I spent a lot of time recently looking at these two devices as frankly I'm interested in a tablet like device. You seem to have missed the important negatives for both platforms. Frankly I think it is important to concentrate on the negatives instead of the positives so that you won't come up short. So here goes:
The Nokia N800:
1. The unit is slower, no way to get around that.
2. The unit can not handle full screen video well as there is a well known bandwidth problem in the video circuity. A big issue if viewing video at full screen resolution was on you mind.
3. The amount of built in Flash simply sucks and no the flash card support doesn't count. Of the two (N800 and N810) though the N800 wins hands down. On the N810 Nokia really blew it to the point that it isn't a viable device for many.
4. The open source software can be clunky at times but not horribly so. Most apps need work as far as touch usability is concerned.
5. No charging via USB. This one really makes me wonder what the hell Nokia was thinking.
The Ipod Touch:
1. No Bluetooth. This is really huge in my mind as it severely limits apps that one could implement.
2. No standard USB port for charging or anything else.
3. No Flash card option.
4. Locked access to the device. Yes it can be broken but what is Apple's justification in the first place. They can't play the security trump card here as ti isn't cell network connected.
5. At this time no body knows where the SDK will move the platform with respect to openness and application support. This is a big issue if you are expecting app support.
6. Low resolution screen.
7. No direct access to the file system via a "Finder" or any other method. In fact this thing could hardly be called a computer as many things are very difficult to do. For example how would you go about organizing a collection of PDF's and HTML documents and access them in the wild? This makes a whole class of usages very difficult.
8. No audio in! Really would it have been so much of a problem for them to implement the same mini plug as the iPhone so that Audio in could have been had. No mic built in either which means no voice messaging of VoIP easily.
Those are the things that come to mind that one has to juggle when making a decision to buy. I will put a few mare comments in line below to address your perceptions.
Has anyone had both of these devices? I am stuck deciding between them.
As noted I've looked at both for some time. As the units are currently though I have to dismiss the Nokia's and unfortunately the current Touches too.
Nokia N800 advantages over the touch:
-2 SD slots
One is a primary SD slot which won't be easy to swap. If you do go the N800 route you must get the largest cards possible. This is an additional expense on top of the buy in price of the N800. So the n800 really costs you the price of the N800 plus at least one large capacity SD card. You need to account for this because even thought the N800 is discounted heavily right now it will automatically need a larger flash card to even remotely compete with the Touch.
I'm not sure how you can even consider these so called speakers to be a feature.
Again what is the point as it really isn't a feature worth talking about.
Possibly the N800 greatest strength. Also a weakness as commercial development seems to be lacking on the platform. To be honest Linux is one of the platforms strongest attractions for me.
-Great battery life (though iPod Touch might be too-I am unsure)
I suspect that the Touch is much better.
The Nokia is all around a better machine when it comes to I/O. In fact the iPod doesn't even come close.
Not really as you need to add a high capacity SD flash card almost immediately if you expect to use the machine in a similar manner to the iPod Touch. In fact it might be more expensive.
iPod Touch advantages over the N800
-Interface (multitouch)
Certainly good but I don't see it as a deal breaker.
-Media playback is slicker (it's an iPod!)
Yep. On the other hand Linux supports a wide range of formats that the Touch doesn't. Basically you are locked into a couple of formats on the Touch.
-Availability of accessories
Well yeah a little better, but then again you can get a Bluetooth GPS module for the N800 today and it has a USB port.
Good for media downloaded from the iTunes store but also a big limitation. One thing you don't have any more is disk mode access, at least the last I knew you didn't. It is very important for the use of a devices beyond its iPod modes. Being tied to just Itunes access of the device is a huge limitation if used outside the iPod norm.
I suppose this is important if you are an OS/X user, but frankly it is not as good as it could be.
-It's an Apple (important to me)
Well then why this thread. If you are not objective then what is the point.
Anything else? What is your take on these 2 devices?
My take is that it is frustrating!!!! Really, at this point I'm hoping either for newer revs of some real competition. In many ways the Touch is very weak competitor, but is does win on the software front with respect to specific applications. These would be the Web and E-mail apps and of course the media apps, but surprisingly over all the software is just OK.
The N800 however competes well hardware wise and for its software over all. I say well for hardware because some things it just does better like I/O, but it is far from perfect as highlighted above. Being just plain slow isn't good either. Even worst the new N810 didn't really address the hardware issues and in some ways made things a lot worst.
So it comes down to your needs and your willingness to compromise on specific issues. Frankly I wouldn't buy a Touch right now if I was looking at more than a media device capability. At least not until the SDK clears up what is happening on the platform and hopefully corresponds with new hardware releases. If you just need a media player with E-Mail and Web then it might be viable.
The N800 is a different beast and frankly you would not want to go this route if your primary need is for a media player. It isn't even marketed as such. In many ways though it is a much more flexible machine which can't be underestimated. Its biggest problem is the overwhelming lack of storage and the additional expense that requires to fix. I do believe though that the N800 for most people is a better option than the N810. Mainly due to the SD card slots. Don't get me wrong I like the N800 but it is a little dated right now and the N810 did not address that.
Either way you go I suspect that you will be disappointed in a few months with the new stuff that hits the shelfs. I'm not talking just about the new stuff from Apple and Nokia either. There is the coming of ANDROID and OPENMOKO plus a lot of interesting hardware from china if it ever makes it here.
Dave
