i once broke the display of my N95. I downloaded the service manual, ordered a replacement lcd from ebay for 12 dollars and fixed it myself. It was relatively easy. 4 screws and a ribbon cable plug if i recall correctly. Maybe it's worth trying. The replacement was not visible with the backlight off in direct sunlight as was the oroginal but the N900's lcd isn't visible anyway.
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Vaporizer-info.com

Have a friend, cousin, coworker be your proxy in the US. Fill out the paper work with their name and most importantly their address/zipcode. Once repaired it will be sent to them. Arrange for them to either ship to you or go pick it up directly.

That is what I did. 12 days and I got it back successfully.

You could just buy a replacement from a place like

http://www.mobile-phone-lcd.com/n900...deu-p-331.html (lcd screen)
http://www.mobile-phone-lcd.com/noki...deu-p-402.html (touchscreen)

and do it yourself. It seems to be a very straight forward job. Disassembly vid here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVEHm325-z8

Note that I don't know that shop! I just did a quick google search for replacement parts, they're around...

Interesting - that's pretty quick. Was this a warranty repair, or did you have to pay for it? I guess my friend would have to pay any charges too or Nokia might wonder what's going on.

Seems like the touchscreen isn't broken, only the left half of the LCD. I'm starting to think the replace-it-at-home option is looking good.

I didn't pay for it. It is covered under the warranty. I shipped it directly to the repair center myself. That was the only cost I incurred. I was fortunate to have a business trip in the US and my cousin Fedex Overnighted me my phone back. I consider myself very fortunate that it worked out this smoothly.

This is a Nokia policy across all countries (near as I can tell via google)

For example, the US page here

http://www.nokiausa.com/get-support-...re-protect/faq

On both questions asking about warranty repair out of the country of purchase:

"No, Nokia Care Protect is valid for warranty repair within the country where the device was
originally purchased. "

You should be able to contact Nokia and specify you want a repair at your cost, however they could still decline to make the repair and ship it back to a different country - Nokia is only allowed to SHIP a phone to a country for which the phone has local regulatory permission to be received.

In other words, it might be legal for you to import a US phone to Canada, but its not legal for Nokia to ship a US phone to Canada. Make sense?

...but I'm not asking for a repair under warranty. I want to pay them to repair my phone outside of the warranty.

Quite right - I should be able to. However, calling the Nokia US number even gives me "This number cannot be reached from your area code". Amazing. As Kriek quite rightly noted, Nokia USA is set up to fail.

Do I follow the logic involved? Yes. Does it make sense as a consumer? Not so much.

Does anyone know if Industry Canada has approved the N900?

I'm very interested to know why Nokia Canada cannot do anything for us.

What I find interesting is that the Nexus 1 is now shipping directly to Canada. And aside from the hardcore Nokia followers, like myself, who like to live dangerously - I think many people will opt for this device.

I think schettj's post above explains why:

1. Nokia don't sell the N900 in Canada
2. So Nokia Canada repair centre doesn't know anything about the N900 and doesn't have parts...
3. ... and Nokia never applied for Industry Canada approval for the phone
4. So the N900 isn't approved for use in Canada
5. So even if Nokia Canada sent my phone to Nokia US for repair, Nokia US can't legally send an N900 back to Canada (even a repair...?)

Thanks talk.maemo community. However, in my opinion it's inexcusable that Nokia Canada did not/could not explain this to me themselves. It's not like I'm the first person to ever be in this situation.

I'm almost tempted by the Nexus 1, but I think it's a temporary aberration caused by my N900 being pwned by the desk and Nokia Canada crushing my dreams.

Finally got someone in Nokia USA who was both polite and helpful, who told me that yes, they will repair/replace the screen (she suggested that the repair might possibly even be under warranty(!), otherwise around $100) so long as I have a US address for them to ship it to. They will even pay to ship the phone both ways (within the US). My new plan is to ship the phone to Nokia's US repair facility, who will then ship it to a friend of mine in the US, who will then ship it to me.

A lot better than nothing, and the Nokia US rep was excellent. I was still shocked by how useless (and in one case rude) the Nokia Canada reps were.

I'll update on the long and winding procedure of getting the repair done in case anyone is interested in the future.