N900 - New Toy in My Hands

I am tipically a person who makes my electronics last. My fastest computer is a laptop from 2004. I still have my dell P2 laptop (sure is hard to make that thing good for anything besides a space heater!)

My phones are no exception. I have been a Palm Treo 650 user since 2005 and have enjoyed it considerably. Despite not having wifi, I would still be using it if it wasn't for the failed earphone port. Have to have hands free.

Not wanting to jump into any phone, I reviewed the market for a suitable phone replacement. Up front, i knew it could not be a windows or an apple product. That left me thinking it would be a Palm Pre or Android phone. I didnt see an android phone i really liked until recently (moto Droid), and for some reason the country I am in doesnt have any Android phones... Just winmo, nokia, apple, etc...

A couple of weeks ago I happened to see a slider phone that caught my eye. It was the Nokia N900. In features it appeared to be everything i wanted on the surface. Storage, connectivity (GSM), keyboard.

Well, I sprang for it and havent been as happy as I expected - but I have been happy with it in many ways despite the disappointments.

This blog will discuss my journey with the phone. Yes, there will be some complaints. There will be some praise. There will also be some "useful work arounds" posted also.

I hope that the readers of my blog will find it both useful and interesting. If you havent got an n900, perhaps it will help you make an informed purchase. If you have one, perhaps it will serve to help you find the 'work around' you needed.

After having played with it for three weeks, I will start my initial blog off with things I like and things I dont. Future blogs will go into detail about these items as well as solutions, work arounds, thoughts.

Things I like:

• Hardware: The specifications of the device are fairly impressive. Sure, the processor isn't the fastest on the planet; however, it is quite impressive over all: Bluetooth, Wifi, 32GB memory, IR, FM Transmitter, FM Receiver, Micro SD support (32Gb), standard 3.5mm headphone plug, slider format (keyboard), 5MegaPixel Camera, LED Flash, FANTASTIC Screen Resolution, Stereo Speakers (not excessively loud), stylus and resistive screen technology (well, that has pros and cons). OH... a phone!!!
  
• Software: NOT Microsoft, NOT Apple, NOT S60... it is Linux (Debian Based) and runs Maemo. This means open source and active development community.
  
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Things I don't like: This is a two edged sword in several cases.

• Resistive Technology screen (have had problems of inaccuracy and failing in past on other devices).
• Memory: Not as much as I expected for both "OS storage" and "running of programs". Without looking at a spec sheet, I believe it is 256mb RAM with upto 1GB total when adding in the swap.
• Keyboard: Nice to have, but severely handicapped. More on this in a later post.
• Software: Many of the PIM applications and phone applications are severely lacking.
• Software: Sych software is not what I expected.

OK. Hopefully this will whet your appetite for future posts.

I look forward to reader feedback, corrections, and reader solutions.