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Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
11/25/09
A) A cheapass contract phone which while not having a huge amount of minutes has unlimited texting and 3G internet as well as free calls to anyone on the same provider.
B) Has Skype and facebook integrated. Skype is a big draw for me as I can talk to most people I know on it.
I was thinking of getting an iPhone but eh it's not that worthwhile. Don't get me wrong it's still a great phone but you can do a similar job with an iPod Touch and a 3G mifi for a lot less money which is what I'm doing instead.
Depends how much you value a compass, GPS and a camera. Out of those I think I'll only miss the camera and only barely.
If I do pick up a proper smartphone when my contracts up I'll probably go android. I couldn't justify an iPhone after purchasing a 3rd Gen iPod Touch.
11/24/09
Incidentally, that's what's in my pockets right now (Pre, Droid, 3GS, N900)...
Ah the joys of review units!
11/24/09
And Amazon has yet to ship my n900 :(
11/24/09
11/25/09
11/25/09
11/25/09
11/26/09
Otherwise the N900 hardware wins in every way. Better primary camera (5 MP with Zeiss lens and dual-LED flash), higher screen resolution (800x480), hardware keyboard, standard micro USB data/power port, micro-SDHC card slot (in addition to the built-in 32 GB of storage), stereo speakers, secondary front-facing camera (VGA), built-in kick stand!
So how the iPhone 3GS hardware better than the N900 again?
I have both devices, and own the iPhone 3GS (the N900 is a review unit), so I'm just being objective here.
11/26/09
Out of all the things you listed, many actually make the N900 WORSE like a crappy hardware keyboard. Only 2 things are better: the screen resolution, and the 1.8 extra megapixels.
It is not worth using such an inferior phone with a pathetic crippled OS (maemo cant even use portrait mode) when the only advantages are more screen resolution (with an awful resistive touch screen) and a SLIGHTLY better camera.
Summary:
-The OS is literally the worst, even windows mobile 6 is better
-The hardware keyboard practically doubles the size and slows down your typing
-It has the worst type of touchscreen, a pathetic, atrocious resistive one
11/27/09
Have you tried the hardware keyboard on the N900? Obviosuly not, since it's pretty decent.
I generally avoid using the flash on any camera (except for fill), but saying it's useless is a bit much...
It's nice to be able to copy a music or videos from the 32 GB of storage to a friend's micro-SD card for them to enjoy on their phone without using Bluetooth or needing a computer - I've done it!
The front-facing camera is useful for video chat software (like Skype) - most people just don't know it's even possible to do this on a phone and assume a laptop is required.
Maemo is one of the best OS's I've ever used on any phone, and I've reviewed quite a few (check my blog: [tnkgrl.wordpress.com]) .
Maemo is pretty much a full-on version of Debian linux with a fast and intuitive touch UI sitting on top.
There's not technical limitation why the UI mostly landscape (the phone app and the picture viewer automatically switch to portrait, BTW).
It's just that the N900 is the successor to the N810/N800/770 Internet tablets, and as such is primarily meant to be used 2-handed in landscape.
Better than Windows Mobile? Are you kidding me? Clearly you don't know what you are talking about. Maemo is a gem.
Have you tried surfing the web with N900? It's pretty much full-on Firefox with Flash 9 support. Name another phone that can do this.
The resistive touchscreen is a hug mistake, I agree :)
11/27/09
Front facing camera is useful for skype and stuff, but not useful on a phone. Talking to someone while holding the camera filming your face is not very easy.
Maemo is fast, maybe even a little slick, but it is like a shiny yet EMPTY box. By that I mean, it has very little features in comparison to phones from better manufacturers.
Yes, it technologically can support portrait, but WHY DIDNT THE MORONS AT NOKIA ENABLE IT!?!?
Maemo is a gem... In the roughest of the rough. Windows Mobile is far superior. Running Maemo is like running a stripped out debian, and running windows mobile is like running FULL windows on your phone, complete with file explorer and right click.
Firefox is worse than safari, the only advantage is flash.
By the way, before I saw the flaws, I REALLY WANTED THIS PHONE, it was only after experiencing the drawbacks that I figured I will wait a revision or two.
In conclusion:
In a couple years, when Maemo has been outfitted with all modern features, and they put in a capacitive touch screen, I am sure this will be a wonderful phone to have. I am looking forward to the n91o or whatever they call the next version, which I prey will have capacitive :)
11/27/09
I'm done discussing this with you. I love my iPhone 3GS and my N900 and my Droid and my Pre, all for different reasons!
