Review: Nokia N800 web tablet

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