I think he meant for the price of a N810 you could buy 4 iPhones (although the contract issue isn't catered for in that example).

More than the contract issue NOT catered for, I simply DO NOT even know you HAVE to have a contract to buy an iphone! Ignorant on my part! Whatever, I just want to bring out a part of the $ issue if the N900 is out now. For some filthy rich royal fans, they probably dont care. For me, I would HAVE to balance between, hobby/fun/practical/use. BTW, Lenovo just put out a laptop, a full function laptop, 1.6GHzwifi/DVD/15.4 inch 1280x800, 6 hr batteries/160G HD/2G ram.....for $379, shipped, no rebate, from Newegg.com, today! Yup, it is cheaper than N810 initial release $. My last laptop is 2 yrs old, and costed $1000 from HP, I am asking permission for my honey to upgrade her computer. Oh, there is NO phone contract this time and this one is NOT a netbook either. One can always wipe out the OS and replace with kubuntu.

And 1.6Ghz with 2G RAM, I think I would just get it as my sole dedicated DVD player and constantly hook up to my projector.
bun

Except that the Wimax is dead.

Ah ha!

bun

The "media" should be ashamed to print that the phone is $99. I'll sell you a bridge in Brooklyn for $99 -- but of course, there's a $100 billion a year contract you also have to agree to.

Now, wow over the fact you can buy a bridge for $99!

Well, it is 99 dollars. Your bridge in Brooklyn analogy only works if you didn't have to pay for GSM data in the upcoming N900 - which you will.

Either way, want to use anything other than wifi, you're paying for it.

Says who?

I've purchased GSM devices in the past that I never activated for service (backup phones, one of which I later used as a SyncML conduit between two services (via wifi and USB), and it does so without even having a SIM card in it).

So, show us this inside knowledge you have that says we'll have to pay a hidden/not-up-front cost for GSM data in the upcoming N900.

Do you seriously think that you will have access to send SMS via GSM, or access the web via GSM for free?

Oh really?

Show me anybody in the US that is willing to let you do that for free.

GSM voice != GSM data. And every single US carrier will charge you for that. Show me otherwise. There's no "inside information"; that's just how it is. If you people think that you're going to get a device that will use the T-Mobile airwaves for free, you're mistaken.

Even the Peek costs a monthly and all it does is e-mail/sms over GSM (no VoIP).

99 dollars is a good price, but you need at&t or t-mobile+ a two year contract. otherwise, it is a lot more $299 for a used one. i would just get a nokia n810 and use it for sip

You're being thick headed. Open your mind beyond your assumptions.

As I already said, I've bought several Nokia GSM devices and NOT PAID FOR GSM ACCESS. It's called "using it without a SIM card". There's no reason to believe that the N900, even with a built in GSM data radio, wont be usable in a wifi only mode (just like the N810 is usable without a GPS data subscription). Just buy the unlocked version, don't activate it with a carrier, and use it as a wifi only device.

You can't do that at all with an iPhone (you have to buy an iPod Touch, which doesn't have the same full set of capabilities, last I checked). But you can do it with other Nokia devices. So why are you assuming that you wont be able to do it with an N900, and that you'll HAVE to pay for GSM service?