My review today, is the Nokia N810 "Portable Internet Tablet". This $429 (MSRP) device is a Linux powered computer. It is slightly larger than most PDA’s.

The N810 looks and feels gorgeous. Polished aluminum, slick metal kickstand, stunning display and a very sturdy sliding keyboard make for a device that is a pleasure to carry around.

In the box is the N810 itself, an AC charger, a MicroUSB cable, a car holder, stereo headphone (with microphone) and a basic pouch.

As I mentioned earlier; the N810 runs Linux. The "flavor" of Linux is called Maemo, a tablet enabled Debian derivative. The nice thing about the N810 is that it’s perfect for people who don’t know a thing about Linux, but also for those that do.

The Nokia N810 does not contain a cellular radio, so to connect to the Internet, you’ll need to use Wi-Fi, or the integrated Bluetooth along with your mobile phone. In my case, I used a Sprint Mogul with WmWiFiRouter to connect to 3G using the Wi-Fi of the N810 (how’s that for a mouthful). Wi-Fi connections can be made easier with the Boingo client or Devicescape.

So, lets take a look at the Nokia N810. As usual, there will be loads of photos, so if you are on the road on a slow connection, bookmark this page and look at it when you reach somewhere faster…

The left and right sides of the N810; on the right are the connectors (MiniUSB, power and headphone). Each side also houses a loudspeaker. Then the kickstand is folded back, it covers the USB port.

To the left of the display is a light sensor, a 0.3 megapixel webcam and 2 buttons for the task manager and for "back".

The webcam is a nice feature, but don’t expect quality vacation photos from it. In my experience it’s barely sufficient for making video calls as it requires quite a bit of light to make decent shots.

The keyboard is quite good. It has a decent tactile feedback (click) and the backlight is bright enough to make typing in the dark easy. The top row of keys does get a little too close to the bottom of the screen in my opinion.

The bottom of the device is where you’ll find the MiniSD slot and a sliding lock to remove the back cover (to access the battery).

On the top of the device is a keyboard/screen lock button, an on/off button, a zoom rocker and the "full screen" button (which switches applications to full screen mode).

The profile of the N810 from the side, where you clearly see the sliding keyboard and the kickstand.

The Nokia N810 in the included car mount. I’m really torn on this one; on the one hand it’s mighty nice of Nokia to include this for free, but on the other hand the mount itself is pretty useless.

There is no suction cup, and the mount can only be attached to your car with the 4 included screws.

But to make matters worse, Nokia didn’t include a car charging cord, so the entire concept of using the device as a navigation unit in your vehicle pretty much doesn’t work. It’s also a real pain to insert and remove.

The main screen of the Nokia N810. On the left is the task bar where you’ll find the 3 categories of applications (bookmarks, communication and applications). Under those 3 icons is where active applications show up, making it easy to switch to them. On the main portion of the screen you’ll see the widgets I installed; the standard included widgets are an RSS viewer, a clock, Google/Wikipedia search and a contacts link.

You can move widgets around anywhere on the screen, and resize them. Additional widgets can be downloaded through the application manager (I installed the FM radio application and a weather widget).

The included browser is in my opinion the highlight of the device. If you’ve ever used Firefox on your desktop, you’ll feel right at home here. Pages render perfectly, load nice and fast (depending on your connection of course), and there is even support for Flash.

If you touch the address bar using your finger, the N810 will turn on a larger  keyboard, with buttons sufficiently large enough to type on with your fingers.

These 3 shots show the browser in action; in the first shot you’ll see a web site displayed, in the next one you’ll see the same site but in full screen mode, and in the third you’ll see the same page zoomed in to 180%.

Zooming and full screen mode are easy to enable; on the top of the device is a full screen button and a zoom rocker (which also functions as a volume control in some applications. As you can clearly see, pages look like they do on your desktop.

Yes; YouTube works. It’s not the fastest experience, but to have a browser on a device this small support Flash is pretty impressive.

