Testing Period

I've been doing some research the last few months in preparation for a new toy, namely a new cell phone. I've pretty much outgrown the use of my N95 and am looking to upgrade this time, without the limitation of signing a contract. I'd been looking at the N97 until a few weeks ago when I stumbled on a video of the N900 in action. I wanted it. Badly. I'd looked around, had almost made up my mind when I discovered that the phone isn't fully 3G compatible with my Rogers service. I started to worry. In comes 1000heads.

Vancouver mobile guru Roland put me in touch with Tom who in turn did me a solid and hooked me up with an N900 to play around with for a few days, a gesture which made my week.

Anything new comes with learning curves but the curve here is much bigger than I expected. The N900 is very much more a computer and secondly a phone, something I like but which is taking some getting used to. Here are some initial thoughts, from a girl who is definitely NOT an expert:

Things I love:

1. The size and build: a little thicker than the iPhone, it's a slick, sturdy, well built machine. It feels super solid and I love the keyboard feature. If a few grams extra weight and a slightly wider build is required, I'll take it.

DSCN2778

2. Camera: awesome 5MP camera. My N95 also has 5MP camera but this takes much better pictures. I'm thinking Nokia has updated their software.

N900

3. Maemo browser: what really caught my attention about this phone is its ability to play flash in browser, the first mobile phone to do so and it's a thing of beauty. I tried a couple of embedded You Tube videos yesterday and it works like a charm. This morning, at Roland's recommendation, I checked out grooveshark.com which is, essentially, completely flash and it worked like a charm.

Grooveshark.com on Maemo browser

4. Multiple desktops: like Linux, you can multiple desktops each with a different background and different programs, link etc. for quick launch. Going from screen to screen is as easy as swiping your finger across the screen.

N900 Home PageN900 Destop #2

5. Speed: the application speeds is insanely fast in comparison to my N95 (though it's a little unfair to compare the two). It really is like a mini computer.

6. Keyboard: soft and easy to use. Still getting used to typing on a keyboard and often find myself triple clicking a letter. Oops - old habits die hard.

Things I'm having issues with:

1. No 3G support: admittedly, this isn't Nokia's fault but it is a drawback. The phone is running on the Rogers networks at between 2 and 2.5G which I'm sure makes way more sense to a tech head. For me, I do notice a different in that the browsing is a bit slower but then, the browser is in full mode and not "mobile". Will have to see if it's as noticeable when browsing mobile versions of sites. On the upside, YouTube videos load at a good speed and when using Wifi, the thing is a monster!

2. Music/Photo transfer is messy: at least it has been for me. Windows 7 isn't recognizing the bloody thing as a mass storage device which is making it difficult to sync the phone with any of my desktop music apps. The fight continues tonight.

3. Limited Apps: this isn't the iPhone. There isn't an app for everything. But then, it's also a relatively new device and one with an active and passionate development community. I'm sure at some point I'll have an option of an App for everything but for now, it's a bit slim.

That's it for now. More updates to come as I maneuver through the phone and, I'm sure, find new successes. I'm also uploading loads of pictures with details to Flickr rather than constantly updating the blog. If you're looking for more, check out my N900 Flickr Set.

 
 
 
 

Post a Comment 3 comments:

Mike Bowen said...

Get yourself Prismic wallpaper manager for the N900. The best $3 I have ever spent.

The N900 is brilliant. Prior to this I made claim that the N95 was the best smartphone ever, then I had the Nokia 5800, and now the N900, and there is no device like it on the market. You are right, it's first and foremost a computer and then a phone. I hardly ever use the phone, but the social aspect, the IM's, SMS, twitter, facebook, part of it is AWESOME!

And there is a lot of software for it, just load up some of the multiple repositories. I've got over 50 applications loaded and add more everyday.

Typing is pleasure, and I blog easily with the N900. I think the weight is just right and size just perfect for the thumbs and fingers. What I like best about the keyboard is the fact one can use all the standard shortcut keys (CTRL+C, CTRL+V, CTRL+A etc).

Personally I think it's better than a netbook in terms of size and connectivity.

March 13, 2010 7:16 a.m.

Anonymous said...

Well, while your post is well written, I would like to say that look over some of posts on the same over http://www.womworld.com/nokia/

Sure the learning curve will be faster. My opinions are here
http://nitishkumar.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/nokia-n900-definitely-geek/

http://nitishkumar.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/nokia-n900-things-you-never-seen-before-anywhere-else/

March 13, 2010 10:04 p.m.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the information guys. Much appreciated!

March 14, 2010 9:20 p.m.

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