I paid over $1400 when it was first released, flew from AMS to LHR to pick it up

Battery life is actualy pretty good, reception is excellent as it has Ericssons excellent antennae. It's pretty big and operation is rather slow... The keypad isn't very responsive and the speakerphone option is quite uesless.

It does WAP, email etc... though doesn't do GPRS. If all you want is a cheap and decent phone with good RF try the Ericsson R520:

http://www.expansys.us/product.asp?code=ERIC-R520M

IMHO one of the best phones EVER, every possible feature from tri-band to a proximity-sensor operated speakerphone, this phone has it ALL.

The R380 is GSM 900/1800
The R380w is GSM 900/1900

For europe I'd advise getting a TRI band phone (900/1800/1900).