I love the N900 because it is a really useful device FOR ME. To illustrate why I find it so useful, I thought I'd make a list of all the things I'm doing with my smartphone (including trivial stuff you have in any phone - if I use it, for completeness). You're welcome to add your own lists here.

First, some general background:I believe I'm probably in the minority here because I do not have a data plan at all. I am only using a cheap "pay as you go" voice plan. Most of the time I'm either at the university or at home where I got WiFi, so I see no point paying for a data plan. This does affect the things I'm doing with my phone.

So here is the list:
Skype phone - I love the way Skype is integrated into the phone, and I love the fact it supports video as well. My family lives in another country, and with the N900 I can use Skype to call them for free (even with video) in any place with wifi.

Media player - With 32GB of internal memory and the ability to add even more memory with micro-SD cards, this phone is great as a media player. It also have excellent sound quality and support for a lot of codecs is also a plus. I'm using it as an MP3 player every day, and occasionally watch videos (during long flights). Currently, my main media player app is MediaBox.
I should also mention the FM transmitter, which is really useful during long car trips.

Flashlight - I had several occasions where I needed a flashlight, and the flashlight app using the camera LED lights like a real flashlight (unlike the bright screen "flashlight" in some other devices).

Camera - It is true that a phone camera does not give me the same quality as a true camera, and lacks some important features such as optical zoom, but I cannot carry my heavy DSLR camera everywhere with me, while the phone is always on me. For a phone, the N900's camera is pretty good. When I show people pictures I've taken, many of them find it hard to believe I took it with a mobile phone (and not a real camera). Here are pictures I took while walking my dog:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10996508@N07/sets/72157624364910618/show/


Web browsing - I don't have a data plan, so I'm limited to place with wifi, but now I no longer need to carry my laptop with me when I go to the university, and I also use it it coffee shops with wifi or while visiting friends. I probably state the obvious when I say web browsing with the N900 is great.

Reading academic papers - I wouldn't use the phone's small screen to read literature, but it is great for reading technical and academic papers where it takes more time to understand the paper than to read the actual text. I use xournal to annotate things in the papers and write my own comments, which is also great,

Taking notes - Recently, I started using the device for taking notes, instead of using pen and paper. Usually, the notes I take include diagrams and formulas, so it is really useful to have a stylus. At first, I tried using xournal, but it doesn't support multiple pages, and then I discovered penpen, which is just what I need.

Drawing - I used to draw a little when I was younger, but it's been years since I last did any drawing. MyPaint made me want to start drawing again, and it is another killer app for the N900 for me. It makes great use of the pressure sensitivity of the screen, and feels almost like using real brushes. I can go outdoors and draw/paint anywhere, using only my phone, which is great.

Writing papers Naturally, I prefer using the laptop to work on my research, but now I also have the option to use the phone for this, so I don't HAVE to carry my laptop with me to do work any longer. I got QEmacs for editing tex files, and I got latex installed so I can convert tex files to pdf on my phone.

TV Universal remote Maybe this is more a gimmick than an actual useful feature, but do use irreco occasionally as a universal remote control. My TV wasn't listed in the repository, but eventually I found a compatible model and now I can use my phone to control my tv and cable box.

Remote control for my PC Next week I'm giving a talk at a conference. I plan to use VNC to control my laptop using the phone, so I could switch slides without having to stay near the laptop. It worked great during the practice talk I gave yesterday.

Pedometer - I'm trying to loose 5 extra kilos, so I'm doing long walks every day. I use the pedometer widget to track how much I walked every day. It works great, and the distance it reports is pretty accurate (with around 10% error).

GPS - This is one of the places where the phone could do better. The N900 GPS software is not the best you can find. I wouldn't use it to replace my Tomtom GPS, but it is still pretty useful when I want to find my current location.

Calculator - Sure, any dumb phone have a calculator, but it is always nice to have one. In addition to the standard calculator, I also have ATI85 for more serious staff, Gonvert for converting units, and if I need even more serious symbolic math staf such as finding the integral for a function, I have Yacas. It is a pitty there is no GUI for it and it is not optified yet, but it works.

