Lose the PDA: Nokia's 6800

Nokia 6800I'm a keyboard guy. I grew up programming computers with a keyboard. I could type 4 words a minute by age 11 or so. Sure, the QWERTY keyboard was originally designed to SLOW DOWN typists, back in the mechanical typewriter days, but regardless - I still type pretty quickly. And I don't have to look at my fingers, either. I'm a keyboard guy, you know.

When I first started to really get into SMS a couple of years ago, I hated the triple-tap method of text input. My first GSM phone was an old Timeport from Motorola that used a very primitive version of their iTap predictive system. So primitive that I went back to triple tap. it wasn't until I got a prototype of the Ericsson R520, quite some time later, that I was first introduced to T9, from Tegic.

Wow, what an improvement over the triple-tap and iTap methods. But good as it was, and is, I still can't enter text with it very quickly. Quickly enough, you could argue. But I still have to look at what I am typing, it just doesn't feel natural.

So, you can understand why I was so thrilled when I first saw the Nokia 6800 last year. There it was, a pretty normal looking, capable phone. Yet hidden away was a decently large QWERTY keyboard. I mean, if they had actually put Bluetooth into the device, I think I might have died from the excitement. Sadly, it looks like I'll live to see another day.

Typical Series 40
So I'll give you a quick rundown of the phone, and then we'll cut to the good stuff. Basically, the 6800 is like most every recent Nokia Series 40 phone that has been released (7210, 6610, 6100, 5100, 7250). In fact, internally there is very little that separates the 6800 from the 7210. They both have 128x128 pixel displays in 4096 colors, both have FM radios, both have polyphonic ringtones, support Java, and have that new Pop-Port connector on the bottom. They even have some of the same games, like Bounce. From a software and internals perspective, they are very damn near identical.

But, contrary to what your mother told you, it isn't what's on the inside that's important with the 6800. It is the physical world. The 6800 was meant to be used and abused. You aren't going to be entering in little 160 character messages to send to your girlfriend (although you could), you aren't going to be chatting away with grandma (although you should), the 6800 is meant to keep you connected with your business. For the first time in a normal sized mobile phone, an email client can be used for real email, the Calendar can be easily used for adding appointments, not just viewing them, and you can enter real notes.

Otherwise it is a pretty normal phone. It isn't the lightest thing out there at 122g, but it does have a massive 1000mAh battery that will outlast just about anything in its class. Standby time of up to 15 days, and up to 7 hours of talk time. That is pretty serious stuff. The 6800 has no built-in digital camera, as the 7250 does, but it does support the headset camera attachment (HS-1C) like the other Series 40 devices do. Unlike the other FM radio equipped devices in the family, though, it doesn't come with a stereo hands-free headset. Just the simple mono small-boom type. Lastly, like the 7250, the 6800 has over 5MB of free storage memory available. You gotta love that.

 

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