Review: Nokia N900 shows there's a web browser for that

I’ve written a couple of times here on the blog about the fact that I have been using an evaluation Nokia N900 since October with my loan period expiring in January. I have been focusing on writing up a TON of posts as I created the Definitive Nokia N900 Guide to give my Nokia Experts readers all the details on this extremely powerful device. As a Christmas present to you kind readers here on my ZDNet blog I decided to also post a full review of the Nokia N900 for you all to unwrap and enjoy. You may want to start with my image gallery, move down to my video, and then read the details about my experiences with the device. At the very end of this review you will find out exactly what I think of the device after using it quite heavily these past two months.

	Image Gallery:Check out product photos, screenshots, and capture images of the Nokia N900 after a couple months of use.

The Nokia N900 is marketed much more as a highly portable mobile computer rather than just another smartphone, but as you will read more below it is also an extremely capable phone that may set the standard for other smartphones in several areas. Check out the video walk through and demo of some of my most loved features of the N900.

The Nokia N900 comes in a now fairly typical Nokia Nseris black box that is actually quite compact and minimizes packaging. Inside you will find the following:

• Nokia N900
• Nokia Battery (BL-5J)
• Nokia High Efficiency Charger (AC-10)
• Nokia Stereo Headset (WH-205)
• Video out cable (CA-75U)
• Nokia charger adaptor (CA-146C)
• Cleaning cloth

This is the first time I have seen the charger adapter, but think it is pretty cool since it allows you to use one of those standard Nokia chargers and connect via the microUSB port to charge up the Nokia N900. I have more standard Nokia chargers than I do microUSB chargers so this can be helpful.

We just saw an awesome unboxing of some kind of promotional packaging over on Tracy and Matt’s Blog where you actually needed to enter a line of code to have the lid opened. Now that is a geeky unboxing.

Specifications

The Nokia N900 is the fourth Internet Tablet, following the Nokia 770, N800, and N810. There was a N810 WiMAX, but that wasn’t widely available and was just the N810 with a WiMAX radio. The Nokia N900 is the first to run Maemo 5 and also the first to have integrated cellular technology and as you will see these two new aspects really take the device to the next level.

Here are some of the key specifications of the Nokia N900:

• ARM TI OMAP3430 Cortex-A8 600 MHz processor
• PowerVR SGX 3D graphics accelerator with OpenGL ES 2.0 support
• Quad-band GSM/EDGE with 850/900/1800/1900 MHz support
• Tri-band WCDMA with 900/1700/2100 MHz support
• 3.5 inch 800×480 pixel resolution resistive touchscreen display
• 256MB RAM and 768 MB virtual memory
• Integrated 32GB flash drive
• microSD card slot for expanded memory
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP stereo support
• Integrated 802.11 b/g WiFi
• Integrated GPS with A-GPS
• Integrated FM transmitter and FM radio
• 5 megapixel camera with dual LED flash and Carl Zeiss optics
• 3.5mm headset jack with TV out support
• BL-5J 1320 mAh battery
• Acceleromter
• Dimensions: 4.33 x 2.35 x 0.71 inches and 6.38 ounces

As you can see the N900 supports T-Mobile’s 3.5G 1700 MHz frequency. It actually supports the HSPA+ 21 Mbps service (up to 10 Mbps) as tested out by Kevin Tofel. I am regularly seeing 2 to 3 Mbps service here in the Puget Sound region and couldn’t be happier.

It is clear just from the list above that the Nokia N900 is one of the most capable devices on the market and is available at a very reasonable price for a completely SIM-unlocked device requiring no contract.

Let’s take a look at the external hardware features »