Link here:

http://www.mobilen.no/wip4/n900-full...d.epl?id=41312

Translated:

http://translate.google.no/translate...hl=no&ie=UTF-8

That review seemed pretty Microsoft-centric if you ask me. The Nokia N900 fails as a mini-computer...(drum roll) because it can't interface with old versions of Microsoft Exchange?!? The implication that "pirates" would be particularly interested in the Nokia N900 seemed a baseless slur.

But then again, something was lost in Google's bot translation. The Nokia is "full of childhood diseases" and "between two stools." LOL

I found the review to be clarifying, albeit critical.

The most negative piece is they only brought up what the browser didn't do well, whereas just about every reviewer so far has highlighted what it does do well, and that it is ahead of all the competition.

So it is an unbalanced review that still pinpoints certain quirks and user unfriendly functions. On the other hand there are user unfriendly interfaces on just about every phone, and the article does not contextualize the N900 vis-a-vis its competition, just in relation to the user experience. In a way that's what Nokia hopefully is doing as well.

Other than that I find the review useful, as a would be buyer, I know more about the potential negatives of the N900.

My company uses Exchange 2003. I find it very valuable to know we have to run Exchange 2007 for the phone to work with it. I hope that there will some kind of program to enable it to work with Exchange 2003 as well. If there isn't, we also have a web based access so the N900 would still be usable to me, just less so.

Furthermore having to scroll through the entire list of SMS recipients to add a new one seems plain dumb. Of course I assume I would be using the contacts application instead.

Missing on-line/off-line status in the social web interface also seems like a pretty simple omission, and it ought to be rectified to make the unit truly web-centric. OK, so a lot of the improvment points may show up as "apps" on maemo.org.

If I were Nokia I would listen and try to improve or rectify, providing I saw a market here. But if this only is a run up to Maemo 6 and future devices, perhaps its not that essential. Then the N900 will remain a maemo-insider's tool, rather than a business device or a mainstream power gadget.

BTW, as the authors I find it perplexing that the unit didn't run the WMV TV pieces if it's supposed to. What would be the explanation for this?

I'm no super user. I've coded once, 25 years ago and the error sheet ran the length of a university corridor, so I'm uncertain whether I'll go for the N900 or not. What attracts me is the promise of web cam based VOIP and that browser. My view is the N900 is probably the phone with the highest potential of all at the moment but it may be a while before it's fulfilled.

WTF. It's the only phone that has any chance of having decent Flash, and these jokers start complaining that Silverlight doesn't work??

Then they whine about how they can't do online banking due to a lack of Java support. How about switching to a bank that isn't ******ed?

I've tried to remain objective when reading negative reviews, but this really takes the cake.

Most banks here in the US that do 'mobile banking' have a Java app from a particular supplier whose name escapes me at the moment.

Luckily, my bank's normal online banking page works just fine in my E75's browser, so it will presumably also work with the N900's.

N900 is full of deficiencies

An interesting machine, but full of childhood diseases.

LOL - That has made my day - what did he really say ?

My bank uses XHTML 1.0 Strict and one time passwords

Several of the Norwegian banks use "BankID" (java login), but they all have the option to use normal login.

It didn't seem like the most balanced review. But I'm happy to read some criticism of the N900. I'm more annoyed by the overwhelming abundance of completely positive advertorial type reviews out there. Even if I don't agree with the negative reviews or think they overlook things, they often do point out problems that people might care about that the fanboys don't want to have to acknowledge. I want to know about pontential problems or missing features that I might want.

Not working with older versions of Exchange server seems like the biggest deal. Obviously not everyone updates their servers all the time and for the user they're not going to care what the technical reason is, they're just going to want their email to work. So practically speaking this could be a big deal.

I also appreciated the remark about running bittorrent perhaps being an appealing feature to pirates. I didn't see it as a slur at all. It was just refreshingly honest about what bittorrent is mostly used for. Also, I'm not sure that In Norway piracy is viewed in the same overwhelmingly negative way that it's viewed in the U.S. and elsewhere, so in the context the comment may not be as negative as it comes across to readers in other places.

For those wondering about "childhood diseases", a proper English translation would be more like "teething troubles", i.e. it is a new product that has issues from not having gone through a few rounds of refinement. As for "falling between two stools", change stools to chairs and it'll be esier to understand (it can't properly decide what it wants to be so ends up not good at either part).