I sorely needed a new phone to replace my trusty StarTac and my aging Palm V, but delayed doing so for a couple of years because I just didn't see anything out there that I thought would combine their functions effectively. I wanted a clamshell phone that wouldn't accidentally dial people from inside my bag. And the Treo phones and other stick-style smartphones just seemed too big. Although I'm fine with a thumb-board (I carry a RIM for work), I prefer Graffiti, so I wanted a phone that allowed me to input using Graffiti. I tried out my husband's Treo 300 and frankly missed the Graffiti functions. I also thought it was too clunky. I've found that the i500 is almost everything I wanted out of a Palm/phone combo.The pros: Sleek clamshell design -- compact and stylish, even with the hefty extended-use battery. It's solidly built -- no flimsy flips like the Treo 300. The screen is surprisingly big for such a small phone. The color and resolution is quite good -- the photos I keep on my phone look good. I like the Graffiti writing space -- it's small, but easy to get used to. The Palm functions are well integrated. It's easy to call people from your address book, and it's easy to save phone numbers (like from incoming calls) into new or existing entries. With the extended battery, I can go for a few days without having to charge up -- even the slim battery gets decent performance. The cradle offers one-button syncing, and can charge a spare battery at the same time as the phone -- a nice touch. Using hacks easily found online, you can put just about any photo on your screen as your wallpaper. You can also set unique rings for different people (no photo ID, though).The cons: No speakerphone! This is a really strange feature to leave out, since it makes it hard to use the Palm at the same time as the phone. You can always use a headset, but that's just another step you shouldn't have to take. I also think it would be nice to have a caller ID screen on the outside of the phone so you don't have to flip open the phone to see who's calling. And I miss the dual-function keys on the StarTac -- functions you can easily access just by pushing "FNC" and then one of the numeric keys. I used to be able to switch the phone to vibrate by hitting two keys -- now I need to ratchet down the ringer, which can take up to 10 button presses, depending on how loud you have your ringer volume cranked. I also used to be able to mute my phone easily using the FNC button -- I have no clue how to do it on the i500, but it's certainly not a one-button thing. The screen is sometimes hard to read outside in the sun. Minor quibble -- there's apparently no way to add to the polyphonic ringtones supplied with the phone. There are plenty of options, to be sure, but it would have been nice to be able to add to them to truly personalize the phone.On the high price -- I bought the phone used, which brought the price down significantly for me. Would I have paid the full retail price? Maybe, especially since I probably would have paid more to buy a new Palm and a new phone. At the deeply discounted price, however, I definitely got my money's worth.