Mobile phone and internet access solutions...

OK, so I am in need of a replacement for my MDA smartphone as it sucks. It’s totally slow, for internet access, and it’s never worked in europe (though it should have).

If I were to buy it today, I’d get the Motorola V551 with Cingular service (looks like there might be coverage at my cabin with this, but it looks to be right on the border of coverage… on horseshoe lake in Marcell, MN). That has quad-band gsm (means it’ll work everywhere in the world, except places like Japan that are way past everywhere else tech wise). It’s got edge, which means slightly faster than dial up internet access, and much faster than my crappy system I got now. Bluetooth so I can use a PDA or laptop to connect and use real apps, and access the 'net via the phone. It’s smaller than a smartphone, as I can actually carry it around everywhere I go, but not as small as I’d like. Does anyone know of one that has all the features above that is smaller? (I could settle for triband as long as it’s got 850 and 1900 as 2 of them)

I’m also going to get a PDA, with VGA resolution as a must (I could only find 4 out there that match this spec), of course bluetooth, to connect to the net via the phone, or use a keyboard, a headset, connect a gps, etc. Wifi is a must, and the rest is a bonus. I’ve narrowed it down to the Dell Axim X50v or the Loox 720. The Dell as a VGA out, whereas the the Loox has a camera (but so does the phone above). I’m leaning towards the Dell right now. Any thoughts?

When I was working at BSquare I was working on a phone/PDA combo called the Power Handheld. It’s a GSM based phone with a PDA. 640x480 landscape screen. QWERTY keyboard. Handles email. Can do internet browsing. Somewhere on the JC forum here is a post that I made from the phone.

Being GSM it’ll have the same speed and coverage problems as your existing phone. And using it to browse the web can get expensive. It’s aimed at business professionals who need the email access and are willing to pay the data charges to get it.

Neat phone. It’s just a reference design for a company to build on and add to. I don’t know if it’s been picked up by any phone companies.

No advice for you. Just a story about a phone.