Next best thing to an N900??

OS: Android (w/o locked bootloader, rootable, community support)
Features: Slide out qwerty, standard ports etc
Performance: >400MB RAM, >500MHz (A8)

Here is the list of all Android slide-qwerty phone contenders arranged from best->worst according to my insight:
(choice depends on your gsm/cdma frequency, language and budget).
1) Motorola Droid 3 / Milestone 3 (locked --unlocked via future update)
2) Samsung EPIC 4G
3) HTC Desire Z / T-Mobile G2
4) HTC Evo Shift 4G
5) Droid (original OG)
6) Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro
7) Milestone 2 (locked)
8) Droid2/WE (locked)
9) Sony Ericsson Xperia Play (locked)
10) Sidekick 4G by T-Mobile & Samsung
11) Cliq2 (locked)
12) Milestone (locked, but custom ROMs available)
13) LG Optimus Q
14) MyTouch 3G Slide
15) LG Ally / LG Axis / LG Apex / LG Aloha

-------vv beyond here, not worth it:
16) Samsung Transform
17) Xperia X10 mini PRO (locked--recently bypassed!)
18) Motorola CLIQ / DEXT (CM7 2.3.4 + Overclock to 770MHz!)
19) Samsung Galaxy PRO
20) LG KH5200 Andro-1
21) Samsung Moment II / Samsung Intercept
22) Samsung Galaxy Indulge
23) Samsung Moment / Samsung Acclaim
24) The first consumer-Android device
HTC Dream / T-Mobile G1
25) LG GW620

Choose one of these fellas, Or wait for a dualcore Cortex A9 to debut, Or wait for HPalm WebOS phones (if you're into portrait sliders). Don't forget the Thanks button