Seriously, this is making me paranoid! Hardware keyboard this, slider that, microphone this, dead pixle that..
I've already orderd and paid for my N900! I don't want to hear this!
But the thing that bothers me most is people who don't have any issues with their device panic as well ("Now that you mention it my heptic feedback is a bit weak, is that normal? Oh god is my device broken? Oh god, it's broken! It's bricked isn't it? TELL ME THE TRUTH, DAMNIT!"), and they're making me panic even more!@

So I need an answer- is this normal, all of these damaged units? what are the odds that my N900 is going to arrive damaged in any way?

my n900 is running fine . except i dont know how to use the front web cam.. ;p

To be honest it depends on luck. Some on this website will claim that it is only for noobs the device gives problems. But to me a device where you have to be a linux expert and not put tons of media on it to make it function perfectly is a far from perfect device. It is a great device when everything works perfectly but unfortunately far too often for far too many people it does not work perfectly. Hopefully a firmware update will perfect everything.

i have a crap load of media on mine and it runs perfect

i hope these problems only apply on the units from the first "wave" of production.

considering i propably get mine around mid-january, i'm positive i'll get a revised device without issues.

Just for the record... There is nothing wrong with putting loads of media on the device, it just may take a temporary performance hit if you add it all at once. If it would have been permanent then you would have discovered a bug, but apparently that wasn't the case so everything is good.

As for hardware failures, I do think that you have to be very unlucky to get a damaged device. The reboot issue seems to be the most critical one. Dead pixels can always happen, but are quite rare.

Working great for me. And you have at least a year of warranty. I dont see the issue.

I don't know how things are with other devices. I have never bought a device where I have come on to a website to constantly discuss it. But you just have to visit the site for a day to see that the device has all sorts of issues. Wifi not connecting, no reception on vodafone, phone randomnly rebooting, etc. May be the same for all other devices if you visit their forums but this one has loads of problems. It may be that every single person with an N900 that has a problem is on Maemo discussing it but as I do not have shares in Nokia I have to warn you that there is a risk. There is a risk with any device but with this one this site gives the impression there is a bigger risk than usual.

dont worry dude! i got n900, first one had reboot problem but i just replaced it today from the nokia store and this one is working perfectly so far no reboots, mic working, no dead pixels. or anything. great! n im new to linux never never used linux. total noob here. iphone was my first touchscreen phone used it for a month then sold i felt really limited using it. but now hell yeah even right now im using my n900 and doing voice chat at the same time lol. im totally amazed what this device can do. anyway just keep your fingers crossed and wish you get a stable unit. other than im totally happy. =D i had no high expectations so im definitely satisfied with it.

Yep def. Sux