Quite a lengthy and proper review, I’m shocked. C|Net articles aren’t usually this detailed and read more like PR ads then actual content rich reviews.
Some highlights:
We received a fair amount of criticism when we gave the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet a mediocre 4.9 rating, as a lot of you found it to be a very useful and solid device. Perhaps we missed something or perhaps it was because we reviewed one of the early units sans software upgrade, but we just weren’t that impressed. However, as Nokia unveiled its next-generation model, the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet, at the Consumer Electronics Show 2007, we were pretty excited about what we saw and were ready to give it another try. We’re glad we did.
Will it appeal to a mass audience? Probably not. We think it’s still a bit too geeky and relies on the presumption that you have Wi-Fi access.
The device is slim enough to easily slip into your bag, but it’s probably too big to comfortably fit it into a pants pocket.
The home screen itself can be a bit confusing for first-time users of its various subsections and icons that aren’t clearly identified. We recommend you give the user’s guide a quick read before using the device.
To the left of the screen, there is a four-way directional keypad with a center OK button, an Escape key, a Menu button, and a Swap key that lets you switch between different applications. The last three controls are hard to press: They’re slippery, clumped close together, and set flush with the device’s surface, so it takes a conscious effort to hit the right key. Also cramped are the keys on top, which include the buttons to zoom in and out, switch to full-screen mode, and power on and off. They’re not only close to each other, they’re tiny, so take care when pressing them.
We were ecstatic with the dual slots and the fact that they can accept cards up to 2GB, but the locations of both are slightly inconvenient in that you have to move parts to access them. What’s worse is that there is no spring mechanism to eject the card on the bottom of the device, so you better have some nails, otherwise your SD card might be in there for a long time.
As with the 770, adding new feeds is a bit tedious because you have to manually enter or copy and paste your desired URLs into the field.
However, like most handwriting recognition technology, this is a bit awkward and requires a slight learning curve.
One of our gripes about the Nokia 770 was the lack of PC synchronization and PIM tools, and it seems this trend mostly continues with the N800. Though it’s not meant to be a PDA or smart phone, this additional functionality would have been nice.
Video playback on the N800 bordered on awful. We tried to watch some clips on YouTube, but the picture was jerky and never synchronized with the audio. We also transferred clips from our personal library, which performed better but still, the video was pixilated.
Talk about pointing out the small things, good job C|Net! Bonnie Cha wrote this review and man did she do a great job, I’m going to be watching out for her reviews more often now!