Smartphone Thoughts: Nokia 770 Internet Tablet

Email
Pete: The email application works well on the 770. You can define multiple accounts, which can either use IMAP or POP3 for mail sending and retrieval. You can tell the email application to leave email on the server and you can specify the maximum downloaded message size and whether it should download headers only. Each account can be configured for immediate sending, send on next connect, or only on request. I currently have two POP3 accounts on mine but the 770 also supports web based email accounts.

Rocco: I'm not a huge fan of the built in email application, or the others that can be downloaded, for the most part I found them slow and sluggish and this is an obvious area where I would much rather whip out the ol' Smartphone and type out a message than to wait for the email application to download the hundreds of emails in my inbox. Even though I set the program to only download the headers, this seemed to still take a little over a minute to do each time I started the application.

Installing Applications
Rocco: One of the greatest features of this device is the ability to never stop evolving. Just like Windows Mobile, you can find and use a vast number of applications. Unlike Windows Mobile though, you don't have to worry about ridiculously high prices, or any cost really, for 99% of the applications I ran across.

A quick search via Google and I stumbled upon Maemo (http://maemo.org/) which is a pretty nifty repository of applications for the Nokia 770. Some of my favorite applications, that have managed to consume a large majority of my waking hours include:

* Pidgin: My favorite Instant Messaging application for the Desktop
* Battlegweled: A very addicting Bejeweled clone
* Bash: A POSIX compliant but souped-up Bourne shell
* MPlayer: An insanely popular open source media player
* UKMP: A very impressive looking media player
* Canola: The ultimate media player for the Nokia Internet tablets

There are a ton of other applications that you can download, I just don't have the room to mention them all! Now it should be noted, that not all of these applications are what some would call “stable”. Several times now I have had to completely wipe my device to a clean state so it was stop rebooting itself due some poorly written application. To be honest, it is sometimes downright annoying to be in the middle of a Battlegwelled game and then have the device restart on you because the previous application you installed has decided to rape your device of the little stability it did have in its original state.

Conclusion
Rocco: As incredible as this device is, I'm surprised Nokia let it ship out the door with the slew of stability errors that seem to plague it. I'm also surprised that a lot of them still have not been fixed seeing as how this device has been on the market for a little over two years already. I am not sure if my device just happens to fall into that small pool of devices that are doomed to have issues the moment they leave the factory or if the problems that I have suffered happen to be effect all Nokia 770's but more often then not I find myself annoyed because the device will just restart on me if I try to visit a web page which uses javascript that the built in Opera Internet browsers do not like or every once in a while the tablet will just refuse to connect to my WiFi network or log into Google Talk until I restart the device. Are these problems enough to make me not recommend the Nokia 770? Not at all. As far as I'm concerned, I have purchased a ton of electronics under $150USD that have had far worse problems than these!

All in all, I dig this little tablet. For what it was built for, it does it surprisingly well and then some. If you have an extra bit of cash burning a hole in your wallet, make sure to head over to Mobile Planet and pick one of these up. Now if only I could get my hands on the upgraded version, the Nokia 800, for a review...

Pete: So who is this device for? Well, if you’re a gadget lover like myself, it’s definitely a fun toy that can also be useful when you need it. I can also see it being useful for business people. I have a friend who just recently bought a flip phone and renewed his two year contract. After seeing my Nokia 770 he’d like to have one as a companion to his phone. He’d be able to watch movies and listen to music on plane trips. He could also send and receive emails and surf the web at airports and hotels without the need of a data plan. I like the Nokia 770. I wish it had a bit more speed under the hood and I wouldn’t have paid the $349.00 MSRP but for under $140, I think its money well spent for all that it does.

Rocco Augusto owns and operates the small online cellular accessory store, RoccStar Accessories as well working as a full-time web developer here in the Portland, Oregon area. In his spare time Rocco enjoys spending time with his lovely fiance and beautiful daughter... as well as trying to teach their new kittens to stop climbing into and sleeping in the Christmas tree.

Pete Paxton is a health/PE teacher in Oregon. He enjoys all types of technology especially mobile technology. His favorite electronic device of any kind is his T-mobile Dash. Pete also enjoys his position as an editor for Smartphone Thoughts. Finally, He has been blessed with a beautiful wife and a fantastic nine year old son.