Looking at the Nokia Booklet 3G with an N900

Posted by Ben Smith on 18th September 2009

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In a break away from filming (well, real actors were doing the filming… I was just an extra) a set of new viral videos for Nokia in Budapest, I snagged an N900 and a Booklet 3G and tried to answer two questions in one go:  What’s the N900’s video like and how does the Booklet 3G cope playing HD video from the web?

It’s worth noting that although the hardware of the N900 is ‘probably’ the release edition, the firmware still has some revisions due before launch so do expect the quality to improve particularly in low light as in this video…

The camera’s been reported to be the same as the N97’s, although when we compared them the focal length appears to be slightly different.  Do expect the image quality to be similar though.

For those that asked I’ve also made the unmodified original video file from the N900 available for download too [125MB].

–

UPDATE: In response to my questions, Nokia have now confirmed the Booklet 3G will output 1080p via the HDMI interface.  Based on the performance demonstrated in the video I’d be surprised if it can play 1080p even from local disk, but for static presenting on a big-screen in a business environment this is a nice feature. It also confirms that if it can play 720p from disk (and I believe it will, based on non-exhaustive testing), it can be output to a big screen.

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  • Also too? Very kind of you :)
  • Sorry Denny - I have only had 3 hours of sleep and commuted to work (which is in London) from Hungary this morning... so my brain's a bit frazzled... I didn't understand your comment.
  • Unsurprisingly underperformed. Any chance of finding out what the GPU is under that?

    If struggles to play HD spec video (in flash), how would it perform playing HD video locally via HDMI output?
  • Will you buying a Booklet 3G, Ben?

    And do you think the N900 can ever replace the Android OS for you?
  • Booklet? No. Even if I needed one (...and I don't... I have the NC10 and the MacBook Air) it's too underpowered. However, I do *love* the build, keyboard and size so I'd look hard at a subsequent version.

    The other factor would be cost... a Netbook is a 2nd device for me and however beautiful it is I'm not sure I could spend ~£600 for an occasional-use device. Nokia *will* address this though (bundles, operator subsidy, etc) though so I'm not as worried as those who've only looked at the launch price in Italy.


    Very very tempted by the N900 - it's tablet first and phone second, but that's how I use most of my devices... I do love Android, but coming up for upgrade time (G1's on its last legs) the Samsung Galaxy I'm testing is dire (more on that later) and Moto / LG still have to prove themselves, so there's a lack of tasty hardware out there.
  • Well as it probably has some HD acceleration (hence the HDMI port!) I would imagine the next bit upgrade to Flash in 2010 which supports HD Acceleration Chipsets then this will probably do a little better.
  • terrible quality, how do those videos play on your Samsung netbook? same Atom processor.
  • I'll repeat the exercise and post a vid, but from memory... "better" :-)
  • llaadd
    i'd hope so as it's running xp which would be less drain on the system...have you tried playing with the virtual ram, see if that helps at all?
  • Quick interim response... On an NC10 running Windows 7 (beta) Vimeo HD is fine (although any other processes do begin to make it a bit choppy). YouTube HD is still unplayable.
  • Ben, I love that you're wearing your coat while doing work alone (I'm guessing) in your hotel room. Such a classy gent, you're always dressed for a party.
  • :-) Thanks Jeb.

    Yes, we'd finished filming (the real reason for the smarter clothes) and only had a few hours to get some reviewing done!
  • Looks like the N900 needs some anti-shake for the video capture.
  • :-) Some of that may have been me... and the beers the night before.

    To me it didn't feel any more prone to shake than any other handset.
  • dansus
    No GPU support in flash, so wouldnt expect an Atom to decode it.

    How does a local 720p trailer play?
  • Unfortunately I don't have it any more, so wasn't able to test it.
  • What?! NO WORDS about the N900?!

    Mother..
  • Patience my precious... they're coming.
  • 1080p is great, not just for video though. My home monitor is 1080p and I'd really appreciate connecting to that with HDMI. I sometimes use my netbook as an alternative to my power-hungry gaming PC when I'm simply browsing the web.
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