With a slow 680Mhz processor and Symbian OS which has far fewer apps than the iPhone or Android what has this thing got going for it?

You're quoting specs out of context, obviously haven't looked at what it can do .... so what has it got going for it?

Camera - by far and away the best camera on a mobile, with a quality that surpasses a lot of dedicated cameras. Video is of sufficient quality to do broadcast quality recording (witnessed by the McHenry brothers "The Commuter" film).

Free worldwide mapping - google maps will cost you when roaming, Ovi maps loads the data locally on the device

Build quality - its solid. very, very solid.

And whilst it has a relatively slow CPU, it has a class-leading GPU which is well and truly used by the OS - which isn't the case in Android devices.

Also note that Android *needs* a faster CPU as everything runs on a JVM, which despite the coding is relatively inefficient. So a N8 device running a 680mHz CPU is as fast as an Android device running a 1gHz CPU.

HDMI output, better than anything offered by Apple phones.
USB OTG - the first phone to support this rather useful feature.
DIVX support out of the box.

I got a Nokia N8 on Monday and the camera is really good.
Only problem i'm having is I can't get an internet connection which is really annoying but vodafone dont yet have the settings cos its a new phone. I dont want to go over my 7 days with a mobile that won't connect to the internet.

The internet/data settings are not specific to the phone. They're at the network level. If Voda are stating otherwise then they're telling porky pies and just trying to fob you off.

Just google the Vodafone GPRS/MMS/Data settings, most of the network operators have something on their websites to send through the relevant settings, or you can just key them in directly.

Thanks I've just got an email with the settings but they dont match up to the phone. I'm getting annoyed now with it not working!

go to the vodafone help portal
http://help.vodafone.co.uk/system/se...FFSET=-3600000

select any of the recent nokias say the n97 and get the settings for that sent to your phone.

I would have said you've already made up your mind on this.

Thanks. I've just been on the phone to vodafone for 35 mins trying to get it sorted and its still not working. When i was on the phone to nokia on Monday he set priority no 1 to wifi and i cant seem to change it or disconnect it. Will this make a difference or not?

you may not be able to delete the wifi access point unless you put it into off line mode.

if you don't have the vodafone data settings then you will not be able to use the vodafone data network.

Well said ....

If you get a chance, check out this video.

Stars a guy out of Slumdog, Charles Dance and a brief bit with Pamela Anderson. Its quite entertaining, and was all filmed on the N8.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9ME5...layer_embedded

I've now got the internet connection back on after having to do another reset as advised by Nokia.

Since then I can no longer put my facebook shortcut on the home screen so annoying.

Think I might be returning this annoying mobile!!

Does your N8 have any obvious Vodafone branding? Previously the majority of problems experienced on Symbian handsets was down to operator customisations, quite possibly the same with the N8.

Have just picked up a N8 on Vodafone. No branding on the case, but loads of 360 software on the phone itself.

Lets face it, it's the camera really. The thing is, why not just buy a good camera and get a good mobile phone with an average camera?

but it's not just the camera is it. It's all the other things people have mentioned in this thread.

You could buy a camera and walk about with that in your pocket all the time. But if that suggrstion made sense then why have a camera on your phone at all.

People's obsession with Specs is freakishly disturbing.

It's about how the software works with the hardware.

Have you used the N8? If not, then you simply cannot have a bitch about it's specs without seeing how they accompany the software.

I had a play with one in the Manchester Nokia store and was well impressed with it when comapred to the 5800 that I have just passed on to my wife. Got to say though that the feel of *3 Symbian was not as good as 2.1 Android my £99 Orange SF. The N8 is obviously a very well made phone and if you want a decent camera and HD video with HDMI output (I would have them but I would not be prepared to pay much extra for them) then it is unsurpassed. Also thought that the screen should have been bigger and the whole handset lacked that 'sexy' feel you get with an iPhone (or other top range devices). For the price I would expect more. However it is a good phone if you need the best camera on a phone, I just worry for its success given the whole range of Android phones available and now that WP7 is hear as well. To me it looked like the sort of smart phone your dad would pick. And as 43 year old dad even I don't want one. Sorry Nokia.

I'm a 41 year old dad .... and disagree.

Had a play with one at lunch, the screen definitely looked a lot better and way more vivid than that on my San Francisco (but then the price difference).

I'm not that enamoured with Android on the SF though - after the initial "ooooh, shiny" wore off, it actually feels like a very basic operating system.

I still fail to see just what Android brings other than an app store with 99% lousy apps.

Its both the 1% of useful 'unrestricted' stuff and the fact that being more open everyone is starting to manufacture it and thus bring the high end feel to the mass market.

However there is always something rubbish about most phone brands/systems.

The full Mobile Opera is supposedly out within the week then for Android.

The N8 sounds quite useful for its HDMI. I guess if the older ARM 11 CPU was 1Ghz it would do 1080p with is video tricks?

Had a play with one of these yesterday, My opinion is its ok, I wouldn't rush out to buy one, It is by far the best touch screen Nokia to date, but then the rest were crap, Its symbian that lets it down, it still looks dated and unpolished.

The processor on th N8 is too slow for a 2010 smartphone.

HTC, iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S all use 1Ghz processors and they can bearly keep up!

I am looking forward to the new ARM 1.6Ghz Dual Core processors being installed in smartphones as they will really make a difference to the performance. Intel are also developing new processors for mobile devices

If it has the high tech features required and does the required job this is fairly irrelevant.

However I'm not sure that the high tech features justify the sale price.

Nokias in my opinion are way over priced. Take the X6 £250 on Play.com, and what a load of utter balls it is, its totally rubbish, for £250 you could get 2 Orange San Frans, a HTC Wildfire both a hell of alot better than the X6

You obviously haven't got a freakin' clue on the architectures of the OS underneath, have you? You're a blind follower of basic specs and have no real knowledge of whats going on.

As Android has the hardware abstraction layer, and everything runs in a JVM, its relatively inefficient and it *needs* a faster processor.

So an N8 with a 680mHz processor + class leading GPU is equal to any of the competition - be it android or iOS on real world performance.

And there is one element of performance that you're completely forgetting - battery life, in which Symbian does a considerably better job.

really doubt that intel have a cat in hecks chance of getting anywhere with mobile phones - thats something like 99.9% based around ARM architectures.

^ what he said