Review: Nokia N800 web tablet

Open-source web tablet, video-phone and media player has potential - shame about the Vista-style mark-up

Nokia's N800 is a revamped version of the N770 web tablet we reviewed last year and it is good to see the company persevering with the format.

The most notable addition is a neat web camera that pops out left of the screen and transforms the device into an IP videophone.

The camera swivels to point forwards or backwards, enabling see-what-I-see operation.

Also new is a small pull-out stand, which allows the N800 to be stood on its side for viewing.

This is particularly useful when combined with a Bluetooth keyboard because it allows you to do heavy work, notebook style.

The stand doubles as a cover for a USB port and one of two SD card slots – the other is inside the case, next to the battery. These slots give you the option of up to 8GB storage with the newly launched 4GB memory cards.

The storage is needed because the N800 can also be used as a video or mp3 player. What it is not is a cellular phone; but it will link to one via Bluetooth to give you wide-area access when you are out of Wifi range.

The N800’s physical controls are similar to those of its predecessor but it has been extensively restyled with a matt-black case and steel-effect facia. The underside has a curved ridge, giving it a slight upward tilt when laid flat.

On the top edge are the power button and three zoom buttons: two for zooming in and out, and one in the middle for returning to full screen. These are essential for viewing documents and websites on such a small screen and they work well, though never as easily as you would wish.

To the left of the screen is a four-way navigation pad, with a central select button. Below this is another pad with Home, Back and Menu buttons. On the opposite edge are power and headphone sockets.

This arrangement is oddly left-handed because all the controls are at that side of the device. This may have been dictated by the interior layout but it is irritating to right-handers.

At 75mm wide, 18mm deep and 144mm tall, and weighing just 206g, it is easily pocketable without weighing you down. The 4.1in screen has a full 800x400 VGA resolution, which is well adequate; Apple’s vaunted, yet-to-be released iPhone boasts a resolution of just 320x480 on a screen of much the same size.

There are three methods of entering text: handwriting recognition, which is barely usable, without a lot of practice and care; and a choice of two soft keyboards, one for use with a stylus and the other for thumb or finger input. If you tap a text box, the N800 cleverly registers which you are using and throws up the appropriate keyboard.

Nokia says the upgraded processor in the N800 is twice as fast on some tasks as the N770 and it certainly gives a crisper response.

Messaging and web calls are currently restricted to Google but Skype will be supported by summer.

The screen is too cluttered as it comes out of the box but you can easily configure it to your needs.

The software is a little sparse; there’s a media player, an RSS feed, an Opera 7 browser, and a notepad. But the N800 is intended to be used as a connected device and can take advantage of web-based applications suites such as Google Apps.

It lacks the tight integration of, say, a Windows Mobile device and tasks such as setting up an internet radio link can be fiddly. On the other hand it can be just as good as a standalone web radio when plugged into your home stereo and does not cost a great deal more (at least at the US price of $399 (£204) - Nokia pretends the dollar is worth the same as the Euro, which is not as bad as Vista giving it parity with the pound, but annoying nevertheless).

The N800 is a universal plug-and-play (UPnP) client and so should be able to access media via a UPnP server such as Windows Media Player 11 but we have as yet been unable to get this to work.

The operating system is Linux-based and there is a developer site where applications can be downloaded. Other third-party applications include a sat-nav suite.

Nokia missed a trick not including an infra-red port on the device, allowing it to be used as a universal remote control.

The N800 can seem at first sight to be neither chalk nor cheese: neither a PDA nor a smartphone. Nokia argues that most people already have a phone, and that the N800 provides an ideal complement.

The most serious criticism is that the N800 is simply too small; navigating web pages is very awkward, even though the N800 does as much as it can to help you. However, it is a good platform for specialist web-based apps designed for small screens, particularly because sensitive data can be retained on remote servers rather than left on a small device that might be lost or stolen.

But in its own way this is a revolutionary device. For a start it makes audio or video calls by bypassing completely the mobile operators who are Nokia’s biggest customers.

And it is an open platform: an open-source based tablet heading the same way as the ultra-mobile PC (UMPC), but coming from the mobile-phone world rather than the computer industry. It should be encouraged, if only to stop Microsoft making all the running in this most exciting of design spaces.

Also consider:
Sony Vaio VGN-UX1 UMPC
Sony's latest ultra-mobile and ultra-stylish PC

Samsung Q1
An innovative design, but held back by poor battery life