I love my N900, but just like a real spouse, there are both good and bad points- Mainly good though

Bad:

1. The current handling of Flash in the browser seems problematic and this may be a reason for some people's battery drain and performance issues. Some Flash content does not shut down when closing the browser. I mainly notice this for games, but some sites with other Flash on the page seems to also have the same problem.

If you have no apps open, but the device is still warm or draining the battery at "fast" rate, go to terminal enter "top". If you see "browsersd" or "audiopulse" using memory and the CPU, Flash content is probably still running in the hardware. Audiopulse may not be active, but sometimes it is.

If you notice other apps are performing lower than normal or you have lag, shut the browser down if open and see if the problem continues. Open Flash content has a HUGE impact on battery and performance. Games are the main resource killer if they are hanging even after closing.

2. Streaming video needs a better cache function. Changing the browser to 40mb cache helps, but the "stutter start" still exists- regardless of connection speed.

Same with off-line video content. Almost every video stutters for the first few seconds. I also notice dropped frames- especially on higher bitrate content.

Archos 5 has the same chipest and does not have these problems, so it must be the codecs or the drivers for the hardware (both?).

3. MP3's skip and stutter sometimes when other apps are open. Happens at least 10% of the time. Cache issue or cpu bottleneck?

4. Reception for low 2G signals is weak. Tmo confirmed a signal problem in my area and waived my contract due to the problem, but I am keeping the N900, so staying with Tmo. Still, G1 does not lose signal in the problem areas- N900 does.

Good:

Most of the bad stuff above can be fixed with FW, and in spite of the issues, I love everything else about the N900. Truly a netbook in the pocket that has some phone function.

Though my G1 kicks the N900s a55 for quality game emulators, the N900 is a media and web BEAST! I can hope the game emulators get better- and we get diagonal key mapping

I haven't done a review because I don't want initial impressions. I'm not sure how I'll present the good and bad, but the honeymoon is almost over, and its time to see some maturity and fixes go down.

I need a proper process killer and task manager application, like Ctrl+Alt+Del on Windows. Maybe a button on the "expose" view to see active processes, with those that will kill the system if closed highlighted in red.

CLI via Xterm is cool, but not in my comfort zone, nor very fast. JBak Taskman was cool for S60 in this regard. Maybe he'll bring his genius to Maemo, or someone else could step up.

I really need to learn to code...

battery drains like mad.. lol but other than that i love my n900

This is the only thread I've seriously rated.
Four stars.

You make some excellent points, one of the only non-bias reviews I've read on this site.

I have worse reception and battery life with my N900 than my G1, do you have any suggestions for ending problematic tasks like browsersd?

Love the phone and the OS though, I seriously can't wait to see what the community comes up with.

Good thread. Had mine now for 3 days, an have been glued to it for all of those three days.

I love it, but I find myself worrying that I am not making the most of the device. As a newcomer to Maemo at first it was daunting.

Some observations so far. The phone is better than i expected, I particularly like the way that I can set it so i get to the phone app just by holding the N900 in portrait fashion, but a major frustration is that you cannot edit contacts in this mode, you have to go to the contacts mode. But in contacts you can make calls, so a bit odd that you can't do the opposite. Ovi maps is confusing and as yet no turn by turn directions. The media app is poor too, IMHO, getting album art to show is very hit and miss, need to do a bit more reading up on that. FM transmitter however is a big hit, and like it's auto turn off feature too.

Particularly disappointed with the standard sync options. I expected OVI or Nokia PC Suite to do something. Ended up having to fire up My N95 and bluetoothing stuff over.

However in general I am more than happy, like most people here i bought this phone based on it's potential and not necessarily the out of the box functions. And given what is already being developed for this device i can see it being a very powerful tool.

written in other thread about what I like about the device, but things that need to be improved:

1. better email client, the inbuilt one gives only basic functionality and the lack of a search function is unforgiveable. Really need to see something like Profimail on the device.

2. music player is pretty poor, doesn't index tracks well or at all, and there is no easy way to create playlists.

hopefully, there will be third-party solutions to both of these, but it really needs to be sooner rather than later. if it touts itself as a communications and media device then these two aspects have to be much stronger.

Having said that I am still thoroughly enjoying the device and am willing to put up with these weaknesses because of what is done very well, such as the Skype integration, video codec support, web browser and Conversations

i am loving the n900. My major concern is the battery life. I am always connected to the internet via wifi or 3G, watch videos but need two batteries to get through the day.

the other problem which really can't be sorted by nokia is that my 19 month old son seems to love the n900 more than me. if he see's it he wants it or otherwise there is lots of crying. if he gets it and then can't open up the keyboard also lots of crying.

i'm hiding in the car while i write this