Unboxing the Nokia N900
Today, hot on the heels of the Nokia Booklet 3G, I received one of the most eagerly anticipated devices of the year, the Maemo 5 powered Nokia N900…
Although I’ve barely scratched the surface, I’m pretty smitten so far. It combines the software goodness of linux, a great user experience, and Nokia’s best hardware, all in a flagship phone!
The N900 is brilliant. It’s like the mutant offspring of the N810 and N97, but a lot meaner and faster, and with 2100/1700/900 MHz 3G instead of 2100/1900/850 MHz 3G :)
Check out my unboxing pictures above, and my videos (1, 2) after the break.
Unboxing:
First power on:
It’s not all perfect – my N900 drops calls for some reason (T-Mobile USA is normally rock solid), and stutters when trying to play my podcasts (Flash videos on Vimeo).
Oh, and Nokia, where is the capacitive touchscreen?
tnkgrl Mobile: Tech that Matters 
I’ve always wondered whether Vimeo had a particularly inefficient interface/engine – it canes, and stutters on, my netbook like no other video site.
Is there a processor monitor on the N900?
In addition to “ps” in the terminal, there’s also an app called “load-applet” which can be downloaded for monitoring CPU and memory.
TnkGrl, I asked you what you thought about the N900 in an email, and clearly you don’t need to reply this answers it for me. I pre-ordered mine from Amazon, and I hope you having your right now is a good indicater mine shouldn’t be too far behind. (think 19 Oct was the last suspected date of relasse) I can’t wait to get this thing. I already have a bunch of tweaks I’ll be doing, and this is a really good excuse to get to know linux from a programming stand point a little more.
2d
@2d sorry, but I don’t think I got your email!
Don’t know about orders… Mine is a review unit.
LOL! Funny that you recorded this with an iPhone.
@Dean, the iPhone is pretty awesome at video recording (with the initial auto-focus).
@tnkgrl, I’ve never used the iPhone for video recording and I agree that it did a very nice job and I loved the video, thanks. It really did make me laugh out loud though, so I thought I’d let you know. I appreciate your work and love reading your thoughts, that are without a bent toward any brand, but focus on the tech. Thanks.
@tnkgrl, I thought you would’ve taken the video with the Samsung Memoir since you seem to love the camera so much. Don’t get me wrong, the Iphone does have a decent set up but it doesn’t come close to the Memoir’s video capacity in my personal view anyway. I just sold my memoir so that I can pre-order the Motorola Cliq. I hope it lives up to my expectations of it. Have you had a chance to play it and if so, what did you think of the screens responsiveness when compared to others. Tks
@agent79, the Samsung Memoir is best for stills. There are two problems when using it for videos:
– No Qik client to stream videos
– No auto-focus when doing videos
The Motorola CLIQ only supports CIF (352 × 288) video recording, while the Samsung Memoir supports DVD (720×480) video recording – just FYI :)
Capasitive screens; you cannot use them with mittens on.
The device does say that it is designed in Finland, I would presume that this combined with the previous statement brings us to the answer.
The resistive was selected just to make it possible to use the N900 in the cold of Finland with mittens on.
I much prefer capacitive touchscreens. Nokia’s upcoming X6 (which I’ve mentioned here) features a capacitive screen.
I’ve been saying this since the 5800 came out and mentioned it again with the N97: Nokia needs to give us the choice on every high-end device.
You mean like there are iphones with resistive touchscreens too ?
No, if it were up to me, Nokia would only use capacitive touchscreens.
But it is not up to me, and since some people prefer resistive touchscreens for some crazy reason, I say “give people a choice”.
Is the screen a fingerprint magnet? Does it scratch easily?
It’s a fingerprint magnet. No scratches yet.
I accidentally dropped it onto the sidewalk a few days ago (still kicking myself for that), and there are 2 tiny scratches on the screen rim (metal) – that’s it. So it’s pretty resilient :)
How is one about to get a phone for review?Like Nokia
Start a blog. Have something interesting to post. Get followers. Contact Nokia WOM World for review units. Grow from there.
Hey there tnkgirl…Nice review..can you tell me where the phone is manufactured? Korea, Finland et al? Thanks…
My review unit was made in Korea.
Does the phone come with recording function? is it possible to record phone conversation, or, similar to the Symbian we would need to get a separate app for that, and if so, does one exist? Thanks :)
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