

The N900 [hands-on] from a Community Perspective - tuukkah
http://maemo.org/community/council/the_n900_from_a_community_perspective/

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Raphael
Wow, never heard of Maemo before. It's sounding a lot better than Android at
the moment.

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wwkeyboard
Android and Maemo are really headed in different directions. Maemo is (or at
least has been) trying to keep as much of the existing linux tools and
applications available as possible, while Android seems to be Google trying to
rewrite the world(not that it's a bad thing, just different). The last Maemo
device(Nokia N810) can run lots of applications you would not normally
consider for a handheld device. I've seen everything from Emacs to FreeCiv to
irb and the Closure REPL(although the N810 is rather shy of memory).

I think they real problem with these devices is that for the same price you
could just buy a netbook and call it a day. The only place where I have
benefited from the internet tablet form factor is while riding the T.

edit: more programs I use on a daily basis; mplayer and evince

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randallsquared
_I think they real problem with these devices is that for the same price you
could just buy a netbook and call it a day._

Except then you'd have to carry a netbook around, and you'd _still_ have to
carry a phone. I want to carry as little as possible, but I still want to have
a computer handy when I need one while out and about. My G1 filled this need
just adequately, and it sounds like the N900 might be considerably better at
it.

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wwkeyboard
One of the downsides to carrying just a small device is screen size, reading
PDFs on a tiny screen is tedious. You also have to deal with the limited
keyboard, luckly you can remap some of the meta keys to include []{}<> and the
all mighty pipe.

For everyone else, here is a picture of the N900 running xterm
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/clankennedy/3868820466/>

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yummyfajitas
The n800 is great for reading most pdf's. The resolution is more than
sufficient, and it has zoom buttons just above the screen.

The only exception are the occasional pdf's which have a smaller than normal
amount of whitespace on the sides. PDFs generated from scanned images were
also unpleasant (due mainly to the weak processor/memory of the n800).

I'm really looking forward to the n900. I'll probably switch to T-Mobile to
get it.

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imp
Awesome, can't wait until it comes out. I love my N800, and I've been using it
to manage lists for my GTD routine. It kind of sucks to also have to carry a
phone though. It should be a great alternative to the iPhone.

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lallysingh
I guess my only question is: can I replace my cell phone with this? I'm not
terribly voice-heavy on my phone (a 3G), but I don't want to have two devices.
Can I leave skype running to receive calls in the background? Is there
another/better way?

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tuukkah
Yes, you can replace your cell phone with this, especially if you're not a
heavy user. Maemo multitasks apps as well as runs services in the background,
just like any computer. As the article points out, Skype specifically is fully
integrated: Cellural calls, Skype calls, Google Talk calls, SIP calls all use
the same phone user interface.

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windsurfer
I am almost literally drooling. I've already set aside the money for this
device for when it comes out.

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xtho
I somehow miss the community in perspective.

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tuukkah
Just to clarify, the person reporting is a member of the Maemo Community
Council. The council is elected to represent the community around Maemo,
mainly towards Nokia. <http://wiki.maemo.org/Community_Council>

