D-Rod -

I'm not sure how the phone polls for messages with exchange, but you get messages instantly once they arrive. When I send myself email from another account to my exchange account, it usually arrives in < 10 seconds. It isn't a big battery drain either like having your phone check email constantly on a pop3 account is.

Exchange is really slick if you've never used it. I can enter a contact or calendar event on my phone, and it instantly gets added on my laptop or vice versa. Plus, I have a third copy of my address book, contact list and email on the exchange server and email is synched between mailboxes on my phone and laptop as messages are received and deleted. Mobile Me has had a lot of issues with email. I'm not sure on the specifics, but Apple apologized and gave away free service to compensate people for all the problems. You might check into it before relying on it as an email solution.

I'm not sure how AT&T can keep you from using exchange unless they block the standard exchange port (443?) on the cheap data plan.

Yes, I agree Exchange is very slick! It's fantastic, especially the GCL. More info on pricing tomorrow.

CB: No idea. Looking into it a bit tonight. Looks like you might have to get a phone with a browser capable enough to suppose the web app OR if Google makes an app for the OS.

Or get the upcoming G1?

CB: Looks like Google has you covered on alot of fronts. Lots of calendar applications for different phones. Most are webbased but optimized for mobile browsers.

In the past year I have had a Blackberry 8700, AT&T Tilt and now an iPhone 3G.

The Blackberry is a Blackberry and the OS is starting to show it's age against the touch screen phones. The web browsing was slow and not a full featured browser by any means.

The Tilt was probably my favorite. Call quality was best with this phone and I definitely had fewer dropped calls than with the other two. Pocket IE is a little crippled and clunky, but it does the job well. The slide out keyboard is nice, the buttons are individually rounded and you can type easily with few mistakes.

The iPhone definitely wins in the "cool" department, but I just cannot get used to typing on the touch screen, i really need the tactile feedback that real buttons provide. The web browsing is years ahead of the Tilt and without a doubt the best mobile browsing user experience currently available. Calls are crystal clear, and having 8GB in your pocket is always nice too.

On the Google calendar, I seems like using the internet is the only option. I was hoping for something I could usb, I don't want to pay for data only to check my calendar.

Thanks for helping me out!

Helio (Virgin Mobile) Ocean. You get unlimitted data at G-3 speeds and 500 minutes talk time (unlimitted weekends and evenings) for $65/month.

D - What it really boils down to is how you will be using the phone most. You know where I stand with respect to the phones that are out there. The Instinct is an awesome phone and the pricing, for the servivce value is better than the iPhone. But, it really boils down to how you will use the phone most. But how you will use the phone, and plan, based on that and that alone should determine your choice.

Well guys! Thanks for the information. I finally made a purchase.

The winner? 8gb 3G iPhone.

15% University discount made it more affordable. I got tired to trying to make compromises.

The phone is slick. Very smooth interface. The Calendar/Mail/Contact features I wanted took 30 seconds to set up. Works great.

Now, the EDGE system is a wee-bit slow. Hope the 3G network is expanded to include Lawrence near future. Although, I shouldn't have any problems in class because of campus WiFi, the EDGE system is slightly annoying here in my non-wireless dorm (port scan enabled, we can't set up our own wireless).

Thanks for the input all!

Well! Dang! Glad I got the 3G phone! I was just informed tonight by an AT&T Rep that the Lawrence area will be going 3G come December. Infact, he warned I may get some overload-static occasionally as they take down the towers one-by-one to install the new equipment, which can cause an overload on others during peak time. Hum! Thankfully I opted for the extra speed!

You going to be in the next commercial showing how it plays games?

There are always tradeoffs though as business people are griping about not having push email.

As for me, since I run a full network as well as exchange server in my house, I love my smartphone. I had a Blackberry "brick" last year and early this year and know now that my smartphone blows the socks off Blackberry.

How do you like the touchscreen interface for typing messages? How does that compare to a phone that actually has the keys?

No games here. I caught on to typing with it pretty quick. Up to about 15-20 wpm now, which isn't too bad.

You do know that all iPhones have PUSH email right? That was an upgrade that came with the 2.0/2.1 software package. So if you have the first iPhone, you can upgrade for free. All new comes come with it out of the box. Exchange works great with push, contacts, calendar, and mail. It works great for me!!

I'm loving it. I've already loaded some SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTTTTT apps free of charge.

Congrats D, your going to learn new tricks everyday. Try holding your finger on a picture from the web.

One more little gem for you D-Rod; Incipio cases www.myincipio.com