maemo.org - Talk - Thinking of getting a N900

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- - Thinking of getting a N900 (https://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=92986)

Thinking of getting a N900

I've been thinking of getting a Nokia N900. Right now i use a Nokia 808 Pureview, I have never had a non Symbian phone before but have for a long time been thinking of taking the plunge and trying Meamo or MeeGo, I also fancy trying out a phone with a slide out keyboard.

- I never play games on my phone
- I have only installed a small amount of apps on my phone
- I very very rarely do any social networking
- I do quite a bit of web browsing.
- I commonly use the music player with FM transmitter
- I watch videos quite often on my phone

The four main things that put me off the N900 the most are...
- Lack of full portrait support (can this be fixed? i use my 808 90% of the time in portrait)
- Resistive Screen (i had one on my Nokia 5230 years ago and all i can remember was it being horrible to use and feeling crap, whats the N900s like?)
- Support for 720p and 1080p videos (from some threads and articles i've read apparently the N900 doesn't playback 720p or 1080p videos well if at all. Is this correct?)
- Internet Browser (is it on par or better than the browser on Symbian Belle FP2, or Opera for Symbian?)

Some other things that put me off slightly...
- No Multitouch Support (not that i ever use multitouch on my 808, but it still bothers me for some reason)
- 3.5 inch screen (my Nokia N8 had a 3.5 inch screen and i was fine with it, but after using a 4 inch screen for 18 months I don't know if i can go back to 3.5 inch)

Can you change my mind on any of these issues i have with the N900 and would you recommend the Nokia N900 to me in 2014?

Thanks in advance.

Re: Thinking of getting a N900

The n900 can play certain 720p videos but not the highest quality ones (note that one cannot know until one tries the film). Needs special libraries installed but that is easy to do.

Portrait support is patchy in the sense that some apps do and some apps don't. A few of the don't'ers are key such as email.

Resistive screen if of the original quality (i.e. not a bad refurbished one and that introduces another issue about 2nd hand n900s) is very good BUT one must be used to them and coming from capacitive might be awkward.

Browser (I don't know the one's you cite): the stock browser is remarkably good for it's era but it is, well slightly venerable. But many swear by it. I use opera and whilst some have frequent crashes, I have very few and like it a lot. There is no flash or html5 support. Well, yes there is a workaround for the first but it sucks IMO. The n900's horsepower just doesn't drive the flash experience well.

My guess advice: not for you unless you are drawn to linux, fiddling with tech and setup and a flexible platform (and a great but dwindling community).

Re: Thinking of getting a N900

Quote:

Originally Posted by handaxe (Post 1420091)

Cheers, i will consider what you have said. I wouldn't say I'm a massive hacker who fiddles with tech that much, but my 808 is running custom firmware and i sometimes install more hacks to it. I couldn't have a phone which ran a closed operating system.

Anyone else got any advice on this for me?

Re: Thinking of getting a N900

I'm not sure the N900 would be a good fit for you. :( It has a lot of nice features, but apparently not the kind of features you are looking for...

Quote:

Originally Posted by dodgevipergts (Post 1420088)

The four main things that put me off the N900 the most are...
- Lack of full portrait support (can this be fixed? i use my 808 90% of the time in portrait)

The CSSU does provide full portrait support for the desktop, and many apps now support portrait use, so this isn't the problem it once was.

Quote:

- Resistive Screen (i had one on my Nokia 5230 years ago and all i can remember was it being horrible to use and feeling crap, whats the N900s like?)

The N900's resistive screen is probably one of the best ever made. That said, it is one of the last high-end phones with a resistive screen; if you're used to the glass, you may not like it...

Quote:

- Support for 720p and 1080p videos (from some threads and articles i've read apparently the N900 doesn't playback 720p or 1080p videos well if at all. Is this correct?)

You can playback 720p on the N900 by using some of the tricks described elsewhere in the TMO site; it's generally done by overclocking the device. 1080p is probably impossible.

(BTW, this is one of my pet peeves -- why in the world do people insist on playing 1280x720 or 1920x1080 pixel resolution video on an 800x480 pixel screen? It isn't like you're going to magically be able to see the extra pixels; heck, the video quality is going to be _worse_ than an 800x480 video, because the phone has to down-convert the video resolution on the fly! You're wasting storage space, processor speed, and battery life by shoving oversized video onto a little cell phone... If you really want to play TV-resolution video, you should carry around a hi-res tablet. :) )

Quote:

- Internet Browser (is it on par or better than the browser on Symbian Belle FP2, or Opera for Symbian?)

Now this is one area where the N900 shines (in my opinion). The N900's browser, "Microb", is based off of Mozilla (Firefox), and pretty much runs as if it were a desktop browser, not a phone browser. :) (You can install Opera though, if you prefer that.)

