I thought it was an ok review. It's pretty obvious that if you want an iphone, and the device you review is not an iphone you're going to be disappointed.

One thing was a little confusing though. He says that "it surprised me with its nimbleness and robustness. It didn’t at any point feel like a Linux-based device"

Are linux based device slow? I would have thought the opposite.

... is there an app for that.

see what i did there?

If you really want it. I can make a calculator app that gives you wrong results

I think I'd complain to the school if a child got that sort of report: He's brilliant at this, this and this, but he doesn't do that the way my favourite kid in the class does, so 6/10.

So it's not an iphone. Guess what? It's not meant to be an iphone. If you wanted a capacitive screen, there are plenty on the market: N900 has a resistive screen because it's capable of things that need a lot more accuracy than a splodgy finger-nudge.

As for it not being slim and kewl? Errr... I don't buy my devices for their 'kewl' factor, but for what they do. You down-mark a kid in class cos he's got red hair and braces?

Actually, I find myself much cheered by all the people who hate n900 on principle and still have good things to say about it.

That was what I got too - the content was quite balanced but the conclusion wasn't in keeping with the bulk of the content at all...

He couldn't avoid noticing the most important thing though:

N900 does not drop calls.

I still can't believe iPhone does, with all the hype around it...

@fms: it's the network that the iphone is tied to (at&t). om made a big deal of 'leaving the iphone' sometime ago due to that.

You know... I just had a meeting with BMW (early summer) and they were talking about how their advertising budget was probably going to get considerably less if the economy continued a downturn. And I'll paraphrase a part of that conversation:

"If people want to buy a BMW, they will buy one."

Which at that very moment made incredible sense to me. The same goes with the iPhone. Some people complained with OS X brought along a terminal. I mean, for YEARS Mac users never saw the underpinning to their OS. Didn't have to. Most didn't even want to. Would even scoff at the CMD prompt in Windows and was horrified of the BASH shell because it would "erase things without confirmations..." - actual quote from an older client.

My point is while here, I hear the N900 lust. People want power, they want root, they want to be able to load, compile, or apt-get whatever is out there because... well, they can.

The iPhone group? Herded, "protected", limited... yet it's a mainstream product that had a lot of thought that went into the UI, the distribution of applications via the iTunes Music Store.

But in the end, as a phone the iPhone (to me) is lacking. It functions, I can make calls, enjoy a few games, chat with some friends, even make VoIP calls... send SMS and MMS. But I have variety within that hard-limited environment that include offerings from companies that I have been exposed to in the past via prior commercial offerings.

The N900 - I'm a 770 and N810 owner - presents a breath of freedom and it'll allow me to make phone calls, enjoy a few games, chat with friends, make VoIP calls... send SMS and e-mails. No MMS, a forward facing camera that Skype still doesn't use and I have to maintain my Linux skills to avoid the other limitations - lack of the same level of 3rd party corporate/commercial support is my biggest ongoing concern - and keep around this bunch of people and I'll still be set with a phone that will down the road do what I want.

But the portable computer part... my job is too varied for the N900 to fit all of my needs. Admin duties... I'm set. Graphic design duties, I'm SOL - although I can use a Tiltshift app, a drawing app that supports *.psd files, a painting app and a better camera app on the iPhone's HORRID camera/platform, but it's there if I need to get out some ideas on the spot. Sketching, painting... also on the N900. But neither offer the quality I'd need to say "mobile computer".

Sure... that last bit will get people up in arms. But seriously... you say "mobile computer" and I use computers for graphic design, Flash dev as well as server administration and Office documents and other usages. Does that mean I should be in the back, waiting and not voicing some bit of disappointment here and there? Or does that mean this platform isn't fully for me?

Linux can do/go everywhere. Think about that for a moment. I'll be waiting on the N900/Maemo 5 platform to mature. Meanwhile, I'll argue any iPhone user... that's not a smartphone. It's a media phone... at best.

Just that the iPhone is too damn limited at times and I really want more... but it "works" well through deliberate thought that went into the UX and platform.

Sorry for getting rant all in the thread... oops

I knew it! Steve Jobs in his eternal wisdom decided to leave leave out multitasking because it is to complicated for the average iphone user.

iPhone actually does multitasking, just not for the user applications, where it artifically insists that only one user application should be running at a time. I can't believe how many people do not understand that.