| Nokia N900 Sim Free Mobile Computer with Maemo 5 Software | User Reviews Send this to a friend | | Nokia N900 Sim Free Mobile Computer with Maemo 5 Software | | |  | | Manufacturer: Nokia | | Customer Rating: | | | List Price: £498.61 | | Sale Price: £350.00 | | Availibility: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days | | | Buy Now |
| | | Product Description | | Enjoy fast application processing and multitasking on a live dashboard. Experience the full web with the Maemo browser and high speed wireless broadband connection. Personalise your own panorama desktop on the touch screen.----Features:----- Quad-band EGSM 850/900/1800/1900 WCDMA 900/1700/2100--- Size: 3.5" touch display--- Resolution: 800 x 480 pixels (WVGA)--- WLAN IEEE 802.11b/g--- Integrated A-GPS receiver--- Bluetooth version 2.1--- 3.5 mm stereo audio connector--- Wide screen video recording at up to 800 x 480 pixels (WVGA.mp4: MPEG4 AAC)--- Touch screen with finger or stylus virtual on-screen keyboard full QWERTY keyboard with word--- WCDMA 900/1700/2100. Maximum speed PS up to 384/384 kbps (DL/UL) HSPA maximum speed up to 10--- Up to 32 GB internal storage--- TV out (PAL & NTSC) with Nokia Video Connectivity Cable (CA-75U)--- Support for MS Outlook synchronization of contacts calendar and notes--- microSD memory card extension hotswappable up to 16 GB* (current availability)--- Video playback file formats: .mp4 .avi .wmv .3gp; codecs: H.264 MPEG-4 Xvid WMV H.263--- Dimensions: 110.9 x 59.8 x 18 (19.55) mm--- Weight (with battery): 181 g------Box Contents:----- Nokia N900--- Nokia Battery--- Nokia High-efficiency Charger--- Nokia Stereo Headset--- Video out cable--- Cleaning cloth |
| Product Details |  No details are available for this product | Video Reviews |  No video reviews found for this product. | Customer Reviews |  Brilliant Phone | | Review Date: July 20, 2010 | | Reviewer: Mr. Joshua E. Hunt, Wales | Got this phone just over two weeks ago, and absolutely loving it! Only two complaints: the comments on the battery are correct, it's not amazing, but it's got a day's charge in it so as long as you don't mind charging it every night then you should be fine. The other extremely minor complaint I have is the fact that the screen is an absolute fingerprint magnet, but that isn't a really big thing.
That aside, it is an amazing phone. Once you've enabled the extra and extra-devel repositories then there are loads of apps to install, and many more that you can install from the web. The 'conversations' app (pre-installed, one of Nokia's) is genius, and your contacts work nicely and integrate with the conversations app beautifully. Multi-tasking works like a dream. And, saving the best until last, the terminal. I still haven't got over how useful this is, especially now that I've installed emacs on it (I've never been a vi fan, I'm afraid...), and it has meant that I can really easily sort out little bugbears (mostly through a couple of 'ln -s' :P), change some config files, and access the parts of the phone that the 'file viewer' app doesn't dare tread ;)
All in all, the best phone I have ever used, worth every penny. |
Open-source Nokia N900 | | Review Date: June 2, 2010 | | Reviewer: Steven Goacher, London | The Nokia N900 smartphone runs Maemo 5 (Linux) operating system. Nokia have released a phone for the open-source community and which hasn't been locked down by either the service provider (T-mobile, Vodafone) or Nokia themselves. This is great news for developers as well as hackers who want to customise their phones as much as possible.
Out of the box, the phone is sim-unlocked and I could insert another sim card without needing to get it unlocked by the service provider or some corner-shop.
This is true of the contract models as well as the sim-free ones. There are tools available for easy flashing of the firmware, so you could change to a non-standard firmware and back again if you want.
