it all depends on what kind of user you are. if you like tinkering around, know a little bit of programming or scripting, and you want to be in control of your phone - the N900 is the device for you.

I like the N900 so much, I have three units. Only use one at a time as I would like to stretch the life of these units I own.

Like droll and a few others said... "what do you want to do with the n900?"

I am in the same boat as OP, I would like to buy the N900, but not sure. It's VERY OLD, though, which makes me turn away from it. For RM200 (I'm looking at you ajack :P), is it worth it?

Quick reply...
Thank you. I have thought about walkie-talkie (=citizen's band radio), with selective calling, but in order for it to work, I would have to get several (maybe, a hundred, if counting my overseas acquaintances) units, for give them to all of my friends. At the same time, everybody has mobile phone nowadays - and mobile network can be found almost everywhere.
Best wishes.
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Per aspera ad astra...

This ^^, whole post in fact.

You also want to check wifi, bluetooth, GPS, camera, flash and battery drainage (either via Powertop or leaving it uncharged for a day or two).

If you want the keyboard, it's in good working order and it's cheap enough, it's a great buy IMHO. The only thing I'm aware of that is better is a Samsung Note 2. These are going for $500+ on eBay so $120 for a N900 is a real bargain. You shouldn't pay more than $150.

Jolla is bringing a high end phone around $700 estimated this quarter which will run a new version of MeeGo.

I would choose the built-in Skype and true VoIP clients over Google Voice any day of the week. As for LTE/4G you don't really need it unless you do lots HD video streaming, and if that is what you do on your phone most of the time than N900 is probably not your best option anyway. Heck, I can't even get 3G on my phone with ATT, and still manage do most of my day to day tasks just fine.

Welcome to N900 ownership

Owning N900 since 2009, and still using it as my primary (and only) phone, this is a list of what I use on my N900 during normal everyday usage:

- SMS
- Email (2 IMAP accounts plus 1 MS Exchange Server acct, set to check every 15 minutes)
- Full IPv6 support on WiFi and GPRS
- Multiple independent calendars (personal/business/birthdays)
- Connect to company VPN using openconnect
- Connect to my home VPN using OpenVPN
- Web browsing using Opera
- For things like facebook, g+, twitter, etc. I just use the mobile web sites, not specialized apps. I am not a heavy user of any of those, maybe I check them out once a month.
- Listening to music & streaming radio using media player
- Listening to FM radio
- Logging into my desktops using x2go/NX/rdesktop
- ssh into my servers, running X programs remotely displaying on phone if necessary
- Qt Mobile Hotspot to share my cellular internet over USB or WiFi
- Play old games in emulators (and using Game Gripper)
- RSS feeds via gread (Google Reader Client)
- Downloading and listening to Podcasts with gpodder
- IM with Pidgin
- Sometimes an actual voice phone call
- Recaller to record phone calls

I'm using CSSU-thumb and I find most of these things still perform pretty well on N900 even despite its low RAM amount. I use swap on SD (sandisk uhs 64gb).

As far as bugs or annoyances:
- SMS gets corrupted whenever someone sends me a multi-part message, I need to repair the sqlite database and reboot every time this happens. Often need to delete conversation history with that person as well.
- It is generally impossible to answer the phone call if you're using the phone for other things, especially RAM-heavy like web browsing or playing a game. It just can't swap in the phone application fast enough to respond. I basically miss every call received if I'm using my phone already when it rings... I prefer to receive an SMS anyway

Other than those 2 things, everything else works pretty much as expected.

At TC I think you should get one,I just bought it one brand new today...I was like you lurking on this forum since the end of n810 and my wish to get a n900 never fade away since today.
I'm planning to use it as normal phone and developing also,get some skill and experience so I can work with this community for greater apps and stuff
I dont mind the ageing of the hardware as long as you are happy with it then it should be all right

The N900 can pull off 3.5G (HSPA+) on T-Mobil in the US, which is quite nice speed wise.

Not at all true. The first year I had my N900 I was on AT&T, limited to EDGE (2.5G), and was very happy with it. Now that I have a faster connection, I do use it a little more often, but I'm not using a ton of data, as most places I go I have access to wifi. When I don't I'm generally doing small things, like checking hours at a service location, or using a nav program that grabs it's routing info from a network source.

There are several users on here that don't even have a SIM in their device. They use skype over wifi for calling, or just prefer to have a nice pocket PDA with super-extended capabilities. The reasons for wanting an N900 are not limited to what you use it for, or even what it was marketed to do. While an N810 may be functionally able to do all these tasks, some may prefer the N900 form factor, or the active community around it (which you have to admit is a hair more active than the N810 community these days).

As to the OP: Yes. I would still consider a reasonably priced (<$200) N900 a viable purchase. They're still competitive, and very capable. If you want the latest whiz-bang (Angry Pigs), or IM protocol (wassapp), or the ease of use/setup of an iDroid, then it's probably not for you. If you want a kick-asp tinkering device, that can also be a stable phone and/or PDA, go for it.

But it's not an updated version of Skype - and Microsoft is slowly phasing out the old method of logging in. Nor am I using Google Voice for just VoIP - I'm using it for free text messages from my tablet. I'm slowly walking away from a phone, more towards something that doesn't also require a GSM radio other than for data.

But again, I've not even mentioned Skype. Can't say I'm truly a fan, and besides... the N900 doesn't support video to video like I require, thus Google+ - I do use their Google+ Hangouts though. VoIP on the N900 is friggin' spectacular. SIP is integrated like no other phone or tablet. So if you're after VoIP, then you're golden.

I do.

It wasn't my best option for long, but it was mainly around GPS performance initially. The tinkerer in me loved it. But the business and practical side of me needed more than it offers. And now since I'm less on phone calls, but higher on video (Google+ Hangouts and/or Skype) my needs are not met. Nor would be some of my social media needs that exclude Facebook and even Twitter, but include others.

Dude, I hear you. I'm in the boondocks of South Carolina and I get "3G" some days, but since I'm always around a wi-fi hotspot, I've been rethinking what most people liked about the N900, what we like about the tablets - 770/N810 et al - and what would make a better option for those folks and less about the cellphone type of folks because honestly, I'm on the lowest plan now, I make less calls now, and I'm all about using Google Voice to send my text messages when I travel overseas.

But back to the OP and way less about me. 2013, the N900 is an anachronism that appeals to the tinkerer in most of us. It's a relevant device that honestly has the best hardware keyboard experience that ultimately seems to be important to many folks (not to me) and it's a great device.

I would just be wary to buy one in 2013 unless I found a killer deal on a brand new one with a working USB port that won't come out easily and I don't mind charging on my desktop a separate battery to avoid stressing the USB port.