@nosa:
You confuse me. Do you mean to say that the t-mobile non-contract plans are less expensive than the contract plans? Because the way you said that - you should want a contract plan.

Nobody I know paid $700 for an iPhone. They got subsidized by their carrier, pay between $60-$80/mo; and got the phones for less than $200.

That is why you take a look at the carrier you *want*, and see if they have a phone that fits you. OTOH: If the phone is more important to you, than you go with the carrier that supports that phone. Verizon is about to get the iPhone if it hasn't already, and all the major players have various Android phones to choose from. All them for cheap; much cheaper than $500+.

But for the N900 there's no option. If I want the N900 I need to use t-mobile (not a problem , I do already, but it is a factor of consideration) - because if I don't I won't get 3G. And if I need to use t-mobile, than t-mobile gets my service for the next 2-years anyway; why would someone that doesn't have a very, very specific reason to buying it (in my case: I can make it do what I want it to; not the other way around) - why would a normal user choose to spend $500 on a phone and $60-$80/mo on t-mobile instead of $99 on a phone and $60-$80 with t-mobile?