I had just ignored this but, I also do not have any credit cards. I am 37 and married with 4 kids. I have NEVER had a credit card, I have never needed one.

I vote manufacturer financing also

$650 + full replacement insurance for two years say $750
0% financing for two years = 31.25 per month.

where do I sign up

That was me. When I started that thread I knew nothing about Maemo, Nokia phones or tablets...and I'm still an Maemo ignoramous. I just knew the N900 looked like a friggin' monster phone running a version of real, full-bore Linux.

I was gettin' kinda sick of my G1/Android and the N900 looked like the answer. So, I posted to try and draw some attention to it and see what others thought. To keep it going I later added some links to info and videos, kept an eye on the thread...

Sorry, I can't change the title.

Never had to rent a car?

***

Subsidies in some cases just inflate the MSRP.

Nextel, a post paid service provider sells subsidized phones that are exclusive to Motorola and can only run on the iDEN network.
Boost is a prepaid provider that offers the same phones that run on the same iDEN network with no contract.
Both providers use SIM cards to identify an account on the network.

The cost of a Boost i776 = $99

Nextel claims that the i776's MSRP = $229

However, if you open a new line and sign a 2 year contract the will let you have it for only $79 giving you an instant savings of $150

Remember the Boost phone you can buy with no contract for $99? ... Um, It cost only $20 more and you don't have a contract.

Now here is where it gets really interesting...

If you are under contract with Nextel for less then a year and loose or damage your phone beyond repair and do not have insurance; you must buy a replacement phone from Nextel at full MSRP.

Simple you might say. Just buy a Boost phone at a local retailer and pop your iDEN SIM in the cheaper Boost phone.

WRONG!
Boost phones are locked to Boost SIM's and your Nextel SIM will not work in a Boost phone.

Now the for the kick in the pants...

A person with the cheapest Boost phone or just an active Boost SIM can use it in any Nextel phone.

Nextel Phones are not locked to a SIM.

Yup, I use my debt card, they always let me

Something no one mentions is that you HAVE to use TMo for 3G. If I HAVE to switch, I'd like a subsidy. It'd be different if I could pick a 3G carrier, but I can't. So I'm locked in anyway. At least let me get a cheap initial cost to buy.

Has anyone considered buying unlocked at NOT using the 3G? I know if I got a n900, I would just stick my T-mobile prepaid (about $50 a year on average) or a perfect scenario would be one of those pay as you go things, because I would only need to use 3G like once a week, and telephony like twice a week (like 5 minutes max), and never use txt (free txt and voip with google voice, so....).

So in my case unlocked it MUCH MUCH cheaper...

Thesandlord,
I do that right now as a case study for emerging markets. I've used an N95 8gb SIM free for four months now. I'm not against using it on EDGE only. Got used to it from using Euro models and hating at&t. But I'm ready for my first 3G Nokia phone and getting back to SMS and free calls at night while walking my dog.

Yes. I currently pay approximately $42/year for PAYG cellular service, giving me about 400x more minutes than I use. I receive perhaps a dozen text messages a year from work, send none, and only occasionally use the far-slower-than-even-EDGE data connection.

I keep looking at the T-Mobile PAYG plans, but they're not attractive. On the other hand, while it would be difficult to overstate my bitterness toward for AT&T, at least their goPhone + 1 MB data plan is approaching reasonable.

Besides, regardless of what T-Mobile's web maps show, I doubt their 3G reaches where I live. We're only about two years removed from when we had to show visitors who insisted on using their mobiles to the spot at the end of the driveway where they might manage a short call before being disconnected.

When I get an N900, I'll probably just tether to the same, slow dumbphone I use with my N800 and N810 now. I might try AT&T for EDGE and the advantage of carrying one device, but my past experience with AT&T tells me I'll quickly regret it.

So much of what is being said is depressing.

If you are a current TMO Subscriber you can ask for the loyalty program rate (Faves Unlmtd Loyalty ) which is 50$ for unlimited talk. Voila you have your subsidy for being a good customer. The same plan at att is about 100$ and no chance of loyalty.

So if you can convince TMO to give you this rate for switching you just found a 600$ subsidy for your phone. It might be worth the conversation with T-Mobile if it works. Of course this is only valuable for people who use their phone a lot.

DUN is not included in N900 out of the box. Another thread here says it shouldn't be a problem to install and the Maemo team said they've started working on it.
.
Many of us are used to tethering their N8x0s. Of course it's a kludge for the N900, but it would get many people connected to the other 3 carriers at 3G speeds.