HTC Touch Pro

These phones that HTC are releasing look pretty damn sweet, and from a high level look like decent competitors to the iPhone. I give Kudos to HTC for being one of the only cell phone manufacturers that can even come close to what Apple is doing. I think of them like Creative in the MP3 space.

What tips the balance in Apple's favor for me is the whole application side of things. I just don't think the HTC device will have the same level of developer support, and thus application ecosystem that the iPhone will garner. And obviously that's a big selling point to me.

It'll be interesting to see what happens when HTC adopts the Android platform and marries quality hardware design with Google's software.

Yes the Verizon con is pointless; and I'm irate that Verizon bought out Alltel, Verizon is terrible and I don't look forward to locked phones and higher plans at all. Thank god I signed a two year contract at the last minute that they have to honor for two years even when they are just Verizon.

As for the Touch Pro; I love it, its an amazing phone even with the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system. When it first arrives there is some slowdown with the Touchflow 3D software which can easily be taken care of with some registry edits and cache tweaks. The worst con worth mentioning is the battery life; which is sucked dry in less than six hours if the data connection is left on (yes you can turn it off when not in use, and it comes back on automatically when you use something that requires data). Otherwise just working as a phone, the Pro will last about two days without a charge. Definitely NOT a phone for long road trips without a car charger, but its a PocketPC, what do you expect? Battery life on PPCs is usually terrible.

Everything else is awesome, especially with the tweaks I have yet to find a flaw. Oh and that annoying message sent notification every time you send a text with a Windows Mobile phone can also be turned off with a registry edit.

Having used the Verizon TP for months now I can honestly say it's in no way crippled and in fact has excellent build quality compared to the others in my opinion. A little less RAM is not the same as crippled and it's rarely inconvenient if at all. I unlocked the GPS the day I got it, and later Verizon unlocked it on their own. The keyboard complaint about arrow placement is ridiculous and typing on it is easier in some ways with the wider keys.

The best part about the Touch Pro and Windows Mobile is the ability to completely wipe and replace the OS with a custom mod, giving you the ability to fix or modify just about anything about the device instead of having to settle with what the manufacturer gave you the day you opened the box. This is fairly unique to Windows Mobile and then even more unique to only the best WinMo phones out, one of which is the TP. And it's app community far exceeds the iphone due to generally good backwards compatibility with eariler Windows Mobile apps.

I didn't agree with any of the cons because they are subjective and I've not seen the cons at all in my use:

• It's no longer expensive
• I've had no keyboard issues and neither have many people, and the construction on mine is just fine though it's the Verizon one which I've been told is a notch above the others.
• Mine's never lagged because I use a custom ROM, but even on the default ROM I know how to manage memory and not leave everything open overloading CPU/RAM resources.
• Not tilting isn't a con when almost all other devices don't tilt.  That should be a pro for whatever phone does, not a con for all others.
• How long the battery lasts depends on what you do with it.  If you use it mostly as a phone then it's got decent battery life.  Most people don't realize the reason the battery drains a lot is purely because we are using it so much.  I charge mine regularly in the car and on the desk next to me, because I literally use it nonstop.  You can't expect a device that gets used so much to not need regular charging.
• Relatively thick compared to other phones?  Of course it is, it has a slideout keyboard and an excellent screen!  That's not a con it's a pro!  You can't have a tiny device and keep these pros.