Nokia 770 Instead Of A Laptop?
Tuesday, January 24th, 2006 by Mike Rundle
I’m a little torn here, so I’m in need of some good comment-based advice — it’s regarding my impending purchase of a laptop, or should I say, a palm-top. I work from home, however I do travel 3-4 times per year to conferences and whatnot, and when I’m there I end up needing something to 1) surf the internet, 2) blog with, and 3) check Bloglines. I normally don’t do any real work at conferences besides soaking up all the information and rehashing it into weblog entries, so I used to own a bottom of the line, small, iBook G4, and that was perfect. The problem was, I never used any applications on it besides Safari or Mail, so the ~$1,000 purchase seemed like a bit of a waste to me. SXSW is coming up fast and since I sold that iBook a few months back, I’m now in the market for “something” to surf the web and blog with. And therein lies the dilemma ;)
Fancy Gadgetry
I’ve known about the Nokia 770 internet tablet for awhile now, just because when it launched it soaked up a lot of gadget blog press. I just read a 9-page review at MobileBurn and it seems like a cool little device: Bluetooth, Wifi, a Linux-based OS running the Gnome window manager, a big screen, a nice web browser, and lot more stuff. Pair it with a slick Bluetooth fold-up keyboard and I might have a winner!
The small number of actual applications for it is not really a problem, considering I can write & save text and keep track of stuff all from within a browser. 770 + Bluetooth keyboard = around $500. Cheapo Mac laptop would be a few hundred more, and possibly worth it if I used it more than a week or so per year, but the coolness and form-factor of the Nokia internet tablet might take the cake. Plus can you imagine somebody chilling with a 770 and a Bluetooth keyboard at your local coffee spot? It’d be the sickness!
Reader Comments
13 Responses to “Nokia 770 Instead Of A Laptop?”
It’d just be so much easier if Apple came out with a tablet…
January 24th, 2006 at 11:21 pm
It’s not there yet — I just got a 770 and am on a business trip now. It was fine for goofing around on WiFi at the airport when I didn’t want to whip out the laptop, but it’s not the only thing you need. I couldn’t survive with just the 770, even if just for a day.
It’s still very slow, text input is painful. Webmail works great on it, but sending a msg with their text input takes a lot of effort.
It’s a bit glitchy and picky about connecting over wifi sometimes, though not often. And the bluetooth/grps link is pretty slow too.
I like the 770, and I like where it’s going. I think it’s the end of the PDA, and the end of problems with sync (web services for your PDA don’t need to be sync’ed), but it’s not ready for prime time as your ONLY device on the road, even if only for a day.
January 25th, 2006 at 1:08 am
yeah, I always wondered who the 770 was geared towards. It’s much too much for a casual internet user (think myspace users), but not enough for power users.
January 25th, 2006 at 1:54 am
What are the odds that you and I are both looking at the 770 on the same day. I’ve been obsessed with this thing since it debuted on Nokia.com. Go for the cool factor.
January 25th, 2006 at 2:58 am
hmm. It’d also be very easily steal-able, out on the table at the coffeeshop - don’t avert your eyes for a second! (I think it sounds great as a concept, this was the only negative I could think of…)
January 25th, 2006 at 6:23 am
Well if you’re looking to replace your phone too, I recommend getting a Hiptop. I love mine!
January 25th, 2006 at 8:54 am
You got one more week before MacBook Pro’s start shipping. Wait. Get the 1.83 GHz Core Duo with the 256 MB X1600 GPU ($2,499), upgrade RAM to 2 GB ($300) and finally get another 20 GB’s on that hard drive ($100).
Now let’s do the math: $2,499 + $300 + $100 = $2,899.
To some that may be a small fortune. To others they might look at that number and say “Well, I guess I’ll have to pass on going out drinking on Thursday this week.”
January 25th, 2006 at 10:37 am
I do, in fact, chill at local coffeeshops with my 770, and it’s pretty damn cool. However, don’t get the idea this is a full-fledged replacement for a laptop. The screen is excellent for its size, but, well, it’s still small. I don’t have a keyboard - yet - so that jaundices my view, of course. On the other hand, the convenience of having a real computer that fits in your pocket is outstanding. I do plan to take it on the road for work - in fact, that’s why I bought it. I use the web browser (waiting on Manaos!) and xterm with ssh. I store very little information on the 770 itself.
January 25th, 2006 at 11:49 am
That’s basically what I’m thinking Steve. I’ll be 1) not storing much information on the 770, 2) not really browsing email (and if so, I’d use a web-based email client), 3) not really *doing* anything besides browsing and blogging, so it seems like the featureset is really good for me.
I’ve read a lot of the negative things associated with the 770, and they basically seem like they won’t be affecting how I plan to use it….. and so….
I bought one last night on Nokia’s website! I think it’s backordered a week or so, so be sure to look for a full review soon :)
January 25th, 2006 at 12:16 pm
I have had my Nokia 770 for a month now, and I use it every day. Originally, I bought it as
a laptop alternative : all I wanted was something which I could use for occasional
browsing (for instance, when something on TV mentions a website, or when I suddenly remember something I had to look up) and basic email. I didn’t want a laptop because of the bulk of it. I looked at tablet pcs but that was over my budget. I found the nokia 770 by accident (it is not advertised at all here in the UK).
I use it every day for browsing, I use my ISP web mail interface instead of the mail reader. The mail reader is not brilliant.
All websites I access work fine. I use AudioLunchbox a lot and I had to use the non Flash version for performance. The radio is great, and I have bought a 512MB mmc card to store videos too. I use it as a radio all the time, walking round the house with the radio on.
I think the performance is more than adequate for browsing, email and audio streaming. I don’t miss applications, and I removed most things I added when I first got it (cpu monitor, etc…) I am a geek (I write windows drivers for a living !) but I feel no desire to tinker with the os or adding programs. I think as it is, the Nokia is a perfect consumer device that does what it says on the tin.
On a human note, it means I don’t need to go into the office to check my mail, and I can do this with the rest of the family, with a tiny silent device that doesn’t make an annoying whirr while the others are watching TV.
I also love the fact that it is on and ready in less than 30 seconds (if you leave it in offline mode).
January 25th, 2006 at 2:23 pm
…so I used to own a bottom of the line, small, iBook G4, and that was perfect.
How much is perfect worth to you? Obviously it’s not worth $1,000 or you would have kept the iBook, but you can get used iBook G4s from eBay for under $800, or you could wait and see what a MacBook (sans Pro) is going to cost.
If I were you, even though I don’t travel a lot, I’d go for the iBook/MacBook. It just works, and it’s nice to have more power and capability than you need, especially compared with a potentally limited device like the Nokia you mention.
January 25th, 2006 at 6:08 pm
The 770 is a good choice. I use a BT keyboard, and the Creative Zen Vision (~$430 usd) as an external harddrive. It’s great!
I started a wiki after I got one. It’s at http://nokia770.xantus.org/
I’ll post a how-to soon on how I setup the zen vision as an external drive.
Cheers!
January 26th, 2006 at 4:10 am
I like mine, but YMMV. You definitely want a keyboard for non-trivial data entry.
I suggest checking out the forums at http://www.internettablettalk.com if you’re seriously interested. http://www.maemo.org is more of a developer site, if you’re into that.
January 26th, 2006 at 1:36 pm
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