Maemo Linux is very similar to desktop Debian or Ubuntu Linux. It uses the apt package tool for easy installing or removing of applications from repositories on the internet. You specify which repositories you wish to use, and then select the free applications you wish to install. Nokia's Ovi Store has more applications available (free and commercial ones) on top of that. I recently counted the applications available in the main repositories (standard, testing, devel) and the total exceeded 7500. Note that Linux software ports really easily to the N900 (It has a Qt based GUI running on an ARM processor).
Although not as intuitive as the iPhone, the Maemo interface on the N900 is still great. I really like it. It has one of the best resistive screens available. There is a tendency for smartphones (e.g. iPhone, HTC Desire) to use capacitive screens. Capacitive are excellent for light touching, skimming the surface, but are poor for high accuracy where resistive excel. The N900 performs very well when skimming with the fingers as well as very accurately when used with fingernail or stylus ("The best of both worlds"). This makes the N900 ideal for full web-browsing and for sketching pictures or notes.
The graphic interface has a number of sections. The main view allows you to select from a number of home screens, and place app short-cuts, notes, web-links, contacts on each home screen. Click on the corner and you bring up the application menu, and then scroll through the icons to select an app to run (very similar to iPhone or Android touch-screen smartphones). Click the corner again, and you get a group of running application boxes. Select a box to make that application run full screen, click the corner to come out of it and then select another running application.
The multi-tasking on the N900 is superb. Run a load of apps, and switch between them easily. Open address book, calendar, calculator, web browser, media player all at the same time and flick between them. One more point against the iPhone.
The web experience includes Flash. I have played a number of Flash games on websites, as well as browsing Youtube and even playing iPlayer (BBC) television from within the browser. You have a choice of multiple browsers to choose from. The default Maemo-browser, Firefox (including plugins), Chromium, Opera, and probably more by the time you read this. In comparison, the iPhone has been restricted by Apple so that it cannot play Flash in its browser.
The latest PR 1.2 Maemo firmware brings Skype video calling to the N900. It has a small VGA camera in the front of the phone and a larger 5 megapixel camera with dual LED flash in the rear. I've used Skype Video calling from my N900 to a friend's N900. Also Google Chat and Skype are integrated into the Phone Contacts so you can make Skype calls just as easily as a standard phone call. (At the point of calling you just select what type of call you are making.)
The N900 comes with 32Gb of flash memory built-in, for storing movies, music, documents, photos, and so on. It also has a micro-sd slot (which will take 16Gb micro-sdhc cards) to expand the capacious memory even further. I really like the built-in Media Player which does a great job of handling playback of multiple files types (including OGG and FLAC). The quality of audio through the 3.5mm standard stereo socket is very good too. The Media Player can stream internet radio, as well as streaming videos/music from Windows Media Player, MediaTomb media streaming server.
The N900 has many and varied features. I really appreciated the N900's TV-out capability when on holiday. I was able to plug it into the hotel's TV and play back movies in standard definition (no need to carry around a laptop or portable dvd player). Also it has FM radio receiver and transmitter built-in.
I prefer a real hardware keyboard, and that's another thing the N900 has. You can use the N900 with a full-size bluetooth keyboard (if you want). It will play to stereo bluetooth headphones quite happily too. I've even used a Sony PS3 six-axis console controller to play games on the N900 (Quake, Duke3D ports).
Nokia and Intel have joined forces to co-develop MeeGo (Linux) operating system from now and into the future. This will also be (mostly) open-source and eventually take over from Maemo. It is already possible to boot up the N900 to basic MeeGo version 1.0 via usb flasher program and a suitably formatted 2Gb micro-sd, without over-writing your current Maemo install. There isn't a lot of difference between Maemo and MeeGo so all the apps should translate between the two nicely.
I find the battery lasts very well, when the phone is mostly idle and connected to wifi rather than 3G. Mobile 3G data does drain it a bit, but you should still get a day out of it from standard use. Taking it off mobile data, and with light use it'll last 3 days-ish.
