The good news is that my local online Nokia shop is now offering the N900 for pre-order with an estimated availability of 1st October. The bad news is that Nokia’s 500 Euro price estimate was a pre-tax price. In Germany it means we’re now looking at a 20% price hike to 599 Euro, something that many of us are now going to think twice about.
600 Euro puts it at over 150 Euros more than an Omnia Pro an HTC Touch Pro2 and an HTC Hero.
If you want the best web browsing experience and one of the creative microblogging phones available, the N900 is the way to go but wow, it’s a lot of money to be carrying around in a pocket. You won’t be using that kick-stand in public, that’s for sure!
If the N900 had been available for 499 I would have ordered yesterday but at 599, I’m back in a holding pattern and will wait to see what Motorola have to say about their Sholes, what Archos has to say about their new 5-series Android devices, what Mr Jobs has to say about his iPod Touch range and what comes up at IDF later this month.
How does the price sound to you?
Via Slashgear.
P.S. The N900 is only available in black despite the pull-down menu you can see in the image.
August 29th, 2009 at 7:30 am
New article: N900 pre-order…for 599 Euro. http://cli.gs/r6547
August 29th, 2009 at 9:08 am
@WeAreMaemo #N900 available for pre-order for 599 euros in Germany http://is.gd/2FCMf
August 29th, 2009 at 9:10 am
@e71fanatics #N900 available pre-order for 599 euros in Germany http://is.gd/2FCMf
August 29th, 2009 at 10:03 am
there is also a giinii movit, to i cant say there have been much news about iit since ces…
August 29th, 2009 at 10:55 am
I think it is expensive to much, 500 Euro are the maximum
August 29th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Even 500 eur are too much for me. So this won’t change anything in my perspective. Don’t like the way nokia treats their customers, most of the n8xx/n770 customers were sort of beta testers, of which most liked the form factor. Still pocketable, but with the biggest possible screen. From what I’ve read most even wanted bigger screens. And IF nokia decides to make a maemo device with a bigger screen, does it mean it will be even more expensive? Nokia should take better care of their remaining customers, even if it is a bunch of command-line loving, linux adoring geeks (no offence)…
August 29th, 2009 at 11:45 am
I just cannot understand this. First, maemo 5 is going to be, for the time being, an OS only for nokias (although it’s open source). Therefore, it has to compete with an OS with Google behind its brand and with a lot of companies offering devices which run it.
Second, the timing is just bad. Sure, they have good reasons for offering it so late: almost 2 years after N810 (with a lot of casualties in the maemo community) and a year after the first android, HTC G1. A lot of consumers have already heard about android, but maemo is known only by geeks, and not by all the geek population.
Therefore, the only possibility for obtaining a reasonable market share would be offering it dumping its price. 499€ would be the maximum, and 350€ would be a brave nokia movement. However, that price range would damage N97 position.
Too late, too pricey. I am a happy n800 user and maybe I am going to look for a n810 in ebay. But for a smartphone, I just cannot accept that prices. It is very possible that I will buy a physical keyboard android: it will depends only on what motorola and others are going to offer.
It’s a pity. I love maemo, it is just for us geeks, it has an astounding community instead of that appmarket for lusers. N900 configuration is just perfect for my needs (a lot of email). But I cannot justify its price to myself
August 29th, 2009 at 11:52 am
N900 pre-order…for 599 Euro. | UMPCPortal – Ultra Mobile Personal …: If you want the best .. http://bit.ly/XbbUV
http://bit.ly/gqjOF
August 29th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Well, for about two months ago I bought a Samsung Omnia HD (i8910) for 525€ and I am not satisfied with it. I will think about selling my Samsung for the N900 allthought its tough price but in comparison to my recent phone it isnt that high. I can remember that I bought the N95 classic after its release for 830€ and that was truly too expensive
but in my opinion everything till 600€ for a (good^^) smartphone are acceptable. You must not forget that you get a little computer for that 
August 29th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
599 Euro is a lot of dosh but just about acceptable for me. The price will no doubt drop after a few weeks so that’s when I’ll think about buying. Also I could get it with a contract which in effect will be like paying in installments for 12 or 18 months which will make it a bit more paletable. Anyway it costs to be on the bleeding edge of technology.
However as Chippy says it would be wise to wait for the product announcement of all the players first now.
August 29th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
I have to say that the keyboard is main issue on my side (3 row vs 5 row..). Price, well Nokia is more of a premium brand + preodering is a good money maker, prices drop after few months when the buzz calms down.
August 29th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
I remember when the E90 came out I paid 800 Euro for it but somehow the market seems to have changed. Maybe the N900 is going to be worth 600 at the opening bell but they will have to introduce some offers very quickly after the initial launch excitement has died down because I can’t imagine many people at all paying that much now.
August 29th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Way too expensive.
Just wait a few weeks and you are going to get it for the promised 500€ or even less. Prices in the Nokia store aren`t very competitive anyway. 600€ just is way too much money for a device like this.
I`d like to be an early adopter, but it just doesn`t pay off. I really wanted the sony vaio p the moment I first read about the device. Not even half a year later I`m paying 550€ instead of the original 1000€…
August 29th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
for sure its pretty expensive, but i think it has the power and the community to beat the iphone at all. android is no way to go for most of the users when they realize that has an eye on everything they do.
maemo with its linux-base and the community is so migthy compared to any other smartphone.
people pay 40€ extra per month to get the iphone (which sums up to 960€) so i think there will be users that pay 20€ extra per month to get the n900
August 29th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
I just posted, over at the maemo forums, that if Nokia wants to do defy the economy (the way Apple has), then they had better do a better marketing job than Apple (only, without a cult-like leader like Steve Jobs as their corporate face).
