Nokia N900 Black Unlocked 3G GSM Smart Phone/ Mobile Computer With Maemo Operating System

Pros: Though this is a Debian Linux based phone, one doesn't necessarily need to possess a high level of knowledge of Linux in order to use the phone. In fact, the UI by itself is quite intuitive and easy to navigate. Also, for those with higher levels of knowledge of Linux, you can add more apt sources and have access to more applications than most other people, not to mention that all of these applications are free (as in beer and as in freedom; at least until the Ovi Store opens up.) I've found the entire experience to be a lot better than what I've had with the iPhone and with the Android devices already released so far.

Cons: 1. The microphone occasionally stops working. The best workaround is to simply reboot the device. I really hope Nokia releases a firmware update to fix this.
2. There aren't many apps yet. However, it's apparently easy to port applications that are already programmed to use either the GTK+ or QT frameworks, so it might just be a matter of recompiling for the ARM architecture and making a .deb package.
3. There isn't much space for applications. Though the phone has 32 GB of internal memory, only about two gigabytes are allocated for applications. This can probably be worked around by Linux power users by repartitioning or by symlinking applications (or entire directories).
4. Again, it's still rough on the edges, there's still a few things that are not intuitive (removing contacts in your list of contacts = removing contacts from any IM services that your friends might be on. Not good.)

Overall Review: The Maemo platform still has a little ways to go, but I think it can be used as a basic smartphone for most users, and as an extremely handy tool by power users that can potentially go way beyond what the iPhone and Android platforms are capable of, merely by how free one is with the Maemo platform. The benefits of open source development are apparent in the Maemo platform.

Pros: - Great build quality
- Awesome display (colors + resolution)
- Full desktop style web-browser
- Lots of storage + additional SD card capable
- Great camera and video quality for a phone
- Good quality analog output on 3.5 mm headphone jack
- Super hacker + modification friendly

Cons: - No MMS support in current firmware
- Lack of useful 3rd party applications
- Resistive touchscreen is not fully finger friendly (use stylus or fingernail)
- Screen is prone to scratching (plastic)
- FM Transmitter is weak and almost useless in most cars (needs more power output)
- Buggy firmware

Overall Review: I believe while the device is a solid piece of hardware it is NOT a mass market ready device. The current firmware leaves a lot to be desired, with complete lack of basic functionality such as MMS and being able to assign individual ringtones to contacts. I believe the hardware has a lot of potential, but Nokia needs to stop targeting this as a phone for even somewhat tech savvy audience in the U.S. The Ovi store in its current shape is basically useless for anything other than wallpapers and sound clips. I believe there will be a lot of potential in the platform, but users have to rely heavily on community efforts to resolve some bugs which should not have been allowed into shipped devices (buggy IMAP support is one example).

In summary, love the hardware - mediocre software. Nokia should have waited longer to bug test before releasing phone. It was rather over hyped on various websites for being a computer in your pocket, but the software is simply not there yet.