Shots in isolation mean nothing. I've shot some great pix with a Canon 2.1MP camera. Doesn't mean it's better than a current compact. Post some unretouched (but obviously resized) pix like the above from both handsets and we can call it a valid counter-argument. Otherwise don't bother.

The problem is that development is too slow to catch up to where the leading edge is. The software behind the probably identical theoretical capabilities of the cameras would have been competitive at the start of this year perhaps, but the iPhone 4 took it up a significant notch. I'd like the fcam-based tools to undergo significant optimisations so that they're actually usable - i.e. that a p&s setting in another handset doesn't beat out something you've had to prod around and wait around a long time to achieve - but I think given the general state of the N900 that's highly unlikely to happen - although I don't imagine it's the hardware holding it back (well, maybe the CPU but probably not even that much).

It's kind of irritating that there are apologists who defend the indefensible. Development needs to pick up for the N900 not to be a non-nerd laughing stock, and people who like the N900 and where it might have gone have to raise their expectations genuinely to beyond what the elephant in the room can achieve. I really like the basics of what the N900 offers, but it's just awash in this half-assed 'it's Linux so its great' nonsense - especially among what I see to be the main user base here - so that glaring issues go untreated, and instead of maturing after a while it just gets left further behind.