Speaking of turning the device off, "technically" there's no way to actually turn it off without removing the battery. The PDA function can be powered off, but the phone continues on standby. "But wait," as Ron Popeil would say, "there's more!" Because the XV6700 is a fully functioning PDA in addition to a mobile phone, it needs to be able to function as one at all times. With that in mind, it has a feature called Flight Mode.

With Flight Mode active, the phone portion is deactivated, allowing you to use the PDA functions while on commercial airline flights, soothing that industry's unfounded phobia of mobile phone interference. It's also convenient for meetings, movie theaters, and other occasions where you wouldn't want to be disturbed. As with most phones, it can also be set to vibrate, not ring at all, or a combination of ring and vibrate.

The XV6700 runs Windows Mobile as I've said, and because of that you can program your own rings, system sounds, and alarms. I must confess to fiddling with the alarm sounds but not the ringtone. The XV6700 has a ringtone that I simply love. In a time when people seem to program the most obnoxious ringtones they can find into their phones, and they all sound the same, and they can never find the darn phone when it rings, I love that my phone goes R-I-N-G! You know, just like the old phones used to sound?

When it comes to signal strength and quality, the XV6700's phone, shown in Figure E, is hands down better than the Moto I used to have.

FIGURE E


The XV6700's on-screen phone controls. Roll over picture for a larger image.

God how I hated that Moto. It would drop calls left and right. And if it was anywhere near my monitor and speakers it wouldn't grab incoming calls. I've experienced none of that with the XV6700.

Unfortunately, I'm not in an area where Verizon offers EV-DO coverage, yet anyway. So I was unable to test that feature. But the 1X wireless connection is fast enough in its own right, at least as fast as Wi-Fi connected to cable or DSL.

I must confess to being not that big a fan of IE, at least not on the desktop, I'm a Netscape man myself. But on the handheld, Pocket IE is far superior to Palm's Blazer. It loads faster, has more features, and displays better. Not to mention that you can copy your desktop IE Favorites directly into Pocket IE.

Along with an Internet connection comes the ability to check email. Checking via Wi-Fi is pretty easy. If you can set up your wireless router, you can set up the XV6700 to retrieve your email via Wi-Fi. Wireless retrieval through Verizon's wireless network is a little more difficult; the instructions in the manual and quick setup guide aren't complete. The instructions are available on Verizon's site, but it's unlikely a less tech savvy person would find them. So, if you're stuck and need them, here's a link.