Kurt <labolide@spacegmail.com> wrote in news:labolide-
FF4860.15105305122007@news.giganews.com:

The functionality comes from the apps, not from the hardware
companies.  If you wanted an pocket webTV appliance, I suppose
you did the right thing.  I just can't imagine using something as
big as the iPhone for a PHONE, though.  It's too big for a phone
and every time I see someone using it, as soon as they hang up,
they go into this polishing routine to get their face off it with
the "cleaning cloth" I think it comes with.

To navigate around the web browser you click the icon in the
upper left corner of its desktop.  Pick your favorite from the
list, just like Iphone sliding your greasy fingers over the
window if you don't like the clean stylus that doesn't need
Windex after use.  The browser opens and loads the WHOLE webpage,
not some "custom" piece of it.  The + and - buttons magnify the
display up to 320% if you want it bigger.  It scrolls many
ways...with the scroll button, dragging your greasy finger or
stylus over the display, or using the same dragbars any PC or Mac
uses with stylus or your BT mouse if you want one.  Other than
the touchscreen, it works just like any PC.  The center button on
top of it toggles full screen if you like.  Full screen leaves
the URL line at the bottom with the useful controls, including
the favorites on the lower left.  It's nothing special, which is
its point.  Click the URL with the stylus brings up the stylus
keyboard.  Click it with your finger fills the screen with a
BIGGER-than-iphone finger keyboard for easy typing, unless you
have a BT keyboard attached which supercedes the screen keyboards
automatically.

Let's face reality, NONE of the tablets, including the N810 with
slideout keyboard, are anything you want to type this message on.  
But, with the Nokias, the BT keyboard, after a little adjustment
for the 3 to 4 use keys, gives you your laptop keyboard back WHEN
YOU WANT IT....not continuously like the laptop when you don't
need it.  Again, N800 has a choice.  I don't like the N810
slideout keyboard any more than the one on the Sony pocket PC or
any PDA...They just don't fit a typist, at all.  I wanted a real
keyboard the day I got it.  I'm a typist.

Navigating the N800's functions is, like the Linux GUIs its roots
came from, MUCH easier than any Windoze device.  For instance, I
don't have to hunt for software on the webpages.  All tablet
software also loads its presence into the Application Manager.  
You click the app launcher in the middle on the left of the main
screen, Click TOOLS, pick Application Manager and it opens.  
There are 3 buttons.  What's already installed, so you can
uninstall it.....What's available to install, so you can pick
what's new to install.  (It updates itself from Maemo.org before
its list loads so the list is fresh.)  The third button is Update
what is already installed, because there are hundreds of
programmers with complete access to the open source software that
are constantly saying, "Wouldn't it be neat if this....." and can
add their ideas to everyone else's ideas, making the next upgrade
if the community on the project agrees.  To update ALL your
installed software, except the kernel of course, you click UPDATE
after it lists what has updates available....and it just does it.  
To update the OS, or restore it if you trash it, you plug it into
the USB port on a Windows box, download the OS firmware installer
and press OK.  If you screw up the firmware upgrade, you just run
it over again and all is forgiven....unlike my damned Netgear
Skype Phone whos upgrade to ver .46 trashed the wifi connection
to my Netgear router...or anyone elses.  It's going back to
Netgear, again.  All the software I've installed, including the
new Garnet Palm Virtual Machine for running Palm software, has
only used a fraction of the onboard 128M of memory.  There's no
programs on the 2 8GB SD cards at all.  I still have 70M of free
space.  Linux programs are really tiny for what they do.

The N800 is NOT a travel replacement for a good laptop with hard
drives, big screen you can stand to watch for hours, business
software your income depends on for survival.  That would be a
lie.  N800 IS the most addictive mobile toy I've even owned,
though.  All these are TOYS, iPhone included.  I just think N800
is much closer to the laptop than any tablet controlled by the
money mongers that run SELLphone companies trying to bleed you
dry selling you something that SHOULD have either come with it,
or been available for a ONE TIME charge, not a monthly fleece
which is what ALL Sellphone companies aim to do....lock it up and
screw 'em.  SELLphones are only good for mobile modems.

Now, for the adventurists, there's Xterm....Luckily, recovery
from the PC installer, while erasing EVERYTHING you EVER
installed, yourself, if you didn't backup your stuff to a memory
card, is easy.  Not everyone should be allowed to boot Xterm on
any Linux box....probably me included...(c;  Any software that
croaks a Linux box, usually doesn't trash it.  This is also true
of the N800 hackerware under development.  Just uninstall it and
you're back running.  Lots of it I had no use for, like the
interactive periodic table of the elements or mathematics
graphing software.  I didn't have any use for gnumeric
spreadsheet, at first, until I figured out it works great with my
Excel spreadsheets off the big boxes....if you squint...(c;

Sure makes a great Skype phone replacement for the crappy Netgear
I keep in the bedroom....(sigh)  Wish Skype would hurry up and
make a driver for the little webcam I miss from the laptop,
though.

Larry