Nokia Booklet 3G - Evaluation

After using the Booklet 3G for two weeks, I have to say that I am quite happy with the Booklet 3G. Not only the unit has drawn quite a lot of interest, it has also done its job by being very quiet (it's running on a fanless design anyway).

I have found out that the speakers on the Booklet 3G is just okay - forget about the bass as there's no bass but the treble is good.

The chasis is solid and performance wise, the battery rocks! I could use it for around 10 hours under light usage with a single charge. I think the 16 cells on the Booklet 3G really made it possible.

Using Windows 7 Starter was a pain. I wished Nokia would have installed Windows XP Professional on it. With Windows 7, the UI is much better but it feels slow even with the Z530 CPU from Intel. With the CPU/Memory Widget installed on the desktop, the memory gauge is always showing around 70% utilised with one window opened I wished Nokia would have installed 2GB on the Booklet 3G instead.

With Windows 7 Starter Edition, I could not change the theme at all. The only way to do so is to change the OS but I am not prepared to do so. Things are dragging on due to the 1GB physical memory installed. Part of the memory has been used for the GMA 500 graphics chip. That does not help too.

Trying to watch a programme on the BBC Iplayer was not really good as you do get choppy scenes all the time. However, if you were to skip full screen and merely watching a programme on a normal resolution, you will be fine. It goes the same to watching any HD videos on youtube. Forget about any videos higher than 360p.

I did say that many people were interested. Most of them are willing to part with their hard earn cash (£650 on Nokia website or £420 on ebay: Brand New) but they could not justify the inability to upgrade more memory. The CPU is great but not without sufficient memory. The only thing which they could do is to unsolder the 1GB memory and instead solder a 2GB on it. With regards to the 120GB hard drive, they could change to a SSD instead of a 1.8" PATA hard drive.

In a nutshell, the Nokia Booklet 3G is good but not without its flaws. For £420, it is a tad expensive taking into account that users could not upgrade the onboard physical memory with ease. What a shame...