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Posts: 76 | Thanked: 27 times | Joined on Aug 2008
#1
I've been using this device for about 10 weeks now. I see it as a portable computing device with voice and data, GSM and 3G and 3.5G connectivity, and therefore expect a whole lot of flexiblity when it comes to tweaking, tuning, but also well thought out and polished. A bit disappointed in some areas:
1. App manager isn't exactly the most ideal/suitable app management solution on a portable device. It takes too long to load up completely, requires a lot of power and cpu cycles. Sure, you can argue that one shouldn't install apps while on the go.
2. The e-mail app sucks. Sure, there are other apps to replace the e-mail app, but I have the expectation that Nokia shouldn't create a half-*** app and think the community will deal with it.
3. The web browser's "expand to full screen" and "escape fullscreen" icons just don't match the icons used in Maps (the direction of the arrows). It's just another example where the product is not well polished.
4. With soooo many different kinds of transitions being used on the N900 (some are even inappropriately used/picked), can't Nokia use one for entering and escaping fullscreen, rather than full screen flicker?
5. No multi-select in e-mail...what are you? Apple Mail on the iPhone? Even e-mail apps from 10 years ago has multi-select...bloody hell...and you (nokia) are trying to sell this platform as a powerful portable computing device? Get the software right, the user experience right, the user interface right...damn it.

While the hardware is definitely what I love, this product's truly limiting factor is that it is (feels like it, at the very least) a half-*** job, prototype, a product that they just push out the doors to get money from customers to fund other projects. Nokia isn't focused and committed to the N900 (nor did they for the N95 and N97....this been going on for a loooong time). For the past few years, Nokia has really been behind in getting things right. The lack of commitment to come up with a thoroughly thought out, well planned, well executed product (and platform) is really tiring from a customer's view point.

....alright, I'm done whining, ranting...and yes, I've probably wasted some of the readers' time here (no need to point this out as it will further waste your time).
 

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#2
Don't hold your breath for official support on those things that you ranted on.
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Last edited by ysss; 2010-07-03 at 12:30.
 

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#3
Originally Posted by ysss View Post
Don't hold your breath for official support on those things that you ranted on.

Ps: even iphone's email app has multi select and generally much better behavior with imap mailboxes.
yes, sorry, I failed to mention that the iphone example I pointed out was really saying that even Apple has fixed this issue a while back, compare to when it was first released. So, doesn't Nokia learn from its competitors or their mistakes (this is the actual point that I want to make, sorry that I didn't elaborate...ranting is quite tiring).
 
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#4
Write your own software if you want to...

In the end, Its an extremely difficult task to have such a small computer with the amount of capabilities this thing does have, and to make it as configurable as it is.

If you bought a netbook, they would only give you the hardware pre-installed with windows, and you would have to get everything else installed and working yourself, including email, internet, wifi etc etc...

Most phones come as a "polished" product as the only things you can configure on them is your background, ringtone and email address... This phone you can change your entire email program, your whole internet browser, your entire desktop etc etc.

And i also hate anything made by apple, as they are so closed minded towards other manufacturers... I took a photo on my girlfriends iphone the other day, and i still can't get the damn thing off her phone without paying someone (either the phone company for an mms or apple for some software). It refuses to connect to her email account, doesn't care about infra red, won't send it by bluetooth, and for some reason won't even transfer it by wifi. Lets not go anywhere near the iPod which forces you to use iTunes...

Good riddance to apple and their half baked products
 

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#5
Originally Posted by lordfury007 View Post
Write your own software if you want to...

In the end, Its an extremely difficult task to have such a small computer with the amount of capabilities this thing does have, and to make it as configurable as it is.
My N95 8GB I used prior to the N900 was far more polished, and a "better phone". Just couldn't browse the web as nicely or watch videos as nicely. I miss my N95 8GB from time to time. Ah well, I still love my N900. Even if it's an ugly duckling that may never become a swan. At least it's different from the rest.
 

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#6
1. use fast app manager (fapman)
2. email is perfect for me. coming from an S60 N85, i can check all my emails automatically using wifi. (can't do that on my N85)
3. i use Opera, fast and furious web browser. there's also the new firefox 1.1 if you need flash.
4. for transitions use TRANSITION CONTROL.
5. What exactly is multi-select? when is it needed and what is/are the adavantage(s)?


Originally Posted by chatbox View Post
I've been using this device for about 10 weeks now. I see it as a portable computing device with voice and data, GSM and 3G and 3.5G connectivity, and therefore expect a whole lot of flexiblity when it comes to tweaking, tuning, but also well thought out and polished. A bit disappointed in some areas:
1. App manager isn't exactly the most ideal/suitable app management solution on a portable device. It takes too long to load up completely, requires a lot of power and cpu cycles. Sure, you can argue that one shouldn't install apps while on the go.
2. The e-mail app sucks. Sure, there are other apps to replace the e-mail app, but I have the expectation that Nokia shouldn't create a half-*** app and think the community will deal with it.
3. The web browser's "expand to full screen" and "escape fullscreen" icons just don't match the icons used in Maps (the direction of the arrows). It's just another example where the product is not well polished.
4. With soooo many different kinds of transitions being used on the N900 (some are even inappropriately used/picked), can't Nokia use one for entering and escaping fullscreen, rather than full screen flicker?
5. No multi-select in e-mail...what are you? Apple Mail on the iPhone? Even e-mail apps from 10 years ago has multi-select...bloody hell...and you (nokia) are trying to sell this platform as a powerful portable computing device? Get the software right, the user experience right, the user interface right...damn it.

