The N800 Internet Tablet is a strange device to come from Nokia. The company is a phone specialist and yet the N800 doesn't support SIM cards.

It does support communications, though, in the form of video calling over the Internet to which it connects using built-in Wi-Fi, and it has a fancy camera for image capture. When you need the camera you use a spring-loaded mechanism to pop it out of the casing. When it isn't needed, you push it back inside the casing again.

That one capability rather presents the N800 in a nutshell. It is a device with some very clever features but unless Internet access is available it is hamstrung. The only thing to add is that it is very nicely designed.

The N800 Internet Tablet is mostly screen: the majority of its front is occupied by a display that measures just over 10cm corner to corner and displays 65,000 colours. The screen is touch-sensitive but there is a navigation button along with a few other button-based controls to its left should you prefer to use these.

The device is larger than a phone, even larger than most PDAs, and heavier too, at 206g and with dimensions of 75 x 144 x 18mm. It has a pop-out stand so you can prop it up on a desk, where its wide screen makes it look like a miniature TV.

So what can you do with the N800 Internet Tablet? Well, with a live Internet connection you can browse the Web, do video calling, e-mail and instant messaging, play media, listen to Internet radio and read your RSS feeds. The video calling is limited to a couple of clients; Jabber and Google Talk.

When you are out of Internet range you can still use the N800 for some activities: drawing on the screen, viewing PDF files, looking at images, taking text notes and using a calculator. There is no calendar, though, and the Linux-based operating system means you may have more difficulty finding add-on software for it than you might with a PDA or Smartphone.

You can use SD cards to augment the built-in memory and there are two slots, one in the outer casing, one under the battery cover. You can also connect the N800 to your PC using the supplied USB cable, to exchange files. But you can't synchronise as you might a PDA or Smartphone.

During testing the processor was a bit slow at times. Waiting while it zoomed into and out of PDF files was especially tedious, even though the actual wait was only a couple of seconds. Battery life was not wonderful for a portable device either. It took just over five hours for a full battery to completely drain itself by playing music.

If, after reading this, you aren't clear precisely what the N800 Internet Tablet is for, or who might want one, then join the club. Yes, it is nice looking, and browsing the Internet while holding it in one hand is quite satisfying. But it doesn't do anything you can't do with a laptop computer, doesn't do many things you can do with a laptop, and without a Wi-Fi Internet connection it is severely hampered.