I've tried using Skype as an IM service on my N900 for daily messaging, and find the phone frequently "believed" it was logged into Skype, but in actuality it had become disconnected. Messages would get "eaten" when I tried to send them. I'd get a "messaging not authorised" error and everything I typed would get lost - and I'd have to disconnect from Skype and reconnect again before I could send/receive, sometimes multiple times before I could successfully send. Or messages wouldn't be received for up to a week (or never) at the other end (which was usually my husband on another N900, and experiencing the same problems). Not terribly useful when I was trying to organise the timing for when I'd need picking up at the railway station coming home from work each night.

We started using Ovi Contacts/chat instead - at least when that said you were online, you usually were. Unfortunately, Nokia are pulling support for that away from the N900, so we're losing that as an option.

Does anyone have any recommendations for what service to look at to provide IM that integrates nicely with the N900 contacts, and is more reliable in actually staying logged in/relogging in properly when the phone service drops out momentarily? Or any solutions to fixing Skype so that it actually works?

Each sms costs 25c to send (and can have a 20 minute delay if I send it during the normal segment of the train trip home), whereas mobile data is 1.5c per Mb - so IM is a much preferable method of communication...provided we can get it working reliably. We're not unwilling to sign up for a new IM service - I just don't want to have to sign up for 10 of them just to find one that works for us when other people have probably already been through similar reliability testing.

Jabber. And nothing else matters.

I use telepathy-haze+account-plugin-haze for MSN and I've no lost message issues whatsoever (while I occasionally have that issue in PC, strange). I can even receive offline messages, which can hardly be done in other MSN client.

telepathy-msn-pecan is smaller and shared the same advantages as haze. However, pecan behaves strangely after Microsoft changed its policy to allow multiple logon this year.

I switch between pecan and haze when either one got problems. Hope this suggestion helps.

+1 from me for jabber, I find it very nice, reliable, and very easy on battery

well i had problems with many.

pecan/haze dont always allow to log in. pecan its better but it closes the other clients.
skype does,

Good old AIM works well for me. Isn't it great how someone can say "hey I need a chat client that integrates with contacts" and there are so many different options available?

skype seams outdated on the n900 though...

You must have encountered the same problem as other faced after the protocol changes early this year.

The second I read your comment, Lemmys (Motörhead) tribute to Metallicas "Nothing else matters" started playing on the radio! Gave me shivers!

And ye, jabber is gd.

Just reflash device, and Skype will work again. I had also problems (message not delivered etc) but now it works.

Maybe Google Talk is also a good choice, at least video calls works much better.