Thread: N900: The Great "It's a phone!" vs. "It's not a phone; it's a mobile computer!" Debate
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Laughing Man is offline Laughing Man
2010-01-06 , 20:41
Posts: 4,556 | Thanked: 1,624 times | Joined on Dec 2007
#141
Originally Posted by DaveP1 View Post
I absolutely agree but I think you overstate the computing power of the N900 (just like the superphone hype over the Nexus). For casual browsing the N900 shines. For computing work, I'd still rather have a pocketable computer.

Since the debut of the Intel Atom, there have been more and more of these announced (literally every day at the moment since it's CES time). They don't need EasyDebian or WinMo, they run Debian and Windows. Plus the screens are bigger so old people like myself can actually read a document in OpenOffice.

Someday there may be a true converged device. For now, it doesn't exist. The N900 is a more capable phone with data capabilities than most but whether you call it a smartphone, superphone, Internet phone, or whatever, to my mind it still needs to function first and foremost as a phone.
There were design decisions with the N900 that did hurt its use as a tablet (e.g. smaller screen) which I wasn't happy with. But I haven't looked much at other competitors yet. I was pretty happy with just the n800 actually but its battery was dying (only about a hour with active use) after my heavy usage of it and it was annoying having to tether it to another device just to get an internet connection on it when I was out and about (which is why I got the N900 to use when I'm not home and I switch to my n800 at home for its bigger screen).

Though what are the other pocketable computers? (around 4 inches). And with a SIM slot for data access? I haven't been keeping track of them and I only get my CES news from the tech blogs I subscribe to lol. It's interesting to hear about the bigger tablets (Microsoft, Apple, Google, etc..) but they aren't pocketable to me so that kinda ruins those for me.
__________________
Originally Posted by ysss View Post
They're maemo and MeeGo...

"Meamo!" sounds like what Zorro would say to catherine zeta jones... after she slaps him for looking at her dirtily...