While the hardware is definitely what I love, this product's truly limiting factor is that it is (feels like it, at the very least) a half-*** job, prototype, a product that they just push out the doors to get money from customers to fund other projects. Nokia isn't focused and committed to the N900 (nor did they for the N95 and N97....this been going on for a loooong time). For the past few years, Nokia has really been behind in getting things right. The lack of commitment to come up with a thoroughly thought out, well planned, well executed product (and platform) is really tiring from a customer's view point.

....alright, I'm done whining, ranting...and yes, I've probably wasted some of the readers' time here (no need to point this out as it will further waste your time).
 
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#7
Originally Posted by jakiman View Post
My N95 8GB I used prior to the N900 was far more polished, and a "better phone". Just couldn't browse the web as nicely or watch videos as nicely. I miss my N95 8GB from time to time. Ah well, I still love my N900. Even if it's an ugly duckling that may never become a swan. At least it's different from the rest.
Are you trying to tell me a N95 had the same capabilities as a n900?

I've never owned an N95... my last phone was an N97 and i couldn't customise that anywhere near as much as this phone.

Phones and laptops are slowly becoming the same thing. A laptop is expected to be "vanilla" and you set it up yourself (ie: not polished), while a phone you expect to be completely setup already (ie: polished). Is the n900 a phone or a laptop? - its becoming hard to tell imho.

In the end, the more customisable something is, the less "polished" it will feel.
 
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#8
Originally Posted by chatbox View Post
yes, sorry, I failed to mention that the iphone example I pointed out was really saying that even Apple has fixed this issue a while back, compare to when it was first released. So, doesn't Nokia learn from its competitors or their mistakes (this is the actual point that I want to make, sorry that I didn't elaborate...ranting is quite tiring).
The iPhone is a finished product. The product is the user experience. It doesn't matter what hardware it used or how you can access it. People buy it for the user experience and nothing more.

I would hazard a guess and propose that the majority of the target audience that the iPhone was designed for and subsequently most of the people who bought the iPhone would give a fig for the how and why it does what it does.

The NiT's and the N900 on the other hand are mostly used by people who are familiar with their capabilities and already know what the limitations of Maemo are from it's previous releases.

Maemo will never be polished.., because it is now evolving into MeeGo. What you see is what you get.

I don't use mine as a phone. I never have because I already have a company phone on a company network that isn't GSM so any thoughts I have about the phone side of it are based on reports from people who do use it as a phone.

What I have seen so far seems to be that if I did need the N900 to be my primary phone, I would be very disappointed.

Personally I had expected the phone functions to be at least on par with other Nokia phone offerings. Even if that meant a separate Symbian based phone side that communicated with Maemo through API's.
I would not care if these API's were closed or proprietary only that community developed Maemo apps had access to the Simbian API's as well.

Theoretically that can still happen from within the community but technically I don't know enough about the feasibility, or if Symbian Open Source even means what I think it means.

...but I'm drifting.

The answer to the OP's question is:

No, the N900 is never going to be a polished product.

I'm sorry some were mistaken in that regard.

For most legacy Maemo users this may have never been a reasonable expectancy for the NiT side of the N900. In my case the hardware, software, and connectivity improvements over the N800/810 means I use it much more than any previous NiT. (More hours per day, more bits downloaded, and more information processed.)

However, IMHO if the thing is sold as a phone, by the leading company that manufactures phones, it should function well as a phone and have the same polished features an average phone user expects.


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Last edited by YoDude; 2010-07-03 at 07:15.
 

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#9
Originally Posted by YoDude View Post
However, IMHO if the thing is sold as a phone, by the leading company that manufactures phones, it should function well as a phone and have the same polished features an average phone user expects.
Nokia tells that it's a mobile computer, at least in my country. And I think it's good enough as this. Every OS has a limited applications out of the box, and just polishing takes a lot of time. I did know that N900 will never become finished product when I've bought it. But it's open enough to live without it. Don't compare this to iPhones, because they are closed and must be polished out of the box.

I use N900 also as my primary phone and it suits my needs. I'd like to improve some things, but I can say it about everything.
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#10
Originally Posted by bertolt View Post
5. What exactly is multi-select? when is it needed and what is/are the adavantage(s)?
It's the ability to select more than one email at time. In order to delete or mark as read for instance. Necessary for people who get a lot of emails on a daily bases.

Is there a good replacement email client now? for the stock one? What is it called?
 
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