I am just getting back from the Nokia NYC Store. I dont know whats up with Nokia - but they have locked the N900 out of view in a back side window on the 2nd floor - away from view.

They wouldnt let me even touch it whille its off. Suposedly the prototype N900 was being viewed and being blogged negativelyh that Nokia decided to stop any hand-on till they get the final product and the N900 is released.

What a dissapointment !
and I dont know how true this may be, but the guy who mentioned about all this said final sell date will be in November. I dont want to give much credence.

nilchak: I wonder why they've locked away the NYC N900 but not the Chicago one? Sounds like a local decision, not a corporate one.

Maybe they noticed that one had firmware issues or a hardware problem so maybe they didn't want customers to get a bad experience with it?

The Chicago store folks were quite nice about it. It was not on display but I simply asked if they had one and they pulled it out from a "top secret area".

Glad to hear about Pixelpipe, that would certainly go a long way towards the integration I am looking for.

I did the like the device overall, but the fact that it is primarily designed to be used in landscape mode with the keyboard open, and the poor (in my opinion) feel of the keyboard, and lack of MMS is enough to make me wait.

I might still go for it after an update or two but not right away. I can only say that I was jones-ing for it before I test drove it, then was like, well, ok, I think I can wait, after I test drove it. I am sure it will still be a great device, especially if you already love Nokia devices. It is clear this device is an internet device first, and a phone second. To me, they should be at least equal.

The phone part for me is very important because I am on the phone with a lot with customers and really need that part to be rock solid, simple and easy to get to. My other concern along these lines, which I don't know how will pan out, is battery life. Being a little bit of a road warrior, I have additional concerns that battery life will be a bit short due to the overall power of the device.

I guess I want my cake, crumbs, icing and all. I do look forward to future updates though and am sure Nokia will only continue to improve this and their future devices on this platform.

Sounds like you need a phone that does messaging well, rather than a MID that does phone.

The Blackberry or E72 is ideal for you, personally im looking for the later and the keyboard rocks for me.
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mhammo, from another thread in the n900 forum on battery life. It seems testers are getting anywhere from 11-12 hours with web+media usage. I was worried about battery life too since I traditionally carry seperate devices for that worry.

And the phone part..yeah that's weird but apparantly you are suppose to be able to use the phone in landscape mode and instantly turn it to call mode by switching it to portrait (I guess that's why they don't offer support for portrait apps?). Or is it more the motion that changes it over to phone mode (intended function) and not the actual orientation.

The phone part is of least importance to me (although I hope it follows suit with most previous Nokia's in that it holds a decent signal really well)

I mainly use mine for the data services and so I'm really looking forward to this device. I like how you say it's clearly an internet device first, and a phone second.... HOOORARRR!!

If the phone part doesnt function well as a phone then I have to say that I will be disappointed. The purpose of the n900 to me is to replace several devices I carry. Not to make me carry another.

The phone part is competent enough; it just isn't the point of the N900.

Can I ask what you use MMS for that could not be accomplished via an e-mail from the device? Sending media to another phone that can't view/play e-mail attachments is all I can think of. Isn't the size of an MMS message limited as well?