He-he.. so true wise man.. In fact I really agree. The key is to support alternatives! For example the only GSM non-AT&T in USA is T-Mobile. While their prices are not very cheap, T-Mobile still costs way (!) less than AT&T. (Here is a page Sprint created to inform and engage consumers about AT&T monopolizing the market: http://notakeover.org/)

I really was hoping not to be in this very scenario for at least a few more months, but my n900 has gone dark.

I see no sign of any damage so the problem really could be anywhere which pretty much means buy a new handset. Getting another n900 really doesn't make a lot of sense unless the price was ridiculously cheap.

But what to get? My device is a laptop replacement more than a phone. The Pre 3 OS wise is close to what I want. I'm a multitasker, hard core. But the physical hardware options suck. The Defy+ intrigues me because of its physical attributes, but it seems a little anemic at this stage. Nexus S is nice enough, but no ram expansion. All the interesting Ice Cream Sandwich devices are at least 4-6 months away. Padfone intrigues me, but who knows when that will be. But I'm still no fan of Android at the core.

Really, as Frankenstein as it is, an n950 with alien dalvik for the apps would probably be the best fit. And I just don't see that happening.

*sigh*

i'm seriously thinking about an upgrade from n900 but i cant see much competition out there. Any suggestions on what to get? i want something with the same 32gb inbuilt memory and maybe 2Ghz processor if available yet

thanks

Nope, Google are planning a new Android release called "Ice Cream Sandwich" which basically brings "Gingerbread" and "Honeycomb" together, so it'll be used on both tablets and phones and apps will be compatible with an "Ice Cream Sandwich" phone and an "Ice Cream Sandwich" tablet.

As often the case with Android, apps will work perfect on some phones and absolutely crap on others

I just bought a Galaxy 2 today...

Although I'm not giving up the N900

Guess a Pre 3 is definitely out of the question now...

But it looks like my n900 is still under warranty. After I've gotten all the data off I guess I will send it in and see what happens.

I'm sticking with my N900. I will buy an n9 soon. Keep it as a side phone until I make sure it runs cordia flawlessly, or maemo itself then switch over. Nothing is ripping me apart from Maemo. Give me maemo with flash 10 support and multi touch everything else can just go to waste. Plus nothing beats the maemo dev community.