Nokia N900

vibe666

http://thenokiablog.com/2010/03/22/nokia-n900-pr12-sdk-major-update/

there's pics in the link, but the main points are:

• Different virtual keyboard
  
• Rearrangeable menu without “more”
  
• Browser’s back button actually goes back, instead of showing history
  
• Portrait browsing can be activated in settings instead of the Ctl-Shift-O trick
  
• Increase/Decrease keys can be set to change volume in browser
  
• File manager has built-in share option similar to Petrovich
  
• It was also mentioned that the browser seems much snappier, including scrolling and rendering.

matrim

vibe666 wrote: »

thanks. i added the extra codecs from the "extras-testing" repo but i didn't actually check what codecs were included. if itplays back avi's fine then i guess theres (finally) no need to convert any video's for mobile viewing, yay!

as for the nokia pc suite, the main thing was using it to sync to my outlook calendar and contacts, primarily when moving from my (and my g/f's) previous phones n97 and 5800 respectively) but its handy to have them sync via BT periodically during the day at work via the bluetooth on my work and home PC's so my calendar and contacts stay up to date, no matter where i add/edit entries.

You can sync the contacts (and maybe calendar) directly between the 2 phones via bluetooth without a PC

Or at least that's how I synced between my N95 and N900

Edit: Oops I just noticed you said Outlook

spockety

vibe666 wrote: »

http://thenokiablog.com/2010/03/22/nokia-n900-pr12-sdk-major-update/

there's pics in the link, but the main points are:

• Browser’s back button actually goes back, instead of showing history
• Portrait browsing can be activated in settings instead of the Ctl-Shift-O trick
• Increase/Decrease keys can be set to change volume in browser
• It was also mentioned that the browser seems much snappier, including scrolling and rendering.

Praise the lord.

The browsing experience on the N900 is pretty awesome apart from these niggles. I hope that they modify the portrait mode to include navigation options like 'back' or URL entry etc. with the existing CTRL-SHIFT-O portrait mode you have to flick back to landscape for navigation which is pretty rubbish, but obviously it's a beta feature.

I also hope they get to work on portrait mode support throughout all main menus and shipped apps, it is an impossible device to use one handed and this is a major pain.

Bluefrog

I quite liked the virtual keyboard the way it was

Alanstrainor

Bluefrog wrote: »

I quite liked the virtual keyboard the way it was

I've never actually used the virtual keyboard believe it or not. Surely the physical keyboard is quicker?

vibe666

i didn't even know it had one!

Domscard

One of the big selling points for me was the separate QWERTY keyboard - I hated the 'thumbing around' I had to do on the normal keypad, which is all I ever had before. Now I find that I actually prefer the touchscreen QWERTY I am much faster and infinitely more accurate using it for texts. Maybe I just need more practice ...

Alanstrainor

Domscard wrote: »

One of the big selling points for me was the separate QWERTY keyboard - I hated the 'thumbing around' I had to do on the normal keypad, which is all I ever had before. Now I find that I actually prefer the touchscreen QWERTY I am much faster and infinitely more accurate using it for texts. Maybe I just need more practice ...

maybe i need practice with the virtual one!

Icyseanfitz

hey guys ive been holding off buying one of these for the past 3 months (saving for hol that didnt happen ) is there anything thats particularly important that i should know il probably be using a meteor sim at the start any advice would be greatly apreciated,
also were is the best place to buy one of these from im thinking of fonezonline.com but i also saw them on o2.ie are they factory unlocked from 02?

dregin

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

hey guys ive been holding off buying one of these for the past 3 months (saving for hol that didnt happen ) is there anything thats particularly important that i should know il probably be using a meteor sim at the start any advice would be greatly apreciated,
also were is the best place to buy one of these from im thinking of fonezonline.com but i also saw them on o2.ie are they factory unlocked from 02?

I'm on meteor at the minute (bought it in England). Logged onto the meteor site after sticking the sim into it and the site already knew I had an N900... Was able to send the internet settings to the phone via SMS. Nice and handy

Icyseanfitz

im not a massive techie but is that automatic or do i have to actually download something myself to get all of meteors online settings etc. ?

vibe666

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

I've tried a few avi files and they play fine. No need for a converter.

nice one, i'm actually pretty chuffed about that, just tried a 350mb hdtv divx rip and it plays perfectly 'as is' on the n900 with no transcoding at all!

the only question really now is what sort of impact would it have on battery life versus a transcoded lower bit rate video?

dregin

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

im not a massive techie but is that automatic or do i have to actually download something myself to get all of meteors online settings etc. ?

No, you log into the site and there's a section where you just click send and they send you a text message with the settings. The phone updates the settings itself from the text message.

