Is it possible to scroll around the page while it's loading? I mean can you read the text on there while the pictures are still loading?

Thought I'd pipe in here, since 2.5G browsing is my only option. I canceled my T-mobile contract because of no cell service around my house, and ended up going into AT&T an buying an iphone. I figured if I keep the n900 with at&t, selling the iphone would nicely offset the cost, and if I don't, an iphone is really the only alternative, since I don't get Verizon coverage either.

Side by side test with n900 on 2.5G and iphone 3GS on 3G, there really wasn't a big difference in loading mobile web pages, like m.espn.com, m.cnn.com, etc... It would take on average only 1-5 seconds longer to completely load. I could completely live with it on those types of pages.

However, I couldn't stream anything without hiccups on the n900, including lower quality audio and video streams, they always stuttered throughout, which is kind of what I expected. The coverage area i'm in is supposed to be solid, but I'm guessing results will vary. And regular web pages, espn.com, slashdot.org, could take over 1 minute to completely load depending on how much stuff was on there. I'm hoping this could be lessed by installing ad block, etc... to block flash advertising.

Installing apps was fine, no issues.

So all in all, it's really not too bad.

My desktop PC internet connection was EDGE for several months and I survived it. EDGE is fine for webbrowsing as long as you don't stream videos. EDGE is only slightly slower than standard UMTS without HSPA, but the latency is higher.

I'm on AT&T and stuck with Edge as well. The processor is so quick that it actually loads up most pages, especially 'intense' websites, much faster than my N97 on 3G. However, like most people said, if you are trying to load up youtube or just a flash display, it will take a while.

There is no T-Mobile reception at my work, so I don't know if I'll even switch back.

I will second this.

My N900 loads up most pages faster on Edge than my N97 does on 3G.

T-Mobile doesn't have 3G in Iowa, so I'm using 2.5 (neither does AT&T... gosh I wish the n900 was CDMA!). Can't complain too much, unlimited data and free incoming calls (so free outgoing as well thanks to google voice) for $45/month.

Works fine for normal browsing, reminds me of the Internet in the 90s. We created a whole dotcom bubble back then, so we made it work somehow right?