N900: huge dissapointment
 

http://kurtstephens.com/node/116

Prove to me I'm wrong. I was really hoping for the best.

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

Yet another troll .

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

While his feedback might be perceived as 'trolling', I think Nokia would be wise to at least consider it. Instead of posting on these forums, it should have been submitted to some sort of 'customer feedback' department within Nokia (I haven't been able to locate one..)

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

>You cannot delete an email without opening it.

I can

>Cannot import .ics files or .vcard files, so you are stuck using some other conduit or 3rd party, if you can find something that works.

I imported my contacts using a vcard file, unless .vcard refers to some other format

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

How is this being a troll? Every single time someone talks negatively about the n900 everyone labels them a "troll."

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

Maluka, wtf on that picture man!? That's offensive.

I don't see a troll. I see somebody with a vested interest asking other folks what they see as the positives where they might not currently see it.

The whole "jump on anybody/everything that doesn't wholly praise the N900" **** is getting old quick.

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

gerbick, you are a troll.

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

Because stating the n900 has only 2 - 3 hours battery life is a lie not to mention some of the other ******** he wrote .

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

* Mail app does not recognize .ics files as calendar invites,

I've used gmail which does recognize it and adds it to my google calendar - I've setup the exchange sync to sync my google calendar to the device

* There is no OpenVPN or VPNC client that works out of the box. I had to hack it to get it to work.
I've used ssh a bunch of times with no problems

* Battery life is terrible, lasts at most 2-3 hrs.
Agreed that battery life on multitasking smart phones with fast CPUs is an issue. Palm (same CPU) has the same issues as does most of the android phones.

* Mail for Exchange does not work as advertised. Can’t get it to work at all. Very vague errors messages.
I think they have been working on that one

* There is no ability to search email.
gmail

* No ability to search across all apps; even PalmOS has this back in 1994.
Not sure what you mean - find | grep "txt" works well from the command prompt - there is no locate command

* You cannot delete an email without opening it.
click - hold - delete
* The standard Jabber client will not connect, but the hacked-up Pidgin client will.
jabber works fine for me - also with facebook
* Too many competing mechanisms/apps/conduits to sync email/contacts/calendar.
* Cannot import .ics files or .vcard files, so you are stuck using some other conduit or 3rd party, if you can find something that works.
* Does not support any “standard” sync protocols except Exchange, which doesn’t work.
the windows software from nokia pc suite works ok. I'm not using it.

Hey you didn't mention:
ovi maps
odd window management
sometimes you click and things won't close

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

Thanks! You rock!

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

Are you realy a hacker?
Off the top of my head I can think of 3 ways to delete emails and that doesn't include a firmware update. There may be more ways but I have never read the instructions.

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

Are you sure?
He wrote a blog slagging it of first then invited us to read it.

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

It depends on how you use the phone and how long you expect the battery life to last while doing the same tasks compared to another phone. If I do the same tasks on a 5 year old phone and the battery lasts 6 hours but only lasts 2 on the n900 then it would be a huge disappointment to me.

If he/she clearly states things that are not true about the phone then yes, I might consider them a troll.

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

Calendar invites? Never heard. Sorry.

Hack? WTF? Configure or did he do some real coding?

Maybe for him but not all

Provisioning issue or just some other error. People reporting here that it works with 2003 and 2007 and some people have little issues.

Yesss...now we are speaking. This is enchantment that should in my opinion have been there out of box.

Yes. This is also weird. We have tracker process that is probably able to index also documents, but we do not have Spotlight like utility. Some program popped to extras but yeah it would be nice thing to have out of box.

Long press email?

And so?

Be more detailed just jibberish to me.

Okey this sucks if it really is true. .edit it's not ture?

Exchange works but seems to have on SOME people some issues. And WTF is "standard" its standard or it's not standard.

Please so we can really see is this user error or some bug.

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

African guy here. Sorry you take offence to a common internet meme.

I'm sick of these threads with provocative titles by people who could have done their research before buying the device. There are enough of us on here already giving feedback, making feature requests, filing bugs etc. Most of the OP's complaint list is filled will lies.

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

I don't like his tactic - that I can admit. But as it stands, the N900 stands on its own merits. The complaints around Modest/e-mail app are notorious around here and within a few posts, the majority of what was considered a problem - inability to delete until read for instance - were shown to be wholly incorrect.

