T-Mobile users - best smartphone for.....
 

I am looking at getting a new smartphone (T Mobile). Not looking to buy an unlocked/hacked version, so no iPhones, please. In addition to all the "standard" features including a real keyboard and a good quality screen & speakerphone, the ability to really browse the web is very important. Social networking capabilities, cameras, etc, are not that important. I am open to any hardware or OS (blackberry, Android, etc are fine). That said, I'm concerned about the new Google phone, because it is V1 and there have been a lot of early problems/issues reported.

Does the model I want exist? If so, please specify the make and model # and why you like it.

I love my Nexus One. I'm not running on TM yet (AT&T) so I did not experience any of the 3G issues that were reported, but my understanding is that is fixed. I did have a defective camera on my phone, but HTC swapped it out without any problem. It does not have a real keyboard, but I find I have adjusted quite well to the touchscreen. If that is a dealbreaker, check out one of the Android phones that have keyboards. I love the apps available and nothing locked down like an iphone.

It isn't really V1 - it builds upon the G1, Mytouch3G, Hero and others.

If you are eligible for an upgrade, I'd consider the Nexus One, or the MyTouch 3G.

But since you need a real keyboard, your options are more limited. The TouchPro2 has a real keyboard, and the operate browser is good - not great.

For the best possible browser AND a real keyboard, you should look at the Nokia N900 - Best of all, it support the T-Mobile 3G frequencies.

http://www.nokiausa.com/find-product...specifications

Just don't think of it as a phone - the N900 is way, way more than that :)

I like the Nokia E71, but you have to buy it unlocked. Still a simple transition to take your existing SIM and put it in the new phone. Very good phone, sturdy, small, great battery life,...the qwerty keyboard looks small but is raised and makes texting and browsing pretty good. You can tether or use the joiku application to create your own hotspot (I have never done the latter, btw, just been told it can be done).

I own Jokuspot and it works well. Like most programs of this nature, it creates an ad hoc network rather than an access point. Other than that, no complaints. I own the Euro version of the E66 and used it with Vodafone's prepaid data SIM throughout Western Europe (seven countries) last fall. It was like having a pan-European MiFi.

If you plan to use UMA, there isn't much to choose from. Just the BB models

E71 won't do 3G on T-mobile :(

N900 looks great, but as I said, I don't want to spend $500+ on an unlocked/hacked phone. Needs to be a model I can get direct from T-Mobile.

The Touch Pro2 can be found for free through T-Mobile and Windows Mobile at www.wmdeals.com

If you want to get it for that price on an upgrade, you'll need to call their telesales people.

If you can wait until March 24th the HTC HD2 looks to be pretty sweet.

But for your requirements the TP2 is probably your best but. I personally use one but I can't recommend it for everyone. To get the most out of your phone you will need to tweak it a little bit and not everyone has the want too or knowledge to do it. But it runs fine from the factory but to get the most out of it doing some basic teaks can go a long way to make the experience much better.

As far as web browsing the available web browsers for the TP2 do offer some advantages over the webkit browsers offered by Android and the iPhone. As far as rendering and speed of loading they are just as good if not better in some cases. I've owned an iPhone, Blackberries, the G1, and now the Touch Pro 2 so I can speak from experience.

Here are some screen shots I made with my phone.

http://www.pbase.com/deoredx/image/121436989.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/deoredx/image/121436990.jpg

The Skyfire browser is nice in that it can play embedded flash videos.

http://www.pbase.com/deoredx/image/121436991.jpg

Some of the browing advantages WinMo offeres over the Webkit browsers imho is that on WinMo flash rich web pages work much better on the Skyfire browser (Though runnign skyfire eats up a lot of resources and burns the battery faster then the other browsers). With the standard Opera Mobile if you read a lot of web forms the way the browser re-renders the page and automatically formats the text to minimize scrolling works much better then scrolling around on the Webkit browsers. Webkit offers a smoother scrolling, pinch to zoom (though the scroll bar on the bottom of the TP2 is great IMHO.)