Well, I have quite a bit of experience of Nokian Hakkapeliitta studded winter tyres, don't know if it's those he's after or the unstudded ones.

In the comparison tests carried out by the car mags here, the Nokians always achieve excellent results. However, they're 'serious' winter tyres with focus on having maximum grip on snow and ice, which means that their grip in the wet (or dry) isn't always quite as good as some of the competitors - nothing that you can't live with though.

As for personal experience, the studded ones (Hakkapeliitta 4's) are nothing short of excellent on ice and snow and quite OK in other conditions - obviously they're not much good for any 'sporty' driving on dry asphalt but then again, no winter tyre is. The only real drawback is increased tyre noise, but that's the same with any studded tyre.