the browser of the N8 is a pain. but it's a smartphone and thankfully there's always opera though ( you don't stay with just IE on your PC , do you?)

anyways, the N8 is a highly successfull phone and excells in numerous ways.
materials, battery, support, hdmi out, gorilla glass, great loudspeaker and mp3 player, flawless camera, fantastic free and fast gps, usb-otg, 2 way charging, fm transmtter, radio with rds and more

stuff that you still struggle to find all packed-in in todays devices.
and let's not forget how great of a phone it is. signal, call quality and loudness.

it's unfair to compare it to the N900 (unfair for both devices)
N8 is a great smartphone. The N900 is in a different category. it's a mediocre phone (at best) and a great mini computer. the only device that hasn't bored me after 2 years of use.

i wish i could somehow "frankenstein" those two.