The Droid will not transport you to that island paradise for an instant vacation, but it will do most of what you need to do with a smart phone.  The Android app collection is well on its way, and, like the iTunes store, it features many free and inexpensive programs that are quite useful. The Android App Market already puts the BlackBerry app store to shame.

Web browsing with the Droid and Verizon’s service is a real pleasure. It’s speedy and draws accurate web pages.  Because of its open source nature, the Android operating system is developing much more quickly than Windows Mobile or the BlackBerry OS. That said -- Android has not yet caught up to the ease of use of Apple’s iPhone OS or Palm Pre’s webOS. Yet, it is close, and we feel the Droid has surpassed the iPhone in web surfing, messaging, and email.

Although the physical keyboard could be better, finding it in such a small frame is a real plus, as is the clarity of the Droid’s high resolution screen. The Droid along with Verizon’s service has a lot going for it.

Pros:

• Small & sturdy
• Speedy
• Physical keyboard in small frame
• 16 GM memory card included
• Excellent web browsing
• Good App Market that is constantly growing
• Exchange & other email support
• Good messaging support
• Good videos
• Excellent GPS capabilities
• Great speaker
• Very good screen
• Excellent touch response
• Adequate battery life

Cons:

• Some unintuitive functionality
• No dedicated phone key
• Scroll pad interferes with thumb typing
• No voice commands when through BlueTooth
• Music player lack syncing and playlists