New phone suggestions

[Tobeman]

Well, my MDA Vario (HTC Wizard) is just about to give up the ghost. I'm sure I've probably posted this thread in here before, but its actually on life support with the screen crapping out every single time I use it now. Also, the damn thing keeps reverting back to a point in time in January every time I turn it off (messages, saved files etc.)

So, time for a new phone.

I'm getting a bit fed up of the size of the Vario, its too big. Its fine when its in a coat pocket, but with summer approaching I want something smaller. My hands hurt from the tops of my jeans pockets tearing back layers of skin as I try and prise the phone out.

However, I can't give up the QWERTY keyboard.

I'd love a HTC Kaiser/Vario III but I assume their dimensions are very similar to my original Vario, and as much as I'd love ALL those features in on device, I don't think its that practical.

I do use it for work, but I pay my own bills in terms of data usage which I'm a bit fed up of so I'm happy to drop Exchange sync capabilities.

So, it seems like either the iPhone (didn't think I'd ever hear myself say that) or one of the Touch series.

My inhibitions include using an on screen fullscreen QWERTY keyboard (to my knowledge, included with iPhone but software required to do something similar on Windows Mobile. How well does this work?

I don't use my Vario at the moment for any real media playback, only because the thing is so damn slow, but having seen the Touch in action, one thing I couldn't live with is the way the audio player organises tracks in an album alphabetically, rather than by track number.

I'm aware there are probably third party apps that get around this. Is there a similar following for the Touch as there is for the Kaiser in terms of third party ROMs? One main complaint I have heard is that the Touch is underpowered, much like my current Vario. I hear the iPhone SDK is looming, what can we expect from that? Most applications I've seen (currently watching the Navizon video, here YouTube - Navizon version 2 - with the "Slider") seem to be pretty well polished without it.

If anyone wishes to condense the information provided on XDA-Developers into a "do this" list for me, should I ever decide to plump for another HTC, it would also be much appreciated, because trying to attempt to read up on the Kaiser is a nightmare... there's too much!

Thoughts, suggestions, comments welcome. And if anyone has a Vario vs. Vario III comparison shot (I haven't bothered checking the dimensions) I'd be interested.

ta,

Tobes

[Tobeman]

Live from Apple's iPhone SDK press conference - Engadget

Holy cow, Exchange support.

iPhone it is.

[JohnK]

what about this:

Buy a MWg Atom Life Windows Mobile 6 Edition (English), #MWG_ATOM_LIFE - eXpansys UK

Fast processor, 1Gb rom, thinner (a bit) than a Kaiser, comes with WM6. £200 seems like a very good deal (unless you're after a contract I guess). If you put a 3 PAYG sim in one of these babies, you can get unlimited 3G data for £5 a month.

[Howard]

what about an HTC S730? Candybar phone size, qwerty keyboard.

[booth_matthew]

How about a Nokia E90? Full qwerty keyboard, gps 3g etc? Contract only unless your minted!

[pritsey]

My work phone is a HTC S620. A wee bit old now, but slim with normal battery, WM6, push exchange email and qwerty keyboard. I also have a S60 Nokia with 3g as personal phone, and couldn't give 3g up now, however it;s another choice that may not cost too much nowadays.

[kchakkar]

What about the Sony XPERIA Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 - Full phone specifications

[Funkstar]

What about the Sony XPERIA Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 - Full phone specifications

But the X1 won't be available until late in the year, not very useful when the OPs phone is on it's way out... and he already decided on an iPhone in post 2.