Well,

I will get Nokia N900.

Nexus One looks great though, but its still too early because Q1 next year there are many android phones will come out so Nexus One wont be the only one who will have snap dragon.

Any specific reason you plan to choose the N900?

I'm very interested to find out what people think about when they think of the N900 and what they plan to use the device for.

}:^)~

For me,

Maemo > Android IMHO.

The open-ness of maemo and ease of development using tools I'm already familiar with (qt, c++, gtk) now coupled with the MADDE project make developing for maemo easy to get started for someone like me.

Plus, absolutely nothing compares to Easy Debian on any phone currently in the market. If Maemo is missing something I want.. fire up Easy Debian and I can grab it. This was exactly what I did in the N810. Qole's easy debian is brilliant.

There are some things my android phone just can't do.. if I decide to put a video on there I have to follow what it will play.. no choice. Meaning I have to maintain two or more copies of video files on my desktop to accommodate the possible devices I use. In maemo, I can load something else, like mplayer, to get the functionality I want or need. It may be less than optimal.. but the option is there.

Rooted Android roms (I run them), all have bugs and quirks to get used to ranging from random lockups to problems in the Market.. or bluetooth doesn't work.. or something else doesn't work. So I'm already used to bugs in devices to get what I want or need... what I need are options and possibilities.

Android doesn't give this to me. Currently nothing does, except Maemo. Maemo uses the tools and technologies I am already familiar with (apt-get, repositories, deb packages), and gives me root to do whatever I want that may or may not be missing.

Specifically with the N1 vs N900... the N1 I will not look at for one reason: no keyboard. I require it, it doesn't have it. Not for me.

Having used the n900 for a month or so now, I have to say the interface seems far superior to anything else on the market.
Watching the videos for iphone and droid make me cringe to be honest.

Sure the icons for the n900 are pretty boring, and it needs some firmware updates to smooth the rough edges - but it really is a lovely device.

(and I'm glad I've got the armour and screen protector for it)

my precious....

(obviously I'm heavily biased - I was introduced to ARM in the days of the Archimedes [arm 2/3/strongarm] )

What kind of task switcher does the newest Android have? I can't seem to find screenshots. Maemo 5's one is so much better than everything I've seen before that it really makes a huge difference in how I use applications.

For all this talk about the M5 UI being unpolished, I'm amazed at how efficient I am using it.

There seems to be a tremendous divide between users that prefer the N900 to other devices. It seems that developers that enjoy working in a traditional distro environment like the N900 and those that really enjoy tweaking. I've also noticed that there are some that love the spec page and the 'sheer possibilities' that the platform/hardware has to offer.

For the rest, it seems that iPhone/Android-device are more attractive propositions. For me personally, the screen on any mobile device is entirely too small to do real work on (I've noticed that using it often will @*%# up my vision) or even use for extended periods, so it's a convenience device more than anything else. When I want to browse the web in a pinch, make/take a call (I use my N810 for this), listen to some music, or quickly send off a terminal command, the mobile works wonderfully. I use my laptop for actual work or play as its much more comfortable to use for extended period.

But I can completely appreciate the 'toy' factor of the N900, especially for individuals that like to tinker: developers and tweakers. What value does the N900 have to non-developers/tweakers over other Android devices?

Here's another question to sate my curiosity (and I really am curious), beyond behaving like a traditional linux distro with traditional development tools, what can you do on an N900 that you cannot on say the N1? This is more a question of capability (or os constraints) rather than specific software.

}:^)~

Well.. I don't have the N900, so I'll use my N810 as a reference as well as all I've read on these forums.

Using easy debian, a Full Desktop Publishing suite (scribus) is likely usable on the N900. Meaning that if you are on the go and have to modify or edit something large, you can do it on your phone. I honestly don't expect someone to use this as a primary purpose.

OpenOffice runs on the N900 (although I hear people complain about speed, it's at least there). Android has limited capabilities with dealing with word, excel, and power point documents.

Also, the PDF readers on the Android friggin SUCK. (someone, please correct me here: has anyone gotten a useful pdf reader on there?). I read almost the entire Sword Of Truth series on my N810. I have no idea how this would look on the N900's smaller screen.. but just the navigation and use of the app I was using far exceeded about 3 or 4 different pdf readers I've tried on my G1.

FM Transmitter of course... I think I've read Pandora radio works on the N900? I don't know if this is possible, but I'll be in heaven if it is.. I want to stream Pandora through my car and never listen to another DJ again.

Full flash support, of course.. but I think Android 2+ will get this, maybe? And I think even the iPhone will eventually grab it.

Android doesn't really allow users to "close" apps they don't want or need anymore. You can install a task manager separately for this.. but by default Android just keeps the last 6 running in memory, and chooses for itself which apps to close if it runs out of memory. A lot of apps don't even have a "close" button in the menu. I personally like control here.

I don't like Android's Terminal much. I haven't seen the N900's yet. Hope it's better.. the N810's terminal was excellent, and had a couple alternative terminals that were even better.

Anyway... I'm not one of the people out here trying to get others to get the N900. I don't think my wife would like the N900 anymore than her Cliq.. and I wouldn't push it on her. Android is a fine OS, and will work just fine for most people. I do hate the iPhone, and see no reason why someone would pick an iPhone over an Android phone, personally.

But if Android will do everything you can think to do with a phone... then by all means. For me, it does not compare. It gets me by until I can get my hands on an N900.. but the N900 is truly where I'd like to play. But as you said.. I'm tinkerer and a geek. This is the world I live in.

Honestly, I think if someone is happy with what android offers by default, then they deserve an Android phone. If you plan to root your android phone..... I think you're the perfect candidate for an N900.

Cool. If you can read this, it did't work.

Business-wise, I need to be able to access and use several proprietary company websites. Maemo/microB does this far better than any browser running on Android. It also handles my email accounts better.

Fun-wise, it's very cool listen to 'net radio streams on the road with the FM transmitter. N900 has better camera and video recording than any Android phones I can think of. Of course the microB browser is also great for non-work-related websurfing. And no Android phone I've seen yet released or planned, including the Nexus One, has anything like 32GB of onboard storage + micro SD storage.

I haven't had a hands-on encounter with Android 2.0 but Maemo 5 just blows up Android 1.6, no matter how you try to customize it.

Well, I was in the market for a new phone for quite a while since I messed up my iphone screen. I wanted to get away from apple's phone because all the restrictions they impose, the phone works fine, has a lots of apps, good size, etc etc... Everything is good with the iphone except I had to jailbreak it in order to do anything I wanted and I feel I should have the right to do whatever I want with a phone that's mine.

For me the decision to go N900 was the openness, the freedom to do whatever I want, a very nice GUI so my device won't look 10 years old, a lot of good hardware built-in (it's a freaking laptop!, the display is awesome, etc), development potential given the openness, plus some really nice features Ex. VoIP/IM integration, amazing browser, facebook/pixelpipe/etc sharing and the possibility to do video chat (Come on Nokia!!!)

I know Android based phones are a little more mature than the N900 at this time, but that can change really quick. With Maemo you don't have any limits to what you can do, you want to build a new kernel module, you want to install any OSS, build your own.. anything, just go ahead. I was even thinking about installing NetBSD the other day just for the sake of it LOL.

So even if it depends on Nokia, the market, etc... I decided to put my money where I think it could be a brighter future.