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Bought a N900 :i
Edit: Check out my review on page 4 or click here
Soooo, I bought a N900 from Hong Kong on ebay, waiting for it's arrival now, here's the link to the one I bought: LINK1 And before I get critized for picking up such an old piece of technology my current phone is very very old. I've never owned a smartphone or anything that can do anything besides texting and calling. This will be a huuuuge upgrade for me. So I bought this because I've used linux for a few years now and I'm fairly impressed with what I can do with this phone, or at least it's possibilities, and I think my linux experience will help me appreciate this device. I'll be using it for texting, calling, work on the fly(text documents), music, see what devices In my house I can use it as a remote control/controller for, and I work in retail so Im thinking I can - within a wide time-span - make an application for this that will function as a barcode scanner for employees with all the same functions that our store PDA has now, including scanning out broken goods, making price tags, updating inventory etc. So I'm basically just here to say Hi, can't wait to join you, got any tips for a new inexperienced N900/smartphone user? What are some of the first things I HAVE to do when I get it and what accessories should I get? Im thinking of buying this microSDHC card: LINK2, a hard leather case to fit my clumsy-ness and maybe an extra battery so I dont have to use the USB. |
Re: Bought a N900 :i
Hi and welcome!
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Re: Bought a N900 :i
Welcome. Update to CSSU when you get it then its up to you what you want on it. There are many awesome apps in the repos and threads here to learn more about them before downloading them to your device.
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Re: Bought a N900 :i
Dude, welcome. Here are a few pointers:
1) Don't start your first comment going on the defensive for buying the N900. 2) Don't subsequently call it a 'such an old piece of technology'. Ever! 3) Now as it's from ebay I would suggest flashing it. Start reading the wiki! 4) Follow up by upgrading it to CSSU-Stable. 5) A 32GB SD is nice to have. If you really need the space there are a few comments about compatible 64GB SD cards. Check it out. 6) Get yourself a screen protector as well as the case protection. The stylus will scratch the screen! 7) Be carefull of the USB port. It is delicate. There's a thread by dr_frost_dk that might interest you. 7) Watch out for Dave :D |
Re: Bought a N900 :i
I wish I were you.
You will be so thrilled with the N900! :D |
Re: Bought a N900 :i
Well done for choosing such an excellent device.
It will serve well. rgds ps. Just ignore LumiaTroll |
Re: Bought a N900 :i
file your charger locking pins hurry up !
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Re: Bought a N900 :i
Thanks for the nice welcomes and tips :P So in this order:
1. File down charger pins 2. Reflash 3. Install CSSU 3. Install Rootsh Anything else I need to do before I can get going? :) It will ship from hong kong tommorow, so I better be prepared. Any info on SD cards I need to read before buying one? I think Im gonna go with 32gb, dont really need the space I just figure it will be nice to have to move things around and install stuff on. |
Re: Bought a N900 :i
Congratulations on your choice of smartphone. I was in your exact situation 2 years ago, meaning the N900 was my first smartphone ever, and I haven't regretted it a bit. I was so impressed in fact, that I ended up buying a few more. I just lost my first one in my vacation, and I bought an Android tab (Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0) to pass the time. Android feels like a toy running on a supercomputer. The experience with an N900 is a paradox in that while the hardware is underpowered by today's standards, the phone can do almost anything, stuff that any other phone, including new models, would never dream of.
My advice: 0. Inspect it to make sure everything works including screen , keyboard, gsm modem, wifi, USB data, radio transmitter and receiver, micro sd card, camera, LED lamp, audio out and composite video out, and IR transmitter. The N900 you are getting is most likely refurbished, so checking the hardware thoroughly is a must. 1. The USB port, as already mentioned, is its glaring weakness. File the locking pins in the USB cable so that it goes in and out very smoothly. Also, approach every cable insertion like a surgical procedure, and if possible leave the phone charging at night in a locked room away from mischievous animals or clumsy humans. 2. Flash it to factory settings to start with a blank slate. Here's the detailed process I have followed successfully several times: http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p...94&postcount=7 3. Read this forum and ask questions! Welcome. :) |
Re: Bought a N900 :i
I second malfunctioning's #0. As n900user259 said, do not apologize for buying an N900. Not in this forum. But you may get some flak for buying a "new one" from Hong Kong. Just do a search, you will find a lfew horror stories about these "new" devices being in fact used devices put in a new housing, sometimes with the last user's data still on.
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Re: Bought a N900 :i
I will give you some things to search in the forums, and I hope your "new" N900 has a good system board and CPU, mine lasted less than a week.
