that "creaking" is the proximity sensor I think.

lol, wut?

__________

Now yet another six months later (or somthing like that), the black paint flacking off spread to more keys, most of them in the vicinity of that first one, my shift key got an actual hole on the inside corner, the little crater of the screen spread a bit more, the screen slider is a bit looser; and i don't remember if it had happened already when i last posted about my N900 in this thread, but charger cable is messed up, got a chunk of the rubber rotting al the way to the metal cores, i think ants did it

Something I noticed with my N900. I got it new in January earlier this year.

After about 2 months, my keys have changed from a matted texture to a shiny glossy texture. It looks like the keys have a film of grease over them (which they don't because I always clean them). Anyone else noticed this?

Yes, I have the bad habit of typing with my nails and all the keys have stared to wear off (mostly left hand ones I see now.) It looks like they have 3 layers of paint. The matte finish goes first, then a layer that makes numbers and symbols blue (that seems to exist on the whole key exept the letter, although it's not blue on the rest of the key, it looks black, I am assuming it's like using a blue marker on black surface), then there is black again which hasn't worn off here, but I have seen photos where that layer is gone too and the backlight shows through the center of the key. Comparing the phone to a new one, all the surfaces of the old seemed polished comparing to the dark, sun absorbing matte of the new.

I bought my N900 mid 2009 and I'm still happy with the device (got a SGS2 too), but still love my N900 more =)
Nokia just replaced my display (white spot),slider ( a bit loose), case (some small scratches),battery cover (kickstand) and keyboard (one key wore off a bit) - and everything in the warranty !

Now I'm more than happy with my device again =D