@tigerroast.
a ton of $ does not compare to a ton of quality.
Buying a $5000 dollar toaster isn't going to toast your bread any better than the $20 model.
Purchasing a gold plated ferrari android phone for stupid amounts of money doesn't mean that you get an equal measure of ability or longevity from the device compared to an off the shelf model for a fraction.
It is all in how wisely all that money is spent in creating the thing.
Why do people buy the apple and mac versions of things at a more expensive price point ?
Because they know quality?
Hardly the reality.
The guts ...the parts inside almost all computers nowadays ...regardless of brand ...are increasingly looking the same.
It's about marketing brand loyalty.
Corps have done extensive testing ever before a computer was ever created.
Bread companies for example.
Category A is the bread for expensive tastes and to state social position.
Category B is "old tried and true" been around forever appealing to those fearing change, fearing unknown ingredients, longing for what they used to have, tradition, etc...
Category C is generic store brand for those believing they are smart frugal shoppers.
Seemingly a countless variety of labels.
But all are made by a literal handful of companies to give the illusion of choice.
The price fluctuates to also give illusion of a competitive market.
The same holds for many other products.
Automotive for example...
"Tried, tested, and true..ford tough" ...not just a slogan...intelligent manipulation...Paying attention to car commercials they insert statements like "voted best in class / whatever for [insert year] " ...yet if you don't let the words just slide into your mind...but think about it.
Who voted? When did this vote take place? How could this be decided in the 1st place when the vehicle was LITERALLY just released?
And yet months later there are recalls.
Manipulation...plain and simple.
It's just marketing ...refined.
I took it ...we all had to in the arts...pleasing image, colour, jingle, emotional manipulation etc...whatever it takes to get the attention and the sale.
Manufacturing Consent. good doc ...and there are many many others for people wishing to understand what is a given in the industries.
Concerning product and what is real and is good marketing I am familiar with beyond theory, job, or practice.
I grew up with it.
I saw it 1st hand and have a keen insight into it.
Our family were farmers...I say were because things changed and we did not wish to change with them.
I encourage farming as a hobby and interest...even farming to feed yourself and family. I do not encourage farming as a business today.
When I was young we had all kinds of different produce and livestock...a good functioning farm. Our animals were happy, had a good life and were considered part of the family. For example a day in the life of our chickens in a snapshot was like this...

But things change and the industry began to demand a great deal to stay "with them" so-to-speak"
We couldn't comply...it was just so wrong....
This is what good marketing looks like today...

looks like a lovely place to live...to get your food from...
But it doesn't really exist.
This is what our family couldn't do.
We just couldn't be that.


breaks the heart.
Anywho... you see there is a purpose to all of what I said.
Never believe what is purported to be "the best" or ...such and such a thing is the "end-all and be-all" ...don't believe the advert...carefully weighing, studying, scrutinizing and testing by oneself is the best measure. Pick the best...failing that pick "the least of evils". In essence that is how I came to my own personal decision regarding what (back in the day) were the best options for myself. and that was the NIT device family line. I continue that philosophy with the neo and believe the pandora/ pyra to be just as currently valid.
I do not believe my interests are based on brand loyalty as such.
Just about what the end product can deliver and how much it can deliver at that.
That is where my loyalty lies..wisely spent money on wisely designed products (with a healthy lifespan) for me to then wisely spend my time.

Also considering the topic of emulation vs running alternate distros...
I cannot say that it is flawless running emulators anymore than running all alternate os's on say ...the n800/n810/n900 ...many had an issue of 1 sort or another...some however work very well.

@ tigerroast I do suggest perhaps reading the wiki on "how to..."
Simply because you post a thing...
does not mean it is a fact that should be believed.

Actually, it is not about stylus itself, but about technology used for digitizer (resistive accurate to-pixel + pressure sensitivity). And yes, it *is* allowing to 100% emulate a mouse - by either pointing exactly where we want, or by using it as notebook touchpad equivalent (pointer not fixed to touch point, but it's movement - see DosBox on N900 and some games, like old Command&Conquer).

Either that, or you do custom stylus and use it as full drawing tablet (as in drawing peripherial for PC, not the multimedia-consumption device) - see Creativetone's drawing on N900, for example, from youtube. Now tell me that it isn't mouse+ emulation

Actually, Nokia tried to sell N900 as a phone with tablet functionality. The "mobile computer first, woith addition of phone functionality" is a Community definition, cause, you know, most nowadays N900 users are exactly that type of users. If you want to see it as "phone mostly", you better look other offers (and it apply to any hyphotetical Neo900, mind you), for best bang on your bucks.

/Estel