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The new Nokia N900 3G cell phone availability is still limited, with working devices more limited yet. Fail, fail, fail. Customers buying the N900 mobile phone may just find their "new internet tablet" not working.
With two Linux Nokia N900s in hand, only one of the two mobile phones works with the other not functioning at all. That puts personal odds of a functioning N900 at 50%; reports of the number of non-functioniong Nokia N900 devices is roughly 10%. Customers buying the internet tablet that can supposedly run multiple applications at once, a device touted as the latest and greatest cell phone device by Nokia, is proving to be not working or defective for some customers. Even without additional applications being added to the N900 cell, reported problems include that the phone reboots randomly, that the phone doesn't boot at all, that microphone problems rendering the N900 defective, and that the Carl Zeiss camera triggers problems or causes Operation Failed error messages.
As to the constant N900 reboot cycle that so many customers are caught in, Nokia technical apparently doesn't know what the problem is. And if the manufacturer doesn't know the problem source, a fix probably isn't on its way anytime soon.
The one defective Nokia N900 phone personally on hand, a Christmas gift that turned out to be wrought with anxiety, was DOA from Amazon. The device returns repeated and unexplained Operation Failed messages, apparently triggered through first use of the camera feature. The N900 cell phone first booted fine, showing a beautiful high-resolution display. Nokia, after all, raves about its supreme resolution that is double that of the latest iPhone. That part is true, the display is beautiful, for as long as you can keep the phone functioning and on. The excitement of seeing the N900 live was short-lived.
The Operation Failed error message was first returned on the camera's first use. Touting a Carl Zeiss 5 mega-pixel camera, the N900's gift recipient was eager to try its camera with the superior lens used by Sony for years. After the first click cam nothing. Nothing, that is, but an error. Instead of the photo saving, the N900 cell immediately returned an Operation Failed message. A second photo was snapped, with the hope that an unneeded flash or other camera feature had inadvertently caused the error. But, alas, no go. Even for photos not requiring any flash use, the camera would fail.
After the camera problem started, the N900 was miserable and not working right. Built like a computer, tagged an internet tablet, it seemed the only option was to utilize troubleshooting used for the larger versions. When all else fails, reboot. But that didn't work either. Upon rebooting the N900 "Internet Table", the same Operation Failed message continued to be displayed. On the third photo, the N900 entirely freezes. Multiple reboots has not positive effect or change. And beware: flashing the defective N900 does not fix or correct the Operation Failed camera error and, for some customers, has been known to cause even more severe problems of entire inoperability for the device.
There have been conflicted reports from Nokia N900 cell phone customers buying the phone, concerning the optional Micro SD card that can be added as external memory. While customers receiving defective N900 phones have been actively troubleshooting the source(s) of the problems, there has been online speculation as to whether the additional memory card could be causing error or Operation Failed messages. Customer discussion concerning Read-only memory and the N900 has some wondering whether the Micro SD memory could be a source of problems. It's hard to tell, since Nokia's N900 seems wrought with so many issues, troubleshooting the exact source is difficult.
After receiving the Operation Failed message following the N900's camera use, a Micro SD card had been inserted, so the memory was removed and checked while trying to troubleshoot. Apparently the N900 device accesses external memory first, before internal memory. Troubleshooting attempts included removing and reinserting the memory, then removing memory in entirety. After removing the Micro SD card, which had always performed perfectly previously, then rebooting the N900, the Zeiss camera function continued to return Operation Failed errors. On reboot without any Micro SD card, the only difference seemed to be that the Nokia N900 would sometimes boot more normally or at least with entirely freezing. The N900's camera problem may be compounded by Micro SD cards, it's hard to know for sure. It could be that presence of the additional external memory throws the cell phone over the edge in terms of function.
Some N900 customers have tried to reflash the phone device, which can be a dangerous, with some units defective. Buyers need to be diligently careful with reflashing the phone, as reflashing can seem to cause worse problems or mask the original issue.
There are also some known, worldwide problems with certain SIM cards. Incompatible SIM cards can cause the N900 can get stuck in a loop, and cause the need to reflash without the SIM.
There had been inital US customer reports that the defective Nokia N900 cell phones, that began shipping November, concerned a microphone problem. Defective N900s are not limited only to mic problems. Some (it appears a healthy amount, if rumors near 10% are true) N900 phones are known to get caught in a constant reboot cycle, source of the problem currently unknown by Nokia. Defective N900 units also include Nokia's Carl Zeiss 5 mp camera that is included on the cell phone. An N900 recently purchased in December had to be immediately replaced, with new phone unit sent by Amazon, solely because of the defective phone's camera returning Operation Failed messages that turned to freezing of the entire N900. Booting the cell phone repeatedly does not fix the N900 camera problem. Operation Failed messages cannot be corrected, fixed or repaired through reflashing or rebooting.
Nokia N900 buyers need to be aware that defective phones will not be replaced by Nokia, but instead have to be replaced only by the retailer for at least the first 30 days or until the maximum replacement period. Because retailers extend return time during the holidays, some retailers extending that return period until the end of January, defective cell phones must be sent back to the retailer until that return period has expired. Despite the manufacturers warranty period, the warranty through Nokia will not be honored until after the end of the return period from where the buyer first bought the phone.
Amazon is apparently well aware of the Nokia N900 problems, as the company shipped a brand-new N900 with one phone call to Amazon customer service. The new N900 that arrived is not giving the Operation Failed message with camera use. The N900 was purchased and guaranteed for Christmas arrival through Amazon, which the retailer then stated would not be honored, sending email notification that the phone would arrive by January 5, 2010. After repeated phone calls to Amazon customer service, and the company's statement that the phone would not be back in stock until after Christmas due to the fact that the manufacturer was unable to provide adequate stock of the N900, one unit appeared in stock for shipment. After the excitement and thought that Amazon might actually deliver, it was a disappointing holiday season to have the gift recipient open the N900 and discover that the phone received was defective and unable to boot properly. The obvious answer is that the N900 shipped from Amazon was from a defective batch, either from previous November stock, or newly-provided by Nokia to Amazon, in efforts to avoid consumer backlash over lack of guaranteed N900 availability.
Nokia received a backlash from US customers whom first found that their new cell phones were not functioning or defective. Some N900 customers, incuding pre-order customers who bought the N900 well in advance and already had late shipments of the device, found themselves recipients of defective cell phones after their long wait. N900 customers were not as lucky to receive the N900 as they'd thought. It appears either some of those defective Nokia cell phones found their way into later shipments, or that Nokia and/or Amazon shipped those defective units in trying to fulfill N900 customer orders during Christmas-time.
Nokia, with all the N900 customers experiencing problems with the device in the States, has announced release of the internet tablet in the UK and Ireland. Nokia's newest cell phone will be released there in the UK in January 2010, as confirmed by Vodafone UK. In the meantime, US customers are still waiting to get their hands on the N900 with limited availability, while other customers are trying to get the device and its problems out of their hands.
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