Can anyone help in choosing a Verizon smartphone?

[tkd27]

Hi all - I thought I'd post here since many of you may be more clued in to the overall smartphone scene than me.

My wife is going to be in the market for a smartphone in December. The catch is that she'll still be locked into her Verizon contract, so no iPhone.

She's specifically looking for a virtual keyboard like my iPhone, not a physical. Are there any offerings other than the Storm in that category? It also has to have a real web browser, not pseudo web like I've seen in a lot of Blackberry devices.

Short of the virtual keyboard, Droid is looking nice. And of course the Palm Pre is supposedly coming early next year, but when I played with that in the Sprint store the keyboard was very uncomfortable.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated

Thanks,

Matt

[Alli]

Touch Diamond 2 has a virtual keyboard that is amazing. I know VZW has the original Diamond, not sure if they have the 2 yet.

I can actually type much faster on my D2 than on my iPhone.

[sting7k]

Why is she getting a new phone now if she is still on contract and not just wait until it's over and get the iPhone?

[ctt1wbw]

If Verizon is your only choice in your area, then I feel for you. I hate VZW with a freakin passion. I won't ever ever deal with them again.

But like Alli said, some of those phones are nice.

[tkd27]

Alli - thanks for the tip, I'll definitely look into that.

Sting - she very much likes Verizon. She'd probably go for an iPhone if they had it, but she cares more about the carrier than the phone. She really doesn't care what kind of phone she has, but she's very jealous of my phone's e-mail and web capabilities. If it wasn't for the keyboard I'd make her get a Pre when it launches on Verizon early next year just so I can play with it (I was tempted to wait it out and get a Pre, but re-signed with AT&T for a 3G S when it launched).

FWIW - Verizon is a great network, service wise, here in CT. She has service everywhere, including at our house, which is really touch and go for me with AT&T.

[ctt1wbw]

Well, chose a provider first, then a phone second. I am lucky that in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, 3G and max signal strength everywhere. And I do mean everywhere.

[jhamilton3]

I'd get the Storm 2.. seems a lot of Storm 1 issues have been fixed.

[JFSikora]

I'd personally wait for one of the many Android devices getting ready to be released.

[jhamilton3]

Originally Posted by JFSikora

I'd personally wait for one of the many Android devices getting ready to be released.

Forgot all about Android 2.0 coming out. You're right.. For instance the Droid does look good with the Android 2.0 running on it. Problem is the outside looks like a piece of junk from 2001.

[Uproarmedia]

In my personal opinion, if you are looking for an Android device, I would try to hold out until the 1ghz processor devices are released. I believe the HTC "Passion" will be Verizon's version of the Snapdragon processor. Several people I know have reported hanging on the 550mhz Hero etc.

Do note that the Passion does have the slide out keyboard, but I wouldn't count it out solely on that.