The smarphone world is clearly getting divided into 2 camps: OS X, Android, WebOS and Maemo at the top, Symbian, BlackBerry OS and Windows Mobile at the bottom.
If you can't see that, I don't have to convince you. Cheers :)
11/24/09
11/24/09
11/24/09
11/24/09
Used to be there was no question you'd see the G1 on there but now admittedly its a little outdated and t-mobile insists on holding on to it.
Time to make something happen T-mobile.
11/24/09
11/24/09
What I was really getting at was that the Cliq is a far inferior phone to the G1 in most ways.
11/24/09
11/24/09
11/24/09
The CLIQ (last I checked) was running Android 1.5, which means it's already a generation behind. It also disqualifies it from the GPS app. Additionally, the MOTOBLUR interface is a questionable advantage at best. From what I've seen, the Facebook/Twitter integration gadgets are less than stellar and only provide a chaotic view of your network.
I don't think the G1 is head and shoulders above the CLIQ....but I do think it has a little more dignity. If nothing else because it gets the Google Experience branding instead of MOTOBLUR. Sense and Rachael were good improvements on top of Android. I'm less than convinced that MOTOBLUR has such an advantage.
11/24/09
Then there are other advantages that are debatable but often pointed out.
5 row QWERTY
Dedicated call keys
Secondary pointing device
So the real question would be what does the cliq have that the G1 doesn't?
5.0 camera which is always a debatable inclusion.
Really though I wasn't really trying to say that the G1 is out and out better. Regardless of any other argument I'd say that everyone agreed that the G1 was a flagship phone for t-mobile. I'm amazed if anyone could really say the same for the cliq. Hell even t-mobile still pimps the MyTouch more then they market the cliq.
11/24/09
11/24/09
Its the same thing its been from the beginning in most ways. Some tweaks here and there. People must love the flat icons.
11/24/09
11/24/09
11/24/09
Besides some changes in settings and other backend stuff what is the main difference between 2.0 and 1.6? Flat icons.
#tips
11/24/09
*downloads Gameboid*
11/24/09
11/24/09
Everyone has their needs but I have to say, after my real world usage, it's, at the very least, a dead heat between the Droid and the iPhone.
After 3 weeks with the Droid I don't miss my iPhone AT ALL. My only plan for my iPhone is to unlock it and use a prepaid sim when I travel overseas (I'm pretty sure that's possible, if not I'm not too worried).
WTF? ... a jailbroken iPhone on Tmo? Oh well. TMo coverage is trash anyway.
11/24/09
11/24/09
Yes, Tmo national coverage is really bad for those who travel regionally.
11/24/09
You really need an editor. The best smartphone on AT&T is a Jailbroken iPhone.
11/24/09
Also: Droid for $150? Surprising and pleasing.
11/24/09
11/24/09
The thing to consider, though, is network quality. I've been pretty happy on T-Mobile for the most part. I don't get that great 3G reception in my house, but my building can account for a lot of that. When I travel Atlanta, I get pretty good 3G reception most of the time.
However back when I was on Verizon and I took a trip around the U.S, I managed to get cell reception from underneath the Rocky Mountains. I traveled around 20 or 30 states, most of them drive-through states. I never lost reception. This may not be a typical need, but if you do a lot of traveling, or if you don't live in a (sub)urban area, that extra money may be more than worth it.
11/24/09
And if you think you have network beef with T-Mobile, try going to college in Iowa where local wireless provider (read:shittastly awful) Iowa Wireless provides all of the T-Mobile service in rural areas. Sprint and Verizon both have 3G here, but what does i-wireless have? Edge. Sometimes. Ahhh Iowa...how frontwards you are with technology.
11/24/09
I'm pretty sure the Samsung M520 is the best phone you can get on sprint.
11/24/09
11/12/09
Palm Pixi = 7 posts
Droid Eris = 7 posts
Droid = 20+ posts
Besides, the biggest audience of consumers (i.e., people who just want a cheap new phone) don't care what the Internet thinks anyway; they'll just buy whatever's on sale at Best Buy or Walmart. #data
11/12/09
If you take a look at the Droid, Hero, Pre, HD2, they are all very sexy phones. While the Eris is pretty bland, you have more screen to jazz the phone up. With the Pixi, it just looks like a Pre that hit a midlife crisis and started to get bigger in all the wrong places.
I would definitely blame the Eris search popularity on the Droid bit though.
11/12/09
11/12/09
11/12/09