There are a few bugs surrounding the e-mail app, like the inability to copy from an e-mail until you respond to it, but that's been pointed out via Bugzilla and soon fixed.

Read the blog or don't - to be honest, this thread could have been cut off at the pass via showing that some observations are false, the rest addressed in the Maemo bugzilla or Brainstorm areas.

With that said, instead of attacking, show dude how he's wrong. Because... he is wrong in a lot of those things. And the facts are here in this very forum.

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

Trini-born Black American here... I don't like the word at all in any form. Don't care, that's why I reported it. Will do so again in the future.

I agree. But guess what? Facts are better than just blindly attacking. The facts will educate. Attacking folks, in a public forum will only incite a mob. One that's easily visible by lurkers, potential buyers and other folks as a negative.

Know better? Then teach it. Act better. Want to take the low-road, then continue. I find it ugly as ****.

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

Kurt,

If you are disappointed, you have no one to blame but yourself. Did Nokia ever call the N900 a "smart phone"? I doubt it. Many people around here were very up front telling every one what to expect and what not to expect from the N900, my self included:

http://www.themaemo.com/and-now-for-...iller-feature/

You make a lot of assertions on your post without qualification. Because of that, they become false assertions. For example, you say: "Battery life is terrible, lasts at most 2-3 hrs". That statement, as is, is blatantly false. There are many people that can get 24 hours or more from their device, my self included. Yes, there are some bugs that can eat up your battery life at the moment. Those are being addressed. I my self reported on one. But still, what you should have said is: " My device's battery life is terrible. It lasts me at most 2-3 hrs." Sure, that would be a less sensationalist statement, which is surely not what you wanted from your post, but it would make it more truthful.

In your conclusion, you fail to recognize that not every one is like you. Not everyone is looking for the same features that you are apparently looking for. By simply telling *everyone* to ignore the N900 you may be misleading some for which the N900 would be the best device currently available. I myself consider it such, for my needs and personal use cases. So, there, I proved you wrong.

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

Posting I hate the N900 threads here is a bit like walking into a vegetarian restaurant and starting a discussion about all vegetarians being bad hunters.

You may have a very valid point. But most of the people will just consider you an obnoxious idiot.

We on this list know about the faults of the device. As far as software faults go we know them here better then anywhere else.

We chose the device despite those faults due to other advantages or personal preferences.

We post in the hope of helping to get improvements.

This guy is almost as bad as the talk.maemo poster who think certain very famous Linux developer happy with his new nexus one should be answering questions about the N900. It isn't what he wants he dosen't know much about it leave the poor bugger alone.

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

Its depressing, most of this information seems to be wrong.........
It seems as if the user may have used the N900 for all of about 5 minutes.

Hacking the phone to get VPN working? Does he know what hacking is? :|

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

:eek: ...So naive... do more reading about N900 entirely before letting your frustration go... now get backfire!!! :D

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

I definitely do NOT want to start an 'iphone/android vs n900' debate, but a huge part of what makes those devices successful is how easy/natural it is for the user to use the features on the device. Granted the original poster may be wrong on most of his points, the larger problem is that it may not be immediately apparent to people new to the device/maemo how to enable or use the features of the phone. This is equally as frustrating to a new user as a feature that does not work as advertised, since the end result for that user is exactly the same.

I would bet that most N900 users do not even know about these forums, and even then, these forums are a horrible source of information on 'how to' use the N900's many features.. when compared to the self-help sites that Apple/Google have set up for their devices.

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

I'm trying to not slip this to argumentum ad hominem but with your merits:
http://kurtstephens.com/resume.html

You wrote that piece of thing. There is easier ways to make *** of yourself. Oh there it was ad hominem. Sorry...so lets keep it that way.

As a software developer yourself...Are you drunk or on drugs or maybe have forgot to take your drugs?

Is this real or spam?

Only thing I would be hugely disappointed in your situation would by posting that thing on-line without searching answers first and trying to make it less provocative

How on earth you think we will start any constructive discussion with start like that?

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

I understand and agree with what your saying, but these comments are made as if he's got a true knowledge of the phone and has decided that its nothing but a terrible device. If you read this forum for about 5 minutes you can find out most information about the phone and how to fix a lot of the problems this guy claims to be an expert on.

Maybe we as the community should create an N900 Wiki, containing guides on questions most new people have asked. Maybe then the random ******** posts will cease.

