Top 10 things to do with your Nokia N800 February 12, 2007
Posted by Mads Foli Bjerre in : Uncategorized, Nokia, N800 , trackback
I caved. Got a Nokia N800 three weeks ago. And it is the most versatile gadget I have ever had in my hands.
I won’t make a review of it — there are dozens of other excellent reviews on the internet, but what I’ve done is make a list of the top things I’ve done with my N800 since I got it. Click on to see my recommendations.
1. Install Canola (when it gets here)
Canola is a front-end for the N800 with focus on media, and it looks absolutely stunning. It should be right around the corner, but until it gets here, take a look at a demo that Jonathan Greene from Atmaspheric | Endeavours put on YouTube the other day:
2. Change the theme
One thing that immediately annoyed me about the N800 was the eye-sore that is the default theme. Tigert to the rescue! Download and install his Plankton theme, and behold the beauty that is your new N800:
Immensely nicer than the standard theme, wouldn’t you agree?
3. Install Orb on your desktop PC
Having access to your picture, music and video collection on the go is also something I find amazingly cool, and Orb can deliver just that. Tip: To get video streaming to work with the N800, I had to use Real Media at 80 kbps, otherwise I would get a “video format not supported” error from Media player. Real Media at 80 kbps isn’t the prettiest, so here’s hoping that a future firmware update from Nokia will enable some higher resolutions.
4. Get a decent sized SD card (or two!)
The N800 should be able to utilize SD cards all the way up to 32 Gb (although only 8 Gb cards are available at the time this was written), but not with the current firmware. Cards with capacities at or above 4 Gb are called SDHC cards, but the current software version (OS 2007 edition v. 2.2006.51-6) only supports regular SD cards, with capacities of up to 4 Gb. I bought two 4 Gb SDHC cards by mistake, thinking they were regular SD cards, so I’m hoping for a swift upgrade from Nokia. In the meantime I have two useless chunks of plastic lying around on my desk.
5. Remote control your desktop PC with VNC
This is one of the coolest things: Being able to remote control your desktop computer from anywhere with VNC Viewer.
I actually got this to work with my desktop computer with TightVNC when I was running Windows XP. Then I upgraded to Vista, and I haven’t been able to get it working again. I just get a black screen on the tablet. If anyone has tips for getting TightVNC (or some other VNC server) to run on Vista, please let me know.
6. Get a decent screen protector
You don’t want any scratches on that gorgeous screen, and trust me, you’ll get scratches in no time if you don’t use a screen protector. I read that people have had good results using protectors made for the Sony PSP and cutting them to fit, but I actually just use the one that came with the N800. Just remove the white sticker from the plastic, and away you go.
7. Get familiar with repositories
I had absolutely no experience with Linux before I got the N800. It took me a while to figure out that you had to define repositories before you could install programs. I’m still a complete noob with regards to repositories and installing programs. Half the time I’m stabbing in the dark, but I’m learning along the way. Makes me wonder if the N800 is really meant for consumers or primarily developers.
8. Wait for Nokia to get its act together and release a decent firmware upgrade
Flash video performance is laughable, which renders YouTube or Google Video watching almost impossible with a framerate of 1-2 fps. Here’s hoping for an upgrade to Flash Player 9, which was recently released for Linux. Nokia/Adobe, please port it to the Maemo platform!
General video performance with the Media player is also under heavy criticism. My dream scenario would be to just drag’n'drop DivX files onto the N800 and watch them on my train ride to work, but the device has almost no decoders installed. Only a fraction of video formats can play, and good luck finding out what formats those are, and the encoding settings you have to use. What’s even more annoying, the videos that the N800 actually can open has choppy playback and tearing all over the place. If you want to use this device for watching video (like I do), you’re better off waiting for a firmware upgrade from Nokia. I’m checking this page every day, hoping for an update.
9. Enable the FM radio
Yes, the N800 has an FM radio, a feature that was unknown until recently. Install the fm radio application from the Application manager and start it by adding the new FM radio applet to the Home screen (from the Home screen, click the Home dropdown, click Select applets… and select the FM radio applet). The radio uses your headphones as antenna, so you’ll have to plug those in to get anything other than static. You can still listen to the radio through the speakers, though.
10. Install a wireless access point
Well, this actually belongs on the number one spot, since the N800 lives and breathes WiFi, but while I wrote this post I figured it was probably a bit redundant. If you don’t already have a wireless access point, you will need one. The N800 isn’t any fun if it isn’t connected. Although it is usable with a Bluetooth connection to your phone, the N800 deserves the speed (and lower cost) of a regular internet connection.
Those are my top ten things. There are other insanely cool things you can do with it (pairing it with a Bluetooth GPS receiver and using it for driving directions, for example), and I cannot even begin to imagine the things you can do with it in a couple of months time, when the developer community has had more time to play with it. But for now, I’m holding my breath until Canola comes out, together with a firmware upgrade that actually enables watchable video. But please, hurry — I’m getting blue in the face!
Comments»
Not a bad top 10. The VNC viewer is definitely the coolest app around, to date. You might also add picking up a spare battery (I got one for $5 on ebay) for extended road tripping and adding Gizmo (I know it isn’t Skype, but for now it is what we have available).
Thanks Tim. You’re right about the battery, and Gizmo too. I just wish I could utilize the web cam better. I’m hoping that Skype will have video call support when it gets here.
Obviously this post is a little old but most of the “problems” with the N800 are now fixed. The latest firmware has flash 8 support, a better frame-rate and more and more apps are being written for it. The only problem I find is the still serious lack in themes, as nice as plankton is.
Hi, I am also using a Vista and have problems using VNC to access my laptop. Have u solve the prob yet?
Nope, sorry Wil. I switched to mac some months ago. Haven’t looked back.