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[IXPLORA TEAM]

The Nokia N900 and HTC Touch Pro 2 sliding QWERTY smartphones are peas in a pod at first glance. Epic displays, powerful operating systems – what’s the difference between them? A lot, as it would happen. We put the pair head to head in our stat clash and explain all…

Software
With smartphones, software is key, and the operating system the Nokia N900 introduces is fantastic. It’s a powerful, visual multitasker with a rock solid browser and tight integration with all your instant messaging and updates. Windows Mobile on the HTC Touch Pro 2, on the other hand, although flexible, is an ugly, confusing beast. HTC has done its best to paper over the cracks with its sparkly Touch Flo 3D skin, but it’s not enough to match Maemo 5.
Winner: Nokia N900

Build
This one’s a no brainer. Not only is the thick, clunky HTC Touch Pro 2’s keyboard low and difficult to use, its slide-out angled screen is as flimsy as a paper ceiling, and feels like it’ll snap off at any point. No such problems with the Nokia N900, which slides upwards and locks in to place firmly. Its kickstand is weak, true, but otherwise, it’s the sturdier of the pair by far.
Winner: Nokia N900

Screen
This one’s too close to call. Both the Nokia N900 and HTC Touch Pro 2 sport pin sharp, vibrant screens with exactly the same resolution (800×480) for full web page and movie viewing. The Touch Pro 2’s display is a tad bigger at 3.6 inches, but it’s hardly visible. Both phones use the same resistive tech too, so they’re fairly responsive, but not in the same league as the iPhone for prod recognition.
Winner: Draw

Storage
The Nokia N900 has the HTC Touch Pro 2 down for the count here. If you want to get 16GB of space – enough for 30 movies – on the latter, you’ll need to buy a microSD card. The Nokia N900 has a microSD slot too, but it also happens to have 32GB baked in internally too. In other words, you can max it out at 48GB, enough to stash all but the biggest music collections.
Winner: Nokia N900

Multimedia
When it comes to media playback, you can’t go wrong with either phone. Both the Nokia N900 and HTC Touch Pro 2 support a vast array of music and video formats (including MP4 and AVI) and come with robust media players. But the Nokia N900 wins here for its smarter Flash video playing abilities, as well as a slightly better five megapixel camera compared to the Pro 2’s lower-res 3.2MP sensor.
Winner: Nokia N900

Connectivity
Let’s see which crumbles first, the Nokia N900 or HTC Touch Pro 2. HSDPA for fast surfing? Both, check. Wi-Fi? Tick. GPS? Tick. Bluetooth? Tick. TV-out for spitting your phone’s screen on to your telly? Tick. Oh. That’s a draw then.
Winner: Draw

App support
The Nokia N900 has a growing catalogue of apps that run on its Maemo 5, including the powerful Firefox mobile. But it just can’t compete with the years of support Windows Mobile has enjoyed from third party developers – it’s got everything you could want from tethering apps to streaming TV over 3G. Expect Maemo 5 to start catching up over time, but for now, Windows Mobile is much more customisable, and has thousands of apps to nab.
Winner: HTC Touch Pro 2

Overall winner: Nokia N900
Maemo 5 doesn’t have Windows Mobile’s heritage and app support just yet, but the Nokia N900 is a  far more solid performer and its OS has a lot of potential.

Via fonehome

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[Dicky Snapples]

i want the N900, but it seems to keep getting pushed back. i hoped to pick on up when i was in London in late October, but now it seems most places wont be selling it until mid-late December