Actually the LG Cu500 is the first HSDPA Phone fellas.

I think I'm one in a million but I despise the keyboard on this device and its predecessors.

Keys need a little texture to them, these are too smooth and the slight dome make it annoying for me to type on. But, like I said I think I'm one of the only people to complain about the keyboard. I've yet to really find one that is comfortable for me, even the sidekick, which people rave about, annoys me. Though the grip is nice, the keys themselves are frustrating.

It won't usurp the Dash in Smartphone-land. Mainly because it isn't a Smartphone. The 8525 uses WM5 Pocket PC Phone Edition. When you say Smartphone you imply a totally different OS and NO touchscreen. Sorry to go on a rant but there is a huge difference between the two.

I wonder if you can dial it like a phone. The 8125 was impossible to dial without using the stylus...I could never use it while driving and had to return it. I loved the keys for mobile email though.

This is a great little phone - one of the best PDA/Phone combos I've ever used (Treo's, Ipaq's, etc).

The wi-fi is a little janky in low-signal environments, but overall this is a great phone.

Anyone ever seen a comparison between browsing on one of these devices using EDGE vs HSDPA. I know HSDPA is way faster, but does it really make a noticable difference under Pocket IE, or is the processor on the PDA the bottleneck?

It tops the Dash in terms of bells & whistles, but I'm not gonna pocket that monstrosity, nor am I willing to holster it.

Actually the LG CU500 was the first phone with HSDPA in the states.

Always amazes me that no one has produced a PDA or phone with a keyboard as good as the Psion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_5. I don't know if it's a patent issue or cost but surly a PDA/Phone with this keyboard would be a viable laptop replacement or UMPC

Hmmm...

Wonder why they took out the video camera from the front? (Look up the TyTN, Dopod 838 Pro or JasJam)

I just ordered the Dopod version last night. I'm about to pee myself in anticipation!

Oh.. and as far as size comparison.. It's smaller than the sidekick 3 by a good amount!

This isn't the first HSDPA device in the U.S. The LG CU500, which has been out since August or September on Cingular, has HSDPA.

"Oh.. and as far as size comparison.. It's smaller than the sidekick 3 by a good amount!"

this isn't really true. I went and compared an 8125 with my sk3 and although it was surprisingly closer to the sk3 size than i'd thought, the edges of the sk3 taper both in width and height, making it seems significantly smaller in pocket.

don't get me wrong though... I think I'm ditching my sk3 for this bad bwoy :P

Does anybody know whether or not the dopod ones you can order will work with the hsdpa network too?

If so, I may spring the extra cash for one of those.

And the battery life seems respectable at estimated 11 hours though I wait for it to be more like 20 hours on smart phones before investing.

Keebler...

It is true.. Take the dimensions of both and go use the sizeit site that Gizmodo uses. It's noticeably smaller. Remember.. It's not the 8125.

Yes the Dopod one works with everything here in the states. It's completely unlocked. You just have to set it correctly. It also comes with a great deal more apps and games, along with the video camera for video conferencing!

Granted it costs more and is harder to find if you don't feel like importing it, but...

Oh thank God! An HSDPA smartphone in the US! For some reason, Cingular has only been giving us HSDPA flip-phones with closed OSes. I guess they want to use it for selling their movie-music services more than sell phones to business folk.

Neight (and Gizmodo editors),

Although the sizeeasy site is very nice, if the device isn't an exact shoebox, it very well may not tell the whole truth about how a device feels in your hand or pocket. Going back to the sk3 vs 8125 example, the front face of the sidekick is flatter than the back, so combining that with what I mentioned earlier about the ends of the sidekick tapering in both width and height, the sidekick feels significantly sleekier than the 8125 despite being fairly similar spec-wise.

There's a lot more to a form factor than just listing the 3 places on the device where the dimensions are the largest.

And re: the 8125 vs 8525, even using the strict dimensions:
8525 is 58 x 112.5 x 21.95 mm
8125 is 58 x 108 x 23.7 mm

So the 8525 is 1.7mm thinner, but 4.5mm longer... hardly seems like a drastic change, though I will admit that the decreased thickness probably makes it feel significantly smaller despite only being 1.7mm change.

I think I'll probably skip the apps/games/video conferencing cam and just get the 8525.

I highly doubt i'll be video conferencing with many people for a while and the apps/games are of little consequence considering the ready availability of wm5 stuff.