Giving in to Nokia N900 temptation
When the Nokia N900 was officially announced last August, I was among those who wished it had a bigger screen and wasn't a phone. I wanted a real successor to the N810, which I enjoyed, and was disappointed by what I viewed as downgrades in areas that mattered to me and upgrades in areas I didn't care about. The N900 seemed interesting on its own, but it looked like such a departure from its Internet Tablet lineage that I wasn't interested in it.
Obviously, then, I had no intention of buying one at the time and didn't change my mind when the Maemo 5 device began shipping in November. I already had my eyes on the HTC HD2, which I bought a few months later, and started to pay less attention to news about the N900. I skimmed a few reviews, read about some of the problems users were having with the original firmware, and expected to move on with my N900-less life. A lot of gadgets stop appearing in headlines for good soon after they've been reviewed (except for on dedicated sites and forums, of course), and I assumed this would be one of them.
But month after month, the N900 kept coming back. Whether it was dual booting Maemo and Android, getting the Ovi store and software updates, or masquerading as a WiFi hotspot, the damn thing just wouldn't go away and leave me alone!
So when Chris asked us what we'd buy if we fell into some extra cash a few weeks ago, I ended up saying this:
Well, if it's found money, then I'd get something I wouldn't buy myself. So something that I'm not interested in enough to spend my own money on, but that I'd keep if it were given to me. That would probably be the Nokia N900 and/or Nexus One.
My cursory interest in the N900 was apparently already in place and about a week later, I found myself on the cusp of seeing an extra $487 deposited into my PayPal account from selling my HD2 to Gazelle.
My original plan was to buy the T-Mobile version of the HD2 with the money, but since there were still a few weeks before that could happen, I started thinking about what else I could buy instead. I had already had a good two months of play time with the international HD2, so the prospect of getting something I'd never used before became very appealing. And guess which gadget was first on my list?
Some quick research showed that the N900 was currently on sale at Dell for $499. Bing.com was offering 5% cashback as well, which lowered the cost to $474. Well now! If that isn't fate, I don't know what is. Clearly, the gadget gods wanted me to have the Nokia N900. And who am I to disobey such superpowers?
So I placed my order last Thursday, was forced to select next-day shipping because I live in Hawaii, and now have to wait until this Thursday for it to be delivered. Yes, pay for next-day shipping and get it in a week. Thanks, Dell.
And since waiting only intensifies my gadget lust, I'm now climbing the walls with anticipation and yawning at anything that isn't the N900. I do still plan to get the T-Mobile HD2 when it's released next week, but right now the only thing on my mind is the N900. I won't be doing a full review, but this won't be the last time you hear about my sudden new obsession.
In the meantime, I have to catch up on all the news I neglected during my "I don't care about the N900" phase, so if you have any tips, app recommendations, or "you gotta try this" suggestions, please share what you know in the comments.
