Hi All,

I've closely followed the Nokia N9 and wanted one since they hit the market in 2011. I'm excited to say my 6 year wait is coming to an end and I'll be the owner of a fully refurbished Matte Blue N9 in a couple weeks.

I've been a devoted Nokia fan for many years. One of my first phones was an early candy bar Nokia then I've owned an NGage, an N8, a Lumia 920 and I currently use a Lumia 640XL. The 640XL is not badged Nokia, but another company that starts with M.

I've always really loved the N9's design, especially the matte blue and red colors. Back when it came out, my N8 was only a year old so I couldn't easily justify spending another 500 on the N9. Frankly, my wife would have killed me.

So I used my N8 until 2013, then switched to the 920 and in 2015 switched to a Lumia 640XL. All the way, I've been checking prices on the N9 and toying with the idea of getting one.

Well, my wife happens to be from China and a seller on Taobao is selling refurbished (new housing, screen and battery) N9's for about 45 dollars. Free shipping within China, so my wife finally agreed! She's going on business there in a couple weeks and will bring it back.

I know it's not much more than a phone now, but I do plan on using it for a couple weeks to fully test out. I'll then probably pack it up and store away or display it somewhere in the house. I actually still "use" my N8 all the time at home for it's camera and web browsing ability.

Anyway, really excited to be getting one and will let you know how I like it once received.

Congratulations, it is a lovely piece of hardware
Happy hacking!

I feel sure you will love it, and it is still very much working even if certain functions may not be avail due to 3rd parties changing authorization methods.

Congratulations, and welcome in the club

Since she is Chinese be sure she makes it clear that a select well refurbished model is sold to her, the best she can pick. It might even be worth dangling the offer of a gift or such if the phone works properly. Let the seller know you will be opening it up to inspect it too. I have gotten N900s form similar stalls and the hot air and soldering work was terrible with the PCB in terrible shape; the phones only worked for a few days or weeks in both cases.
Since you have more ability to make your expectations known beyond works-on-arrival ebay warranty you might have better results.
Taobao is super cool, have her take pictures, but you need someone like your wife who knows the language, culture, and the object you are buying to negotiate for you, what looks like to many of us as an attitude of ripping off a fool being considered wise business might piss someone off but it is because culture is not universal. If you are specific on your desires you can get everything from complete useless but good looking rubbish to the finest craftsmanship, but you do have to pay for the best, westerners mess this up on a very frequently when chasing 'a deal' and negotiating away quality and even function.
Congratulations!

You have probably checked out this resource and remember to periodically charge battery if leaving in storage to avoid hassle of using Flasher to do the job:
https://wiki.maemo.org/Resurrect_your_N9