Browsing Google Maps with a PR1.2 Maemo N900, and its GPS turned on, makes geolocation data available to Google (if you want), which can be handy when you want to know where is the closest ATM, bar, petrol station in your vicinity.
The screen has a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, which is more than twice as many pixels as the iPhone 3GS (480x320). This is excellent for reading documents, watching movies, viewing photos, reading text, and web-browsing.
For developers and hackers: Set up the N900 as a web-server with PHP support. Run Python and PyQT script-based GUI applications directly on the N900. The N900 is good as SSH client and SSH server (remote connect to it from your PC over Wifi). It runs fairly standard Linux (bash scripting, cron jobs, etc). Rsync your data to or from the N900. Build apps and then release to Maemo repositories or to Nokia OVI store without draconian app policing.
The N900 is a fantastic device and I'm really happy with it. There are issues to criticise but then every device has compromises. |
A really smart smart phone. | | Review Date: May 7, 2010 | | Reviewer: T. Wainwright, | More like a small mobile computer than a phone.
Fast, with plenty of memory.
The development tools are also available, so unlike many other phones anyone can develop for the N900.
Surfing the Internet using the N900 is also excellent, far better than any other mobile I have used.
It also looks good.
It does have its downsides.
One is battery life. In areas with poor 3G connection having the phone repeatedly search for the network drains the battery considerably.
Disabling 3G and WiFi if not needed does help there.
The other is applications, currently there are not a lot of them. But with open development tools and a dedicated community of programmers that should change.
Also the screen while excellent absolutely requires a screen protector otherwise it is incredibly easy to scratch it. |
Lovely bit of kit | | Review Date: April 26, 2010 | | Reviewer: Danni, London,UK | | Decided after much deliberation to upgrade to the N900 and am really impressed. Sturdy handset, the resistive touch screen is very accurate and a joy to use. Maemo 5 is a stunning OS, the main menus have a Symbian feel to them but that's very much where the similarity ends. The 4 customizable home screens allow you to set up your device exactly as you want it and the device multitasks with ease. Considering this is a tablet with phone functionality I have found the N900 be much improved on my previous Nokia phones, call and contacts functionality are intuitive and easy to use and the call quality is as clear as a bell.. Also with the potential of a future upgrade to the new MeeGo OS hopefully this device will also have the longevity that some of its counterparts lack |
Easy to use | | Review Date: April 1, 2010 | | Reviewer: Mrs. R. Brivent Barnes, UK | Well, for a non gadget person I have to admit that this phone is brilliant. I was kind of pushed towards gadgets, and at some expense that most of you are kind of used to it. I remember my first Nokia chameleon when I was 29 years old, that was my first phone and had it for 6 years, now I am 41 and I changed perhaps 4 phones in my whole life. A phone to me is, and was only; look for a contact and press the button to talk, not anymore with this phone.
I kind of hate to look into application, to search for the right customization of the gadget, and so on...but Nokia is simple, always has been, thats why I opted for this phone, I remember my first one, and I assumed that this it might be the same, well I was right.
I managed without effort to set it and update the software, easy done, the keyboard is nice and brilliant, you get used to it very fast, the screen is big enough to read your e-mails, and reply, and most important is fun to use it. When you need to activate the phone you need to slide the ball, I love it, the volume and sound is very good, I just press to talk hands free through the speaker, brilliant, I can talk and continuo to do my work, that good is the sound on this mobile. Battery I understood from other reviewers that is not so brilliant and they explain why, so I accept that I have to charge it often, plus to reduce some functions which are not so necessary, so like anything else has minuses, but this phone has more pluses than minuses, is a bonus.
Beauty, hmmm, not really, is just a phone, as design I liked iPnone because of the colours, white with dark screen filled with icons that stands out, but I have friends who have the phone, and for my hands is big (wide) when this one is just bulky and I got a good feeling that I hold the phone in my hands, and simplicity is a winner in comparison to a beautiful design, so Nokia was and is for me.
I made a good choice, totally recommended.
BTW is now available through Orange and O2 as well. |
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