First of all, yes, I googled. From what I gathered, N900 got portrait mode to most of the built-in apps - I have a couple of questions tho..
Can I update the software anywhere? I'm in Czech Republic, and usually if software is region bounded we either get it slow or not at all

and, does it mean I can read/write SMS, look thru gallery and all that "basic" stuff in portrait mode, right?

I'm sorry to ask such dumb questions, but I don't want to get burned, N900 isn't the cheapest device out there .. .

Hm... Difficult one to answer. Although the browser wont *officially* get portrait mode support unit PR 1.2, it currently does support portrait mode browsing. The phone is portrait mode too, natively. However, SMS composition is not portrait mode - and from my understanding there is not a plan to make it so in PR 1.2 either, so until either a) an app is written or b) PR 1.3 confirms portrait mode support for the N900, it's all landscape. Some apps also run in portrait mode but not all of them. Photo gallery does auto-rotate and will adjust to how the phone is being held through feedback from the accelerometer, so you can hold it upside down and the photo will auto-rotate to the correct orientation for viewing.

You will find the majority of your time on this phone will be in landscape mode. It feels clunky at first, but you get used to it.

In terms of being burned, unlesss you are either willing to learn a new OS or you have previous experince with Linux or similar OS's, or unless you are willing to do a lot of research to find what you are looking for, then the N900 might not be your thing.....

If on the other hand you are looking for a mobile computer with the added bonus of containing a phone, then the N900 might be just what you are looking for.

Hope this helps you...!

shallow
shallow

I agree to that.

I do understand that this device teaches us to concentrate on its power in landscape mode, but looking at this device generally, since this is also a communication device, why not Maemo founders make it easier for users to send SMS in portrait mode too since texting is usually done in a portrait mode approach?

N900 is a different thing since it is a mix and a confusion between tablet pc and smartphone.

Looking at its awesome dial pad, I think SMS is more often utilized than dialpad. I don't think there will be no reason why it shouldn't be implemented.

you can try writing sms in portrait...

...without keyboard.
(no onscreen portrait kb available)

good luck!

how did you come to that conclusion?
with my previos phone (E90) i almost never texted in portrait mode, reading incomming, yes that i did most of time in portrait but sending a reply i always switched to portait.

i think this is true for most people with a hardware qwerty keyboard. or even an onscreen one like my girlfriend have then i also always see here turning here phone in landscape and start typing.

so i hope that the do support reading of txt in portrait but typing can be done later on

I was just thinking, if you just have to reply a two-letter word "OK" in some forum in the internet (while web is in portrait mode), or in SMS, do you have to open the side-slider keyboard? I do understand it is a tablet, but it is also a communicator, right?

No, matter of fact I didn't use the hardware keyboard for the first month or so of having the phone. Just tap in the small dialogue box where your words come up and an on-screen QWERTY keyboard appears. Type on that instead.

Maybe a simple twist/rotation of keyboard won't hurt, since the screen (on portrait mode) is a bit wider than that of N97.

Honestly, how would anyone feel if that is possible?

yesterday I needed to send an urgent sms and I couldn't because I was biking and I need to have one hand on the handlebars all the time since I'm biking in the city. also making a phonecall with only one hand is a nightmare since you have to unlock it from the side etc.