Cool stuff to install: CSSU even geekier CSSU-thumb Kernel for power users Overclocking is tricky especially on an old refurb CPU, use with caution Sygic mobile maps, works offline Preenv for over 60 top shelf WebOS games USBmode for host mode, USB female cables are cheap on eBay, easily use USB gadgets and thumb drives with the N900 flopswap, move your swap wear from the internal flash memory to a SD card swappolube, stock swap settings suck, fix them! the Flash 10 and faked 12 hack 720p video driver upgrade FMradio and FM transmitter boost Accelymote &mupen 64 gives you accelerometer controlled Mario64 and other N64 games catoriseplus to group your apps by type Pyobd and a bluetooth OBD plug to diagnose your car problems almostTI85, emulate your college TI scientific calculators mobilehotspot share your 3G internet with your laptop via wifi rootsh Debian, install debian apps from debian repos evopedia, download prepared wikimedia dumps for test of all of wikipedia, wikivoyage, and wiktionary 100% offline mstardict, good for foreign language translation cutetube, watch youtube and convert youtube music vids to mp3 qtrapids is the best torrent app, look on forum for how you can convert magnet links to torrent files for compatibility backupmenu, boot time backup tool, make and save backups access your flash drives via USB cable, etc...save your ***! cool hardware hacks Double scud battery/mugen cover Palm touchstone inductive charging, no cable charging means less chance of breaking the USB, save that for host mode or transferring files Look for my BH-214 28hours of music hacked multimedia bluetooth headset When you charge and output audio wirelessly get some dust plugs for the USB and audio jack, also protects against some splashes and rain. |
Re: Bought a N900 :i
just get back with the quality of N900 once u received.. I am planning to buy one from him..
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Re: Bought a N900 :i
Okay, so I recieved my phone today. Like a few minutes ago. I open the box, put in the sim, but in the battery, connect the wall charger and the phone does this shaky thing with a dim-lighted nokia logo on the screen. Does this for a while but it wont boot, now it shows a constant orange/yellow'ish LED with a dim nokia logo but still can't get it to boot, I think it's just because I need to charge it, not sure though. I will get back with more info later.
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Re: Bought a N900 :i
So an update again for visN900. As said earlier I have received the phone but it wont boot. I just ordered a new battery and we'll see if that'll fix it. If not I will be sure to let you know. If it works I will do a little testing to find out if the OS is genuine or not and also let you know.
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Re: Bought a N900 :i
tks for your reply.. :)any damages with the mobile?? is everything looking good as new??
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Re: Bought a N900 :i
Sounds like a dead or empty charged batter... Those cheap clone batteries are worthless.
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Re: Bought a N900 :i
I was in the same situation, it was a problem with the usb. No need to change just to press it
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Re: Bought a N900 :i
I think it's a battery thing too. I ordered a new battery so I hope it'll fix it. The phone has no scratches and actually seems brand new. The only thing that worries me is the box had been opened, though all packaging inside was undamaged/unopened. He just put in a letter telling me to rate him 5 stars on ebay and if I experience any problems I should contact him before rating so he can help me fix it.
Anyways, the new battery should also have more battery life than the old and I was planning to replace it for that reason too, so if it works with that Im happy. Didnt waste any extra money I wouldnt have spent anyway. EDIT: Also if you are interrested in shipping I ordered on 8th of aug and received it the 14th. Seems pretty fast to me. I also live in EU (specific. Denmark) and on his own initiative - I did not ask him for this - he marked the shipment as a gift and valued it at $15 so I avoided customs and everything. This is pretty nice I think, since the only reason for him to do that is to be nice to me. If he got insurance he would only be reimbursed $15 if the goods got damaged during the shipping. |
Re: Bought a N900 :i
what price you paid :)
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Re: Bought a N900 :i
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Re: Bought a N900 :i
For some reason I really do not know why would the seller be "setting up country specific locale" before sending the device away. Also for the device to arrive at your doorstep battery flat.
