Another tech Q involving puters and cell phones

[BigCat]

I travel a lot for work and depend heavily on cell/internet communiK.

I have a v. simple phone that gets max reception but isn't internet capable. Verizon is my carrier.

I've definitely got some credit coming in the way of a 'new every 2' type of deal since I haven't switched phones since signing. Purchase price isn't a major concern as long as we're not talking about a $400-500 phone.

Important:
Tethering;
qwerty simplicity. want something easy to type on with fat sausage fingers;
Reception;
Preferably something that organizes emails well.

Medium concerns:
Would be nice to have an easy way to input schedule/calendar info with alerts.

Not so much:
Apps. Don't really care;
Megapixels;
Games and other BS.

One aside would be that I love Apple and Samsung/Panasonic products. If cracking an iPhone is easy it would be in the running. Has Motorola returned to making good products? muchos tia*.




*not a reference to having a large number of aunts

[PCR]

I'm about to get the HTC Eris.

[BigCat]

I'm about to get the HTC Eris.

About 99% of the reviews for this thing say that the battery life is absolutely awful. Looks like just what I need except for that and ppl saying the touch screen is way too sensitive. What about the Droid? Not sure about bat life but like the fact that you can probably lock the touch screen so you're not pushing buttons accidentally all the time (has a button qwerty board too).