Connencting to my computer wirelessly - I no longer need to connect to my computer with a USB to move files from and to my phone. I'm using ssh to do secure-ftp from my computer to the phone. I use total-commander with a secure FTP plugin to access my phone and move pictures, mp3 etc to/from the phone.

Playing games - This is another area where the N900 isn't very strong at, and I would definitely not recommend the N900 for people that have gaming at the top of their list, mainly due to lack of native games for the device. However, it is nice to be able to play games once in a while to pass the time during long trips etc. I mainly use ScummVM and Dosbox for my gaming needs.

Dictionary and offline wikipedia - I'm not a native English speaker, so it is useful to have a pocket dictionary with me. It is also useful to have and offline version of Wikipedia in my pocket (especially since I do not have a data plan). I'm using Aard dictionary for both. The N900 version isn't perfect and it still go some issues, but I still like it better than Evopedia.


Other staff - Reading email, calender, alarm clock.

And oh yes, I use it as a phone too ...

So this is my list, and I'm sure I still forgot some other uses.
Feel free to share your own or comment on what I wrote.

Maybe I should've posted this under Maemo 5 instead of Nokia N900?

I talk about both hardware and software, but on a hindsight - maybe this post is more about the N900 software than the hardware.

i really liked you list!
i also think you forgot the most importent feature:
MULTITASKING!!!!!
i mean, this is by far the best multitasking mobile device! i've seen my friend's new EVO and nexus but the way it works on this device which is 6-7 months older make them all jawdrop!
just now i used microB to access my university website, grab an export of next week's schedule for gcalander and sync it, so easily with Erminig!

I rarely do any gaming but i do use it as GPS, thats however depends if you wanna pay 60euro for SYGIC, which is realy good in my opinion.

i am amazed time and time again that i could have Charging,BT,3G,GPS & FM tx on while listening to music over FM, recieving calls via BT and navigating with SYGIC! show me another device that can pull that off!

Just enjoyed a little drive listening to music from my N900 using the FM transmitter. My son nicked it from me and took control of the music selection.

Bought a new car the other day. Salesman emailed me the order forms as pdf. Opened up in Xournal, signed them using the N900 stylus. emailed them back to him. Realised that I cant even do that with my desktop

i believe you post belong to the "Thing My N900 can do and you cant with your 1700$ iMac" section

i do believe there is a(paid) app for that

In no particular order;

Texting - I love threaded conversations as when someone replies with something like 'yes' I often forget the question and have to go back and look at what I sent. Not anymore!

Games - I save the flash from http://wiiarcade.com (good website as no keyboard controls are needed for any game), and play it offline.

Media player - Most people aren't fond of watching movies on such a small screen, but I came from the n95 and I loved to watch movies on that, so the size is a nice step up. I'm searching for some way to carry the n900 so I can use it as my media player while running.

Web browsing - It's replaced my netbook too, only use my main PC for gaming and iPlayer really now (hopefully the latter can be a task for the n900). It also solves a few petty arguments by googling the answer when out and about.

That's the main uses, I also use it as a phone, reading the odd .pdf and .doc files, the calendar comes in handy from time to time, and like every phone i've ever used, it's also my main alarm clock.

As a phone and web-browsing machine. I got my iPod for mediaplaying, N900 just can't match that with slowness of its own mediaplayer (it is truly awful).

I like the four desktops that you can use and fully customize to suit your own needs.

I love being able to find something new to download and do with this device. After using a standard, closed fone for years, this is a breath of fresh air.

I particular like the way android fone users are feeling the need to say' well mine is better than yours, honestly... lol

Ive not seen another person on the street with this fone. They mostly have boring run of the mill closed handsets.

The way my kids find it awesome that i can use the chat facility on facebook, while there stuck with the gated mobile version, although trying to keep them off my n900 is a nighmare.

I like the way i can hold my handset how i want without losing network signal

What i dont like about the n900 would not fill a postage stamp !

Thanks for the link. I didn't know about this website before.

Thanks. I agree that Maemo 5 have the best multitasking for any smartphone. I didn't mention multitasking because I wanted to list specific uses I have for the phone. Multitasking is a feature that helps using the device better (for example, it allows me to count the steps with the pedometer while listening to music, checking where I am with the GPS and waiting for an incoming call with Skype, all at the same time), but it is not a specific use.