...

* Similar, but different - save the BBC Radio RAM files onto your MMC, then you have a one click link to the radio.

Mac & Home Stuff (sorry I am a Machead)

* EyeTV, obviously because it is a killer app with the Media Converter

* Automator. A quick automator script to search your iTunes library and copy all the latest music and converted TV shows to a directory on your....

* NAS. Having always on Network Attached Storage works really well with the 770 because you can use it to install software or upload music from your network to your 770 anywhere in the house, using web or ftp. Open the ports to it and you can download stuff for your 770 from your home at any time.

* Plucker. Good if you are going on a plane. It's not the best implementation in the world but it does the job.

* Media Converter (from the wiki) - an excellent little java program for converting your EyeTV shows.

* VNC client (and all the port forwarding on your router). Just a piece of genius on this hardware. I have written e-mails and e-mailed myself flies from my home computer whilst on the other side of the world.

Optional
* Buy a 1gb RS-MMC and extend the internal memory. You will immediately notice that you own a more stable and usable computer.

* Get bluetooth going with your mobile. You won't use it much, but it is very effective and much better than surfing on a mobile phone screen. Obviously

The reason I have re-hashed all of these applications in a long-and-boring post is because I wanted to paint a picture of the things that I then use my 770 for... just in case any newbies are reading

* Portable Radio. Don't misunderestimate this. The speaker is loud enough to make the 770 perhaps the best portable radio on the market. Listen to the BBC, podcasts, mp3 radio stations with only a click. It's sooo useful. I do a lot of travelling and can now listen to the BBC Today programme in any country in the world. Podcasts are great around the house, and there is no need to plug in extra speakers etc. All we need is receiva radio http://www.reciva.com/stations/ to write a client for the 770 and we will have a better than DAB or AE Wifi radio product....!!!

* Blog reading. Forget the Newsreader built into the 770 - bloglines all the way. Change the web shortcut to Bloglines mobile and you have 1 click access to all your threads in a really easy to use format.

* Offline Blog Reading. Set Plucker to download your blogs and convert them - again an automator script can put these onto the NAS for downloading whenever you are in the house.

* Watching TV. A quick Automator script, and a few clicks in Media Converter and you can have EyeTV recordings converted and stored on your NAS ready to download before your next bus trip / plane flight etc. I watched 3 shows on a flight from Portugal to the UK on friday and attracted the attention of about 5 people. One of them actually said to me <And I love this quote> "Hey isn't that the new iPod video that they are going to launch soon"!!! Quality isn't brilliant but it is much nicer to watch than the existing iPod Video.

* Accessing your PC from "away". VNC into the Mac at home - bingo!

Seriously - I use my 770 for these things ALL the time. It's just so useful, and I can't believe that more people aren't doing it.

I know most of you guys are doing this, and much more. Just wanted to tell the world, as I am amazed by the versatility and usability of this product. The screen is brilliant, and it will only get better


(PS. For the people who will probably remark: I know that you don't need the NAS, but it makes the solution more elegant for copying files across and you don't have to leave computers on...)

Sounds like you use your 770 more than your own computer. What blogs do you read?

Hmmm... saw my nickname up there so... I'm really glad I made your day :-)

After some four months with the 770 I am still surprised by the space it has managed to carve for itself in my daily activities. It started as a curio, went on to the honeymoon period, then to carping at its limitations... and now, I find it has found its own place like an unobstrusive but faithful pet.

Interestingly, I am not conscious of spending a lot of time with it (as I do/did with some other machines), but if I think of it, of all the modile devices I've owned (three Psions and a Zaurus) it is certainly the one I use the most regularly and extensively. It's just become natural.

Part of it is being connected : Wifi at home, friends and family. BT and EDGE everywhere else the phone can get a signal. Check the news while having breakfast. Stay connected during a vacation. Access Gmail without having to boot the desktop, etc. There is no Wifi at my work and corporate Internet access is sometimes so sluggish that sometimes it's faster to connect the 770 through the phone :-)

Part of it is being discreet : it's easier to whip it out during a meeting for a quick browse than, say, the Zaurus : the clamshell with the CF card sticking out is more capable and has a better "Wow factor" but it hardly goes unnoticed...

Say what ? Origami ? *giggle*

Thanks Gadget1974 for your write up, it was very informative. I have been trying to find out how to access my NAS ( via WiFi). In your writeup it mentions that you access your NAS. Are you doing this wirelessly or via the USB cable?

If Wirelessly could you explain how your NAS is setup with the 770. I'm a NOOB in using Linux. My NAS is located on my home LAN running Windows XP. I have no problems configuring the ports etc but I haven't been able to find a method of how to get the 770 to locate my NAS.

TIA

Hi pc4ever. If you want to connect to your NAS, then the easiest way is to enable ftp sharing on the NAS and then browse to it using Opera on the 770... i.e. ftp://x.x.x.x/sharename

What type of NAS are you using?

Hey fpp - thanks again for the tip I guess you are right - I am using the 770 about as much as my home PC (not as much as my work one, though). It's brilliant in boring meetings...

I think you raise the important point. The 770 is so different to a PDA, and so much better at web browsing that I use it much more than all the Clies, Palms, iPaqs, Psions etc that I have owned in the past. I think that broadly Nokia are onto a winner, as the web browsing can give access to all the other functionality.

True. As "Remote User" is fond of saying, if I can be connected at will I don't need to carry around apps and data on the 770 and go through the hassle of synchronizing it.
I don't use the 770's news reader because I have Bloglines. I don't use its mail client because I have Gmail. And when C2 (Google's calendar) or something else comes of age I won't need a PIM, either...

And if only there was Google Personal Music Library, we wouldn't need to store songs either. Unfortunately I guess Google Personal Music Library won't happen in the near future because of fair use being a legal grey area.

Regards - Neil

This is one quality about the Nokia that easily gets overlooked -- its inobtrusiveness. Think you might need something to take notes with at a meeting or gathering? Pack the Nokia & a portable keyboard with you -- you can fit both into 2 different jacket pockets -- & if you need them, they're there. If not, they remain packed away, in case you feel one or both is an unwelcome intrusion or distraction. (Yes, sometimes a laptop can be a distraction!)

True portable computing.

Geoff
P.S. -- I wish I write even more positive things about this combo, but my BT keyboard has developed a problem -- which I am in the process of getting fixed or replaced.

I always enjoy the effect in technology advancement which sees devices literally 'merge' or 'blend' into each other as they evolve. The hub matured into a switch, the switch learned Auto-MDI/MDI-X, (akaUniversal Cable Recognition or Auto Sensing) to eliminate crosswire cabling and uplink ports, the switch matured into a router, the router learned to alternatively eliminate cabling (becoming a wireless access point) and now the WAP is acquiring the ability to store data.

Manufacturers now seem to accept with near universal accord the need for operability with the free software operating systems, too. Here's SMC's latest such device with integrated Samba server, supports Fat, Fat32 & ext2 - uses both a 2.5" HD and USB memory sticks.

A note about the 770's own MMC slot if you're buying a larger capacity MMC chip; to ensure that your MMC works with ext2 filesystem skip partitioning. Format /dev/mmcblk0 with the ext2 filesystem and mount it.