I've been searching for a mobile device for sometime, I've done a lot of reading, but having trouble deciding on anything. The main use of this device will be for business (I'm buying it, but they pay for the data). Main need is for good work email/calendar/contacts, also have need to at least view MS Office documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), but editing is probably not really needed. Also need to be able to run some mainstream apps (CRM, Expensify, ZipCar, banking, etc...) that will most likely never be available via Maemo or Meego.

So obvious answer would be to get an Android or iOS device since I need apps that run on those platforms, problem is I don't really like Android (and like iOS even less). The multitasking/task switching is not very useful (although it looks like this is improved in ICS?), browsing the internet feels clumsy, and it feels like I come across a million little annoyances every time I use an Android phone that were done much better in Maemo.

So then I thought about the N9. On the pro side it is a nice looking, new device that runs what seems like a generally nice OS. Decent size screen. I can get the 64GB version for almost the same as the 16GB. It looks like I should be able to install NITDroid to run the Android apps I need. On the con side is no keyboard, stylus, or really any physical buttons and a niggling feeling that it really isn't as capable of an OS as Maemo 5.

So that brings me to the N900. I never really thought I wanted one of these since the screen is smaller than what I'd like, and it doesn't work on the carrier of my choice...but now I'm thinking I could use this as data only and keep my current dump phone for voice calls. It's only about $100 cheaper for a new N900 than the N9, which seems like a pretty small difference in price for hardware that is 2 years older. I'm not much of a spec guy, but I would like to make sure that the hardware is capable of browsing the web relatively quickly (my N800 is so slow browsing that I rarely use it for that purpose), and that it will be relatively capable for 2 more years or so.

So I appreciate anyone who has read this far. A lot of this is just thinking out loud to clarify my own thoughts, but I do have two specific questions.

1) Am I right that while NITDroid might not have all functionality of Android just yet, I should be capable of installing and running most apps?

2) Any major differences in performance of NITDroid on the N900 vs. N9? Any consensus of which device would work better as an Android?

Any other thoughts on things I might not be thinking about clearly?

Have you considered a Symbian device - Nokia E7 perhaps. they have full official MS office support now. great battery life and full-on multitasking. With the Belle update which arrived a couple of months ago they are very nice and bang upto date graphically. Despite Elop's best efforts they will be around and supports for another couple of years at least

at the end of the day though, if you absolutley need XY and Z apps, and they only run on iOS or Android, then you are stuck.

Thanks for the suggestion, but yes there are at least a couple of apps that, if not absolutely needed, will at least be very, very useful for me to have for both work and other things. Most of these are pretty U.S. specific apps, so pretty much a certainty that they won't ever have a Symbian version.

But that's what makes me think the N900 or N9 might be a better option. I could have Android for those times I need it, but I could use a better OS the rest of the time.

Just get yourself a 50$ low-spec Android phone for the apps you must use occasionally, and an N9 for your own pleasure.

I doubt NITdroid is yet quite mature enough to fully depend on.

multi tasking or so it's called is no different on ics than gb, it just looks different. It's just a list of recent programs. Wouldn't a BB be a better business device? Don't get an n900 cos it's one less for me to buy.

I know that it isn't up to the level of Maemo for multitasking, but I thought that they had at least made task switching a little easier in ICS, which on a practical level can make "multitasking" a better experience.

Blackberries have good email, but the screens on the good ones are all too small to do much of the other things I'd like to do with my phone. That might change with BB10, the Playbook OS I think is fairly nice the little bit I've used it, but I'm not sure I can wait until the end of the year when the new BB are supposed to be released.

As for getting a cheap Android and a N9, that would mean either two data plans, or switching SIM cards all the time (and doesn't the N9 have a different size simcard?)

task switcher? Nothing easier than n900 or n9, and them both do real multitasking

Yes, the "multitasking" in ICS seems a lot better compared to the older Android versions. Previously, you would have to hold the home button and you'd get a short list of "recent apps"(I'm unsure if that did work on every Android phone though ).

Now, there's a dedicated task switcher button in the status bar that pops up a list on the left hand of the screen(at least on tablets) with screenshots(I don't think they're still running like in Maemo) of all background/running programs/apps/applications. Swiping them to the right closes them.

^Well apparently in ICS you can have downloads running in the background, so it sort of works? Just not like maemo or meego.

You are going to get the best multitasking experience with an N900 or N9. And if you are that in love with the N900 and find that the N9 is lacking, then stick with the N900. I always miss my N900, I love my N9, but it is still no N900.

If you must go android, go with something that has ICS obviously. Nexus is great for that but you can always get an older device with ROMS available for ICS. I would still recommend the GNexus anyway.

I think that feature came out with one of the earlier Android updates, so it might not be on some of the first Android phones, but has been on them for quite some time. I'm not 100% on that though, but the feature has been on any Android phone I've ever used.

My non-technical understanding is that in Android apps can run in the background, but the OS chooses when to close them, not the user, so you're never 100% sure that the app you want to go back to has continued running the entire time. For me personally, the bigger issue is that sometimes I want to minimize an app, so that i can switch back to it in the same place I was in, but other times I want to close the app so that when I restart it starts fresh (say at the browsers home page instead of the page you were last on). Android hasn't made it easy to do the second of these, there is basically just the minimize for most programs, and my understanding is that manually quitting a program can screw things up a bit. Not sure if the swipe to close thing in ICS really close the application, or just removes it from the recently used list.