n900 now or wait for new iphone

cooki2222

Right my contract with o2 on my 3g iphone is up and i have no wish to get a 3gs.

Seen that o2 are now doing the nokia n900 and it looks pretty good.

But im wondering should i wait until the summer to see when the next iphone gets released or just jump into a new contract and get the n900.

Anyone got this new phone? What is it like?

ukbill69

Forget the iphone, it wont do anything like the n900. For 1 thing the n900 is opensource, this means anyone can modify the whole phone, making it possible for software developers to add software as they want.

pull62

I have the N900, its not as easy to use as the iphone but its potential is far greater. I have been very pleased with it so far.

boliston

A colleague at work wants the N900 and has wanted it for about 2 months now.

Yesterday he said "boliston, I'm getting an iphone as I've seen a bad review about the N900"

The thing I could not understand is that he SOLD his iPhone (to get a Blackberry) about 4 months ago because he was so bored with it, so I asked him if he has bumped his head on anything recently.

I emailed him a link that compared the spec of the two phones and lo and behold he is now getting the N900.

I put the iphone episode down to a "moment of madness"

4$£&*(£$&*(!

I have an N900 and it is a fantastic phone, I am so pleased I am not tied to Apple's rigid terms of use such as having to use iTunes to update it, no user-replaceable battery and so on.

There is one major caveat, and it is major. This phone is not a toy, whereas I would consider the iPhone to be a toy. The N900 allows user root access which in essence means you have a completely unrestricted handset. I have seen it booting Windows 95, and there is a video somewhere of a person booting into Mac OS X with it (although it did take two hours).

Under its intended use, the phone is a fully fledged multimedia device and the only handset that has Flash installed. It is good for business use as the drop-down keyboard makes typing fast and easy. It is bulkier than an iPhone though.

The handset's firmware is going through some major development right now. The current version is PR1.1 and the last update fixed a number of significant bugs. There are still some bugs but then you must remember the handset has been on release only around three months so this is not unusual. The next firmware release is due imminently with some people expecting it to be next week. Nothing has been confirmed by Nokia what will be in the release but it is widely expected on Maemo forums (the OS platform) that OviMaps turn-by-turn will be included which is your voice navigated satnav.

Whilst the handset will win more favour with techie minded people rather than having a more global appeal, once you have seen the capabilities of the handset first hand you will not be disappointed.

Pokerlad

I to have the N900 and it is a fantastic phone. Differrent to the iPhone but much more potential. Some of the apps in testing are simply superb. Head over to Maemo.org and have a look around.

daggy

Looks an awesome phone, but it's deifnitely for people who know their stuff and love getting to know their tech inside out.

In most reviews I've seen, it is fairly slow to load videos, don't know if actual users have found that to be the case?

Nice looking phone though, but I prefer the Motorola Milestone.

JKK mobile has a very good review on it.

boliston

This clip is good - shows that it's a computer and not just a phone :cool:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-PoD2I8N1o

randomtask_2

My take is the N900 is more computer than it is phone. CitySlicker is right when in calling it 'not a toy'. This thing is not an out-of-the-box solution in the way Apple present the iPhone as being easy to use and a slickly polished user experience. The N900 is better suited to the techies who really want to dig around and exploit its capabilities. Not the most suitable device for most mortals.

Fundamentally, the OP has to ask themself what they want from a handheld device. 2 of my colleagues have N900s as they work with Nokia and were given them as gifts - neither of them find it all that easy to use as they are not techie people. Their frustrations with the device stem largely from its 'vanilla' state (i.e. plain, no branding or pre-installed interface skin) and fledgling availability of apps currently. Also there's so much customisation needed on set-up that it's too much like hard work for them when other devices have much of the capabilities laid out immediately or easily added to via well publicised apps and widgets.

daggy

I think ifyou are willing to wait for the iPhone, then wait...
End of the day if you do wait and you decide you don't like the new iPhone, you can go ahead and still get the n900, which by then, should hopefully be reduced.