Questions from davedickson - My response in bold
"Do you want to be able to "plug and play" out the box with apps etc?" I would like a working device, but as with my old pda I needed to install many 'tweaks' to get it working as I wanted it
"Do you want 99.99% reliability?" Want? sure, reality on most any device? kinda doubt it
"Do you want 8 million fart apps" (or being nice about it "lots of apps")? No, fart apps are silly, but apps about boobs? winsauce
"Do you want the same apps as your friends?" My friends are idiots and we don't play who has the cooler phone/apps/car/etc
"Do you like fully "tried and tested" products?" not necessary, bought a Scion xB when they were not 'tested'

"Do you know what Linux is?" Last OS was RedHat 7, then used Solaris mostly, certified SCSA on Solaris 8
"Do you want constant headaches?" Want? No. Expected with every computer I have? Yep.
"Can you keep calm after bricking your device?" As long as I can reflash it
"Do you know what bricking means?" BSOD on a device that renders it a brick
"Do you want to learn about a new OS?" Very interested to, but again with Meego, will this be learning 2 new OSs
"Do you want to contribute back to the community?" You should see my post count on TheHighRoad, bit of a gun nut
"Are you willing to spend time and effort making things work just the way you want?" As long as it doesn't take me a full day to get one thing working, and if there are guides/people that can help
"Are you willing to wait and wait and wait, patiently for updates " PR1.2? As long as it is out before 2011.

Not to worry, things have improved greatly, just making the point of why I've been researching for months instead of just buying the device then coming here to complain that it doesn't wash my car and cook my breakfast. =)

...and for your question of what phone I'm using? Virgin Mobile pay-as-you-go on a classy, high-tech Nokia 2115i.

Considering you're certified SCSA, you're definitely not a 'noob'. Still, my suggestion still stands: Wait for Harmattan/MeeGo 1.0, and see if you like the new device(s) better. They're not very far away.

That Dell $419 deal is pretty damn good then, just make sure you're a patient guy.

- mp

Coderedcomputing, I say go for it.

And this comes from a noob. And is not based on what you just wrote.

Here is a little story, and, let me warn you - it will cause flame from people. They will probably quote me and disagree. Angrily, in fact. But, try to listen.

The story is about my country, Serbia. We were a very closed, isolated society. Very poor, with very few civil liberties. People were mostly ignorant and thought that was the way to go. Then, as it is always the case with such societies, change came. Finally, people took to the streets and replaced the regime. Now, a decade later, we're a free country, with freedom of speech and with democratic governments that change with elections, and people are learning their rights. They are becoming aware. Aware of the wrong things in our - and other societies. And - they are complaining more than ever. This is normal.

Such is the case with the N900 and Maemo/MeeGo. You see, freedom and openness causes a lot of people to feel much worse than they should. In closed societies, they may even feel happier. Unlike other companies, Nokia actually gives hints to upcoming updates and events. MeeGo on N900 still hasn't been announced officially, but Nokia gave strong hints that it will come (for those willing to see). There are no hints - strong or otherwise - whether current Android phones will support anything beyond 2.2, let alone something really new. And in Android language, MeeGo is not 2.2 or 2.3 - its more like 3.0. And we have strong indication it will come on N900. See what I'm getting at? Still, Nokia users bash their company, while Android users feel like they are being taken care of.

PR1.2 was supposed to come few months ago - there was something wrong and now its late. Instead, they could've just said "it will be released this year" - just as HTC said that "most" of its phones will get Android 2.2 till the end of the year - and people would be happy. Instead, Nokia said - it will probably come in March or April - and when something went wrong - people felt like they had some God given right to have it in March or April.

The N900 *will* be supported by Nokia for a long time. With QT apps, with one or two more PR updates and then with MeeGo. I would bet on it.

Also, it's open nature and design and this great community means it will be supported unofficially as well - and at a much greater capacity than it is possible on closed platforms like the iPhone (could a community change so much on an iPhone? Or even on Android?)

In the end, the N900 is a great device with the BEST IM integration, best current video support, one of the best browsers, and with great hardware. Yes, hardware. Not everything is a CPU - why do people thing that if its Snapdragon - its good hardware? What about a good sound card (N900 has a great one) with great speakers (no stereo speakers on Android and iPhone devices)? What about a great camera (compare N900's Carl-Zeiss 5Mp with any HTC camera - even the EVO's 8Mp one - and tell me its not better)? What about storage? (32Gb + card). What about TRUE 800x480 display (not that half-RGB Amolead quasi-800x480 screen that is closer to 600x400 - compare the clarity of text on the two!)?

Now - N900 has its faults like any platform. And I LOVE Android devices. If you chose one instead of the N900 I wouldn't blame you. But if you like the N900 - go for it, it IS an awesome, trully awesome device. And Nokia IS supporting it - in fact, it may turn out that it's supporting it much more than other companies. Just trust me on this one: Nokia is much better than people give her credit.

Since I'm from country with similar background (freedom lovers fighting for it from centuries) you really made me think.
Open Source(freedom) vs Commercial(Orwell like), such a good comparison and conclusion. I founded myself trolling here and how quickly can change state of mind from love to hate because few others trolls, but when you stands on solid ground that make perfect sense.

People are to lazy to be free...

So, if you're prepared for hard work to deal with unfinished OS (instead of click/tap/done use brain sometimes) this is a good device for you.

Couldn't have said it better.

Be enlightened and deal with the truth, or be ignorant and blissfully unaware, sums it up nicely, I believe.

How about buying something for what it already IS!

Then everything else is a welcome bonus.

I don't buy promises, so I'm rarely dissappointed.......

Noobs are better off with a Droid device. There are a lot more useful/interesting apps already out for it. They are also much more intuitive and user-frinedly to use.

The N900 is only good if you need a high degree of flexibility in how you use it (as oppose to iPhone, where many things are restricted, like music streaming for example). But much of that flexibility is buried until a programmer with free time on his hands comes along and makes an app for what you need to do. And you could only pray for that. It's an individual-driven app-development environment where one does as much as their time allows. So you can't always expect a well-polished app every time.

No bashing here-you have overcome oppression so N900 talk is so superficial but fun pastime.