Pros:

• Super thin - fits in front or back pocket comfortably.
• Nice color screen.
• Decent speaker phone loudness (I’m ~68-72% satisfied)
• FULLY customizable interface through either purchased software or homemade XML home screen templates.
• Cool mods available. I got a 2GB miniSD from some site online for around $35 like 6 months ago. I think there’s also a microSD slot in behind the battery which probably keeps a hard copy of your personal info. I’m speculating on that though I haven’t looked into it.
• Video playback is VERY smooth. I’ve downloaded trailers, uploaded short video clips, taken video, etc. and it looks good.
• Large software developer community. (Pocket Nintento with like every game ever is really sweet)
• Can stream television or any video from the internet if you’re like superhero cool with Slingbox.
• Large software hacker community. (I used my phone to tether to my laptop for broadband internet access via a slick registry mod + some other hacks but Verizon eventually upgraded their Firmware and wiped out the tethering ability so…)
• I paid $35 for a program which allowed me tether the phone to my laptop via USB and get broadband internet access anywhere I was. I have to say this was by far the most valuable feature I used. I can think of countless times I was able to bring my laptop and work from somewhere else. Especially hotels which never have wireless access that works. A con here is that your “unlimited” data plan is actually btw 5-10GB of data transfer/month. Granted casually browsing the internet is not going to get you to this point but web development or streaming video will definitely do it. I found out that in your contract, if you basically grossly go above and beyond that limit they can automatically cancel your account. You should be at least aware of this though I never had a problem with it nor have I ever heard of Verizon actually taking action on it with someone.

Cons:

• The battery won’t last hardly a night if I don’t keep it on the charger.
• The screen scratches easily.
• I don’t use the thumb wheel just because it’s such a move to have to switch your whole hand position from typing on the keypad to using the thumbwheel, especially when you can just use the up/down controls that you’re already practically touching to navigate. I suppose it was necessary for Blackberry users to transition, though when I do use the thumb wheel, it doesn’t feel right - it’s too slippery, it’s too easy to depress while trying to turn it because it takes a little too much effort to turn it and the button accidentally gets pushed sometimes. I can say though that a co-worker got the rubberized black updated Q and I noticed they made slight adjustments to the thumb wheel (it seems), where it is closer to the body & easier to turn though I think it’s it still slippery (I have very dry fingers.)
• Somehow I wasn’t able to save the images from my camera to my miniSD after only like a month of using it, though luckily my phone crashed and I got a new one which works fine. I was actually in NYC visiting/sightseeing with some friends of my girlfriend’s from Japan and when I went to download all the images I took of us at the Top of the Rockefeller Building and Grand Central Terminal - they just weren’t there which was a wicked total bummer.
• Windows Mobile 5 sucks for the following reasons:
  • I can’t write text to anything other than an SMS
  • I can only view text files through their “viewer” which views everything as a sort of image which you can either zoom in or pan around on.
  • I can’t view MS Office files. Spreadsheets would be cool if I could open AND modify them.

Summary:

Even though we’re still way behind other countries in the world in regards to our cell phone technology, I feel like this is a decent phone for me right now. It seems like the physical quality and design will keep it in good condition for years to come… at which point we better have advanced a bit in cell phone technology.

I purchased my Q in August of 2006 and I have had it replaced already in around March of this year due to a “irrecoverable system error” apparently. Either way, Verizon replaced the phone within the hour and I was luckily able to retrieve all of my contacts, emails, schedules, etc. via wireless sync.

One thing which I am bothered by is that the “d” key specifically takes particularly more effort to depress enough to register a key. It doesn’t seem like much, but honestly who wants to have to keep extra “rules of use” in their head for such specific things. A keyboard is meant to work when you use it normally and sheerly because of the fact that it doesn’t do the one singular thing it is designed to and exists soley to do bothers me.

On the other side of things, the Q is a really cool phone and paired with a headset is very convenient. I had the unlimited data plan for a while and recently figured out that I’m not that busy to the point where I would need to be able to access the internet from anywhere (though it is VERY empowering to have that capability) it’s not entirely necessary. I could be spending the $40 extra/month on other things - like my normal cell phone bill.

When I did have the data plan, I used the internet a lot. I used Google Maps a lot. I used their browser to do cross browser testing on a device that not many people have access to test on but many people have access to view the internet on. I was surprised however at how many sites which boast their “accessible” designs are totally unreadable on the Q haha. I don’t want to say it but I have to, a couple sites I designed a while back using tables looked great on the Q, the designs scaled down nicely to fit within the screen size and the content was totally readable. I also used the phone to check the weather and some other crap, but the best part about having the internet on the phone is really to impress people.

Wait until our internet use has flipped from PC to cell phones like in Japan and you’ll see some valuable tools emerge. My girlfriend tells me there is widespread video conferencing over Japan’s super advanced Godzilla-like telecommunication infrastructure system. They use their phones as credit cards, at vending machines, at checkouts, at the subway, etc. We’re over-excited about the iPhone and the best feature I really see is being able to view your voicemail like an email… oh and the disgustingly slick interface.

At least I can Super Mario Bros. and read email for $100/month with my really cool Motorola Q.

I give this product a thumbs up.