10.25.07
TabletBlog is giving away a Nokia N810!
Would you like to win a Nokia N810 Internet Tablet?
Thoughtfix has posted the following video explaining the general idea, but head over to the Tabletblog site to get the scoop with all the rules. I’m one of the judges and I look forward to seeing your entries! The deadline to submit your videos is November 16 so get going!
Hmmm, ASUS EeePC, or N810? Or OLPC in November? said,
October 25, 2007 at 5:45 pm
GPS is cool… but, need longer battery life.
I am trying to decide. ASUS Eee PC with all it’s full featuredness. USB can power devices, size, full office suite, etc (problems, battery only 3 hours (how often they lie about this, all of them), no sunlight readable screen (like the OLPC has), no user upgradable storage (flash is hardwired to mother board). OR Nokia N810 (I tested the N800 and gave it back to CompUSA due to no JAVA, and no sunlight usable screen and no USB hosting (wanted to use USB external storage, and to network by USB to networking RJ45 plug cable, where there is no WIFI, yes this is a problem still in some places). I had a list of 20 complaints about the N800. However, I cried when I had to give it back after those 2.9 weeks to CompUSA for a refund (I handed them the compaint sheet and also emailed it to Nokia as well).
Main concerns with the N810:
USB hosting - can we use USB keyboard, Hard Drive, Networking cable, plug-in cable direct to a camera, etc?
Storage - the Nokia site says CD micro and mini (with adapter), other bloggers have it that the N810 no longer has a regular SD capable slot and that you must go to the small format, and that leaves you not able to use SD cards that you have invested in already. What is truth?
Sunlight readable screen - how good is it outside in day light?
Java - what is the story on Java?
Email - what client is it by default (is it IMAP capable)?
Why don’t they package a full size USB keyboard (or even the blue tooth one) with this unit for the expensive price.
At $259 (1/2 the price of the N810) for same flash ram and screen, the ASUS Eee PC has a more usable larger keyboard… VGA external output (various resolutions so that one traveling can use it with a projector at a meeting). OpenOffice.org, lots of applications too. I just wish that ASUS had the OLPC dual mode screen, better battery life, and tech replaceable on board flash storage (but a plus is that it has a SD slot on the side)
Quanta announced a $200 commercial version of the OLPC this past spring, and no news about it yet? Now, that might be something to look for as well? OLPC battery life is the best that I know of. And it is both a laptop, and a tablet as well (albiet bigger than the N810).
I would enter the contest, but I might have too many complaints about the N810 and even if free, if I won, I would then send it back if it didn’t please me (like the N800 before that I gave back to CompUSA).
At the price of the N810 - I might just shell out the $400 and buy one and donate one OLCP… I love the screen, and I love the battery life, and I think that the Mesh Networking is a huge plus as well.
Oh - one more complaint I wrote to Nokia about, is that with the various 15 minute rechargable AA battery tech that I use for photo camera, that can also charge 15 minute AAA batteries as well, why not just use AA or AAA batteries in the N810? When ever proprietary battery is needed, an extra to have on hand, they stick it right where it hurts. Sure wish the UMPC level devices would allow us to use AA or AAA batteries (that we could charge in 15 minutes and be good to go). Oh - 15 min re-chargers have automobile cable to recharge on the go (all devices should use AA or AAA, OR SOMEONE SHOULD BUILD universal AA or AAA adapters to use instead of the proprietary batteries that have AA or AAA inside them anyway that you pay 400% more for - pure profit, when devices die is when you suddenly find you can’t buy their batteries anymore). That is the risk of buying something that does not sell well, in a year, you can’t find the batteries.
Why is the N810 so expensive? Too much $.
So - in my email to Nokia about the 20 problems with the N800, I told Nokia I would pay $250 for N800 (if blue tooth keyboard was incl), and I think that N810 is worth $300 (w/keyboard) and could add price for GPS (some of us rarely get lost).
Oh - I know why the N800 didn’t sell well in this area, the CompUSA store employees knew not one thing about it. I asked about it’s features of several store employees (in that area of the store) and they almost looked like they wanted to run away (they knew nothing about it). So, I took it, evaluated it, rejected it, took it back, got my money… and supplied them with a long list of my complaints, told the store manager to make sure the employees knew of this list, and walked out of the store with my money in my pocket.
RIght now, I really am almost waiting for Quanta to arrive with their OLPC that might be like the ASUS Eee PC (but only better with better screen, better battery, better Mesh Networking, etc…)! N810, I might try it, but there are still about a dozen things that DON”T tickle my fancy over it… It could be better, only it they accepted all my complaints and fixed their problems with this unit (AND LOWERED THE PRICE)!