n900 still a good choice
 

Hi everybody,

I'm thinking about buying a (second hand) n900. Main reason for that device is the hardware keyboard as well as a "real" linux -- I *love* playing around :D

However, I do have a few concerns:
Is the hardware still powerful enough? To be honest, I've neither had a 1.5GHz quadcore nor a low-end 600MHz device in my hands. Reading online tells me, that as soon as quad cores are availible, everything below is "too slow". Of course I'm aware, that playing won't be that fun. That's not my interest though. I'd like to browse the web, do some geocaching and maybe wardriving (yeah, no more laptop carrying when warwalking :D) Aaaan, of course: I'd like to use the command line a lot ;)

How about encryption? I've heard a lot of bad stuff about Android/iOS when it comes to that point. Is there any possibility to do a full disk encryption? (I guess, it'd have a huge performance impact?) Yes, I'd like to enter a password everytime I boot this thing. Or is there already an implementation of securely storing my data? This is one of my main reasons for not having a smartphone yet.

Um... well, that's about it :)

To make it short: Would YOU invest 150+ US-Dollar for a used N900? :p

Thanks a lot
Charly

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

N900 is the best device ever it could do everything ;) + overclocked to 1.15GH and it is very good for browsing also the N900 support WEBOS games which is great !.

and if you like to hurt people and their routers you will buy it immediately :p

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

i should say it will be a very good investment... it really depend on you actually... but i surely say you must have the knowledge of what is good and bad about n900. the good is this community... except Lumiaman and me...

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

Yes, and I have 2 N900's....

:)

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

I also have 2 :D and I love them equally

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

just to add my two cents 150usd is a bit too much..you can find them for less in great condition

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

Phones these days are becoming like the PC spec race of a few years ago, yes a quad core phone would be nice but would you really need it if you are going to use it for facebook or the next draw with freinds app?

Outside of the next gen of mobile games, you would be hard pressed to find something that these phones can that the n900 can't do aleady, so I would say go for it. The n900 is a wonderful little device that can do most things that you expect to do on your linux PC, granted in some cases a little more RAM would not go a miss but considering you can run some heavy programs such as GIMP, Iceweasel blender and open office you would still be very impressed at what this can do. Heck we have been using these for years and its only recently that the dual core phones have been able to do similar.

I would say go for it, you won't be dissapointed.

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

someday i was reading a wikipedia article and i was amazed how they make n900 to be in three catergory, 1st they said it is a Handled Computer, 2nd its an internet tablet and 3rd its a smartphone, xo u'l b having more power when you have your n900 on yo hand

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

Then i guess you will be a very happy 900 user ;)

There is nothing present in the OS that alters its behaviour depending on the market ;)
It is what it is, and to mee the only problem is its screensize, sometimes i would like it to be much bigger ;)
But the openness of the OS and the people who have exploited that , has also made the 900 a much faster and overall better device then it was when it was new.


I have two already, but yes.

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

Yes! I also bought a second one! Perhaps I'll buy a third one.

The hardware is good for many things (experiments with arduino e.g.).
The speed is enough. It is no high end gaming desktop.

Only the RAM of 256MB is a little bit little for a modern device.
But it has a Hardware Virtual Memory manager and uses out of the box 768MB of virtual memory on swap.
Many applications work fluently.

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

buy a N900 and hail the maemo.org community . Without it ,it was nothing ,it is nothing & it will be nothing . Rest is assured .

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

hardwarewise I'd point out that it has stereo speakers, too. imho that counts.

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

"me too"
:D

2nd one is only for backup and currently off all the time
because the first one is very much ok. Just had a telephone call,
sent SMS at the same time and Internet was running in the background.
No hassles.
:D

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

Westcom says that they have a new one:
http://www.amazon.de/gp/offer-listin...A2FUXJM8X2SSXB
but it costs 599EUR!

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

Stereo Speakers
IrDa
Skype integrated (front facing camera)
32gb internal storage
qwerty
radio
fm transmitter
tv-out
usb OTG
excellent ppi
full flash support
flashlight
xteminal
kickstand
camera lens cover. the best I've seen.
serves as an excellent mp3 player (volumecontroldaemon installed)
ultimate cusomization & connectivity
great GPS chip
supports all emulators from every console of the past
it is a Nokia quality product
still being updated after 2 1/2 years

please...try to find all those things in other "phones" on the market today.
you won't find a device that has all those things

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

I need to fix my n900... I used a n8 and a e6 (which is now my main phone), and I miss my n900 sorely.

It has a broken USB (again) and I can't find someone to fix it since I moved from the city I lived.

GREAT speakers.

FM Transmitter.

GREAT browser.

32GB + SD memory.

CuteTube (still a LOT better than in Symbian, which is still a LOT better than any other solution in Android, iOS or even PC).

Qwerty

Skype with video!

FCAM with the BEST camera experience ever. There NEEDS to be something similar on the 808, it would make it the best photography tool in existence, surpassing even the U$15k super cameras and DSLRs just by virtue of being super customizable and outputting raw nonetheless!

All this and more are things that we can't really get on ANY other handheld device in existence (not even the n9, probably the n950 gets close enough, but ELOP killed it)

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

In the Netherlands the price for a freshborn goes like this
http://ic.tweakimg.net/ext/i/?ProduktID=244767

*new1* is being sold (by one party) for EUR 419 out here. I bought and got myself a set in mint condition.
Tho I found three photo shots taken by the seller party on it and the packaging screen protector wasn't on it. No stress as far as I'm concerned, it's obviously new.

