Nokia N800 & N810: How to convert, transfer and watch videos and movies on your tablet

To get the most out of this tutorial, watch the video above and then read the text below. The tutorial assumes that N800 owners have upgraded to OS 2008. If you want to find out more about upgrading, click here.

If you want to comment on this tutorial, please post in the comments section at the end. If you have any questions or problems regarding your tablet, please post about them on Internet Tablet Talk's Newbie Forum.

The N800 and N810 have fairly large and sharp widescreen displays which are very suited to watching videos, including full length movies.

Many video files will actually work on the tablets without any conversion, but the converter may make them work better in some way, or save space on your memory card by making the files smaller.

However, some video files may not work at all on the tablets, and have to be converted.


How to convert video files for use on the N800 and N810

Whatever your reasons for converting video files, it's a very simple process indeed.

Before you do anything though, you'll have to download the official Internet Tablet Video Converter (it only works on Windows PCs I'm afraid).

On your PC, go to the Internet Tablet Video Converter website by clicking here, click on the Download near the bottom of the screen, then click on the second "Download" and then "Save File". When you've downloaded the file, double click on it to start the installation process and follow the on-screen instructions.

After the converter is installed, it should appear in the Start menu's Programs section, in the Nokia folder.

Now, here's what you do next:

1. Start the Internet Tablet Video Converter (ITVC) on your PC.

2. Find the video file you want to convert on your PC.

3. Drag the icon of the video file into the window of the ITVC.

4. The ITVC should automatically start converting the file. This may take a very long time for very large files.

5. When the conversion has finished, the progress bar will disappear and four black icons will appear to the right of the video's screenshot. The arrow starts the transfer process (we'll discuss that below), the "i" gives you information about the video, the triangle plays the converted video and the rubbish bin deletes the video.

That's it, the conversion is over. Now the transfer begins!

IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS USING OR INSTALLING THE CONVERTER ...Nokia want to know about it. Go to the Internet Tablet Video Converter website, click on the "Feedback" button near the top of the screen, and tell them exactly what went wrong.


How to transfer converted video files onto the N800 and N810

Transferring is slightly trickier than converting, but when you've done it once it's easy to do it again.

1. Switch on your tablet, and if it's an N800 make sure it has a memory card inside it. Attach your tablet to the PC using the USB cable that came with the tablet.

2. If a "Removable drive" box automatically appears asking what to do next, note the drive letter it mentions (it's probably something like F: or G:). Then click "cancel". Don't worry if none appears.

3. Start the Internet Tablet Video Converter (ITVC), and find the video you want to transfer to the tablet. Click on the black arrow button to the right of that video.

4. A box saying "Copy Video" should appear. Click on its "Browse" button.

5. A box showing all your computer's folders will appear. Click on "My Computer", then click on the drive letter of your tablet (this will be the same as the drive letter we told you to note earlier). If you're not sure what your tablet's drive letter is, look for anything marked "Removable drive". The correct drive will probably be F: or G:, but it may be another letter.

6. After you've clicked on the correct drive letter, click on OK.

7. Click on the button marked "Copy". The file will now start to transfer.

8. After the transfer is finished, you need to safely disconnect your tablet from your PC. This can be done by right-clicking on the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon in the bottom right corner of your PC's screen. After right-clicking, choose the "Safely Remove Hardware option, then select "USB Mass Storage Device" option, then press the stop button, then press OK. When the "USB Mass Storage Device" option disappears, you can disconnect the tablet from your PC safely.

And that's it, the converted video file is now ready for viewing on your tablet.


How to watch converted video files on the N800 and N810

Viewing transferred files is very easy:

1. Click on the Applications icon (the green squares on the left).

2. Select Media Player from the My Selection section.

3. You should now see the Media Player's library front page, with Music, Video and Internet Radio sections. If you don't, click on the black backwards arrow until you do.

4. Double-click on the Video section.

5. Find the name of the file you just transferred, and click on it to start it playing. Once it starts, you can watch it in full screen by clicking on the playing video, and clicking on it again goes back to the smaller screen mode.

And that's it, the video has been watched.


Can I convert my DVDs to watch them on the tablet?

This is a very tricky question to answer.

Technically, it is possible. You need to somehow get the DVD's video files onto your PC, then run them through the Internet Tablet Video Converter, and transfer them onto the tablet.

However, it may not be legal to do the first step, where you get them from the DVD onto the PC. This first step is often known as "DVD ripping".

The problem is that almost all DVDs have a form of copy protection built into them designed to stop people pirating them. Thanks to various laws in various countries (including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, DMCA, in the United States), it's now illegal to break any kind of copy protection for any reason.

However, in practice copyright owners such as film studios have turned a blind eye to people copying legally bought DVDs for their own personal use. So far, the only kind of DVD piracy that has resulted in prosecutions has been either where someone has given pirated DVD files to other people, or where someone has downloaded pirated DVD files from the internet. As far as we're aware, no one has been prosecuted for buying a legal DVD and then copying it onto their own computer.

Because this is a legal grey area, most hardware manufacturers such as Nokia will not give you instructions on how to copy DVDs onto your PC. However, many smaller software companies do sell PC software that lets you convert DVDs into video files on your computer. These DVD conversion programs, often called DVD rippers, are available from major retailers such as Amazon.com, or you may even see them on the shelves of your local electronics shop.

It's worth emphasising though that even though these programs are on sale on Amazon, that doesn't make their use legal. It is very likely that converting copyrighted DVDs into video files is illegal in your part of the world. If you choose to do so, you may be committing a crime, though it is very unlikely that you would be prosecuted if you own the original legal DVD and never allow anyone else access to the copied files.