Icyseanfitz

cool thanks can anyone tell me were the best place to buy one of these is?

Domscard

I bought my N900 from O2, but when I inserted my Vodafone sim into it I was able to connect to the Vodafone ISP without doing anything else - it seemed to automatically detect the settings by itself. Same thing with a wifi at a hotel we stayed in last week - it was unsecured though.
For my own wifi (and other people's I've visited since) the wireless code rightly had to be inserted but the process was very straightforward and quick. It was such fun playing Youtube videos last week for a pair of dancing toddlers at a party who loved my 'little television'

Domscard

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

cool thanks can anyone tell me were the best place to buy one of these is?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=64868037#post64868037

I don't know if the coupon still works or not but worth a try.

LK1

Just found out a handy n900 tip(accelometer driven I think).

If you want to silence an incoming call just turn the phone upside down and flat screen down on a table or something(just like hanging up a phone)

Use the same to snooze your alarm.

Lots more here http://wiki.maemo.org/N900_Shortcuts_and_Gestures

Icyseanfitz

ya o2 have a great price my worry is is it branded or locked in anyway and they dont have stock right now any idea how long it takes o2 to get stock of something like a n900?

Domscard

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

ya o2 have a great price my worry is is it branded or locked in anyway and they dont have stock right now any idea how long it takes o2 to get stock of something like a n900?

All I can say is that mine was both unlocked and unbranded. As for how long it will take them to get stock - the 'piece of string' analogy comes to mind Why not ring them and see? Ask about the coupon and the unlocking while you're at it, though my recent experience of O2 CS would not fill me with confidence about the veracity of their replies :rolleyes:

Icyseanfitz

true enough i dont get along with any CS either way haha first time with microsoft CS the guy on the phone started spelling my name using a different word for every letter i was laughing my arse off until i realized that they all do that haha il probably just email them or something

Nephew

Does anyone else find bluetooth syncing very crappy. Out of the five or so times I tried syncing with my laptop it only managed to find the laptop once. It has no trouble picking up other phones but it can't find my car kit either.

Alanstrainor

Nephew wrote: »

Does anyone else find bluetooth syncing very crappy. Out of the five or so times I tried syncing with my laptop it only managed to find the laptop once. It has no trouble picking up other phones but it can't find my car kit either.

I sync with my car stereo all the time and there's no problem. I'm using it to play music most of the time, with the odd call and have had no issues. Well one time it didn't connect for some reason, but a reboot sorted that. Connecting with my laptop's bluetooth hasn't been a problem either.

coley

yeah, I find it can be a bit hit or miss. It doesn't always find the car kit, especially if a few apps running. If the phone app is in the foreground it seems to have a better success rate.
Yesterday trying to send a pic to another phone it was failing the pairing but don't know which phone was at fault.
-Coley.

vibe666

Nephew wrote: »

Does anyone else find bluetooth syncing very crappy. Out of the five or so times I tried syncing with my laptop it only managed to find the laptop once. It has no trouble picking up other phones but it can't find my car kit either.

i have a desktop with a bluetooth dongle and it works fine, i use it to sync with outlook using the old Nokia PC Suite every 15 minutes and haven't had any issues at all so far.

it also connects to the built in BT on my crappy lidl car stereo without any problems and is significantly better at it than my old n97 was.

somthing i did discover though was that there was an issue with my n97 and the blue soliel driven BT dongles and pretty much any other non-ms compatible BT stack (i.e. any bt device you need to install drivers to use that isn't detected and installed automatically by windows.

there was a simple enough fix that just involved copying the hardware ID from the device in device manager and adding it to the bth.inf file in windows (same file from xp works in win7 now too) and i haven't had the problem since.

maybe it's something similar in your case?

Icyseanfitz

finally gona buy one of these from the o2 website they told me it was unlocked and it better be

Domscard

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

finally gona buy one of these from the o2 website they told me it was unlocked and it better be

I don't think you'll be disappointed - don't forget to try the coupon for your discount

AlmightyCushion

Just to let you guys know the built in media player will play flv files. When you try to open it, it will ask you to select an application, just choose the media player. Very handy for downloaded youtube vids.

Sparks

Well, bugger.
€350 put down, unlocked N900 on its way to my grubby little paws.
So much for my self-control...

Danbo!

Sparks wrote: »

Well, bugger.
€350 put down, unlocked N900 on its way to my grubby little paws.
So much for my self-control...

Ah dont beat yourself up, I bought it for near 600 a few weeks back, and i'd pay the same again if I had to, without hesitation. Incredible phone.

Icyseanfitz

just out of interest were did you get it for 350 euro?