I went into a vodafone shop this morning. they had no information on N900 at all. so presumably won't be selling direct any time soon.

I also asked about monthly contracts with unlimited web. They were happy to show me some options any of which they said
'add £5 for unlimited web'

this is how the conversation went

'so how limited is you unlimited?'

'erm, there is a 500MB fair usage policy'

'what happens after that'

he consulted with someone else

'after 500mb it's £2.50 per MB, but it's fine because ona mobile it's all compressed so you won't use that much data'

'yes I will, I'd be putting it in an N900'

'what and using it as a modem?'

'No, the n900 is closer to a mobile computer than a phone, i'll blow througha few hundred MB in podcasts alone. don't you have any other plans with larger data deals?'

'no'

'fine, that rules you out then, thanks anyway'

I get that not everyone needs even 500mb but I object to 'unlimited' being actually specific hard limit after which they'll charge you insane amounts per MB
if they'd said we'll give you a warning, or we'll push you on to some other more expensive contract aimed at hgher users, then I might have considered them. but basically if I have a heavy month on 3g and download a podcast over my limit I could be looking at £100 extra bill easy.

no thanks vodafone, thanks for playing.