Thinking of buying an N900
 

Hello, I'm thinking of replacing my old c905 with a new phone, I had a few in mind the like HTC desire, iphone 3gs, windows phone, n97 and also the n900.

I would like a phone that is great to use for the internet like youtube, facebook and just general internet browsing at school.

I would also like a phone that I could pretty much use as a satnav and that is easy to use for texting.

I would just like to know how the n900 compares to the iphone and the android OS'

Also I would like something that has alot of good apps.

How does the touch screen compare to the iphone or even the old Nokia 5800.

Is the qwerty keyboard nice to use on this phone? Also is the phone out dated as its been out for over a year now?

I'm more going for the N900 however I don't want to spend £320 on a phone and not like it at all.

Thanks, John

Re: Thinking of buying an N900
 

N900
for internet usage it's good
touch screen much better than 5800 and n97 but not multitouch
phone capabilities average maybe below average for some though i myself make or recieve call with N900 very less. Hardware keyboard good .
Virtual keyboard slow.
Apps depends on what kind of apps u need.

Re: Thinking of buying an N900
 

All right thank you :D

Re: Thinking of buying an N900
 

Basically i you want to have a n900, then you should go for.
1. It fully open source
2. Great apps (depends on you)
3. You will love it when you will dual boot to android or meego.....etc
4. Even a large storage memory
...............so on !!!!!

KNOW IT DEPENDS ON YOU

Re: Thinking of buying an N900
 

I just recently purchased an n900 myself. By far, the most significant distinguishing feature of this machine is not the hardware, but rather the operating system; Maemo is an open source, Linux-based OS, and fully embraces the open source community. As such, instead of billions of tiny apps, the n900 is capable of running standard, full-featured Linux applications, making it much more of a palm-top computer than anything else in this form factor.

Browsing the internet on this device is much more like browsing on a tiny laptop computer than on a smartphone. For one thing, Flash is supported on this phone, so a huge number of websites that don't play well with other smartphones work fine on the n900. And the screen's resolution is high enough that many desktop-oriented web pages will fit the width of the screen without resizing.

One difference of this machine with other recent phones is that it has a resistive, rather than a capacitive touchscreen. A downside of this is that multi-touch operations are not possible; you can't do the "pinch-to-zoom" thing. On the other hand, you can use a stylus with this sort of screen, which makes fine interaction with windows and icons much easier. It'd be nice to be able to do both, but I tend to prefer the stylus over multi-finger use.

I do like the keyboard. I don't have much experience with other cellphone keyboards, though. :)

Is it outdated? Certainly, new hardware appears every year, and there are phones out there with slightly faster CPUs or more memory or whatever. Rumors of the n900 being discontinued and its successor nearing release are swirling about. The problem is, whatever you choose, there will always be newer and better devices just around the corner. For me, the n900 does everything I want, and no other device supports Linux the way it does, so I had no qualms about choosing it.

On the downside, this phone is nowhere near as popular as the iPhone or the various Android phones, and "app" support is therefore much more limited. If you're looking for a phone that has "an app for that", the other choices are much more likely to suit your use.

In short, I'd go for this phone if you want the ability to carry around a tiny device that can do almost anything a Linux computer can do; I'd go for a different one if you just want to carry around a phone that also has some fun apps to play with.

Re: Thinking of buying an N900
 

I personally think you might be happier with one of the Android devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy S, unless the hardware keyboard is very important to you. If satnav capabilities are important, consider the Nokia N8. I have one alongside my N900, and it's a great smartphone.

Re: Thinking of buying an N900
 

If you're also considering an iPhone 3GS and WP7 the N900 may not be for you. The user experience isn't so polished and it doesn't hand you everything on a silver platter. It's the ultimate hacker's phone, if you like tinkering and are into computers I highly recommend it, but if you don't want to do anything fancy and want a "just works" phone, you might want to get an Android phone or wait for a MeeGo device. Even Nokia has called the N900 "a developer's phone."

Re: Thinking of buying an N900
 

I had my eye on the N900 over an android phone as I do like linux, and the customisation that comes with it.

I've heard its a pocket pc and I do like the n900 due to the keyboard as I would rather have a qwerty keyboard.

The satnav isn't very important to me however it would be nice to have, to the point at the touch I too would prefer to use the stylus.

I also read in some reviews the phone is great for multitasking however I do have a question would I be able to surf the web while on the phone.

And one last question is that is the phone worth the £320 price tag?

@Gamer I would love a phone that I could play about with and make pretty much into "my own OS" if you get me. Even if I don't play around with it that much I do love the phone for what it is a mini pc with a phone capabilities.

Re: Thinking of buying an N900
 

Hahahaha...How do I know you reside in Europe.....

Re: Thinking of buying an N900
 

Yes you can browse and talk at the same time (with speaker phone or a headset of course). If you want a "mini-pc with a phone" then the N900 is what you want :)