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Posts: 383 | Thanked: 209 times | Joined on Oct 2009 @ London UK
#2277
Originally Posted by edgedemon View Post
Just found this on a seperate forum

http://www.nokiausers.net/forum/noki...athrow-t5.html

Summary below, I will update you when I have been down to the Regent St store next week and tried it for myself


I've also just come back from the Regent Street flagship store. Only one demo N900, in the hands of one of the employees there, who watched me like a hawk in case I drop it or break it in some way. I was never a big fan of the N900, just not the right type of phone for me, and what I saw did not change my opinion at all. Too big for me and at the same time surprisingly light and flimsy to the touch for its size - I personally did not get the feel of solid quality build, especially with the screen covered in prints, which I had difficulties getting rid of even after extensive efforts to rub them off with the sleeve of my fleece. The impression I am left with is of a grubby plasticky cheap feeling handset which I could hardly wait to hand back to the anxious sales rep. An hour later I met up with a friend who has an Omnia HD - completely different class with regard to the visual and tactile aspect when handling it. After handing back the N900 I went off to have another look at the E75 - it was like night and day, why can't they give the N-series the same feel of quality like the E-series ?! I have to say that for my next phone I will not be quitting Nokia, but I will be giving up on the N-series. Sod the large touchscreen if it feels and acts no better than the 15-pound throwaway Samsung I have for lending out to visiting friends and family from abroad.

I specifically asked whether the unit is with the final release version of the firmware and they said yes. Well, sorry guys, but it didn't feel any faster going through the menus than my 5800. There was even the embarassing moment of waiting for a game (I think Bounce) to launch for so long that the screensaver kicked in and the display went dark. I didn't really fiddle that much with it, since I was never too interested in it in the first place, plus my first impressions were not very positive either (in case you didn't get that so far - ) so I'll leave that to Micky and others who will have the actual phones in hand - soon I hope.

What might be of interest to the forum members is that apparently the N900 will be exclusively available only the flagship stores in conjunction with Mobile Phones Direct for at least two months after release (which I was told would be "any day this month") - no handsets will be offered neither direct by networks nor by other merchants like CPW or P4U. So whatever contracts will be offered by MPD, that will be it until some time in January 2010. There was even a MPD rep in store, who confirmed that.
OK, after the excitement of this thread today and the disappointment of the delivery dates or lack of them, I decided that I had to go see and actually hold a n900, sort of cheer myself up a bit. You will be glad to hear that I mostly disagree with the post above...
First things first, I thought the build quality was good, the device had a nice solid feel to it, definately not plasticky or light. The keyboard had good size buttons, which did feel a bit plastic, but it slid out nicely with no travel and I didn't feel like I would break it with use

I was pleasantly suprised by the size, small it isn't, but it is by no means the brick that I have heard it called by some, and yes it is 'pocketable' - which for me is important..

The screen was top notch, nice and clear, though the UI will take a bit of getting used to, I was thinking that it didn't feel responsive at all until I realised that I wasn't pressing hard enough!!
I had to scroll down through the list of wireless networks, so the wireless chip obviously works and seems to be picking up lots of networks

The 4 desktops are a nice touch that I can see me making alot of use of. Im not sure over the UI - in places it was really slick, and felt fast, I kept opening as many windows as I could find, and I loved the task switcher, pure genius. But at times it was really laggy, and I could have had a snooze while waiting for ovi maps to open - I have no idea what firmware revision the phone was on, maybe that was an issue, but lag it did in places and badly...

Overall, I was impressed, and it was good to actually touch one and have a go using it, though I left the store wanting it even more than I did before I went in..

No MPD rep in store and the nokia guy seemed pretty clueless about it in general apart from it will be out next week, but Id take that with a pinch of salt...
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Last edited by edgedemon; 2009-11-09 at 22:01.
 

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