For now im using i***** 3gs and happy enough, its still have support from mainstream apps and i use terminal on it, but i admit my dead n9 is missed, and my broken n900 is still the best, my z10 is rock!! For now i just need something thats work normal cause i dont have enough time to tweak everything, maybe its time to become mainstream, move on...

Guys,

I would like to take a moment and thank all of you for extremely detailed and insightful opinions. I must say this is one of the best on-line communities i have seen and from the reading I have done while researching for N9, this forum is full of helpful and friendly people.

After a lot of back-and-forth thinking, (mostly about "from where to order ") I finally ordered a WHITE 64 GB N9 from ebay. I had an option on Alixpress (China) which was half the price but I was hesitant as some reviews said they received very un-identifiable replicas/ refurbished phones which they only came to know after they opened the phone at a service center.

I ordered this for 320 USD + shipping - item location being Hong Kong...so still in doubt but it's ebay so lets hope all goes well.

I think now i can start reading from a scratch and understand terms - there are so many - terminal, nano, flashing, QT, firmware image, PR something-point-something, SSH, eMMC, warehouse, filebox, Linux, Navifrm, RM-696, MILF (not really) ....

Suggestions for reading would be highly appreciated!

Cheers mates!

@nokiabot: it sure is beautiful!
@aspergerguy: thank you for acknowledging my homework and for letting me know what I can expect.
@juiceme: exactly what i wanted to hear - it is indeed not difficult and the learning it will provide will be fun.
@tioubxancur: very detailed reply mate - helped a lot...
@lal: i am looking forward to educate myself and be a part of this community...thank you.
@ibrakalifa: Well, BB is something that has never made a single appearance in my conscious memory...except now and iPhone is just a great thing that everyone has. I however understand where you are coming from...to avoid the complications...but I think I can take it. lets see...
@balisingh : I am not an agressive multi-tasker...so proably it won't slow down dat much... but in the corner of my mind.. I know life definitely won't become easier...but it never does when you buy a collectible car or a panda bear for a pet...but it is something!
@wrm: When you say people asking unbelievable price, I think you are referring to a crazy seller on ebay asking a 1000 USD! I know that's too much...I even messaged him asking him if he is out of his mind
@chilango: Good to know there are guys out there who still pay 300- 400 USD... it shows N9 is something! Thanks.

Guys my phone arrived 3 days back - a white 64GB N9.

Unboxing and Power-up

The only event that could be compared to the event of unboxing N9 for giving pure 'JOY' is when the DHL tracking of my ebay order said - "Shipment arrived, cleared sorting centre and awaiting pick-up". It was all that I had imagined, read, heard multiplied by 100. It is so beautiful that ideally, I would like to keep it in a glass display and not touch it.

I switched-off all lights of my house and powered it up - it was alive! When I powered-up my Kawasaki Ninja ZX10R for the first time...I was sure no piece of machinery would give such pleasure in powering up for the first time - I was wrong.

Clear Black Display, dark rooms and the start-up sequence appeared - language and date settings. The un-boxing was done.

Setting it up - Loading contacts

I bet if we write the following words on a piece of paper - Microsoft, Outlook, Outlook.com, Outlook 2010-13, Windows Live, Windows Live People, Windows Live Contacts,Hotmail Server, Microsoft Exchange, Nokia Account, Nokia Sync, Skype Contacts and then tell him to explain the relationship between them, he won't be able to do it.

So it took a while to install MeMailSettings app and get the contacts to sync from Windows Live. But we all have experienced the moment when you constantly struggle in various ways to get your contacts to sync and when you least expect, they magically populate in your contact list - moment of truth!

Once contacts were in place and home wi-fi password typed-in, it was time to do what we best do - fiddle and fiddle until either one - the phone or you give up

Surprises
I was taken aback by the haptic feedback! it was like a tiny person with a micro hammer is standing behind the keypad and he hammers the keys as you press them.(I later realized the touch-vibration was set to level 3 which I then changed)

The swipe is very impressive...to the extent that I swipe just for the sake of swiping!

The App store is surprisingly rich - it is under-rated i think.

Killer Features
The lock screen watch, the home screen, the black interface with cayan toggles, status bar, sexy fonts and that clock adjuster - this interface is the Mona Lisa of interfaces.

Pure delight
The phone has been working like butter since it was opened - I swiped away angry birds to increase brightness and I opened it back from the "running tasks screen" and it resumed as if nothing happened!

