It's a big, well-designed hunk of high quality equipment. It is a very good platform for manual focus lenses and I have found the Matrix metering to be quite accurate.
I like the F4, but even so, I traded mine for a F2A and a lens.
It''s my impression that auto focus in the N90s is faster than in the F4. Keep in mind that the lighter F90s was the preferred backup camera for many photojournalists to their F4's and F5's. The F100 is a better backup and, if autofocus is a must have then I'd prefer it over the N90s and F4. The F4 is too big and bulky to suit me. I personally prefer an F3HP.
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"If your pictures aren't good enough,
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I own an F4s and an F90x (your N90s is a nomenclatural aberration I've never quite understood the logic of Nikon USA)...
Anyway, I digress.
They are different animals. The F90x is a lot lighter weight. The autofocus is more accurate. The controls are simpler, in a way, despite being electronic. The choice of being able to use an inexpensive MB-10 grip to turn it into a more comfortable camera with larger lenses is a good one.
The F4 is big. It's very big. It's really big. And it's heavy. Did I mention that it's big? Still, I find I don't mind the size a lot of the time. The controls are very analog - knobs and levers instead of teeny buttons. (There are a couple of buttons for AF lock and AE lock.) I actually find that, at first, the F4 is harder to use, but it comes to you before too long. The controls are logical, just a bit alien; there are precious few cameras with this level of sophistication that have knobs. The autofocus is really fast, surprisingly, but not as accurate as the F90x. AF-S lenses work on it, which is a wonderful bonus. You can make the camera smaller if you buy an MB-20 grip (this turns the F4S or F4E into a straight F4), but they are expensive and hard to find. (If you have a cheap one you want to sell, PM me. )
They are different tools for different jobs, really.
Truthfully, my F90x seldom gets used anymore. My F100 and F5 are my primary bodies, but my F3HP and F4S get significant usage despite that.
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Jim MacKenzie - Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
My F90x (N90x in the USA) was my backup body at the daily I work for, when we shot film everyday.
I'm a big fan of Nikon for well-designed, durable and reliable cameras and this one was no exception. The autofocus was indeed much better than the F4s and the exposure (Matrix, spot or centre-weighted) worked very well, too.
Mine saw a lot of film over the decade or so I had it. It never failed me. I also like being able to take off the battery pack to have a lighter camera when travelling - something you can't do with the F4s.
The F4 is a good camera, just figure out what you will actually use it for and see if its advantages and drawbacks fit into that.
I own an F4s and an F90x (your N90s is a nomenclatural aberration I've never quite understood the logic of Nikon USA)...
Nikon gave US and non-us cameras different model numbers in part to help them combat gray market goods in the US. That made it easy to tell which cameras coming in to Nikon USA for repair were eligible for warranty repairs, and they were real sticklers about it in my experience, which involved handling cameras brought into two different shops in the late 70's early 80's to be sent to Nikon USA for warranty and non-warranty service.
Nikon gave US and non-us cameras different model numbers in part to help them combat gray market goods in the US. That made it easy to tell which cameras coming in to Nikon USA for repair were eligible for warranty repairs, and they were real sticklers about it in my experience, which involved handling cameras brought into two different shops in the late 70's early 80's to be sent to Nikon USA for warranty and non-warranty service.
Yep, I knew that much - but they didn't continue the logic on the F100, F4, F5 or F6 so the idea wasn't applied very consistently. The F100 in particular is a real outlier.
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Jim MacKenzie - Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Sorry, I have never used the F90/N90; therefore, I cannot compare it to the F4.
However, here are some of the things I like about the Nikon F4.
1. Well-built, heavy-duty, high-quality body
2. Durable and dependable
3. Has a good mixture of manual and automatic features
4. Woks well with older manual focus lenses
5. Woks well with newer auto focus lenses
6. Good balance with long lenses
7. Allows matrix, center-weighted, and spot metering with true AI lenses
8. Allows center-weighted and spot metering with AI converted lenses
9. Works in manual mode with pre-AI lenses
10. Works in manual mode with pre-set Perspective Control lens
11. Works in Program Mode and Shutter Priority Mode with G lenses
12. Works in manual mode with pre-set 28mm f/4 Perspective Control lens
13. Very quiet built-in motor drive
14. Uses standard alkaline AA batteries.
15. Has built-in diopter eyepiece correction
16. Has built-in eyepiece shield
17. Has mirror lock-up feature
18. Has multiple exposure feature
19. Interchangeable view screens
20. Interchangeable viewfinder
21. Viewfinder offers 100% coverage
22. Illuminated viewfinder is great for low-light shooting situations
23. Rail system for interchangeable viewfinder is very secure
24. Has manual and power rewind feature
25. Manual rewind allows leaving the film leader out of the cassette
26. PC electronic flash connection and hot shoe connection
27. 1/250 second top flash sync shutter speed
Nikon F4s 
I've never quite understood the logic of Nikon USA)...
Linear Mode
