10 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
Get the version with upgraded software
Date of Review: Feb 12, 2008
The Bottom Line: Don't buy this phone, get the Black version with the newer software instead.
This was my first entry into the PDA/phone market and it wasn't very satisfying. However when this phone croaked and I got the Black version (with the newer software) I was very happy (see my review for Black/Verizon/Q).
It took a while to learn how to lock the keyboard quickly (holding down the "home" key until a quick menu shows up) and once I learned that I was able to put it in my pocket without it taking lots of pictures of the inside of my jacket pocket.
Email works great, took a little time to figure out hot to set it up accessing via my own servers, and for the first time I don't have to deal with a phone that had features crippled by Verizon.
Battery life was disappointing but they resolved this issue with the updated software. I was lucky to make it half a day before the upgrade which now makes it through the day (I burn about 3000 minutes a month).
I had issues with the Voice Command software taking forever to "kick in". It also doesn't seem to understand the word "Yes" in my voice very well.
What finally put me out of my misery was plugging the phone into an A/C outlet on the Amtrak Cascade train only to look down about a half hour later to see a Pink Floyd inspired light show on the screen. The phone was toast. I had to pull the battery out to get it to shut off and after a few minutes I could put it back and the phone would fire up only to kick back into the light show before it could finish boot up.
Taking it back to Verizon they gave me a free upgrade to the Black version and I am thrilled with the phone. I would highly recommend that phone but this one was a turkey.