The thing that I love about this phone is how everything about it is SUBTLE - icons, status bar, clock on lock screen - even that tiny white LED which blinks - or should I say - twinkles during charging.
Nothing about it shouts and the beauty of design lies in sublimity. Even the Nokia logo on start-up is so sleek...maybe font 6 or 8.

New installations and Apps

The first thing I installed was Whatsup and I must say - it was all done in a matter of 2 minutes...which I never expected.
Installing .deb files was much easier than I thought (since I do not know any programming) and Whatsup registration happened within seconds and since then, it is working like a charm.(Will be donating soon)

Other Apps I installed are - Purelight Torch, Memailsettings, FileBox, Simple Mirror (to check front cam), Screenshot, Bateryusage, Battery Level Indicator (shows % in the icon and on lock screen), Dropcache (to free memory) and home screen rotate app.

There is also this TRACK AND PROTECT to which I have registered and have 1 credit as of now. I will use this one credit to send an abusive SMS to the thief in-case it is stolen.

As I mentioned in the post, I am not a 'heavy' user - meaning my usage never pushes RAM and networking capacity. Occasional phone, SMS, browsing restaurant menus and addresses and internet sharing via hotspots when in a cafes. The only heavy load that I put on the phone is when I am continuously fiddling with it's menu, settings, sensors and apps.

Tiny glitches
Well, the only major issue I have encountered yet is that swiping UP never closes ANY programs - whether clock, calculator, browser or whatsap - none. I do not mind long-pressing and closing but if the feature was supposed to work... I would rather have it working.

Whatsup crashed multiple times but so did it on my Lumia 800 so no complaints. I also plan to try Wazaap soon. I have heard praises.

Battery is being used like my bike uses fuel but I am still analyzing the usage with the app. Does whatsup consume more?
I switched off touch-vibration, brightness to zero, all accounts auto-sync off, background internet off, no running tasks.

Let's see how the battery goes but I am sensing trouble in this area.

I must say I am not happy with the browser - some say Firefox is good but it is not possible to fully clear browser cache. Is it true? (I do not need flash videos) Is Opera good?

By the way when you switch-on developer mode, what are those things that the phone 'tempts' you to install - there is a list of things with a button against each that says "INSTALL"
(I am as tempted as Peter Griffin in the image attached)

Customization
I read in detail about QTweak, unrestricted user interface and other aesthetic apps like SMS bubbles, colour themes, battery % in status bar, lock clock and icons colour change, more info on lock screen, etc.

I think i would rather not over-do it and disturb the subtlty (just a personal choice). My lock screen shows time and battery % presently and that's enough for me.

What I HAVE done is that I have designed a Wallpaper for this phone and it does look sexy when you double-tap it. I have no doubt it will catch attention when I go to the movie theatre and double-tap my screen.

I am attaching the wallpaper for you guys here.

I also went to an optical shop yesterday and bought a glass cleaning kit to clean the phone.

I will share more thoughts in coming days. Thank you guys again for encouraging me to buy this.

Awesome. Welcome aboard
Glad you love it.

Swiping UP is not meant to close apps. Its Swiping from UP i.e. swiping DOWN that closes apps

A good decision!

Swiping from top is closing (as tioubxancur said).
Stay with WhatsUp (wazzapp is not maintained anymore).
Developer mode will enable you to tinker with your device, especially put a new icon in your menu named meego-terminal which opens a console just like on a normal PC and you can type almost all console commands and enhance (or wreck up ) your device.

and I thought i was not stupid!

Thank you tioubxancur for embarrassing me so much that the only person more embarrassed was the first-time flyer who tried to open the main aeroplane door when he wanted to go to the washroom.

thanks man.

Absolutely no need to be embarassed.

What I missed to say:
Nokia/OVI store is going down soonish, so grab what ever application you would like from there asap.
And install warehouse from https://openrepos.net

toldya its sexy as hell
everytime i gas up to get one i end up with a n900 dont know why

n9 & n900
beauty and the beast

One thing, the Track&Protect does not work (and never did IMHO even when N9 still was supported by Nokia)
Get prey if you want the functionality.

Opera is a very good browser. It's my browser of choice, I'd highly recommend it. There is only one drawback it will not play imbedded videos. Firefox is your best bet for imbedded video, but I like Opera much better otherwise.