Nokia service ?Would be acceptable if they'd have spare units that disfunctional N900 would be swappable with. I honestly don't get why service had to be discontinued in this respect. But it is, isn't it?

Tho I'm not an active phone buyer, my former one was generations ago, a Nokia 6600 that's like from 2003 or so. Anyway, value for money, I bought aluminum cases (protection, stand) and flattened the usb connectors as soon as possible (prevention, I reckon), and I'm very content with it!

Most other phones I get sick of the virtual buttons, while on N900 this is highly variable. I like tiny icons and a precision stylus, but it's up to what one wants to use for a desktop even timed desktops.

It's not fast phone like square and all, but hey who wants lame apps.

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

how to root an N900

menu | app manager | download | all | rootsh | ok | menu | x-terminal | root | enter

nuff said

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

did you try this?
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=75920

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

i just bought one here recently with no regrets what so ever....

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

I also bought one recently (in October, for 120 euros, second hand but in very good condition). I now realize what a real smartphone has to be: really few smartphones on the market today can replace this beauty. Actually I don't even see which one could.

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

thanks a lot everybody! :)

I wish I had the time to comment on each statement. However, the only appropriate reaction is that I just ordered my n900 :D

And it better be as good as you promise :p

I'm totally excited and just can't wait to get it -- be prepared to hear more :)

thanks again!

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

There seems to be TrueCrypt available compiled for the N900, even with some GUI, I believe. Just search MT here. With TrueCrypt you certainly can access your encrypted USB drive mounted N900 from a PC.
As alternative there is the standard Linux kernel based container/partition encryption. Not shure, if the kernel module (dm_crypt) and the tools (cryptsetup/cryptmount) are included in the default N900 installation.
A third solution could be transparent filesystem-based encryption using eCryptfs as it's used in Ubuntu.Guess there are ARM Debian packages for this or you have to compile your own.
Cheers, M.

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

brought one at 2009 setting my mind to make N900 as my last phone.. still in that mindset.. :D very happy.. community rocks,though Nokia stopped their support they will be shocked how maemo has changed when they see it now.. my only advice is be a bit careful with USB hub.. rest all its the king.. play with it and its so kind it will play with u too ;)

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

you can compare it with yamaha v-max motorcycle... still look strongs even with today naked bike...hehe... i think n900 will last forever until samsung + tizen arrive... for me i will pay for that price....

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

whats is that volumecontroldaemon installed ???
thanks in advance

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

i waited til 2010 cos maemo 5 os had a few issues that were fixed when i jumped on board. this forum's been an edu too that's for sure! cssu is AMAZING. these days some collect phones like hotwheels but not me. 900 is so tricked-out there's no way to retire it! it's THAT awesome.. altho a unicorn white n9 64gb'd be nice to tinker with. oops, must insert foot.. ;) ~cheers

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

looking forward to it ;)
i.e.: glad you decided to join :)
and the rest will just be the usual learning curve to master a new device / OS

to second what ir.miringila and MINKIN2 posted...
if you use the N900 with its original OS (Maemo 5 thus, possibly with CSSU, but that's depending on other packages you may want / need to install, as some may not be compatible with CSSU...) it's performances are just fine.
typically, to run Fennec (or use Google Apps or the like in MciroB) you will need to install Kernel Power...

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

There you go buddy:

here is the thread. read the first post.
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=70304

here is the package:
http://maemo.org/packages/package_in...ldaemon/0.1.2/

you install it through the application manager of your N900.
It's in the extras testing.


Volumecontroldaemon 0.1.2
Daemon that monitors headphone volume and set it to 100% (not 88%)


By default , the volume of the N900 (through headphones) is set on 88%.
Volumecontroldaemon allows it to reach 100%.

The way it should have been from the start.

It has no GUI. You just install this small .deb and ... bam! you have even greater sound than before.

It's a no-brainer for every N900 owner who is a music lover.

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

I'd agree with everyone who thinks the n900 is still a great choice today.

The hardware features beat just about every other device out there except the pointless dual-core vs quad-core vs 3d bollox.

For most stuff the N900 is quick enough. Show me another phone with all the following:
32GB onboard storage
FM transmitter
FM receiver
stereo speakers
hardware lock button
hardware camera shutter button
Consumer IR transmitter
microSD slot
hardware keyboard

And thats not including proper multitasking, desktop class browsing, and a feature set which is still being added by this wonderful community. Seriously in the last day or so the media player gained at least one extra function.

If there is another device out there that matches the N900 then please tell me cos I will get one to sit alongside my N900.

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

I doubt you'll find performance to be a problem. The dual-core and quad-core phones are generally pushing screens that contain more pixels than the N900, and much of their extra power gets used up corraling those extra pixels.

Re: n900 still a good choice
 

I love my N900 as my primary device. It's great for full web browsing and the IM/Text features can't be beat. Cisco VPN or OpenVPN is nice in a crunch when I need to admin my servers whilst out and about.

I have unlimited data with T-mobile from an old plan and I can get 5mbps on average here in the DC area. I use qtMobileHotspot to share with other devices. I actually carry an iPhone with no SIM for Apps and tether to N900. I find the combination of iOS device and my N900 to be the best of both worlds.

N900 is my utlra-mobile computer and the iPhone is for Apps when I need them. Works well for me.