Every Flavour Beans

As the news of the announcement of Nokia’s N810 Internet tablet is spreading like wildfire(search Technorati for example) across the Internet, more and more people seem to get confused as to what exactly is the difference between N800 and N810 devices. There are a few posts talking about the differences but I thought I will summarize them here specifically to help make a buying decision.

I could have made a long table noting the differences between the two devices but I thought it will be more useful if major and minor differences are listed separately. If you are making a decision whether to buy a new Nokia N800 or a Nokia N810(when it is released), I suggest you go through all the differences listed below. But if you already own an N800, then the minor differences can be easily ignored, especially because N800 too can be upgraded to the ITOS2008 version when it is released simultaneously with N810 and then most of the minor differences listed below will cease to exist(e.g. Mozilla browser); jump straight to the last section.

So let’s get started.

1. What has NOT changed between Nokia N800 and N810?

   First let’s go through the list of features that are almost/exactly the same in the two devices:

   RAM(128MB), Flash(256MB), battery operating times(4 hrs active use/14 hrs standby), Screen Resolution(800×480), WLAN 802.11b/g, Bluetooth, USB 2.0, VoIP/SIP, UPnP, Mic and Speakers, Headphone, Desk-stand, Carry Pouch, EMail(IMAP, STMP, and POP3), Utility applications(File manager, PDF reader, Clock) and Games.

   If any of the above features are very important to you, you need not have buyer’s dilemma for their sake.

2. What differences can probably be overlooked?

   The minor differences that in my opinion can be overlooked by existing owners of N800 include:

   1. Different CPU speeds - 320MHz for N800 vs 400MHz for N810. How much difference it will make in practice can be know only after N810 is released. At least youtube and other video playback should be smooth. Also N810’s CPU will leave more scope for optimization with future releases of operating system than N800’s.
   2. Shiny new user interface based on GTK-2.0. Additional Image formats as listed under N810’s technical specifications(e.g. SVG, WBMP). Mozilla as the default browser which has better support for AJAX websites than Opera. I am guessing that it will be a stable version and will support plugins. Upgraded N800 too should get all of these.
   3. VGA Camera in N810 is fixated and can no more be rotated like in N800. Any prizes for guessing that the quality will be as crappy as before?
   4. Placement of hardware buttons is different in N810(some say better suited to left-handers in landscape mode). You will be surprised to see how many people are already frowning upon this! You one of them? Happy frowning!
   5. USB 2.0 Connectivity Cable. Physical size and weight. Forget that I even mentioned these.

3. Important differences between Nokia N800 and N810

   Finally the real differences, the one’s that should seriously influence the decision whether to buy N800 or the N810, as well as who should throw away their N800(at ebay of course) to buy N810:

   • Memory is a big factor!

     Most important from my point of view is the change in memory storage options. The story goes like this: when N800 had first released, it came with 128MB internal storage(apart from RAM/flash) but two expandable card slots that could each fit up to 2GB SD cards(or miniSD or MMC if you use the adapters). With every new updated OS version released for N800(or the unofficial patches), the storage limit kept increasing and currently you can fit 8GB card in each of these slots to get a total storage of 16GB!

     N810 on the other hand comes with 2GB internal storage and one external memory card slot that could fit up to 8GB miniSD card. It means the following differences:

     1. N810 comes with 2GB of storage, so many of us can just forget about buying any additional memory at all. Very few users could use their N800 without buying at least one additional small capacity card.
     2. N810 supports a maximum of 10GB of memory storage(for the cost of one 8GB miniSD card) where as N800 supports a maximum of 16GB of storage(for the cost of two 8GB SD cards). Higher capacity cards may be supported by future OS updates, but these are the current options.
     3. You can’t use the SD cards of your N800 or digital camera with N810. It supports only miniSD cards where N800 supports both SD and minSD cards.

     Verdict: Those who can afford to spend additional money may find N800’s options more favourable but those who find 2GB more than enough for their storage needs should find N810 very appealing.

   • Built-in Hardware Keyboard, killer feature?

     Long-awaited feature for Nokia’s tablets has been the hardware keyboard, but now that it is integrated into N810, majority of the people don’t look too happy with it! But consider the following factors:

     1. If you already own a bluetooth(BT) keyboard for you N800, the HW keyboard of N810 may not appeal to you much. But it can still come handy when you accidentally find yourself without your BT keyboard or you can’t carry it to some place.
     2. If you don’t own a BT keyboard, you may still prefer to buy one in preference to the small and confined slide-out keyboard of N810, in which case you might feel that such a big(read costly) feature will go wasted. But remember that people use the keyboards with pin-sized keys on mobile phones and compared to that N810’s HW keyboard should be a luxury and perhaps you will start liking it after getting a little used to it. You will save both money and space if N810’s keyboard works for you.
     3. I don’t need a typing keyboard at all you say? It’s not just more convenient to use a HW keyboard(built-in or BT) but it also frees-up valuable space on your device’s screen! You can view the full screen of the tablet even when entering the text.

     Verdict: BT keyboards are not exactly cheap but N810 is not very cheap either. So it’s only a matter of convenience whether you prefer the small built-in keyboard or a full-fledged BT keyboard.

   • GPS Receiver, good enough for you?

     N810 has got built-in GPS receiver in addition to the mapping software and default collection of maps. Mapping software and maps are available for N800 too but the GPS receiver has to be bought separately. Again N810 scores for those who think GPS receiver is essential for them. N810 also has integration support for paid services like Wayfinder navigator which I am not sure will be extended to N800 device too.

     Verdict: If GPS is too important to you, buy a good receiver separately from Amazon! N800 wins. For normal use, N810’s built-in receiver should be sufficient. If you don’t want GPS at all, N800 wins again.

   • OS2007 (currently) runs more applications than OS2008

     Another crucial difference that is easy to be overlooked: N800 can continue to run ITOS2007 applications(plenty available currently) as long as you wish. Only you can decide if the number of applications available for the (yet to be released) ITOS2008 justifies upgrading N800 to it - you have the control. Not so with N810; it will come pre-installed with ITOS2008, so will be limited to the applications(not many right now, but will increase with time) that are be ported to it. (OS2008 is not backward-compatible with OS2007 applications in case you are wondering. I am also assuming that nobody will try to hack OS2007 for N810 just to be able to run the existing applications on it!)

     Verdict: This is a common upgrader’s dilemma, the one which you will face with every new device, operating system, etc. Adventurous ones take the plunge and bask in the glory of new hardware features while waiting for more and more software applications ported to it every passing day. There is also nothing wrong in waiting for a few months to give time for more than just the most essential applications to be ported to the device before buying it.

   • Miscellaneous

     An interesting difference is the listed additional Video formats in N810’s technical specification(e.g. WMV, H.264). I am not going to give weight to this feature until I see how it fares in the real field, outside of the specification.

     Update: Thoughtfix believes that N810’s Ambient light sensor is good enough even under direct sunlight. Some folks on ITT are not happy with the reflection visible on the screen. He has posted a picture on flickr to make his point.

     A travel charger and a car holder comes as part of the package with N810.

4. Conclusion?

   N800 + 2GB card + HW keyboard + GPS Receiver + Car Holder + Travel Charger = N810

   I am still looking for clarifications regarding some of N810’s capabilities but I have got no friends at Nokia ;) so will probably try to throw an email at Thougtfix and see if he can find time to answer some of them for me. My suggestion will be not to depend completely on the points mentioned above and do your own complete research before making a purchasing decision.

Update: Thanks to Pretoriano for correcting the erroneous claim that N800 and N810 have the same battery model(they don’t, see comments). I have updated the post.