If you buy a 'new' second hand one the warranty continues i think.
....

My main gripe with Android is that it's so fragmented, and honestly, I don't see it lasting long. I fully agree with Nokia's statement that it's like peeing in your pants to keep warm - lots of manufacturers are jumping on it as a lifeline, but there's nothing to differentiate any of them. That's why i fully respect and agree with Nokia's decision to forge ahead with their own OS, so they maintain visbility in the market place and offer something different. If they offered Android as their main OS, i'd stick with my N900 until it stopped working, honestly.

I tried Android. Although I was considering it if Meego is not great, I am not so keen on it now. Maemo5 is miles ahead. I have not tried Meego, but sadly I think that it will be more limited than Maemo. More like Android, if you know what I mean. However this is my opinion of course, and Meego might be very appealing after all.

With that said, I don't think there is another mobile on the market that handles videos as great as the N900. It accepts many formats, however nothing over 800x480 in resolution. Standard 699MB-1.5GB avi dvdrips are a piece of cake for the N900. I have never had problems with them. Using Mplayer with sib as frontend and the standard media player I have played some anime in .mkv format with dual audio (eng and jap) and subtitles, and sib plays them well and can switch between audoo streams. However I did have some problems sometimes with .mkv. Usually in seasons. They would be encoded differently from one season to another. So before going out, make sure it plays at least one episode, so you will be able to play them well. But it's still miles ahead the competition when it comes to video playing. And the screen and sound are beautiful too. So if video is important to you, the N900 is the only choice.

Browsing is great too on the device. The browser is quite fast, renders well and I find the gestures to be very comfortable, like 'hover mode' (to select text) and swirl to zoom. But Android is quite good too. So you're good either way.

Memory is great on the N900. The 32GB onboard is quite fast (so not the cheap slow memory manufactorers sometimes put in the phone). For this Nokia must be commended. There is also support for a microsd with the capacity of 1-32GB, which brings the maximum total to 64GB. The camera is quite good. If your memory card is not fragmented, video recording should be smooth. And with apps such as fcam, it is much more pleasant and exciting to use then on Android. There are also other hardware goodies like the FM receiver and transmitter, IR transmitter etc.

Resistive vs capacitive. It is up to you. I prefer resistive for it's precision. The N900's screen will be less sensitive than a capacitive screen of course. But it is hardly noticeable believe me. Lacking multi touch is a bit of a downside though. But you can use gloves with it and a stylus. This makes drawing much fun especially with apps like myPaint. And you can use the browser without zooming.

UI in my opinion is much better on the N900. Android just doesn't feel...natural for me. I can't really explain it. A very good plus for N900 is portrait mode. It is practically inexistant for the N900.

Applications are quite good for the N900. You won't feel the need for them in my opinion. The developers here and those porting apps have really brought many good apps here. Games and ports are quite good too, but Android has much better games. There's no question there. However many Android games don't use the hardware keyboard on the Droid, so it kind of ruins the feel. Emulators are good on both platforms, however the N900 takes the crown by a little bit, and by using a sixpair controller or buying a gamegripper, it feels great on the N900. Most Android don't have a keyboard.

The N900 currently can have multiple OSes installed. Android, Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Meego are the ones that come to mind. Not to mention Easy Debian, which is just wonderful.

The hardware keyboard is much more comfortable than that of the Droid in my opinion. I am posting from the N900 right now (my fingers are getting tired ). GPS lock is good on both devices. Both have good GPS software too. OVI maps suck, but Sygic on the N900 is good. I didn't like Google maps because data plans are expensive. The N900 doesn't have a digital compass though.

Finally I would suggest that you don't buy the N900 but wait for Meego to see if you like it more, since Maemo5 is practically discontinued. But I do see a future for the N900, at least for a few more months.

Android vs N900? Android is more limited, stable, has more games, more mainstream and supports many modifications. Maemo5 has more freedom, bugs, better community, less games (although QT might bring more), can be completely modified and is almost pure linux. In Maemo5, some things won't just work. You have to search to solve a problem. I like modifying and doing just that. So I fell in love with the N900 and didn't like Android much. However many users who left here were disappointed by the N900 and felt much better. The reason is that the N900 will not just work. To use it fully, you must know how to treat it. My personal N900 is very fast and stable and a pleasure to use. That's all I can say.

Goodluck with your choice.

Well as that might be true there is still laptops. Those laptops show that you are wrong. All laptops(not netbooks and apple) use windows 7 and there is room for many players like HP, asus, dell, acer, packard bell and so on... That everyone goes for android does not mean that they are all going to fail. I am not a big android user but I got the feeling that htc have more quality on their phones then samsung and that is something you can compete with. Something else is to give good support and that is something that should not be under estimated. For example my father would never buy a packard bell or build his own computer as he wants the support HP gives and if that makes him pay 50% more it does not matter.

I tried Android. Although I was considering it if Meego is not great, I am not so keen on it now. Maemo5 is miles ahead. I have not tried Meego, but sadly I think that it will be more limited than Maemo. More like Android, if you know what I mean. However this is my opinion of course, and Meego might be very appealing after all.

