I know there are a few cell-phone guys on here.

Verizon has really pissed me off with their unwillingness to help me with the crappy Samsung Glyde they sold me; I'm considering changing companies.
I need a smartphone, but am not willing to put up with a Blackberry. Big priorites:

I need a phone with good sound quality. After years of being a professional musician my hearing is not great. My constant problem with all phones is that I have trouble hearing conversations clearly.

I need a good network. The main reason I've used Verizon for all of these years is that the network is awesome.

I would like GPS/mapping capabilites. This is something the Glyde is good at.

The phone needs to be tough. I wear on the belt all day and am in/out of trucks often.

Here's what I know
I-phone: these are cool, but I don't like that they are touch screen only. The lack of pic messaging is annoying to me. They seem to be the standard right now, so I don't doubt the I phone will be supported for years to come. Please seem to genuinely hate the AT&T network

Blackberry
I hear the actual phone on these sucks, but features are good.

LG EnV Touch
Cnet really likes this phone... it looks lie the screen is kinda small.

So - what to go with?
the only cell company I won't deal with is Nexel
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sounds like you need a G1. I got a friend that works at T-mo that can probably hook you up.

 

is price an issue? you might want to start off with the network you want, and then look into the phones they offer. whats the point of an awesome phone with crappy service?

 

As someone who used to work for a cell phone company I highly suggest you don't let the phone cause you to leave them. You will run into the service company not being very helpful with equipment for any provider. (this was true at the provider I worked for which isn't verizon) They don't make the equipment or any money off of what they sell, in fact they sell the phones at a loss. The company that deals with the equipment is the manufacturer of the equipment. In your case I would talk to Samsung about resolving issues with it.

 

After much research, I think the best phone in terms of features is the HTC Touch Pro, the Touch Pro II is coming out soon too, which is much better, but I don't know what that date is or who will carry it.

I bought a G1 though - There are things I like about the G1, also made by HTC, and with the open architecture, that sold me on it, but it took me weeks of looking before I purchased.

As far as service...I actually have 3 service providers, Verizon (best voice coverage), T-Mobile (data is their network, but they lease space on ATT network for voice), Sprint - by far the best data rates of any carrier.

Sprint used to be a small network, they have grown well in CA, and they have a killer $99 unlimited voice and unlimited data / month.

I can't make a decision for you, read the reviews, I'm not a fan of the RIM Blackberries, but the new Palm Pre looks pretty impressive.

 

I have had sprint for years and don't have any issues with them at all. I will soon be getting the palm pre.

 

Blackberry FTW! Most convenient phone ever! Can do what you want! Rought it up a bit and still will work, has video, camera, personal email GPS, AIM, mulitiple email accounts, FB, Myspace, banking, and etc. . .and thats just a little of the options it offers!

 

I have Verizon for work, use a Blackberry Curve...don't see what the hype is.

Personally I've been a Sprint customer for almost 10 years. My last 5 phones have been "smart phones', recently upgraded to the Palm Treo Pro (sorry but again...I cant fall in line with the hype on the Palm Pre). If I drop calls its because I have my phone set to strict anti-roaming. Never any surprises on my bills, kindergarten easy to upgraded phones (only paid $100 for Treo Pro), and the insurance is cheap/totally worth it.

 

iPhone or Palm Pre

I broke down and picked up a 3G because of the price. The lack of a keyboard or pic messaging didn't even cross my mind after the first two days.

The Palm Pre looks like an iPhone after months of training on performance enhancing drugs.

 

I have a palm treo and its gone through hell since my accident and such and I need to get a new phone so going for the pre not because of a hype thing just because I like the features it has.

 

give me a call or a pm and I can really help you out with picking the right phone. I can tell you right now that blackberry's have great sound and function! Send me a PM.

 

I work for att and blackberry is a great "phone" and a great PDA. Other than the fact that the little roller ball sucks, it's top knotch!

 

also Nextel is Part if sprint, so you will also want to stay away from them.

 

Iphones have picture messaging now and with the 3.0 update the keyboard can be flipped to be longways in almost every app imagineable making it nice and big for those of us with big fingers.

You can use the Iphone on other networks, the downside there is you will have to unlock it. Which really isn't all that much of a downside. Most other networks have unlimited data plans so if you hate AT&T that much you can avoid them.

 

palm pre ftw..look into it
its a solid and its coming up.