I'm tired. Maybe it is age, but I see the same posts day in, day out, from someone who is complaining the N900 isn't what they thought it would be.

The usual replies are along the lines of "you should have researched better before buying", to which the usual response is "Flagship device / Portrait / phone / playlists" yadda yadda yadda.

Personally I never researched much. I needed a new phone, and very nearly bought the N97 mini. I happened to see the N900 and the moment I knew it was a open linux device with a shell and proper multitasking, I was sold. It made calls, it played music, it played videos, it surfed the web properly, it had maps with routing, it has USB mass storage mode, bluetooth, wifi, IR, and a hardware keyboard. Sold to the excited IT geek!

I have been disappointed with the maps (my own fault for assuming it was the latest), but otherwise absolutely delighted and continuing to be amazed at the things people get it to do.

Anyway, to get back on track, I'm tired of all the cr@p on here from the whingers, which, let's be honest, is what they are. They don't tend to ask constructive questions, they tend to whinge. It's getting to the point where I don't want to come on here any more, because digging through the garbage to get the odd gem of info is not what I signed up for.

I decided to see what would happen if I researched the N900 now as a prospective buyer. I googled "N900 review", something simple which any prospective buyer may (and probably should) do/have done. Here are the top 4 hits and some key quotes: -

First hit: TechRadar
"Nokia Internet Tablet...in a phone sized chassis."
"Nokia hasn't once said that the N900 is a phone"
"when held in the landscape format, which you'll be doing 99 per cent of the time"
"this is an 'enthusiasts' device, according to Nokia"
"not be best suited to iPhone- or Hero-like singl- hand operation"

Second hit: Engadget
"Nokia's been absolutely emphatic with us -- Maemo's intended for handheld computers (read: MIDs) with voice capability"
"the device is very much landscape-oriented"
"this is not a smartphone for the masses; it's for tweakers, hackers, geeks, nerds... . In fact, we'd go so far as to say that the N900 is a proof of concept"
"the N900's almost exclusive reliance on landscape mode"
"As a phone, the N900's pretty basic"
"Ovi Maps leaves a lot to be desired"
"for your average Jill or Joe, it's impossible to recommend the N900 at this point"

Third hit: Softpedia.com
"an Internet tablet, with some limited phone capabilities"
"some of the features that you'll probably be expecting from such a device might be missing"
"Nokia might, or might not, add some new ... features ... in the future firmware updates, but do not rely on that"
"Sound is impressive, but doesn't reach any of Sony Ericsson's Walkman series standards"
"lacks any Equalizer options"

Fourth hit: Cnet
"We don't like:
Few apps available; no real potential for one-handed operation; resistive touchscreen; almost no portrait mode; slightly chubby; behaves more like an Internet tablet than a phone; needs significant setting up to get the most out of it"


I give up at four as it's becoming a long post. There we have it though. First four hits, all stating fairly plainly the shortcomings of the device. It's not perfect, we (and Nokia) never said it was. £500 or the equivalent in your local currency is a lot to spend without googling what you're getting. If you didn't research or bought it on a whim and don't like it, please sell it and buy something else after researching it properly. Just don't whinge about impulsive regrets, we've heard it before and would like to get on with making our devices better without reading your posts.

Moderators - any chance you could make this a sticky so we could point people to it and just close their threads? And people please, please stop replying to these posts. It only needs one person to make the obvious comment - we do not all need to repeat it!

John (going for a lie down in a dark room now)