Having been bombarded by the holiday advert blitz, am throwing myself (and possibly my partner) into the upgrade to a smartphone bonanza. Currently have a cheapo Verizon wireless cell phone and am contemplating the new Droid. Does anybody have one already? How do you like it? Or should I get one of the cheaper Android phones like the Eris or Storm? I'm sure there are tons of IPhone enthusiasts out there too, but would a switch of carriers be worth it?

Absolutely switch to the iPhone. I had the iPhone for a year and switched to the Droid in November (both provided by my company - we switched from AT&T to Verizon for the larger 3G network). The phone on the iPhone is a lot better than the Droid. Verizon may have a larger 3G network, but it doesn't do you any good if the person on the other end of the phone can't understand you. I'm not sure if that's a phone or a network issue, but it's a big issue for someone who spends a lot of the time using his phone for conference calls.

The Droid has a better camera (with flash) and video capability. And I like having a key pad again, but I'd gotten so used to the touchscreen on the iPhone, I still end up using the touchscreen most of the time on the Droid. Both phones have great predictive text. The internet is quicker on the Droid, but not by much. I do like messaging on the Droid better than the iPhone. I haven't really explored a lot of the Apps yet, but I think the iPhone had a lot more. And the iPhone is slimmer (easy to slip into your pocket) and a lot lighter than the Droid. And the iPhone is much more intuitive - I've had to consult IT several times to figure out what I'm doing with the Droid. And the iPhone has iTunes (not sure if there is an iTunes app for the Droid, but I'm not sure I would even use it if there were).

Overall, it's the phone function that makes the iPhone the best choice (for me). The Droid phone flat out sucks compared to the iPhone. And I do miss the iTunes function of the phone.

iPhone. AT&T has caused me no end of blues with their horrible service, dropped calls, and poor response, BUT the iPhone 3GS is basically a fast, reliable, robust, full-scale computer that's lighter than many people's wallets. Whether l'm using it to access lots of online info, to Tweet or post to Facebook, to read books (Stanza), to draw (Brushes), project light (Flashlight), track my flight, make music (2-3 guitar programs, Ocarina), to record sounds for projects, follow baseball games, listen to NPR or radio stations all over the globe, translate foreign languages, find out gay hotspots or affordable restaurants or hotels or AAA discounts in different cities, compare prices at different stores, figure out what's playing in a cafe or restaurant or on a TV show, find free WiFi, you name it, the iPhone is indispensible.

If you can wait until Apple offers the Verizon-ready (i.e., worldmode) phone, which will still have 3G capability, I'd say do it. Supposedly it's coming in the 3rd quarter of 2010, though it could be earlier or, if AT&T gets its act together, delayed. But the apps are amazing, and make the phone one of the best options out if you can afford it.

I forgot to mention Grindr - it's a great app that let's you know how close the nearest 'mos are (so long as they also have that app). I don't think the Droid has it.

It is telling that despite everybody saying AT&T service is horrible, people put up with it because they love their IPhones so much. I hear you guys about the apps. It's all about the apps. But one of the cool things about the Android system seems to be that it is an open source marketplace, so there is lots of potential for growth in the App droid world. I'm still torn. Maybe I'll get an ITouch for the apps and stay with Verizon and upgrade to something cheaper than a droid?

I have an AT &T I phone and have had almost zero problems with it. In fact, I was working in Mexico for a good part of this summer and live-streamed a baseball game on it. When I checked my bill, the cost of the game was close to 200 bucks. I called At&T International and they retroactivley switched me over to the maximum use international data roaming plan and saved me 120 bucks. So I don't think the "service" in that regard is all that bad.