With that said, I don't think there is another mobile on the market that handles videos as great as the N900. It accepts many formats, however nothing over 800x480 in resolution. Standard 699MB-1.5GB avi dvdrips are a piece of cake for the N900. I have never had problems with them. Using Mplayer with sib as frontend and the standard media player I have played some anime in .mkv format with dual audio (eng and jap) and subtitles, and sib plays them well and can switch between audoo streams. However I did have some problems sometimes with .mkv. Usually in seasons. They would be encoded differently from one season to another. So before going out, make sure it plays at least one episode, so you will be able to play them well. But it's still miles ahead the competition when it comes to video playing. And the screen and sound are beautiful too. So if video is important to you, the N900 is the only choice.

Memory is great on the N900. The 32GB onboard is quite fast (so not the cheap slow memory manufactorers sometimes put in the phone). For this Nokia must be commended. There is also support for a microsd with the capacity of 1-32GB, which brings the maximum total to 64GB. The camera is quite good. If your memory card is not fragmented, video recording should be smooth. And with apps such as fcam, it is much more pleasant and exciting to use then on Android. There are also other hardware goodies like the FM receiver and transmitter, IR transmitter etc.

Resistive vs capacitive. It is up to you. I prefer resistive for it's precision. The N900's screen will be less sensitive than a capacitive screen of course. But it is hardly noticeable believe me. Lacking multi touch is a bit of a downside though. But you can use gloves with it and a stylus. This makes drawing much fun especially with apps like myPaint. And you can use the browser without zooming.

The hardware keyboard is much more comfortable than that of the Droid in my opinion. I am posting from the N900 right now (my fingers are getting tired ).

Finally I would suggest that you don't buy the N900 but wait for Meego to see if you like it more, since Maemo5 is practically discontinued. But I do see a future for the N900, at least for a few more months.

you're right, but i think the computing and phone markets are different, plus Windows established its marketshare when it was a different time. I don't think there's no room for different manufacturers sharing an OS, i just don't see Android keeping this momentum, that's all i meant. It isn't a perfect OS like some think and there seems to be increasing annoyance with it amongst the general population. I think when something more functional is released and promoted the outlook will shift massively. Maemo is a far better OS i think, and it's easier to navigate. If MeeGo continues it but makes it more mass market friendly, Nokia's position could# change quickly

I think so too... I think Android was way more to the "open" part than they r now...

Ive seen some posts in the community saying the codecs are a bit picky with the videos sometimes... and sorts and hence asked... i can live with the resolution limit i think... But would it matter if its a teeny weeny bit above that?? (not talking 720p here.. just a marginal difference...)

It supports 32 GB memory cards?? Um.. i think ive read on sites like GSMArena that max capacity of external memory is 16? Would u confirm?

I prefer Resistive... although i think there shouldve been multi-touch on resistive if its technically possible...

I would thank you again for ur time and patience to reply...

I dont think waiting would bear any fruits coz the first MeeGo device is rumoured to be around December though most ppl think it wont happen coz nokia are always late with products.. But even if it happens, it would be late coming to India where i live in.. N900 was launched in India by the half of 2010... So i suspect the new MeeGo device would be here around mid 2011 if it launches by december...

Once again thanking u for ur detailed and informative reply.. helped me a lot...i knew this community and its users wouldnt disappoint me..

Glad to help. Please read my post again because I added some things I missed in the first place.

Now, to answer your questions. I have a 16GB Sandisk Memory card. But I have seen people on this forum with 32GB mem cards. There is even one user that has: My N900 is running 64GB of memory" in his signature (can't remember who). But try to find who has the 32GB and ask them what card they wn, so you'll be sure it works. I didn't buy one because they're expensive. Even the 16GB is expensive. It's 50 euros here in Malta. I bought it for 28 euros used on eBay. I don't trust ebay sellers with flash memory (no offense to anyone). So I bought it used from someone who confirmed it has 14.9GB.

About the resolution. For some strange (actually complicated not strange) reason, upscaling a video is easy. But downscaling..it's a nightmare. You can try it on your N95, and even on your PC. If the max resolution is 320x240, you will have trouble playing 640x480. And if your PC resolution is 1600x1200, you will have trouble playing a video with 1920x1600. Don't ask why..just accept that limitation. It is to all devices. The video would be choppy.

Multitouch on resistive is possible (http://www.stantum.com/en/), but the trend is to go for capacitive..one of the things that are making me reluctant about the future devices.

Well if you can't wait, certainly go for the N900. I am not disappointed at all with it. Especially with it's media capabilities. Sometimes I sit in the car, pull out my car-holder, stick the N900 there, switch on the FM transmitter, put on a movie..switch on the car stereo..and surround system is on.

Sometimes I sit in the car, pull out my car-holder, stick the N900 there, switch on the FM transmitter, put on a movie..switch on the car stereo..and surround system is on.

And is multitouch possible on resistive? i mean on n900? give me links if u have tried any...

On resistive, yes. On N900, no.