well I really need to make sure of 3 things.

a) its not a fake
b) it is in good working order (don't care bout non screen cosmetic scratches...
c) ad says has all accessories...but I don't know what all default accessories are...

so what do I need to check? I really don't want to end of as a sob story on these forums....

for instance, is there a difference between the european and us phone (I am in nyc)?

here is the ad http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/mob/1795572113.html

and the guy says it is real, no scratches on screen and loaded with 1.2 update.

also are these under warrenty for a year? if so do I need some proof of purchase?

If I can't be totally sure of everything I'd rather wait for dell to get it on sale again (if it does go on sale again), but at $345 I could spluge for the mugen and have a device that I didn't need to charge every few hours.

thanks for listening, please let me know what I need to check...

A cloned N900 boots in portrait mode and has a grainy looking display with a black background. The back camera should have a dual-LED. There should only be a single SIM-Card slot behind the battery, and a number of copper colored circles (QC testing pads) should be visible. If any of these are out of place, walk away.

There's no difference between phones from different regions, except the firmware loaded on them. I'd prefer doing a reflash of everything myself, but it's certainly not necessary if it works fine. Bring a sim card to test, or otherwise call the phone.

Not much to say about good working order - make sure he hasn't done something questionable like attempting an overclock to 2Ghz. One possible result of dropping the phone is unseating the MMC, so check the free memory in the settings and make sure there's a 32 GB module inside.

Shake the phone to see if it sounds suspect (the MicroSD card holder makes a very light rattle when it's empty, but should otherwise not make a sound), test all the keys for stickiness, open and close the keypad a few times to see if it is still sturdy. Make sure all the side buttons and ports, especially the micro USB port, are all aligned and responsive. Make sure the stylus is there on the side and not chipped.

There aren't many accessories - you should have a USB -> micro USB cable, a wall outlet charging cable, and a TV-Out cable. Other accessories include earphones and cleaning cloth. I don't know about warranty service - I haven't tried to have mine serviced.

Check where's it made in - if it says anything other than Korea you've got a fake.

remember to run uptime in the terminal to see if its one of those constantly rebooting n900's.

to see if its fake, see if there is a magnet on the kickstand and on the cover directly below the other magnet on the cover. I doubt fakes would keep this detail.

make sure the usb port isn't wiggling like crazy, if you push down with your nail gently, there should no no give.

Do the transaction in a very crowed place with an ATM, there's a free ATM in the ING cafe on 58th and 3rd. Or meet outside the police station on 51st and 3rd..

Check the headset and microphone, and microusb. I'd suggest bringing a laptop for the latter and maybe bring a sim and make a call using the headset for the former. Try the camera.

Well, there are a couple of N900s that were made in finland..

Overall, try and check out the OS, if it looks like symbian you've got a fake...

thanks everyone, all this make me think ... please dell bring back your sale...

lol... and meet in a public place

thanks all, bought it, for $345 don't really know how to use it (this is my first "smart phone"), but I am happy enough.

really after reading here for a few months, I knew it would not offer tons of apps and that it is not a great "phone".

I will learn to reflash as there are lots of files from the previous owner.

battery life (at least in its stock state) seems really bad, but I am going to start from scratch and make a post about how to preserve battery, probably get the mugen battery too.

but most importantly...I got it with a screen protector, the original accessories and box and I can see no scratches at all (looks new to me).

wait that is not most important...most important is that once I learn to tame this beast I will have

LINUX COMMAND LINE IN MY POCKET. yippi that (once I can get better battery life sorted out) is really all I care about.

well off to bed. linux in my pocket...how cool is that?

oh btw I tried a little vi...where the heck is the esc key?