Is cell service required?
 

I notice a lot of other phones "require" you to get a data plan on the phone to be able to use it and for updates. Since the N900 is basically a pocket computer / internet tablet with wifi which happens to have cell phone hardware in it as well, I'm kinda wondering how necessary it is to get cell service on the device.

Don't get me wrong, I intend to, but I was thinking about just using it with wifi as a pocket computer for a few weeks after I get it. Other than not being able to make cell calls, or access the Internet where there's no wifi available, can you think of anything else that would be limited on it if you didn't sign up for a data/voice plan right away?

Re: Is cell service required?
 

As it stands now, GPS just won't work, see bug 5337

Other than that, you should be fine.

Re: Is cell service required?
 

I did exactly the same thing you did for the first couple days I had mine. There are no artificial limits. That being said, I don't think the GPS chipset will work quite as well (might be a lot slower) without being able to do the AGPS thing over a celluar link. and I think that it defaults to getting the time from the cell network the first time it's booted up, so you may have to set the clock by hand. Other than that it behaves just fine. If you play with it and find that the GPS really isn't working well without a SIM card, you could pick up the cheapest t-mobile pay-as-you-go card you can find and that should do the trick.

-John

Re: Is cell service required?
 

That should be it, although I heard that currently they drain the battery faster if it doesn't have a SIM (see the link in http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p...&postcount=183). Hopefully this'll get fixed soonish, Nokia is obviously aware of it.

Re: Is cell service required?
 

Well, you can't tether it with a cell phone to have internet connectivity if there's not free/open/public wifi, right? Doesn't that make it require a data plan and a SIM? (Which wasn't the case with the N8x0.)

Re: Is cell service required?
 

The A-GPS (Assisted GPS) relies on cell towers, I think. If that's the case, the device would have to fall back on regular GPS, thus taking longer to get a fix on your location.

I don't think they would have put in any arbitrary made-up restrictions. If they have, go kick their butt and tell them I told you to do it :)

(Edit: I should have refreshed before I answered. I thought no-one had replied yet...)

Re: Is cell service required?
 

It doesn't have to be relying on cell towers alone, wifi alone should do it too.