My smartphone saga entered another new chapter yesterday, as I personally migrated from a Samsung SCH-i760 to the original Motorola Q. While I liked many of the features of the Samsung, I have been using it for several months now and have missed two important voice mail messages, which is simply unacceptable. Although both are Windows Mobile devices, at least with the Q I don't have to go looking for voice mail.

I first got my hands on the Q in June of 2006, within days of it's release through Verizon Wireless. I had been testing various Windows mobile devices and had already submitted an order for three Treo 700w units, which were shortly thereafter sent back and replaced with new Q's. Now normally I give new products some time to grow and work through their initial bugs before I make a jump, but in this case I for some reason jumped on the bandwagon early; and subsequently, I suffered through the initial firmware issues.

As I've said in the past, I really don't think smartphones are any smarter than they were when they were first introduced. Not much has changed really as far as core functionality, and each and every one I've used over the years not only has advantages and disadvantages, but it's very own set of "issues". Maybe I set the bar to high because I've been using them for 7 or 8 years now (since the Kyocera QCP6035 first came out). BTW - I don't consider the iPhone a smartphone, at least not yet; even Apple will tell you it was designed for personal use.

With that said, let's talk about a few of the things I like about the Q as compared to my previous device, the i760. First off, the Q is a one-handed device. The jog wheel on the side, the 5-way navigation button and the full qwerty keyboard make accessing it's features and content very easy w/o the need for a stylus or touch screen. Speaking of the lack of touch screen, I suspect that has something to do with the Q being roughly $100 or more less than most of it's Windows based competitors; yeah, I can live w/o the touch screen.

One of the obvious advantages of the Q is it's size and weight, as it's much lighter and thinner than most smartphones; especially the Treo devices or other sliders like the Samsung. I was carring the Samsung in my pocket(s) for months because I couldn't find a decent clip or case for the darn thing. Although I do have a good belt clip for the Q, it's nice to also be able to throw it in my pocket and not feel like I'm lugging around a few rolls of quarters.

We'll see how the Q does over the next few weeks and go from there, but at this point I'm very optimistic. If only I had waited 18 months or so after its initial release to begin with, I could've avoided all the early adoption issues.

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