Nokia N810 Internet Tablet Review
Share this page:
Interface:
As the Nokia 770 and N800, the N810 runs on Maemo OS (Linux) but has the latest 2008 edition, unlike the N800, which has 2007, and 770 with 2006. Current N800 owners would be happy that they can upgrade to the new version for free. It improves both the functionality and the look, with more modern translucent menus.
The standby screen can be personalized with applications, visualized directly on it. For example, we added our RSS feeds, a shortcut to the site, Internet radio, and an internet search. On the top is the service line with shortcuts to the sound, display brightness, network, battery and other settings, while on the left is the “main menu” bar.
It consists of three links: to the internet browser, Contacts/Email/Chat, and the real menu where all the functions are at the same place. The latter is well organized, but now the menus are not “stylus friendly” – they are designed to be used mainly with fingers, having large fields. This is rather inconvenient, as the stylus is needed often in the overall usage of the device. Another missing feature (compared to the previous OS version) is the on-screen small QWERTY keyboard that appears in the bottom part of the display. It was an easy way to input short text with the stylus, while still seeing the selected field.
Although the position of the applications can be changed, we will preview the functionality in the order it is organized in the menu. We’ve installed Skype and Gizmo on it, through the direct links that are preloaded straight out of the box.
Internet:
The RSS reader is very handy for following the news for example. It visualizes the feeds with images and link to the whole page. The settings allow to set the cache size in MB and considering it requires Internet connection, options allow you to limit it to WLAN only or to any connection available. If data traffic is not a problem, you can set it to refresh automatically, through an optional interval. The feeds can also be shown in the standby screen, for fast access.
Communication:
The Internet call will allow you to talk with your Google contacts. It utilizes the VoIP protocol and when an account is set, you can dial any number. The Chat applications also uses Gmail contacts, but for text chat only.
Gizmo and Skype are two additional programs that can be used for VoIP calling, but only the first one allows video conference. When you are in a quiet environment, the microphone will be good enough, even if you leave the tablet on a table and talk from a small distance. The speakers on the other hand, deliver pretty low volume and if the other party has weak strength of the microphone, you will hardly hear them.
 |
Home screen |
The standby screen can be personalized with applications, visualized directly on it. For example, we added our RSS feeds, a shortcut to the site, Internet radio, and an internet search. On the top is the service line with shortcuts to the sound, display brightness, network, battery and other settings, while on the left is the “main menu” bar.
It consists of three links: to the internet browser, Contacts/Email/Chat, and the real menu where all the functions are at the same place. The latter is well organized, but now the menus are not “stylus friendly” – they are designed to be used mainly with fingers, having large fields. This is rather inconvenient, as the stylus is needed often in the overall usage of the device. Another missing feature (compared to the previous OS version) is the on-screen small QWERTY keyboard that appears in the bottom part of the display. It was an easy way to input short text with the stylus, while still seeing the selected field.
 |  |  |
Internet browser | Contacts/Email/Chat | Menu |
Although the position of the applications can be changed, we will preview the functionality in the order it is organized in the menu. We’ve installed Skype and Gizmo on it, through the direct links that are preloaded straight out of the box.
Internet:
In this section, you will find the Web browser, its bookmarks and RSS feed reader. The browser is now “Powered by Mozilla” and is a very good one, but not excellent. Visualization is brilliant, just as on a computer, but we only had troubles when the page was larger than 800 pixels (the width of the display). Then you have two options: to “fit the page to width” or to zoom out. The first one breaks the visualization, and we don’t think anyone would use it. The second option is better (although text may become too small), but is not always enough. The minimum zoom level is 80% (of the original size), which still requires scrolling for pages 1024 pixels wide. It would have been nice if a panning option (zooming out so the whole width can be shown and then zooming on selected area) was included, as in contemporary phone browsers. Symbian S60 phone browsers also have a nice feature, which makes the text columns fit the page - then, even though you have to scroll to see the whole content, you don't have to do so, when reading the text.
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
with fit to width option | ||
Web browser | ||
Complicated pages such as YouTube (with its animations and even embedded flash!), Gmail, Facebook, and all other, show just as you would expect, as on a computer. The functionality is full and you not only preview the pages, but use them – post on forums, community sites, or even upload content. Unfortunately the system resources are probably not enough, and flash videos (as of YouTube) don’t play smooth, and sometimes the browser also acts slowly.
 |  |
 |
RSS reader |
Communication:
Saving your contacts is definitely not the job that the Tablet will do best. It is not designed to replace your PDA, smartphone, or even ordinary phone and the contacts application is just a way to store basic information (email, nickname, names, web page, and phone) of persons you will contact via the N810 itself.
 |  |  |
Contacts menu | ||
 |
Email client |
The email client can have a few accounts set at the same time, but unlike computer ones, cannot manage them all at once. We are disappointed that it doesn’t have a wizard for automatically setting popular email servers, requiring only a username and password. Setting an account is not a piece of cake, and requires a rather advanced knowledge, not suitable for the average Joe. The email is basic and doesn’t include options for tagging, searching or filtering, so don’t really rely on it for work. If you receive a few dozens of email a day, finding a specific one will not be easy at all. Some of the nice features are that HTML formatted emails visualize correctly on the large screen and the option for auto-update (even when the email client is closed).
The Internet call will allow you to talk with your Google contacts. It utilizes the VoIP protocol and when an account is set, you can dial any number. The Chat applications also uses Gmail contacts, but for text chat only.
 |  |  |
Internet call application interface | ||
Gizmo and Skype are two additional programs that can be used for VoIP calling, but only the first one allows video conference. When you are in a quiet environment, the microphone will be good enough, even if you leave the tablet on a table and talk from a small distance. The speakers on the other hand, deliver pretty low volume and if the other party has weak strength of the microphone, you will hardly hear them.
 |  |
Skype | Gizmo |
Hopefully, this can be easily fixed thanks to the support for Bluetooth headsets. Unlike the previous OS version, the 2008 one allows you to use the Bluetooth not only for data transfer from/to phone, but also for headset. Unfortunately, Stereo Sound transfer is still not supported.
Share this page:
2 Comments
1. chris (unregistered) posted on 20 Oct 2010, 01:55 0 0
this phone is sick and i think the linux os is amazing...wish it was cdma
2. Ponting posted on 27 Feb 2011, 22:39 0 0
It's really a good N Series phone. The Nokia N810 is powered by maemo Linux-based OS2008, which offers a highly customizable user interface and contains various features such as a Mozilla based browser with Ajax, Adobe Flash 9 and RSS feed reader, Blue-tooth headset support as well as enhanced video and audio features.
http://www.nokiaphonereview.net/nokia-n810-review.html
