Heh, well...that could be of course. A bit of an X-files conspiracy theory perhaps, but whatever, I always loved Scully as well

But, frankly, I just don't think this is the case. Nokia has lately released plenty of phones with buggy firmware and they've seemed to have big delivery problems with other phones too (N97 comes to mind). I'm not looking to start a fight with pro-Nokia crowds now, but I think it's their way of releasing phones now that they seem to be perhaps a bit behind the other players in the "top-of-the-line" models: release as fast as possible now as soon as everything vital works, fix the worst of the other problems later, release the next phone, rinse and repeat.

Personally I'm not very big on believing in promised updates fixing all issues, I would advice anybody to make sure whatever Nokia device (or any manufacturer's device, really) they're buying does everything they want it to do NOW and not trust the promised upgrades to fix problems -- and especially not trust that features will be added later. They probably won't....I think it's rare when there's these experiences of, for example, N800 getting the same OS as N810, or Android 1.5 phones getting 2.0 (like they probably will), most often these phones etc. are pretty much stuck with what they're released with, (most) bugs and all.

Anyway, perhaps this is a bit off-topic, but I think there's too much talk of what the upgrade will fix...we just don't really know and until it's released, well, it doesn't exist. I'd just advice the OP that waiting for an update might not be very smart if the phone doesn't read your mail right now. If an upgrade fixes these issues later, great! Perhaps the N900 will be cheaper then, might as well take it back and wait and get it again. But by then there might be other newer gadgets out there too...which of course is exactly why Nokia likes to release their things with less-than-perfect software, to get them out the door before the next iPhone / Android 2.5 etc. Oh well.

To be completely honest - and I've already been labeled anti-Nokia enough times somehow - Nokia has actually delivered on updates in regards to Maemo quite a bit.

Diablo is still one solid piece of OS to this day.

Well, yes, this is true - regarding Maemo, Nokia does have a pretty good track record, such as the N800 getting Diablo thing I mentioned. I might sound too cautious and I'll be glad to be proven wrong if a firmware update appears soon and fixes everything and adds all the "missing" features, whatever they may be for various people. Still, I wouldn't get / keep a device if it doesn't do a vital task for me, even if it is "promised" as an update. But that's just my opinion, happy to disagree about that.

And I agree, Diablo is still good, although Modest is really, really not.

Fair enough. We have a different opinion in this matter. I, myself, am almost certain most bugs will be fixed in the future, but I'm discovering a scary trend in myself: I just left the HTC Hero and Android to come here and now the Hero is getting an update to Android 2.1. So, mostly I'm afraid that if it takes too long for an update to come to the N900, I'll be pursuing the next hot piece of technology ***** before the one I'm currently with matures to something useable. I'd be doomed to a life of unfinished products

Heheh, yes, such is the life of tech-geeks, there's always something better on the horizon now . Sort of makes you think back to a few years ago now, the N800/N810 really were ahead of their time - at that time there really was no comparable product out or coming soon. Sort of makes you wonder why and how Nokia's clear advantage in producing "tablet devices" was wasted by going so long between releases. That's another endless thread though, let's not go there...

Anyway, interesting that you had the Hero. I actually needed a new phone (like properly needed, old one barely worked) some months ago and went with the Hero, too, so I'm happy about it getting an update soon - and otherwise too, it's a nice phone and getting to know Android has been interesting...after S60 phones, it's been a blast to see how "fun" phones can be. Waiting for a truly mature Maemo phone seemed like a good time to take a look at Android, which I've always been interested in. I still fully expect to jump back to Maemo at some point, but we'll see when it happens...or even if, Android is advancing pretty fast and who knows what sort of Android phones there are before the next Maemo one is out. On the other hand, if all these (rather minor) issues with the N900 get fixed, I might still get it later on. Who knows

I don't use Modest at all. Rather get my e-mails on my iPhone or through the web.

If you have a large number of folders etc. (I mean BIG) then there is only one client that is really good claws mail (was sylpheed-claws)
That is irrespective of platform, I used it then after repeated crashes and instability with outlook a colleague who used "windows" (spit) ended up using it and he was really happy with it.

It is available for OS 2007/2008. Hope it is (or is soon) for maemo 5.

With regards the inbox problem, I really hope that Modest doesn't show the same behaviour as it did in Diablo and hang every time I open the folder

Return it. It's obviously not the device for you. The N900 will never bring that experience to you, it's within another category.

Get the HD2, it'll bring you what you need.

Can't really say I miss itunes but this sounds interesting. I transferred all my music using mass storage transfer and the device is unable to play my playlists I created using Winamp. I tried synching using Winamp and had the same problem. Even worse when I tried synching using Winamp and Media Monkey the music went into the main device folder rather than the sounds folder. I tried Windows Media player but since I upgraded to Windows 7 it crashes each time I open it. I tried Nokia Music but whether I connected in PC Suite mode or mass storage mode it would just say device not connected in correct mode.

I wonder if this would be the solution to my woes. I got this as a combined phone/mp3 player/organiser and sold my ipod touch 32gb to cover some of the costs and would be very frustrated if I can't get the thing to play my playlists.

For points 1, 2 and 4 there should be bug reports in bugs.maemo.org.
For point 6: Do you have any 3rd party software from the unstable application catalogues (extras-testing or extras-devel) installed?