GabeMcCray | # 1 | 2012-04-20, 18:29 | Report

So, I'm new to the tablet world. I figured I'd join a few sites to get some info on which is the best. I've read some positive reviews regarding the N9, but wanted to here some others. Basically, I want to know what makes this phone better/worse than the iPhone (the current phone i have, but I broke it). Also, my contract isn't up for another year, so I'm looking to buy it online somewhere. Is this a relatively good price?

http://www.amazon.com/Nokia-Unlocked-MeeGo-Touchscreen-Black/dp/B005HA4W7K/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1334946227&sr =1-1

If not, could you direct me where I should look? Thanks!

Ken-Young | # 2 | 2012-04-20, 19:36 | Report

Well, I think you'd find the experience of owning one of Nokia's internet tablets (NITs) very different than owning an iPhone. What is worse about the NITs is that they have a far, far, far smaller app ecosystem than does the iPhone. Most of the most popular iPhone apps are not and never will be available for NITs. No apps from you bank. No Netflix or HBO or anything vaguely resembling those apps. No Shazam, etc. No nice apps for magazines or newspapers. Also, Nokia has abandoned its efforts in Maemo/Meego, so there will be no more significant OS upgrades from Nokia. What is good about the NITs is that they are general purpose Linux machines, that happen to have phone hardware. You can do, with some effort, basically anything on a NIT that you could on a linux PC. I can speak only about the N900, because that's the only one I've worked with much, but I believe the situation is much the same for the N9/950. If you like to program, these are awesome little boxes! There's a helpful community which will be happy to help you get the most out of your NIT. There are apps available for the NITs, but most of them were written by community members in their spare time, and they do not have the polish of a typical commercial iPhone app.

ibrakalifa | # 3 | 2012-04-20, 19:37 | Report

try it, and write your review here,

mämo | # 4 | 2012-04-20, 20:59 | Report

As for apps, yes there are much fewer, but unless you're absolutely hung up about one particular app, it's not that bad either. Check out http://store.ovi.com/ and you will probably find that most major use cases are covered, e.g. you may not find 58 different weather apps, but there will be one or two that does what you need. And many of the other things Ken-Young mentioned - magazines, banks etc. - have decent mobile web interfaces that may not be as flashy and fluid, but do the job just as fine.

For me the big deal about the N9 is that it's open and free from any corporate shackles. Apple's ecosystem is large and it may not feel like "shackles" to most, but you're still subject to Apple's rules and policies. With the N9, nobody is telling you what you can and cannot install, what you can and cannot do with the phone, no jail breaking, no unlocking needed, as a developer you're no subject to the 30% Apple tax etc.

To illustrate, the link above is the official Nokia app store. But while the Apple app store is all there is (officially) for the iPhone, you can take your N9 to e.g. http://my-meego.com/downloads/index.php or http://n9-apps.com/ or even scrappy forums like this one where people post their work and install anything you want. Sure, on the iPhone you have Cydia, but you need to hack (jailbreak) your phone, and most likely Apple will wipe all your "unapproved" apps at the next software update and re-jail your phone. More hassle than it's worth.

Another one: You have your phone contract with AT&T, but want to switch to T-Mobile or get a cheap local pre-paid card while you're travelling?
On your N9: Take AT&T-SIM card out, put new SIM in - go.
On iPhone: Take AT&T-SIM card out, put new SIM in - no go.
You'd have to unlock that iPhone first, which carries the risk that Apple may brick your phone with the next update as they have done in the past. Or you suck it up and pay AT&T roaming charges through the nose.

If you're thinking about programming and perhaps just starting out, not quite sure yet if you wanna commit more time, just switch on Developer Mode in the N9 Settings and go nuts. On the iPhone, you have to pay a 100 dollar cover charge just to get your app onto an actual phone and have other people try and test it.

You want to use your mobile phone data connection to use via your laptop (tethering)? The N9 has a WiFi Hotspot app preinstalled, works no matter what data plan you have. The iPhone will usually only let you do that with a special tethering plan, which will cost you a good chunk extra each month.

There's also the fact that Apple knows almost everything you do on your phone. Everything runs through their servers. To a slightly lesser extent that's also true for Google and Android. I'm not saying they do bad things with that data, but they could. Nokia, OTOH can't / doesn't snoop around what I'm doing with my N9.

This freedom to do what I want, and with whom I want, the sense that "you buy the phone and that's it, it's yours to do with as you please" is worth it for me to deal with the smaller app count.

As for the base system and the hardware itself, there are probably good arguments on either side. I personally find the N9 a work of beauty and think the iPhone looks positively clunky next to it. I also like the Meego "Swipe" user interface better, with its dedicated notification pane and the way it handles multitasking. But that's of course subjective.

Oh, and the maps app rocks, as I wrote earlier. You'll have to pay 20 bucks or more for full offline mapping apps on the iPhone. On the N9: free.

The Amazon price seems fair. Other stores to try:
CTI NYC
AT GSM
Negri Electronics
People here bought from all of those and generally had good experiences.

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Last edited by mämo; 2012-04-20 at 21:48.

geneven | # 5 | 2012-04-21, 00:34 | Report

You don't need to be a programmer to own, use, and be happy with, the N9 or N900. You do need to be open to adventure and the joy that comes with it. Support for either is mostly from this community, not from Nokia.

MINKIN2 | # 6 | 2012-04-21, 02:02 | Report

Going with the app theme here...

You may still feel that you are left wanting with certain apps on the n9 as you wait for them or an open-source equivalent to arrive. With the android and iOS devices you will find their apps waiting for you.

However with the community support that has been described above, you will find many of the apps are created with the user in mind. You will often see most of them first in a testing or beta form where the developers ask for user input. This means that you can often have a direct contact for any features you may feel that need to be added or offer a constructive criticism to what is offered.

In my experience with the TMO, and the n900 (soon to add the n9 too), you will have the help of our community to hand. If there is any new program released there will be full transparency with their apps. Then of course you have the freedom to create your own and share them or place in the ovi store, if you can create your own.

I guess my question is, would you like to be apart of an eco-system where you consume apps or be apart of a community where you have the chance to help others help yourself?

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Last edited by MINKIN2; 2012-04-21 at 02:13.

cloudstrife1ph | # 7 | 2012-04-21, 03:02 | Report

aside from the feeling of standing out in the pool of iphone and android, the os is really unique. like the others said, it may not have steve jobs' "there's an app for that" but you're free to make one if you know how to or even request someone nice enough in this community to do it for you.

i've tried using an itouch / turned iphone (apple peel). i sold it to my aunt once i realized that there's nothing more i can do once i jailbreak it but stare at cydia for "free apps". the cat and mouse game, untethered and tethered boot is also tiring.

meego/maemo is like a mix of the ios' os and memory allocation optimized very well to the hardware and more freedom and better customization than android...

qorax | # 8 | 2012-04-21, 14:15 | Report

Oh, what a fantastic reply!
Very well said bro... Deeply appreciated and Seconded.

youmeego | # 9 | 2012-04-21, 14:36 | Report

well-written input above.

My advice is to take a look at store.ovi.com to see id n9 has what you want. Btw whatsapp which is written by our talented community coder will be out for n9.