N900 Hardware
 

Hi,
source: http://maemo.nokia.com/n900

As we all now, the n900 has a 600 mhz CPU and 256 mb of RAM.
To tell the truth, nokia could give the n900 more advanced and powerful components like: at least 800 mhz CPU and 512 mb of RAM.
Do you find the current spec satisfying?

We expect from the n900 to be a mobile computer, to run multiple applications at the same time and to run kde and other desktop environments. Will the n900 handle all these?


Feel free to reply!

Re: N900 Hardware
 

The 600 MHz CPU and 256 MB RAM are both parts of OMAP3, so you'd have to change the entire hardware in case you're not satisfied with those specs. Also keep in mind that the 800 MHz ARM11 chips are far inferior to a 600 MHz ARMv7 (Cortex A8) chip.

Re: N900 Hardware
 

You do realize this thing was probably designed a year ago. 800 mhz and 512 mb of RAM might be out now, but wasn't available at the time and currently not available in the market now (device for sale). There's a reason Palm, Apple and Nokia have the same hardware.

I would expect the maemo 6 devices to have 512mb of RAM and 800 mhz - 1 Ghz processor given what's sampling now.

Re: N900 Hardware
 

But the idea of an upgradeable processor would be great:D
But even in Laptops we still dont have :mad:

cant ever see it happening until we get MobileATX motherboards;)
(I just made that up)

Mike C

Re: N900 Hardware
 

That would make the costs of producing a cell phone tremendously higher, with little to none benefit.

Re: N900 Hardware
 

If the n900 would have been 800 Mhz / 512 Mb, I bet many would have said that only 1.2 Ghz/1 Gb would be satisfying. You have to remember that:
1. you cannot put to market an embedded devices with today's processors (like others said, the n900 was designed some time ago)
2. You have to power it from a 1350 mA, one cell battery. Get a 1.3 GhzAtom netbook and discharge the battery to 20% and see how much it lasts from there :D It's pretty much what this cpu has to deal with.

Re: N900 Hardware
 

I really hate to be "that guy", but in case it wasn't a typo, just FYI, battery capacity is measured in mAh (mA * hours), which is equivalent to Coloumbs (measure of charge) - not mA. The rating is essentially saying that if your device were to draw 1350mA, the battery would run for 1 hour. (You can split that product up any way you want, e.g. if it draws 675mA, it would run for 2 hours.)

And by the way, I agree with point 2. I'm actually kind of glad that I can't afford a cell plan for an N900, if I manage to get one at all (I've entered the PUSH competition, so we'll see), as I'd probably use it so much as a computer that I wouldn't have enough charge for calls, as it is. IIRC, though, the N900's battery is slightly larger than the 1350mAh battery in the N8x0. Meh... whatever - your point is still valid.

Re: N900 Hardware
 

The BP-5L battery in the N800 is 1500mAh. The battery in the N810 uses BP-4L which is supposed to have the same capacity. So both of the N8x0 models have a higher battery capacity than the N900. Due to the, I believe, improved battery saving capability of the OMAP3 chipset this shouldn't matter too much, except that the GSM/HSPA part of the N900 will suck some juice no matter what.

EDIT: I've found some sites selling genuine Nokia BP-5L batteries and claiming they are 1300mAh. However, Nokia's web pages say 1500mAh, and that fits with what I've heard before and I'm inclined to trust the Nokia site more.

770/N800 battery:
http://europe.nokia.com/find-product...-battery-bp-5l

N810 battery:
http://europe.nokia.com/find-product...-battery-bp-4l

Re: N900 Hardware
 

I wonder if they're the same voltage. Remember that energy = voltage * current * time. 1350 mAh gives current*time, but says nothing about the total energy stored

Re: N900 Hardware
 

They're the same voltage. So-called 3.7V Lithium ion or polymer batteries. These kind of batteries are charged up to 4.10 or 4.20 volts, and are considered empty when dropping somewhere below 3.8 volts (the cut-off on my Palm PDA is 3.76 volts default, with warning messages starting to pop up at 3.78volts). The batteries can be discharged much lower, but will get damaged at some point (there's much more about this on batteryuniversity.com).