The Motorola "Q" phone is Motorola's answer to the Treo 650 and the Treo 700. It's a thin somewhat attractive PDA phone running on a Windows operating system. What makes it more like a Treo, and similar to the Blackberry 8700, is a form factor that includes a compact QWERTY backlit keyboard. My test for the true usefulness of a QWERTY keyboard is whether I can write an email comfortably with one hand.

So if I were deciding which PDA phone to purchase,it would be a choice between the Treo 700, the Blackberry 8700 and the new Motorola "Q", also known as the Moto "Q" smart phone.

My criteria for selecting the best PDA phone on the market, assuming there is excellent cell phone coverage and Bluetooth built-in, would be whether the handheld is user-friendly or not. In this case, the Palm Treo 650 might edge out the other cell phones because of the Palm Operating System. But,a PDA phone like the Motorola "Q" with a built-in Microsoft Windows Operating System might also be a smart choice.

When it comes to other factors like weight and style the Motorola "Q" is the clear winner because of it's razor thin look and feel. Blackberry 8700 phones are the most durable of all the PDA's but again the new Motorola "Q" is certainly not a pushover. Many people base their final choice on the price. My suggestion is to switch carriers and buy a new service plan and then you will be eligible for lower equipment costs.

So why is there so much marketing hype around the Motorola "Q"? Mainly because Motorola has been very successful influencing how people think about their cell phones. For example, consider the runaway success of the Motorola Razr V3 and the new popular Pink Razr phones. Motorola has been doing a great job in branding as well as advertising while also giving a great feature set at a low price. If Motorola can do for this new PDA what it did for the Razr phone, we may just witness a virtual explosion in cell phone sales of PDAs beyond the corporate Blackberry zone.

Brice Richards has been following the cellular trends in the cellphone industry for over 15 years and is currently the vice-president of strategy for YouNeverCall Wireless one of the leading online cell phone stores specializing in Verizon, Cingular,T-Mobile, and Cingular cell phones. Brice also has a cell phone review blog where he writes about free cell phones.