Bestbob

Tried to make the title get right to the point of my impending decision on the best small device to have for Internet access by wifi, including Europe, primarily to read and respond to email (a Yahoo account) without having to download the email to the device.

Anyone with personal or experience of friends who can comment the strength of the Web browsers and the overall email experience?

FYI, no interest in either phone or camera features... I have a nice easy to dial Nokia 6061 for phone and that's fine. No interest in the iPod feature either. Email, its all about browsing the web and getting access to my email on a screen significantly larger than anything on a smart phone.

ScottC

Tough one.

Personally I'd think the form factor of the N800 is better. The display on the N800 is simply spectacular, and its browser supports more standards. The N800 can be expanded (memory AND software). Plus if you really wanted you could add a Bluetooth keyboard to the N800.

While the browser on the iPhone is fairly decent, it's quite limited and a bit of a pain to browse a lot on since it doesn't use a stylus.

ScottC

Another, very affordable option would be the Archos 604Wifi.

It has a very decent Opera browser on it, AND a 30Gb drive that you can fill with media. I've seen them recently for as low as $200 at Sams Club. If you are a Sams member, check your local store.

Of course, Palm Folio may even work for you.

Other options would be a cheap used Jornada off Ebay or and old Web tablet running CE.

Bestbob

Thanks Scott... I will check the Archos right now...

Of course, another option I've been avoiding but isn't the end of the world is to save the money, cart along my IBM T43... perfect for the wifi browsing and good use of Skype in Europe to call back to the States and low per minute rates compared to regular cells.

But for now, to check your first recommendation. If good, I can transform myself into a Sam club member and there's one near to my home here in Michigan.

ScottC

As far as the Archos goes; I know you didn't want an iPod, but if you are spending money anyway, a 30Gb media player is a nice bonus.

PLUS; it can copy files off a USB device (like a camera), browse network shares AND act as a network shared file server.

pmax

What do you have to base that on?

hfly

OR the new Archos 605's that are coming out any day now, up to 160GB Hard Drive and a bunch of other bells and whistles

hfly

No prmax, he said that "The display on the N800 is simply spectacular" not your hatchet job quote. HE could have gotten that opinion of of anyone of the hundreds of review sites out there, even those that think it a stupid device agree that the display is amazing, or he could have goten those idea off the recent thread about the 800 and the 770 here on FT. Or more likely because Scott is THE tech guru on FT, I am sure that if he doesn't own one of these, that he probably has, and at the very leats has spent hours playing with it.

ScottC

Start here:

http://arstechnica.com/journals/linu...gecko-renderer

Plus; the N800 browser supports streaming media links, saving images, cut and paste etc...

Edit: and of course, Opera on the N800 supports Flash while the iPhone doesn't. PLUS you can now switch the rendering engine on the N800 from Opera to Mozilla...

mtacchi

I wanted the iphone because it looked slick, but ended up buying a N95 for the fact its a better phone. I imagine the N800 is only better, but I love the N95

Bestbob

Read that Arstechnica article on new browsers and have to laugh... normal folk who don't know the language, like myself, are left in mystery... all we want to do is turn the thing on and use it.

By the way, I don't for a minute think the N800 is a useless gadget... I find the idea of combining PDAs and phones and cameras into a single device with a keyboard that's almost impossible to see a fairly silly proposition... and I know that's contrary to most of the know modern world.

In my case, the N800 makes sense because my calendar and my email and my website hosting and my blog are all wrapped up in Yahoo business services. I need to get into the Yahoo website online and I'm in business. Without it, I'm not. As I said earlier, my quaint Nokia phone will serve just fine for that purpose. More than happy to carry around the Nokia N800 for the web entry as long as it works.

I've been reading various blogs and message boards populated by Linux folk captivated by the challenge of "improving" things with new software. I don't have the time to follow that or my consulting business would crash.

And yes, I do believe that the N800 has a fantastic screen. And that it can find a wifi signal where many others cannot. After that, I'm not so sure but maybe willing to take a chance.

CrazyOne

The iPhone does integrate directly with a Yahoo account, which means you would read/reply in the email interface rather than the browser interface. This is a plus in that the interface will be well-tailored to the small screen (as opposed to using the browser interface). All in all, though, email appears to be a weakness on the iPhone. And there's the whole typing thing. Some people report that they're faster than ever on that virtual keyboard, whereas others report that they don't really get it and would do better with a physical one small though they may be. (Although the Archos and Nokia mentioned so far also have virtual keyboards. At least they work in widescreen mode looks like and perhaps have option for an external.) And there's the $500 thing. (You don't have to keep the ATT contract, at least, just activate then cancel within 3 days.)

If you're really not interested in the iPod or phone, it seems hard to justify, but you may want to test how it works with the Yahoo account to see for sure. (I have used iPhone email, but not with a Yahoo account.)

rts123

I've had my N800 for several months now and love it. It's a pretty versatile device, especially now that it has Skype. I've taken it on a couple of non-work trips instead of carrying a laptop and it's a nice, light, and functional solution. I use it with Yahoo mail frequently and find it works well in that regard.

Bestbob

Thanks for these notes... when you say it "works well" with Yahoo email, can I assume you are reading it directly in the browser without actually downloading the files? If so, that's exactly what I'm looking for.

And I do use Skype from time to time... and after checking international rates, that would be a nice added plus for the time I'm in Ireland if I had to call back to the States for personal or business reasons.

Thanks for the extra detail... I'm close to sold on the N800 at this point.

rts123

Yes, I read my Yahoo mail directly in the browser. It works well for that, and it's easy to open JPG and PDF attachments. I looked at a lot of devices and read a lot of reviews before deciding on the N800 and it's proven to be the right choice for me.