I'm big into the smartphone thing now. I piloted every major provider and nearly every smartphone made at the time. For my purposes, the Palm Treo 755p on sprint worked best. There is no perfect phone yet though. They all have fatal flaws. It's just a matter of running the numbers, being honest about how you really use a phone, and deciding what works best for you based on that.
Even the iPhone, as swanky cool as it is, has some serious flaws that for me would not allow me to consider it. I don't use my phone often as a phone (I hate talking on a phone) so txt messaging, IM support, Slingbox support and high-speed web access were my top priorities.
In order of preference, here were my top 3 fave smartphones:
1. Palm Treo 755p (Sprint)
Plusses:
- Palm OS ease of use, multitude of software and relative stability (compared with Windows)
- Comfortable to hold in the hand
- Solid durable feel
- High-speed internet access anywhere I have a Sprint signal
- Built in IM client
- Slingbox support and software
- Touchscreen
- Screen resolution
- Rubberized coating
Negatives:
- Bulky and heavy-ish
- Palm OS is now ancient (but still works well)
- Crashes on occasion
2. Blackberry 8830 (Cingular)
Positives:
- Sleek, thin design
- Great display
- VoX dialing built in
- Thumbwheel "nipple" close second to touch screen for ease of navigation
Negatives:
- Cingular high-speed data network sucks. No availability at all in South OC and many other locations
- Couldn't get a good signal at my office
- Lack of a touch screen
- Slingbox not available on Blackberry
- No cameraphone
3. T-Mobile Dash
Positives:
- Loved loved loved this phone!
- Relatively stable even though it was windows-based (contrary to all other windows phones I tried)
- Thin pocketable design
- rubberized coating
- good keyboard
- great screen
Negatives
- T-mobile doesn't have any high-speed internet capability NONE and doesn't plan on adding it in the future (deal breaker there)
- lack of a touch screen.