After owning a Motorola Razr V3c for two years on the Verizon network I was ready to upgrade to a SmartPhone and I had my eyes on a Q for a while. Given the fact that my Razr had been quite reliable and very durable, I reasoned that going to a Q would be a serious upgrade. I was toting a cell phone and a Dell Axim PDA and honestly it was getting old.The Q performs pretty well overall and my experience after eight months of use has been more favorable than negative.THE GOOD:Nice rubber-like coating makes for a sure grip.Nice bright color screen.Great reception-better than my BlackBerry Pearl.Clear sound, on speaker or direct to ear.Ringer volume is good.Very easy to type; keys give good response and are easy to hit.Backlighted keyboard.Windows Mobile 5.Very good pictures for a cellular phone.Video can be very good also in good light.Bluetooth allows OBEX (Object Exchange) functionality.Standard USB device connection & charging.OEM clip works well. Case recommended.Accepts up to 2GB microSD card.Low profile (thin) device.THE BAD:Battery life is not the greatest.Phone has shut itself off without warning, but infrequently.I purchased the extended battery (1640 mAh vs 1100 mAh for the one that comes with the unit) along with a new battery door to accommodate the thicker battery (often sold together). The original 1100 mAh battery had a very short life span, but where I work there is very poor cellular reception, so the phone is always working to find a signal and the battery drains quicker than normal. Bluetooth will also take the battery down quicker. LIon batteries do have a relatively short life span and will eventually lose capacity.My work phone is a BlackBerry Pearl (I also had a BlackBerry World Edition) and both have their pros and cons. The Pearl has been solid, but I can type much easier and faster with fewer mistakes on the Q. Even my old BlackBerry's full QWERTY keyboard couldn't compare to the Q. The Q has a better keyboard and the keys are raised far enough above the surface of the device to give a better tactile response than the BlackBerry.BOTTOM LINE:This is a feature-packed phone that will play your mp3s, take decent pictures and video, store all of your appointments and contacts and still serve as a phone. This has been a wonderful device for typed communication; the full QWERTY keyboard has a positive feel and you will be able to type quickly with fewer mistakes. It will also work as a GPS with installed software (I recommend CoPilot 7 with Bluetooth antenna) and has the ability to be a solid performer. This is a very low profile phone that is not bulky like the UT Starcomm 6700 or a Treo 700. I have been fairly happy with it thus far and have looked past the occasional reset to have an all-in-one device that fits my needs.