My wife and I are in the market for some sort of enhanced phone device. By enhanced, I mean one that is good at browsing, VOIP, contact management, etc.

I'm looking at the N900 and I'm really impressed with the hardware. Love the fact that it has an FM transmitter and GPS built right in. Love, love the fact that it runs Linux, Qt, etc. Finally someone gets "it".

However, I'm worried about it (n900 and Maemo 5) being abandoned in the near future. Is the n900 going to support an upgrade to Maemo 6 ? Is a new device going to be released with the release of Maemo 6 ?

It also seems that a number of things don't quite work right in the current version of Maemo 5. I got burned buying an HP phone with a very quirky/buggy MS OS on it. I don't want to go through that again. I wish Nokia would release a big update to Maemo 5 so that it would be 100% stable.

What I really wish is that Nokia would run the Maemo project like Redhat runs Fedora... where there are user forums where developers interact with users and project goals and timelines are released up front. The Fedora system may not be perfect, but its darn good.

Am I right to sit on the fence regarding the N900 ?

I'd say wait. If you're looking for a consumer device that anyone can use and enjoy, the N900 might not be for you.

well the android iphone and n900 all do what you want.. these are the functions i need primarily and decent email and gps.

the n900 has the ability to have the denect gps and email, but isnt up to the other to as yet on that score.


winmo 6.5 is horrid , but winmo 7 may be brill. maemo 5 is much nicer ui than winmo 6.5. but hasnt got the functionality as yet.

+1

If you are an end user I'd say right now the N900 would not be a good choice. It needs more software and more updates yet, for one who likes to tinker however it is a wonderus device.

~Jeff

I'm a very experienced Linux user. Been running it since RH8 days. I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty, but I want a stable OS under me

i'm an end user, i love this device, i have no problems mentioned on this site (just lucky i guess) it does all i need it to do, i'm not technical, or advanced, i'm the simplest of users you will find, but it does everything wonderfully, i had reservations about this phone, the screen and the keyboard, i moved over from the errr aahem Iphone camp and was a little worried about the touchscreen, but i have to say that it is excellent, and much to my surprise i don't find that using the stylus is a chore and infact it's a stroke of genius for nokia to include one for browsing the web as it's much more accurate then my great big thick treetrunk fingers.
as my previous sentence mentions, my hands are rather large, i had to have my wedding ring made because they didn't have a size to fit me (just to give you some idea of the size of my hands) but i find the keyboard quite easy and pleasant to use and don't have a problem with the top row being to close to the screen, anyway, enough of me singing it's praises and telling you how useless of a user i am, all i have to say is try it. and why worry about what is coming up or being developed, you'll be on hold forever if you do

Thanks for that reply.

Its interesting to hear you are coming from an iPhone. My wife currently has one.

What sort of things are you doing with your N900 ? VOIP ? Skype ? GPS ? Browsing ? These are the sorts of things that I want my device to do.

I've used Andriod, iPhone, and WinMo - Maemo is king of mobile browsing currently.

~Jeff

hi
i say if youre familiar with linux and like to get your hands dirty..you could get along well with this device.
the actual restriction is that as a phone it really isnt that good...however as a portable "mini laptop"/tablet...its wonderful.
note: im not saying as a phone youll get bad reception or dropped calls or bad clarity of calls...its just very simple as a phone....and rightly so as the focus was never to be a "phone"....
(hope you understand what im trying to say)
as for the wife....im not too sure unless, like you...she too is a "tinkerer"...or if she may show some interest when you are tinkering....(as my other half does....who also has an n900)
they are rumours that a maemo 6 device is scheduled for this year.....when? no one knows...and if nokia's scheduled release dates are anything to go by....im figuring late 2010 or even early 2011...by that time you should have well enjoyed your n900 to the fullest....
hope this helps

me2000, you sound like an advanced user. I'd say go for the N900 given your questions and statements. If nothing else, this great community will support you.