Nokia N800: Using it as a photo and video album

To get the most out of this tutorial, please watch the video above and then read the text below. If you have any questions or comments, please click on the "comments" link at the end of the text below.

The N800's screen is rather good: it's big, it's bright, it's sharp, and this makes it very suitable for viewing photos and videos. Its storage capacity is also fairly large, particularly if you add the largest possible memory cards, which give it a total storage space of 16 gigabytes.

By contrast, the screens on most phones and digital cameras are much smaller and less distinct. Even when you've taken a picture or shot a video, it's hard to see how it turned out.

The answer is of course to transfer the pics and vids to the tablet, to use your N800 as a photo and video album.

There are many methods of transfer:


Transferring photos and videos by Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a short-range wireless standard used for sending information between two nearby electronic devices. It has a range of about 10 metres or 10 yards.

The procedure for sending something by Bluetooth varies a great deal from one device to another, so you'll have to consult your Bluetooth-compatible phone's or camera's manual to find out how this works. The video above demonstrates how to send a photo by Bluetooth on a Nokia 5300 phone, and video on a Nokia 6290 phone.

Once you've managed to get the transfer started, the N800 will ask you if you want to receive the file. Click on "Save".

It will then ask you what you want to call the file, you can change it if you want by clicking on it. Whatever you call the file, it's important that you put it in the appropriate folder or memory card where you want to store photos or videos. You can choose any folder or card you want, you can even create a new folder by clicking on "New". When you've selected the folder or card you want, click on "OK", then click on "OK" again. The file will now start to transfer from the phone, camera or other Bluetooth-compatible gadget.

If you've transferred a photo, the N800's Image application should start up as soon as the photo has arrived. The Image app lets you zoom in and out by moving the blue sliding scale at the bottom of the screen, and move around the photo by sliding it with the stylus. You can also view the picture in full-screen mode by tapping it or by pressing the full-screen button on the top of the N800 (the middle one of the three). To see other photos in the same folder, click on the right and left arrows at the bottom of the screen.

If you've transferred a video, the N800's Media Player application should start up as soon as the video arrives. There are the usual playback controls on the left (triangle plays, lines pause, square stops), and you can view a video in full-screen mode by starting it playing and then tapping it or pressing the N800's full-screen button. To see a complete list of video clips in the Media Player's library, click on the library logo (the three discs) in the bottom right hand corner of the player.


Transferring photos and videos by memory card

You can also view and store photos and vids on your N800 using memory cards. If you have an N800-compatible memory card in your phone or camera, you can simply take pictures or video with that gadget, then take the card out and put it in the N800. (If you're unsure about which cards are compatible, click here to see our tutorial on N800 memory cards.) If you're using a phone, make sure it's set to save photos and videos to the memory card, otherwise the card will be empty.

To view photos after you've inserted the memory card into your N800, click on the main menu (the two white rectangles on the left), then click on Images. Click on the Images menu bar at the top, select "Image", then select "Open". From the list on the left, select the memory card you've inserted ("Internal Memory Card" means the one under the battery cover, "Removable Memory Card" means the one with the door at the front of the N800). You may also need to select the right folder within that card, for example many phones save photos to a card's "images" or "photos" folder. Once you've got everything correctly selected, you'll see thumbnails of your photos appear on the right. Scroll down until you find the photo you want to look at or store, click on it, then click "Select".

To save the photo you're viewing to your N800's own memory or to a second memory card in the other slot, click on the Images menu bar at the top, select "Image", select "Save As", then click on "Change Folder" and select where you want the photo to go. You may also want to rename the photo by clicking on its name. When you have a suitable name and folder, click "OK".

To view videos after you've inserted the card in the N800, click on the main menu and select Media Player. The Media Player should automatically scan your card at this point and add any video clips to the "Video" section of its library. If you're not in the library already, click on the three discs in the bottom right corner. Then click twice on the Video section to see all the video clips on the N800 and its memory cards.

To save video clips to your N800's own memory or to the memory card in the other slot, click on the main menu and select File Manager. On the left hand side, click on the card you've just inserted (Internal is the one under the battery cover, Removable is behind the plastic door). On the right hand side, you will see the contents of the selected memory card including any folders. Find the video clip you want to save (it may be in a folder), then hold down the stylus on the name of the clip and drag it to the place you want to save it on the left (either a folder on the N800, such as Video Clips, or the other memory card).


Transferring photos and videos by email

An even more unusual way to get photos and videos off your phone and onto the N800 is to attach them to emails. This has the advantage that you don't have to be physically near your tablet to start the transfer. It also means that even if the phone is damaged or destroyed the file will still get to the tablet.

To send an email with an attachment on your phone, consult your phone's instruction manual. Be aware that not all phones can send emails with attachments.

You can pick up emails and their attachments on your N800 either from webmail services such as Gmail/Google Mail or Yahoo Mail through the web browser, or you can download attachments through the N800's built-in email program. (Click here to see our tutorial on setting up Gmail/Google Mail with the N800's built-in email program.)

When you download an attachment, as with the previous methods make sure you click on "Change Folder" so you can select the appropriate folder or memory card for the photo or video.

One thing to watch out for: some email services will restrict the size of attachments on emails. This shouldn't cause problems with photos, but it may mean that video clips have to be fairly short. Acceptable sizes of attachments vary from one email provider to another, consult your email provider about this size if you're unsure.