Motorola Verizon Google Droid

I have been a bit jealous watching my non-Verizon friends reporting with glee all about iPhones and the Pre. I was waiting for the Pre- supposedly with Verizon early 2010 as I have been a Palm OS user for years starting with the Sony Clie. Enter the Droid. I have been working with it for 5 days and have yet to figure it all out. No manual- just depending on online blogs and a "sneak" post of the not yet completed manual. The menus are NOT intuitive at all. The slide out keyboard is hard to use, especially the top row which doesn't give enough room between the characters and the slide out rim. The Calendar is hard to use and has limited functions for things like repeating an event for a certain number of days.

HOWEVER- I am keeping it. The graphics are the best I have seen. Using the web browser is a joy. You can multi-task and have several programs running simultaneously (i did find if you that if you forget to stop some the battery gets eaten alive). There is built in GPS. The issues with the calendar (and contact list) are all solved as they immediately synch with the Google online calendar and contacts. They have more functions and frankly, it is easier and faster to use them on the keyboard and monitor than the little keyboards. Oh- the keyboard- i am using the onscreen version- much easier (in landscape mode) than the slide out. It also has a dictionary that allows quick completion of words and updates these as you use them. The apps are a shorter list as it is new and you really have to sort out where the junk is, but a few have been very useful and there are a number of free ones.

The phone is the clearest cell phone I have used and it works great with bluetooth. One final thing (for now). You have the option to use the online services with the Verizon network (there's a Map for that) but you can also tie into any local WiFi network you can find. The browsing speed, which is fine, is lightning fast in those areas.

I have 30 days to return it. More as I learn.