HTC 8525 Cell Phone

Cons: User manual only for spanish readers
Won't make or receive phone calls after 2nd week.

Summary: I liked the phone, although the internet connection wasn't the service I had hoped for. No flash connection limits where you can go. I could get emails ok. It made me mad that there was a spanish user guide, but english readers are expected to get their manual on the internet. If I wanted to take my computer with me I wouldn't have bought this phone. For $355 they could print a book for me. The store loaded my contacts from my last phone, which blocked me from loading contacts from outlook. I had to get a new Sim card. All of this would have been OK, but before week two was over, my phone quit making or receiving phone calls. It goes back tomorrow.

Cons: Why no little rubberized strips on the back, like the 8125? I loved that, because I could set the phone on the dash of the car with the charger and it would (mostly) not go anywhere.

Summary: This is the best single device I've ever owned. If you can use a Windows-based PC, you can use the features on this phone. The keyboard is a huge improvement over my previous phones (Audiovox SMT 5600, Cingular 8125); they rearranged the number and symbol keys into a much easier, more natural format. The keyboard is much easier to use than the Treo or Blackberry keyboard, so if you're going to do a lot of data entry, this is the one.

I used to drag my laptop (with all its peripherals) through the nations airports and hotel rooms; no longer. When on a quick business trip, I just carry the 8525. I can log onto the internet (at 3G speed), go to my company's website, download or enter data, and get my work done while waiting for a flight---and then just put it back on my belt. Battery life is excellent (one day of hard use with no recharge will run you all the way down; by hard use I mean near-constant phone calls). 2 Gig card means I can carry some music to drown out the screaming infant or loud conversation in the next row on the plane, without having to drag my IPOD.

I was in a customer's office and he needed to see a particular document; instead of trying to call someone at the office hoping to (a) find someone and (b) get them to fax it, I merely pulled it up on our company website using my 8525; the customer was able to see a PDF of the actual document on the spot. Needless to say, he was impressed; he called everybody in his office over to watch me "do it again". :-)

Cons: email can be tricky to set up, and some bluetooth headsets work better than others with it. One battery-saving technique, "Turn off all running programs", is relatively "hidden"--it's a Microsoft thing, not a phone thing. If you use the stylus a lot as a mouse (as I did on my 8125), you can expect about a year of life on your screen before it begins to have dead spots. Fortunately, the 8525 has the wheel with which to scroll (that's where I wore my old one out, scrolling with the stylus). Also, the reason I have a new 8525 is that I dropped the old 8125, which shattered into a million pieces. Don't drop it.

All in all, if you're a business professional, especially one who travels, this is by far the best thing on the market.

Cons: MS notes will not cooperate
Where is the love for MAC users

Summary: I am writing this review from my brand spanking new 8525. The adjustment has not been easy. If you are a blackberry user the learning curve will be steep. initial setup was a breeze, with only a few setbacks establishin my many mail acounts. If you are a MAC user like me forget about syncing this device to any of your MAC native applications (even Office for MAC is a no go). I have used all of the MS mobile apps and they all work flawlessly with the exception of notes which for now refuses to cooperate. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I got great 3G reception far away from major metropolitan areas. I was able to surf the net faster than my land anchored counterparts in a little border town called Eagle Pass, TX. All in all if this device cannot satisfy your every buisness need then neither will a laptop so just forget about it. A final note on this phone, it actually is a really good phone. the touchscreen is annoying for typing in numbers but the sound quality is phenominal. I typed this entire review on an 8525, not even 5 miles from the rio grande.