Well, after just playing around with the i550 for 2 weeks (palm side only) without activating it (no data services, voice calls, etc.), I finally had an opportunity to activate and set it up properly. OMG...Sprint really missed the boat, they surely should have released this phone

The speakerphone, external LED display, SD Card, faster CPU, Palm OS5 make a huge difference. Using tryDA (update to DA - Directory Assistant) works great with Google maps. VoiceAssist took a little getting used to, but works real well...no learning involved. Unfortunately, I can't get Worldmate V9 to work (fatal exception). MegaLauncher works, nWeb is much snappier and seems to be stable. Nice to be able to answer and call (voiceassist) with the clam closed, especially while seeing the caller ID on the LED. Currently using Eudora Mail, but will soon load VersaMail so I can view attachments with the built in Picsel Viewer. TAKEphONE works flawlessly...except I can't get the "capture" feature to work, was previously using Markndial (hacks not supported with OS5x) and can't find the "treo" version. Hard buttons on the keypad side vs. the screen side along with a 5-way navigator is a welcome change. The pop-up graffiti pad is OK, but I'm used to Graffiti Anywhere which also works great.

The camcorder, media player, camera, voice recorder all work well...haven't used them too much, yet.

The form factor is slightly bigger and slightly heavier than my i500 (with extended battery), but not terribly so. All of my i500 accessories seem to work as well...cradle, car charger, macmedia data cable, etc.

Quite a shame this was never released, even 3+ years later it would be competitive with all the "bricks" being offered today. Add Bluetooth and EVDO, and it's a slam-dunk.

I'll probably use it and keep it until it dies. I can always go back to my i500, but that would be pretty hard right now.

SPRINT....GIVE US A NEW CLAMSHELL PALM...NOT EVERYONE WANTS A TREO, BLACKBERRY OR TOUCH