I was thinking about getting this phone, I'm coming from a windows 6.0 tmbile dash phone. So how is this n900 using the phone usage out of it? Is it clear and reception good? speakerphone? Can you put like a shortcut on the main scren for the dialer to make quick calls and such? Thanks

I have found call quality to be very good to excellent, the speakerphone also works well.

Yes you can make many shortcuts on the desktop.

I like the feature where you can create a shortcut to a particular contact on the desktop and when you click it a box opens with all the ways of contacting that person, their home phone number, mobile, SMS & IM etc.

You can also make a desktop shortcut that opens the phone application. However I usually press the power button and select phone, I have got used to that.

Well, the question that you need to ask is that do you want a phone or an internet tablet with phone features... the N900 has the basic function of a phone but there are a few things that aren't there that a normal "phone" would have... So, think of that before you buy the N900, because if u don't then you will be one of those people that will complain when they get the N900 about it not having enough "phone features"... But to answer your questions Yes to everything.. and reception imo is great!

So what phone features are lacking?

Voice dialing, smart dialing, stuff like that is missing. Voice dialing is what bothers me most, since it's a must have when using a hands-free in the car.
Then again, the N900 makes up for it with excellent VOIP integration and a great messaging/conversations application. If you SMS or IM a lot, you will like this device.

I agree, if you use the phone often, you might want to avoid this one.

I was initially disappointed with the phone features on the N900, but having recently re-experienced a Symbian S60 device (renowned for their phone capabilities), I conclude that overall I prefer the N900.

The posts above are all correct - there are some missing features. I could never get voice dialling to work for me so I don't miss that, but I do one-button miss speed dialing. You will have your own criteria.

Call quality and signal reception seems to be excellent and if you maintain your connectivity statusefficiently battery life is more than acceptable. Wifi and Bluetooth will drain the battery very quickly so I installed simple software available through this site to control them easily from the desktop.

I'd recommed 'Shortucd' 'Quick Launch' and 'Tweakr' to set the phone up properly - all very simple to use.

The biggest thing to get your head around is that the N900 does things differently when it comes to selecting contacts and making calls.

The biggest advantage of the N900 is that you can set it up the way you want. If you make a lot of calls you have up to 4 homescreens to fill with contacts - that's 80 numbers within two screentaps if each contact has two numbers.

I have found that I'm using the N900 in ways I've never used a mere 'phone' before. I'm browsing/surfing more, I've started using twitter and IM and I'm using the PC & laptop far less.

The N900 is a more involving device and demands a deeper investment in relationship than other devices - hence some of the strong opinions expressed on this forum.

Hope to see you here again!

I agree with most of th posts above but more so with NokTok's yes the phone does have a few odd things missing, it's a shame that things like mms, voice calls and quick touch calls are not included but somehow the phone more than makes up for it in other ways.

i have also found that I am surfing etc much more than I did before, I forget to download south park so I just dial into my home pc and can start the download from work.

I would suggest you have a look at the features of the phone and a good read of this website, if these simple functions just dont cut it then I wouldn't bother, perhaps go n97 instead... if however u arent all that bothered or are willing to wait then maybe give it a try as im sure eventually most functionality will be added to the phone.

May be worth waiting to see what new funcs are included in the new update, if it ever arrives!

mms picture messaging , one handed operation , no auto-rotate you cant use one hand with this phone accept when your making a phone call and this device since people don't wanna call it a phone does not have a soft reset you need to hook it up to a computer to wipe and reset device other devices have this but this does not have soft or hard reset can be troublesome besides a new version of this device may be coming out soon this device its old in phone yrs aim higher

But at least it allows capital letters and periods.