Hmm... please remember first Symbian phones. Now compare them with first Maemo phone and feel the difference .

Yes I was aware of many of this issues before buying the phone, not of all of them (syncML...), I wanted an exciting new phone so I'm not disappointed! And I know many of these issues will soon be solved. But before that, I cannot give my old N95 to my girlfriend cause I still need it...

I also upgraded from an N95 8Gb. Fabulous phone, once they sorted the firmware (which took Vodafone bloody ages). However the only thing I miss is my Garmin XT sat nav. Other than that the N900 rocks, and give it a couple of firmware releases and turn by turn sat nav and it will be perfect. Well, perfect for me at least

People are comparing the n900 with a device that has had nearly three years of upgrades, improvements and software creation. Symbian had been around a while, but when n95 first hit the markets (1st April 2007 in the UK) it was glitchy, problematic and awaiting a lot of software. It got both hardware and software upgrades to become the phone people are so taken with. (My n95 doesn't have 8gb ) I still use my n95 (classic) for my work phone (being unlocked, I can keep the nhs sim in it.)

It's like saying 'look! My three-year-old can walk, talk, count to twenty and eat solid foods but your new born can only wail and cry'.

We don't know what the n900 will eventually achieve: we have a good idea of its potential but whether it will actually realise that potential is not just down to nokia and a few professional software creators. This device is one we can all have a hand in schooling. Sure there are areas that nokia will have to work on, but this is one the community can make into what we want.

Personally, I find that seriously exciting. Much more so than the 'this is what we're offering - take it or leave it' approach from other devices. Even if I am a particularly stupid and useless bear in the community - I still want to be here.

Well said Kathy. It's funny how people are comparing it to devices that got polished over the years. I find the device pretty good and above all else stable for such a new device. People have said oh but this is maemo 5 so it is old, but the whole idea of an os like this on a phone is pretty new. I have no doubt that many more apps will be available in the coming months.

You're right, and also our use of the N95 got better and better over time, so that it's hard to switch for another phone now...
Of course Maemo is a young OS and will be improved. I don't care so much about stability (very good for the moment!) and bugs (not so much) which will be corrected, but I'm more concerned about missing features I was considering as "standards" on nokia phone (ex : http syncML).

i struggled with a n900 for a few days ... really , really wanting to keep it as my no 1 phone ... but i had to go back to my n82 ... for few simple reasons:
1) i need a "real" phone and i need a real sip-phone and n900 is just a would-be-phone :
- phone application is difficult to get,
- no real call log,
- contact management is messy,
- MAJOR ISSUE: public user name settings missing in sip settings!!!
2) i need navigation, i use sygic and garmin on n82 (google and ovi maps are just for fun!)
3) in roaming ... how do i control the internet connections? at the moment 3G connects as it needs

i'll keep it as a secondary phone ... as i kept an iphone till it crashed at its first fall

and ... to be honest .... touch is fun, but is not as reliable as it should be ... but keys and joystick are so much better ... specially on a little screen

Blackberry something (the one without wifi... couple of years old) has better speakers as my N900.. It was a short test but it was clear that the sound was a bit louder and lower frequencies were more noticeable.

Still, I love my N900.

See, all that sounds perfectly reasonable to me. You're finding that the N900 does not meet your needs - and that is perfectly fine (and I will even agree with you).
I am glad that I don't really use my phones much for voice or I would start going loopy with some aspects of the N900 telephony module...

I really miss having things like Smartprofile or Handy Profiles. And I won't lie, I do miss MMS a little (yes, I am aware of fMMS )

n900 interface owns, speed the apps.
the non signing of everything.
Oh did i mention linux ? meaning free and not getting unsigned apps and signing them.
The ability to reflash and fix your own device provided by the OS makers themselves with guides that they have written.

Plus the community as well.
Were all in one place, rather then scatterd everywhere on different forums with symbian s60.

the camera can be tweaked with firmware updates that we know will come along.

all the bugs get addressed and maemo devs listen !


and as for the speakers, its not a problem if you connected them to bluetooth ones and get a nice bass !
Gotta love the bass guys !