Trade my N900 for the Ipad? Hell no!

[iPhone4GRo]

10 Reasons Why I’d Never Trade My Nokia N900 For An Apple iPad

by Chris from Tex runner:

Full disclosure…I’m typing this on a MacBook Pro (barely, I just had shoulder surgery 6 days ago. Almost can’t type). So I’m not totally against Apple products. I don’t mind using them actually. But seriously, if I wasn’t given this MacBook by work I probably wouldn’t be using an Apple product.

Apple finally had their press conference to release their new tablet product. Once I found out what it was, I guess I started to try to figure out if I’d ever have a use for something like that. Couldn’t come up with one reason really, given all the other tech gadgets that I can use. Since I’m really into my Nokia N900, I started to compare the two devices. And what I was able to come up with is a lot of reason I would never give up my N900 for the iPad, so here’s why I prefer the N900 to Apple’s newest iStuff.

1. It runs LINUX! – Why on earth would I voluntarily choose a product that runs a closed source operating system controlled by a single company? I prefer freedom. Of course, I’m not opposed to freebies. I mean if someone gave me an iPad (much like I was given a MacBook Pro), I’d use one for free, but N900 still wins with it’s Debian-based Linux OS in my mind.
2. Multitasking – So far only the Palm Pre/Pixi has come close to the multi-tasking abilities that the N900 has. And Apple’s iPad has none. Multitasking FTW.
3. Pocketable – I dare you to try to fit that iPad in your pocket. N900 fits nicely.
4. Skype/Phone – Not only does the N900 make phone calls, it makes SKYPE phone calls! I’m using my N900 exclusively as a Skype handset with Google Voice. Can iPad do that? Nope.
5. GPS – Ok, I understand that the iPad has what they’re calling “assisted GPS”, which is nothing more than cell-tower triangulation and Wifi access point locating, along with a compass. The N900 has a REAL GPS inside and can do turn-by-turn directions with the included Ovi Maps software. Besides, I wouldn’t want to try to use an iPad in the car or on foot to navigate to a destination. You’d just look like a total dork anyway!
6. Flash – Sorry, if you can’t do Flash on webpages, you lose. Now, I’ll be honest and say that the N900 just isn’t fast enough for many of the Flash-based pages out there like Hulu and some of the games I’ve tried in Facebook. But besides the really intense stuff, you just can’t beat being able to play Youtube videos and other Flash plugins RIGHT IN THE BROWSER! Which, might I add, is Firefox-based and renders pages EXACTLY how they’d look on your full-sized PC.
7. FM Transmitter – Oh yeah, not only can I listen to my music in the car…but I also don’t have to hook up any cables if I don’t want to. Even my old 1997 Toyota Tercel with no aux/USB jack can play MP3’s from my Nokia N900 over FM. Again, why would you even want to listen to music on your iPad? It’s just too damn big to bring with you in the car.
8. Terminal – Bash prompt is an automatic win. Oh I’m sure somewhere buried under all that jazz on the iPad is a command prompt. Good luck finding it. Apple doesn’t want you to. Nokia welcomes you to it. Even gives you root access. Thanks Nokia! You rock!
9. SCP/SSH – I can transfer files to/from my N900 using SCP, and remotely SSH into it as well. I haven’t set anything up yet, but I hear you can do VNC, or redirect the X-windows display on the N900 as well. Seriously, this thing is full of win. Apple iPad? Full of lose!
10. And MOAR!! Well I don’t want this to go beyond 10, so how about a big huge list of things to wrap up with. Stuff that the N900 can do that the iPad can’t. How about: FM Tuner, TV-Out, 5 MP Camera, front-facing camera for video calls, physical keyboard, Skype/GoogleTalk integration, easy to port apps from desktop Linux, GTK+/Qt support, standard C++/Python support, I can write and test BASH scripts, and more.

For the prices being about the same for the N900 and the low-end iPad, there’s no way I’d get an iPad. It just doesn’t work for what I prefer to do with a mobile device. I prefer portability and the awesome list of extra fun that the N900 has any day over what Apple’s latest offering has.

[philnice]

niiiice! Very nice review.
Well, everything turned up the way i thought it would when i first saw the i-pad: just a toy with a big screen....
But, there is no flash support on that thing? Not that i care, just wondering.
And last, why in the hell would anyone cary a thing like this? The same time he could find a pc on the same dimensions, but witn way more futures? It is not a phone, it is not a computer, so....
So, n900 all the way!
Roland900d, just a question. Have you tried any linux based program on n900? If yes, what impressions you got?

[Nokia 5700]

philnice, every program on N900 is Linux-based, or do you mean ported from Debian?
And it has native support for Flash 9.4, oyu can also get a runtime for Flash 10.

I agree, Rol.
N900 is better then that big coffee table you can read on.
But i would have done something else if i got one for free...
Sold it on eBay and bought a N900 for it.

[iPhone4GRo]

Point taken mate

[philnice]

nokia 5700, haven't thought about debian, but yes i would like to know about programms ported from other platforms and how those perform on n900. Also, rolan900d mentioned that he misses fxplorer and start to wondering. Doesn't n900 support c++? Or it has to do witn the symbian platform. I'm a little confused.
Souldn't find sometime to read the full review.

[Nuno Pereira]

nokia 5700, haven't thought about debian, but yes i would like to know about programms ported from other platforms and how those perform on n900. Also, rolan900d mentioned that he misses fxplorer and start to wondering. Doesn't n900 support c++? Or it has to do witn the symbian platform. I'm a little confused.
Souldn't find sometime to read the full review.

Phil, you sound like me a couple weeks ago (not in a bad way)..
A little advice: Download and install "easy deb chroot", and then you'll see what the N900 can really do.. (it was enough for me.. atleast for now )

[iPhone4GRo]

Good advice Nuno!

[philnice]

nuno, thanks. I'll do that. It's been a lot since my last visit on mf here.
Also, 10 hours of sleep since last monday,aren't good enough anyway...

[Arvis]

4. Skype/Phone – Not only does the N900 make phone calls, it makes SKYPE phone calls! I’m using my N900 exclusively as a Skype handset with Google Voice. Can iPad do that? Nope.

Can N900 do IM in Skype also? That would kinda must feature for me... All these reviews makes me want it more and more.

[Nokia 5700]

You are not alone, Arvis.

Anyone heard it when the guy from Tehkseven.net is talking about ipad being a women-product?
Thats hilarious... (Pads, get it? If not, search for it.)