Quote:

Can you change my mind on any of these issues i have with the N900 and would you recommend the Nokia N900 to me in 2014?

If you're looking for a phone that you're mostly going to use for web browsing / music / video, I've gotta say that the N900 is probably not the phone for you. The hardware is starting to age, and modern iPhone/Android/WP phones do a fine job if all you want to do is consume media. :)

Re: Thinking of getting a N900

Quote:

Originally Posted by Copernicus (Post 1420093)

I'm not sure the N900 would be a good fit for you. :( It has a lot of nice features, but apparently not the kind of features you are looking for...

The CSSU does provide full portrait support for the desktop, and many apps now support portrait use, so this isn't the problem it once was.

The N900's resistive screen is probably one of the best ever made. That said, it is one of the last high-end phones with a resistive screen; if you're used to the glass, you may not like it...

You can playback 720p on the N900 by using some of the tricks described elsewhere in the TMO site; it's generally done by overclocking the device. 1080p is probably impossible.

(BTW, this is one of my pet peeves -- why in the world do people insist on playing 1280x720 or 1920x1080 pixel resolution video on an 800x480 pixel screen? It isn't like you're going to magically be able to see the extra pixels; heck, the video quality is going to be _worse_ than an 800x480 video, because the phone has to down-convert the video resolution on the fly! You're wasting storage space, processor speed, and battery life by shoving oversized video onto a little cell phone... If you really want to play TV-resolution video, you should carry around a hi-res tablet. :) )

Now this is one area where the N900 shines (in my opinion). The N900's browser, "Microb", is based off of Mozilla (Firefox), and pretty much runs as if it were a desktop browser, not a phone browser. :) (You can install Opera though, if you prefer that.)

If you're looking for a phone that you're mostly going to use for web browsing / music / video, I've gotta say that the N900 is probably not the phone for you. The hardware is starting to age, and modern iPhone/Android/WP phones do a fine job if all you want to do is consume media. :)

Thanks. But I definitely wouldn't say I want to consume much media, i use the internet mainly for reading news, i play my music though the FM transmitter on my old 80's stereo or in a car and i occasionally watch classic British comedy's on my phone or though HDMI on my TV. I do like to make changes to my phone though mods and hacks.

Also on the 'why would you want to play 720p or 1080p videos on a tiny resolution screen'. I agree with you. but i fear some of the videos may come in only high resolutions.

By the way whats the hardware keyboard like, particularly for texting is it any good? And whats the on screen portrait keyboard like

Re: Thinking of getting a N900

Quote:

Originally Posted by dodgevipergts (Post 1420096)

... I definitely don't want to consume much media, i use the internet mainly for reading news, i play my music though the FM transmitter on my old 80's stereo or in a car and i occasionally watch classic British comedy's on my phone or though HDMI on my TV. I do like to make changes to my phone though mods and hacks.

Ah, well, that does sound a little better. And, I should say, with an N900, you don't hack/jailbreak/root/etc. The phone is yours; you can add, remove, or modify the software to your heart's content. :) (Probably the best feature of the N900...)

Quote:

Also on the 'why would you want to play 720p or 1080p videos on a tiny resolution screen'. I agree with you. but i fear some of the videos may come in only high resolutions.

Whenever I want to watch shows on my N900, I put the video through Handbrake first before loading it onto the phone. Allowing a desktop machine to take its time converting a video to 480p is always going to result in higher quality than forcing a cell phone to do it in real time. :)

Quote:

By the way whats the hardware keyboard like, particularly for texting is it any good?

I like it, but then, I have almost no experience with other cellphone hardware keyboards. (There's so few phones left out there with HW keyboards any more...)

Quote:

And whats the on screen portrait keyboard like

Hmm, I've gotta admit that I always use the hardware keyboard...

Re: Thinking of getting a N900

Thanks again. Damn decisions so many upsides yet so many downsides as well. I reckon if it wasn't for that resistive screen I'd take the plunge, maybe the screens not as bad as i think it is.

Maybe a Neo900 would fit your needs?

Re: Thinking of getting a N900

Quote:

Originally Posted by vincr (Post 1420100)

Maybe a Neo900 would fit your needs?

Yeah i was thinking that, but IMO i just can't pay £500, especially as I'm not certain on even the N900. Maybe i should just try and get a cheap one on ebay and give it ago for a week and if i don't like it, it's no big deal I can slam it back on ebay and go back to my trusty 808.

Re: Thinking of getting a N900

Quote:

Originally Posted by dodgevipergts (Post 1420099)

I reckon if it wasn't for that resistive screen I'd take the plunge, maybe the screens not as bad as i think it is.

Funny. In my case it's exactly the opposite. I might forgive a phone a capacitive screen as long as all other features outweigh the disadvantage.