My impressions of Nokia N900-Is it The Ultimate device?

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I never thought in my wildest dreams that I could get my hands on N900 so soon. But past few days things changed so fast and it happened. Thanks for Mr. Arjun
So I got to use dream device for 2 days and i really had great time. Following is my quick review/first look of the device. I keep calling it “device” as its mini computer then phone. Check out following for unboxing and other pics,screenshots of N900, its huge collection !!! so take out time to watch it all.
When I first opened box and took it in hand , I felt it bit bigger, heavier than my N82.But overall it fits well in hand and has solid feel.Build quality also seems good, not same as Eseries.First few hours I used it without SIM and only on wifi on Airport. It picked up wifi easily.I was able to update it to latest OS on Wifi itself.
Since I have not used touch phones extensively I had issues with interface but within couple of hours i was at home. i liked the way N900 handles Contacts and Conversations. Basically it ties all contacts from you phone, chat services, SIP account tougether and shows up presence information of contacts.With
conversations also it has all sms, call, chat etc. tied up together.

 

Since I used this device for only 2 days, I tried to explore features quickly. I will list only my top 5 though there is a lot I wanted to talk about N900. You can check following gallery for more pictures.

Pros

• Maemo OS 5, based on Linux, Open source. It brings freshness to UI and interactive concepts.You need to use it to realize what i am talking about here. Also open source means a lot as people have already done dual boot with Android, Win 98 on N900. You can basically do a lot with device.Nokia is even encouraging all to do more with N900. They have campaign called “PUSH” , check it at http://blogs.nokia.com/pushn900/
• Web Browser , It’s best I have seen on mobile devices. Period.
• Multi-tasking is cool with eye candy and easy as N900 has very powerful specs to support it ,600MHz CPU, Graphics chip, 256 MB RAM
• All round connectivity-can be used everywhere in world with Quadband GSM, TriBand 3G, WiFi,Bluetooth,MicroUSB(charging also) and Infrared-Yes , it has IR too :D
• Gorgeous 3.5 “ screen, It makes watching videos, photos, reading emails such a great experience.

Cons

• Sliding mechanism is not as smooth as other phones. But I am comparing with N97 :)
• Removing back cover is very hard, one point I felt as if I am going to break it.
• Integrated GPS didn’t work at all, that too in open sky. But when i enabled Network positions(A-GPS) it worked well.
• OVI support, since N900 is in different league many OVI services/products yet are not available or don’t work well. Nokia has not done homework well here or do they also think people using N900 will figure out-geeks :). OVI suite, OVI Player, Files on OVI on computer do not support N900. PC Suit does but not all features. So right now there is not any computer companion software for N900 which can do all tasks that other phones can. I am using OVI suite 2.1 Beta and had to use phone in Mass storage mode,  but for first time I felt as Linux user N900 does much more in Linux(Ubuntu) than in Windows :D. OVI maps is also under powered version. Contacts sync with OVI.com is not available.
• Nokia Messaging did not work in my device, i tried changing country to all options but Nokia Messaging never showed up in services, i know that it works in some regions.

OVI Suite Developer has told me that OVI suite will support N900 soon , good news.
Overall I was really impressed by N900 and will call it best device(mobile?) i ever used. Tons of Screenshots which I took was just simple with Ctrl+Shift+P ,just like you do Alt+ PrintScr on PC,it creates folder called “Screenshots” under Images.It puts lot of power with deadly combo of hardware+software. Open source also allows users to do more and extend it to their liking. Also Maemo community driven network helps in bringing lots of development quickly to device. FM Radio application is such example. Nokia has not put this on N900, but it was developed by Martin Grimme and used by many users. There are few issues with software/services support with OVI but I guess it’s matter of time that they get resolved soon.
So YES – It is THE ULTIMATE DEVICE for geeks !!! Go and grab one and check it for yourself.
Let me know what you think about N900 via comments.