Linux Internet Tablet Nokia N800

Realizing that Windows Mobile is certainly a good system, but health is more expensive, I still could not make friends with PocketPC . In search of alternatives, I continued to study the mobile computer market.
When I first read about the release of the Nokia N800, I didn’t understand who might need such a device today: a mobile computer without explicit PIM functionality , a GSM module and a general orientation to use mobile high-speed Internet? Speak for conversations great VoIP? Maybe it is. Only WiFi in the city today is a rarity. Even in the UK, despite the encouraging news, there are no open free WiFi hotspots in central London.
Therefore, the first weeks after the acquisition, the tablet lay dead weight with me. Internet connection seemed to revive the N800. From this moment, the questions regarding the personal information manager have disappeared by themselves.

Specifications tablet

Software
Install the software as follows:
1. Connect the N800 to the Internet.
2. Find the button “Browse installable applications” in the Application manager, click.
3. We select a suitable application, read its description and install in the usual way.
Sometimes when you install the application, a message appears stating that some libraries are missing. It's about Python, we find the installation files in the repositories or right here .
All distributions are in repositories, the list of which can be expanded. These lists in large numbers can be found on forums, conferences, www.maemo.org This means that it will not work to embrace the vast sea of ​​all applications. Here is my choice:
Editing Microsoft Word documents: everyone is waiting for the release of AbiWord . For now, you can read .doc documents using doc reader + antiword . Great for creating text notes: Leafpad, Notes, Xournal.
Editing tables: Gnumeric Spreadsheet, with the ability to save in MSExcel format. Convert and view video:with loss of frames, you can watch unconverted films, but for normal sensations, it is better to use Media Converter .
I get the video quality that suits me with the following converter settings: video resolution N800 High Quality (400x240), video bitrate 768 kbps.
To watch the video, you should immediately replace the standard player with MPlayer .
PIM applications: GPE To-do list, GPE Calendar, GPE Summary (to display PIM information on the desktop). Although the programs cannot yet boast the functionality of applications for WinMobile, it is quite possible to work with them.
Reading books: PDF Reader, Evince , FBReader (read fb2). We are waiting for the appearance of the djvu reader. Communication:Gizmo, Pidgin, Jabber, Google Talk (Skype is also promised by the middle of summer). Claws-mail mail client, Opera's default browser.
Blogging: Maemo Wordpy . Lingvo-level
dictionary (the most important application): Sdict is faster than Lingvo on Wmobile, free. At the moment, you can use: 321 dictionary files, over 82 million entries, the volume of entries is 8277 megabytes. There is Wikipedia, both Russian and English relevant (!) Option. For some reason, resources with dictionaries are sometimes unavailable, the most important ones here . Geography, GPS: Maemo Mapper, Google Maps, Navigation Kit for Nokia N800 Internet Tablet .
View and edit graphics:Quiver Image Viewer, Sketch.
Various scientific and educational applications: HP Calculator, Lybniz (charting), Maemo Periodic (table of chemical elements), Granule (excellent application for learning foreign words). Games: not a fan, so I can’t say a lot, but there are a lot of applications. Personally, I like chess.

Total: a software suite that more than covers the needs. Did you miss something?

Pros / Cons
Where the N800 wins:
1. Screen size: reading books and websites, typing, watching movies, it’s better that there isn’t a device for this kind of money for this purpose on the market today. I still can’t understand how to read anything on QVGA screens.2. Web, Internet communications - in this area, the device is undoubtedly oriented towards the future, and today this, oddly enough, is also one of the drawbacks.
3. Operating system, set of applications: Internet Tablet OS 2007 edition turned out to be more stable, more convenient, more beautiful than WinMobile. There are no problems with connections via wireless interfaces, settings for GPRS-connection are already present in the device, the user only needs to choose an operator. There is more than enough software, new programs appear every week.
4. Russification of the system - by default, handwriting input of text with recognition of the characters of the Russian alphabet is available.
5. Innovations in the interface - for example, when activating the menu, small icons are shown with the stylus. When you touch with your finger, the icons become large, easy to press with your fingers. The same with typing, if you touch the screen in a text editor with your finger, a large keyboard appears on which it is quite convenient to type texts with your hands. The interface announced in the iPhone justifies itself here at 100%, I have almost no doubt that the stylus will soon be superfluous in most devices.
6. Multitasking. Gradually weaned to close applications in general. Collapsed programs are arranged in a row on the panel in the lower left corner. Naturally, the speed of their launch is very high. There are no problems with memory leak in digital eternity, as in WMobile;7.Convenient location and button functions, significantly facilitating Internet navigation and reading books.

Where the N800 loses:
1. The screen brightness still leaves much to be desired. In the sun, even when twisted to maximum brightness, you can hardly see anything. This disadvantage can be attributed to most of these devices, but, for example, HTC PZ300 looks much better.
2. Despite the proud title of an Internet tablet, Google Docs & Spreadsheets do not work yet. In addition, there are problems with YouTube . With confidence - software problems, with hope - will be solved over time.
3. The inability to communicate via VoIP due to the lack of WiFi coverage in cities. Again, with great hope - tomorrow's business.4. Lack of support for editing MS Word documents and synchronization with a PC - they also promise to resolve the issue soon.

Video
reviews The N800 search on YouTube gives good results (reviews in English):
We take the device out of the box;
We look at what the machine has inside;
We listen to music using the music service Rhapsody;
We surf the Internet, sites with Ajax and Flash;
Carman - car data acquisition system - according to an experienced jartashi , turning the N800 into a very advanced on-board computer;
We work with GPS
Watch a video, use a camera;
Brief general video review(appearance, problems with YouTube, the reaction of the interface to finger typing) (5 minutes):
Detailed video review (17 minutes), at the 10th minute you can see how finger typing occurs.

Links
Overview from ferra.ru www.ferra.ru/online/mobilis/26844
Page on the Nokia website www.nokia.ru/A4374194
Russian-language blog dedicated to N800 internet-tablet.com The project was created on May 10, 2007, authors Unatine, Dikiy, ManPavel. Author's articles appear quickly enough, there are many plans. Get involved!
Conference on ixbt: forum.ixbt.com/topic.cgi?id=45 : 8537

Conclusion (with caution)
I want to warn you right away: if you decide to become the owner of the N800, and yesterday you were a PPC user or did not use mobile computers at all, get ready for surprises, it's not so simple. But remember: a special charm is given by the fact that everyone can improve the device by changing / writing software. To be honest, I, as an inveterate Windows user and a neophyte of the N800 Internet tablet on Linux, have more questions than answers. I will decide!
As it has already become known, software - like sex, is better when it's free. This means that a huge number of enthusiasts have already created and will still create software for the N800 on their own, while in most cases it will exceed proprietary counterparts. This is the main advantage of the N800.
At the same time, the main obstacle is preventing us from using similar devices that overtake their time with comfort. And here the task is more complicated: to cover the planet with cheap wireless Internet, starting from an open-source ideology and with the help of a collective mind and hands will fail. Or am I wrong?

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The author of the text will be grateful for comments, comments, corrections of possible inaccuracies and participation in the correction of the material.
Special thanks to habrachelovek dik - it's all his fault;)