Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Six Months with the Nokia N800


Every now and then, it's time to take stock of what we have kicking around the Gadget Lab, asking the tough questions: Do we really need this samurai sword? And what is that giant bag of marshmallows for anyway? Same goes for our, ahem, satellite offices. Since I'm working from home this AM, I decided to take inventory. My eyes fell upon the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet, which I've been holding onto for six months now. I usually try to send things back after a month, but sometimes I'll call up the company and ask nicely for an extension. Is this such a case? Is it a must-have component of my gadget arsenal, or, as many critics have said, a solution without a problem? Here’s how I use it:

Its form factor is perfect for the kitchen counter, so I use it to hop on my home Wi-Fi network and read the NY Times while eating breakfast. Beats wrastlin' another editor for one of the few copies we get at the office.

I Bluetooth-pair it with my cellphone and catch up on my RSS feeds while riding the bus to work, simultaneously impressing all the ladies with my gadgetman mojo.

I call my buddies in Ireland using Gizmo Project VOIP, which is like Skype but with better sound quality. It lets me really hear that Guinness-induced slurring.

Since its little kickstand lets it sit upright, I balance the N800 on my workbench and cruise the guzzitech.com forums for advice while working on my less-than-reliable classic Italian motorcycle.Quite frankly, I could do all of these things with a laptop. But a laptop is too large to throw in my bag everywhere I go, a feature I'll be mentally high-fiving tomorrow at the DMV.
Add to that a modern laptop's propensity to get front-of-pants-scorchingly hot (no thank you) and suck a battery dry in less time than it takes me to make my way to the food section, and the N800 seems a lot less like a niche device and more like a luxury item to which I've become dangerously accustomed. So, uhm, Nokia: do you mind if I hold onto this thing for a little longer?

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