If I compare it with my previous phone (a Nokia 6300, getting on a bit now), it does anything I could do with that, only better. This is the first 'phone' (for want of a better word) I have ever purchased, although I have has several handheld devices in the past (I won't bore again with my love of the Psions).

There are bugs. OK, but so far, the only things I have come across that are not quite 'right' are things that I would never have expected to be able to do on this device - and some things that take a bit of work to get straight.

So, I need to figure out a way of getting to type '[', ']' & '|' at some point, then I can edit some files and have things like GIMP launch from the desktop. In the meantime, I can open a terminal, and I can type the appropriate command in. Horror! I have to use the CLI, and type a couple of words in...

I had a look at the e72 I got my partner - great - but the interface, and finding where anything is like playing hide-and-seek in a large empty building.

I don't want to hear about all the crap - I am here for a different reason. If you feel hard done by, talk to Nokia. Or keep to posts about that (in a section marked 'Moans'. It is very rude to come onto a thread that is not about you and your experience, and undermine it. I have to say that I think the mods here are remarkably tolerant - most groups would bar people for that sort behaviour. You should keep out of threads where people have different experiences to yours.

I don't know why people have such problems with this phone. Maybe they download stuff from extras-devel? Or that nonsense about the 'red-pill/blue-pill' anywhere? Or maybe they work on the iPhone? Believe me, looking at some of the editing on Wikipedia of Apple pages, some of which read like PR material, and are heavily moderated to avoid anything derogatory about iPads etc., I would not put it past them to put trolls into support forums related to their competitor's products. Few of these corporations have any ethical foundations, and if the people at the top don't have ethical boundaries, how can one expect their employees to have any either?

I think you just need to get over it mate, the n900 wasn't for you. I have loads of PCs aswell

7 year old Dell + ubuntu 8.04 (music studio)
2 year old HP + Windows 7 (music centre & TV recorder)
2 year old Compaq + Windows Vista (Dreamweaver, MS.VS)
7 year old Dell + Debian 5 (LAMPP, Drupal, etc.)
10 year old HP + ubuntu 8.04 (just can't throw it away)
8 year old Dell + XP (astro software + firmware patching)
11 year old Dell laptop + ubuntu 6-ish (really needs to go)
4 year old Compaq laptop + ubuntu 10.04 (misc, email, web)
2 year old Wind netbook XP/ubuntu 10.04 (travel)
1 year old Compaq widescreen + Windows 7 (writing)

I tend to mainly use the laptops nowadays, as I can't stand sitting at a desk for long, and I can use them in the caravan. The Compaq with ubuntu is the one I prefer - the Debian is dull - I have never had to do much with it since I installed it, apart from apply the odd update - and it is the most stable computer I have ever had. I like Ubuntu, but have to change the colour scheme as soon as I install it - although oddly enough, the 'human' theme on the n900 looks quite good. Much nicer icon set that what you get as standard. I'm not keen on brown, much prefer black and shades of grey.

So, having something I'm familiar with on my phone? Great. I'd much rather have what is on there now than the Windows that shipped with the iPAQ 11 years ago, which had to be the nastiest piece of kit I ever owned. Still have it in a drawer somewhere, along with the Psion 5 (which still worked when I stuck some batteries in - held on to that as I read somewhere that you could install linux on it, but now I have the n900 I don't need to...)

Where was I? Oh yes - and I guess if you wanted to, you could operate the n900 without bothering with the desktop, just have an open terminal, and type the commands in. That would save a lot of grief, eh? Do away with the desktop, and just have a terminal-based device. Sitting down the pub, the boys get their toys out, with all these whizzy little GUIs, and you get a smartphone that solely consists of an X-terminal, and on it you type "phone" and up pops the phone screen, or "email" for e-mail, or "SMS" for SMS. How perverse is that? Almost makes me want to get back into the command line.

Mish.