[mgerbasio]

I'm using a Fuze now and thought I'd give my two cents. I have a Tilt which I really don't use except for data and have had probably five blackberrys with the 7290 being the oldest.

AT&T sent me the Fuze because they're insisting the dropped calls I'm having in the NYC area are caused by faulty software on the Bold. The CSR is really trying to be helpful and what other choice did I have. It was "pick any other phone except the iphone" so I opted for 3G so it would be a comparison of the network. First day, three calls dropped to three different people; to be fair they were on cell phones and I'm not sure which end dropped.

I like WM but I'm still surprised how the hardware is lacking in many ways. The Fuze's voice quality both incoming and outgoing is barely passable and doesn't come close to the Bold. Incoming is low and tinny, outgoing gets a lot of background noise and "sounds like your voice is bouncing around in a pipe" comments. What good is a cell phone that sounds bad? I could never understand why voice isn't job one when a phone is being designed.

Holding the phone to my ear, more comfortable with the Bold, although I may be pressing harder with the Fuze because of low ear piece volume. Didn't try a headset yet. This is another HTC model is using the usb port for headsets, dumb design.

The screen on the Fuze is a big step up from the Tilt in that you can use it outside. I like the screen, very nice, but outside the Bold is better as it is much more readable in the sunlight. I like touch screens and find them easier to use, the Bold with a touch screen will be nice.

I've gotten use to the "one message inbox" and now miss it with the Fuze. I haven't tried seven or xpressmail for push email but so far, no problems on the Fuze getting and sending email. I have it polling every thirty minutes.

Typing on the sliding keypad is different, I'm not nearly as fast as on the Bold and no AutoText which is a minus. A negative on the Fuze is it doesn't have the BB's ability to recognize phone numbers, urls and email addresses pretty much anywhere and all you need to do is click. Especially with phone extension, I find it frustrating not to have it now.

Today screen and customization, the Fuze wins. I do miss the Web Signals and BBM applications on the BB. No native Google Talk or Google Voice applications on the Fuze but there are workarounds. The Opera browse on the Fuze is very fast and far better than anything I've use on the Bold. Google Maps, Bing, Newbreak (RSS) and most other software, I rather use the Fuze.

So, if I had my choice, I'd pick the Bold. Other than the browser, it does everything I need a phone to do and does it better. There isn't as much software and what there is may not be as pretty but it gets the job done.

Maybe WP 6.5 or 7 and the Touch Pro 2 will be worth another look. The Fuze isn't a bad phone, but it misses in key areas. I think MS would benefit the user experience if it made sure the voice quality and screen readability meet a level of quality before WM could be shipped with the hardware.

Regards-Michael G.