Menu’s and application lists

The control panel of the N810. Everything is listed neatly in categories (are you paying attention Microsoft?). 

The application menus on the N810 are neatly sorted; applications are listed under "My selection, Internet, Communication, Utilities, settings and extras".

These menus are also large enough to browse through with your fingers, so you won’t always have to reach for the stylus.

Multimedia

Multimedia on the N810 is a real treat; not all applications are installed by default, but the 2 I listed are free (Rhapsody does require a subscription to use). Canonla is by far the best multimedia experience I’ve seen on a PDA, and brings the N810 on par with an iPod touch.

Skype

Skype is as good as it can get; it works, it’s neat and tidy, and call quality is superb. You even get quite a few of the features you normally only find on your desktop version.

Application manager

The Application manager is where all the installed programs gets listed. It’s also where you can select more applications to install, and where you uninstall stuff. With so many applications available for the device, the application manager really does make life easier.

Maps / Wayfinder navigator 

This is another application that is installed by default. The Wayfinder navigation package takes up a hefty 1.5Gb of the internal 2Gb storage card.

It’s a fairly basic GPS program with maps of North America and most common POI categories. Unfortunately it’s not entirely free to use.  In free mode you get basic navigating, but no voice prompts. To enable the "premium" features, you’ll need to pay almost $100.

The maps are fairly decent, but there is no traffic messages feature, nor will you find many of the other features found on today’s basic GPS units.

Memory

As I pointed out earlier; the N810 has 256Mb of memory, and 2Gb of internal storage. Of that 2Gb, 1.49Gb is occupied by the navigation software. You can expand the storage with a MiniSD card (with SDHC support).

FM Radio

The N810 has a nifty integrated FM radio, you’ll need to plug in the headphones to use it (they also act as the antenna). One of the best features is an online frequency chart, which allows you to download local FM radio station Frequencies. This is perfect if you are in a new city, and need to find something to listen to.

RSS reader 

The RSS reader is a big of a disappointment and about as basic as possible. If you are an RSS junkie, you’ll certainly want to try and find something better than this.

Final thoughts…

The Nokia N810 is a bit of niche device. It certainly won’t suit every mobile user. That said; I think there really are a lot of roadwarriors who could benefit from having this kind of power in their luggage. It’s smaller than any UMPC, it’s more flexible than any current PDA, and it has more power than the average smartphone. The only comparable device I can think of is the HTC Advantage X7510 ($1199, but because of legal issues, not currently available in the US).

The ability to carry a REAL browser, as well as having access to Skype and other VOIP applications makes it perfect for anyone who is on the road, but doesn’t want to carry a laptop, or even a sub notebook. There are some other (mostly Nokia) phones that offer VOIP, but none have the display size of the N810.

The hardware is great; an amazing display, perfectly usable keyboard and reliable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The lack of a regular SD card slot is disappointing, as this means you’ll have to invest in MiniSD cards.

The GPS and maps application are nice, but not much more than that. I’d have a hard time using the N810 as my day to day navigation unit, and would probably depend more on my Blackberry to get me where I need to be. To use the navigation software to its full potential requires an additional investment of 80 Euro’s, for a 12 month license.

But my biggest concern is the price. It’s not that $399 is too much, it’s that the N810 is almost $200 more than the previous model, the N800.

The differences between the N810 and the N800 are fairly limited; the N810 has GPS, a hardware keyboard and 2Gb of memory. The N800 has an SD slot AND a MiniSD slot, so adding 2Gb would only cost around $15.

There are some things on the N810 I don’t like; the D-pad can only be accessed by sliding the keyboard open, the car mount is a joke, and no car charger is included.

But when you compare those issues with the pro’s, things really don’t look that bad. There is a lot of software available for it, it is rock solid (mine never crashed once), and the general look and feel is great.

The Nokia N810 is available from most major computer retailers, including Amazon.com.