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

the fool and the money are always parted. you are greatest proof to that argument since a while

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

congratulations to your own opinion. I don't see any reason why I should feel obliged to falsify your rant; since YOU don't show any interest in a reasonable discussion.

Also, I don't get what motivates people to spill all over the net that they are not only unable to use a cellphone but also incapable of learning it. I, for one, wouldn't buy an expensive car if I didn't knew how to drive it, but perhaps that's just me.

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

And thank you, to every one, for correcting my wrongness.

* ssh is not a virtual private network, ssh works fine, except I need to hit some services via a VPN thanks to my employer.
* I don't know what happened but the openvpn config widget is blank after i tried to install the openconnect-gui.
* openvpn fix: add OPTARGS="--script-security 2" to /etc/defaults/openvpn if using the /etc/openvpn/maemo-update-resolvconf script to add the vpn's DNS servers.
* The email delete, I missed that one. I'm totally wrong there.
* The battery issue appears to be better, I'm not sure what changed what I saw earlier.
* I don't use gmail, so uploading .vcards and .icals to gmail, is not a solution for me, but if that's what it takes to sync this phone with the outside world....
* Yes Pidgin works, but it does not have the same integration with notifications as the core.
* Mail for Exchange is kinda a deal breaker.

I really want to like this device. Right now I don't. And I'm frustrated. And my post was not constructive, because I've been up all night trying to get some very basic stuff working. And I should have done more research before I bought and posted here.

I've downloaded the SDK, maybe I can fix some of these issues... and shut my big mouth.

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

N900: huge dissapointment : No
Nokia: huge dissapointment: Yes

Come on, give us Free navigation or at least a payment solution so we can get some apps(read navigation from sygic).

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

I would argue that it is Nokia's responsibility to create such a wiki for their users (for example, if they wanted their customers to be happy with their choice in purchasing this device).
Granted both you and I (and a large number of forum users) have no problem finding information on these forums, your average user is NOT going to have the time/patience to spend time sifting through 10-page threads in order to figure out how to use a device they paid big bucks for.

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

fyi: even the fancy wiki pages doesnt mean a thing. it havent stopped stupid guestions before, and it probably doesnt change in the future. yes it is a good source but people like OP just dont use those well enough

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

Not on wiki, i don't expect any professional company to do that, they'd be the biggest failures of the century.

Oh, and people should research before they buy, there not happy, don't get the dam device!

The N900 marks a new generation, its not mature, but its eventually going to build itself to a point where it can do everything we need it to,

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

I love my N900 but God knows this thing needs more apps!!!!!!!!!
If Nokia don't develop the ovistore for the maemo platform soon then i will definetely feel like i've been robbed by Nokia.
I done my research on this phone so i can live with alot of the issues that many users experience, i.e email etc
However the lack of premium apps from ovistore is turning me into a proper grouch :D

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

so you didnt do your research correctly.

there has been lot of speculation about lack of DRM etc far before n900 was announced and what that means to premium apps

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

I feel your pain too :D

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

Or maybe we are foolish for expecting Nokia to do something intelligent!
Maybe you are right, Granted this is all Nokia's fault I still don't think this sort of post is doing anything but deterring people who could potentially love the phone away from it.....

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

Like what programs?

I agree that store should be up and provide nice and clean user experience on selling software fro developers and buying software for users.

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

a voice navigation software

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

Maybe I'm missing something, but why don't you
-Go to the contacts app
-Click on 'get contacts'
-Click on 'import contacts'
-Click on 'import contacts file'

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

isn't it boring when peeps keep saying that its your own fault that you didn't research properly before buying - rather than it being Nokias fault for releasing something thats not finished! I did. I was one of the first to receive the n900. Shame it DOES NOT do things it suggests it could from the marketing guff pre launch.
I expected problems. To be honest I expected more problems than I've had. But some of these fanboys need to look out of the window at the amazing world we live in. We don't all have the time or the inclination to spend hours and even days learning about the next geek toy. I think its not unreasonable to expect it just to work in these modern times?
the n900 (yawn - sorry getting bored of repeating this 10 times a day - I'm starting to sound like Bratag :D ) does a lot of things amazingly well, but has problems with some really quite basic features. Nokia needs to prove it can sort these issues. Not seeing much of that so far.....

Re: N900: huge dissapointment
 

buy a tomtom! They really are much better than any phone nav!;)