I need a smartphone (verizon) Recommend me one

[SweetHomeColorado]

Okay, so I’m in the market for a cell phone. This time around I want a PDA style smartphone. I have verizon and I’m switching from a Razr v3m. without cost being a factor, let’s discuss…

I do a lot of text messaging, I also will need to check my email from it. Wireless web is nice to have (The razr seemed to have a subpar wireless web option).
I use a bluetooth headset. so it would be nice to have this feature.
Verizon now offers the verizon GPS based on navigation. I REALLY like this feature and plan to subscribe. Having a phone with the ability to access this is going to be a determining factor.
I like to have the freedom to customize my phone (My verizon RAZR was terrible with that) It would be nice to have the ability to connect it to my computer.
a camera really isn’t that important… I don’t take many pictures with the one I have.
Easy menus would be nice. I hate having to go through 6 different screens just to access a calendar or calculator.
Touchscreen is not necessary.
Size is important… I like slim, something to fit in my pocket.
I have an IPOD so an MP3 player isn’t incredibly necessary.

So, right now, it seems through verizon I have the options of a Treo 650 or 700, a motorola Q, and a blackberry, I don’t think verizon offers sidekicks…

The motorola Q is the frontrunner for me right now. It seems thin and has most of what I want. I had a Treo 650 before but traded it because I didn’t need all of the features (Now I do) plus, it was big and bulky. I’m not familiar at ALL with blackberries.
So, what do you think? The list is not limited to the above but help me! What are the plusses and minuses and in your opinion, which smartphone should I buy?

[xash]

My personal preference is the Verizon Treo 700p. I use all these phones (except the BlackBerrrys) on a daily basis, so here’s my opinion…

Let’s cover the factors you mentioned:

Text messaging
The Treo 650, Treo 700p and Treo 700w are all great for this. Blackberrys traditionally have had better keyboards than the Palm devices, but I don’t have personal experience with the later BlackBerry models. The Moto Q does not have a qwerty keyboard, so it’s not as convenient for texting.

Email
The Moto Q does not have much screen real estate, so if you’re a heavy reader you’re going to do a lot of scrolling. Also, if you email a lot from your device, you’re going to prefer a qwerty keyboard.

If you can afford it, get push email on the device of your choice. All the phones support push email.

Wireless Web
The Verizon Treo 650 has a CDMA 1xRTT data connection, which is much slower than the current generation of EVDO data connection devices. Treo 700p, Treo 700w, and Moto Q all support EVDO. You will prefer EVDO if you’re a heavy data user. Great for reading the SDMB from your device.

Bluetooth
All support Bluetooth

GPS Navigation
None of these phones has a GPS chipset built in (Verizon does offer phones with GPS inbuilt, but none of the models mentioned above have it). Note that carriers usually charge a monthly fee for GPS services. I strongly recommend the TomTom Navigator for PDA ( www.tomtom.com ) for GPS Navigation on your device. It costs about US$250, with no monthly fees.

Customization
All phones support 3rd party application downloads, with which you can install software and customize your phone. The Palm OS currently has the largest selection of applications among the OSes.

Camera
They all suck.

Easy Menus
The Windows Mobile devices have a familiar Windows like interface. The Palm OS devices have a clear simple interface. The Moto Q is a pain to navigate (similar to the Nokia interface of “click an icon, click another icon, click one more icon, click one more icon”. If you like that then it shouldn’t be an issue.)

Touchscreen
I personally dislike phones without a touchscreen. Touchscreens make for easier and faster navigation.

Size
The Moto Q wins in this category. Very slim, very light. The BlackBerrys are usually lighter than the Treos.

Battery life
The BlackBerrys are clear winners in this category. The Treos typically last about 1.5 days, the BlackBerrys can go about 4 days on typical use.

Let me know if you have any specific questions regarding any of these devices.

[SweetHomeColorado]

What about this? It’s the moto Q, looks like a qwerty keyboard… what am I missing here?

aren’t all cell phones required to have GPS for 911 purposes now? My current Razr has it with an option to use it for 911 only or to generally turn it on. I thought this was a requirement. After consulting with a friend who has sprint, it looks like his also has the 911 GPS feature. The new Chocolate from Verizon I know offers the GPS navigation services. Why are these smartphones lacking it?

Does the moto Q have a touchscreen?

What is push email?

What is the distinguishing factor of the 700p that won you over?

[xash]

@SweetHomeColorado

What about this? It’s the moto Q, looks like a qwerty keyboard… what am I missing here?

Sorry, my bad! The Moto Q does have a qwerty keyboard. I mixed up the keyboard with another Smartphone.

aren’t all cell phones required to have GPS for 911 purposes now? My current Razr has it with an option to use it for 911 only or to generally turn it on. I thought this was a requirement. After consulting with a friend who has sprint, it looks like his also has the 911 GPS feature.

Most cellular phones do not have a GPS chipset inbuilt, but instead use cellular tower triangulation to determine the position of the phone relative to these towers. The difference is that a phone with a GPS chipset will determine its position by communicating with GPS satellites in the sky, while phones using cellular tower triangulation will determine their position relative to the cellular towers in range. The former is very accurate, while the latter is not as accurate.

From Wiki:

Enhanced 9-1-1

@Wiki

Radiolocation in cellular telephony uses base stations. Most often, this is done through triangulation between radio towers. The location of the caller or handset can be determined several ways:

angle of arrival (AOA) requires at least two towers, locating the caller at the point where the lines along the angles from each tower intersect

time difference of arrival (TDOA) works like GPS using multilateration, except that it is the networks that determine the time difference and therefore distance from each tower (as with seismometers)

location signature uses “fingerprinting” to store and recall patterns (such as multipath) which mobile phone signals are known to exhibit at different locations in each cell

The new Chocolate from Verizon I know offers the GPS navigation services. Why are these smartphones lacking it?

I haven’t used the Chocolate, so I’m not sure whether the Chocolate has an inbuilt GPS chipset. I can’t seem to find the complete tech spec sheet online.

Does the moto Q have a touchscreen?

No, the Moto Q does not have a touch screen. It uses the usual Smartphone soft keys (Left and Right Select keys) and a 5-way navigator for menu navigation and selection.

Moto Q specs available here:

error - Motorola

What is push email?

Basically, it’s email that arrives directly onto your device without you having to check for new email.

Let’s say you wanted to check your Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail email on your device. You could do this in one of the 3 common ways:

1. Web based email: You would need to go to your device web browser, go to the Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail website, login and check for new email.

2. POP3 Mail Client: Gmail (for example) also supports POP3 email for free, so you could configure your device email client to access your email. The email client will check for new emails at regular intervals, or you could do a manual send/receive to receive new email.

3. Push Email: If your device supports push email and is configured to receive push email, you will never need to “check” email again. New email will instantly and automatically arrive in your email inbox (think of it as similar to receiving a text message, you never need to “check” for a text message since your phone beeps whenever you receive a new message)

BlackBerry is the current leader in push based email, but there are other companies offering push based email as well.

More at Push email - Wikipedia

What is the distinguishing factor of the 700p that won you over?

I’ve found that different people have very different likes and dislikes when it comes to cell phones. Your personal preferences may differ greatly from mine.

The Treo 700p is my favourite because it has the best combination (in my opinion) of form factor, screen size, screen resolution, keyboard layout and feel, 3rd party software options, and the fact that it’s on Palm OS (I’ve always been a Palm OS fan).