Brandon’s Posterous

1. Build Quality - the N900 is very nicely built. It definitely feels solid in the hand, and feels like it can take a drop or two. I like my phone with a little weight on it, and the N900 doesn't disappoint. It doesn't feel much heavier than my G1 which was about the same size.
   
2. Screen - coming from the T-Mobile G1, I only went from a 3.2'' screen to a 3.5'' screen, but the resolution makes all the difference. The screen is crisp, and bright enough for me even on the lowest setting. Even though the screen is resistive, I enjoy using the screen once I got used it coming from a capacitive screen.
   
3. Camera - I'm not much of a photographer, but I could instantly tell the difference in speed and quality of pictures with the N900. I can see myself taking more pictures just because its fast and the pictures come out very nice. Plus the N900 comes with picture editing tools out of the box which already came in handy during Thanksgiving.
4. Multiple Desktops - having multiple customizable desktops is nice, as I can set them up however I want to with whatever I want to. I had this option before, but was restricted to a grid of icons and 3 desktops on the stock Android device, even though you can get additional desktops. The N900 desktop is only limited by the amount of stuff you are willing to stuff on it.
   
5. Media Player - it feels good to finally have a media player that can play videos without any conversion. So far I've only found 1 video that wouldn't play on the N900, and it was due to an unsupported audio codec, but options KMplayer from the repository was able to play the video. Videos look great and play very smoothly.
   
6. Developer support - Maemo has a wide range of options for developers. Whether your a casual developer like me or serious software developer, there are many different languages that are supported and documentation is available.
   

1. Web Browser - I spend alot of time browsing on my mobile phone and the N900 web browser has handled every web page I have thrown at it so far. Coming from the Android browser I almost had to change the way I went about browsing websites. Browsing on the n900 is the best I've ever used. Its not perfect, but it suits my needs very nicely. Flash pages load with ease, and I'm getting alot more use of the browser then I was able to previously.
2. Keyboard - I love hardware keyboards, and even with the 3-row keyboard the N900 keys feel nice to type on. The keyboard was a bit of an adjustment with the offset space bar, but after a few minutes I was able to crank out messages with ease.
   
3. Speed - the N900 is fast, fast, and did I mention fast? The overall operating system is very speedy. Transitions, apps, webpages all load up quickly, even when i'm running multiple apps at the same time. The cpu and available ram in the N900 definitely make for a better overall experience than what I previously had.
4. Connectivity - wifi, bluetooth, gps, 3G data, threaded conversations, skype, and it finally makes *real* phone calls :-)
   
5. Freedom - Maemo is based on linux, which I use as my primary operating system, so the linux geek in me loves to have a full blown linux computer in my pocket. It gives me the option to pretty much do whatever I want with MY phone.

1. Web Browser - although I love the web browser, its still missing a few features I would like to have. Features such as browser reflowing of text (I don't like playing finger shortcut twister). Being able to use the directional keys more in the browser is something I also would like to see. I know the phone has a touchscreen, but I also like using the hardware keys, and I think aren't being used as much as possible. Occasional browser crashes have also occurred here and there with no apparent reason.
   
2. Battery Life - The battery life is my biggest hurdle so far. My day usually consists of taking the phone off the charger at 6 a.m., and my phone is consistently just about dead by 2 p.m. even with light/moderate use. There are many contributing factors, mine being signal strength, but its still an issue nonetheless. I'm not expecting spectacular battery life with all of the features the N900 has, but being able to get through a full day of moderate usage would be very nice.
   
3. Navigation - even though overall Maemo is pretty easy to use, I think its almost too simple. Applications seem to take too many clicks to get back and forth in some places.
4. Community - I know that the N900 isn't a consumer device, but consumers(non linux geeks) are going to buy this device and when they need help, they have to resort to using the forums, which I find incredibly painful at times. I think the linux community has a certain stereotype that comes with it in general, and while this isn't the case all the time, I think people hold up the stereotype almost too well sometimes.

1. Apps - there are a few number of good apps available for Maemo 5 already, with more supposedly on the way. The browser takes care of most of my needs, but things like dedicated social networking apps, location-aware apps, and games are definitely needed.
2. Missing features - MMS, portrait mode support, and other features are already in the works, so I'm not too worried about these at this point in time. Maemo has very good community support from a developer standpoint that has been established for years, and will continue to push open source, which ultimately is a good thing.
3. Polish - Maemo 5 definitely needs some polish in certain areas, but seeing as how its supposed to be an early adopter device, fixing those things will only enhance the overall experience which isn't bad at all.

I hope to do a full review after some more time with the Nokia N900, but its definitely here to stay. If you have any questions, thoughts, or anything you would like me to test out, feel free to leave a comment or send me a reply on twitter to @bdogg64