Internet Tablets

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:02 pm

I'm looking for a small device to surf the web with. I've looked into stuff like the EEE and ipod Touch, but they both have shortcomings such as too big to be pocketable and a not very high-res screen. Then theres internet tablets from Nokia (n770, n800, n810). They have the resolution of an EEE, but the screen size the same as a PSP's, with the total unit's size smaller than a PSP, too. The n8x0s have the muscle and code to play youtube in the browser, having full support for Flash and Java (something a certain fruit named company's devices are lacking). The n810 has a slide down keyboard and GPS, with the rest of the hardware the same as the n800.
So on paper, the n8x0 are pretty good. My issue is that the screen might be too small for its resolution and they look kinda of weak physically. So does anyone here have one/tried one and can comment about it? I'm really considering a n800, but I want to be sure its good before I drop $200 for one. And if someone has tried one in a store, what store was it?

Post by **bicostp** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:36 pm

You think the iPhone has a screen that's too bad for browsing? Try a regular PDA! (320x240 including the UI... Yeah it's as fun as it sounds.

)

If anything go with the 800. On paper it's good, especially since it has 2 full size SDHC slots as opposed to the 810's single MiniSDHC. (This is important when you've got relatively little internal memory to play with.) The screen's not bad for a handheld device, either.

However, if Flash is a big selling point, I don't know how far its processor will take you. My Dell Axim X30 (312 mhz Intel Xscale) struggles with things more complicated than Strong Bad Emails. Running pre-rendered videos, however, is fine.

Well thanks a lot, I kind of want one now.

But I'd rather go for the 'new' Eee they're developing as long as the price is reasonable and it gets a performance boost. An actual laptop is, in practice, a lot more useful than one of these. If anything, for Windows and the keyboard.

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:02 pm

I've got a Nokia 770. The screen is a definite compromise, you should try it before you get one, if you can. IMO, the screen is fairly good for portable video, but I tended to zoom a lot on web pages, particularly forums.

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:57 pm

bicostp wrote:If anything go with the 800. On paper it's good, especially since it has 2 full size SDHC slots as opposed to the 810's single MiniSDHC. (This is important when you've got relatively little internal memory to play with.) The screen's not bad for a handheld device, either.

However, if Flash is a big selling point, I don't know how far its processor will take you. My Dell Axim X30 (312 mhz Intel Xscale) struggles with things more complicated than Strong Bad Emails. Running pre-rendered videos, however, is fine.

Ya, the 2 SDHC slots would be nice, full size SD cards are cheaper and easier to find, so it should be cheap to have a lot of stuff stored on it. Unless I find a super cheap n810, I'll end up going with a n800 and a bluetooth or USB keyboard. I've watched some videos of the n800 on youtube, one showed a Homestar video and youtube playing on it, thats about the extent of my Flash usage. It looks like it loads webpages about as fast as a full computer, so even with Pidgin or music in the background, it should run at an acceptable speed, the 128MB of RAM is probably a big advantage over similar devices.

tom61 wrote:I've got a Nokia 770. The screen is a definite compromise, you should try it before you get one, if you can. IMO, the screen is fairly good for portable video, but I tended to zoom a lot on web pages, particularly forums.

I figured you'd have one, thats one of the reasons I posted on here. I was thinking that the screen might be kind of small for the resolution. I'll just check places like Best Buy and Staples to see if any of them have one on display. Besides the screen, the rest seems almost perfect, so I'll just have to see.