Actual business thread...

[Hell Puppy]

I leave bluetooth on all the time. And yes, it does munch on the battery pretty hard by doing so. But fuck it, i'll charge more often in exchange for the convenience of not having to go into settings and turn it on and off when I want to use it. Now I just need a new car with bluetooth built in....

[Hell Puppy]

Handhelds are almost a religious issue. People tend to defend their own favorite vigorously or diss the ones they're jealous of.

There are really only 3 worth considering at the moment IMO, and each has it's own strengths and weaknesses...

Blackberry -- If email is your thing, it's the best at handling it. Keyboard is very usable. However, it's weak on the IM and web surfing side. The 7100 is the size of a typical phone.

Treo -- If you're a PIM lover, this is the absolute best choice. Also good for the ability to add pocket apps to do just about anything. Decent web rendering and usability and good messaging if you can handle the tiny keyboard. Works great if you stick with WAP enabled sites. Single tasks though due to nature of Palm OS. Very pricey though still.

Sidekick II -- By far the best all around balance of messaging, email and surfing. The device was built specifically for wireless internet access, and the OS backgrounds very very well, far better than the other two. Renders pages well regardless of formatting and deals admirably with things like web forms. The first generation was not very durable, but they got it right with the second generation. Very cool form factor with the largest screen and keyboard of the bunch. However, it sucks as a PIM, and if you use a wireless for 90% or more email and rarely surf, the email features of the blackberry are superior. But if you want to surf and do all of the above, hard to beat.

Now the downside to all of the above is you greatly compromise the phone features. Of the 3, the blackberry has the best phone functionality. Sidekick II is usable as a phone, Treo tests most people's patience.