1) carrier choice — unlike the iPhone, they can’t count on forcing people to change carriers just to adopt their phone; they need to support all of the carriers (Euro UMTS, AT&T UMTS, T-Mobile-USA UMTS, (Asian UMTS?), CDMA/EVDO, and maybe even CDMA/EVDO/WiMAX).
2) better platform support — iTunes/iPhone already support the big 2 (Windows and Mac), so Nokia has to be aggressive here. There’s an entire other market base that wants someone to cover them (Linux users). Nokia needs to do both Windows and Mac (not just Windows, as they are now), but also Linux, with their Ovi suite and PC Sync tools for Maemo.
3) price — don’t count on the N900 as a profit maker, count on it as a way to get Maemo into everyone’s hands. Price it VERY aggressively. Before Christmas, drop it to a price that is barely profitable. Just for the holidays, sell it at a modest/affordable loss.
Right now, though, they’re doing one of those 3 things. They’re catering to T-Mobile, they’re supporting only the PC (so not even as good as the iPhone), and they’re picking a high/premium price point. That’s not a recipe for success in this economy.
REMF Reply:
August 30th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
1. agreed
2. Reminds me of the Amarok crew and their offer to Palm. Palm apparently rejected that offer, maybe Nokia should ask if its still open?
3. agreed
August 29th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
http://tinyurl.com/kvkwbp Ну не знаю даже. У нас это будет все 30 тыщ. Может, Джобс все же приделает клавиатуру к айфону?
August 29th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
The price is high and when will see the reviews it could be even worse(for nokia)!
At this price will compete with iphone and i bet it will loose,again:)
turn_self_off Reply:
August 29th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
its really funny how the moment apple starts selling a product in some category or other, its the “unbeatable” watermark…
August 29th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
I will buy a Touch Pro2 for 600-650 € in Italy, so that price seems OK for me.
By the way, where have you found the Touch Pro2 at 450 €?
Patrick Reply:
August 29th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
Clove is selling TP2 for 500 € including British VAT (IVA)
http://www.clove.co.uk/viewProduct.aspx?product=C64E151D-03FE-49D1-8412-C266A9D3D48B
August 30th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Yeah that is way too expensive. Much better to wait to see what else is available until the end of the year. There will be so many mobile devices coming out. Manufacturers are waiting for the new versions of Winmo, Android and Symbian to release their smartphones and MIDs. There will be much to choose from and Nokia will have to reduce their prices to be competitive.
August 30th, 2009 at 12:09 am
Does anyone agree with me that Nokia should offer the N900 in a flavor
without 3G, just the Wifi.
If they introduce a Nokia N900 with Wifi only at a down to earth price
like $300 US, then the N900 can compete with the Ipod Touch.
To remind you ladies and gents that within a week and half from now Apple
will unveil its 3rd generation Ipod Touch and it will be priced very
low.
Trust me, Nokia would do the right thing to bring out a Wifi only version
of the N900.
johnkzin Reply:
August 30th, 2009 at 3:48 am
There are two more Maemo devices in the pipeline, (early 2010 and later in 2010), so maybe they will. I doubt they’d be exactly like the N900, though. The N900 is specifically a phone.
The RX-71 is supposedly coming out next … maybe it’s a 4.1″ screen tablet (similar size to the N810).
Though, frankly, I wont buy any pocketable device that isn’t both a MID/PDA and a phone. I don’t have any interest in carrying two pocketables.
August 30th, 2009 at 1:00 am
All my Nokia N-Series phones have had hardware / rebooting issues so I’ve lost confidence in Nokia.
August 30th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
If just half of the features depicted on the following website come to fruition, the n900 may very well be worth the high price tag.
http://maemo.nokia.com/features/panorama-desktop/
August 31st, 2009 at 9:13 am
Well, 599 Euros is too much. It is unhappily close to the price resting N810s are sold in Russia. I think I’m still staying with my “little bit used” N810 (an “ordinary” one, not a WiMax version) bought in Germany on a chance for a fraction of price. Hopefully it’ll be possible to evaluate Maemo 5 on it.
August 31st, 2009 at 11:41 am
Wow, preorder – avesome!N900 – is the best Nokia idea!!! The most powerfull and functional!
August 31st, 2009 at 2:43 pm
If I could run GIMP and OpenOffice on my phone, I’ll call the extra price a fair trade, but Maemo is still lacking in software terms compared to other Linux distros.
The Cortex A8 is a powerful processor, about in line with the Pentium III and PowerPC G3 in terms of instructions-per-clock, and Maemo’s SDK is miles more advanced than Android or WebOS’s are, so there certainly is potential there for destop-grade software to make the jump. It’s just a matter of getting the developers.
Early signs point to Nokia taking a “build it and they will come” approach to attracting devs, rather than anything particularly proactive, which is worrying.
September 1st, 2009 at 9:38 am
Hi All.
The price is high, I agree. But lets see the first reviews, it may worth it. If the Nokia N900 is what it claims to be, I’m going for one …
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Ye, price is not very cool) But N900 – is a wonderful device. So I don”t know what to do((