Being that modest supports imap idle, doesn't that mean that the n900 supports push email?
In which case it is just a case of your email provider supporting it (in my case that is me, so I do :-D)

Yes, that's exactly what will happen if Modest does support imap idle for maemo 5.

i have the Bold, and the straight and simple is that you cant geek out with BlackBerries.

I have to give BB that their intuitive means of organizing contacts, and allowing you to select the means of communication (BBM, call, PIN, MMS, SMS, etc) right from within the contacts app is a real convenience. *AHEM* protocol association *AHEM*

The screen on the bold is like no other BlackBerries screen, but surfing the net on it SUCKS DONKEY NUTS. pages are zoomed out, scrolling every which way, because half the last word on a line is obscured beyond the side of the screen... if your trackball sensitivity isnt right, you cannot scroll to links that happen to be in an unfortunate place on the screen. overall hogwash in terms of usability.

the BIS or how the phone gets to the internet when using cellular or WiFi access proxies the connection with a squid 3.6 version (cool), but does not allow you to circumvent the proxy (not cool) and is proxied in canada (invasion of my rights to privacy as an American citizen) as those oppressed liberals watch my traffic even more closely than the Bush-ist PATRIOT act allows for. for those who care, i would need to put my squid instance into transparent/intercept mode, and make the linux box the default router on the network to force the blackberry through my proxy. The BES server for Exchange has a mechanism to allow the configuation of the proxy that the BBs uses, but i dont have that, dont run exchange, and dont want to invest that much into a phone that will be replaced with the n900.

The wifi stack is horrible, and frequently drops connection to my AP. Its the only device i have that does this. 2 laptops, printer, n800, wii - they all stay connected without problems. the bold wont stay connected for more than 10 - 20 mins, and then reverts back to cellular connectivity. PITA

the available apps for the BB arent that cool either. and the selection is poor. most are pay apps, and the few that are cool lose their luster quick. i really havent found too much in terms of useful or amusing apps that i would install on my bold. i found an ssh client, and was a bit apprehensive on using it, as i didnt know/trust the source. i removed it once i realized it could only go through the cellular network. screw that.

I agree with this an pretty much all of the rest of your comment. I just wanted to know well the N900 compared to a couple of the strengths of the BlackBerry. I realize it has a number of weaknesses, especially the browser.

So, are you going to leave AT&T to get a N900? Do you feel the device is so good that it's worth switching networks?

http://www.forum.nokia.com/Tools_Doc...son.xhtml?dev=[N900,E72,N97]

check this out. I was comparing a few nokia devices just to see. Nokia Messaging is supported and so is Ovi Maps. Wooo!!!

My plan is to wait out the early adopters, and see what it takes to unlock the device, which is my right as an American consumer. I dont think it will be that hard to accomplish. I dont plan on leaving AT&T, as I get a business discount on hardware and services, but if they balk at the device I will be using, then they lose the business. I really dont have any other loyalty to them.

i got the bold 1) because my g/f wanted it and she is not allowed to "out geek" me. 2) motorola milked the RAZR too long (had 3 of them, good phone but got long in the tooth). 3) it has the OMAP 34xx processor. 4) supports SDHC. 5) supports A2DP.

there are several aspects of the bold that i think nokia should pay attention to.

firstly, like i commented before - the contacts app on the bold. no matter what kind of communication type you define for a contact, using that means natively is a click or two away.

second, and a big kudos to RIM for this one... a firewall that allows me to reject specific types of messaging. the phone can be configured to allow or deny SMS, MMS, PIN (for Blackberry Messenger or BBM), Blackberry Internet Service (cellular internet service) , and Enterprise Mail (Exchange eMail, if you attach to a Blackberry Enterprise Server or BES). Since i dont have a texting plan, i only allow PIN and Blackberry Internet Service. This prevents me from paying for "drive-by" and advertising texts.

Aside from those couple of notes, i expect the n900 to be more of what i want in terms of capability and functionality.

I am an Nokia N95 user, ( so I am biased ) but I have NEVER seen the point of using a BB, I have ALWAYS got my IMAP emails in, ok most will say BB keyboard...but I honestly have not suffered W/O keyboard dont write novels on my pocket phone, I have a 3lbs Ultraportable Vaio for that.

EVERY user is sooooo different, I see people wanting to watch videos on their device I am not one of them ( YouTube OK).
and I do see a bit of difference between North American users and espicially Scandinavian ( Ericsson / Nokia Countries)
if people like BB for their needs fine for them, but I have a hard time seing BB devices ( I'm not fully up-dated) being much more than a phone with push email.
take into account that I've used 3G broadband for several years now, so that may be very different from your usage.
that is my 2 cents

The device is sold unlocked, so an AT&T SIM would give you GSM phone and EDGE data. Or am I missing something...

(BTW -- I had to chuckle about our "rights" as American consumers. As far as I can tell, we have one "right" -- to pay whatever the cell carriers want us to pay.)

The device is unlocked and will work with AT&T with 2.5G. But the frequencies used for 3G differ between between AT&T and T-Mobile. Nokia had to make a choice, and decided for the frequencies that allow it to operate in most countries.

i make no assertion of knowledge on the following:

my kid bro has an HTC WinMo phone and has been able to flash it with different ROMs, that can activate "different radios" as he put it. He currently has Sprint as his provider, but his "radio settings" are what Verizon considers optimal. He says that the signal and coverage are better with these settings.

Would such a feature be able to get me true 3G access, or would i be stuck with some half-assed access? besides i thought all the rest of the world was ahead of the states in the mobile market and 3G was everywhere else, and we were lagging behind. seems to me that the GSM access would be better in most other places, than in the states.