phr | # 1 | 2013-04-07, 05:30 | Report

Well the N9 came out at $500+ and I didn't buy one because 1) couldn't afford it; 2) didn't like the internal battery; 3) didn't like the lack of an SD slot.

Just last week Newegg had them on sale for $249 (16GB black) and I figured it was getting rid of old stock and this was the last chance to get one, and the price was attractive, and I could deal with the battery somehow. I had forgotten about the lack of an expansion slot, so I went ahead and ordered the phone.

At this point I'm feeling some buyers remorse because I had kind of thought I could expand the memory with a microSDHC card. So now I'm wishing I'd gotten a 64GB unit and I see someone has one on buy/sell at a ridiculously low price.

The phone I got was in an unsealed box but the phone itself is wrapped in some kind of plastic film and the little accessory cables are still wrapped up in their own plastic thingies. Newegg claims they sometimes open the phones to remove carrier locks, but I guess the N9 was generally sold unlocked.

So I'm wondering if I should: 1) sell the phone still in the plastic wrap as a new/semi-new unit, and possibly buy a 64gb unit; or 2) unwrap it and use it as a phone (I probably won't buy a data plan for it since those are very expensive in the US). If I start using it I'll probably be reluctant to ever sell it for security reasons: "secure wipe" on phones apparently usually still leaves private data unerased.

I have an N900 that I plan to hold on to, even though I don't use it very much because it's slow and its screen is too small and I'm afraid to recharge it too often because of the notoriously fragile USB socket. I had bought an E63 as a stopgap while trying to score an N900, but it turns out that I still use the E63 as my main phone because of its convenient form factor (its software frankly isn't very good). I also hate turning on the N900 because of the annoying music it plays when you power it up.

I guess I'm looking for people's general thoughts about the usefulness of the N9 as a voice and SMS phone that can run some apps (contacts, calculator, camera, etc), as well as a platform for writing and running my own Linux programs that use the hardware, specifically the camera. I'm also interested in using it as a car GPS because of the built-in compass, so am wondering how that is. I don't like Android and don't want to use "app stores" including Ovi, so the GPS question pertains basically to what's already in the N9 when you take it out of the box.

In the long run I think I really want a somewhat larger tablet (similar hardware to current Galaxy Note) running Mer, but that doesn't exist right now. Maybe someday.

Thanks for any thoughts.

HELLASISGREECE | # 2 | 2013-04-07, 07:16 | Report

The N900 has annoying music when you power it up?
And that's a reason ( among others) not to use it?

just remove the Nokia hands video. It is super easy to do so.

Artyom | # 3 | 2013-04-07, 08:12 | Report

i thought similar as you before buying an n9. no replacable battery, no memory card slot etc. but battery performance is good and you don't need to remove the battery when the system freezes since there is a power button to reboot the device in those cases.

the core apps are good generally, gps is very usable and fast if you ask me. i'm only having troubles with the e-mail app.

if you still like the device i suggest you to buy a 64gb version if there is any new left.

phr | # 4 | 2013-04-07, 08:17 | Report

Ya know, I spent a ridiculous long time on this site looking for directions to get rid of that music. I looked for terms like "bootup music", "nokia jingle", "audio silence" and so forth. I did that several times and found nothing. Just today while reading an unrelated thread I found out that I should have been looking for "boot video". It didn't occur to me to look for "video" because the video itself doesn't bother me, it's just the damn music. Anyway, now I've found some info about how to get rid of it without having to download an app. That will help, it really will.

phr | # 5 | 2013-04-07, 08:24 | Report

Thanks. Yeah I don't care much about an e-mail app, if I want e-mail I'll use an ssh client, I'm that much of a throwback. I'm concerned about the battery because I live in a building with no cellular reception which means any phone I have drains its battery quickly trying to contact a tower unsuccessfully. So I have to charge up my E63 nightly and if I forget to do that, I can maybe get through the next day with it but just barely. As long as I can just swap in a spare battery it's not a big deal. With the N9, I may end up getting one of those stupid external chargers with its own battery inside.

I've been reading a bunch of blogs etc. about the N9 and they do make the UI sound really nice. There do seem to be some new 64GB's still around at attractive prices. It actually looks like I paid a little too much for my 16GB. I thought I was getting a big bargain. Oh well, the money isn't a big deal to me at the moment.

I'm wondering now what I'd do with 64gb if I had it. I'd like to have a good set of GPS maps but I expect that's just a few GB at most. I don't care about downloading movies. I plan to shoot a fair number of photos but probably not much video. I like the idea of a high capacity music player, but have concerns about draining the battery listening to music and then not being able to make a phone call. So maybe 16gb is really enough. Otherwise why did they even make the 16gb? The N900 came with 32gb -and- was expandable.

I also just discovered that the N9 uses a micro sim. So much for just swapping the sim card out of my E63.

Anyone got a favorite color of N9? Mine is black and some of the others look nicer, it seems to me.

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Last edited by phr; 2013-04-07 at 08:33.

pycage | # 6 | 2013-04-07, 08:57 | Report

Then you most likely don't need 64 GB. I'm happy with 16 GB as well. The N9 is my mobile office. The calendar syncs with the cloud via caldav, so I have appointments entered on the N9 appear on my PCs as well, and vice versa. The e-Mail client is OK. Making phone calls and texting works very well on the N9. Then there's a good web browser and RSS reader for checking the news. I also have hours of music on it for my daily commuting. And when I need a PDF or Office reader, there's a pretty good one preinstalled, too (try reading PDFs on other so-called smartphones; it probably drives you mad). At home, the N9 is my remote control for iTunes (with CuteRemote). I also have lots of photos on the device as the N9 is my primary digital camera. Even then, the space isn't full yet.

Btw, playing music doesn't drain the battery much. Surfing the web does.

phr | # 7 | 2013-04-07, 09:32 | Report

Well, I'll sleep on it, and either open the phone tomorrow or else leave it wrapped and put it up for sale here and/or on craigslist. Thanks.

Silwer | # 8 | 2013-04-07, 09:37 | Report

Just start using this 16 GB version N9. You can always sell later your used 16gb phone and buy used 64gb one.

About colors - brand new black device looks the best. However, after 6 months usage paint / lacquer starts to come off. Only casing that does not have such problem is white one as it is made of plastic and not polycarbonated as the other colors.

This is a reason why I changed my black casing to white one - black one started to look weared out and ugly.

phr | # 9 | 2013-04-07, 09:47 | Report

Thanks, that's probably good advice, both about the phone and the color. I'm just uncomfortable selling used phones because of the possibility of private info being left on them. So I still have every phone I've ever owned, most of them obsolete crap by now, sitting around the house in various places. I should probably just stop worrying about this.

ch88xy | # 10 | 2013-04-07, 11:42 | Report

I have a 64gb N9. Almost sold it at one point, because I also worry about battery life all the time. Now I decide to keep it, mainly for its offline GPS featute. It costed me $125 to buy a Garmin and another $115 to buy a life time map update. So for practically the same amount of money, you not only get a world-wide (!) GPS, you also get a phone and a micro-computer. BTW I think 16gb may be enough. I downloaded as many Nokia maps for U.S., Europe, Asia as I wanted to my N9, in anticipation to (dreams of ) future trips. All told, it only takes up about 10gb of memory. My N900 barely has anything on it except apps--and it was my daily phone/computer for more than 2 years, until I switched to N9. Oh I do have an external battery, but only use it when I travel. My N9 lasts at least a day before recharging.