In most cases, devices with batteries that are not charged up usually are deemed as D.O.A. (Dead On Arrival). Normally one could get their devices replaced with a device that is equivalent to the one that was D.O.A. (or better). Furthermore, it is never good to have a flat battery as it does not do the battery any good (nor would it benefit the device retaining flat battery). A brand new N900 straight from the shops would have been: - Charged at least 50% so that one can use their device immediately. Though they will need to charge their device once they could access to a power source. The manual would most likely document the same thing as well. - Been factory reset (most likely via flashing). The device would show you a welcome screen asking you to set time/date/location/etc. - Have a black "matte-like material" covering the screen portion of the device to prevent any dust gathered on the screen itself. Your N900 seems to miss all three of those categories. That's not really what a real N900 was meant to be let alone the proper experience of what N900 was meant to be. I'm seriously hoping its just the battery issue/defect and that your replacement battery works. When the replacement battery you get works, see if you can boot N900 normally. Also I'd ask the seller as to why the seller gave you a flat battery. That is really misleading. N.B.: Ok the linked video wasn't exactly the same as what I got. The video featured the US version. Differing from the video and my retail box, etc are: - No nokia sticker to open the case. I don't even have DHL/EMS packaging, mine was straight from a phone shop. - No stop pamphlet, etc. Mine just had get started booklet. - The theme colour is slightly different, the author of video has green texts at welcome screen. Mine is blue. The rest remains true as to what a proper N900 experience should have been. |
Re: Bought a N900 :i
I recently re flashed by mistake to PR1.1 (I think it was that) and the texts in the welcome screen were green. I didn't remember that.
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Re: Bought a N900 :i
@Lithdk
whats the colour of the box?? is it "pitch black or grey n black color combination pack?? all original N900's have the later box.. check this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Xd7IVCV3Jg |
Re: Bought a N900 :i
I have seen that video and mine is definately the fake one. However, as he says:
itsmeeseeme: so the fake still running maemo 5 ? ottoflux Yes. I didn't say it's a non-operational unit, they just aren't manufactured by Nokia, or they are refurbs, but that wouldn't explain the knock-off packaging and accessories. He says elsewhere it's fully functional and in his about section he also says "The fake *will* take a flash from flasher-3.5," so Im just hoping it works or Im gonna file a paypal dispute. Atleast you'll all have some info on it :P |
Re: Bought a N900 :i
YES OH YES OH sorry tiny orgasm. It booted! I set the language and the time and date etc. Now tell me what test you want me to do with it. From the looks of it it seems like maemo5 but as this is my first smartphone and first n900 I have no idea.
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Re: Bought a N900 :i
I'd be leaning on to doing the dispute now. A genuinely new N900 would have 50% battery charge. Yours does not have that. A genuinely new N900 would not have its sticker on the retail packaging box torn, yours was torn. Last but not least, a genuine N900 would have that black "matte-like" material covering the screen, yours doesn't (at least not featured in the video).
What I'm actually really surprised about is that a fake N900 can even take flash from flasher-3.5 seems like the cloned N900 are getting more sophisticated these days. I was watching a few youtube videos on fake N900 but they all seem to run on symbian-look-a-like OS. I wonder what do you actually see if the battery was functional. Nonetheless, the product is not as stated. It came as D.O.A. with flat battery forcing the owner to buy another battery. That is simply a big no-no. |
Re: Bought a N900 :i
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Re: Bought a N900 :i
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Though yeah I guess the OP is reporting the device is working as expected and it also seems like it appears to be running on maemo 5 (according to what was mentioned). |
Re: Bought a N900 :i
I got a brand new one in the US from this seller: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aag/main?ie...A1QNBY8CONX05H
Not refurbished, brand new, made in Korea works great. |
Re: Bought a N900 :i
the 'fakes' are not really fakes.
They are salvaged and repaired from real broken N900s, they get new plastic and digitizet, often a cheap LCD too. So while the new part is a lie there are only real but old failed Nokia system boards currently running Maemo5. I think they salvage chips to make a barely working phone by hot air gun removal. Mine had a FILTHY system board and failed in under a week unable to enter flash mode. |
Re: Bought a N900 :i
Vast majority are refurbished. But I was surprised to get the one from IMG, just checked the website and they dont have any left in stock.
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Re: Bought a N900 :i
So Im gonna recap my buy, review it, or whatever it's called.
