Then rest assured you have made the right choice... I use it for the same things. I don't do root, devel etc. and Linux is a City in a far away country... :P
The n900 has a really good browser and when you get to know it it is sooo sweet surfin' the net... and the texting is awsome I think... but I tend to write longer texts than I used to as the keyboard is really nice to text on.

and I have no problem doin' it all at once... F.ex yesterday buying DVD's for my sister... I was in the store, checking the excel with her wishes and owned DVDs she mailed me. while going online searching for reviews of different movies all the while listening to music and texting some buddies... all felt very smooth and easy... Not like my old Winmo which would start acting up if I did too many things at once

What kind of user are you? If you're a particular type - adventurous, fed up with what's out there, need a good powerful browser on top of a powerful OS and chipset and above all wanted a fully integrated IM to phone experience... you'll find the N900 is great.

It's built well, works well, and has a good camera. Now it's all about learning the different workflow that Maemo 5 brings to the table.

I would ask you this: Do you ever download and install cutting edge or bleeding edge software? Do you like being an early adopter? If you answer yes to these question then this is most definately the phone for you. If you answered "Huh?" to these questions then I'd suggest a platform and phone that is more mature.

I've been extremely happy with my n900. It may not have as have as many apps as other devices but if you have patience the apps will come.

i guess my biggest concerns are the GPS and the FM transmitter.

I was really hoping the transmitter would save me getting an in car connection kit but there is a huge thread about how bad it can be - mixed experiences! think the answer is really suck it and see.

And the GPS seems to be a bit hopeless just now. Hopefully this can be fixed with software updates. Anyone know which GPS chip is used in the N900?

If you mean do i like buggy software that struggles to do the basics of its intended use then the answer is no. But i am happy to wait for apps to become stable.

I can't comment on the GPS - as I say, I don't use it. Though from all I've read the problems seem to divide between people who find it hard to get a fix without a-gps (which is a hardware problem) and people who have no problem with the fix but find the software/maps/lack of turn-by-turn/voice instruction to be an issue. The latter can most certainly be solved with software improvements over time.

As for the FM transmitter, it seems that local legislation about transmitter strength and availablity of empty frequencies affect people's experience. My own experience has been faultless - I listened to Christmas music in the car with the device tossed carelessly on the passenger seat. That's something you will have to try for yourself. I can recommend the widget to control it, though.

Good luck with your testing.

I just had some experience with the GPS. I can't say that I was pleased with that experience. But when it works, it's great.

Otherwise, if you need nearly instant and it's been a while since your last "fix"... you might find yourself losing your patience.

the instant aspect isn't a concern and i am happy to use aGPS if it helps to get a fix. I still have me HTC Kaiser as a backup SatNav. I've put up with the poor GPS in that for a long time now!

You want to say: Dont use the N900 and you will avoid most problems?
No thanX^^

Ultimately it comes down to wether you like linux with it's philosophy, it's highlights and flaws, or not.

My personal vote: Yay, it's so f*ckin' awesome I wish I could marry it!

But then I've been a linux kinda guy for years now...

Does everything work right out of the box? No! A lot of things would benefit from improvements, a few things are downright unusable. But then I have never heard of a linux system (or any other OS for that matter) where EVERYTHING was working spectacularly.
And with the community here I'm confident that all these little glitches will go away very quickly. Even though many people don't even have their device yet there's hundreds of Apps in development right now! There have even been reports of people successfully booting their very own personalized kernel on the device....

What I feel good about is that with almost everything on this phone being open source if there's something I don't like, then it can be changed! If bad comes to worse and Nokia decides it's not worth the trouble, then there's the community, and if all else fails I can brush up on my QT and program it myself!
No need to ask anyone for permission or to steal whitepapers or technical blueprints (or buy them for thousands of dollars), all the source code you need is right there!
It might take some time, but in the end I am absolutely certain that if I want a feature bad enough then it WILL be implemented!

There's no one threatening to throw me in jail for manipulating the operating system (on a device I paid for!) or to deactivate my device and void my dataplan contract because I run 3rd party software on it.
Of course I shouldn't complain to Nokia if I used some dirty homebrew hack of mine that turned out to fry the cpu, but that's ok with me. And the N900 is a wonderful playground for that!


Apart from the FOSS-idea which is a definite bonus for me the hardware is really good! We all know the specs, it's got a fast processor, enough ram, video acceleration, a high-res touchscreen, UMTS, WLAN, bluetooth, standard connectors with cables you can buy at any radioshack for a low price, it's got a wonderful UI and about a million other totally cool things I've not discovered yet. Hey, it even has a radio transmitter builtin! Wanna have your music in that rental car you just picked up at the airport? Just put the phone on the dashboard, push one button, cranc up the car's stereo and there you have it! It doesn't get much sweeter than that!

Using it just makes me happy! It feels completely intuitive, very responsive, fast, and many things that seemed ridiculous to do with a phone a few weeks ago are now suddenly a matter of installing a package or two.

(ever considered turning your mobile phone into a full-blown public access point, complete with VoIP-server, voicemail, WLAN encryption, packet priorization and everything for that spontaneous Counter Strike party over at the hotel? apt-get install hostapd asterisk. done. Try doing that with an iPhone!)

Edit: just saw these two concerns above:
From personal experience:

GPS: without network assistance a bit slow to get a fix. As with any "standard" GPS it is vital to remain stationary until you have the first fix! If you move while the receiver is still searching it will try to interpolate ONE position from ever-changing GPS-data, which is bound to fail.
Once you do have a fix it is very precise and the reception is quite good, too! I can get a satellite fix in the middle of my bedroom, with 2 floors on top and the curtains drawn!
With network assistance (aGPS) it's quite fast and has never let me down yet!

Radio Transmitter: I live in a large city, where free FM frequencies are quite rare, so I have to search a bit. The builtin transmitter doesn't have enough power to "hijack" the local radio stations, but if you find a more or less free frequency the quality is outstanding. I use it every day in my car!