Buying So I bought it from eBay, here is the link, from ordinaryworld2009 who is a top-rated seller with 99,7% positive reviews from Hong Kong. He seemed pretty genuine and very service-minded. His professionality was above what I was expecting, he even sent me a picture of the package before he shipped it and basically started contact right from the moment I bought the phone till it was shipped to make me feel safe. I knew it was not a real nokia n900, but from what I could read from reviews it had the same specs and same OS as the n900 and was fully operational. Shipping I was a little scared that shipping was gonna take a month+ but I got it in 6 days. I did not pay any shipping fee as advertised though I can read other customers has had problem with this service of his. As an extra service he even marked the phone as a gift and valued it at 15$ as to avoid customs and taxation, without me requesting it. This could only hurt him, because if the phone was damaged during transport he would only receive 15$ from his insurance. I repeat, I did not request this, nor mention or hint it to him, this was very generous of him. But I can not promise or say he will do the same for you. This was not advertised anywhere so I do not know why he did it, but Im happy he did. The whole progress of shipping could be monitored on hongkongpost.com, which ofc was a day behind on updating the progress - as is the usual with these services -, which made me feel very safe. Unpacking/Using Phone So it's here, I pick it up, get home, put the package on the table and take a deep breather. I open the package and its wrapped in a 1cm thick wrap of some kind to protect it. When I get the box out I can see it's the fake version and I get a little disappointed, but hey, it should still be fully operational and work as the nokia n900 according to the reviews I read. So I open the box and inside is a letter saying he opened the box to do something with the battery so it wont be seen at the post office 'cos "it's illegal to ship batteries" (my *****), which get me a little scared. He also says in the letter to rate him 5 stars on ebay and contact him if I have any negative experience before rating so he can resolve them for me, which was nice (He actually seems pretty obsessed with eBay stars, anyone who gives him negative feedback he will instantly write to and try to resolve their problem). Inside the box is: The phone, the battery, a charger, a VERY small usb connecter (probably 10 cm long), a english manual, an ovi CD and some earpieces. I instantly take out the phone, put in my sim, put in the battery and try to boot it. BAM, the phone goes into a bootloop. Battery was flat, D.O.A. ****, I get on #maemo and get a TON of help from all the nice users there, psycho_oreos, lava_croft, keiro and others but it wont boot. So I order a new battery and order a pizza to swallow my sadness. I put it in the charger and go to sleep. Next morning I try to boot it again and lo' and behold, it has generated enough power to boot and it works! So now Im just waiting for my new battery. The OS is maemo5, I installed CSSU and it works, I installed rootsh and it works, I installed pierogi and it works, I installed MBarcode scanner and it works, basically everything seems to work. The phone is fast, responsive and looks 100% like a real n900, both hardware side and software side. Also while on #maemo and trying to fix it we flashed the kernel with flasher-3.5 and it worked. It comes with a stylus, everything is as it's supposed to be as far as I know. I have only used it for a few hours, and it's my first smartphone and first n900, but everything seems to work perfectly and as it's supposed to. However, we'll see in a week if it's still functional. This is the end of my review so far, I'll add more if I encounter any problems or positive experiences. |
Re: Bought a N900 :i
Just curious, how can maemo5 run on a "fake" n900? Or maybe it's genuine in the first place?
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Re: Bought a N900 :i
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Re: Bought a N900 :i
Have you seen this: www.ebay.com/gds/Fake-Nokia-N900-Now-Has-Surfaced-Updated-01-20-2010/10000000014391506/g.html? Is your N900 like the ones described?
But anyway, since you are running the Maemo5 and even installed CSSU, I think it's enough proof that it is genuine although with fake accessories. And the N900 is designed in Finland and made in Korea, not China. :) Congrats on your purchase. |
Re: Bought a N900 :i
Not at all. The fakes ones is clearly not maemo, you can see that from both the text, the placement of things like battery status and the "ok" & "back" button. Mine looks exactly like the real thousands of n900's I have drooled over on youtube for years.
Thank you :-) Guess I got lucky. |
Re: Bought a N900 :i
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I also have yet to find a satisfactory explanation (including descriptions of the chemistry and physics involved) on how flat lithium ion batteries degenerate faster when left uncharged for prolongued periods. And, how does storing a N900 for a long time without a battery hurt it in any way? |
Re: Bought a N900 :i
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Another thing they do to justify this and not tip unsuspecting buyers is "include presents" in the box. These companies (mostly Chinese) make a lot of money fraudulently selling as new devices which just aren't. I think eBay should crack down on them but they won't because eBay just cares about making money. |
Re: Bought a N900 :i
Hello, can you to check your revision type in xterminal:
cat /proc/cpuinfo too: look here : http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=90556 |
Re: Bought a N900 :i
you have got a good refurbished n900 i think and they are not bad usually damaged n900s are repaired with one another or with parts available and then given a shiny casing then nothing wrong with that as long as its perfect and n900s arent produced anymore so let them revive a few thousands:) if you want to check you need to open it ... Just enjoy man you have a shiny n900 deliverd anyway:) i am also using a self refurbished n900 btw check my thread:D
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